St Bernadette'S Catholic Church Carlton

For the final session of our "Challenges of the Times” series we have invited Daniel Ang, Director of Evangelisation in the Broken Bay Diocese as our speaker. He is also a member of the executive appointed by the Bishops to plan and implement Our Plenary Council 2020. Not to be missed!

YOUNG ADULTS GROUP Tuesday 11th September, 7:30pm
Calling all 18-35 year olds who are interested in faith, fellowship and fun!
... Are you keen to meet others and share your faith? Join us for the next session of the young adults group.
Tuesday 11th September, 7:30pm in St Bernadette’s parish hall (behind the church).
Hope to see you there. Giselle
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Thank you Fr Simon for introducing us to this well-proven program of spiritual exercises from St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. All who are committed to following Christ need to have an active prayer life in order to develop a close relationship with God. On pursuing this journey we shall encounter affective movements of spiritual “consolations” and “desolations”. Fr Simon explains what these terms mean and how the Ignatius exercises help us discern what i...s from God and what is from the “enemy,” and how we should respond to these “consolations” and “desolations”. The three practical suggestions Fr Simon offered are: 1) to slow down, 2) give time to do our nightly examin, and 3) to get a spiritual director or someone you can talk to about spiritual matters.
Below is a copy of the powerpoint presentation of his talk.
The next, and last in this series, talk will be on Wednesday 12th September. The speaker will be Daniel Ang who is the Director of the Office of Evangelisation in the Broken Bay Diocese and a member of the National Executive of the Bishops’ Conference Plenary Council 2020. His topic will be “Making Disciples in a Catholic Parish”. We hope you can make it.
https://drive.google.com/open…
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Click link below to find out more about the Feast Day of the Assumption of our Lady https://www.sydneycatholic.org/…/la…/ 2011/2011812_1809.shtml

There are many conflicting voices in our world, which obscure the gentle voice of God. St Ignatius of Loyola offers us some guidelines on how to pay attention to the voice of God who is always communicating to us in different ways. In this talk, Fr Simon Kitimbo, Vice Rector of the Seminary of the Good Shepherd, will explore the rules of discernment of spirits of St Ignatius and how these can help us to live a good spiritual life. All are welcome!

We are so proud to hear of the aged care services provided by CatholicCare today. Besides looking after our spiritual needs, the social services arm of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney is also providing the very necessary care services to enable our seniors to live independently in the community. One very important message from our speaker today is: don't wait till the last moment to seek help as there may be a long waiting list. Ring up CatholicCare on 131819 to find out what support system is there to assist our seniors to live life to the full.

We are most grateful to all those who braved the wintery night to attend the talk by Phil Glendenning on Thursday. Phil’s talk has been both informative and enlightening on the plight of the most marginalised in our society, eg. the refugees, the indigenous people ... From the Scriptures we learn that the justice of a society is tested and judged by its treatment of the poor. Phil challenges us to reflect on the causes of injustices in our society in light of theology and f...aith, to take action and be an agent of change.
Here is the link to Phil’s Powerpoint presentation. https://drive.google.com/…/1nFJfbkiZr4E _4qPTC8ueXjw3O…/view… Please feel free to download and share with family and friends.
Phil can be contacted through the Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Education. Phone: 8762 4200; email: erc@erc.org.au
Our next speaker is Father Simon Kitimbo, Vice Rector of the Good Shepherd Seminary
Date: Thursday, 16 August 2018, 7:30 pm
Topic: “Discerning God’s Voice”
We at St Bernadette’s Parish look forward to meeting with you.
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Pope Francis continues the emphasis the Church has placed on the need for Catholics to act on behalf of those in our Society lacking the basic necessities of life. In many recent homilies and statements he has particularly referred to the plight of refugees, migrants and those displaced by natural disasters. The challenges this places in front of Australian Catholics will be explored by Phil Glendenning, Director of the Christian Brothers’ Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Chairman of the Australian Refugee Council and formerly with Caritas Australia. All are welcome.

