Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
Parish Priest: Fr Mike Delaney mob: 0417 279 437; email; mike.delaney@catholicpriest.org.au
Assistant Priest: Fr Alexander Obiorah Mob: 0447 478 297; email: alexchuksobi@yahoo.co.uk
Postal Address: PO Box 362, Devonport 7310
Parish Office: 90 Stewart Street, Devonport 7310
Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday,Thursday 10am-3pm
Office Phone: 6424 2783 Fax: 6423 5160
FaceBook: Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
Weekly Newsletter: mlcathparish.blogspot.com.au
Weekly Homily Podcast: podomatic.com/mikedelaney
Parish Mass Times: mlcpmasstimes.blogspot.com.au
Parish Magazine: mlcathparishnewsletter.blogspot.com.au
Secretary: Annie Davies/Anne Fisher Pastoral Council Chair: Mary Davies
Archdiocesan Website: www.hobart.catholic.org.au for news, information and details of other Parishes.
Weekday Masses 3rd - 7th March , 2015
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe
Thursday: 12noon Devonport,
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone & Devonport
Saturday: 9.00am Ulverstone
Next Weekend 7th & 8th March, 2015
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin & Devonport
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell,
9:00am Ulverstone,
10:30am Devonport,
11am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
HOLY
WEEK & EASTER CEREMONIES 2015
DEVONPORT: Our
Lady of Lourdes Church
Holy Thursday: Mass of the Lord’s Supper 7.30pm
(Adoration till 9pm
followed by Evening Prayer of the Church)
Good Friday: Commemoration
of the Passion 3.00pm
Easter Sunday: Easter Mass 10.30am
PORT SORELL: St
Joseph’s Mass Centre
Good Friday: Stations
of the Cross 10.00am
Easter Sunday: Easter
Mass 8.30am
LATROBE: St Patrick’s Church
Good Friday: Stations
of the Cross 11.00am
Easter Sunday Easter
Mass 10.00am
SHEFFIELD: Holy Cross Church
Good Friday: Stations
of the Cross 11.00am
Easter Sunday: Easter
Mass 11.30am
ULVERSTONE: Sacred Heart
Church
Good Friday: Commemoration
of the Passion 3.00pm
Holy Saturday: Easter
Vigil 7.00pm
PENGUIN: St Mary’s Church
Good Friday: Stations
of the Cross 11.00am
Easter Sunday: Easter
Mass 8.30am
Eucharistic Adoration:
Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon, concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Devonport: Benediction with Adoration - first Friday of each month.
Prayer Groups:
Charismatic Renewal - Devonport (Emmaus House) Commences Thursdays - 7:30pm
Christian Meditation - Devonport, Emmaus House - Wednesdays 7pm.
Ministry Rosters 7th & 8th
March, 2015
Devonport:
Readers:
Vigil: M Gaffney, M Gerrand, H Lim 10.30am: A Hughes, T Barrientos, P Piccolo
Ministers of Communion: Vigil B & B
Windebank, T Bird, J Kelly, T Muir, Beau Windebank
10.30am: J DiPietro, S Riley, B Schrader, F Sly, M Mahoney, M
Sherriff
Cleaners 6th March:
M.W.C 13th
March: B Paul, D
Atkins, V Riley
Piety Shop 7th
March: R Baker 8th
March: O McGinley
Ulverstone:
Reader: S Willoughby Ministers of Communion: M Byrne, D Griffin, K Foster, R
Locket
Cleaners: B & V
McCall, G Doyle Hospitality: M & K McKenzie
Penguin:
Greeters: A Landers, P Ravaillion Commentator: M Kenney Readers: Y Downes, T Clayton
Procession: S Ewing, J Barker Ministers of Communion: M Kenney, E Standring
Liturgy: Sulphur Creek J Setting Up: S Ewing Care of Church: G Hills-Eade, A Landers
Port Sorell:
Readers: E Holloway, G Duff Ministers of Communion: B Lee, L Post Clean /Prepare A Hynes
Latrobe:
Reader: P Cotterell Ministers of Communion: M Kavic, B Ritchie Procession: M Clarke & Co Music: Jenny & May
Your prayers
are asked for the sick: Peter Bolster, Adrian Brennan, Frank Fitzpatrick, Tim
Hancock, Yvonne Harvey, Leonie Heron, Reg Hinkley, Margaret
Hoult, Tony Hyde, Emma Newton, Michele Nickols, Valerie & Tom Nicolson, Kath Smith, Candida
Tenaglia, Shirley White, Eva Zvatora & ...
