"I really
believe that obedience is today’s crisis. People are saying, ‘I will not
serve’." Mother Angelica
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Message from the Manager
Welcome
to our 2019 Easter edition of Cardinal Newman Faith Resources
Newsletter. Easter Sunday is the greatest and most glorious feast of
the church year. The ceremonies from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday bring
us closer to Our Lord who died an agonising death on the Cross to save
us. The beautiful ceremonies at the Easter Masses give us a sense of
wonder and awe when we realise once again the incredible love God has
for each one of us.
A priest once asked his congregation, “Your car won’t go if you don’t fill
it with fuel, so how do you expect to get to heaven if you don’t fill
your soul with graces?” There are two types of grace: sanctifying and
actual. When we receive Sanctifying Grace from the sacraments, God
comes to live in our soul. He leaves our soul when we commit mortal
sin. Frequent venial sins cause us to fall into bad habits which may
lead to mortal sin. The remedy is to receive Holy Communion on Sundays
and as much as possible during the week whilst most priests recommend
that we go to Confession at least once a month.
Actual graces come from spiritual input, sacramentals and prayer
especially attending Mass, the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. God
loves us and wants to hear from us as much as possible. Actual graces
are like prompts that keep the sanctifying grace topped up. St
Alphonsus Liguori once said: “He who prays will be saved; he who does
not will be lost”. Spiritual reading and sacramentals including
Rosaries, statues, crucifixes and scapulars are reminders: very
important reminders that will keep us on the narrow path.
We have a very large range of Rosaries, Crucifixes, Statues, Medals and
Scapulars to choose from so please feel free to visit us in St Marys or
at Penrose Park after 11 am Mass every Sunday and on the 13th of the
month. Our new on-line shop is up and running and the images are
gradually returning. We have more than twenty different Prayer Books
for children, teenagers and adults and in several sizes and bindings.
There is an extensive range of Catholic Bibles and Liturgical
Resources.
Below is a list of new titles and perennial favourites to help guide
our minds and souls to our ultimate journey’s end: heaven. Some of
these provide, not just an understanding of the Catholic Faith, but
ourselves and the state of our souls. John Henry Newman, our patron
will be canonised soon so we have featured some of his prolific
writings in this edition and there are many more titles on our shelves.
With daily plans and directions that will help us find time to pray,
listen to good Catholic materials and read we can fill our tanks and
get closer to our heavenly destination.
Our special thanks to all our readers for their generous prayers, good
will and financial support. We could not survive without you so please
keep up your prayers for priests, each other and for us. We would like
to expand our network. Father’s Handouts are very important, well
written and timely when we see the state of the Church and our secular
society. If you have a relative or friend whom you know would benefit from
our articles or in need of good Catholic materials please hand this
Newsletter on and encourage them to put their names down to receive it;
whether by mail or email. Thank you once again, May God shower you and
your families with many graces this Easter.
Gai Smith
Manager
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Parenting
with the Beatitudes: Eight Holy Habits for Daily Living by Jeannie & Ben Ewing (new) on special
$28.95 Parenting with the Beatitudes offers deep spiritual insights
for both mothers and fathers about how to strengthen their own virtue
formation while also educating their children in moral development. It is
much more than a self-help book. Parenting with the Beatitudes assists
families in their spiritual walk toward holiness, strengthening and
encouraging them along the way. Each chapter is based on one of the eight
Beatitudes and offers reflections from both Ben and Jeannie Ewing (parents
themselves who have experienced the joys and difficulties of raising
Catholic children today) on how St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother lived out
this Beatitude in their family, respectively. Each chapter also includes
specific “sub-virtues” for each Beatitude. For example, in the chapter on
meekness, they explain how to grow in humility (a virtue that most helpful
in teaching meekness) and how to teach children the importance of
obedience. But do not put it all on your shoulders! Each chapter includes s
saint profile (for family discussion or further devotion) and a concluding
prayer. Finally, Ben and Jeannie draw on their own experiences and offer
practical tips for three developmental age groups: young children, middle
school, and adolescence.
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Esto Vir by Fr Paul Chandler (new) $19.95
Esto Vir, is Latin for ‘be a man’ and the author suggests this is the
central task of a man’s life. It seems obvious, doesn’t it? Yet the obvious
is not always so clear. Nor is it easy. We live in a time when, at least in
the western world, there is increasing suspicion and distrust of boys and
men. Fr Chandler is convinced that for the mental and spiritual welfare of
men, we must know what our calling as men is. Why has God created us as
men? What can we offer to the world that women cannot? How can we serve and
follow Christ as men?
