At a review meeting last Wednesday, it was decided to alternate the Liturgy of the Word and the Prayer of the Church for the next two months.
ANNUAL AUDITS OF OUR PARISH SCHOOLS
The annual audits have been completed by Deloitte and found all in order. The Audit reports have been forwarded to the Catholic Education Office and the Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Our 2012 enrolments increased by 50 from last year to a combined total of 818 students. At the beginning of 2012, the combined debt on our two schools was $1.25 million. It is budgeted that the debt will be $1.1 million at the end of the year. The debt is due to construction of two all weather ovals and new classrooms and refurbishments of classrooms.
NEW MISSALS
Orders are currently being taken for people who would like to order New Missals. Please leave your details for Dolly Causer at the Piety Stall so orders can be placed.
MARY MACKILLOP TRAIL
A four-day pilgrimage to Hamilton, Portland and Penola visiting the various places connected with the story of Blessed Mary MacKillop is being organised for 19th-22nd October 2012. Travel will be by coach from Bacchus Marsh or Ballarat with motel accommodation. Cost will range from $500-$600 twin share (all included except 3 lunches) with $120 extra for a single. All sites connected with St Mary MacKillop and her family will be visited with Mass on Sunday at Penola.
Contact: Sr Mary Fermio rsj PO Box 37, Bacchus Marsh 3340 or Ph 5367 2078 or email: mary.fermio@sosj.org.au before end of June.
The more who travel the cheaper it will be!! Itinerary available on request..
WORLD YOUTH DAY 2013
WYD 2013 will be held in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil from 22-28 July 2013.
WYD is an international gathering of young Catholics from around the world.
Over 4 million people are expected to attend this week-long carnival of music, prayer, workshops and Mass with the Pope.
Travel with Melbourne’s official pilgrimage group and experience South American life on the way to Rio!
Visit www.cam.org.au/youth for further information.
NEWS FROM SOCIAL JUSTICE GROUP
From the office for Justice and Peace “Stronger Futures Northern Territory 2011 Bill”. This Bill has been passed by the House of Representatives and is scheduled to be debated in the Australian Senate on the 18 June 2012, just a few weeks before the Church celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday on 1 July 2012. In a Media Release, the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference and Catholic Religious Australia “Call upon the Federal Senators not to pass this legislation.” You are encouraged to read the Media Release and other information, together with contact details for Senators, available at the Welcome Desk. Please take action in support of our Indigenous brothers and sisters. For further info, media@catholic.org.au.
MARRIED COUPLES
Give yourselves a treat!
A whole day together to relax, revisit, renew, rejuvenate, recall, reassess, reconnect, romance, respond, resource, and rekindle your relationship!
‘R’ Day Marriage Enrichment Day, 16 June $80 per couple.
Contact Karen or Rada on 9287 5516 for bookings.
YEAR OF GRACE
Archbishop Denis Hart recently wrote to all parishes in Melbourne to welcome the “Year of Grace”. He wrote,
“Beginning at Pentecost, the entire Catholic Church in Australia will enter into a Year of Grace, a time of deep contemplation and renewal, where through prayer, the scriptures, and liturgy, we will endeavor to commit ourselves to starting afresh from Christ. I invite your local Catholic community on this special journey towards a deeper relationship with Christ.”
Our Parish will take part in this journey throughout the year to start afresh from Christ and deepen our faith together.
Click here to go to the website http://www.yearofgrace.catholic.org.au where you can read more about it and subscribe to the email bulletin.
CHOIR PRACTICE
Choir practice will be on Wednesday’s every week during school terms between 6.30 to 7.30PM at St Anne’s Church.
Please make use of this opportunity to get trained by professional Music Teachers at no cost.
We are intending for this Choir to sing every 1st Sunday of the Month at the 10.30AM Mass.
All are welcome to attend.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY ASSISTING REFUGEE STUDENTS: MERCY CONNECT PROJECT
Mercy Works is currently recruiting volunteers to support refugee students in their educational transitions in Secondary and Primary Schools in Melbourne’s northern and western regions.The volunteer commitment is half a day per week for four school terms. Experience working in an educational setting is required.Retired teachers are encouraged to apply.
A training program will be conducted in July 2012.
Please contact Sr. Mary Lewis for an application form and further information. Website: Mercy Connect Project Phone:9326 1895 or email: somml@bigpond.com.
CAN YOU HELP?
Do you know an older person or a person with a disability who lives at home but has difficulty getting out and about to do their shopping or meeting up with friends? These are the people our Volunteer Drivers assist through the Sunbury Community Transport Service! As a Volunteer Driver you will be driving the newest fleet of cars and mini-buses in town and you will go home satisfied everyday knowing that you’ve lend someone a hand. You will meet some amazing people and enjoy the many social and recreational benefits of being part of great volunteer team at Link Community Transport.
Further info call Link Community Transport Ph: 03 9355 8484.
