Welcome to Sr. Joze Noy RSJ who has come to our Parish and will be a Pastoral Associate part time. Sr Joze has been a school principal and a pastoral associate in various Victorian parishes since 1994.
Tomorrow, over a hundred Victorian priests will gather in Moonee Ponds to celebrate the Jubilarians of 2011. The Diamond Jubilarians (ordained in 1951) are: John Allman, Paddy Creed, Con Groot, Lou Heriot, Frank Hickey and Kevin Sweeney. The Golden Jubilarians (ordained 1961) are: Peter Connors, Brendan Davey, Des Magennis. Noel Mackay, Adrian Doyle and John O’Reilly. The Silver Jubilarians (ordained 1986) are Jim Costelloe, Shanthaiah Mazneni, Ivan Page, John Petrulis and Denis Ryan. There are nine Jubilarians who have entered eternal life. A sign of the times in 1951 and 1961, there were 18 priests ordained from Corpus Christi College in both years. In 1986, four priests were ordained.
….Fr Kevin
Fr Peter was ordained in 1939 and was a priest of this Archdiocese for 72 years. He was in a group of pioneering priests promoting liturgical renewal and served on the Liturgy Commission for many years while being parish priest of Blackburn, Ormond and Greythorn. He was a devoted golfer. Being so alert and fit he did not retire until he was about 93 years old.
May he rest after all his labours. I enjoyed being his assistant priest in 1973….. Fr Kevin
Last Friday was my last day in the Parish Office. Thanks to Fr Kevin, Fr Bert, Jim, Richard, Lyn, Karen, Joanne and parishioners for the support and kindness I have received over the years.
…..Marlene Bramwell
Special Collections for Catholic Mission raised $1384.20; Bursary Fund $1048.00 and Project Compassion $1457.50.
Your generosity is greatly appreciated.
Fr John Petrulis, who was assistant priest at our parish from February 1987 to January 1990 and is now parish priest of Elwood / St Kilda West Parish, celebrates his 25th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood next month. A Mass of celebration will be held on Sat 20 August at 6.00pm at St Columba’s Elwood followed by a dinner function in the Parish Hall next door. On Sun 21 August a Mass of celebration will be held at 9.00am in St Columba’s Elwood and 11.00am at Sacred Heart, St Kilda West. If you would like to attend any of the Masses and functions, please RSVP Jane Hearns 9531 6120 or eskw@netspace.net.au by Monday 7 August.
We gather every fourth Sunday at St Anne’s Church between 6.30pm and 7.30pm and the next gathering is on the 24th July.
Please bring along a friend and your favourite board game. Fun and refreshments provided.
If you want to be on the email list and be notified of upcoming events, please forward an email to garnetjacob@yahoo.com.
After being with us for ten years, Sr Maureen Cahir RSJ has moved to the Yarraville Convent and St Mary Rowan RSJ is moving to the Hawthorn East Convent. Both sisters had previously taught in our two schools in the 1950’s and 1980’s respectively, so they have spent 14 years of ministry and as a witness to the evangelical counsels in Sunbury. We shall miss their joyful and prayerful presence and we are grateful to them and pray that God will continue to hold them in the palm of his hand. We can be proud also of the generous and constant support to the Sisters given by some of our parishioners so that the Sisters could continue to be in our midst.
We are unique in that we are the only parish in Australia with this title, not founded by the Carmelite Order who began their Australian mission from Ireland in 1881.
At our Parish Historical Committee Meetings, we have often discussed how our church was given the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in 1864. Recently, I was doing some research into our pastor at the time– Father James Moore, who travelled to Sunbury monthly or fortnightly from Keilor for Mass. James Moore studied for the priesthood at All Hallows College, Dublin (like Fr Martin Ashe), where one of the lecturers in the 1850’s was Rev. Dr. Thomas Albert Bennett, who was the Provincial of Irish Carmelites from 1852 and was famous for his work around Dublin in founding secondary schools (still operating) and later in 1861 was President of All Hallows.
From the Carmelite Father Bennett, the seminarian James Moore probably learnt of the history of the friars of Our Lady of Mount Carmel who in 1274 came to Dublin from England where they had come back to in 1235 after abandoning Mount Carmel in northern Israel due to persecution. By 1500, there were 25 Carmelite monasteries in Ireland. Henry VIII and Cromwell persecuted the Carmelites. They did not die out completely and flourished again in the 18th Century.
As we prepare to celebrate our Parish Feast Day next Sunday, we honour the memory of Fr James Moore. In 1884, he was ordained the bishop of Ballarat and in the next 20 years became a resolute and fearless builder of schools and churches in the Diocese of Ballarat We can say he began his building well here. In 1904 he died of diabetes.
