In the care of the Augustinians Parish Priest: Fr Dave Ausn OSA Parish Office: 9949 4455 parishoffi[email protected]www.northharbourcatholic.org.au Cnr White & Wanganella Sts 2 King Street Year A 22nd March 2020 Dear Friends, I write to you at the most difficult of times as the Australian Government and others around the world issue new preventative measures to limit the transmission of the COVID-19 coronavirus as a matter of public health emergency, including a limit of 100 persons at any gathering in a church. Bishop Anthony has written to the people of the Diocese advising us of measures that need to be implemented in our ministries. Please note the following important points: All public Masses are hereby suspended until further notice. During this period Catholics are dispensed from the obligation to participate at Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation; Priests may continue to celebrate Mass privately. Mass intentions will be fulfilled in this manner; Catholics are encouraged to keep the Lord’s Day holy and celebrate Sunday as a domestic or family church by taking time to pray together as a household or watching Mass on television; Baptisms will be celebrated but the number attending may not exceed 100; Funerals may be held but the congregation may not exceed 100; Sacrament of Reconciliation – Churches may offer the First Form of the Rite. The Second Communal Form is suspended for now. First Rite is offered at St Kieran’s, 5.00pm on Saturday; Sacrament of Anointing – Priests have been instructed to restrict physical contact and anoint only the forehead; Holy Week and Easter – Celebration of this special time is under consideration by the Bishop and the Council of Priests but may be affected if current preventative measures are still in place; Personal Prayer – Churches will remain open for personal prayer and some may opt for small group Rosary, Stations of the Cross, reflection on the Sunday readings, Lenten program reflections, or other devotion. Exposition will take place on Friday at St Kieran’s at 8.30am; Sacramental Program - First Reconciliation Liturgies have been postponed in light of the current health concerns. We have not yet decided on alternative dates as we will need to monitor the changing situation. Remaining dates for the 2020 and 2021 Sacramental Program are unchanged at this time; you will be advised of any adjustments in coming weeks. The Sunday bulletin will be issued each week, placed on the website, and emailed to all on our Parish email list. Hard copies will be available in each church. The Sunday Scripture Readings and a reflection will be included as an aid to prayer. Until other arrangements are made, Sunday collection envelopes may be left at the Parish Office. I conclude with the wise words of Fr David Ranson, ’We are living in such unchartered times of history and it will be important that we remain as beacons of hope in the midst of the uncertainty.’ May the Lord protect us all and bless us with good health.
Transcript
In the care of the Augustinians
SAFEGUARDING If you have a concern about a child or young person within the parish situation, or
about the historical abuse of a person, please contact your parish priest or Jodie Crisafulli, Safeguarding
I write to you at the most difficult of times as the Australian Government and others around the world issue new preventative measures to limit the transmission of the COVID-19 coronavirus as a matter of public health emergency, including a limit of 100 persons at any gathering in a church.
Bishop Anthony has written to the people of the Diocese advising us of measures that need to be implemented in our ministries. Please note the following important points:
All public Masses are hereby suspended until further notice. During this period Catholics are dispensed from the obligation to participate at Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation;
Priests may continue to celebrate Mass privately. Mass intentions will be fulfilled in this manner;
Catholics are encouraged to keep the Lord’s Day holy and celebrate Sunday as a domestic or family church by taking time to pray together as a household or watching Mass on television;
Baptisms will be celebrated but the number attending may not exceed 100;
Funerals may be held but the congregation may not exceed 100;
Sacrament of Reconciliation – Churches may offer the First Form of the Rite. The Second Communal Form is suspended for now. First Rite is offered at St Kieran’s, 5.00pm on Saturday;
Sacrament of Anointing – Priests have been instructed to restrict physical contact and anoint only the forehead;
Holy Week and Easter – Celebration of this special time is under consideration by the Bishop and the Council of Priests but may be affected if current preventative measures are still in place;
Personal Prayer – Churches will remain open for personal prayer and some may opt for small group Rosary, Stations of the Cross, reflection on the Sunday readings, Lenten program reflections, or other devotion. Exposition will take place on Friday at St Kieran’s at 8.30am;
Sacramental Program - First Reconciliation Liturgies have been postponed in light of the current health concerns. We have not yet decided on alternative dates as we will need to monitor the changing situation. Remaining dates for the 2020 and 2021 Sacramental Program are unchanged at this time; you will be advised of any adjustments in coming weeks.
