LATEST NEWS

Posted on

A reflection on this Sunday’s Mass by Sr Kym Harris osb

A reflection on this Sunday’s Mass by Sr Kym Harris osb and downloaded from http://www.prayasyoucan.com.au)
This Gospel story witnesses to a tension in the life of Jesus, and one that we experience in our own: we can’t do everything. Being human involves being limited in time and in place. While our desires and hopes, not only for ourselves but for others may be as wide as the world, the reality is that we live one day at a time in our own particular body. Jesus, too, experienced that. He had moved out of Jewish territory because he needed space. On one hand, he had the religious authorities hounding him, picking up on his every word. On the other hand, he had the crowds clamouring for miracles – understandably, he was healing their sick. While miracles were a part of Jesus’ mission, they were not the core. The core of his mission was to call people to faith in God and his promises. Given the way everyone seemed to be missing the point, both he and the disciples needed space. So for the only time in his ministry, he leaves the land of Israel.

Then out comes this pagan woman, almost hysterically wanting a miracle. Jesus states that his personal calling is to the lost of the house of Israel. She has no problem with that, she is more than ready to acknowledge the primacy of his Jewish mission, but she still wants her daughter healed. Her passionate love for her daughter opens her to the possibilities within this person of Jesus: three times she calls him ‘Lord’; she names him ‘Son of David’; and she kneels to worship. No wonder Jesus seems blown away. This is the very faith that he was wanting – not even the disciples had come to see what she had recognised. Her commitment to her particular calling as mother, when brought before the person of Jesus, enhanced her faith. She returned home, just as Jesus returned to his land. In later life, how she must have wondered about this person, Jesus, who she had so exceptionally understood. A few moments in her life at the service of her daughter and her vision of reality was changed forever. Yes, our lives can seem to be confined by the particular, but with faith, they can reach beyond our imaginings!

Posted on

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today, 15th August, we celebrate the Solemnity of The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Teaching of the Assumption of Mary became widespread across the Christian world, having been celebrated as early as the 5th century and having been established in the East by Emperor Maurice around AD 600. St. John Damascene records the following:

“St. Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, at the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD), made known to the Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria, who wished to possess the body of the Mother of God, that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened upon the request of St. Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to heaven.”
From wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assumption_of_Mary
[The image is of a stained glass window in the Church of Our Lady of the Children Nîmes Beausoleil France. (Hence all the children with wings.)]

Posted on

Feast of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop

Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop
The Sisters of St Joseph have lived among us since Sr Francis, Sr Lambert and Sr Joseph came in 1916.
In total 87 Sisters have served our Parish, generally two or three residing in the Convent which Fr Gallivan PP donated.
We also thank Sr Jose` who has been with us since 2011 and serves our parishioners with joy and care for which we are very grateful
Posted on

A reflection by Sr Kym Harris osb

“The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes. Basilica di Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo. Ravenna ITALY. 6th century. Public Domain from https://commons.wikimedia.org

A reflection on this Sunday’s Mass by Sr Kym Harris osb and downloaded from http://www.prayasyoucan.com.au)

The disciples must a really gulped when Jesus told them feed the crowds. They had so little in their hands and there were many, many people behind them. It must have felt like a long pause before Jesus took the food, blest it and started handing it back to them to take around…and he just kept on handing it out….quietly, simply a loaf, a fish at a time. It would have taken some time to feed so many and then even more time to collect what was left over. How must the disciples felt then. In that time of serving and collecting, they were being taught the most basic aspect of discipleship: trust in God.

We too often feel that God has placed us in situations that are beyond us. True, our miracles are not usually as extra-ordinary as the multiplication of the loaves but they are no less real. Virtually every person reading this can think of situations where they were challenged beyond their capabilities and where, with the grace of God, they rose to the occasion. Almost always, God’s grace was given quietly in an undramatic way. Just as at the feeding of the multitude, there was no fanfare but in their heart of hearts they knew God’s grace has carried them beyond their expectations.

It is important for us to recognise and remember these personal miracles. Many years ago, a wise man suggested that we carry these ‘moments of grace’ around with us, like stones in our pockets and in the spaces in our lives, the times of waiting, we can remember and ponder on them. I have found this an amazing exercise. What was one moment of God’s grace, one experience in the past, has often been multiplied over and continued to feed my spirit. The remembrance has renewed the miracle and helped me to continue to trust in God.

Posted on

A message from Archbishop Peter A Comensoli

https://cam.org.au/archbishop/portrait/

07 July 2020

Dear friends in Christ,

Today’s decision to place metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire areas back into Stage 3 lockdown for the next six weeks from 11.59pm Wednesday 8 July is sobering news. It is truly disheartening, and will bring renewed distress to so many families and individuals.