Let us pray for those who
have died recently:
Fr James Sayers, Shirley Brereton, Bèla Vaszocz, Leigh
Martin, Lisa Roach, Dorothy Leary, Ted
Dolliver, Stan Tibble, Doug Howard, Andrew
Cooper, Bob Lovell,
Tony Wesley, Veronica Obiorah, Monica Okeke; also Kathleen Wesley.
Let us pray
for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 25th February – 3rd
March: Reginald Alderson, Irene Kilby, Richard O’Neill, Mary Mann,
Michael Sturgess, Darryle Webb, Aileen Hill, Josie Burford and Jim Marsterson.
May they rest in peace
Readings This Week; Second Sunday of Lent - Year B
First Reading: Genesis 22:1-2. 9-13. 15-18
Responsorial Psalm: I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
Second Reading: Romans 8:31-34
Gospel Acclamation: Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!
From the shining cloud, the Father’s voice is heard:
this is my beloved Son, hear him.
Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!
Gospel: Mark 9:2-10
PREGO REFLECTION:
I try to free myself from today’s worries and distractions,
and in my imagination I go with the disciples and Jesus up the high mountain.
What is it like? What strikes me?
As I visualise the event, what is uppermost in my mind?
I take my time and allow my mind to wander from one
character to the other. To whom do I feel most attracted?
I pause a while and consider my mood: Am I delighted or
frightened or….
I listen to the “voice from the cloud” as if it were
addressed to me: “YOU are my son/daughter, the Beloved. Listen to me.“
I speak to the Lord about my feelings towards him, thank
him for being with me and slowly take my leave.
Readings Next Week; Third Sunday of Lent - Year B
First Reading: Exodus 20:1-17
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:22-25
Gospel: John 2:13-25
OUR LENTEN LITURGY IN 2015:
The entire Christian community is invited to live this
period of forty days as a pilgrimage of repentance, conversion and renewal. In
the Bible, the number forty is rich in symbolism. It recalls Israel’s journey
in the desert, a time of expectation, purification and closeness to the Lord,
but also a time of temptation and testing. It also evokes Jesus’ own sojourn in
the desert at the beginning of his public ministry, a time of profound
closeness to the Father in prayer, but also of confrontation with the mystery
of evil. The Church’s Lenten discipline is meant to help deepen our life of
faith and our imitation of Christ in his paschal mystery. In these forty days
may we draw nearer to the Lord by meditating on his word and example, and
conquer the desert of our spiritual aridity, selfishness and materialism.
Our words, actions and music in the liturgy lead us ever
deeper into the paschal mystery this Lent:
• After the introduction, Mass begins
with the priest greeting from the rear of the church and then proceeds while
Kyrie Eleison or Lord have mercy is sung. On the 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays of
Lent, the Rite of Sprinkling (Asperges) may take place during the singing of
the Kyrie. The name ‘Asperges’ comes from the first word in the 9th verse of
Psalm 51 in the Latin translation, the Vulgate.
• By the use
of violet/purple vestments. Violet recalls suffering, mourning, simplicity and
austerity.
• By having
moments of silence before and after the readings and after the homily RGIRM
(2007) 45.
• At the breaking of the bread (the Fraction
Rite) there will be a short narrative before intoning the Lamb of God
• By the
absence of flowers due to the penitential nature of the season.
• The congregation leaves the church
after the singing of a brief final hymn, then following the celebrant in
respectful silence.
• There is
no Gloria or Alleluia verse (replaced by a Gospel acclamation).
• Images are
veiled immediately before the 5th Sunday of Lent in accordance with local
custom.
• On the 4th Sunday of Lent (Laetare
Sunday) flowers are permitted as well as music (eg music – that is musical
instruments – being played during preparation of the gifts, or during the
communion procession). Rose vestments may be worn on this Sunday.