It is a “grammar of dialogue,” as pointed out by Pope Francis, that is able to “build bridges and ... to find answers to the challenges of our time”.
A video by the Congregation for Catholic Education
Educating for a Fraternal Humanism... Building a “civilization of love” 50 years after Populorum progressio
https://drive.google.com/…/1Ubd-D9fn2lC i7gop5qQ7qmVDb…/view…
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We thank Fr Gerard Kelly for sharing with us a thought-provoking presentation last night on "The Church as a Community of Dialogue". It is the quality of the church that we are a community of dialogue as we are all relational beings created in the image of a Trinitarian God. Fr Gerard quoted from Bible text how the church has been a community of dialogue since the very beginning, and recounted significant teachings of various popes’ on the topic over the past 60 years. If ...the Church is to stay relevant in the western society today, there is an urgent need for each and every Catholic to consider and act on these teachings. Fr Gerald also gave us three very practical suggestions: 1. Practice listening - the ability and willingness to hear what the other is saying from their hearts. 2. Start dialogue from what we have in common. It may be simply that we share a hope for the welfare of all people, even if we understand this differently. 3. Be open to receive the gift that the other is offering us and to accept the challenge to change.
Fr Gerald generously shared with us his full speech and his PowerPoint presentation in the links below. See also the video titled “Educating for a fraternal Humanism”, on building a “civilization of love” on our FB page.
Presentation: https://drive.google.com/…/0B1mwv06Ezr6 KRm1aSUZNbjgzZ…/view… Text: https://drive.google.com/…/0B1mwv06Ezr6 KdkZtZVNGY1BIS…/view…
Coming up is Lecture 6 of our series Challenges of Our Times: Speaker: Phil Glendenning Topic: The Preferential Option for the Poor Date: Thur, 19th July, 2018 at 7:30pm More details will come soon. Watch this space!
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At this time in our history many would argue that we have lost the art of dialogue. It has been replaced by an aggressive and polarising monologue, where people talk at each other rather than to each other. The Church has an important role to play in such a world, by offering a different approach. As a community of dialogue, the Church can be a model of what is possible when people learn once again the art of dialogue. In this way the Church will be an instrument in God’s p...lan for one new humanity (Cf. Eph 2:15-16).
Fr Gerard Kelly is a lecturer in Theology at the Catholic Institute of Sydney. He was President of the Institute from 2004 until 2017. He is also the editor of the Australasian Catholic Record. He is a member of the Lutheran–Catholic Dialogue in Australia and of the Faith and Unity Commission of the National Council of Churches in Australia.
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A BIG thank you to Ashleigh Green who gave us a snapshot into the world of the millennials, the “digital pure bloods”. Ashleigh is herself young and worked in the area where she had to deal with the many problems facing our youth on a daily basis. Yet her speech is so very encouraging and hopeful. Her enthusiasm and her faith inspires us all. Here are two important messages from her speech, you can click link below to read the full script.:
“Young people want the Church to... immerse itself in the world, confront issues head on and accompany young people as they navigate a changing world.”
“I believe that if we are to truly minister to young people, we need to be a Church that goes to the margins. We need to meet young people where they are, instead of wondering why young people aren’t coming to us.”
She offered three suggestions for all: create a culture of welcome and hospitality in our parishes; be a Church that goes to the margins and considers the needs of the youth who aren’t sitting in the pews; and look for more opportunities to mentor young people.
Our next Talk in the series is on June 13th. The speaker is Father Gerard Kelly from the Catholic Institute of Sydney. His topic is "the Church - a Community of Dialogue". We look forward to your attendance.
Ashleigh's full speech: https://drive.google.com/…/0B1mwv06Ezr6 KZVotUllNM0I1T…/view…
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Ashleigh Green's Lecture 4, The Challenges of Our Times Series
Video by Sean Dwyer Music: A While by Ikson feat. Carl Storm