These words from Psalm 22 have come immediately to my mind (words that were on the lips of Jesus as he was crucified): My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. (Ps 22.1-2)

Yet, I want to encourage you in grace, trusting in the abiding closeness of our loving Lord, who promised to be with us always.

In returning to Stage 3 restrictions in those specific areas, sadly the public celebration of Mass, which we have only just re-commenced, will need to go back to live-streaming; churches will need to be closed again to any private prayer; and the numbers allowed for funerals and weddings will be severely limited.

We expect specific details around the restrictions will be released by the civil authorities over the next 24 hours, and will be communicated to you as soon as possible. I ask for your patience in the meantime.

Now is a time for attentiveness to the care of one another. In the face of our own despondency and fears, our fatigue and anxieties, may we learn to hold firm in faith and hope, and experience sustaining moments of love. As the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews encouraged: Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works. (Heb 24.10)

Friends, while the Psalmist knew struggle and pain, there were also words of confidence that came from the heart: In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame. (Ps 22.4-5)

May our Lord Jesus be with you, and may His Blessed Mother accompany us all.

With every grace and blessing, I remain,
Yours sincerely in Christ Jesus,

Most Rev Peter A Comensoli
Archbishop of Melbourne

Posted on

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday

Australian Mother and Child

Australian Mother and Child
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday
This Sunday 5th July, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday will be celebrated with a theme chosen to respond to the current challenges we face as a community – Together in the Spirit.
Please note: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday is usually celebrated during NAIDOC Week, however, due to COVID-19, NAIDOC Week has been postponed to November.
“Greetings from the Antipodes – painted by James Charles Nuttall circa 1908”
by Aussie~mobs is licensed under CC PDM 1.0.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/70994841@N07/48833943358

Posted on

A reflection on Sunday’s Gospel by Sr Kym Harris osb

Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest

A reflection by Sr Kym Harris osb and downloaded from http://www.prayasyoucan.com.au

When Jesus says that he offers us an easy yoke we may well object given that a yoke was used on animals and slaves to do hard and difficult work. The image appears, at first, demeaning. Be that as it may, let us leave aside this first emotional reaction to the image and ask just what a yoke does. A yoke was a device, usually put around the neck of an animal, or even a person, to enable them to perform a task that was usually beyond them. No animal is ever going to be able to plough a field using only their hooves or their brute strength. A man yoked to a plough is far more effective in preparing a paddock for planting than trying to do it with a spade. Essentially, a yoke was not only a labour saving device, it was something that enabled a far superior job to be done.
Still that leaves the issue of its use being demeaning to a person. The yoke most often used in Jesus times (click red text for a picture of an ancient yoke) was a double yoke – one in which two beasts or people dragged the plough or load. When Jesus calls on us to take up his yoke and says that it easy, his burden light, it is because he is there alongside of us. Jesus fully recognises how hard and difficult our lives may be at times. We may well feel like beasts or slaves caught in situations beyond our control. He, too, has not only lived our life and died our death, he desires to be yoked to us sharing our burden and strengthening us in bearing our load.
Sr Kym Harris osb

Posted on

A reflection on this week’s Gospel by Sr Kym Harris osb

A reflection by Sr Kym Harris osb and downloaded from http://www.prayasyoucan.com.au

Our lives have times and seasons but no matter how charmed our life might be at any point in time, we have crosses to face. At other times, our crosses may dominate our days, leaving us with a sense of barely making it, if at all. No matter what season we are in, there is an instinctive indignation that overtakes us when a cross comes our way: ‘Why did this happen to me?’ Sometimes we really do need to ask ourselves that question in order to change our ways and ensure that it doesn’t happen again. But more often than not that ‘Why’ is really a cover for the assertion, ‘This should not be happening to me!’
But why shouldn’t it? As Christians, as human beings, we have crosses to face. Not simply is this the nature of reality. Our Saviour, our Master embraced the cross and made it the way of salvation. Since that is the case, the question we should be asking when a cross confronts us is, ‘What am I to do now?’ The ‘why’ question either sends us back into the past or entrenches us in the present. The ‘what’ questions opens us to the mystery of the moment and gives us options into how we are to act. The ‘what’ question affirms that we, as humans, can choose our future, knowing that God is with us, on our side., No matter how difficult the challenge our dignity as children of God cannot be taken from us by whatever circumstances we face. This is especially important to affirm when we are in the worst of times that can come upon us. In such situations, the only option we may have is the attitude we can take. We can embrace the cross even though we may feel that it is killing us.

(painting by Bonifatiustsjerke Ljouwert licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57121583)