ESSENTIAL
FOOD FOR LIFE:
Mariama is raising her daughter in a country that
suffers widespread poverty and inequity. When her little girl became
malnourished, she received life-saving food and care at a Nutrition Centre,
supported by Caritas Australia.
Please donate to Project Compassion 2015 and help save the
lives of people living on the brink of survival in Niger, giving them access to
nutritional support and essential food for life.
WEEKLY
RAMBLINGS:
There are some events coming up in the next few weeks that
I’d like to draw to your attention.
- On the 19th March at 7pm a couple will be at
OLOL Church to speak about healing. I met them in Lourdes during the
preparation for WYD 2011 – their story is remarkable and there will be more
details next week;
- On the 26-27th March there is a Training
Session for people who might like to provide compassionate care in times of
crisis organised through the Tasmanian Council of Churches Emergencies Ministry
program. This is part of the Tasmanian Social Recovery Plan so significant
demands are made on volunteers at the time a crisis. Please see me if you are
interested in applying to do the training.
- There is to be a Fire Retreat on the
weekend 17-19th April. This retreat for young adults (18-35) is an initiative
of Archbishop Julian – more details will be available in the coming weeks.
We celebrate with the young people in our Parish who begin their preparation for the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Confirmation and First Eucharist this weekend. Please keep them in your prayers as they begin this next stage of their faith journey.
There are
numerous copies of Archbishop Julian’s Lenten Letter available today (they
arrived on Monday morning) – please take one today.
STATIONS OF THE CROSS: Every Friday of Lent starting at 7pm at
Ulverstone, Devonport and Latrobe. All welcome!
_____________________________________________________________________________
SACRAMENTAL PREPARATION PROGRAM
The preparation program for the Sacraments of
Reconciliation, Confirmation and First Eucharist in our parish begins this
weekend. The children will be welcomed
and receive a blessing for the journey at Masses during this weekend. We ask for the support and prayers of our
whole parish community as the children continue their journey towards full
initiation into the Catholic Church and our community.
Enrolments for children who are in Grade 3 or above are
still being accepted. However, these
need to be finalised very soon. If you
were unable to attend an information evening last week and you would like your
child to participate in the program please contact Belinda Chapman at the
parish office on either Tuesday or Thursday between 9.30am and 2.30pm. Phone
6424:2783 or email sacra@eftel.net.au. Thank you.
WORLD DAY OF PRAYER - EVERYONE WELCOME!
Sheffield: Bible Chapel, High Street 7:30pm Thursday 5th
March
Penguin: The Rock Community Church Dooley Street 10am Friday 6th
March
Ulverstone: Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Kings Parade 1:30pm Friday 6th
March
Devonport: Wesley Vale Community Church 1.30 pm
Friday 6th March
LITURGY PREPARATION GROUP:
You are very warmly invited to join interested
parishioners and members of local liturgical and musical groups to assist in
the preparation of our parish Holy Week liturgies. A meeting will be held
at Emmaus House Sunday 8th March from 2.00 pm - 3.30 pm - For further
information contact: Peter Douglas on 0419 302 435
CWL DEVONPORT
& ULVERSTONE: will meet together Wednesday 11th March at Emmaus House
Devonport at 2.00 pm on the occasion of the visit of the State
President, Sandra Harvey.
ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY: The Annual Button Day is Friday
20th March, if you are able to volunteer an hour of your time to sell
buttons to raise money for the good work of St Vincent de Paul Society please
phone Trish on 6427:7100. The Society acknowledges the generosity of
parishioners both financially and voluntary work.
MACKILLOP HILL SPIRITUALITY CENTRE, WILLIAM STREET, FORTH
St Patrick’s Day Luncheon – A light hearted
celebration! Bring a friend! Enjoy a delicious lunch! Wear a Shamrock …. Leprechauns welcome! Tuesday
17th March, 12 noon start RSVP 12th March
Bookings essential.
Phone Mary 6425:2871
Men’s Spirituality - with Drasko Disdar, Saturday
21st March 2015, 10am – 1.00pm
bring your own lunch. For bookings phone 6428:3095 Email: mackillophill.forth@sosj.org.au
SPECIAL TALK - THE DEEPER MEANING BEHIND THE DIVINE
MERCY DEVOTION:
You are invited to a special evening with Paul and Juliana
Elarde, as they share with you the deeper meaning behind the Divine Mercy
devotion, and how God's mercy has changed their lives at Our Lady of Lourdes Church
Devonport on Thursday 19th March from 6.30pm. For more information please
contact the Sisters of the Immaculata 0406372608.
