It would appear that Sydney Council plans to remove the Mum Shirl memorial seat from outside the church as part of the Redfern Street Upgrade. It was installed six or seven years ago by the then South Sydney Council.
The seat is located in Redfern Street outside the St Vincent’s Catholic Church [see picture on Church Mouse Image Gallery home page] where Fr Ted Kennedy was parish priest for 30 years, and next to the Aboriginal Medical Service. It is part of the cultural history of Redfern commemorating Mum Shirl’s tireless work for her people. Its location commemorates the … Continue reading
The Good Friday ceremony got off to a good start with John Hill’s introduction to the liturgy [here].
However the Neocats soon imposed their agenda for the afternoon when parish priest Prindiville was heard muttering that it was “crap”. He followed this, after the Gospel, by forbidding a performance of reflective music from Bach’s Passion According to St Matthew, despite arrangements to secure the services of a flautist and an organist especially for the occasion.
Instead the congregation was subjected to a 15 minute sermon, on a day when the long Gospel reading is usually followed by a brief … Continue reading
ABC TV Compass Program
Friday April 14 2006
It was lovely to see Ted again, his kindly face, quick intelligence, his compassion in spades, his capacity to recognise the life transforming moments in the everyday. Nurtured by the insights of poets and other artists, and ever attentive to the stories and needs of people he’d just met or knew well, Ted had the imagination, compassion and maturity to inspire. He built loving and trust-filled relationships.
There were lots of things the show didn’t touch on, including Ted’s love of Baxter’s poetry and his capacity to bring … Continue reading
Prayer 1:
Let us pray for the sun and the everlasting glory of its daily death. May its gentle warmth nourish our soul. May each lingering sunset broaden our imagination and strengthen our conviction for a fairer world.
Prayer 2:
Let us pray for the heavenly birdsong that springs forth from all trees. May we listen intently to their rapturous melody and share some of their joy with this troubled world.
Prayer 3:
Let us pray for the ocean and those marvellous creatures that live within her womb. May they keep … Continue reading
Continuing the theme of this Holy Week, the words of John Paul II highlight the richness of Aboriginality, “The establishment of a new society for Aboriginal people cannot go forward without just and mutually recognized agreements with regard to these human problems. You, the Aboriginal people, must show that you are actively working for your own dignity of life. You must show that you can walk tall and command the respect which every human being expects to receive from the rest of the human family. The Gospel of Jesus speaks all languages. It embraces all cultures. It uplifts and it … Continue reading
In the talk at Alice Springs the Holy Father went on to say “Some of the stories from your dreamtime legends speak powerfully of the great mysteries of the human life, its frailty, its need for help, the closeness to spiritual powers and to the value of the human person. It is wonderful to see how people, as they accept the Gospel of Jesus, find the points of agreement between their own traditions and those of the Jesus of history”. But then John Paul brings us into the context of this Good Friday when he continues “So many of you … Continue reading
Prayer 1:
Dearest Lord, let us look outside these walls and feel the heartbeat of a city in pain. The construction of roads and buildings, the toxic emissions from our cars, the media’s obsession with appearance and folly – these are transient tragedies that empty our collective soul of the rich spirituality that we all possess. Let us return to the land and embrace the pulse of the natural world. With complete sincerity and eternal love, we lower our heads and pray for the earth.
Lord hear us…..
Prayer 2:
Dearest God, let us … Continue reading
Today we celebrate the Last Supper.
Welcome to our little community here in Redfern. Today is a day that has a special sense of the sacred. We enter into a mystery of the Other. It is the God within our midst and we share in unraveling this sublime mystery. We partake of a meal but more profoundly we experience the sacred in a way that transcends words and proofs. We are part of a mystery that is beyond mystery. It is to use the words of Judith Wright “Where wisdom shells the words away, where the sun joins earth to … Continue reading