Bruce Staley

Recently I had the exciting privilege of attending a Citizenship Ceremony at the Ballarat Town Hall. The candidates for citizenship came from Canada, China, Ghana, India, Iran, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Togo, United Kingdom and the United States. I was particularly excited because I had been invited to attend by my friends, a family from the Philippines. The husband and their two daughters were candidates for citizenship. The ceremony conducted by the Mayor, Cr John Burt OAM, was impressive. The welcome from John, the candidates' pledge, the address by Cr Belinda Coates, presentation of citizenship certificate and the singing of the Australian national anthem led by a student from Damascus College all contributed to the occasion. Belinda during her address acknowledged that for some the journey toward citizenship of Australia was relatively easy while for others it had been fraught with hardship. However, whatever the circumstances, new life in Australia now held the pr...

The colloquial phrase,  "The greatest come back since Lazarus"  remains in use today. It may be used by a commentator, or reporter in the sports media to describe a seemingly miraculous turnaround by a competitor or team facing defeat during a sporting event only to overcome enormous odds to pull off a win. The phrase comes from the account of the miraculous raising of Lazarus by Jesus described in chapter 11 of John's gospel. Allow me to encourage you to read it this Easter. Just imagine Lazarus, who had died and had been in the tomb for four days, could have been among the crowd that had gathered a few days later for the Passover festival and celebrated Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem by waving a palm branches and shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!" This same Lazarus, was dead is now alive fully participating in life once again. The stone blocking the entrance was removed and in response to the c...