From the Parish House

This Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary.  It is a wonderful feast and only about once every decade does it fall on a Sunday as it is always celebrated on 15 August.  The readings of the feast are all about the activity of God who is at work in the lives of ordinary human beings bringing about liberation and new birth and raising humanity out of darkness and beyond the threat of death.

For a world that is experiencing a global pandemic this feast should bring us hope that the hand of God will not abandon us.

I am aware that parish life has been very disjointed over the last couple of months.  The various lockdowns have taken us by surprise and we have had to cancel significant sacramental celebrations and shut our churches to Sunday worship at short notice.

Please know that Fr Trac and I, and all our Parish Staff are very conscious of the impact that these lockdowns are having on so many of you.  There are many parishioners suffering from illnesses, many looking after loved ones at home, many visiting ageing parents at home or in aged care, many just taking care of each other at home and looking after the mental health of younger family members and children.  Others are caring for and supporting family and friends from afar in countries where COVID-19 has caused enormous turmoil and death.

I know that many of you are also looking out for your neighbours and many are reaching out via email or telephone to keep in touch with one another.  I would encourage you all to keep doing that.  It is incredible the difference that a simple text message or phone call can make to someone’s day.

Even though our Parish Office is closed our parish is not closed.  Your priests and staff are available.  So if you have any needs or know of any parishioner who has pastoral needs, particularly the sick, please contact us and let us know.  If we can arrange pastoral visits we will certainly do so.

This week we have also returned to making Mass available online from 5.30 pm on Saturday so that our parish families can connect in some way around the Eucharist.  We will continue with this as long as the lockdown lasts.

We are grateful to those who continue to provide Spiritual Communion visits to the sick at a number of the aged care facilities in our parish.  If you would like to be part of that ministry, please contact Tricia Norman at the Parish Office.

I am also grateful to the Principals and teaching staff of our three schools who have again thrown themselves into remote learning.  Our parents and students are very well supported by our dedicated teachers.

Thanks for your support of the CatholicCare appeal last weekend.  CatholicCare is one of our partners and works with us in providing housing for asylum seekers in Melbourne.  As you can imagine that need is great at the moment.

Finally, a big thank you to all of you for supporting me and Father Trac.  We are grateful to be part of these parishes.  It is times like these that we feel the importance of our communities of faith.

Fr Brendan