Decisive Parenting: Forming Authentic Freedom in
Your Children by Michael Moynihan (new)
$19.95
If you seek to raise your children in Christian authenticity and virtue,
Moynihan’s book will be a gift to your vocation as a parent. Moynihan “hits
the nail on the head” by enveloping the Big Picture into the Everyday, and
showing how the little details lead to the final goal. His advice and
experience will guide you in your quest to teach your children to love
beauty, truth, and goodness. Most importantly, you’ll be able to give your
children the tools they need to live in virtue with equanimity, confidence,
and self-mastery.
The Manly Art of Raising a Daughter by Alan Migliorato (new) $24.95.
Manual for Women by Danielle Bean (new) $49.95
Also:
Made This Way: How to Prepare Kids to Face Today’s Tough Moral
Issues by Leila Miller and Trent Horn $19.95
Why We’re Catholic by Trent Horn $19.95
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Teaching
with Authority by Jimmy Akin (new) on
special for $24.95
What does the Church teach about that? Sometimes this seems like a question
with more than one answer. The Catholic Church claims to possess the
fullness of Christian truth, but getting to the truth on some matters of
doctrine or morals can be a challenge, with different popes, documents, and
theologians treating them with different levels of authority and shades of
meaning. This can lead not only to personal confusion but, increasingly in
our day, conflict and disagreement among Catholics. In Teaching with
Authority, Jimmy Akin shows you how to get it all straight. It is not
another catechism or “Catholicism for beginners” book. Teaching with
Authority is not about understanding specific teachings of the Faith (even
the complicated and misunderstood ones) but rather about understanding
Catholic teaching itself. Where does the Church’s teaching authority come
from? How do we weigh dogmas versus practices, doctrines versus
disciplines, conciliar declarations versus papal interviews? How do we sort
through the many kinds of ecclesial documents and determine their relative
authority and relevance? And, in an age when accusations of “heresy!” fly
regularly across social media, with competing sides eager to paint the
other as unfaithful to Catholic tradition or to the current pope, Jimmy
also tackles the issues of incredulity, apostasy, and schism—showing you
how to recognize different forms of dissent and respond to them fittingly.
A unique, valuable, and long-overdue resource for all Catholics as well as
those inquiring about the Faith, Teaching with Authority will help deepen
your understanding of what the Church teaches by showing you (maybe for the
first time) how and why and where it does.
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For the
Love of My people I will not Remain Silent by Joseph Cardinal Zen (new) on special $29.95
The relationship of China with the greatest secular world power, the United
States of America, and the most universal global spiritual power, the
Catholic Church, is in a state of flux. President Trump and Pope Francis
are major protagonists in this dramatic period. Although what is happening
in China has an impact worldwide, it is hard for the non-specialist to
grasp what is underway and its significance for the future. There are two
Catholic communities in China: the "underground", or unofficial,
Church and the official, government-controlled Patriotic Church. Cardinal
Joseph Zen is one of the most knowledgeable and credible witnesses to what
is happening in China, especially on the relationship between these two
communities. He is a courageous defender of the underground Church yet has
intimate knowledge of the official Church, in part because he taught in
several of its seminaries. It has been recognized, and Pope Francis himself
has confirmed, that the historic 2007 letter of Pope Benedict XVI to
Catholics in China remains the magna carta of the Church in that country.
On the tenth anniversary of this letter, Cardinal Zen gave a series of
eight lectures on its origin, drafting process, and final content, and
these enlightening talks are presented in this book. In these lectures,
Cardinal Zen explains in detail what he considers is now threatening the
fundamental principles of the letter, and therefore 'his people'. As the
title indicates, for the love of his people, he will not remain silent.
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Into the
Sea, Out of the Tomb: Jonah and Jesus by Maura Roan McKeegan (new) PB $19.95
In this delightfully illustrated children’s book, Maura Roan McKeegan tells
the story of Jonah and Jesus. Both were given special missions by God. And
both have something very important to teach about obedience to His plan.
See biblical typology—the Old Testament people, symbols, and events that
foreshadow the New Testament—come to life in Into the Sea, Out of the Tomb:
Jonah and Jesus. Recommended for ages 7 and up.
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Gus Finds
God by Michael P Foley (new)
$21.95
Gus Finds God is an illustrated children’s book based on St. Augustine of
Hippo’s classic autobiography, the Confessions. In accessible language
lifted almost verbatim from Augustine’s pen, Gus Finds God recounts the
quest of a boy whose search for God in the world around him and in the
caverns of his own memory leads him to a startling discovery about himself
and his Creator. The book is an excellent way of helping children (and
adults) come to terms with the spiritual nature of God and of the human
mind, all through an exercise advocated by the greatest Christian thinker
of the first millennium. Recommended for ages 5 and up.
