Rev. Dr Kevin Lenehan spoke as part of the 2018 lecture series exploring Christian leadership for the 21st-century context. Entitled, "Exercising an Adult Faith: Wrestle. Challenge. Move.”, he explored the changing landscape in Australia and its implications for leaders of communities of faith. Drawing on the writings of Pope Paul VI on Christian Identity in Dialogue (Ecclesiam suam, 1964), he discussed the qualities and competencies needed by faith leaders to express a mature, resilient and Gospel-based belief stance in a pluralistic world.

The last time the Catholic Church in Australia held a Plenary Council was in 1937. It has been more than 80 years since we gathered all of the Church together and much has changed. In 2020, we will have a Plenary Council about the future of the Catholic Church in Australia. What are we called to do? Who are we called to be? How do we need to change?

Director's message (May 2018): "As we journey through this Easter Season time we have the opportunity to take into our minds and hearts the stories of the very earliest Christians. And how dramatic they are! Saul the persecutor of the followers of Jesus becomes Paul the messenger of the Good News, his life forever altered as a result of his encounter with Jesus. His travel was rigorous and the invitation he offered into the world of the Good News came at great cost. ... I wonder if Paul might have been the earliest person accused of perpetuating fake news!"

Director's message (April 2018): "This is a sacred story that ends with us moving on. This is a story of an empty tomb, a story that tells us not to remain with the death and darkness but to look toward life. And so, on Easter night, we lit our candles from the Paschal candle and gradually filled our darkened church with light; where we had brought our lives to the cross, we now brought our lives to the font of blessed water and we moved back into life as Easter people."

Saturday 10 February --- The Sparks of Beauty series kicked off at the National Gallery of Victoria, with David Menzies noting that for some, art galleries are 'the cathedrals of the modern world'... These spaces provide a portal into the spiritual world too, as they offer an entry point to pondering the great mysteries of life. 

Lay Ecclesial Ministers, just like the ordained, need and deserve formation of high standards that will provide them with the necessary skills and resources to adequately minister to the community they serve within. These professional development days and retreats cover a range of topics including responding to family violence, praying with the psalms, developing a spirituality of encounter and accompanying those on a journey of grief and loss.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) has proclaimed the days from Ash Wednesday until the Saturday after Ash Wednesday 2018 as days of fasting and reparation in sorrow for child sexual abuse and for the healing of victims. To support parishes, the following resources have been prepared and may be adapted according to the needs of the local community. They include sample penitential liturgies, prayers, litanies and prayer sheets.

Director's reflection (January 2018): Thomas Moore in A Life At Work (2008) writes about the experience of work as being a mixture of vision, intention and care. ... Perhaps thinking about our work – in whatever shape that takes – as a form of human prayer might help bring a sparkle of light and energy with us into this beginning year.

Wednesday 7 February @ ACU Chapel --- All pastoral associates, pastoral workers and lay chaplains are invited to join us at the annual commissioning mass for Lay Ecclesial Ministers, to be celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart. Following the mass, we invite you to stay for an afternoon tea.