The Executive Director of a multifaith seminary – and an interfaith practitioner – writes of their response to recent events in the US Capitol, Washington, DC on 6 January 2021.
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Shepparton: Buddhist Meditation, January 2021
The Buddhist Association of the Goulburn Valley in collaboration with the Shepparton Interfaith Network will conduct one Meditation Session on Saturday, 23 January 2021 online using Zoom, at 10:00 am. All are welcome. The meditation is led by a Buddhist Monk.
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Sikh volunteer group recognised as ‘Australian Human Rights Heroes 2020’
The Melbourne-based non-profit organisation, Sikh Volunteers Australia has been handpicked as one of the Australian Human Rights Heroes for the year 2020 for providing free food to the communities during catastrophic bushfires and the various stages of COVID-19 lockdowns in Victoria.
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International Effort Underway to Establish Tolkien Center Author’s Famed House
J.R.R. Tolkien was a devout Catholic. People from around the globe, including a list of Hollywood stars, have joined with award-winning author Julia Golding to launch a crowdfunding campaign to try and save 20 Northmoor Road, the Oxford house in which famed Catholic author J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, in advance of its being put on the market for sale.
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Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
At least once a year, Christians are reminded of Jesus’ prayer for his disciples that “they may be one so that the world may believe” (see John 17.21). Hearts are touched and Christians come together to pray for their unity. Congregations and parishes all over the world exchange preachers or arrange special ecumenical celebrations and prayer services. The event that touches off this special experience is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
WHEN: Traditionally the week of prayer is celebrated between 18-25 January, between the feasts of St Peter and St Paul. In the southern hemisphere, where January is a vacation time, churches often find other days to celebrate it, for example around Pentecost, which is also a symbolic date for unity.
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Dalai Lama’s reincarnation included in Congress’ $900 billion COVID relief bill
New legislation passed by the U.S. Congress reaffirms the rights of Tibetans to choose a successor to their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, imposing sanctions on Chinese Communist Party officials if they attempt to intercede in the process.
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Orthodox Christmas – Celebrate Safely Message
Victorian Multicultural Commission and Very Reverend Dr Michael Protopopov OAM of the Orthodox Church give messages about celebrating Orthodox Christmas (7 January) safely, in the midst of non-local Covid-19 outbreak.
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Torah: Where is Humanity
This week’s Torah portion, Sh’mot, begins the well-known narrative of Israelite enslavement and redemption from Egyptian bondage. On face value, it tells us of God’s saving power at our greatest moment of need. However, within the twists and turns, we discover the Exodus narrative is as much about absence as it is about action.
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The New Year: Make Every Moment Divine
If you wish to embark on a new life, you need not wait for the arrival of a new year. To wait for a whole year means waiting for twelve months and so many days, hours, minutes and seconds. Treat every second as new. Sanctify every moment of your life. This has to be done by realising the unity of the Divine and the individual Consciousness. When this union is achieved, Spiritual Bliss is experienced. This is the primary task before everyone.
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UN declares 4 February ‘International Day of Human Fraternity’
The UN General Assembly adopts a resolution declaring 4 February as the International Day of Human Fraternity. It comes as the result of Christian-Muslim cooperation to promote peace, harmony and intercultural dialogue in the world.
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Brother Bede’s ‘supernatural calling’ to become Tasmania’s first Benedictine monk
In a move unfathomable to many young men, in a few weeks Brother Bede will commit his life to God — becoming the first at his rural Tasmanian monastery to become a fully fledged monk.
Twenty-eight-year-old Brother Bede was one of the first to join the Notre Dame Priory when the Benedictine monastic community was established on an old farming property at Colebrook, 53 kilometres north of Hobart, almost four years ago.
He has now completed what would be akin to an apprenticeship and next year will make his solemn profession — vowing to spend the rest of his life as a monk in the service of God.
