On Wednesday 16 July, we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, our patron, in two appropriate ways: with a school and parish Mass at 12.30pm at OLMC and with a parish meeting at St Anne’s Primary School at 7.30pm. The old OLMC church was packed with school children and parishioners joyfully celebrating the feast of Mary our Mother and patron of our parish. I would like to say more about this Mass and the reverent way our children entered heart and soul in this liturgical celebration, but the purpose of this article is to report on the event that took place in the evening of that same day.
Led nobly by our parish team – Lyn Plummer, Richard Hallett, Sr Jose and Joanne Spiteri – sixty parishioners representing various active groups in our parish attended our inaugural Parish Meeting Night. I went partly as a participant and partly as an observer and reporter. I came away from the meeting heartened and impressed by these people who go the extra mile to give life to our parish.
For the record these were the names of the groups represented at our meeting: Baptism Preparation Team, Knights of the Southern Cross, Liturgy Planning Group, Overseas Humanitarian Project, Maintenance, Marriage Encounter, Neighbourhood Development, RCIA, School Advisory Committee OLMC & St Anne’s, Small Christian Communities, St Vincent de Paul and Youth Group.
Sixty people represented YOU, our brothers and sisters in Christ, you who share with us the Eucharist that binds us together in communion with Christ Jesus. Ours is not a perfect parish – no parish can boast that it is – but there is much to like about our parish and much to be thankful for as we celebrate this weekend the feast of Our Lady of Mt Carmel and look forward to the feast of St Anne and St Joachim. May God continue to bless our parish.
Fr Bert Fulbrook sdb
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Sunbury 