St Mary's

Iain De Jong

http://www.orgcode.com/2012/05/01/theres-a-difference-between-wanting-to-end-homelessness-and-committing-to-end-homelessness/

If you work in the homeless service sector you should have a very simple career goal – to put yourself out of a job.

I have this belief that homeless and housing support services exist to end homelessness. They don’t exist to make people in human services feel good about themselves. They don’t exist to cleanse the consciousness of corporations through their philanthropy. They don’t exist to keep government bureaucracies humming along.

There is a difference between wanting to end homelessness and committing to end homelessness.

Last night in this room, the ALP had their end of election celebration/commiseration. I had forgotten to tell the Saturday nighters that we could not use the TLC last night because of the elections. I asked how they found out and most of them said from email. Thank God for email.

That reminds me of the story: A disciple comes before the Master (his meditation teacher) and asks “is it okay to use email?” “Of course” said the teacher, “as long as there are no attachments!”

But as he began to look back into where the books of the Bible actually came from, Robert questioned what was true, and what was a beautiful fiction.

He was charged with heresy by the Catholic Church, and although he was acquitted he decided to leave the priesthood. Robert is now the Director of the South Australian Ethics Centre. Three Revolutions: Three Drastic Changes in Interpreting the Bible published ATF Press.

Yesterday we buried Scott McKenzie, Barbara’s husband and close friend to St Mary’s. Barbara suggested that we begin the Liturgy of farewell with some words from Michael Morwood reminding us of our deep connection to the Universe.

At the beginning of the Liturgy we lit a candle to remind us of our great birth at the beginning of time – that great explosion of light we call the big bang, from which we gradually emerged over billions of years.

With Scott’s body in the coffin before us all, I read:

Recently I watched a deeply moving South African film called “Life Above All”. It had won Best International Film at the Sydney and Canberra Film Festivals in2010 and 2011. Its focus is a 12 year old girl Chandra, a hardworking, promising young student with a bright future, but her life changes dramatically when her baby sister unexpectedly dies. Heartbroken Chandra’s mother, Lillian, in turn becomes severely ill, leaving the young girl to take care of her two smaller siblings. When the small community of which they are a part irrationally turns on her and her family, Chandra sets out to face the deeply ingrained misunderstanding and prejudices surrounding AIDS.

This is the no colour spread version of the magazine.  To purchase the full version email the editor margdoc2@gmail.com

Article by Tim Carter

When the Community of St Mary’s marched into exile, I as a long-time member, felt it was a community alive with zeal for the future.  I believe that most of the people who marched were not blindly following Peter and Terry.  It seemed they knew that the faith journey they had travelled so far would not allow them to stay in their Parish Church and accept the style of church that the Archbishop had ordered them to return to. To understand SMX I believe it is important to understand the nature of the Community of people who became St Mary’s Community. 

The experience of Robert, one of the many homeless, sadly is not in isolation to the 114 people that we have housed since we undertook Registry week in June 2010 of 50 Lives 50 Homes.

Over the years we have been learning and developing better processes for linking people not simply with housing but also with the supportive services that they require. Services which enable each person to develop a different lifestyle so they can pay their rent, be a neighbour, sustain good health, make community connections and reconnect with family.

By Gregory C. Jenks

This year we mark the 400th anniversary of the publication of the so-called ‘King James Bible’ (KJB) under the authority of King James I of England in 1611. That particular version of the Bible has had a profound impact on the history of religion in the English-speaking world, as well as playing a powerful role in the shaping of modern English. As a result of its influence on modern English and the subsequent development of English as the lingua franca of the modern world, the KJB has enjoyed an influence that its translators could never have imagined. Not  only is the Christian religion in a very different place because of the influence of this book, but even the present form of our global society owes a great debt to the KJB.

The forum for discussion is now the facebook page St-Marys-in-Exile-South-Brisbane.  This site is primarily for the purpose of accessing homilies and articles. Thank you.