18th Eastern Link - Province 20 Catenians of Western Australia

EASTERN LINK The Catenian Association Strengthening family life through friendship and faith PROVINCE 21
From. . .
Brother John Tweedie
President Province 21
The Catenian Association
Dear Brothers,
In this my first note to you as Provincial President, I would like to introduce myself to those of you who I
haven’t yet met. As my aim is to visit all Circles during the year, I trust that by the end of my term I will have
met most of you personally.
I am John Tweedie, husband (to Pamela for 35 years in September); father (to Katherine); retiring lawyer (I
basically finished work heading the superannuation legal team at Commonwealth Bank at the end of
December 2012 – but it is hard to completely untie that knot); parishioner (formerly of Sacred Heart Parish
Mosman, but with our main focus having moved to the Blue Mountains, now of Sacred Heart Parish
Blackheath – the smallest and most westerly of the parishes in the Parramatta Diocese); convert to
Catholicism (I am finding that quite a number of my Catenian Brothers in active positions in the Association
have this in common with me) and committed Catenian (since 2000 when I joined Mosman Circle).
I believe that joining the Association was one of the more important decisions of this part of my life’s journey
(I am now 60 but joined in my 40s). I have often related how I remember well the moment I set foot in my
first Catenian gathering at Mosman, as the guest of a fellow parishioner. The very first person I saw was
Brother Warwick Jones (joint member of Manly and Mosman). Warwick had been a senior lawyer in CBA,
whom I had greatly respected but who retired some years before. As can happen when people retire, I had
lost contact with him. But as a result I immediately felt completely at home in this gathering, and as my
Catenian connections have grown over the years, I have never lost that feeling. Indeed, it has expanded.
The trusting relationships that we can quickly develop because we are dealing with Catenian Brothers, have
on more than one occasion been a catalyst in helping me determine a personal path to follow. Further, I
have always enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of our dinners, apart from being a great way to unwind, it
allows for the serious discussion to develop on all manner of topics. We remain a grass roots organisation
and our monthly meeting and dinner remain the bread and butter of who we are.
Our participation in the Association is very much grounded on these regular meetings and our dinners,
including those where we join with Brothers in other Circles. The meetings of course have some degree of
ritual, though this has been diminishing over the years.
People express different views on the stage we have reached with the use of rituals and the regalia. This is
certainly something that one of the Committees of Grand Council is looking at now, and all Brothers can
contribute to the discussion over the next couple of months. Circle Secretaries will all have copies of the
relevant “Green Paper” proposals, so please contact your Secretary if you haven’t seen this information and
would like to comment.
My personal view is that as with a sporting team, an employment relationship or any other organisation, one
joins with a view to playing or participating under the rules as they exist. My place as a member of the
Catenian Association is no different.
Having said that, we need to have an eye for the future of the Association. We must be open to change, and
in some cases we may need to strongly advocate for change, through the appropriate governance
arrangements that exist within the Association. It is not just ritual and regalia that are relevant in this regard.
Brother Provincial President John continues on the next page…
JUNE Page 6 2013