Once upon a time, on a warm spring day, an eager young missionary was walking through a forest. As he made his way from one village to the next he spotted a woodcutter at work. He watched as the woodcutter's axe dug deep into a tree trunk. The trees echoed with the sharp sound of the axe and the chips flew out of the clean cut. As the woodcutter worked, the young man chatted to him in a friendly style. After a while he thought, " What a perfect opportunity to make me a convert for Jesus, this man has never heard of Jesus Christ." So in a gentle way the missionary spoke to him of Jesus Christ.

All day the man went through the same routine. He chopped his wood, carried it to his wagon and walked back to chop another load. All the while, the young missionary spoke to him from the heart about Jesus Christ. Eventually the young missionary asked the man the important question: "Well are you ready to accept Jesus Christ?" I don't know replied the woodcutter. "All day you spoke to me of this Jesus who helps us with our burdens yet you never helped me with mine!"

The second story is an actual real life event that occurred in 1935. Fiorella LaGuardia, the mayor of New York City, was an unusual mayor who rode the New York fire trucks, went on raids with the police department and would take entire orphanages to baseball games.

On a bitterly cold winter night he turned up at a night court that served the poorest part of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening. He took over the bench himself. A tattered woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted his wife and children.

The shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a bad neighbourhood, your Honour," the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson." LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said. "The law says that I have to punish you. No exceptions. Pay ten dollars or spend ten days in jail." As he said this, LaGuardia reached into his pocket, pulled out some money and tossed it into his hat.

"Here's the ten dollar fine, furthermore," he said, ''I'm going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grand children can eat. Mr Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to them to the defendant."

The next day the New York City papers reported that forty seven dollars and fifty cents was given to an old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren. Fifty cents of that amount came from the red faced shopkeeper. Petty criminals, people with traffic violations and New York police men, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the major a standing ovation.

What message is there here for us? Shortly we will be celebrating the birth of Jesus. Christmas is traditionally a time of giving and as Christians we are called to love our brothers and sisters and use wisely the things of this earth. This Christmas will we nestle in the comfort of our air conditioned homes, drive our expensive cars to the beach, enjoy lavish gifts and holidays and live to excess or will we live in Christ by speaking out loudly against poverty, homelessness, injustice, abuse and destruction of our environment? Will we share our good fortune with those less fortunate? Will we help lessen someone else's burden? More importantly, do we leave it to non Christians to do the things that Jesus calls us to do?

Sam Di Nucci

Many years ago I attended Sunday mass and listened intently to the homily of the day. A portion of the homily that really drew my attention related to the history of the Australian Flag that hangs over the Baptismal font at the front of our Church. I recently discovered that Tom Fisher (Ex-Petty Officer, Royal Australian Navy.) was the source of this information and since it is the anniversary of Federation I thought it was worthy of being repeated here.

The Australian flag came into being one hundred years ago and is one of the oldest flags in existence. The top left hand comer is known as the Union Flag, which represents the crosses of three saints. They were St George, the patron saint of England, martyred about 300 A.D., St Andrew the patron saint of Scotland and the cross of St Patrick, himself, the patron saint of Ireland. The flag is one of the few Christian flags remaining as only six national flags still bear the Union Flag. The American state of Hawaii also bears a Union Flag. Sometimes the Union Flag is incorrectly referred to as the Union Jack. The Union Flag is only referred to as the Union Jack if it is flown from the 'jack mast' on the bows of a warship in harbour. On the right hand side of the Union Flag stands the five stars of the Southern Cross, a symbol of our great land and which is steeped in aboriginal mythology. Under the Union Flag is the seven pointed star, representing the six Australian states and the Federal territories.

In preparation for Christmas, Advent Home Masses will again be conducted in the parish. These Masses allow parishioners the opportunity to come together in small groups to pray. Mass will be celebrated each Friday evening beginning at 7.00 pm and will be followed by a short Talking Point or Spiritual Discussion. The following people have kindly volunteered their homes for the event.

