Mary Help of Christians, Patron of Australia
2021-05-24 00:00 - 23:59 (Australia/Sydney)

Mary Help of Christians, Patron of Australia
2021-05-25 00:00 - 23:59
Mary Help of Christians – Artist Uknown

Mary Help of Christians is the Patroness of Australia. The establishment of the feast has an interesting history, and a unique place in the Catholic history of Australia. The feast focusses on Mary’s help to those in need through her intercession to confront sin and to stand against anti-Christian forces.

Pope Pius VII established the feast in honour of Our Lady Help of Christians in 1815. After being imprisoned by Napoleon Bonaparte, he established the feast in thanksgiving for his release. Australia, a new colony at that time, had no Catholic priests and therefore no Mass available. The faithful recited and relied on the Rosary to sustain the Catholic community. In 1844, Australia became the first country in the world to have Mary Help of Christians as Patroness. – From the ACBC Resource Entrusting Australia to Mary Help of Christians, 2020.

Learn more here:

Entrust-to-Mary-Help-of-Christians-ACBC-ResourceDownload

Prayer:

Mary Help of Christians, Patroness of Australia and of the Military Ordinariate Almighty God, deepen in our hearts our love of Mary Help of Christians. Through her prayers and under her protection, may the light of Christ shine over our land. May Australia be granted harmony, justice and peace. Grant wisdom to our leaders and integrity to our citizens. Bless especially the men and women of the Australian Defence Force and their families. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Mary Help of Christians, pray for us.

Artwork:

Mary Help of Christians – Artist Unknown

Music:

Sing of Lady by Liam Lawton

Mary Help of Christians by Liam Lawton

National Sorry Day
2021-05-26 00:00 - 23:59
Our Home (2019) – Patrice Muthaymiles-Mahoney OAM (1975 – )

Sorry Day has been observed since 1998, one year after the Bringing Them Home report was presented in the Australian Federal Parliament. This report detailed the impact of the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. Sorry Day offers an opportunity to reflect on the hardship faced when children were taken into institutional and foster care by governments and church agencies and placed with non-Indigenous families. These Stolen Generations suffered greatly from being removed from their loved ones at such an early age, and for many the scars were life-long. However, Sorry Day is also an opportunity to “acknowledge the strength of Stolen Generations Survivors and reflect on how we can all play a part in the healing process for our people and nation.”

Going Deeper

https://www.reconciliation.org.au

Prayer

Almighty and loving God, you who created ALL people in your image.

Lead us to seek your compassion as we listen to the stories of our past. You gave your only Son, Jesus, who died and rose again so that sins will be forgiven.

We place before you the pain and anguish of dispossession of land, language, lore, culture, and family kinship that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have experienced. We live in faith that all people will rise from the depths of despair and hopelessness. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families have endured the pain and loss of loved ones, through the separation of children from their families.

We are sorry and ask God’s forgiveness.

Touch the hearts of the broken, homeless, and inflicted and heal their spirits.

In your mercy and compassion walk with us as we continue our journey of healing to create a future that is just and equitable.

Lord, you are our hope. Amen.

Aboriginal and Islander Commission of the National Council of Churches in Australia, (NATSIEC) 2003.

Artwork

Our Home (2019) by Patrice Muthaymiles-Mahoney OAM (1975 – )

Music

Took the Children Away by Archie Roach.

Took The Children Away – Archie Roach

1886: Catholic and Anglican Martyrs of Uganda
2021-06-03 00:00 - 23:59

2004: Queensland Bishops issue 'Let the Many Coastlands be glad!' Pastoral Letter on the Great Barrier Reef
2021-06-08 00:00 - 23:59
“The Holy Spirit is clearly guiding us into a deeper sense ofcompanionship and care in regard to all the varied forms of life onplanet Earth. Not only is the Reef a precious ecosystem in itself, but alsoan integral part of the one web of planetary life that connects us all –the human species and all species of the land and sea, rainforest andreef, mountains, plains and inland desert.” Catholic Bishops of Queensland, Let the Many Coastlands be Glad!, 2004

Today is a great day to read Let the Many Coastlands Be Glad! again.

For Reflection

Imagine you were helping the Queensland Bishops to draft a pastoral letter on the Great Barrier Reef today. What has changed for the Great Barrier Reef since Let the Many Coastlands Be Glad! was published? Are there new issues to address? How might you take the teaching of Pope Francis into account in updating the Queensland Bishops’ teaching?

