Maureen Johnston didn't like the church. She popped up a few years ago to volunteer to feed the local poor both from the parish kitchen and backyard and from a food bus travelling through Southport Melbourne and St. Kilda. That's about 10 years ago.
She died last weekend. We sent her off from this kitchen and church, on Friday 23 May. I offer, as her epitaph, the submission we made to the Governor General three years ago. Maureen missed out then. We gave her a creation of our own 'the order of St. Peter and St. Paul' for services to parish and neighbourhood. Lest We Forget. R. J. M

Dear Excellency,
Maureen Johnston has been a resident of South Melbourne for most of her life.
A single mother and grandmother, Maureen has 4 children and several grandchildren, and for the last 6 years has been the primary carer for her grandson who is now 16 years old.
Maureen, a pensioner and active participant in the South Melbourne community began her voluntary work in 1990, alongside Outreach worker Henry Nissen OAM, on the food bus preparing and handing out sandwiches, offering hot coffee, aid etc., and generally supported the many who were often desperate for help and who welcomed seeing a friendly face. The food bus travelled the Port Melbourne, St. Kilda, Flinders Street Station areas.
In 1994 Maureen volunteered her services four days a week at the Parish House of Hospitality in South Melbourne.
The Parish Open House is a local non-profit South Melbourne organization offering assistance to underprivileged residents in need of help. The volunteers and workers at Open House work tirelessly with individuals and many families in need. They provide food parcels daily, offer advice on where to find help on housing, clothing, travel tickets and general welfare needs. Perhaps most importantly, the courtyard at Sts Peter and Paul's Parish provides a safe environment for individuals who need to socialise and interact with others over a cup of coffee.
The success of The Parish Open House relies solely on the people involved in providing a safe and friendly environment for patrons. Maureen has been instrumental in helping Open House reach its goals. Maureen's volunteering began with the collection of food from Food Bank. Unpacking and handing out food provided Maureen the opportunity to provide moral support for the people in the South Melbourne area who were lonely and often destitute.
Maureen's experiences at The Parish Open House helped her identify three years ago, that there were many more people in need of a regular cooked meal as well as the opportunity for companionship, friendship and developing self esteem by interaction with others. Solely, she embarked on the service of providing evening meals on Monday, Tuesday and breakfast on Wednesday, insisting they would be free to anyone in need.
Supported with the encouragement from Fr Bob Maguire AM RFD, Parish Priest of Sts Peter and Paul's, South Melbourne, Maureen took it upon herself to introduce and run this highly successful program. Shortly after its introduction, numbers at Maureen's meal program rapidly reached between 60 and 80 patrons daily. The success of this project relies entirely on Maureen's confidence, unselfish dedication and genuine care for the South Melbourne marginalised.
Not only Maureen provide patrons with food and an opportunity to interact with others, she also encourages them to participate in the preparation, cooking and cleaning up, enhancing their self esteem and providing them with a sense of purpose, belonging and pride.
A pensioner and suffering with osteoarthritis, a hernia and emphysema, Maureen does not drive, but walks to Coles every day to purchase supplies for the next meal, relying on the aid of her shopping trolley as she is severely stooped. While Maureen has significant health issues, she is unfailingly reliable and will only miss hosting a meal if she is very sick. She is the only person who provides meals on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and is very committed to her responsibility for people who have come to rely on these mealtimes.
The main source of demand began with food parcel handouts. Due to the success of Maureen's meals, this demand has significantly decreased. The healthy meals sustain patrons and offer social interaction with others who are in a situation similar to their own, helping them realise they are not isolated. Maureen understood from experience that there were many lonely people living in South Melbourne, surviving on welfare. They would eat alone in their own home, having no contact or interaction with others. Unselfishly, she decided to make a change to their lives, and succeeded tremendously, admirably and without ever looking for or expecting recognition.
While selflessly ignoring her own health issues and always thinking and looking for the next project she can to undertake to improve peoples' lives, Maureen is a familiar South Melbourne local and countless have benefited from her advice, friendship and kindness.
We nominate Maureen Johnston for an Order of Australia award for the wonderful work she continues to do and the impact she has made on this local community. Her loyalty, commitment and dedication to the marginalised group in South Melbourne is amazing and inspiring. Struggling in her own right, Maureen assists her daughter, who is on a disability pension and unable to look after herself or her son. Maureen is solely raising her 16-year-old grandson and she still has time for her enormous and ongoing commitment to others in need. She has the admiration of all who know her.
Maureen has never been nominated for an award and has never been acknowledged for her dedication to community work. I believe she is very deserving of formal recognition as she stands out as a person with a passion for helping people get their lives back in order with encouragement and without judgement.
Bob Maguire on behalf of Parishioners

Friday's concert has been cancelled. Our apologies to those who were planning to hear it. The concert will be rescheduled later this year.