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Nepal: The Story Behind the Stupa
On the northeastern outskirts of Kathmandu, tucked away from the dust and chaos of the city, stands the Great Boudha Stupa, a Buddhist monument towering more than eight stories into the sky. At the heart of the legend of the Great Boudha Stupa in Kathmandu, we find the pure aspiration of a “poultry-woman,” Jadzim, and her four remarkable sons.
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Paramahansa Yogananda: A Cradle for the Christ of Everywhere
Shepparton Interfaith Network sends greetings of this Christmas Day to all peoples of all faiths – in the Goulburn Valley, nay, in Victoria, Australia, world-wide. Covid 19 aside (it causes separation on this feast day) we offer the message of the angels: Glory to God in the Highest – may all who live be the Glory of God, and may the Angels of the Christ Morn bring peace and good will to all Men, Women and Child. And those who suffer the Covid 19. Be blessed, this Christ Morn. Here, we bring you the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda on A Cradle for the Christ of Everywhere.
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The Psalms: A Doorway to Jewish-Catholic Dialogue
“The Psalms: A Doorway to Jewish-Catholic Dialogue” is the work of the Canadian Rabinnical Caucus and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops over a period of five years. In the last five years, while delving into historic issues and current questions, the members of the Dialogue have also been deeply enriched by the time devoted in each gathering to the study of a psalm from both traditions. This presentation of a selection of these reflections is an effort to share with the wider community the fruits of this study.
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The History of Christmas Carols
Just before Christmas, the birthday of the Lord Jesus Christ, the practice of sending his messages from house to house through hymns (Carol) is celebrated in various parts of the world known as ‘Go Caroling Day’. This tradition has an interesting history as a reaction to the drunken revelry and accompanying (pagan) singing. St Francis gave the world the Christmas nativity; songs and canticles developed, thereafter.
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Jesus in Islam and Christmas
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Carols by Candlelight returns with virtual performance
Greater Shepparton City Council is excited to bring back a much-loved event for the community to celebrate, with the Carols by Candlelight performance taking place this year in a COVID safe manner.
The annual celebration, which traditionally takes place in the Queens Gardens, will be a completely online event this year for families and friends to enjoy from the comfort of their homes on Sunday 20 December.
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Tina Turner’s Journey into Faith
The night before a show in New Zealand in November of 1993, Tina Turner had a rollicking party with her band and dancers. The men in the band dressed in drag and serenaded Tina, lip-syncing to her own songs; everyone drank and ate into the wee hours of the morning. You can imagine what happened the next day: she woke up in no shape to perform. To top it off, there was a severe rainstorm, and the show was outdoors. “There was no question of my cancelling that show,” she writes. “My fans had paid to see me perform, made sacrifices to get tickets, traveled to the venue, and were willing to stand in the rain without shelter.” Instead, Turner, a practitioner of Soka Gakkai Nichiren Buddhism, began chanting the signature mantra of Nichiren Buddhism—Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo (known as the daimoku)—in order to “turn poison into medicine.”
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Indigenous artwork on V/Line train aims to educate Victorians about diversity of Aboriginal nations
V/Line has unveiled a new design on one of its trains that aims to educate travellers about the diversity of Aboriginal groups across Victoria. The names of Victoria’s 38 Indigenous language groups can be seen weaved throughout the colourful piece.
Gunai and Yorta Yorta artist Dixon Patten designed the work, which is mainly featured along the outside of the train’s windows.
The artist behind a new design featured on a V/Line train says he hopes it will cause Victorians to “stop and reflect”. The symbolic work references dozens of different Indigenous groups across the state. V/Line says the work has been unveiled as part of their Reconciliation Action Plan.
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Do Muslims Celebrate Christmas?
It is that time of year again. The time of year as a Muslim where I am asked by co-workers and friends, “What are you doing for Christmas?” “Why are you not decorating?” and “Will you be attending any Christmas parties?” Usually my response is always the same, “I don’t celebrate Christmas.”
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