• 30 Nov Mrs Verona Russell 18 Wade St Joondanna 94443860
• 7 Dec Mrs Bruna Delia Franca 226 Main St Osborne Park 93495083
• 14 Dec Mr & Mrs Len DeCruz 18B Royal St Tuart Hill 93496560
• 21 Dec Mrs Eileen Barker 105 Waterloo St Tuart Hill 94444802

We encourage you to make an effort to come and join us.

The Cup luncheon, held on the 6~ November was a great success. The event drew a large crowd of 72 parishioners and friends. Tickets for the Cup Sweep sold well and a few people went home a little wealthier. Those that were not so lucky in selecting the winning horse were still able to share in a wonderful meal and participate in the merriment of the day. A special thank you to all who attended the event. Your support, participation and good humour contributed greatly to the flavour of the day, The success of the day was also due to Ricki Fogliani who organized the event. Ricki was responsible for selling the tickets, arranging the menu and preparing the food on the day. Thank you Ricki for a fantastic effort! Special thanks are also extended to other helpers on the day who gave of their time and energies to making the day run smoothly. They include Eileen O'Dea, Millie Stockbauer, Evert, Katy Cafiere and Magda Nazar. My apologies to anyone else who I neglected to mention.

Our final term for the year is drawing to a rapid close. This term the children have been preparing for Christmas by singing Christmas songs and constructing various Christmas decorations. It has been a busy year for the playgroup. Some of our children will be moving to Kindergarten and Pre-Primary next year and we wish them well in their new adventure. Places are available for children aged 0-4 for next year. For further information call Tracy 92424974 or Sharon 94442742. Finally we wish to thank the parish for its support throughout the year.

In recent weeks, a windstorm brought two of our beautiful Rottnest Island pine trees to the ground. On advice from tree experts, the remaining two trees were deemed as suffering from fungal rot and unsafe. It was strongly recommended that the trees be removed, as there was some danger of these trees falling in the very near future. The Parish Council has regretfully decided to go ahead with the recommendation that the trees be removed.

After ten years of active, faithful and dedicated service by Ricki Fogliani to the Social Club, the time has come for Ricki to hang up her apron. Through her selfless actions over the years, Ricki has contributed greatly to the sense of community at St Kieran's. To her credit, she has organized numerous social events for the good of the parish. These have included the Melbourne Cup Day, Mother's Day flowers, children's Easter eggs, Christmas Sherry and cake, numerous luncheons, bingo and refreshments after mass once a month. Thank you Ricki for the many hours of service you have given your parish.

As Ricki has now stepped down from her position as Social Club organizer, a new Social Club Committee has been formed, comprising Angela Spina, Judith Tresham and Eileen Barker. We are confident that they will do a wonderful job and we hope the parish will support them in their future endeavours.

Over the year, this newsletter has proved to be a success. It has met its objective of imparting information to parishioners, as well as providing some thoughtful reading. The task of creating the monthly newsletter has been an enjoyable one, unfortunately. due to impending work commitments in the New Year and limited spare time, I will not be in a position to produce this newsletter next year. I am therefore calling upon any interested parishioner who is willing to continue this important task. I would be happy to provide assistance and support material to help you produce a monthly or two monthly, newsletter. Access to computer facilities is essential. For further information please contact Sam Di Nucci on 94442742.

If you regularly attending Sunday morning Mass, you may not be aware that on the first Saturday night of each month, a youth mass is held at St Kieran's. If you would like to experience Sunday worship with a 'different beat' feel free to come along and join our young people.

Goodman was a moderately successful businessman who dreamed of making big money one day. One afternoon, he took his friend out for a drive; he chose the route very carefully in order to impress his friend. "Look at that yacht. " Goodman said, as they drove past the marina. "That belongs to the senior partner at Cooper & Brooks. That boat over there is owned by the managing director of Goldman Sachs. And see that huge one over there? That's the pride and joy of the head sales person of Mark & Prudential." The friend said nothing. Goodman turned and saw the pained look on his friend's face, "What's the matter? " Goodman asked. "Oh, I was just wondering. " the friend said. "Are there any customer's yachts? "