2015-12-06 Vatican Radio - (Vatican Radio) - Before the recitation of the Marian Prayer on the second Sunday of Advent, Pope Francis referred to Sunday’s liturgy in which John the Baptist, preaches "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins".

The Holy Father pointed out that conversion is not just for atheists but also for those who already consider themselves Christians.

Pope Francis continued by saying, “No one can say: I'm fine. Not true, it would be presumptuous, because "we must always be converted."

2015-12-07 Vatican Radio - Director of the Apostleship of Prayer in Zambia, Jesuit priest, Father Charles Searson reflects on the Jubilee year of Mercy and what it entails of all:

Pope Francis has declared the period from 8 December 2015 to 29 November 2016 as a Jubilee Year of Mercy. It is also his prayer intention for December: "that all may experience the mercy of God, who never tires of forgiving."

Appropriately enough the Holy Father anticipated the year on Sunday evening 29 November by opening the Door of Mercy at the Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of Bangui, in the Central African Republic.

Pope Francis wants the celebration of the Holy Year to be for all believers "a true moment of encounter with the mercy of God". The Hebrew word for Mercy is "Hesed" which translates as "the loving kindness of the heart of our God."

Last week, from the 5 - 7 December, Srs Jenny Seal, Lorraine McCleary and Philippa Murphy joined with approximately 4000 young Catholics in Adelaide for the Australian Catholic Youth Festival. The Festival was supported by the Australian Catholic Bishop's Conference.

There was great joy at the OLSH Associates’ Annual Retreat at the MSC Retreat Centre in Douglas Park on Saturday 31st October when eight women made their Commitment as Associates of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred. Their commitment was received by Sr Elizabeth Little, the Provincial. We thank God for these women of the heart who have joined our International Chevalier Family and with us strive to be the Heart of God in the world.

Over the weekend 800,000 Catholics joined the Global Climate March to send Pope Francis’ Laudato Si message to the world leaders in the Paris Climate Summit.

Locally, on Sunday 29th November, a group of OLSH sisters from the Provinces of Australia, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea joined with over 50,000 people and marched from the Sydney Domain to the Opera House in solidarity with millions of people around our Globe who were marching in the world’s first ever Global Climate March.

Sister Anne has recently facilitated not only $126,000 from the Commonwealth Government Aboriginal Benefits Account to extend the Patakijyali Muesum in Wurrumiyanga, Tiwi Islands, she has also recently secured an additional $70,000 from the Northern Territory Government to  fit out a number of new exhibitions and an additional $11,500 for new air conditioners for the existing museum which are vitally important given the climate in the Northern Territory. Sister Anne has been working tirelessly with the local Tiwi people, especially the women to ensure their culture and language is documented and persevered for future generations.

Sr Nora Hanrahan OLSH. who was presented with a national Kiribati award, by President Anote Tong, for her work in advancing the lives of the Kiribati people during her long years in education there

On Saturday, 24th October, 2015 the President of Kiribati came to the OLSH Convent at Kensington to present a national Kiribati award to Sr Nora Hanrahan for her work in advancing the lives of the Kiribati people during her long years in education there.  He noted particularly her role in setting up 6th Form school with few resources in Teaoraereke, Tarawa.

The low-lying South Pacific island nation of Kiribati has an average height of 2 metres above sea level, making it one of the countries most vulnerable to rising waters and other climate change effects.

The impact of climate change is already taking its toll on over 105,000 people living on the low-lying atolls of Kiribati. These lands are threatened by rising sea levels resulting in flooding becoming more common, seawater contaminating fresh water wells and sea water seeping into some garden areas and destroying crops.

The conference was held in Melbourne, October 2nd and 3rd. The Chevalier Family supported the conference.

Over 100 gathered at the Yarra Theological Union Study Centre, especially SVD members from around the world and a large number of the sister congregation of the Holy Spirit. All the papers were given by members of the congregations with visitors being the responders.

The attached interview is written by Amaya, from the Jesuit Refugee Service .

‘The aim of this interview was to understand from Nawras what daily life is like for Syrian people today. This will hopefully make our audience understand why people continue to flee to neighboring countries, and why they need safe and legal paths to access asylum in Europe. And above all, why Syrians desperately need peace in order to rebuild their lives in their country’.