Last Saturday morning, i drove to the next parish where there's a recently, beautifully-renovated church/shrine in hon our of Mary, known, 'in house' as Our Lady. The twin parishes of Middle Park and Port Melbourne have been there for 100 years plus. The Carmelite Order of Priests has faithfully served both parishes for over a century.

Click to read more.

Catholic Mission's commitment to Burma is a long-term one. Each year it disburses around A$1.5 m to specific projects in Burma. This is in addition to the yearly subsidy given to each Bishop of a mission country. The types of projects cover pastoral and practical needs of the community -- construction of buildings, food, lodging for orphans, transport for pastoral workers, catechist programs, stocking of dispensaries, repair and maintenance work, provision of electrical generators. There are over 50 boarding homes and orphanages across Burma that receive Catholic Mission funding (many of these in the Yangoon diocese).
The devastation of the recent cyclone has meant that those that have not sustained much damage will become relief centres, and those that have, will need our ongoing and sustained support. The forthcoming Propagation of the Faith Appeal time is important for so many reasons - the long term picture in Burma is just one of them.

Enrol between at Yarra Theological Union between 20 May and 5 June for Semester 2.
Available courses include Biblical Studies, Church History, Counselling, Faith leadership, Liturgy, Missiology, Moral Theology, Pastoral Studies, Religious Education, and Systematic Theology. Visit www.vtu.ed.au for further information.

The second of Kilbride's Wednesday Dinners for Men will be held on 28 May at 6.45 pm. You are warmly invited to come to dinner at Kilbride to enjoy an evening together in a relaxed and happy atmosphere of fellowship with one another over a meal. During this time there will be a guest speaker who, this month, is Fr Bob Maguire who will share some of his story.

Should I go into a monastery now I'm 74 and never have anything to say on TV or radio?
I got a call late one night last week from ' concerned of Werribee' . He'd just seen me on TV pontificating on Gordon Ramsey's coarse language - you know the Brit chef who swears a lot during his cooking show.
'A Current Affair' had rung earlier to tee up an interview. A South Australian church official had advised a ban on the Ramsey show. I didn't know about it. No matter. You don't have to know much but you have to settle on a quick ' grab' favourable to the cause, do no harm, do a little good.
I decided before the TV crew arrived, to make the point that coarse language is a matter of manners, not morals - in most cases, that is.
I used a Latin proverb to sum up the point - ' de gustibus non est disputandum' or ' in matters of taste, there's nothing to argue about'.
We all have likes and dislikes. You can't order someone to like this or that.
You don't have to use coarse language yourself or encourage it to be able to live with it.
The bloke who rang me said he was ashamed to be in the same church as me. ' You've exceeded your use by date. Retire or go to Tasmania!'
That shook me. Maybe he thought because there's ' devils' in Tasmania it must be Hell. Anyway just to share with you a day in the life of an inner urban parish priest.
People say ' Why do you do it?' Some are convinced I'm an egotist at best, a narcissist at worst. They say ' showing off', I say ' putting in'.
I like people to know that Catholicism is a broad church. Most disputes among Catholics are about matters of taste, not morals.
What the celebrant wears to Mass, how many bows to make before receiving communion, whether to talk among ourselves before the service begins or to observe a reverend silence to get in the mood - these are all recently revived matters of taste. There's no good or bad in them.
Church bosses may well, from their acknowledged elevated vantage point, advise us, rank and file, on disciplinary matters. That's part of their job. And they must alert the general membership to the clear and present public danger generated by the moral viruses of affluence, abortion, lousy prison and illegal migrant detention systems, just to name a few.
But even in these, indisputably serious, matters, there must be a new language, a better 'style' of discussion, so all members of this hard-fought-for pluralised society can share, with respect, different, even opposite views without risking social disharmony.
Church people should be actively engaged in building civil society, without fear or favour. We should put a substantial amount of regional and local church resources, including real estate and parish personnel, at the service of the neighbourhood.
Putting ourselves ' out there' would be a good practical way of saying sorry to the alleged tens of thousands of victims of abuse by catholic officials over seventy years. (This figure is quoted in the press 8/05/08. Would Australian Catholic HQ check that figure for us rank and filers? It's us who'll cop the flack up to the Pope's visit and afterwards!)
Like Daniel Grollo and his developers, local churches, synagogues and mosques could offset whatever socially toxic imprint they have left in a neighbourhood by providing goods and services for the local poor e.g. food distribution outlets, safe houses for abused women and children, 24/7 one stop ' shops' for troubled teenagers - all without ' convert to our religion' small print clauses.
The local synagogue, mosque or church could pilot such a breath-taking initiative until a cluster of like-minded partners got their act together.
I guess that what this parish and this foundation are doing as a coalition of the willing continuing a 150-year-old tradition of service to the poor, deserving and undeserving. Not ' showing off,' but ' putting in'

