Tracey Edstein

Tracey Edstein is an associate of the Dominican Sisters, the convenor of the Waratah Associates of the Dominican Sisters of Eastern Australia and the Solomon Islands. For many years, she was a secondary teacher of English and religious studies, and religious studies coordinator in schools with close ties to the Marist and Dominican charisms. She then served as editor of Aurora, the award-winning monthly magazine of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, Australia. She is an active parishioner involved in adult faith formation and a freelance writer.

 

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A hallway of Christmas lights (Unsplash/Eric Rai)

What is it about Advent?

There is little to be gained by disdaining the fairytale aspects of the season; perhaps as a society we get what we deserve?

Two friends walking along a dirt road (Unsplash/Klara Kulikova)

In praise of the people who 'get you'

I am blessed to have a number of dear friends who "get me." I could not navigate the slings and arrows without them, it's that simple. Jesus was someone who knew slings and arrows well — and also relied on friends. 

Rows of trees with purple flowers stand along a street.

Reclaim Advent to enhance our celebration of Christmas

I can't help thinking — or am I just hoping? — that there is something in the traditional observance of Advent that is beginning to speak to people for whom Christmas is not a religious event. 

Church tower with Christmas star above

Christmas is Christians' gift to the world

Christmas is our best hope to tell our story of good news. Let's not jeopardize this annual opportunity by channeling Scrooge, but rather proclaim, with the angels: "Glory to God in the highest!"

Canossian Sr. Melissa Dwyer and chats with one of her secondary students at Bakhita Secondary School in Balaka, Malawi, in 2009. (Courtesy of Melissa Dwyer)

Q & A with Sr. Melissa Dwyer, from throwing javelins to congregational leadership

Sr. Melissa Dwyer, an educator who led a girls' school in Malawi, is now leader of the Canossian Daughters of Charity in Australia. In a past life, she dreamed of an Olympic gold medal. But, as she says, "God has ways."

Dominican Sr. Diana Santleben (left) and project coordinator Farida Baremgayabo, a former refugee from Burundi, make plans for Zara's House Refugee Women and Children's Centre in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. (Tracey Edstein)

Accidental ministry opens world of refugees to Australian Dominican

A call Dominican Sr. Diana Santleben received about 14 Africans on a parish doorstep in Sydney in 2000 led ultimately to her founding Zara's House Refugee Women and Children's Centre in Newcastle, Australia.

A gum tree in Australia; its "Christmassy" flowers — made of the male stamens — look like fireworks. (Tracey Edstein)

Happy Christmas down under! Orana to Christmas Day!

For Australians, celebrating Christmas down under is different. So for those to whom a hot Christmas is a foreign concept, here's a sun-tinged window into the reality.

A person in a protective face mask walks along the Princes Bridge in Melbourne, Australia, July 17, 2020, during a lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic. (CNS/Reuters/Daniel Pockett)

Pandemic uncertainty gives us a deeper understanding of Advent

Liturgical seasons are bottomless wells of possibility, with water that can be calm and consoling or turbulent and disturbing. This year, "turbulent and disturbing" feels about right.

Lee-Ann Wein (Courtesy of Lee-Ann Wein)

Q & A with Lee-Ann Wein on the Beguine way and its 'beautiful freedom'

Throughout Lee-Ann Wein's adult life, she has followed various paths in the quest to know and follow God. Currently living in Jamberoo, south of Sydney, she has embraced the Beguine way of life, a hard-won choice.