Reimagining the future IMAGE Aurora

Reimagining the future

May 05, 2018 Comments Tracey Edstein

There’s a butter churn in the dining room of Rita Gee’s home, “Dalara”, at Jerry’s Plains in the Upper Hunter. Rita recalls that she used it as a girl, growing up on a succession of Hunter Valley dairies run by her parents.

New ambulance the most vital delivery yet for Uganda maternity hospital IMAGE Aurora

New ambulance the most vital delivery yet for Uganda maternity hospital

May 05, 2018 Comments Mark Toohey

It wasn't quite the delivery they are used to, but for Sister Mary Goretti and her small staff at St Luke Health Centre in Bujuni, it is one that will save hundreds of lives. The maternal health centre, located three hours from Kampala, can finally celebrate the arrival of its long-awaited ambulance, which supporters in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle helped to fund during last year's Catholic Mission Church and Schools Appeal.

Sea of Possibilities IMAGE Aurora

Sea of Possibilities

May 05, 2018 Comments Bishop Bill Wright

‘Have you been here before?’ they all seem to ask, conscious that their corner of the world has not been high on the tourist bucket list. And I am revelling in being able to say ‘Yes, but not for 50 years.’ Papua New Guinea was even more remote from the jetset in 1968, but the schoolboy that I was then had indeed spent a fortnight or more on a tour with his father of the incipient banking industry of the soon-to-be nation. Many things I remember vividly.

Love life but don’t fear death IMAGE Aurora

Love life but don’t fear death

May 05, 2018 Comments Tracey Edstein

In keeping with the diocesan vision to live the joy of the Gospel and share it with the world, the 2018 Family Faith Forum will explore the potential of parishes to be centres of living and proclaiming the Gospel.

Grief was permitted to walk with me IMAGE Aurora

Grief was permitted to walk with me

May 05, 2018 Comments Benita Tait

Last August, I told a friend I was “allowing my days to unfold in their own unique ways”. I was feeling stunned and in absolute awe of the beauty in the natural world surrounding us, and my regular walks amongst the trees provided my safe and sacred space. “Here,” I said, was “where I entered a space of nothingness”, suggesting that perhaps this is what surrendering really looks like – a place where there are no goals or purpose, other than to rest and absorb the wonder. With no planning or agenda in sight I was free to ‘be’, hope and trust.

St Nicholas Early Education invests in its educators IMAGE Aurora

St Nicholas Early Education invests in its educators

May 05, 2018 Comments Joanne Isaac

There are many things that make St Nicholas Early Education the early education provider of choice for many families across the region, such as the quality and ingenuity of the purpose-built centres, the play-based curriculum and the high ratio of early childhood teachers and staff to child ratios.

Vatican images inspire local artist IMAGE Aurora

Vatican images inspire local artist

May 05, 2018 Comments Monica Scanlon

Regular visitors to Sacred Heart Cathedral, Hamilton, will have noticed that for the major church seasons of Lent, Easter and Christmas, the four brown panels of the entrance doors are adorned with poster-sized images and verses.

More than meets the eye! IMAGE Aurora

More than meets the eye!

May 05, 2018 Comments Steve Biddulph

How do we raise girls to be strong and free? It actually starts in the toddler years.  They need encouragement and permission to be adventurous, messy, noisy and physical. 

Young people the protagonists of their own futures IMAGE Aurora

Young people the protagonists of their own futures

May 05, 2018 Comments Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle

In October there will be a Synod of Bishops on the theme “Youth, faith and vocational discernment.” In March this year, as Sean-Patrick Lovett wrote, “Pope Francis opened the pre-Synodal meeting in Rome…with a provocation: “Too often we talk about young people without asking what they think,” he said. There are those, said the Pope, who tend to “idolise” youth, and others who prefer to keep young people “at a safe distance”, rather than allowing them to be the protagonists of their own futures. (The Vatican 19 March 2018).

 

Coming of age a matter of faith IMAGE Aurora

Coming of age a matter of faith

May 05, 2018 Comments Gabrielle Lynch

Gabrielle Lynch responded to an invitation to reflect on the Church during the Year of Youth initiated by the Australian Catholic Bishops.

Are you a Sophia woman? IMAGE Aurora

Are you a Sophia woman?

May 05, 2018 Comments Judith Lynch

I’m old enough to remember the heady years that followed Vatican II, when small groups were all the go and Catholics began to talk more freely about their faith. For the first time I noticed how women talk about their lives.

Powerful libraries make powerful learners IMAGE Aurora

Powerful libraries make powerful learners

May 05, 2018 Comments Amy Theodore

No longer just a quiet place to sit and develop literacy skills, school libraries have evolved into engaging, forward-thinking contemporary learning hubs.

Maitland woman attends UN Commission focusing on rural women IMAGE Aurora

Maitland woman attends UN Commission focusing on rural women

May 05, 2018 Comments

Aberglasslyn’s Madeleine Banister recently represented the Catholic Women’s League of Australia at the 62nd United Nations Commission for the Status of Women. She shared her experiences with Aurora.

 

West Papuans cry out for freedom IMAGE Aurora

West Papuans cry out for freedom

May 05, 2018 Comments Australian Catholic Social Justice Council

After more than 50 years of repression, the indigenous people of West Papua hold on to the belief that one day they can reclaim their country.

Norman Thomas Gilroy: An Obedient Life IMAGE Aurora

Norman Thomas Gilroy: An Obedient Life

May 05, 2018 Comments Nick Mattiske

Norman Cardinal Gilroy was one of Australia’s most influential churchmen, but his talent for administration rather than controversy and tendency to hide his private thoughts and feelings has meant that he is neglected in historical evaluation, a lack John Luttrell’s Norman Thomas Gilroy: An Obedient Life addresses.

Pea and ham soup IMAGE Aurora

Pea and ham soup

May 05, 2018 Comments Bartholomew Connors

As the temperature drops, soup season begins! This is a tasty traditional favourite.

God is Us IMAGE Aurora

God is Us

May 09, 2018 Comments

As I write, I know that you will be reading this long after I have written it.

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