Bushfires 2009

     

     

Day of National Mourning for Bushfire Victims

Homily by Fr Michael Casey

 

       

 

After a brief period that has allowed us to step back from the immediate horror of the firestorm which ravaged so many homes and brought grief to so many hearts, we are today called upon as a nation to come together to mourn what has been lost – but also to raise our hearts from the blackened ruins that surround us, to look upon what remains with a keener eye and perhaps to appreciate more completely the gifts with which life has endowed us.

 

As a Christian community we are touched no less than others by the plight of those who suffer most, but our faith in the God of love helps us to begin to see beyond the desolation. We are saved from total despair by our Christian hope; and it is from hope that we draw strength to rebuild shattered lives and to move beyond the unavoidable sadness and anger and confusion to the solid ground of unyielding faith in the puzzling providence of God.

 

This week the Church calls us to begin Lent with the ritual of Ash Wednesday – a day which, since the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983, reminds us of the savage power of untrammelled fire. In this traditional rite we see how the Church’s view of human reality is so different. The Lenten season of regeneration and renewal begins with ashes but it ends with the triumphant fire of Easter and the chant of alleluia. We think that fire comes first and then the ashes. Look around you – the fires have passed but the ashes remain. The Church begins with ashes, with ruin, desolation and failure, and from this ugliness creates lasting beauty. During Lent the deathly hopelessness of ashes is transformed into the blazing glory of the resurrected Lord. Death is not the end but, by the mysterious power of the risen Christ, it is the beginning of a more abundant life. “See, I am doing a new thing” says the Lord. This is the Good News that the community of the Church exists to proclaim. Christ has died! Christ has risen.

The story of our salvation begins with the shame of Adam and Eve and their exclusion from the Tree of Life. It ends with high celebration in the Temple of the living God who will wipe away all tears from our eyes, where there will be no more death or mourning or sadness. Likewise, in each celebration of the Eucharist there is the same dynamic: we begin with the confession of our sin and separation from God, and we conclude with the mystery of communion. Out of death and disaster new life is given.

 

We all know that the Australian bush has a mysterious power of regeneration after fire. Seeds germinate, burnt stumps send forth shoots that in time become branches, and even now dead cinders are giving way to the first green glimmers of new growth. Hidden from sight, untouched by the devastation, there is a resurgent will to survive, to continue and to flourish.

 

  

 

We thank God that there are also signs of healing spontaneously emerging in our nation: concern, generosity, service, courage, self-forgetfulness – these are precious qualities at any time, and we feel a sense of pride that they are expressed so abundantly now that they are needed so much. The journey to recovery is long and wearisome and for many the agony will continue, perhaps for a lifetime; but where there are many who help bear the burdens, the pain becomes tolerable.

 

For us who may have endured less in these fires, this is a time for compassion; a time in which we offer to the suffering what consolation we can. It is a time for reflection in which we confront the precariousness of human life and the fragility of all we cherish. It is a time to re-focus our hope in the Cross of Christ, in the sure and certain faith that God has a future for us.

 

There will, no doubt, be an opportunity in the future to celebrate regrowth and new life. Today, however, is a day of unabashed mourning, a day of solidarity with those whose lives have been changed so radically and so tragically. It is a day for faith and hope and practical charity. And, as we gather in this church, it is a day of prayer for our nation, for those who suffered most, for those who died – and for us who live that we might learn from our experience at this time to live more consciously as members of the human family and as believers.

 

May the ashes of Ash Wednesday this and every year remind us of our experience during these days of horror. And may our yearly celebration of Easter resurgence reinforce our conviction that nothing at all – neither fire nor flood, neither fear nor sadness, neither the most intense suffering nor death itself – can separate us from the love of God made present in Jesus Christ our Lord. To him be glory and honour for ever and ever.

 

     

     

    

  that mentioned about the bushfires at Tarrawarra Abbey 

  OCSO Generalate

The Order of St Benedict

 Genesee Abbey

 Weekly Times

 The Record

 Liturgy

The area in which the monastery is located has remained on fire alert this past week. South and west of the monastery there is no fire activity but to the north and to the east fires are burning in bushland less than 10 km from where we are. This morning the township of Healesville had a threat message for a time, but the urgency has diminished – so long as the wind does not change. The few days of milder weather and weaker winds have enabled more control lines to be established and some mopping up. We have ceased our night fire watches for the time being.

 

 

At the monastery the farm is fully operational. We have continued making sure that we attend to anything that could pose a danger in a fire situation. This is not such an easy task in a property of 400 hectares with tens of thousands of trees shedding bark and leaves, many kilometres of fence posts and wooden buildings.

