pathways, August 2009
Daring to imagine, willing to risk ... Mary Ward Justice lecture, Sydney, August 25
Women: Gathering, Affirming, Celebrating ... the Council for Australian Catholic Women, Canberra, August 26-28
And you shall be my witnesses ... CLRI(NSW) Social Justice Committee, Sydney, September 9
Embrace the other and welcome difference ... Sisters of Mercy Institute, Canberra, November 6-8
Creation spirituality retreat weekend/week ... Shoalwater near Rockingham (WA) November 6-8 or 6-12
Daring to imagine, willing to risk
The seriousness of social transformation will be tinged with comedy when the 2009 Mary Ward Justice lecture is presented Sydney later this month. The lecture, Daring to imagine, willing to risk - keys for social transformation, will be presented by Irish Loreto sister Pat Murray and comedian Josephine O'Reilly at Loreto Kirribilli, Sydney, on August 25.
Sr Pat is an educator who has worked in social justice and education for change over many years. She spent six years on the General Council of the Loreto Sisters and recently completed her PhD in the United States. She is currently Executive Director of Solidarity with Southern Sudan, a joint venture of the Superiors General of International Religious Congregations.
Ms O'Reilly, a past student of Loreto Kirribilli, is now based back in Australia after writing and performing around the world with the Irish comedy trio, the Nualas, and the American comedy company, Boom Chicago. She is a national improvisation and Theatresports champion; she has performed at the Edinburgh, Sydney and Melbourne comedy festivals and recorded a radio series for the BBC. She has performed at sell-out seasons in London and New York.
Loreto in Australia by Mary Ryllis Clark and published by UNSW Press) will be launched ahead of the lecture.
The function begins at 6pm. Bookings are essential as seating in limited.
Women: Gathering, Affirming, Celebrating
A celebration of the gifts and ongoing participation of women in the Church will be held in Canberra later this month.
Delegates from around Australia will also reflect on what has been achieved and what is yet to be realised 10 years after the publication of the report Woman and Man One in Christ Jesus. They will draw on scripture, contemporary life and their inner spirit to affirm and re-energised each other.
Keynote addresses will be given by Sr Sonia Wagner SGS - Woman and Man: one in Christ Jesus a retrospective - and Genevieve Jacobs - Celebrating being a Catholic Woman in Australia.
Sr Sonia was a member of the research and planning group for the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) 1995-2003 and then a member of the Commission for Australian Catholic Women that resulted from that research. Ms Jacobs hosts a Canberra ABC radio afternoon program.
The New South Wales representative on the CRA National Council Marie Duffy RSM (Goulburn) will represent CRA at the conference. Australian dioceses have been invited to send two representatives each to the conference.
The conference, Women: Gathering, Affirming, Celebrating, from August 26-28, in Woden, will be organised by the Office for the Participation of Women, for the Council for Australian Catholic Women and the ACBC.
And you shall be my witnesses
The CLRI(NSW) Social Justice Committee will host a seminar for congregational social justice coordinators and congregational members based on the 2009 Social Justice Sunday statement, And you will be my witnesses: young people and justice.
Through the statement, Australia's Catholic bishops will remind Australians of Pope Benedict's challenge during World Youth Day: What legacy will you leave young people yet to come? What difference will you make?
Many young people witness to the gospel as "ambassadors of hope" but others face injustices that prevent them taking up the challenge, leaving them disempowered, excluded and deprived of basic dignity. Of many such issues, the bishops discuss four: the plight of indigenous youth, those excluded from employment, mental health and prevention abuse; as well as the environment and global justice and development.
The seminar will be facilitated by Suzette Clark RSC and Claude Mostowik MSC on Wednesday, September 9, from 2-5pm, at the Good Samaritan Centre, 2 Avenue Rd, Glebe. Cost: $35; registrations close on August 25.
Embrace the other and welcome difference
Leading social justice practitioners, thinkers and advocates will give input to a mercy justice conference that will focus on the specific issues of the needs of the earth, indigenous communities, refugees and asylum seekers and the impact of poverty on women.
Speakers will include 2009 Australian of the Year Mick Dodson, scientist and environmentalist Tim Flannery, Walkley-award winning ABC journalist Margot O'Neill, theologian Jan Gray RSM, refugee workers and academic Maryanne Loughry RSM, women's advocate Madge McGuire and refugee advocate and friend of Cambodia Denis Coghlan RSM.
The aim of the conference is to enable people of all walks of life to be more informed about social issues and to encourgae them to reflect, to network and to act.
"We (look forward to welcoming) politicians, community and religious leaders, members of disadvantaged communities, teachers and educators, young adults, community and health workers and anyone interested in making a compassionate and practical response to urgtent local and global needs," said Mercy Institute President, Nerida Tinkler RSM.
The conference will use open space processes and feature comedians, singers and storytellers.
Embrace the other and welcome difference will be held at the Queanbeyan Conference Centre, November 6-8.
Creation spirituality retreat
"O Lord, how manifold are your works. In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creation." ps 104
Sr Shelley Barlow RNDM and Br Michael Godfrey CFC will offer a weekend/week retreat on creation spirituality at the St John of God Retreat Centre, in Shoalwater near Rockingham, one hour south of Perth later this year.
Sr Shelley offers retreats and teaches The New Story of Creation at Perth's Maranatha Institute of Adult Faith Education.
She said: "A retreat is a special time. It is a time to touch Divine Mystery as it is being revealed today; a time to grow in communion with our creator God and all that divine love has called into being. It is a time to think and wonder about the very mystery of life."
Having undertaken courses in North America and Ireland, Br Michael has recently offered retreats and creation spirituality programs in East Africa.
He said: "Theology is searching today for a new way of understanding God and creation in the light of contemporary knowledge.
"Scientific discoveries have taken us beyond the truths we held when we were younger. Come aside for a while. Allow yourself to be entranced with the wonder of the universe."
Sr Shelley and Br Michael are offering a weekend November 6-8 or a full week November 6-12, 2009.
The St John of God Retreat Centre is set on several hectares of landscaped gardens opposite a picturesque coastline and close to the rugged headland Point Peron. A chapel provides space for prayer, reflection and liturgical celebration.
Top of page
