John was diagnosed with bowel cancer and immediately hospitalised. Seven weeks later he passed away quietly at Caritas Christi.

His funeral will be at Holy Cross on Tuesday September 20th at 10.00am and he will be buried at Eltham cemetery.

Arrival
We are really delighted to see Pastor again. He arrived in time to celebrate the feast of Holy Cross with us.

News report
Kevie has been on the oval enjoying the sunshine this week.

Let the postulants take heart and come with good will, with a right intention, and with the right qualities, and they will find out from experience how sweet is the yoke of Christ, and how light his burden. They will experience true peace of heart, and, on their arrival, they will see this peace shining in the faces of their fellow-religious. They will see how kindly the leaders and formator treat them, how gently
they give corrections, and the mutual affection which exists among all the religious, who are all united as in one single heart in Christ Jesus”
(Paul’s letters 8/12/1720, in Let. I,8.)
On Friday September 8th, our three postulants Thăng, Dũng and Toàn were formally admitted to postulancy. This is a twelve month stage of formation prior to novitiate. Each of these men have been living with the Passionists for several years.
During the ritual they heard these words of advice from St Paul of the Cross.
“There is no need for the postulant to be fearful. Let him trust that all will be made easy with God’s help. This Congregation may seem frightening from a distance, but, seen from close up, it brings consolation and joy. This is evident from the fact that the Superiors are hard put to stop people doing too much, rather than too little. That would hardly be the case if it were as austere as some mistakenly believe and report it to be.

This weekend, the Catholic Church in Australia marks Safeguarding Sunday, during which we pray for those who have been abused, their families and supporters. We recognise and apologise for the harm done by priests, religious and lay people in Church settings and the systemic failure by leaders to respond appropriately and to have taken so long to listen to the pain of abuse survivors. Rebuilding trust and confidence in the Church requires constant work and vigilance. As part of the Passionist Family, we at Holy Cross seek to ensure that ‘Church’ will be a place where children and adults at risk feel safe and supported.

New community members
Our Holy Cross community will increase by 50% on Friday afternoon with the arrival of three Vietnamese postulants who will spend eleven months here studying English at ELSPM (The Passionist sponsored English Language Studies for Pastoral Ministry). Obviously their early weeks will be a challenge for them as they adjust to a very different culture where people speak a language that they have been told is English. Questions like ‘jurreckun? And ‘did you come her to die?’ make it difficult to think we are making sense when we speak English. We also have to learn how to pronounce their names. Thăng (Twan),, Thang (Tung) and Dũng (Jung)

Social Justice Sunday August 28th
The theme this year focuses on violence, and especially violence within families. Each year this day invites us to reflect more broadly on what a world would look like if everyone cared for all of Earth’s people. Social justice gives central place to the dignity of each human being. As we know, individuals or groups of people are not dispensable when they stand in the way of other people’s interests. We depend on others for our life in this world, for our education and all the things that shape our work and our lifestyle. We have a corresponding responsibility to take into account the good of all our fellow human beings in our actions and in all our institutions. This day invites us to reflect how other people are affected by our lifestyle.

Last Sunday, Tri spoke at 10.00am Mass about the growing number of Passionist vocations in Vietnam and the increasing costs associated with this growth. He asked for financial assistance if anyone could find themselves able to do so. We have seen a number of Vietnamese candidates come to Melbourne in order to learn English at our Passionist learning centre (ELSPM). This coming Saturday Joseph Quyen and Peter Thong will be ordained deacons in Saigon. You will remember them being at Holy Cross for their English studies.

Final profession: 13th Aug
This coming Saturday in Saigon, three Vietnamese Passionists (Joseph Đoàn, Tuấn Paul and James Công) will make a life-long commitment (final profession) and John Baptist Phi will renew his commitment.

One week later, Joseph Quyền and Peter Thống who spent time at Holy Cross as postulants, will be ordained deacons.

This Sunday Joseph Tuấn had hoped to speak at 10.00am Mass, but he may need to do that virtually. Tuấn was a novice classmate of Erick’s and he is conducting an appeal for the needs of Passionist life in Vietnam. More about that on Sunday.

Nazareth house
The sisters at Nazareth house, Camberwell have cared for a number of our men in their elderly years. Leo RIP, Dunstan RIP, Bro Charle RIPs, Chris Mithen, and from this week, Gerald Quinn, who has relocated from Hobart. This is a very big move for Gerald after spending 33 years in Hobart. The decision process is similar to what many families face, and letting go of long term relationships is sad and difficult.

The Holy Cross community held an anointing during Thursday morning Mass, with this photo showing Chris anointing Gerald before his departure for Nazareth House.

Tarbenacle wall

The Tarbenacle wall has now been fully installed as you can see above. There is only a lamp to be soon installed. A huge thanks to Andrew Concannon and Fernando for such a fine and quick job. All was done voluntarily. Many people commented that you would not tell that there was a gap in the first place. Now that is has been painted by the A Team, it looks as if it has always been that way. We wait to see what our previous community members, Frs Kevin Hennessy, John Curtis and others think when they visit us next.

World Day for Grandparents and Elderly.
This Sunday we can give thanks for the wonderful contribution grandparents are making to families. Thirty years ago, many grandparents seemed to be on the side-line, but nowadays with child-minding duties and other ways of being actively involved with families, they are making a great contribution. You would have heard Bill say to his children who adored their grandmother, “Yes, but that is not the same woman I grew up with”.

The definition of elderly is not commonly agreed to, or more accurately, not commonly admitted to. Medical practice tends to regard 65 and over as elderly. Bishops are asked to offer their resignation (and so are priests in many dioceses) at age 75. Whatever is admitted to, many of us at Holy Cross are in the bracket, and there is still abundant vitality, enthusiasm, generosity and good will. We give thanks for that gift to the church and community at large.