Sts John Fisher and Thomas More
2021-06-22 00:00 - 23:59

Nativity of John the Baptist
2021-06-24 00:00 - 23:59
John the Baptist is the herald for the Messiah, his cousin Jesus. He forms a bridge between the Old and New Testaments, and like Jesus, pays the ultimate cost for speaking truth to power. John challenged what was evil and immoral in his day, witnessing to the promise of a loving God. John was often portrayed as mad and wild, wandering through physical and social deserts, and existing mainly on the bounty of the land. The prophet’s road is one where we find inspiration and courage, and baptism is our ongoing call to live lives that bring justice and peace to those around us. The cost can be high for embracing God’s love in the everyday reality of our lives. The cost of not embracing it is even higher.

Who are the prophets in our midst who we would rather not hear? How can we lift them up and work with God’s love, alive and active in our world today? What do we need to change to follow the baptismal call to conversion of life?

Prayer:

John the Baptist, Witness to Truth

God, source of our hope, through John the Baptist you gave us an example of a man close to the concerns of your own heart, and alive to the needs of his time. May we too draw on his courage, forthrightness and love of you and your people. May we live into his characteristics and become more fully witnesses to Christ’s love for today’s world. We ask this, confident of your generosity and encouragement. Amen.

Adapted from the Sisters of St Joseph, Evening Prayer, 2010.

Artwork:

The Baptism of Christ (c. 1448 – 50) byPiero della Francesca (c. 1415 – 1492)

Music:

Benedictus by Steve Angrisano

Day of the Seafarer
2021-06-25 00:00 - 23:59
Courage, I am with you. Matthew 14: 27

The International Day of the Seafarer is co-ordinated each year by the International Maritime Organisation. In 2021, the focus is again centred around encouraging governments to support seafarers amid the pandemic. The organisation is calling for a fair future for seafarers. Major issues include fair treatment, fair working conditions, fair training, and fair safety: ILO’s Maritime Labour Convention

A new declaration calling for seafarers to be considered essential workers is gaining support across international boundaries, with almost 70 countries signing on. Catholic agency Stella Maris Australia supports this declaration; the Catholic agency provides spiritual and practical support to seafarers, while also engaging in international advocacy on their behalf. The agency also actively supports local efforts to approach the Australian Government in regard to the ongoing rights and wellbeing of seafarers. The Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change calls for better practices in facilitating changes of crew, and for early access for seafarers to COVID-19 vaccinations. Many seafarers are affected by expiration of contracts, the inability to disembark at some ports, and physical and mental health challenges. The Neptune Declaration states:

“This is not an acceptable way to treat seafarers, who are the frontline workers of the maritime industry, carrying 90 per cent of global trade….Fatigue after extended periods at sea has significant consequences on the physical and mental wellbeing of seafarers.”

Click here to access the Neptune Declaration.

For resources from Stella Maris for Sea Sunday, July 11, 2021: stellamarisaustralia.org

Prayer:

A Prayer for Seafarers

Be with Seafarers, Lord, on all their voyages, to cheer them and keep them safe in all dangers. Let nothing afloat or on shore cut them off from you. May they please you in everything they do. Bless all on board their ship, whatever their responsibility. Enable everyone to do their duty. Help them to be good shipmates and bring them back again safely to their homes and to those who long for their return, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

From The National Liturgy Office of New Zealand.

Photo:

International seafarers with staff of Stella Maris, Melbourne.

Music:

Eternal Father, Strong to Save by John Bacchus Dykes.

Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
2021-06-29 00:00 - 23:59

2009: Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth)
2021-06-29 00:00 - 23:59
“Knowing that we, as persons and communities, are part of God’s family gives us a vision and energy to serve a truly integral human development.” Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, n 78.

Read a general introduction to Caritas in Veritate here.

St Thomas, Apostle
2021-07-03 00:00 - 23:59
We feel great kinship for the apostle Thomas because, like him, most of us curiously combine faith and doubt. We sometimes share the enthusiasm St. Thomas expressed when upon Lazarus’s death Jesus decided to go to Bethany. “Let’s go too,” Thomas said to the other disciples,“that we may die with him” (see John 11:16). But also like him we sometimes wonder where Jesus is headed and where he is taking us (see John 14:5).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday
2021-07-04 00:00 - 23:59
Access resources for the celebration of this Sunday produced by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council here. We provide an overview here.

These videos were produced in 2020 however they still contain useful messages for the celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday.

Bishop Don Sproxton’s Message for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday is the first Sunday in July. NAIDOC Week follows because it is always celebrated in the first full week of July.

Here is an online Acknowledgement of Country that you can use at your own events.

Online Acknowledgement of Country from NATSICC

Find out more about NATSICC’s concerns for First Nations communities facing COVID-19 and the ways in which NATSICC is responding here.