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Building
the way to Heaven: The Tower of Babel and Pentecost by Maura Roan McKeegan (new) PB $19.95 HB $29.95
In this third book in the Old and New series, author Maura Roan McKeegan
recounts how all the world spoke one language—until the people of Shinar
became too proud, and the Lord came down from heaven and confused their
words. What can undo the chaos? And how will Pentecost help God’s children
understand one another again? Building the Way to Heaven helps young
readers to see God’s plan of salvation unfold within the stories of the
Tower of Babel and Pentecost.
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The End of
the Fiery Sword: Adam & Eve and Jesus & Mary by Maura McKeegan (new) PB $19.95
What do Adam and Jesus have in common? What do Eve and Mary have in common?
More than you think! With full colour illustrations, Maura Roan McKeegan
has brought to life biblical typology for children. Presenting the stories
of Adam and Eve and Jesus and Mary and placing them side by side, children
can see biblical typology jump off the page. In The End of the Fiery Sword,
children will discover similarities between persons or events in the Old
Testament that foreshadow persons or events in the New Testament without
any difficulty and easily understand at an early age what St. Augustine
meant when he said that the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the
Old Testament is revealed in the New.
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Defending
Boyhood: How Building Forts, Reading Stories, Playing Ball and Praying to
God Can Change the World by Anthony
Esolen (new) $39.95
Western civilization has no more eloquent defender than Anthony
Esolen. If we hope to regain today’s culture, we must remember the
truths that have been relegated to yesterday. Following on his Defending
Marriage, Esolen returns, this time in defence of boys and an experience of
boyhood that is on the wane, if not extinguished in many quarters of the
modern world. He masterfully illuminates the threats our precious sons face
from all manner of purveyors and promoters of political correctness, too
often hiding in plain sight. And he tackles head-on the misguided and
ultimately doomed—though not before it has done much mischief—project of
blurring the distinctions between boys and girls. Drawing on his own
all-American boyhood, Esolen, at times wistfully, at times, playfully, and
at times prophetically—in the literal sense of employing the thunder of an
Old Testament prophet—details what a good boyhood once was and what it can
be again.
Here, Esolen shows the parents of boys how raise sons who will:
•Enter the arena and fight for what is right
•Join with a band of brothers to defend the weak
•Sing songs that give glory to God and honour to honourable men
•Slay the enemies of God, Family, and Country
•Give—and protect—life, especially children and family.
In Defending Boyhood, Esolen prescribes a return to sanity in an insane
world. Enter into the world of boyhood with him and he just might change
you and the lives of the boys you love.
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Let’s Look
at a Masterpiece by Madeleine Stebbins (new)
PB $19.95 HB $29.95
The enthralling beauty and effective simplicity of great art can teach us
so much. Let's Look at a Masterpiece by author Madeleine Stebbins models
for children how to approach art with the eyes of faith and an open heart.
Let's Look at a Masterpiece will delight readers of all ages as the author
draws attention to the spiritual depth that these artistic treasures
illuminate, prompting children to reflect on the world around them. From
Vermeer's Little Street to Caravaggio's Conversion of St. Paul, along with
other timeless works from a variety of artistic periods, the masterpieces
included in this volume will stir the soul of every child. Recommended for
ages 6 and up.
Guadalupe: The Freedom of Loving by Cristina
Abad Cadenas (new) $21.95
In Dialogue with the Lord: Meditations by St
Josemaria Escriva (new) $29.95
Preparing for Confirmation: 50 Things Every Catholic Should Know
$13.95
The Word The Flesh The Devil by Fr John Rizzo
(new) DVD $10 CD $5
The Passion: What More Could He Do for You? by
Fr Christopher Sharah FSF (new) DVD $10 CD $5
Brother Francis 16: The Ten Commandments DVD
(new) $15.95
A Daily Defence: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a
Better Apologist by Jimmy Akin $24.95
The Good Sense of Jesus: A Commentary on the Beatitudes
by Fr Ivan Pertine (new) $34.95
My Battle Against Satan by Fr Gabriele Amorth on
special $26.95
Saints and Sinners in the Cristero War : Stories of Martyrdom
from Mexico by Father James Murphy on special $29.95
The Indomitable Mr Cotham: Missioner, Convict Chaplain and Monk
by Joanna Vials (new) on special $49.95
How to Live a Good Life following New Testament Ethics
by Vaclav Rajlich (new) on special $28.95
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Who Christ is — it’s in the APOSTLES’ CREED — also what He did
Download as a 
PDF
CATECHETICS with content is revealed by God, so never chew cotton wool flavoured with fairy floss.
