My 1st few days in the land 'Down Under'...oi oi oi!
It’s been 6days now since I stepped foot on the land 'Down Under' – Australia, and I’m really enjoying it.
Though it’s very cold here but I’m slowly adapting to it. Fr. Mark, whom I’m staying with has been so generous with everything including sharing his clothing to warm myself. He has been convincing me that it will get warmer soon. I’m at New South Wales and it’s not as bad as in Melbourne where it is very-very cold.
I was fortunate to attend ‘Priesthood Enquiry Weekend’ on my 1st day here. From Unanderra where I am staying, we drove about 30-45min to Gerringong. A beautiful place where you see the hills and sea meet.
During this gathering I met interesting people (1 bishop, 3 priests, 1 seminarian and 6 aspirants-incl. some ex-seminarians). Unfortunately the battery on my camera was weak and I could not take many more pictures of the gathering. The 1st night was more of introductions and getting to know one another. On the second day, we had good reflective personal sharing. Then we drove about 15min to the country side name Berry for Mass and adoration at the Church of St. Patrick.
Church of St. Patrick, Berry
Eucharistic Celebration at St. Patrick's.(L-R: Fr. Patrick Vaughan, Fr. Richard Healey & Fr. Mark O'Keefe)
The Bishop of Wollongong, Rt. Rev Bishop Peter Ingham joined us for dinner and each of us had a chance of ‘chit-chat’ with him. From my 1st meeting with him, I find him to be a friendly, caring bishop who enjoys joking. He was kind enough to stay back for the last session which was a movie reflection that ended about 10pm. The following day we walked to the church for our Sunday Eucharist. The church is called Church of Mary, Star of the Sea. The gathering ended after lunch. It was indeed a fruitful event, especially for me. It gives me some idea on the priesthood and the vocations here.
Some of the priests and participants of Priesthood Enquiry Weekend.(L-R: Fr. Mark O'Keefe, Ronald Colman, Stephen Varney, Nigel Porter, Ernest Egelonu, Peter Zielinski, Adrian Mathews & Fr. Richard Healey)
During that whole weekend, my thoughts and prayer was also for the participants and seminarians at Penang, College General who were having a similar weekend called Vocation Stay-in Experience. I was told about 37 aspirants participated. Congratulations CG! God bless you all for nurturing the seeds of vocations on these 37 young men.
The Sunday evening I attended mass at the parish I am staying. It’s the Immaculate Conception Parish which is also a Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady. (Will write about the parish and publish some pictures of it 1day). It was a cold evening and I was shivering during mass but the parishioners I met after mass was warm. I talked to a few and found them all very welcoming. The mass here is a little different as in Malaysia, but I was able to follow. This is why we say the Catholic Church all over the world is a clear example of the saying; ‘Unity in Diversity’. One of the things that I am very impressed is that, the way the people here wishes the sign of peace. The don’t just nod like how we do back home, but shake hands with warm smiles and if they know your name, they will address you by it. After mass, Fr. Mark and I had pizza for our dinner and we talked way pass 1am. I’m happy with the food here; I hope to reduce my tummy by the time I go back home! Hehehe.
On Monday just before lunch Fr. Mark and I visited the parish school – St. Pius X. In the evening we had mass and prior to that we had the Monday devotion to Our Lady.
My friends, you were all in my thoughts during the prayer. Do pray for me too.
On Tuesday morning, I followed Fr. Mark to the Figtree Nursing Home for Mass and Anointing. We had the opportunity to go for a movie too, Tuesday here, is like our Wednesday back home where we get discounts at the cinema. Including the 2 of us, the Cinema had only 6viewers. The movie ended about 6.30pm, it was already dark and the shops were all either closed or closing.
Today I had lunch at the parish school. It’s a practice here in this school to celebrate birthdays of staffs that has a '0' in their age (30,40,50,60) and other events such as anniversaries, giving birth, etc. The 1hour birthday lunch (during the students lunch break) was impressive. We had great food, creative decoration based on the theme of the 'likes' of the person celebrating the birthday (such as color, food, songs, etc). There were songs sung by some teachers and the acting principal was so sporting that he too sang a song and danced! Wah…so much for an hour birthday lunch at the schools!!
I am looking forward for the coming days and weeks of my stay here. For all those who misses me...I miss you too. Till then take care.
