Welcome to the July retrospective where I look back at highlights from  my posts on social media for the month. This selection acts both as an archive and a reference for those who may have missed some of this material.

Photography

Because of her, we Can (NAIDOC 2018)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday

NAIDOC Week Brisbane 2018

Boundary to Boundary Walk 2018

Updated Albums

Torres Strait Islander Set

Readings

• Between Solitude and Loneliness
• How one religious idea gave us the best beer in the world
• Fintan O’Toole: Trial runs for fascism are in full flow

Religion

• St Christopher
• Christina the Astonishing, Virgin. Patron of Holy Irritants
• Refresh Catholicism at Plenary Council2020
• Religious Freedom in Australia
• Praying the Rosary Aboriginal Way

Events

Thanks to Stephen Mam for last month’s invitation to join the staff and students at KGSC celebration of First Nation People and Black History Month with a tour of their Indigenous Garden – Jagum Barrambin.

The students were well prepared to take guests on tours and a couple tested my attention with a great Q&A session at the end of their presentation. Spot me with my hat in a few of the pics of the day!!

As a card carrying senior member of the community I love opportunities like this to engage with young people working for understanding and respect of cross cultural values.

Politics

• West Papua
• Ethiopia and Eritrea Declare End to War

Laugh of the Month

Queensland Multicultural Month

29 July – 5 August Donate Life Week

1-7 World Breastfeeding Week

3-16 Fair Trade Fortnight

4 National Aboriginal and Islander Children’s Day

6 Hiroshima Day

6 – 12 Homelessness Week

8 Dying to Know Day

9 International Day of the World’s Indigenous People

11 – 19 National Science Week

12 International Youth Day 

14 Feast of Micah the Prophet

18 – 26 Seniors Week

17 – 24  Children’s Book Week

19 World Humanitarian Day / World Photo Day

23 International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition

31 International Overdose Awareness Day 

Local Events in and around Brisbane 

• I Thirst Exhibition Francis Rush Centre
• National Reconciliation Week Ecumenical Service

• Luminous Lantern Parade 2018

• Boundary to Boundary Walk 2018

Religious Highlights

Feast of St Anthony of Padua June 13

Feast of the Sacred Heart

Feast of St John the Baptist

Gender and Diversity Forum 

Readings

• Catholic Nostalgia for Medieval Christendom
• For what’s believed to be the first time, the Vatican uses the term ‘LGBT’ in official document
• Father Tom Doyle says tax concessions should be on table as church responds to royal commission
• 5 Things The Church Can Learn From Anthony Bourdain

Causes and Campaigns

•  Another asylum seeker dies on Nauru
• ‘Witness K’ and lawyer Bernard Collaery charged with breaching intelligence act over East Timor spying revelations

As a young boy I have a vivid memory of the first Marian Procession I attended at the local convent of Stella Maris in North Geelong.  The candlelight movement of women in dark habits singing the Lourdes Hymn took me into a world where heaven touched earth and all tears were wiped away.

In my mother’s kitchen a small Icon of Our Lady of the Way sat alongside the detergent just above the sink where our daily dishes were washed.  My grandmother was a member of the Legion of Mary and walked the streets of her neighbourhood to join  families who prayed the rosary as the Fatima Statue moved from house to house.  Each rosary with finish with a rousing chorus of Hail Queen of Heaven that echoed down the street

Whoopi Golberg brought a new generation of people the spirit of Marian Hynms and devotion spiced up and inviting with a freshness and adventure that reflected the reality of the young woman of Palestine more faithfully than the Living Parish Hymnal.

The most popular Marian prayer in Catholicism has been the Litany of Loreto.  Its invocations of Mary under Biblical and popular titles has  made it a feature of Catholic Spirituality in chant and languages

And just when we thought we had given Mary every conceivable title  Pope Francis  added a new  one, Mother of the Church.  As one who has been called “First Disciple” Mary also stands as a model for equality.  For those of us who identify with the LGBTIQ faithful this  feast offers another opportunity to acknowledge  the spirituality  of equality.

As an older Queer Catholic I continue the venerationof  Mary in  the Litany to which I have added invocations from my life and experience.

As well as the litany there is  custom of decorating statues in popular culture with flowers and rosaries,  and even money.  I also continue this  custom of bringing elements of my life such as the rainbow colours to decorate and honour the place of Mary in my spirituality.

In this month of May  we invoke Mary, Mother of Equality, Pray For Us.

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