The Melbourne Days in the Diocese (DID08) Office is appealing for families willing to host a minimum of two world Youth Day Pilgrims in their homes for five consecutive nights between 5-9 July and / or 9-14 July 2008. You will be asked to select one or both of these time frames. Pilgrims will be brought from the airport to a designated location near your region. Host families will be informed of the date, time and location and will be asked to meet and collect their visitors.
The only meal that you will be asked to provide is breakfast each day. Pilgrims will be taking part in activities around Melbourne and so will make their own arrangements for other meals. Please note that a visit to your home by a DID08 Office delegate will be required to make sure that you are well informed about the Home Stay process. You will also be required to consent to a police records check, which is fully funded by the DID08.
Importantly, Melbourne stay hosts don't need to be Catholics. All families interested in playing a valuable role in the biggest youth event ever in Melbourne can apply.
If you can assist you need to register your home directly with the DID08 Office Website at www.did08.com and to complete the application form. Further information can be obtained on 9412 8484 or by email to info@did08com

This concert has been cancelled. Our apologies to those who were planning to hear it. The concert will be rescheduled later this year.


The Laloran East Timorese choir & Annalisa Kerrigan will perform at St Peter & Paul's Church on Friday 23 May at 7 pm. Sponsored by the Grant Ivory Foundation, Friends of Baucau East Timor Project. Tickets $30 (C $15), family $50. Book on sheet at the back of the church or call Carol 9699 2892

Joe Caddy, Catholic Priest colleague, Chaplain to Victorian Prisons, was brave enough to write in a Melbourne paper that prisons are not for rehabilitation but for breeding criminals.
I agree. You probably agree. Where does that leave us? Nowhere I suspect.
That's the trouble with good ideas. They need not just one good person but dozens to agitate for change and to keep at it for years, maybe even a lifetime.
Is that persistence possible these days? Just as the abolition of slavery took many young people their whole lives to achieve, so will the reform of our prison system.
Indeed, I don't intend to do more here than raise the question. I feel the need because I've known many people who've ended up in prison. I've watched as they've struggled to recommence living 'outside' without much constructive support. So, they go in and out for years.
There's one bloke I met when I first arrived in South Melbourne Parish. He was 16 then. He disappeared into the juvenile justice system. He came out, and then disappeared into the adult system.
He kept feeding the revolving door for 30 years. I've seen him only every few years, whenever he's 'out'.
He's now spent far more time in than out. He can't survive out. He's almost 50 years but still 16 at heart and an untamed 16 at that.
Joe Caddy's right. Prison is a waste of time and resources in terms of results. Unfortunately while retributive justice rules the roost, restorative justice must wait for 100 Joe Caddy's to launch a campaign for prison reform.
I'm fortunate to have been Priest at South Melbourne for 25 years. I've learned a lot and unlearned even more.
My first years as Priest, in half a dozen suburban parishes, in the 1960s, brought experiences of working with 40-year-old parents and their teenage children. I became part of the parish/neighbourhood support team. Together we looked after our young. If one of them 'strayed' from the herd, we became collectively unnerved.
Some suburbs were better than others at this essential service. This was a lesson in itself. It was safer to be a teenager and more reassuring, too, in one place than another.
Young people need to feel valued as part of a 'place'. Country footy clubs (indeed, all sports clubs) are a good example of helping teenagers 'grow up'.
Occasionally, a local club falls into the hands of untrustworthy people and becomes a bad influence for teenagers. The same occupational hazard stalks all adults working with young people. Some of my own vocational 'profession' have grossly offended against teenagers who trusted them with their bodies, minds and hearts.
I continue my care and concern for the young people at risk and partly to offset the toxic footprint left by a few colleagues. I put that here on public record.
Daniel Grollo of Grocon (a leading Australian developer) used these words, 'offset the social imprint left by developers' as an explanation of his intention to build, without beyond-cost profit, a shelter for 100+ homeless people in Melbourne.
I've been talking and writing about this 'offset' for years. Thanks Daniel, for being creatively compassionate towards homeless people. As with Joe Caddy and prison reform, we need hundreds of Daniel Grollos to make a real difference in the lives of the excluded poor.
After these two examples of intellectual 'mothering' by blokes, let's hear it for the greatest communicators of them all - Happy Mothers' Day!

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - 2008 [1908-2008]
Pray without ceasing (I Thessalonians 5:17)
Our Lady of Mount Carmel church Cnr Richardson & Wright Street, Middle Park
Sunday Evening 4 May, 6.00 pm
Supported by the South Port Parks Inter-Church Council

Do you live on a busy street in Southbank, South Melbourne, Port Melbourne, St Kilda, Albert Park or Elwood? Would you like to help raise thousands for Melbourne's homeless without lifting a finger?
We need up to 20 people to volunteer some space on their front lawn or fence for a small billboard over June and July this year. The billboards will be advertising an exciting new venture the Father Bob Maguire Foundation is participating in, which could raise up to $500,000 to help Melbourne's homeless.
No maintenance will be required, and the boards will be erected and dismantled by a professional real estate agency at a time convenient to you.
If you think you could help, please call the parish on 9696 0644