PALM SUNDAY PILGRIMAGE – Sunday 29th March
Every member of the Tasmanian Catholic Community, and
friends, are encouraged to join us for the sixth Palm Sunday Pilgrimage event!
Start your Holy Week filled with energy, hope and faith, and celebrate World
Youth Day and our wonderful Tasmanian Church at the same time! Pilgrimage Walk
from Lindisfarne across Tasman Bridge to St. David’s Park (Hobart) for
Festivities in the Park; Heaps of activities for kids big and small; Procession
to St. Mary’s Cathedral for an inspiring celebration of Palm Sunday Mass! Great
opportunity to unite as one Archdiocese, witness to your faith, and have loads
of fun! Bus available from Burnie, Devonport & Launceston, but you
MUST BOOK! For more information and to register (including bus booking) go
to: www.cymtas.org.au
Terry McKenna would like to extend a
special thankyou to Des & Margaret Hiscutt, Ed & Kay Riley and Mary
Owen for assisting him with transport to and from Mass at Penguin. Your kindness is greatly appreciated!
BINGO
Thursday Nights - OLOL Hall,
Devonport. Eyes down 7.30pm!
Callers for Thursday 5th March Merv
Tippett & Bruce Peters
PREGNANCY COUNSELLING AND SUPPORT: Are you interested in joining our
volunteers in providing physical assistance, moral support and information to
those experiencing distress or hardship as a result of pregnancy or pregnancy
loss? Phone: 6224:2291 email: admin@pcstas.org.au Office hours: 10 am –
2 pm weekdays - www.pcstas.org.au
Evangelii
Gaudium
“True
love is always contemplative, and permits us to serve the other not out of
necessity or vanity, but rather because he or she is beautiful above and beyond
mere appearances.”
Par 199 from Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis, Nov.
24, 2013
Saints of the Week – St
Perpetua & St Felicity
“When my father in his affection for me was trying to turn me from my
purpose by arguments and thus weaken my faith, I said to him, ‘Do you see this
vessel—waterpot or whatever it may be? Can it be called by any other name than
what it is?’ ‘No,’ he replied. ‘So also I cannot call myself by any other name
than what I am—a Christian”.”
So writes
Perpetua, young, beautiful, well-educated, a noblewoman of Carthage in North
Africa, mother of an infant son and chronicler of the persecution of the
Christians by Emperor Septimius Severus.
Despite threats of
persecution and death, Perpetua, Felicity (a slavewoman and expectant mother),
and three companions, Revocatus, Secundulus, and Saturninus, refused to
renounce their Christian faith. For their unwillingness, all were sent to the
public games in the amphitheatre. There, Perpetua and Felicity were beheaded,
and the others killed by beasts.
Perpetua’s mother
was a Christian and her father a pagan. He continually pleaded with her to deny
her faith. She refused and was imprisoned at 22.
In her diary,
Perpetua describes her period of captivity: “What a day of horror! Terrible
heat, owing to the crowds! Rough treatment by the soldiers! To crown all, I was
tormented with anxiety for my baby... Such anxieties I suffered for many days,
but I obtained leave for my baby to remain in the prison with me, and being
relieved of my trouble and anxiety for him, I at once recovered my health, and
my prison became a palace to me and I would rather have been there than
anywhere else.”
Felicity gave
birth to a girl a few days before the games commenced.
Perpetua’s record
of her trial and imprisonment ends the day before the games. “Of what was done
in the games themselves, let him write who will.” The diary was finished by an
eyewitness.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Words of Wisdom – Vatican II
“The heavenly kingdom is the goal of the
earthly society and the earthly kingdom is a means and condition for attaining the
heavenly.”