Last week in response to the Archbishop asking all his active priests to continue their education, 120 of us gathered for a four day live in conference. This year, the committee for continuing education is chaired by Fr Greg Bourke (Sunbury 1997-1998). These gatherings are always have a great spirit and are a good opportunity to catch up with friends and meet priests new to us included one who was in a detention camp as a child for three years before being allowed to enter Australia.
Clearly, our most inspiring speaker was Janet Buhagiar who grew up in Our Lady’s Parish in Sunshine. After a meteoric rise in corporate business in Melbourne, she became CEO of St. Vincent de Paul in the Northern Territory. In 2010, she was named Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year. A woman in her mid 30’s, she is vibrant and a committed Catholic who in four years doubled the income of St. Vincent de Paul and increased services to remote communities in the Territory. She spoke of how she brought about change.
Another speaker telling his life story was Bishop Vincent Long. He contrasted the culture of the Church in Vietnam and the more inclusive and less clericalist mileau of the Australian Church. He escaped by boat from Communist persecution and arrived in Australia in 1981. He spoke of living out the death and resurrection of Christ by his fellow Franciscan friars in hostile countries around the world.
We also had some very intellectual presentations by our Victorian priests on scripture, sociology and philosophy looking at the changing culture of our world where we are called to serve.
In 2010, there were 5.6 million Catholics in Australia, an increase of 9.3% in four years. In 2049, there will be 9 million Catholics. Now there are 1523 priests in parishes. By 2025, there will be 600 local priests.
…..Fr Kevin
Next meeting will be held at John & Sheila Staffords, 4 Eadie St, Sunbury at 4pm on Saturday 23rd July.
All welcome, including children.
Further information please phone John & Sheila on 9740 9966.
Police Community Free Concert & Luncheon 10 August 11.30am—2.30pm Sunbury Memorial Hall. Bookings essential as numbers limited. Please confirm by 29.07.2011. Bookings Frances—9744 1999.
OUR PARISH FEAST DAY is on 23/24 July. All parishioners are invited to join us to celebrate with morning tea after 8.30am Mass. Please bring a plate to share. We look forward to seeing you there.
……Parish Coordinating Team
Training for young people wishing to become Altar Servers will be held at 1.00pm on Saturday 23rd in St Anne’s Church. Applicants must be 10 years of age and have begun to receive Eucharist. Any enquiries please ring 9744 2674.
During his visit to the U.K. in September 2010, Pope Benedict said, ‘As advances in medicine and other factors lead to increased longevity, it is important to recognise the presence of growing numbers of older people as a blessing for society. Every generation can learn from the experience and wisdom of the generation that preceded it. Indeed the provision of care for the elderly should be considered not so much an act of generosity as the repayment of a debt of gratitude’.
Pope Benedict has called for a worldwide ‘change of mentality’ regarding the environment saying humanity risked extinction if it did not act quickly and modify the way it treated the planet.
On 9 June 2011, the Pope addressed six new ambassadors to the Holy See: ‘All governments must commit to protecting nature and helping it fulfil its essential role for the survival of humanity. It appears necessary to rethink totally our approach to nature…..it is not a playground or a space to be exploited’. He called for ‘precise and sustainable solutions’ to help humanity better live its covenant with the created world. ‘The United Nations seems to be the natural framework for such a reflection, which should not be overshadowed by blindly partisan political and economic interests’.
The Archbishop is attending his fifth World Youth Day 9WYD) in Madrid from 13 to 24 August. The Melbourne pilgrimage group has 200 persons so please keep the WYD in your prayers.
Last week, Fathers Kevin Manning and Leo Saleeba entered eternal life after serving the Melbourne Church for 53 and 47 years respectively. In 2007, Fr. Manning said the introduction of the Mass into English was one of his ‘greatest joys’ as a priest. ‘The expansion of the role of lay people and their involvement in parish life has brought new life to the Church’, he commented.
Fr. Saleeba was one of our first priests from a migrant family from Lebanon. He had been parish priest of Kensington, Keysborough and East Geelong.
Today, five Marist Brothers are celebrating their 60 years as religious and educators of youth:
Brothers Xavier Collins (Kilmore)
Kevin Hoare (Santa Teresa, NT)
Brian McGrath (Forbes)
Aidan Smith (Forbes)
and Dominic Stewart (Kilmore).
Parliamentarians are gauging our views on the proposal to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples. A brochure has been developed by some clergy from the Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian and Salvation Army Churches. The brochure is available today focusing on respect for every person and the distinctive complimentarity of male-female sexuality and the best interests of children. A more detailed document is available on http://www.cam.imf.org.au
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Sunbury 
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