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Reconciliation

Reconciliation Australia has launched the State of Reconciliation Report to mark 25 years of the movement.

https://www.reconciliation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/The-State-of-Reconciliation-

May 2016

Aboriginal Catholic Ministry

5 Baker Avenue, Perth WA 6000, Australia

Mail: PO Box 8111, Perth WA 6849

Tel: (08) 9328 7529 Fax: (08) 9227 0732

Email: acm@perthcatholic.org.au

SUNDAY MASS AT EMBLE-

TON HAS AT 11AM, HOLY

TRINITY CATHOLIC

CHURCH WITH BEAUTIFUL

MUSIC LED BY SR MARGA-

RET SCHARF.

FATHER EMIL”S

FAREWELL MASS at

11:00am

Sunday 1st May 2016

Please come along and

join us to say

THANK YOU

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Our playgroup is facilitated by an Aboriginal Playgroup leader and provides families a safe and supportive environment where babies and children can have fun and learn through play.

When: Wednesday’s from 9.30 am – 11.30 am during school term

Where: St Maria Goretti’s Catholic School64 Morrison Street, Redcliffe

Ages: Babies to 4 yearsCost: Free of Charge, morning tea is provided

Enquiries 6279 2000 – Tenelle or Leanne

ABORIGINAL

Non Catholics are welcome to attendTransport available by arrangement

Like us on Facebook

Community BBQ

Mass—Tomato Lake Fr Joseph & Sr Frances

Sunday 29th of May Af-

ter 11am Mass Lunch

and Reconciliation

Week- Yarning Aborigi-

nal Catholic Faith

Journeys @ Embleton

ACM Community Meeting & Open Forum: We want your IDEA,

SKILLS AND

EXPERIENCES: Sunday 15th May

The Aboriginal Catholic Council would like to invite all community members to our first of many Community Forums. These meetings are an opportunity for anyone from the Aboriginal Catholic Community to come and rifle, share ideas and discuss future projects and initiatives for the Abo-riginal Catholic Ministry.

The first one is on Sunday the 15th of May after the 11am Mass from 1230pm-2pm in the Emble-

ton Parish Hall and it is hoped these will occur every 3 months or so.

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ACM Activities

Sunday the 17th of April Normal

11am Mass Embleton

Sunday the 24th of April 11am Mass Embleton

Sunday 1st of May Fth Emil’s Farewell Mass 11am

Sunday 8th of May Normal 11am Mass Embleton

Sunday 15th of May- After 11am Mass Lunch and ACM Commu-nity Yarning, Past Present and Future 12- 2pm (Pentecost)

Sunday 22nd of May Normal 11am Mass Embleton (Holy Trinity Sunday)

Thursday 26th May Sorry Day (Wellington Park) 9:30am

Sunday 29th of May- After 11am Mass Lunch and Reconciliation Week- Yarning Aboriginal Cath-olic Faith Journeys @ Embleton

Tuesday 31st of May- Morning Tea with Archbishop Tim Cos-tello

Sunday the 5th of June Normal 11am Mass Embleton

Sunday the 12th of June Normal 11am Mass Embleton

Sunday the 19th of June Normal 11am Mass Embleton

Sunday the 26th of June Normal 11am Mass Embleton

Sunday the 3rd of July – NAI-DOC Mass with Bishop Don Sproxton.

Tuesday 31st of

May- Morning

Tea with

Archbishop

Timothy

Costello

10:00am—11:30am

Please come along

Tomatoes Lake Picnic Mass

Rob Riley Lecture

The 20th anniversary of Rob Riley's tragic passing is on May 1 this year. Curtin Universi-ty hosts the Annual Rob Riley memorial lec-ture and this year it is proposed for May 13.