THE APOSTLES’ CREED
In Whom do you believe?
I believe in God, 1
the Father Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, 2
His only Son, our Lord,
Who was conceived 3
by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,4
was crucified, died and was buried;
He descended into hell; 5
on the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into Heaven, 6
and is seated at the right hand
of God the Father Almighty;
from there He will come 7
to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, 8
the Holy Catholic Church, 9
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins, 10
the resurrection of the body, 11
and life everlasting. Amen. 12
Superscripts 1 to 12 are the twelves articles in the Creed as in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In medieval churches, catechetical art conveniently attributed one article to each of the Twelve Apostles, who displayed its text on a banner or scroll. The text is from Parts of the Order of Mass, n. 19, mandated by Cardinal Arinze, Congregation for Divine Worship, 23-6-2008.
ACTION — NOW !
Can Catholic school graduates tell you what Jesus did, or why He did it. or what benefit it is to our lives now, and how we know all this?
Remedial teaching can begin at once. We do not have to wait for the Plenary Council. Teachers in our schools can reinstate the Creed and help students see its relevance to faith and to life, since the Apostles’ Creed summarizes the whole Bible:- * “Jesus”, that is, ‘Saviour from sin’ (Matthew i:2t) recalls the Old Testament history of preparations for Him. * “Suffered under Pontius Pilate” recalls His Public Life proclaiming God’s Kingdom and Himself Son of God, for which His accusers got Him executed.
• Gradually He taught the Trinity, Paschal Mystery, the Holy Spirit and the Church, as in the Creed.
• “Communion of Saints” for the Seven Sacraments etc.
NON-BELIEVERS at our Catholic Schools
For non-believing pupils, the Creed is an ancient historical document, important for understanding many ideas, behaviours and diversities of our day:- * dignity of man in image of God with personal rights; * duty to God and to honour the rights of others;
• destiny beyond death, with eternal consequences.
CHAOS WITHOUT THE CREED
“Progressive Anglicans” of the 1940s13 were sure it was the Creed’s “dull doctrines” that kept people from coming to church.
Since the late 1960s, “progressive Catholics” have felt the same, hence the endless catechetical novelties of sociology and psychology (see Handouts n. 89).
Their “experts” confused the Bishops, bamboozled the parish priests, and betrayed the ancient loyalties of the faithful, who had to pay for experts to destroy their children’s faith, morals and the Church’s future.
Hand in hand with trendy catechetics went trendy liturgy and trendy family morality (farmyard morals). Sunday Mass attendance fell from 60% to 10%, since neither youngsters nor Protestants wanted any scorning of the Sense of the Sacredness of God and worship.
Chaos has been the outcome from abandoning the Creed, the Sacraments, the Covenant Commandments and Prayer. So for a start, reinstate the Creed.
The Creed has the most intriguing ideas ever to enter the mind of man, and the most exciting events in all human history, to make life on earth worth living, for our hearts are restless till they rest in God.
HISTORY
There is no shortage of written records for
historians. Separate documents were written by eight writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, James and Jude, treating Christ’s history, His teaching and its outcomes. Only later were they collected as part of a one-volume Christian Bible.
Their substantial agreement is corroboratory; the historians can check any conspiracy theories.
It is rather that rejection of the written records that suggests a conspiracy of suppression by today’s scholars. Have they surrendered to the thought police and become traitors to intellectual integrity out of a craven fear of unpopularity? Is this why modern academics scorn it as unworthy of study? Have they thrown away a key to decode present enigmas?
Jesus Christ is the man you can’t ignore! He’s the most vital contributor ever to world history. His life 2000 years ago still inspires us, with one Christian in eveiy nine persecuted, the most yet!
His religion is the hardest to practise yet the most ennobling.. Followers who failed Him have been little credit to themselves or anyone else. Those who choose to disregard Him have missed out on so much.
Was it errors of catechetical experts that lead so many into today’s atheism, amorality and immorality? REJECTION of INTELLECT and HISTORY
The Ramsey Foundation is offering billions for a university to set up a Bachelor of Arts in Western Civilization. Yet academics in Australia want to erase it from history — and not even money will move them. The reasons their spokesmen give lack any plausibility.
BETRAYAL
OUR VALUES are under attack, and have been intensely so since the 1960s. Our catechetics has served only to weaken them further. Catechetical fads have impoverished or perverted several generations of Catholics who were left weaponless and naked to the enemies of God and commandments and conscience.
This failure has also betrayed our beloved Australia. Our politicians, public service, academics and media have surrendered to atheism, amorality and immorality. We might have saved some of them if the faithful generally and the youth in particular had been properly evangelized and catechized.
