Mary, together with her son Paul and husband, Joe Bonnici, started volunteering at Stella Maris Melbourne in May 1990. Apart from volunteering at Stella Maris Melbourne, Mary, with her unwavering spirit, has also been serving as a „special” minister in the Church for over 30 years, taking Communion to the sick and elderly.

JK: Mary, how did you come to know of this Ministry in serving the people of the sea?

We were invited for supper at the Stella Maris Centre hall after a marriage renewal seminar organized by Fr Michael Richardson. While there I met one of the volunteers who later in-vited me to come in one evening to observe, which I did, and I haven‟t stopped coming since.

JK: What is your personal understanding of your involvement with Stella Maris?

For me, I have always believed that Missionary work does not mean I have to join a religious order or go overseas. At the end of every Mass the celebrant says, “Go forth to serve the world…”. There are many opportunities in our neighborhood to put these words into prac-tice. Pastoral work surrounds us wherever we work and live; they come in different shapes and forms. I discovered serving seafarers is one of the things I have been called to do.

JK: What inspires you to stay that long in the Ministry?

I believe in my basic Christian calling to serve. By virtue of our Baptism we are all called to witness the Gospel. But, in fact, it is in giving that we receive. Seafarers give me an opportu-nity to enrich my own faith as I serve them. It‟s a „special‟ Ministry and I am grateful to be part of the team in this Apostolate. Most times we are enriched and we may not realise.

John Kewa

World Youth Day 2008 is the largest youth event in the world and this year it is be-ing held in Sydney from 15th to 20th July. Organised by the Catholic Church, it intends to bring youths from all over the world to participate in this outstanding event. Over 125,000 youth from all corners of the world will be attending.

The Apostleship of the Sea will be having a stall at this event. We are looking for help from the various centres around Australia in making our stall interesting and informative to those that see it. We hope to give an insight into the work that we do as members of the Stella Maris. If you, or anyone in your centre, has any fotos or material that may be of benefit to be on display at the WYD conference, please contact Shelley on

office@aos-australia.org

All material will be kindly appreciated and returned once the event has finished.