The Catholic Weekly 26 July 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 5 26, July, 2020 LIFTOUT INSIDE THIS ISSUE For more details phone Steve on (02) 9390 5404. NEWS Celebrating loved ones for over 90 years Trevor Lee & Son is a family business that has helped families celebrate and remember their loved ones for over 90 years. ♦ Intimate and personal funeral services ♦ Professional, compassionate staff, available 24 hours a day ♦ On site or in the comfort of your own home ♦ Servicing all areas of Metropolitan Sydney and Country NSW ♦ Pre-Paid Funerals available Contact Bernadette (nee O’Hare), Trevor or Darren Lee on 9746 2949 to arrange an appointment. BROTHER STEPHEN Drum says his ordination to the di- aconate last weekend felt sur- real and was a moment of pure grace. Bishop Terry Brady or- dained the Verbum Dei Mis- sionary brother at St Charles Borromeo at Ryde on 19 July in the presence of his parents Nola and John and some of his eight siblings, nieces and nephews. Also in attendance were members of the Verbum Dei missionary fraternity, rep- resentatives of the Patrician Brothers and of the local Catholic schools and the par- ish. Bishop Brady said the or- dination was a continuation of Brother Steve’s baptismal day. “We often forget the sig- nificance of baptism, which makes us all foot washers of our brothers and sisters,” the bishop said. “But in a special way Brother Stephen as you move forward you will be there to wash the feet of our brothers and sisters.” Brother Steve told The Catholic Weekly that lying prostrate on the floor during the liturgy was the moment when he was most conscious that his vocation to the priest- hood is a gift from God. “This can’t come from me, it can only come from God,” he said. “It was a strong feeling that this was a special grace given by God in this moment. “I’m unable to compre- hend it fully but am really grateful at the same time.” With two siblings, Rosie, a Sister with the Missionaries of God’s Love and Brother New deacon comes from a family rich in parents’ love and siblings’ vocations ¾ ¾ Marilyn Rodrigues Missionary focused on the Word of God Bishop Terry Brady holds Stephen Drum’s hands during the Mass which saw him ordain Stephen to the diaconate. Deacon Stephen, right, addresses the congregation afterwards. PHOTOS: PATRICK J LEE Daniel, also a Verbum Dei Missionary currently also studying for the priesthood in Spain, Brother Steve comes from a rich vocation pool. Brother Steve said he was impressed by the big influ- ence his parents had on his life and that of his siblings. “I found it very appropri- ate that the parable of the mustard seed was in the Gos- pel this weekend because so much fruit has come from that one little seed of the love between them,” he said. “My father always taught us that we need three things in life, faith, family and friends in that order. “That was his way of living and I think that has passed onto us too.” “I’m also so very grate- ful of all the support we’ve received, we couldn’t have everyone there on Sunday because of the COVID restric- tions but we know everyone was part of it as well.” Priests must lead: Vatican WHILEMOST parishes should be ledby priests, laitymust also lead in the mission of evange- lisation says a new document issued by the Vatican’s Con- gregation for Clergy on pasto- ral care. The 22-page instruction, ti- tled The Pastoral Conversion of the Parish Community in the Service of the Evangelising Mis- sionof theChurch , was released by the Vatican on 20 July. It specifies the role of lay men and women in the Church’s mission of evangeli- sation and offers guidance in parish reforms and restructur- ing. Daniel Ang, the director of the Sydney Centre for Evange- lisation welcomed the instruc- tion. “It recognises the funda- mental role of the parish in the lives of Christians, as a ‘house among houses’ and provides much encouragement to our future in Sydney in which mis- sion must be the guiding prin- cipal of renewal,” he said. “The document encourages parishes to be always ‘going forth’ and rather than ‘preserv- ing a nostalgia of former times’.” “With conviction it notes ‘any conversion of structures, which the Church must un- dertake, requires a significant change in mentality and an interior renewal, especially among those entrusted with the responsibility of pastoral leadership’ (#35). “In this way the Instruction underscores any structural renewal within our dioceses must be underpinned and at the service of spiritual renew- al, to render our parishes ever moreconducive to theencoun- terwithChrist that it serves and makes present.” Mr Ang said the document also affirms that local commu- nities must be deeply engaged in the process of spiritual and structural renewal if conver- sion and mission, and not “mere rearrangement”, is the goal. ¾ ¾ Marilyn Rodrigues