Sydney
21 July 2002
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Changing face of Pope’s soldiers
Vinnies SOS for cash to fight gambling ills
Priest’s anniversary wish – that more young men take up cloth
Simon’s still in need of a home
Excitement as pilgrims are blessed
Politics and prayers
International court is ‘crucial’ for East Timor
The icon of Our Lady of Kazan
Amnesty condemns attacks by Palestinian suicide bombers
Church unity theme for cardinal at Ryde mayor’s prayer breakfast
Aust gifts set charity record
Danger if teens are ‘running on empty’
Editorial: Romance in marriage
Letters: Jesus is the centre, not the clergy
Conversation: ‘Unreal’ love? Not if your love is real - Anne and Peter McGowan, family delegates
Reflections: Hunger – righting an imbalance
Becoming Catholic ‘a turning point’
Opinion: A return to the genuine ‘good old days’?
Schools fight to keep up with demand
Chaldean leader blesses new church
Helping hand for Sydney pilgrims
‘Big kids’ in new role as Seniors
Inspirations: Students rally to Winter Appeal
Becoming Catholic ‘a turning point’
It was the year that she had the first of two unsuccessful operations to repair damage to her spine caused by a ruptured disc.
Since then she has fought a daily battle with pain with the aid of morphine, a back brace and wheelchair and the constant support of her husband, John, also a convert.
Her other source of support is prayer and the Church’s great saints and mystics, such as St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross.
“Becoming a Catholic was a turning point in my life,” she says.
“Without that I would not have been able to cope.
“I really feel in touch with the mystical part of Catholic faith because I realise it’s only in prayer that you get to really know God.
“I always thought I knew God because I have been religious all my life.
“But for the first time (through praying) I felt
I just knew God for the first time and not just knew; I knew that God is love.”
Janetta, a 69-year-old parishioner of Sacred Heart, Mosman, has launched her autobiography, A Voice of My Own.
Last week she gave an author’s talk at Sacred Heart Primary School, Mosman, and donated the money from book sales on that day to the parish.
The book describes her childhood in her minister father’s poor Dutch Reformed parish in Pretoria, South Africa, her first marriage to a violent husband and eventual escape at the age of 26 to Rome to pursue a singing career.
She documents how she was welcomed into the world of opera as a student of the opera singer Toti Dal Monte, but never quite made it to stardom for several reasons.
She endured separation from her two young sons, then the accidental drowning of her eldest son, Jurie, and even an escape from a kidnapping attempt in Rome.
She was still young when she met and married John Haskell. They came to Australia when he was offered a position as chief architect working on Parliament House.
They entered the Church through the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) program at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Mosman.
A Voice of My Own, published by Wild and Woolley, is sold at Pages and Pages bookstore in Mosman and Book Review bookstore in St Ives.