From the Parish House

As some of you may be aware, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has been hospitalised for the past seven days, and he is expected to remain in hospital a while longer due to his complex medical conditions, including pneumonia and asthmatic bronchitis.  We unite with the entire Church in praying for Pope Francis during this time, asking for God’s healing power to come upon him, and that he may recover well.

As we continue our Jubilee Year of Hope, I would like to raise awareness of the opportunities for pilgrimages to designated churches in our Archdiocese.  You can find the list of places that you may wish to visit for your personal pilgrimage on the Melbourne Catholic website.

In our parish community, I would like to designate Our Lady of Victories Basilica in Camberwell as a Pilgrim Place for our parishioners.  On the first Saturday of each month, starting on 3 May, the 9.30 am Mass will be celebrated as a Pilgrimage Mass.  We plan to invite a visiting priest at each of those Masses, to help us reflect upon and explore different aspects of the Jubilee Year.  The topics may range from the significant meaning of Jubilee Years, the Holy Door, pilgrimage, mercy and forgiveness, Eucharistic renewal, and more.  The Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will continue to take place at 9.00 am and following the Mass there will be an opportunity for individual reconciliation.

I hope this series of Pilgrimage Masses will provide the opportunity for us to focus on the spirit of the Jubilee Year, as Pope Francis has expressed – “a special time of grace, a time to focus on reconciliation and forgiveness, prayer and reflection, sojourn and pilgrimage.  A time to focus on hope.”

The Jubilee Prayer
Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your Kingdom.

May your grace transform us
into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos
in the sure expectation
of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.

May the grace of the Jubilee
reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,
a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread
the joy and peace of our Redeemer
throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed,
be glory and praise for ever.
Amen

By Fr Sang Ho, Parish Priest