 

 

This part of Australia has been in semi-drought these past ten years. Metropolitan water storages are down to one third of their capacity; annual rainfall has been substantially reduced and there was no rain at all in the month of January. The week beginning 25 January was marked by a record-breaking heatwave. At the monastery the outdoor temperature reached 49.6 degrees Celsius (about 120 degrees Fahrenheit) with almost no humidity. Grass withered, roses wilted, grapes shrivelled on the vine. The paddocks around the monastery were drier than any could remember.

 

 

Meanwhile we were more complacent than we should have been. We are surrounded by vineyards with elaborate watering systems. After some surprisingly good rains in November, we had cut hay in some paddocks and only low spiky tufts of grass were left. We had been advised by the local fire brigades to leave fire fighting to the professionals.

 

Before

 

After

 

The first week of February saw dire weather forecasts and urgent warnings that Saturday would be of unprecedented fire activity – a perfect storm was brewing. Our inner sense of danger went from green to amber but, like so many, we had no sense of imminent disaster.

 

Before

 

After

 

Saturday was hot; here we recorded 47 degrees. It was the gusting northerly winds that were dangerous bringing down intense heat from the centre of the country and searing currents of hot air that stripped the trees of leaves in a premature autumn and hurled bark from the eucalypts over lawns and buildings. Over 400 fires began burning in the rural areas of Victoria and smoke could be seen on every side. Most dangerously for us large fires were burning to the north and the strong winds were producing a rain of embers over the property. By the time they reached us they were dead, but it would need only one in a thousand to be still burning to set the property alight.

 

Before

 

After

 

Around 5.00 pm it happened: a spot fire began in the paddocks opposite the guest cottage, but it seemed to be almost under control when the wind changed and it turned back on itself to head north east, as we have already described. Another smaller spot fire, potentially more threatening, started closer to the monastic buildings but was extinguished.

 

 

We continue to be grateful that nothing worse occurred to us and to be mindful of those who suffered infinitely more than we did.  And we thank you for your concern.

We thank all those who have sent messages of concern. 

BUSHFIRES AT TARRAWARRA

The monks of Tarrawarra Abbey and all their buildings survived the devastating bushfires of Saturday 7 February, although about 150 acres of their property were burnt, 60 prime heifers that had just begun calving perished, new plantations of trees and much fencing were destroyed.

On Saturday afternoon, as the temperature climbed over 45 degrees and with hundreds of fires around the state, the monastery seemed to be safe, except for the very strong and gusty northerly winds blowing from the direction of the Kilmore fires. Embers and debris were falling so heavily that some thought it was rain on the roof. Then at 4.30 pm sirens were heard and a long line of fire trucks was seen headed for Yarra Glen

Frantic preparations and then, around 5.00 pm, a fire began in the paddocks below the guest cottage. With the help of a small unit from Tarrawarra Vineyard, our neighbours, this was quickly brought almost under control. Then the wind changed from north to south west and the embers roared into life quickly shooting up a gully along a row of trees bordering a dam towards the enclosure around Sr Diana’s hermitage, setting alight the grass on both sides, especially on the north. It then stormed up through the paddocks right up to the road, catching in its destructive wake some 60 heifers on the point of calving, setting alight thousands of new trees planted beside the road and setting the fences ablaze.

Meanwhile another spot fire erupted from a falling ember less than 100 metres from the church and library, in the parklands to the west of the monastic complex. Its progress was retarded by the service road to the north, but flames of about 45 cm height and generating fierce heat were moving inexorably eastward towards the monastery, fed by dry grass and detritus and threatening to set the tall trees alight. Fortunately a monk patrolling nearby gave the alert and the blaze was quickly brought under control, though it continued to smoulder through the night.

The immediate crisis quickly passed, but the danger remained high. All around the property fires were glowing in the darkness. To the south, only the narrow girth of the Yarra separated us from the fires burning on the opposite bank and to the north fire was creeping towards us from the other side of the road. Mopping up continued until after midnight and the whole area was constantly patrolled until dawn.

A MESSAGE FROM ABBOT DAVID TOMLINS

“Our overwhelming sense is one of immense gratitude to God for his palpable protection. Despite loss of some stock, fencing and tree plantations, we know that the blessing of preservation from injury and death and the survival of the monastic buildings in the chaotic conditions of Saturday was pure gift. Our deep sympathy and prayers are with all those who have suffered so much loss. We continue to pray for all the wonderful volunteers who have been out there giving themselves so totally for others in these tragic circumstances.”