Griffo (Garry Griffiths) died after a long illness on 5 October 2011 in Kempsey.
His life was celebrated at St Vincent’s, and then at the Redfern Community Centre at The Block, last Wednesday. (Photos)
Griffo was a great friend of the community and of Ted Kennedy. (see Griffo’s tribute to Fr Ted, and Griffo’s grief ).
The emu and goanna on the church mural are a part of his legacy (see The great St Vincent’s break-in).
I saw Marnie at the Hospice two weeks ago last Saturday. We talked about the gospel for today’s mass. Marnie said she had thought about having the Beatitudes, but on reflection she preferred today’s reading from Matthew. I asked her why.
She said with clarity and purpose, ‘It is more explicit and more demanding’. That’s how Marnie thought.
Ted would often say during his Eucharistic prayer, ‘We thank God for people who come into our lives and challenge us to grow’.
In the more than twenty years that I knew Marnie she set … Continue reading
Stephanie was in Year 3 in 1995, and had been given a letter writing assignment. The project required that she write a letter to a grandparent asking specific questions about the older person’s childhood. Because Stephanie’s grandmothers both lived very close by (one in fact in the family home) she thought to write to Pat, a person of the same age group.
This is Pat’s reply.
Continue reading
Three priests, Fr Ted Kennedy, Fr Fergus Breslan & Fr John Butcher arrived at St Vincent’s Redfern at the end of 1971. Their vision was to establish a new way of priestly life where each was equal, where they would be free to engage in community life and where their house, the presbytery, and for that matter, the Church, would be open houses of welcome for all, particularly the poor and marginalised.
Sister Pat Durnan or Sister John, as she was then known, was a woman drawn to that vision of Church. Although by nature quite conservative, Vatican II and … Continue reading
One of the Church Mouse banner images – those at the top of the page that keep changing – that seems to attracts more attention than all the others is from a photograph of a framed image hanging in the back of the church.
It is a print of a work entitled “The First Supper” by Australian artist Susan Dorothea White, who says:
I was inspired to paint The First Supper after Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, by the narrative drama and magnificent composition of Leonardo’s painting. I wanted to … Continue reading
The following "Letter by Fr Terry Concerning St Mary’s", posted on the St Mary’s Catholic Community South Brisbane website, so clearly sums up what is happening in the Catholic Church in general and in places like St Mary’s and St Vincent’s in particular that it would be remiss of the Church Mouse not to bring it to your attention.
There are many who believe the Catholic Community of St Mary’s in South Brisbane should have made compromises to sort out its difficulties with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.
To suggest that compromise is possible in this situation … Continue reading
T
he Vigil Mass this evening was beautiful just because the church was filled with people with love in their hearts. It was warm and cheerful….
One could not stop smiling…..and…the…singing….WOW!!!!!!
Thank you everyone….
Have a lovely blessed Christmas…..
God Bless
Ann
The St Vincent’s community regularly sets aside the last Sunday of the month to enjoy a cup of tea and a leisurely chat after Mass. Guests are especially welcome, and the broad spectrum of "Redfernites" who visit the parish infrequently for many and varied reasons are heartily encouraged to mark their diaries accordingly.
Last Sunday, special guests singer-songwriter Amanda McKenna, and her husband Brian Coyne, editor of Catholica (formerly Catholica Australia) accepted an invitation to get together with the community.
They generously shared stories of their own journeys; Amanda sang a selection of her compositions and Brian spoke passionately … Continue reading
Encomun is a Spanish collective of some 30 Christian communities from Madrid. Their blog is intended to serve as a virtual meting place for the communities. Intrepid translator, Joe C., has produced this English version of Part 2 of a recent article entitled WYD08 in Sydney and the parish of Redfern that the Mouse stumbled across during the week.
Many thanks for your support, members of Encomun.
It’s some time now, a couple of years, that I have been following the vicissitudes of a small Australian parish community, that of St Vincent’s in Redfern, a poor suburb … Continue reading
Last Sunday the community celebrated a special Mass in honour of the 96th birthday of one of its members, Eileen. Photos may be viewed here. The following message of thanks comes from one of Eileen’s daughters: Dear all
Many thanks for the humungous effort you all put into making yesterday such a memorable and joyful event for Eileen. Eileen was deeply moved, as were we her family. It was wonderful to feel the joy of the Redfern community, and to know that we are capable of recovering a spirit of optimism untarnished by the tensions, hurt and so many … Continue reading