A letter to the Editor
I tried to get published in a Melbourne daily my previous blog piece titled 'A Vaccine for the
Violence' fatherbob.com
The editor knocked it back for lacking insights and arguments. The editor's comment suggests we've 'dumbed down' the FBMF (Fr. Bob Maguire Foundation) operations to fundraising and neglected awareness raising.
My insights are that disconnection from the local community, even if perceived only, is an unnatural act by both parties and leads to Virginia University and two teenage girls hanging by their necks until dead in Ferntree Gully this past week.
The VIRUS is DISCONNECTION.
The carriers are person or persons KNOWN. The VACCINE is lots of 'STREETWORKERS' aka 'friends, family, acquaintances', mostly volunteers, a few paid 24/7 monitors.
My article, EMO like the two girls preferred style, points the editor in the direction of the modus operandi highlighted in our Open Family Online forum.
One of us had better dig the best bits out of the pile and package them for the open market of wannabe social activists.
Respect. Bob Maguire.

Following on from this letter to the editor, may I speak more plainly to the parish family in the lead up to Ascension and Pentecost and in the wake of Anzac Day?
Ascension says: He's gone. We're it!
Pentecost says: Learn new languages so people will understand. The two dead girls spoke Elmo (language of the feelings).
Anzac Day says; Good show. Now go and DO Anzac.

Don't get me wrong. It's awful what happened in Virginia. How will the families and friends of the victims deal with the family of Cho Seung-Hui? Will they follow the Amish of Pennsylvania way by reassuring the south Korean family that nothing is held against them? Will they offer to attend Cho's funeral as a mark of shared grief? Will they then escort Cho's family to a memorial service for all the victims? That would be the Amish of Pennsylvania way.
An added reminder of how we 'think global and act local' is the move by other South Koreans living in the US to express a collective apology over the 30 plus deaths.
Now, go to Baghdad. 150 Locals killed in one day by car bombs. How would the Amish of Pennsylvania method be applied there? It would be homicidal to even suggest it, I dare to say.
Yet, realistically, surely there's no other way, except reconciliation and forgiveness, to stop the circle of violence.
How are we, as a 'race' a 'species', to evolve to the level of spiritual/moral maturity whence we can guarantee a global ethic of 'no killings'.
Of course, it'll be a long drawn out negotiation as we debate the whom and what of the deal. Are embryonic stem cells, fetuses, demented elders, grossly handicapped children, one and all, in or out of the deal.
Nations A & B don't want anymore girls babies. Nation C can't abide more than one child per family. It'll take a while to flesh out the globally agreeable terms of the ethic necessary to stop the families and friends of the Virginia victims and Baghdad victims from resorting to the most primitive of all forms of grief relief - revenge!
Which brings me, an amateur moralist, to recommend a demythologizing of the caring professions, especially in the big cities, our majority preferred place of residence. Yet Conrad called big cities the 'heart of darkness'.
We gotta look after one another. That's pure and simple wisdom. Professionals can support us. Whether they do or not, you and I have to look after one another.
Wherever we have big institutional campuses in big cities, we need a whole lot of 'street workers' to become so environmentally friendly that they know, feel and react to what the 'dark side's' up to.
We big city dwellers can't avoid the 'dark heart' virus. It goes with the territory, Virginia University, Baghdad Streets, Darfur camps, Cronulla beach.
We ourselves, are the vaccine. It ain't cheap, this vaccination campaign. Check fatherbob.com for further details.

Anzac Day Mass is at 12noon

Mass is broadcast at 7 am every Sunday on 89.9 Lift FM, Melbourne's Christian radio station. The celebrant is Fr. Kevin Dillon from the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, Geelong.

Jesuit Social Services will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a fundraising dinner on Saturday 28 April at 7 pm at The Atrium, Flemington Racecourse. The guest speaker is Martin Flanagan, one of Australia's most respected and engaging writers who will bring his unique perspective on Australia today. The night will also feature a special performance by one of Australia's greatest singer/songwriters, Paul Kelly. This event includes a four-course dinner and selected drinks, fantastic live music, a live Auction and great company. Tickets: $120 per head, tables of 10 available. Details: 9427 7388 or visit www.jss.org.au for a booking form.

Vaucluse college will celebrate 125 years of the FCJ Sisters in Australia and the founding of Vaucluse College at it's annual May Day Reunion, Sunday 6th May. Mass will be celebrated at 1130 am at Genazzano Chapel, RSVP: Marie 9842 1626 or Robyn 9889 6880

The concert will feature Jeff Lock and members of the chorus of Opera Australia: Anthony Way. Denise Carey; Per Forsberg and Cappuccino Brass. Peter & Miriam Ryan; Alex Hearst; Suzelle Herft and songs from East Timor by Inacio Carvalho. It will be on Sunday 22 April at 2.30 pm. Tickets: $15, conc. $10, Child $5, Family $35.
For bookings telephone Friends of Liquica (9370 5104) or email: eastwood@victnet.net.au
All proceeds will go to education and health projects for the people of the community in the District of Liquica, East Timor.

