Archdiocesan Office for Youth. Pray Witness Serve

CulturED Cafe presents Bishop Vincent Long

When: Thursday 2 February@ 7.30pm-9.30pm
Where: Cardinal Knox Centre (Cnr Landsdowne St and Albert Street, East Melbourne)

Join us at our first CulturED Café for 2012! Our guest speaker is Melbourne's first Vietnamese Bishop Vincent Long, an inspirational speaker who will discuss his fascinating life journey and work. CulutrED Café follows Six30 Holy Hour in the Cathedral.

Entry: $5 which includes a delicious dinner, drink and dessert.

For any enquiries, please e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 9412 3300.

Previous Cultured Cafe sessions...

Cultured Cafe presents... Fr Rob Galea

World Youth Day Madrid may have impacted millions of young people, but for many pilgrims it was the performance of young priest and singer Fr Rob Galea at the Australian Gathering that really struck a chord. Up to 150 young people from all over Melbourne packed into the Cardinal Knox Centre for Cultured Café, hosted by the Archdiocesan Office for Youth. Watch the interview:

Book a table. Build a school.

It was a special trivia night to help support Cabra Primary School in Mang'ar Tong, Sudan. The school was started by Melbourne-based seminarian Deng Chuor (originally from Sudan and now studying for the Archdiocese of Adelaide) in 2005. The school was founded on land that Deng's father gave him, with the original purpose being to provide catechism to a group of 40 students. Since then the school has grown enormously and in 2010 there were over 1,100 pupils! Many thanks to everyone who attended. Together we raised almost $1,000 which will go towards building classrooms and providing clean toilets for the students (there is no running water at the school and disease has plagued them). Here are a few photos Deng took on his last visit to the school:

Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations -- What's the diff?

Guest speaker David Schutz, Executive Officer for the Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Commission (EIC), spoke of his work in building bridges with other religions. Ecumenism, derived from the Greek word “oikos” means “household." It describes the household of God, referring to “all the people in God’s house”. The goal of Ecumenism therefore is the full visible unity of all Christians. This, however, is different from Interfaith Relations – which involves dealing with others not necessarily baptised in the faith. The aim is not to evangelise, but to dialogue with them – get to know them. A one-man team, David spend most of his time networking with other churches. His work involves regular meetings with the Anglican Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Uniting Church, the Bahai, Hindus, and Jews.

David says the dialogue needs to be ongoing – there is no point in simply ‘ticking the ecumenical and interfaith box’ after one dinner with another faith. It is an ongoing effort to build a lasting relationship. David made the point that by getting to know other faiths, it helps change the growing perception (in the secular world) that religion is the source of disunity. “When you start a friendship with other religions, the world out there gets a different idea of what religion is. At the moment, all religions are being condemned for being the cause of disharmony, wars, conflict... but if we can show them that religions can cooperate in a path to peace then I think we've scored something.”

Sister Act: Meet the Dominican Sisters from Tennessee!

Over dinner and dessert, young people heard from the engaging Sr Cecila Joseph and Sr Mary Rachel from the Dominican Sisters of St Cecilia. Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, the Dominican Sisters first came out to Australia in 2007 at the invitation of Bishop Anthony Fisher for World Youth Day Sydney. Along with a few other sisters, they were then asked by Cardinal Pell to stay on to work in religious education and participate in the renewal of religious life in Australia.

"Being in Australia is a new experience for us... the only other place (apart from Nashville) that we Sisters are based in is Rome. So staying in Australia is really a walk of trust," says Sr Mary Rachel. “There has been a really beautiful response from the young people we’ve met... we hold regular retreats and meet with those interested in religious life, walking with them to assist in finding out what God is calling them to."

The sisters themselves were just students when they received "the call". Sister Cecilia Joseph was at university when she heard about the Sisterhood and puts it down to 'the power of word of mouth'. "I had two friends already in the congregation, and I received many recommendations from priests and websites before I joined." she said.

While they say their personal journeys to religious life may not be as exciting as that of others, they did share that wearing their signature Dominican white habit is always a conversation starter. "Mostly it’s the kids who see us and then ask their parents if we are nuns. Some parents are unsure and come up to us and then we get to talking. One kid who saw us once said, "Mommy, it's an angel!"

The sisters currently teach Religious Education to students from years 7 to 12 at a Catholic School in Sydney. When asked if there were any differences between Australian and American students, Sr Mary Rachel said, "The desire is the same for all young people – they have a hunger for truth. Sure, they put up a fight - we all do, don't we? - but the hunger is there. What we do is present the facts, then share with them what the Church teaches. As the Holy Father says, 'the truth of itself is appealing."

Sr Mary Rachel shared that what stops young women from choosing religious life today was the ‘uncertainty’. "We seem to want 100% certainty in everything we do. This vocation, like any vocation, requires great trust in God. It's that whole idea of trusting that He indeed speaks to our hearts. When I entered the sisterhood, a priest told me, ‘You are not going to be 100% certain. But that's what faith is, isn’t it?’ Even when you enter into a marriage or any other serious commitment, you are never going to be 100% certain. You need to have faith."

