THANK YOU
Caritas East Africa Appeal raised $2304.80 and CatholicCare raised $1379.20. Thank you so much for your generous support of these very important charities. Many people will receive much needed assistance with these funds.
NEW CANDLE PROTECTORS
Thank you to a generous parishioner for the new candle protectors at both churches. These protectors are very expensive but will protect the Altar from the candle wax which is very difficult to clean.
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
SPECIAL COLLECTION THIS WEEK
FAREWELL GIFT FOR SR MAUREEN AND SR MARY
SPECIAL COLLECTION NEXT WEEKEND
NATIONAL DAY FOR MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES
THANKSGIVING OFFERING
The loving gifts given by our parishioners are our life blood. Our generous givers give back in thanksgiving to God for all that we receive. Without givers, the Parish would not have began 100 years ago. Without our generous givers, we would cease to exist now.
Statements on our giving have been sent already and today new sets of envelopes are still available to be collected. You may find it more convenient to give electronically by direct debit or by internet banking instead of finding cash each Sunday. Our banking details are enclosed with your statements to assist with any changes you may need. Electronic giving is also more convenient for our Parish.
SOCIAL JUSTICE NEWS
A copy of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council’s media release on funding is available at the Information Desk. Dr Neil Johnston’s 470 page report to the Department of Finance found “a huge gap between policy intent and policy execution.”
Details of two events on positive change in the Australian Constitution are also available at the Information Desk. One is a Q & A on the Constitutional Recognition of Australia’s First Nations on Thursday 25th August at Avila College in Mt Waverley. The other on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Constitutional Recognition is being held on 1st September at the Aboriginal Advancement League in Thornbury.
A beautifully illustrated book will be released this week and provides a very important update of the current thinking about the intervention. The book articulates the views of Aboriginal Elders as well as those of other leading Australians. Elders are calling on the “People of Australia” to walk with them in their quest for justice. “Walk With Us” is available from ‘concerned Australians’, PO Box 281, East Melbourne, Vic 8002. Cost $15 plus $3 postage. Cheques payable to Michelle Harris.
WORLD YOUTH DAY MADRID
The climax of the week is Mass later today Australia time. Please pray for the million pilgrims especially the Melbourne pilgrims who have been adversely affected by the extreme heat and are now accommodated in hotels.
SPECIAL COLLECTION FOR SRS MAUREEN & MARY
A special collection will be taken up this weekend as a token of appreciation for the witness of these two religious sisters. There will also be an opportunity to say farewell to Srs Maureen and Mary at a shared lunch in the Parish Centre on next Sunday 28 August from 12.00 lunch time. Please bring a plate to share.
STEWARDSHIP……A WAY OF LIFE
CATHOLIC STEWARDSHIP FROM SUNDAYS READINGS
Paul concludes his discussion of the relation of Jews and Gentiles in the Church in today’s reading from Romans. In his amazement at God’s action in sending Jesus as both Jewish Messiah and universal savior, he cannot express anything except praise for God’s “riches and wisdom and knowledge,” his inscrutable judgments and unsearchable ways. God is beyond human comprehension, not because he doesn’t care or is hostile (as some religions have held), but because he is so great and loving and generous that neither our imagination nor our reason can grasp it.
Because everything we have comes as a gift from God, even our existence, Paul reminds us that we can’t give something to God in a fashion that puts God in debt to us. “For from him and through him and for him are all things.” So although we are in debt to God, we ought not to view our return to God of a portion of our time, talent, and treasure as a duty to be grudgingly accepted. Instead we’re invited to make a loving response.
Among the many blessings for which we owe thanks to God is the Church, through which we receive sacramental grace and in which we live our Christian life. Jesus built the Church on St. Peter and entrusted to him “the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” In it we can safely journey through the storms of this life until our arrival at heaven.
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Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Sunbury 
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