Amid embarrassing accusations of plagiarism, Archbishop Mark Coleridge has acknowledged excessive dependence on a British book review for an article he wrote for an Australian newspaper, which led to a printed apology from the newspaper it appeared in, writes Mark Brolly. The Archbishop of Canberra and Goulbum told The Tablet that he worked 'too quickly and carelessly' on his review of Richard Dawkins' book, The God Delusion, due to pressures of time before attending meetings overseas. The review was published in The Australian on 24 February and, three days later, the paper expressed regret that 'the archbishop's review contained some similar content to a review of Dawkins' book by Terry Eagleton published in The London Review of Books in October' (The Tablet, 17 March).
Archbishop Coleridge said he was asked by The Australian in mid-December to review Dawkins' book. In a few days (and in the thick of all else I had to do before departure), I had to read the book and do the review. I worked too quickly and carelessly. Part of my carelessness was that, in reading a few reviews of the book after reading the book itself, I scribbled some notes without noting the sources. This jumble of papers became part of the rushed and somewhat distracted writing process. 'When The Australian contacted me eventually about the allegations of plagiarism, I was surprised. After a careful re-read of the piece, I had to concede that at certain points I was too dependent upon the Eagleton review, which is the most incisive and compelling critique of Dawkins' book that I know. (The Tablet, March 24, 2007)

Sunday 29 April at 8 pm 'Memory, History, Museums and the Holocaust' by Professor Haim Marantz, Department of Philosophy, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. The central concept stems from the idea posed by French historian Pierre Nora that 'Memory is life' and that there exists a strong relationship between memory and history. He claims that memory 'resurrects', 'recycles', and makes the past 'reappear' and live again in the present.
Tuesday 24 July at 8 pm The Impact of the Holocaust on Jewish & Christian Theology by Cardinal Idris Edward Cassidy, Rev Tim Costello and Rabbi Fred Morgan. Did God also die in Auschwitz or have our definitions of God changed since the Holocaust? Do Christians view Jews differently in the post-Holocaust era? These questions and more will be debated by our panel of religious leaders.
The lectures will be at 13-15 Selwyn St., Elsternwick. Entry $10, conc. $7. Bookings are essential. Phone 9528 1985 or email admin@jhc.org.au.

This book is now available by mail post paid $37.00 from Lois Stocks, 37 Allan Street, Aberfeldie 3040. Please make your cheque/money order payable to the Brigidine Provincial account. For any further details please ring 9337 6255. Books also available from the Kilbride Centre $30.00

The concert will feature Jeff Lock and members of the chorus of Opera Australia: Anthony Way. Denise Carey; Per Forsberg and Cappuccino Brass. Peter & Miriam Ryan; Alex Hearst; Suzelle Herft and songs from East Timor by Inacio Carvalho. It will be on Sunday 22 April at 2.30 pm. Tickets: $15, conc. $10, Child $5, Family $35.
For bookings telephone Friends of Liquica (9370 5104) or email: eastwood@victnet.net.au
All proceeds will go to education and health projects for the people of the community in the District of Liquica, East Timor.

Sunday 29 April at 8 pm 'Memory, History, Museums and the Holocaust' by Professor Haim Marantz, Department of Philosophy, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. The central concept stems from the idea posed by French historian Pierre Nora that 'Memory is life' and that there exists a strong relationship between memory and history. He claims that memory 'resurrects', 'recycles', and makes the past 'reappear' and live again in the present.
Tuesday 24 July at 8 pm The Impact of the Holocaust on Jewish & Christian Theology by Cardinal Idris Edward Cassidy, Rev Tim Costello and Rabbi Fred Morgan. Did God also die in Auschwitz or have our definitions of God changed since the Holocaust? Do Christians view Jews differently in the post-Holocaust era? These questions and more will be debated by our panel of religious leaders.
The lectures will be at 13-15 Selwyn St., Elsternwick. Entry $10, conc. $7. Bookings are essential. Phone 9528 1985 or email admin@jhc.org.au.

This book is now available by mail post paid $37.00 from Lois Stocks, 37 Allan Street, Aberfeldie 3040. Please make your cheque/money order payable to the Brigidine Provincial account. For any further details please ring 9337 6255. Books also available from the Kilbride Centre $30.00

Amid embarrassing accusations of plagiarism, Archbishop Mark Coleridge has acknowledged excessive dependence on a British book review for an article he wrote for an Australian newspaper, which led to a printed apology from the newspaper it appeared in, writes Mark Brolly. The Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn told The Tablet that he worked 'too quickly and carelessly' on his review of Richard Dawkins' book, The God Delusion, due to pressures of time before attending meetings overseas. The review was published in The Australian on 24 February and, three days later, the paper expressed regret that 'the archbishop's review contained some similar content to a review of Dawkins' book by Terry Eagleton published in The London Review of Books in October' (The Tablet, 17 March).
Archbishop Coleridge said he was asked by The Australian in mid-December to review Dawkins' book. In a few days (and in the thick of all else I had to do before departure), I had to read the book and do the review. I worked too quickly and carelessly. Part of my carelessness was that, in reading a few reviews of the book after reading the book itself, I scribbled some notes without noting the sources. This jumble of papers became part of the rushed and somewhat distracted writing process. 'When The Australian contacted me eventually about the allegations of plagiarism, I was surprised. After a careful re-read of the piece, I had to concede that at certain points I was too dependent upon the Eagleton review, which is the most incisive and compelling critique of Dawkins' book that I know. (The Tablet, March 24, 2007)