The Catholic Weekly 13 June 2021

catholicweekly.com.au 13 13, June, 2021 NEWS WHILE THE world might re- member 2020 as the year of the pandemic, Jenny Spinks reflects on it as a time that “unveiled” her faith. The Catechist Coordinator at St Mel’s Campsie askedGod what he wanted her to do at a time when the world retreated into quarantine and classes were cancelled … and to her surprise and delight her new mantilla making business was born. The mother-of-seven with a passion for sewing, wit- nessed the growing numbers of young Catholic women choosing to cover their heads in church and decided to start her new “vocation”. And she believes a visit to the relics of St Louis Martin, wife St Zelie and their daugh- ter St Therese of Lisieux in Sydney last year, confirmed she was on the right path. Each mantilla - which she prefers to call “ladytilla” – is named after a female saint, which she hopes will encour- age wearers to research and in turn imitate, like she did with St Zelie. “I took some lace handker- chiefs which were quite spe- cial to me and placed them on the reliquary of St Zelie as I knew she had been a lace maker,” she said. “It was at the time of lock- down and I was contemplat- ing what else I could do for God and as I already had all of these beautiful pieces of lace and trim right at my fin- gertips I got straight to work and loved it. “As a mother of nine chil- dren, I could also relate to her struggles of bringing up chil- dren in the faith and on top of that looking after her own lace-making business which was pretty impressive. “Through my research I found her extremely inspiring and relatable.” Her desire and ease of turn- ing Jenny’s Sewing Studio into Zelie’s Sewing Studio had all the hallmarks of the grace and peace of the Holy Spirit. “I felt Our Lady and St Zelie walking with me, everything I needed to make the veils just fell into my lap,” she said. “As a usually reserved, qui- et person I did enjoy the con- templative time of lock down but also loved the idea of getting out there and making these beautiful veils. “St Zelie’s husband St Louis sold his watchmaking busi- ness to fully support his wife and I’ve had the same encour- agement at home as well. “My husband Bruce has been supporting me by mak- ing patterns, my daughters have all been helping with the business side of things andmy It’snot abygonecraft: creatingmantillasgetsnewleaseof life inJennySpinks’ home ¾ Debbie Cramsie Stitch by stitch, inspired by Zelie’s story Samples of Jenny Spinks’ handiwork lie ready. Each mantilla - or ‘ladytilla’ is named after a female saint. Jenny hopes such little touches will encourage emulation of the saints. sons have been encouraging too. “It has been an incredible opportunity for our whole family to come together and enjoy the graces of God.” Considered an outdated tradition reserved for pious elderly women and largely abandoned by the ‘60s, some Sydney parishes are seeing their veiling communities growing. Jenny is very proud of her business which has a real pur- pose and sees her work as an apostolate to help women re- discover their feminine dig- nity. “Women are sacred vessels of life and it’s beautiful to see the ancient tradition being re- vived,” she said. “Although at the end of the day it’s not about veils. It’s about God. The veil is a small tool that we can use to open our hearts to God more.” Determined for it not to become a money making venture, Jenny doesn’t have a website, preferring to sell her beautiful pieces at pop ups after Mass at parishes around Sydney or by word of mouth. To contact Jenny Spinks email her at: jaspinks2010@ hotmail.com In brief Is there anyone out there? Priest charged A GROUP of Catholic evolutionary biologists, astrochemists, astrophys- icists, theologians and as- tronomers gathered in Washington last weekend to discuss a topical sci- entific issue in high-level government circles. “It’s quite timely, ac- tually,” Stephen Barr, president of the Society of Catholic Scientists, said of the organisation’s 2021 conference, entitled “Extraterrestrials, AI, and Minds Beyond the Hu- man.” “We don’t know enough to say that it’s improbable or that it is probable that there are highly evolved species out there,” Mr Barr Our Sunday Visitor . Conference attendees were in the nation’s capi- tal from June 4-6 for talks on the search for alien life and the likelihood of ex- traterrestrials at the same time that political leaders and defence officials are discussing unidentified flying objects and their national security impli- cations. What was once snickered at is now a se- rious topic of discussion. “We are now relying on military and intelli- gence-collectioncapabili- ties to collect the data and then try to interpret the data. This is not a conver- sation about how grand- ma saw some lights in the backyard and then people wind up scratching their heads wondering what it was,” Luis Elizondo, a for- mer military intelligence officer, told media. - OSV THE PARISH Priest of All Hallows, Five Dock, Fr Joseph Kolodziej has been stood down from parish duties after being charged with possessing and using the internet to distribute child abuse material. Fr Kolodziej was grant- ed conditional bail to ap- pear in Liverpool Local Court on 13 July 2021. The Archdiocese of Sydney has asked Fr Kolodziej to step down, while the mat- ter is under investigation. NSW Police have also arrested a 49 year old ser- geant, attached to a spe- cialist command, as part of the same investigation. The unnamed officer has been charged with possessing child abuse material and is due to ap- pear in Liverpool Court on 21 July 2021. The officer has been suspended on full pay. I felt Our Lady and St Zelie walking with me, everything I needed to make the veils just fell into my lap ... it’s been an incredible oppor- tunity for our whole family ...” Jenny Spinks sits at her sewing machine; lacemaker St Zelie Martin was a major inspiration. Daughter Naomi, inset, models one of Jenny’s creations. PHOTOS: PATRICK J. LEE