2017 Ends on an Upbeat Note
Published: 12 December 2017
Augustinian ministries in eastern Australia have experienced a busy year.
There are parishes under the care of the Augustinians in Mareeba, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, a missionary delegation in South Korea, a number of special ministries in Australia, Thailand, Rome and the Philippines, and a student formation community at Brookvale in Sydney.
Australian Catholic Youth Festival, Sydney, December 2017
Six of these ministries had participants and their accompanying Augustinians at the Australian Catholic Youth Festival that was held in Sydney on 7-10th December 2017. The Augustinians also conducted an information booth at the Festival, and shared it with Augustinian Volunteers Australia.
Fr Saldie Resolado OSA, one of the Augustinians who attended the Festival said, ““The entire event was very informative and practical about how to live a good Christian life, and the guest speakers were greatly encouraging. The Festival offered the youth a chance to talk with one another about their experience of spirituality, and to see that they were not alone on this journey.”
On the previous weekend, an Augustinian was ordained a deacon within St James’ Parish in Coorparoo (Brisbane), at which the Order ministers. The ordaining prelate was Most Rev Mark Coleridge, the Archbishop of Brisbane. Brother Dang, now a deacon, will continue gaining pastoral experience in the Parish en route to his goal of priesthood. His diaconate was the subject of an article on the Catholic Leader.
Ordination to the Diaconate, St James’ Church, Coorparoo, December 2017
There are two Augustinian colleges in Australia, i.e., Villanova College (founded 1948) at Coorparoo in Brisbane, and St Augustine’s College (founded 1965) at Brookvale in Sydney. Both instruct male day pupils in upper Primary School, Middle School and Senior School, and each presently enrols approximately 1,200 students. At these Order-owned Colleg3es, Augustinians are part of the chaplaincy team.
In his recent 2017 end-of-year messages at a school assembly and in the Parents’ Newsletter, Mr Jonathan Byrne, Principal of St Augustine’s College, spoke about expectations for the Christmas season. Some of his paragraphs are printed below.
End-of-Year Assembly 2017 at St Augustine’s College, Brookvale, NSW
“With the school year coming to a close and the commencement of Advent, the proliferation of cards and presents signals the end of the year. There is that moment when we must remind ourselves that this is a season of giving, not taking. Our challenge is to find time and space to reflect on the meaning of Jesus and to do this with our families. Christmas is a focal point and offers us the opportunities to act in our faith in ‘service to others’. St Augustine’s College offers a community that cares for those in need, it starts with how we care for each other and we do that with an integrity and respect that is humbling.”
“Today at the College assembly, I have reminded our boys to make a decision to contribute to someone else, as an aspect of service by giving a gift to someone in need, mowing a neighbour’s lawn, babysitting for new parents, cleaning a sibling’s room, or to overtly recognise others by just saying thank you, thank you for being a friend, a teacher or my Mum or Dad.”