1945: Blessed Peter To Rot
2021-07-07 00:00 - 23:59
On this day in 1945 Blessed Peter To Rot was martyred in Papua New Guinea. Find out more about his life here.

St Augustine Zhao Rong and Companions
2021-07-09 00:00 - 23:59
Augustine Zhao Rong was a Chinese soldier who accompanied Bishop John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse of the Paris Foreign Mission Society to his martyrdom in Beijing. Not long after his baptism, Augustine was ordained as a diocesan priest. He was martyred in 1815. Beatified in groups at various times, these 120 martyrs were canonized together in Rome on October 1, 2000. https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-augustine-zhao-rong-and-companions/

Find out more here.

St Bonaventure
2021-07-15 00:00 - 23:59
Saint Bonaventure … played an important role in both the medieval Church and the history of the Franciscan Order. A senior faculty member at the University of Paris, Saint Bonaventure certainly captured the hearts of his students through his academic skills and insights. But more importantly, he captured their hearts through his Franciscan love for Jesus and the Church. Like his model, Saint Francis, Jesus was the center of everything—his teaching, his administration, his writing, and his life. So much so, that he was given the title “Seraphic Doctor.” Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day.

It is through Saint Bonaventure’s writings that we have learned much of what we know about the life of St Francis of Assisi.

Trivia question: how many times did Pope Francis quote St Bonaventure in his encyclical Laudato Si’ on the care of our common home?

Saint Mary Magdalene
2021-07-22 00:00 - 23:59
St Mary Magdalene is remembered as the ‘apostle to the apostles’ because she was the first to announce the resurrection of Jesus. The apostles did not believe her and went to see for themselves. According to John, Mary Magdalene was specially privileged to see and speak to the risen Lord on Easter morning.

For Reflection

Today is a good time to listen to what faithful women are saying about God’s call to the Church in Australia at this time. Still Listening to the Spirit: Woman and Man Twenty Years Later is a collection of essays for the twentieth anniversary of research into the participation of women in the Catholic Church in Australia. It is available in bookshops and ebook platforms and can be ordered from the Office for Social Justice.

Buy it here.

Saint James
2021-07-25 00:00 - 23:59
“Very early in his public life, Jesus called James to follow him. Along with Peter and John, James was one of the favored three to witness the Transfiguration of Jesus, the raising of Jairus’s daughter, and the agony in the garden on Holy Thursday night.” Loyola Press

Find out more about St. James here.

Saint Martha
2021-07-29 00:00 - 23:59
“One of the most precious things in life is to have a home where you can go at any time and find people who accept, love, and understand you. The home Jesus found in Bethany was not only in the house but in the faithful heart of a woman named Martha. She welcomed him and served him, and they developed a special bond of friendship.” Loyola Press

Read more about St Martha here.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola
2021-07-31 00:00 - 23:59
One of the many gifts of St Ignatius to the Church is his understanding of the process of discernment. Discernment is more than simply deliberating and making wise decisions. It is about prayerful attentiveness to God’s presence in us and in the world, and openness to answering God’s call to us, both personally and collectively.

The examen prayer, which St Ignatius asked Jesuits to pray twice daily, is a fundamental practice of discernment. It helps us to cultivate awareness of God’s action in us and in our world, and to pay attention to our response. It is not an examination of conscience, like our reflection in preparation for the sacrament of reconciliation, but rather and examination of our consciousness, and so it is sometimes known as the consciousness examen.

There are many contemporary versions of the examen. They share five steps or elements that can be summarized as expression gratitude, seeking insight, reflecting, noticing, and looking forward.

Find out more about St Ignatius of Loyola here.

Image Credit

The Transfiguration of the Lord
2021-08-06 00:00 - 23:59

St Mary MacKillop
2021-08-08 00:00 - 23:59
St Mary of the Cross Mackillop is the first Australian to be recognised as a saint. You can learn more about her life here.

For Catholics in Australia, the life and work of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop has become an inspiration and a part of their identity. In Catholic Social Justice Series paper No 72, Charity and Justice: St Mary MacKillop and Australian Society, John Warhurst explores Mary’s unwavering vision: that a commitment to justice must go hand in hand with a commitment to hard practical work on behalf of people on the margins of society.

Saint Dominic
2021-08-08 00:00 - 23:59
“Truth was Dominic’s motto and his goal. Dominic was born in Spain, the youngest of four children. He was outstanding for his love of truth, his clear thought, his organizing ability, and his sensitive, loving nature. For Dominic, love for people was part of his love for God.” Loyola Press

Saint Lawrence
2021-08-10 00:00 - 23:59
What do you think are the real treasures of the Church?