Dive Deeper into Your Faith with ACM

Come join the ACM Team in participating in the DIVE DEEEPER course being run by the Centre for Faith Enrichment at the ACM Office on Wednes-day the 18th, 25th of May and the 1st of June from 12pm- 1pm. This is a short course that explores the questions of life, faith, meaning and our notions and understandings of God. We will be doing it at the office but you are welcome to sign up online at http://cfe.org.au/. Email vicky.burrows@perthcatholic.org.au to join in with us

Faith Story

Each newsltetter we will be sharing a different members of our communities Faith journey. If you

would like to share yours with the community. Send us an email

NATSICC Counsellor Shirley Quaresimin (nee AhChee)

I would like to think that my faith journey began the day I was born into a loving family and extended family. I

learnt from an early age that family was the most important part of culture, sharing, caring and giving.

My journey begins with my mother Marjory Watson, who was born at Noonkanbah in the Kimberley in 1914

on the Fitzroy River of the Nyikina tribe. My mother was taken away and sent to Beagle Bay mission on the

Peninsula 80kms from Broome where Sisters of Saint John of God and the German Pallottine Fathers and

Brothers who ran the mission. Mum did not talk much of what happened but said she loved the Sisters and

Fathers to bits. She went about her learning and loved religion. Mum was baptised there. She missed her

family deeply though during that time.

On her return to Derby she worked as a housekeeper before marrying my Dad which lasted 53 years before

Dad died. Mum always had in the corner of the room statues of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the Saints. This

was where prayers and the Rosary were said. Our place became a place where Bishop Raible, Sisters and

Priests would come as there was no church or presbytery in Derby in the early years. They were always

welcomed in our home. I remember Bishop Raible would play our old Pianoia.

In 1954 the first Catholic school opened in Derby. I was 8 years old and one of 20 students that attended the

school. The school was situated at the back of the old corrugated iron church. Sister Ignatius was

our first teacher and besides doing school work we would spend time cleaning and polishing the brass. For

me it was a time where I could be with God to talk to and feel his love and that I was special. I wish that all

kids could have that opportunity to experience of belonging.

That’s where the scripture classes began and the understanding about being a Catholic meant. Beside my

parents the Sisters of St. John of God and the Pallottine Fathers played a part in developing my faith journey.

The Sisters prepared us for life, to have the ability to be part of church and for young Aboriginal girls a mes-

sage/creed for living.

Moving to Perth and wanting my children to have the same experience of my faith journey, I turned up to the

local church to find I was the only Aboriginal person there. But my trust in God and the love He had for us

kept us going. I was commissioned as a Catechist for the Archdiocese of Perth and Special Minister of the

Eucharist. I taught scripture to after-school children at my then church parish for ten years. When you let

the love and trust of God into your life everything falls into place.

The passion for Catholic Aboriginal Education and equality led me to join the Catholic Education Office and

they gave me the opportunity to keep pursuing and learning and building on my faith journey. At this time I

joined the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry in the 1980s which I became Chairperson and part of NATSICC. Being

part of NATSICC led me to meet so many

Aboriginal people also passionate about their faith. I was there when the elders wrote the Aboriginal prayer.

It is still very emotional for me to have experienced such devotion by our elders.

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“Mercy At The Door” Luke 15:11-31

The Title of Reflection takes us to Verse 20. The Father full of Mercy and Compassion is waiting to embrace his son, who is returning after his loose

living. There could be many of us in this kind of situation of returning from our way wood life, we need to look at the Fathers Merciful face, and make

our way to him.

We acknowledge the overflowing Love and Mercy of God our Father he is very generous and forgiving our very sins and our mistakes and failures.

Our Response to God invitation must be like the sons response of realising his mistake and taking steps to return to the Father. The Father will surely

embrace us with extended his hands of love .

Reflection's by Fth Joseph and Reg.

