Shepparton: Launch of the Aunty Marge Tucker and Nanny Nora Charles Mural

National Reconciliation Week will take place from 28 May 2018 to 3 June 2018. In Shepparton, there will be several events taking place during this week. The Mural of Aunty Marge Tucker and Nanny Nora Charles on the Goulburn Murray Water wall will be launched on Tuesday 29 may at 11:00am.
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Remembrance Service – Aboriginal Servicemen and Servicewomen


Greater Shepparton City Council in partnership with Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation, Rumbalara Co-Operative and the Shepparton RSL are holding a Remembrance Service to recognise local Aboriginal servicemen and servicewomen who represented Australia in war on Sunday 27 May at 11:00am at the Eastbank Centre, Shepparton.

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Sorry Day, Shepparton, 2018




National Sorry Day is an Australia-wide observance held on May 26 each year when the Bringing Them Home Report was tabled in the Federal Parliament. This day gives people the chance to come together and share the steps towards healing for the Stolen Generations, their families and communities. A Sorry Day observance will be held at Monash Park Shepparton, on Friday May 25, 2018 commencing at 10:15am

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Buddhism: Bearing Witness

Bearing witness can be defined as acknowledging that something exists or is true. From a Buddhist perspective, and specifically the Zen Peacemakers Order, to bear witness is to embrace both the joy and the suffering we encounter. Rather than simply observing the situation, we become the situation. We become intimate with whatever it is—hunger, poverty, discrimination, disease, or death.

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Judaism: Origins of the Sabbath



The Sabbath (Shabbat in Hebrew) is one of Judaism’s greatest gifts to humanity. People in the ancient Near East had nothing similar to the Jewish concept of a weekly sacred day of rest. Other cultures in the past knew of a seven-day week based on the phases of the moon, but the Israelite Sabbath is not connected to the movements of celestial bodies. It stands apart.

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Interfaith and Family Violence

The Shepparton Interfaith Network has conducted interfaith dialogue on the topic of family violence and has a further interfaith dialogue on this topic scheduled for 2018. Shepparton has recently welcomed the addition of two more police officers allocated to the Family Violence Unit. In this message we share the work of the Victorian Government and the Multifaith Advisory Group into family violence and note the creation of a faith-based family violence service for the LGBTI community.

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Shepparton: Vesak 2018 Observance

Join Buddhists in Shepparton and across Australia as they commemorate the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing. Buddhism is one of the world’s oldest philosophies of non-violence and has practiced peaceful relations for over 2600 years. In this day and age, Buddhism continues to promote peace through practice of mindfulness. There will be a celebration of Vesak in Queens Gardens, Shepparton, on Saturday, 5 May 2018.
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Religions and their Festivals at Easter

new-coexistEaster is a sacred season of Christianity. At the time of Easter, there are religious festivals in Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Judaism, to name a few. Jains observe the birthday of Mahavir; East Asian Buddhists observe the birthday of Quan Yin. There is the Passover of the Jewish Faith and the Sikhs recall the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev, who compiled the Guru Granth Sahib. These are among the religious festivals celebrated at this time.
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Shepparton: Cultural Diversity Week 2018

Cultural Diversity Week is Victoria’s largest multicultural celebration, featuring a week-long program of festivals and events in metropolitan and regional areas. In Greater Shepparton, there were many events marking Cultural Diversity Week, 17-25 March, 2018.

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Harmony Day Lecture: Mateship in Australia

I have been asked to speak today about Mateship and its relevance to Australian culture and social cohesion. I begin by acknowledging the First Peoples of Australia and in particular the Yorta Yorta and Bangerang people on whose land we now live. Lets pray that they be welcomed and deeply respected within the Australian nation. May their elders be blessed and honoured. May we also pray that this sacred land truly inspire us to come together as a tolerant, multicultural, multi-faith, secular community in which all of us are considered to be mates – Aborigines, women, migrants, our families and our descendants from all around the globe.

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Harmony Day – Unity in Diversity

Harmony Day was celebrated by St Brendan’s Parish on Sunday 18 March. During the 11:00 service of Divine Worship (Mass), the video produced by Notre Dame students was launched. Fr. Joe Taylor advised the congregation, “Instead of the sermon, we will have the video”. Harmony day continued with an observance in the hall behind St Brendan’s Church.

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Cemeteries and Crematoria: Reflections on a Survey


Representatives for the Department of Health conducted a community consultation in Mooroopna on Wednesday 14 March in order to elicit the communities need for future development of cemeteries and crematoria in the Goulburn Valley. A wide ranging discussion ensued.

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Meditation – what it cannot do.

Many Westerners, when they come to dharma practice, come looking for psychological healing — but this is not what meditation was designed to do. As meditation has become mainstream, it has been marketed as a way to address physical and emotional ailments as well as a way to improve performance at work, reduce stress, and rewire the brain.

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