Little is actually known about St Lawrence, but the following legend, recounted by Franciscan Media, persists:

As deacon in Rome, Lawrence was charged with the responsibility for the material goods of the Church, and the distribution of alms to the poor. When Lawrence knew he would be arrested like the pope, he sought out the poor, widows, and orphans of Rome and gave them all the money he had on hand, selling even the sacred vessels of the altar to increase the sum. When the prefect of Rome heard of this, he imagined that the Christians must have considerable treasure. He sent for Lawrence and said, “You Christians say we are cruel to you, but that is not what I have in mind. I am told that your priests offer in gold, that the sacred blood is received in silver cups, that you have golden candlesticks at your evening services. Now, your doctrine says you must render to Caesar what is his. Bring these treasures—the emperor needs them to maintain his forces. God does not cause money to be counted: He brought none of it into the world with him—only words. Give me the money, therefore, and be rich in words.” Lawrence replied that the Church was indeed rich. “I will show you a valuable part. But give me time to set everything in order and make an inventory.” After three days he gathered a great number of blind, lame, maimed, leprous, orphaned, and widowed persons and put them in rows. When the prefect arrived, Lawrence simply said, “These are the treasure of the Church.” The prefect was so angry he told Lawrence that he would indeed have his wish to die—but it would be by inches. He had a great gridiron prepared with coals beneath it, and had Lawrence’s body placed on it. After the martyr had suffered the pain for a long time, the legend concludes, he made his famous cheerful remark, “It is well done. Turn me over!” Franciscan Media

Saint Clare
2021-08-11 00:00 - 23:59
Clare was born of a wealthy family in Assisi, Italy. As a teenager she became aware that Francis, the handsome, wealthy leader of youth in Assisi, had greatly changed. Clare’s community wanted to live according to the rule of Francis. Her community still exists today, the Sisters are called the Poor Clares. Loyola Press

Saint Maximillian Kolbe
2021-08-14 00:00 - 23:59
Pope John Paul II said of Father Kolbe, “He won a victory of love. He loved both his fellow prisoners and those who put him to death. There is no greater love than this.” Loyola Press

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
2021-08-15 00:00 - 23:59
On this day, the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Assumption of Our Lady when according to our faith, the Holy Mother, “having completed her course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” The Catholic Weekly provides some historical background information here.

Saint Alberto Hurtado SJ
2021-08-18 00:00 - 23:59
“Christ roams through our streets in the person of so many suffering poor, sick, dispossessed and people thrown out of their miserable slums: Christ huddled under bridges, in the person of so many children who lack someone to call father, who have been deprived for many years from a mother’s kiss upon their foreheads…Christ is without a home!” St Alberto Hurtado SJ

Alberto Hurtado SJ (1901-1952) served the poor in Chile and founded the Hogar de Cristo or “Home of Christ” for the poor and abandoned young people. He was a staunch advocate of workers rights. Find out more about his life here.

As the Hurtado Jesuit Centre in the UK explain:

“Alberto Hurtado realised the great dangers of his time. In opposition to exploitative capitalism and communist revolution under way in various countries of the world, he, inspired by the social teaching of the Church, promoted a different path: a Christian Social Order, based on the two great virtues of love and justice. But he did not want charity without justice. He said: ‘Many works of charity can bear our society, but all this immense effort of generosity, much to praise, fails to repair the ravages of injustice. Injustice causes far more evils than can be repaired by charity. ‘ ‘We must be righteous before we are generous.'” Hurtado Jesuit Centre

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
2021-08-20 00:00 - 23:59
St Bernard of Clairvaux is a Doctor of the Church and one of the founders of the Cistercian order. He earned a reputation for being able to settle disputes, and was called to various countries to give advice on affairs of Church and of government. Find out more here.

The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
2021-08-22 00:00 - 23:59
The feast of the Queenship of Mary was instituted by Pope Pius XII in 1954. Find out more here.

1999: Death of Dom Helder Camara
2021-08-27 00:00 - 23:59
“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist.” Dome Helder Camara

Dom Helder Camara (1909 – 199) was a Brazilian archbishop from 1964-1985. Richard Rohr explains that “under his guidance, the Catholic Church in Brazil criticized the country’s military dictatorships and worked for social change. Camara spoke and wrote against using violence to repress rebellions that resulted from injustice and poverty in other countries as well. In 1971, he published Spiral of Violence, which shows how basic structural injustice leads to escalating rebellion, which then leads to new repression. If you don’t nip this spiral in the bud, recognizing violence at its lowest structural level, it is much harder to stop it at the later stages.”

The process for recognising Dom Helder Camara as a saint has begun.
