On Saturday 18^th August “07 one hundred and thirty (plus) Religious gathered for their Annual Eucharistic Celebration of Thanksgivingin Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Chapel, Victoria Square. Our celebrant was Fr. Michael  McMahon sac with Archbishop Hickey presiding. Sr. Anna Fewer pbvm (CRWA President), welcomed all to the celebration of

praise and thanksgiving and the opportunity to ‘catch up’ with one another.

The singing was lead by Sr. Maureen Mohen rsm on the organ, Brs Kevin Ryan and Terry Casey on guitar and  some special choir members. A special feature was a beautiful candle with all the  Religious Congregations of WA listed on it. This was placed on the altar and lit during the Penitential Rite. At the conclusion of the Eucharist Br. Terry thanked all involved in

‘making the day happen’. The celebration then continued downstairs in the Conference Centre where afternoon tea was served and enjoyed amidst much chatting and ‘catching up’!

  HOMILY: [some extracts]

Living the Christian and Religious Vocation

In his Homily, Fr. Michael..

‘…attempted to outline the various tensions that exist in trying to live out the Christian life to the full. Tensions of authority and charism, tensions of transcendence and immanence, tensions of the Eucharist as both sacrifice and meal, tensions of longing to be with the Lord and longing to make the kingdom come here on earth.’

He outlined that

‘..in the life of Mary, the first believer, we find this pattern revealed. She is surely one who lives in liminal space

• She is both mother and virgin.
• She is the mother searching frantically for her twelve year old son and is told by him, “I must be about my Father’s business”.
• She, the embarrassed guest noticing a shortage of wine at the wedding feast, is told by her son that “My hour has not yet come”.
• She hears that despite the dignity of motherhood that those who hear the Word of God and keep it are ranked ahead.
• She cradles in her arms the lifeless body of the Lord of life.
• She greets her risen Son, raised by the power of the Father.
• She gathers with eleven men who failed her son at a crucial moment but affirms them as the community to bring the word of Jesus to the world…’

And concluded with

‘..I suggest that these tensions are part of our Christian heritage. I don’t think there is a definitive and slick answer to these tensions. The Christian life consists in living out and living with these tensions. It was a tension graphically portrayed when Jesus seemingly wished to shy away from his impending death and was only strengthened by the knowledge of the Father’s on-going love. The closer we come to living out the Paschal mystery of dying and rising then the closer we come to a satisfactory solution to these inevitable tensions of living out our Christian and religious vocation.’

Archbishop Hickey, in a brief address to the gathering, thanked the Religious for their ‘presence’ both in the Church and the society of today. He reflected that the ‘witness’ value of this presence is an invaluable gift.