Fr Paul McGee with Mrs Maria Maiorana, Principal of St Martha's Parish Primary School.
Earlier this year, Columban Fr Dan Troy from Wuhan in Central China got in touch with me to ask if I could help with selling Christmas cards, made by young people with special needs.
Fr. Dan encourages young people with disabilities to engage in a cottage style industry by supplying them with the materials and holy cards which are assembled into Christmas greeting cards. The end produce is attractive, so I asked for a supply and am pleased to report that a thousand of these beautiful cards have now been distributed.
Working with the Chinese Catholic community in Sydney, I brought the cards along to Sunday Mass at Dominic’s, Flemington NSW where the community comes together on Sundays for the Mandarin Mass. The Committee President, Chan Yuan Chyi advertised them at the end of Mass and they were well received by many of our congregation who come from mainland China.
St Martha’s Parish Primary School, Strathfield, NSW, 2135 showed a keen interest in the selling the cards along with a group of young Maronite Catholics who are preparing at CMI to visit an impoverished area in Manila, Philippines over the Christmas and New Year period.
Fr McGee
Centre for Promoting Communion with the Church in China
Ph: 02 9352 8000