The Sunday bulletin will be issued each week, placed on the website, and emailed to all on our Parish email list. Hard copies will be available in each church. The Sunday Scripture Readings and a reflection will be included as an aid to prayer.
Until other arrangements are made, Sunday collection envelopes may be left at the Parish Office.
I conclude with the wise words of Fr David Ranson, ’We are living in such unchartered times of history and it will be important that we remain as beacons of hope in the midst of the uncertainty.’
May the Lord protect us all and bless us with good health.
You may feel as if your life is changing by the hour at this time as the authorities advise us of new guidelines in their efforts to deal with COVID-19 – limits on group meetings, school activities, overseas travel, how we relate to others, ‘social distancing’, etc. Even routine shopping is a lottery in some respects and life is changed, at least for now, for how long we don’t know.
What event or personal experience changed your life? Perhaps you met the love of your life or left your home country, changed jobs or moved interstate. Surgery creates miracles every day, for example, the cataract operation that results in 20-20 vision. Serious visual impairment is a terrible affliction, so we can understand the joy of the man in the Gospel whose sight was healed by Jesus
This story fits in very well with this ‘Laetare Sunday’ – Rejoice, Jerusalem! - named after the ancient entrance chant that gives this Sunday its title and its mood, and reminds us that we are halfway through Lent. Is it appropriate to wish someone a ‘Happy Lent!’? Why not… because this is the season when we are called to hear the Gospel well and to come home to our heart. In a reflection for this 4th Sunday, Bishop David Walker once wrote:
Some sighted people are fascinated, dazzled by artificial suns. They act like characters in the Leunig cartoon, who watch a beautiful sunset on TV while outside the window beside them is an ongoing sunset of indescribable beauty! They will never see the dawn come up in the early morning of the soul.
Neither the Samaritan woman in last Sunday’s Gospel nor the man born blind actually invited Jesus
into their lives, yet both became believers through their encounters with him. So moved were the Samaritan woman’s neighbours by her testimony that they came to believe, and the blind man too gave testimony of his cure to all who questioned him.
Jesus shows great strength of character in his compassion for the weak and those on the margins and the same is expected of us. That’s difficult in our society where public opinion is often manipulated and truth is too often a casualty in the political process. The cure of the man born blind reminds us of how easy we succumb to blindness of the heart – the Pharisees gradually lost their sight as he regained his.
Jesus came so that the deaf would hear and the blind would see, and reminds us that we must hear if we are to see….. and it is Jesus we must hear. In faith we either hear what Jesus is saying or we do not. There is a big difference between knowing that we are blind and refusing to believe that we are blind. The man born blind is a model of faith for us – he knows he has been changed!
A couple of questions may help us see the light more clearly:
What can we learn from the story of the man born blind that helps us in living our faith as it matures?
What is it, that we, as Church, are being challenged to see with fresh sight at this time?
LENTEN REFLECTION… ’Rejoice! Hear the Gospel well!’
SACRAMENTAL NEWS
First Reconciliation Postponed in light of current concerns about COVID-19
We have not yet decided on alternative dates as we need to monitor the changing situation.
Remaining dates for the 2020 and 2021 Sacramental Program are unchanged at this time; you will be advised of any adjustments in coming weeks.
AFA have decided to postpone the AFA Fun Walk on Sunday, 29 March due to the
Coronavirus. AFA wishes to thank everyone who has already donated—we have
received $550 so far. Hopefully we can hold the walk later in the year.
Kind regards Adriana
April Sun 05 Apr Palm Sunday Thu 09 Apr Holy Thursday Fri 10 Apr Good Friday Sat 11 Apr Holy Saturday Sun 12 Apr Easter Sunday
READINGS FOR THIS SUNDAY 22/3/20
FIRST READING:1 SAMUEL 16:1.6-7.10-13
In the presence of the Lord God, they anointed David king of Israel. The Lord said to Samuel, 'Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen myself a king among his sons.' When Samuel arrived, he caught sight of Eliab and thought, 'Surely the Lord's anointed one stands there before him,' but the Lord said to Samuel, 'Take no notice of his appearance or his height for I have rejected him; God does not see as man sees; man looks at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart.' Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, 'The Lord has not chosen these.' He then asked Jesse, 'Are these all the sons you have?' He answered, 'There is still one left, the youngest; he is out looking after the sheep.' Then Samuel said to Jesse, 'Send for him; we will not sit down to eat until he comes.' Jesse had him sent for, a boy of fresh complexion, with fine eyes and pleasant bearing. The Lord said, 'Come, anoint him, for this is the one.' At this, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him where he stood with his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord seized on David and stayed with him from that day on.