 

The Challenge of Everyday Holiness (with visiting Professor Donna Orsuto)

Originally from Ohio, Donna Orsuto is the Co-founder and Director of the Lay Centre in Rome - an international residential community that seeks to foster the intellectual and spiritual growth of students enrolled in pontifical universities in Rome. She is also a Professor at the Institute of Spirituality of the Pontifical Gregorian University (Rome, Italy). She lectures extensively and gives retreats in various parts of the world.  Her most recent book is entitled Holiness (London: Continuum 2006) and explores the challenge of holiness and how ‘everyday’ people can embrace the call to holiness. She is involved in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, having served as a consultor for the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and as a member of the Commission for Ecumenism and Dialogue of the Diocese of Rome. Here is an article she has written that you might like to read: The Challenge of Lay Spirituality

 

There's Something About Mary!

On Thursday 29 April, we had a chat with Sr Rita Malavisi rsj, a Josephite Sister, about the upcoming canonisation of Mary MacKillop. Blessed Mary MacKillop will become Australia’s first Saint in October 2010. Sr Rita got everyone involved in making a timeline of Mary MacKillop's life, starting from her birth right here in Melbourne to her beatification in 1995 by Pope John Paul II. She also shared Blessed Mary's undying desire to provide a good education for less fortunate children, along with the infamous period of excommunication of our future saint. "Mary and the sisters (of St Joseph) were dedicated to their work in the school, but unfortunately there was some miscommunication between the sisters and the bishop at the time that caused a bit of strife. In the end it was all resolved and Mary, in her persistence and goodwill, continued to work for others."

For a more detailed tour through Blessed Mary's life and works, pay a visit to the Mary MacKillop Heritage Centre (Albert Street, East Melbourne) that is open daily from 10-4pm. It is a highly engaging exhibit that traces Mary's beginnings in Fitzroy, her stint as a governess, and then eventually to her life's work around Australia with Fr Woods and the Sisters of St Joseph. Visit http://www.marymackillop.org.au/index.cfm for more information.

 

Bishop Tim Costelloe SDB shares his love for Lord of the Rings!

In the first Cultured Cafe for 2010, we interviewed Bishop Tim Costelloe SDB, Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne and Episcopal Vicar for Tertiary Education. Below is a snippet from the night - where the bishop shares how he got his "call to be a bishop" in the carpark of Chadstone Shopping Centre!

After completing his theological studies, he was ordained to the priesthood at St Peter’s Church, East Bentleigh, on 25 October 1986, by Archbishop T. F. Little. He has previously taught Systematic Theology at the University of Notre Dame in Western Australia and at Murdoch University.Currently, he teaches at the Catholic Theological College here in Melbourne and is Auxiliary Bishop for the Northen Region of the Archdiocese. And here's something you didn't know about Bishop Costelloe... On the rare occasion he has a day off, the bishop enjoys sipping a cappuccino and re-reads(!) his Lord of the Rings book collection!

BINH THERE. DONE THAT! Getting to know FR BINH LE

Fr Binh Le, the Vocations Director for the Archdiocese of Melbourne gave us an interesting take on what it was like growing up the youngest of seven children and how being ina big family helped him in his vocation to the priesthood. Click below to watch some highlights from the night!

Born in Vietnam as the youngest of seven children, Fr Binh migrated to Australia in 1990 and settled in Braybrook, where he attended Chisholm College. After completing a Bachelor of Building Engineering, he worked as a sales and project engineer for three years. Realizing that life was about more than just money and success, he took a leap and through much prayer and discernment, recognized that it was in the priesthood that God was offering him true peace and happiness. Highly engaging and approachable (just ask any of the people in his parish youth group out in Laverton with whom he regularly goes bowling with!), Fr Binh was ordained in September 2008.

Walking the world with Sam Clear

In the 18 months that led up to WYD08, Sam literally walked (that's right, on foot!) across the four corners of the globe, inviting people of all ages and cultures to pray for unity amongst the Christian churches. With only his tent, muesli bars and gear in tow, he walked 15,500km to the eastern most point of Brazil, through South America, Central America and North America, across Siberia on the Trans-Siberian Railway and on foot again from Moscow to the western most point of Spain. The journey encompassed 20 countries and 10 languages, with Sam having to find food and water every day and relying on the hospitality of complete strangers. He was mugged at knife point, threatened at gun point, bashed on the side of the road, came face to face with dangerous animals and experienced temperatures from -33C to 47C.

Sam’s testimony was inspiring and his message was clear: God's love in action got him through the most incredible circumstances. Everyone is invited to join Sam in continuing to pray for peace by stopping for a prayer every day at 4.01pm. Read more about Sam's incredible journey at his blog: www.ymt.com.au/walk4one/