CATHOLIC STEWARDSHIP
CATHOLIC STEWARDSHIP FROM SUNDAYS READINGS
On the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ, we contemplate the nature of the Eucharist. We reflect on the fact that we are invited to consume the literal body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. We reflect on the central role that the Eucharist plays in the life of the Church. In today’s readings, we focus on the sacrificial element of this great gift.
“This is the blood of the covenant,” Jesus tells us in today’s gospel, a phrase that is familiar to all of us, as we hear it time and again in the words of consecration at Mass. Christ offered Himself as the Sacrificial Lamb. He shed His blood once for all on the cross, and every time we celebrate the Mass, that sacrifice is re-presented to the Father for our sake. And then we step forward and partake of the blood that was shed; we participate in the sacrifice as we consume Christ’s body and blood.
It is our responsibility as Christ’s disciples to not only consume His body and blood, but to participate in His sacrifice by offering ourselves to the Father. Sure, we aren’t shedding our blood (most of us aren’t, anyway), but we are to offer ourselves as a sacrifice, uniting ourselves with Christ on the cross. We give the Lord all that we have and all that we are telling Him, as the Israelites in the first reading proclaim, “We will do all that the Lord has told us.” And then, when we receive the Eucharist, recognizing that it is Christ’s actual body and blood, our “Amen” response resounds from our hearts. For, just as Christ gave Himself – whole and entire – on the cross, we, as Christian stewards, offer ourselves each and every day, at each and every Mass, completely, to the Lord.
Copyright © 2012 www.TheCatholicSteward.com
THANKS……….Fr Kevin
Thanks for your prayers and best wishes last week on our anniversary of ordination in 1970. Twenty-four of us were ordained for Tasmania and Victoria. Since then, six have been called to their reward: (four aged less than 60 years)- Frs Con Busser, Peter Cross, Joe Flyn, Peter Fulton, Steve Sas. Twelve have retired and six of us are still in active ministry.
As I look back over the past year there have been very happy and sad times, especially with the loss of good friends. There is never a dull moment. Last weekend, I had a first– I have never celebrated all six Sacraments before in one weekend: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Marriage, Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick. I continue to hear amazing stories, like the parishioner who is fluent in the Russian language! ……Kevin McIntosh
WEEK OF RECONCILIATION
For thousands of years before Abraham and Moses the Aboriginal people uses Message Sticks to communicate and invite neighbouring groups to initiation ceremonies, right of entry to country and invitation to religious rituals. On this Reconciliation Sunday we are pleased to use our recently received Message Stick to remind us to listen to the teaching of Jesus and the stories of His Ancestors.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
The Prayer of the Church will continue this Wednesday in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church at 7pm and continue weekly. It is an opportunity to pray the “Prayer of the Church” which includes Psalms. and readings from the Bible.
This is the official prayer of the universal Church.
All are welcome.
CHILDREN’S LITURGY OF THE WORD
We have recommenced Liturgy of the Word for children in our parish at 10.30am Mass, as happens in other parishes.
All primary school children are welcome.
MASS FOR EXPECTANT MOTHERS
The Life, Marriage & Family Office warmly invite all expectant mothers and their families to a Mass for Expectant Mothers. The Mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart at St Patrick’s Cathedral on Sunday 17 June at 11.00am.
To register, please contact the Life, Marriage & Family Office on 9287 5587 or lmf@cam.org.au.
You can also register online at www.cam.org.au/lifemarriagefamily.
Please note that registration closes on Friday 8 June.
Women who register will receive a small token of recognition.
MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER WEEKEND
We all do things to enhance our lives; Fitness programs and diets to improve our health ; Professional Development programs to improve our job skills. We offer you an opportunity for married couples to give a wonderful gift to your children by enhancing your marriage through a Marriage Encounter weekend. We invite you to invest in your most precious asset, your marriage.
Please join us in 2012. Take a look at our website on www.wwme.org.au.
Our weekends in 2012 are: 15-17 June (Anglesea), 10-12 August and 12-14 October (Melbourne).
For further information and bookings contact Marianne & Marcel Van den Bronk (03)9733 0997 or Email vicbookings@wwme.org.au
CATHOLIC STEWARDSHIP
CATHOLIC STEWARDSHIP FROM SUNDAYS READINGS
Today, on the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity, as we reflect on God’s nature as three persons in one God, we recognize that He is a family whose life is love.
What’s more, the gospel tells us, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
We are a family of persons called to live together in love. It is our duty as Christian disciples to live in love with others and to live out of love for others. In so doing, we bring others to Christ and His Church, inviting them to establish an intimate relationship with the Lord and to live a sacramental life united to Christ and His Church.
Here, Christ commissions all of us to make disciples, and He has given us many gifts with which to do so. Are we using the time, talent and treasure God has blessed us with to make disciples and build the Church? How can we do an even better job of that?
Copyright © 2012 www.TheCatholicSteward.com
PREP FAMILIES MASS
All families with children in Year PREP are invited to attend the PREP Families Mass at St. Anne’s Church on Sunday 6 May at 10.30am.
This is a time to celebrate the blessings which these children and their families bring to our community.
There will be a small gift from the Parish community for the children!
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Sunbury 
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