The word of the Lord.
SECOND READING: EPHESIANS 5:8-14
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Ephesians
Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord; be like children of light, for the effects of the light are seen in complete goodness and right living and truth. Try to discover what the Lord wants of you, having nothing to do with the futile works of darkness but exposing them by contrast. The things which are done in secret are things that people are ashamed even to speak of; but anything exposed by the light will be illuminated and anything illuminated turns into light. That is why it is said:
Wake up from your sleep, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
The word of the Lord.
GOSPEL: JN 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38
As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, "Go wash in the Pool of Siloam" — which means Sent —. So he went and washed, and came back able to see. His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, "Isn't this the one who used to sit and beg?" Some said, "It is, " but others said, "No, he just looks like him." He said, "I am." They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath. So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see." So some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath." But others said, "How can a sinful man do such signs?" And there was a division among them. So they said to the blind man again, "What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet." They answered and said to him, "You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?" Then they threw him out. When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered and said, "Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he." He said, "I do believe, Lord," and he worshiped him.
The Gospel of the Lord
ANNIVERSARIES
John & Gina Grupelli Abbie Connell
RECENTLY DECEASED
Tom Hukins Adrian Parkinson
Gregory Brown Fr Joe Walsh OSA
John Nielson Luis Galvan
Archbishop John Bathersby
PRAYER REQUESTS
“Come to me! I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28)
For those with ILLNESS
Aurora Kogovsek Bruno Kogovsek Daniella Takchi Cathy Ewing Elsa Monsour Irene Martin Helen Richardson Irene Hurrell
Stella Brown Cecily Smellie Jane Manning Maria Kogovsek Norma Kogovsek John & Joan Killick Simone Young Bob McEwan Christopher Newman Vincenzo Mandile Yvonne Hickey Margot Massey
Justin Torralba Kevin Smith Kathy Osborne Bill Rein
Bojna Nevjestic
Fr David Austin OSA Parish Priest Jacky Worthington Parish Manager 9949 4455
Fr Paul Maloney OSA Assistant Priest and Prior Ursula Halloway Catechist Coordinator 9949 4455 Fr Senan Ward OSA Chaplain – St Augustine’s College Janette Davidson Sacramental Coordinator 0408 866 521 Fr Abel van der Veer OSA Retired Anne Ross Parish Secretary 9949 4455 Fr Peter Jones OSA Provincial—In Residence Jane Filacuridi Parish Secretary 9949 4455
This list will be reviewed every few weeks—contact the office for continued prayers
For Your law’s sake, I have kept faith with You, my Lord, since You have thought it worthwhile to lay down for me the law of mercy, to forgive me all my sins and to admonish me on other matters lest I offend You.
Commentary on Psalm 129, 3
PARISH LENTEN ACTIVITIES
Unless advised otherwise, the Stations of the Cross will be held in St Kieran’s Church on Fridays during Lent, commencing at 7.30pm. Lenten Discussion group at St Kieran’s continues on Thursdays at 7.30pm.
HOLY WEEK AND TRIDUUM
While it is not clear whether our Holy Week and Easter Triduum liturgies will proceed, it has been decided to cancel the following activities/ceremonies this year: Passover Meal on Holy Thursday and Stations of the Cross on Good Friday in both churches.
SPAGHETTI NIGHTS CANCELLED
Given the restrictions on group gatherings and the fact that food is being prepared and shared, it is with regret that we advise that our popular Spaghetti Nights in March and April have been cancelled.
CATHOLIC COMMUNITY OF NORTH HARBOUR
PRAYER UNITED AGAINST THE CORONAVIRUS - Provided by the Augustinians:
Almighty and merciful God, refreshment in our weariness, support in our weakness, comfort in our sadness.
We come to you to invoke your mercy, since today we still experience the fragility of the human condition
in the presence of a new viral pandemic. Listen to the prayer we offer, comfort your children,
save us from the present distress and open our hearts to be people of hope.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
