Stories of faith

Friends of Jesus Good Shepherd:Mafalda & Italo Malavisi

Italo Malavisi and I Mafalda have been married for over fifty six years and we agree that it is the faith we both share that has been at the core of our life together.
This faith was ignited by our dear parents and then fuelled by the Franciscans and Salesian Brothers for Italo and the Charity and Mercy Sisters for me.

It has seen us through times of difficulties, financial struggle in the earlier years, parenting our five children, grand parenting our fourteen grandchildren, the care and loss of our parents as well as all the ups and downs one experiences in life.

Our faith has been what has sustained us, it has been a compass pointing us in the right direction, making our life meaningful. Gratitude, been thankful for all our blessings has always existed even more so as we’ve become older and more aware of the presence of a loving God and our dependence on him.

Our Church of St Luke’s has been at the centre of our lives, the parish community becoming our extended family. We were ministered by both the Scalabrinian Fathers and the Pastorelle Sisters who have been a strong testimony of faith, nourishing us spiritually. For me particularly the Pastorelle Sisters have been and continue to be my mentors. It was because of their belief in me, their encouragement that I decided to do a two year Basic Theology Certificate Course enabling me to become a more learned catechist with the RCIA and a facilitator of a weekly Parish Prayer and Discussion Group. On the other hand Italo worked hard and long with The ST Vincent De Paul’s Society and then Outreach, the Continuation Committee involved with fundraising for the church and also the maintenance of the church garden. We are still active in parish and in community work.

In 1996 we were invited to become Pauline Co-operators, Friends of Jesus Good Shepherd. We feel privileged and honoured to belong to the Pauline Family.

Both our mothers had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God which they passed on to us. Through her intercession many of our prayers and petitions have been answered. Mary is for us all a model of faith.

Retreat Days, the recitation of the Rosary, finding a little quite time each day for prayer, a little Scripture Reading, meditation and reflection help us to nourish this faith. The Celebration and reception of the Blessed Eucharist remains our life line. We subscribe to a number of Catholic Journals which are a constant source of growth and inspiration.

he Books of Job and Tobit, psalm 23 the Lord is My Shepherd, the Prodigal Son, the Gospel of Matthew chapter 20: “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard”. John’s Gospel when Jesus replies to Thomas “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” These are just some of the Scripture passages that speak and challenge us.

In the face of our contemporary world we believe that the Church needs to always remember that for Christ love was far more important than the law.