At St. Joseph’s House of Spirituality in Baulkham Hills I had the chance to spend time with the Josephite Sisters. It

taught me so much more about faith and spirituality, the love of the Bible. Living with 90 nuns, 2 priests and a Brother

was strange for me. My highlight was doing a street retreat which took place in Sydney meeting Mum Shirley Smith. I

worked alongside her visiting the juvenile centres. We went one Sunday to the park to pray when I met the only Aborigi-

nal man. He asked me where I came from and I offered him a sandwich. He replied; “he had eaten at the Salvos and

would take me for a feed”. I thanked him and said no thanks. Did I meet God that day? I like to think I did because after

that I did not see another Aboriginal person.

I went to Ireland and Rome for the Beautification of Edmund Rice. My faith journey took me to another level to see Pope

John Paul and thousands of Catholics. I was lucky and grateful to have had my Grandmother Emily in my life as she

taught me how to understand my Aboriginal spirituality and Catholic faith. She was also a Catholic but did not lose her

own Spirituality.

I have respect for my humble beginnings from the early teaching from a loving family. It taught me to be respectful to

your elders, honesty, love, courtesy and to be grateful for what you have. On the day you are born God sets a path and

it’s up to us what path we want our journey to take. I believe what I have achieved through my life has been my faith in

God and those early teachings. I hope that I have been a role model for all the children and people I have met along the

way. I have taken a full circle after a long time away from NATSICC and now I am back on NATSICC, God has a plan,

it’s not over yet. I am so proud to be working with such dedicated people who ensure Catholic Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander people have a voice in the Church. Remember what Pope John Paul II said in Alice Springs; until the

ABORIGINAL people of Australia have made their contribution to the church, it will not be the church God wants it to be.

I thank my five children and husband for letting me pursue my faith journey through life and having them by my side.

“Halt at the Crossroads …… Ask Yourselves which is the way……. ……. Take the Risk ……. Walk the way ……. And

You will find Rest”

Jeremiah 6:16

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Kaya & Welcome Everyone, I would like acknowledge our traditional owners of this land past and present, who are no longer here with us, also pay respect to our elders for which the ground they walk on. It gives me great pleasure and a wonderful opportunity to be electected Chairperson of the ACM, Perth and I hope you all enjoy working within and being apart of the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry (ACM). I would also like to congratulate all other new members of our committee, and the new appointment of the Coordinator Vicky Burrows. I hope we all can work together for a good positive outcome and good

working relationship for the benefit of all. I would like to encourage more families and friends to come along to the Aboriginal Catholic Parish, Embleton as we are starting to grow more with families and friends attending on a regular basis. We need to spend more time with the Lord and be motivated by the love of Jesus and make that pathway one of our duties plain to us and keep us in it to the end. Thank you Father Emil for the 7 years with the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry, its been a great pleasure to have known you, and I hope you all the best in everything you do. A Big thank you to all this includes, Father Joseph who is now our new part time Chaplain, DON-NA, REG, Sr Francis, Karen Ryder, Shirley, Donella, Sr Margaret the singing Nun and everyone who has helped out in making this successful. Keep up the good work. In closing, I would like to reassure that I'm fully committed to work together towards the benefit of all Catholic Noongar & other Aborig-inal & Torres Strait Islander people and the wider community.

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon. GOD BLESS Charon Ryder Chairperson

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Kaya Community - Christ is Risen! LIFE trumps over death HOPE over despair LOVE over hate.

I hope Easter was a good time of reflection and renewal for you and your family. Easter is an important time for all Christian’s as we celebrate, commemorate and participate in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. So of you may know that I am a pretty happy person and like to see the positive things in situations. Now whilst

I might have a temperament that is that way inclined, I will let you in on my little secret and it has some-thing to do with Easter. I am a resurrection person, a person who has been moved and is continually moved by the resurrected Jesus Christ in my life. I am thankful for my relationship with Jesus (one that has grown in the stillness of prayer, in the busyness of action and the everyday encounters with people) which fills me with an Easter JOY. A Joy that doesn't mean things are always easy, but a joy that helps me see hope meaning and beauty in my present reality and that which is to come.

