Carried away

One of our workers, in fact the hardest working, a Jewish man, put on a ritual meal for the people who live in a St. Kilda boarding house. It’s Jewish Passover this week. He and two other Jewish friends cooked the special dishes associated with Passover and waited on the tables while the guests enjoyed the meal and had the religious meanings of the dishes explained in a non-patronising way.

Some photos of the event are to be uploaded to this page. See for yourself.

No-one was trying to convert anyone just sharing a special meal on a special occasion, Passover, with people who have nothing special in their lives.

Passover has been enhanced by this celebration not diminished. Thanks to our Jewish worker and his associates for taking the trouble to create this special occasion in St. Kilda.

Last post I mentioned that Collingwood Football Club planned to feed the poor from their HQ at the Lexus Centre.

This week I met with a working committee, half Collingwood, half Father Bob Maguire Foundation (that damned name is starting to embarrass me! Not my name but my having to use it whenever I talk about the work we do. Excuse me.). The group seems keen on mobile food vans delivering to wherever poor people congregate. It’s probably a better plan than expecting people to travel to the Lexus Centre.

Maybe we can do both. I’d like the food vans to be known as “hopemobiles” each equipped with a flashing green light to let everyone know we’re all about hope for the hopeless. I’m leaving the details of the operation to my more experienced and practical colleagues. I, myself, need hope that this expedition into the unknown will become a real, right here right now, contribution to creating a civil society, a commonwealth where each gives according to their abilities and each takes according to their needs.

As a church person, I would have hoped that each mosque, ashram, synagogue, temple and church would be available as centres of religious civility. After 200 “white” Years in Australia, all these religious groups have established bits of real estate and infrastructure, even if ever so small, which could provide expensive precincts of hope or, prematurely flaunt my next to latest dream, ‘SPIRITUALITY AUSTRALIA’.

That Priest who got carried away hanging onto a bunch of helium balloons, somewhere in Latin America, was fundraising to create a “spiritual pitstop” for truckies.

Loads of overseas countries have traditions of wayside shrines which offer a spiritual comfort zone. Monks of all persuasions offer hospitality as part of their own religious menu.

Eddie and Collingwood, traditionally for both, want a secular equivalent of those forementioned pitstops. In Australia, the sacred and secular can be mates. I don’t apologise for being a Catholic Priest and Eddie doesn’t for being a Broady and Collingwood boy.

This new, but typically Aussie venture, like Simpson and his Donkey, bringing hope to the hopeless, deserves the backing of all “true believers” of whatever culture or creed.

Closer to home, corner Dorcas and Montaque, South Melbourne, after six years tour of duty, we farewell Annette Amos who moves on to other things from her position as Parish business manager and founding Public Officer of the Father Bob Maguire Foundation.

Words cannot express our local gratitude to Annette and admiration for her administrative excellence.

Annette has, on occasions, prevented me from being carried away, like my Latin American colleague, by hot air.

RJM

Comments

[glynis McIntyre]

Spirituality Australia
Religious civility
Hospitality
secular and sacred

True believers.. bring it on!!!!