serving the faith communities of the Goulburn Valley
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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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Professor Andrew Markus will give a presentation in Shepparton on the annual Social Cohesion surveys conducted by the Scanlon Foundation at the Sherbourne Terrace on afternoon of Wednesday 16 May.
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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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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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Easter 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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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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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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The Greater Shepparton City Council and the William Cooper Memorial Committee invites the community to the official unveiling of the William Cooper Memorial Statue at Queens Gardens, Shepparton, on the morning of 27 March, 2018 at 10:00am
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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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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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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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In collaboration with the Adult Migrant Education Program at GOTAFE, Shepparton Interfaith Network will present the “Challenges of Settlement” seminar as part of 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.
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Marriage – usually cohabitation of a life-long nature – is blessed as a religious event in most societies. In Sikhism, the Gurus were married and had children. Sikh marriage is intended to replicate the living Guru Granth Sahib and set the example of husband and wife as “one soul in two bodies”.
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Family life is a sacred activity in Hinduism, indeed, it is called the second ashram, for there sacred and holy duties conducted by the family. In this article, we bring an overview of Hinduism and Family life.
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St Brendan’s Parish in collaboration with Notre Dame College and the Shepparton Interfaith Network will celebrate Harmony day in the 11:00 Mass with the showing of the Unity in Diversity video. There will be further activities at the Mgr Peter Jeffrey Hall after the service on Sunday 18 March 2018.
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It was the colours on the wall – red, black and yellow.
A new creation.
New stories.
Another piece of history for us all to share.
Freedom Stories is a collaborative documentary project from Flying Carpet Films. It explores the achievements and stories of former ‘boat people’ who arrived in Australian waters seeking asylum from the Middle East around 2001, a defining year in Australian politics. Locked in remote detention centres and then placed on temporary protection visas, their limbo lasted for years. Now Australian citizens, they are finally building secure lives and contributing to their new country.
The Satellite Rotary Club of Mooroopna Kialla presents the documentary film – ‘Freedom Stories’ on Wednesday March 21st 6.30pm at Harder Auditorium (GoTafe). You are invited to stay for a Q&A session with the director Steve Thomas and a light supper after the film.
As part of the 2018 Bendigo Zinda Festival, Bendigo Interfaith Council will hold a Forum and Dinner at the All Seasons Conservatory on Wednesday, March 21 at 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM. Guest speaker will be Helen Heath OAM, of the Interfaith Network of the City of Greater Dandenong.
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The World Day of Prayer is an international ecumenical Christian laywomen’s initiative. It is run under the motto “Informed Prayer and Prayerful Action,” and is celebrated annually in over 170 countries on the first Friday in March. The movement aims to bring together women of various races, cultures and traditions in a yearly common Day of Prayer, as well as in closer fellowship, understanding and action throughout the year. This year, World Day of Prayer will be observed on Friday 2nd March, at Christ Church, Shepparton.
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The word diversity and its close relatives, inclusion and equality, are positive by most objective standards and dictionaries.
Yet when they fall on certain ears, these words can raise hackles and bring out hives. And it’s interesting to ask, why is that? Why wouldn’t someone subscribe to the great Australian maxim of a fair go for all? How can they see the words diversity and inclusion then register something negative lurking in their semantics?