This risen Christ is also the Christ who became incarnate (embodied human form) and walked this Earth (which was/is GOOD, hence we are also GOOD), experienced a death on a cross and yet his resur-rection transcends all pain and suffering. Easter reminds me that suffering is never the last word and with Christ our deaths and losses are able to be transformed by God.

I’ve had some pretty hard Easters of heartbreak and pain one in particular is always in my mind. On Good Friday 2009 I had the terrible task of admitting my Father to hospital. He was in a very bad shape, his multiple sclerosis has gotten the better of him and as a stubborn former nurse he had not been look-ing after himself. He needed help but didn’t want to ask. During Holy Thursday Mass I got a call from my Granddad in tears as he has just seen his son so unwell. That night Christ’s washing of his disciple’s feet became more real to me than ever before, I needed to wash my father’s feet and serve him. At 3pm on Good Friday my Dad was in his hospital bed and by his side I reflected on the pain and suffering of Christ and in that moment felt God saying to both of us, I am here in your pain, but hang on together we can transform this through Jesus into something good. That weekend I saw a change in my Father from a man denying his illness to a man who had accepted that he needed others to serve him. By Easter Sun-day I was sitting next to a different person. Over the next few months, he seemed a happier person. Whilst my Father has gone to be with God I know that we experienced the Easter Joy together which saw something terrible turned into something we could both handle with hope.

ACM Update:

I’ve now been in the role for 3 months and together we have been having many conversations about our past, present and future hopes for the Aboriginal Catholic Community and ministry. These have been very insightful, challenging and inspiring. Some of these conversations have been one on one and others in a group. In this edition of the Newsletter you will see the fruits of some of these discussion and we hope you can make it to the various events, Archbishops Morning Tea, Masses and community forums, especially on the 15th of May!

Once again, please feel free to contact me if you would like a yarn!

Peace

KIDS CORNER

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Heirisson Island

In 2008 a new master plan for Heirisson Island was adopted by the City of Perth. This plan integrates a pro-posed international quality sculpture park on the island and the construction of a footbridge over the northern channel of the Swan River. The footbridge will link Point Fraser to the island and provide a gateway to the proposed sculpture park. The sculpture park concept is being driven by a not for profit organization Heirisson Island Sculpture Park Inc. with the support of the City of Perth.

History

The earlier state of the Heirisson Island area The area around Heirisson Island is traditionally associated with the Beeloo Nyungah people who knew the small islands and mud flats as Matagarup, referring to the river as being "one leg deep". The island located on either side of the current causeway bridge was known as Kakaroomup. The Matagarup mud flats were the first major crossing point upriver from the river's mouth (at Fremantle) and were an important seasonal access way over which the Beeloo Nyungah gave other groups rite of passage across the river. The first European to visit the Heirisson Island area was the Flemish explorer Willem de Vlamingh in January 1697. He was explor-ing the Swan River in long-boats but only got as far as the Heirisson Island(s) because the mud flats impeded any further progress. Heirisson Island was named after French midshipman François-Antoine Boniface Heirisson, who was on the French ship Le Natural-iste, which was a scientific expedition led by Nicolas Baudin between 1801 and 1804. The expedition made several journeys up the river from Fremantle in long-boats and made the first maps of the Swan River. The island was named in June 1801. Captain James Stirling also investigated the area in 1827 just prior to settlement of the Swan River Colony in 1829. (Appleyard & Manford, 1979) Yagan's statue Yagan statue, Heirisson Island In September 1984 the Government of Western Australia erected a statue of Aboriginal warrior Yagan. In 1997 the statue's head was twice removed by vandals.[8] Tent embassy In 2012, the island was the site of a tent embassy, set up in February by Nyoongar people to raise community awareness about prob-lems with a government plan to extinguish most of the native title land in the southwest of Western Australia that was recognized in 2006 by Justice Wilcox of the Federal Court of Australia.[9][10] The Nyoongar Tent Embassy was intended to be a peaceful affirma-tion of native title to Nyoongar country and legitimate use of a state-registered Aboriginal Heritage Site,[11] and was inspired by the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra.[10][11] However, there were many claims made of rocks being thrown at passing boats.[12] The tent embassy was removed by police in March 2012.[13] Refugee camp In early March 2015, a group of Aboriginal activists set up what they referred to as a refugee camp after the state government an-nounced plans to close some remote Western Australian Aboriginal communities.[14] The camp was removed ten days later by City of Perth rangers, with police support,[15] but gradually reassembled and was occupied by about 100 people when it was dismantled again by police and City of Perth rangers in late April 2015.[16] People still remain at the site as of 21 March 2016 and the City of Perth has been ordered to return all the property taken in raids as Matagarup (Heirisson Island) is a Registered Site with the Govern-ment of Western Australia Department of Indigenous Affairs