POPULAR AGNOSTICISM which we oppose
• “One religion is as good as another.”
• “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere,” often with a corollary, “As long as you’re happy.”
These are also turned upside-down
* “One religion is as bad as another.”
• “What matters is never believe anything definite, defined, doctrinal, dogmatic, but get liberated and drift about in the dark like us and everyone else.”
The SEVEN Rs for a good upbringing
Religion + Respect
Reason + Responsibility
Reading + ’Riting + ’Rithmetic
THEOLOGY relates the mysteries one to another
When reason, enlightened by faith, seeks diligently, piously and modestly, it obtains, by God’s gift, some understanding of mysteries, and that very profitable one. It does so partly from the analogy of those things it knows naturally, partly from tlie interrelationship of mysteries with one another and with the last end of man. But never is reason rendered capable of penetrating mysteries as it penetrates truths that constitute its proper object. For by their nature, divine mysteries so far surpass the created intellect that, even when transmitted by revelation and received by faith, they remain covered with the veil of faith itself, and shrouded in a certain obscurity as long as, in this mortal life, “... we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:6-7)
From Vatican Council I in 1870, Dei Films chapter 4, Denzinger-Schonmetzer n. 3013 (old Denziger-Bannwait n. 1796)
Meaning of Dogmas cannot change
For the teaching of the faith, which God has revealed, lias not been proposed as a philosophical discovery to be perfected by human ingenuity, but as a divine deposit handed over to the Spouse of Clirist to be guarded faithfully and to be explained infallibly. Hence that meaning of sacred dogmas must perpetually be retained which Holy Mother Church has once declared; nor is that meaning ever to be abandoned under the pretext and name of a more profound comprehension. “Let, then, understanding, knowledge, and wisdom grow and advance mightily and strongly in individuals as well as in the community, in one man as well as in the Church as a whole, according to the degree proper to each age and each time; but only within their own domain, that is, with the same dogmas, die same meaning, the same sense.
Vatican Council I in 1870, Dei Filius chapter 4 DSn. 3020 (DB n. 1800)
NEWMAN’S ANSWER as an Anglican, 1833 — apostolic succession and continuity
There are some who rest their divine mission on their own unsupported assertion; others who rest it on their popularity; others on their success; and others again on their temporal distinctions. I fear we have neglected the real ground on which our authority is built — our apostolical descent.
then as Catholic priest made a cardinal, 1879
when described what we call Trendies, Modernists or Dissenters as Liberals (i.e. not political but religious liberals).:
.. .to one great mischief I have from the first opposed myself. For thirty, forty, fifty years [i.e. back in his Anglican days] I have resisted to the best of my powers the spirit of Liberalism in religion. Never did Holy Church need champions against it more sorely than now, when alas, it is an error overspreading, as a snare, the whole earth... Liberalism in religion is the doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion but that one creed is as good as another... It is inconsistent with any recognition of any religion as true. It teaches that all are to be tolerated, for all are matters of opinion. Revealed religion is not a truth but a sentiment and a taste and it is the right of each individual to make it say just what strikes his fancy...
SCRIPTURE
These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these tilings. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high.
Luke 24:44-49
... preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths. As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry.
2 Timothy 4:2-5
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Clirist and turning to a different gospel — not that there is another gospel, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
Talk to priests and write to Bishops —
ask them to check the facts for themselves:
Do pupils in our schools know WHAT Our Lord did and WHY He did it?
Do they ADORE God at Sunday Mass and practise a daily routine of prayer and good works?
How might the rest of us co-operate with God to help the students and their peers, the teachers and their religion lessons, to be vibrant with faith, hope and charity — and never work against these virtues?
* Creed or Chaos? was the title of a talk by Dorothy Sayers in 1940, and the title of a later book which included it in 1947.
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THIS APOSTOLATE NEEDS YOUR HELP
All donations large or small are
gratefully received from benefactors to assist in our valuable apostolate.
Please be assured that you are remembered in our prayers. To help you, we
have purchase an extensive new range of stock and are upgrading our on-line
services. You can assist by:
- Being a Volunteer on a
roster for a few hours a week; a regular 2 hours or more would be
great
- Making a donation, either
by direct deposit or by using the form below
- Buying books and religious
goods from us
- Direct Deposit - ANZ Bank:
BSB 012408 Account: 227329572 Please cite your name as our
reference. For notification of the direct deposit remittance: fr@cardinalnewman.com.au or
fax: (02) 9623 3181
- credit card, cheque, money
order - please return the form below to: Cardinal Newman Faith
Resources Inc PO BOX 359 ST MARYS 1790
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