Snippets from Simon

Restrictions and Rations Then and Now Last weekend I recorded a message that referred to Paul Byrnes' book The Lost Boys  (pictured). It is an historical account of young men, indeed teenagers really, who went away to enlist in the armed services in World War I. I had opened the pages of that book because it was Anzac Day weekend and, as is often the case, was trying to enter into some of the original ANZAC experiences. As a youngster, I recall my own parents talking of their experiences during World War II. They used to talk of restrictions, rations and coupons. They usually had their own cow or chooks, so they didn’t need coupons for milk or butter or eggs. So they would swap with other families for coupons like flour. As we begin to understand what it feels like, what it seems like, in these days of the restrictions of COVID-19, I was wondering how some of the restrictions, including the struggles to buy some goods in the shops, was in someway similar to wartime ...

We have heard from some sources that the impact of isolation and lack of ability to access electronic information is becoming quite traumatic.   This can be especially so for some of our elder parishioners. Below are a few photos of places where some of them live. We know that some parishioners have been connecting with some people. They have been  dropping off things or running errands. Others have done phone or video calls to hear the voice or to see the smiling face. What a great thing to do! Not all of our elder parishioners can access all these things.  But they may be able to receive messages.  Some of us can remember when we were younger and our mothers or grandparents loved sending and receiving letters.  They would keep the letters for years and read them over and over.  A good example is of writer Roald Dahl and his Mother in Love From Boy . So, we are launching a request for parishioners to write in messa...

In these days some are finding it difficult to stay in touch with the Liturgy of our Church.  Some are going to the online Masses, like our own Canberra-Goulburn Catholic Voice .  Others are finding online Mass in other places.  We are still to find out about accessing online Mass for languages other than English and a 'Signed Mass' for the Hearing Impaired (Deaf) Community. The Universalis Website and App can help.  Here is a picture of what the app looks like on an iPhone. There are Android options too .  You need to know that there is a purchase fee up front.  When you set up the app, we strongly recommend that you go to the calendar part of it and set it up on Australia.   This is for a couple of reasons.  One, so that some of our special feast days and events will be included, e.g. Anzac Day, St Mary MacKillop.  Also, the app comes from the US of A and they use a different Lectionary (Bible translation) to us. In addition to th...

On the Prospect of Not Celebrating Easter this Year Will Christ not rise again This year For us? Is he in fact Still Dying among us? In those succumbed To COVID-19. Or is he Still Dead? Is he in the tomb With us? Quarantined from life Before rising Infected and decaying With the virulence Of toxins? Of needy-greedy panic Grabs at shopping shelves? As panicked voices Constantly ask questions What about this? Or that? What now? What now indeed. Will there be no people As the body of Christ Holding their candles Light in the Lord? Signs that Christ Has risen And shines In us and Among us? Or are we consigned To private piety, In our own place, So foreign To genuine faith That seeks to hold us together As parts of the body Of the Risen Lord? What of this distant, Isolated, Seclusion? Dying alone In the dark And waiting In the tomb? When will we rise? When shal...