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ACM & State of Reconciliation Report

The State of Reconciliation Report is a must read for all Catholics, and all Australians to ground our-

selves in a realistic yet hopeful future for relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

and the wider community. It looks back on the last 25 years of the Reconciliation Movement in Austral-

ia and provides a vision and recommendation for the future of the Movement. We have come a long

way but still have a long way to go and it is important that faith communities including the Catholic

Church continue to play our role in our Church and the wider community.

Reconciliation is not the work of a few people but of all Australians. In his 1986 visit to Australia the

late John Paul the II spoke to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people saying “The church in Aus-

tralia will not be fully the Church Jesus wants her to be until you have made your contribution to her

life and your contribution has been joyfully received by others’. This is a church of reconciliation, inclu-

sion, culture and faith and thirty years later, his words are still relevant.

The Reconciliation Report present a five-part framework for reconciliation, and in the Catholic commu-

nity this will involve all of us in our communities committing to positive race relations and celebrating

Aboriginal contribution to Australia. It involved are our agencies and voices lending their energy to

working towards equality and equity for Aboriginal people. It asks that the whole community is fo-

cussed on unity in the Body of Christ, ensuring that our own Church institutional structures are full of

reconciliation integrity and that we work towards shared understanding and acceptance of our

history and for us to work towards healing.

Whilst there has been much pain for many Aboriginal people’s relationship with the Church for many

years the Catholic Church has a strong of working towards reconciliation and for the rights and oppor-

tunities of Aboriginal people. Today the Church has many agencies, schools, programs and individuals

who are following Jesus’s message of ‘loving our neighbours as He has loved us’ and embodying the

message that we are all one in Christ no longer “Jew or Gentile, Woman or man, Slave nor free.”

The Aboriginal Catholic Ministry and the Aboriginal Catholic Council are excited about working with

the Catholic Community to build up the faith life of Aboriginal people and to go on a journey of reconcil-

iation with the wider Catholic Community.

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Rose Walley, Noongar Women Parishioner St Vincent’s Kwinana and member of Aboriginal Cath-

olic Council Archdiocese of Perth

There is no denying the hurts and pain many Aboriginal people have experienced through the Church

and its roles in the Mission, however I look to my Mum Theresa Walley for hope as a women of for-

giveness, faith and culture. She has taught me that there is more to church than a building, more than

imperfect human but the Spirit of God, that is alive and active. It is this Spirit that has allowed her to rec-

oncile her faith, culture and experiences and place in the Church. Moving forward the Church needs to

work with community, to hear our pain to support and walk alongside us, support our culture and iden-

tity. This is our pathway to recovery, healing and a strong future. We need to build back trust, not just in

people but help our people build back there trust in God. We can stand us strong Aboriginal people

when we know and connect to God, we are grounded and can go out from here.

Relates to :

Past hurts cannot be healed by violence, nor are present injustices removed by resentment…. What can now

be done to remedy the deeds of yesterday must not be put off till tomorrow.’ JPII 1986

‘The Church invites you to express the living word of Jesus in ways that speak to your Aboriginal minds and

hearts’ JPII 1986.