A quote from Gaudium
et spes 41 (Vatican II documents)
_____________________________________________________________________________
GOD’S PLEASURE IN OUR ACTION
An article by Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. The original can be found at http://ronrolheiser.com/gods-pleasure-in-our-action/
For the past six months, while undergoing treatment for cancer, I was working on a reduced schedule. The medical treatments, while somewhat debilitating, left me still enough health and energy to carry on the administrative duties in my present ministry, but they didn’t allow me any extra energy to teach classes or to offer any lectures, workshops, or retreats at outside venues, something I normally do. I joked with my family and friends that I was “under house arrest”; but I was so grateful for the energy that I still had, that being unable to teach and give lectures was not deemed a sacrifice. I was focused on staying healthy, and the health that I was given was appreciated as a great grace.
A month ago, the medical treatments ended and, soon after, most of my normal energies returned and I resumed a normal schedule that included again teaching inside a classroom. Having been on the sidelines for a half year left me a little nervous as I entered the classroom for my first three-hour session. My nervousness passed quickly as the class robustly engaged the topic and, after the three hours, I walked out of the class feeling a wonderful energy that I hadn’t felt for six months. Teaching (which I consider both my profession and my vocation) lifted both my heart and my body in a way that it hadn’t been lifted in months. It was the missing tonic.
At first, I felt some anxiety and guilt about this. What really triggered that wonderful feeling and burst of energy? Narcissism? Pride? Was I basking in the capacity to demonstrate some cleverness and learning and then drink in the students’ admiration? Did I feel good because my ego got stroked? Was my teaching really about furthering God’s kingdom or about stoking my ego?
I am not alone with these questions. These are valid questions for anyone who draws energy from his or her work, especially if, because of that work, he or she drinks in a fair amount of adulation. Our motivations are never completely pure. Indeed, if we are fully honest with ourselves, we have to admit that there is always some degree of self-serving in our service of others. But, mixed as our motives will always be, something else, something much more positive, needs to be factored into this, namely, the fact that God gave us our various talents and that God feels good about us using them.
Eric Liddell, the Olympic runner, whose story is featured in the Oscar-winning movie, Chariots of Fire, once made this comment: “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.” He didn’t make this comment lightly. As his biography and Chariots of Fire make clear, Eric Liddell, in his quest to win an Olympic gold medal was motivated more by his faith than by his own ego. His faith had him believe that, since God gave him this unique talent, God, not unlike any proud parent, took a genuine delight in seeing him use that gift. In his heart, he sensed that God was pleased whenever he exercised that talent to its optimum. Moreover, that inner sense that God was happy with his use of his talent filled him, Eric, with a wonderful energy whenever he ran.
Seen from that perspective, we see that the root and source of his motivation and pleasure in running was, ultimately, not his desire to win gold medals and popular adulation, though clearly no one is immune to these. Rather he was motivated by an inner sense that God had given him a special gift, that God wanted him to use that gift to its fullest, and that God was happy when he optimized that gift. Like everyone else who is human, he, no doubt, enjoyed the adulation he received for his successes, but he knew too that the deepest joy he felt in using his gift had its ultimate source in God and not his own ego.
And this, I believe, is true for everybody of us. When anyone uses properly the gifts that God gave him or her, God will take pleasure in that. After all God gave us that gift and that gift was given us for a reason.
Not long after I felt that burst of pleasure and energy from again teaching inside a classroom, I was talking to a colleague, a very gifted young teacher just beginning his teaching career. He shared about how much he enjoys teaching but how he worries too that the pleasure he derives from it is somehow too much connected to his ego. I gave him the Liddell quote, assuring him that, whenever he teaches well, God takes pleasure in it. He much appreciated Liddell’s comment.
And so should we all. We shouldn’t feel guilty for exercising the gifts that God gave us, even though our motivations will never be completely pure. Whenever we use a God-given talent to do something well, God takes pleasure in it … and so too should we.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Prophets as Liberators
We find the beginnings of the prophetic tradition in
Deuteronomy 18, where Moses calls himself a prophet and sets out the first
daring criteria for the role. Moses has led the people out of slavery and into
freedom, which is the archetypal spiritual pattern for every human life. Poor
Moses' job is finding out how to keep the Israelites really free, after they
first found their physical freedom. This is a much more difficult job, and I
know almost no republics, democracies, or monarchies that achieve it.
Ironically, some oppressed and enslaved people do achieve it, as we have seen
with so many Black Americans.
Let's use this as our simple understanding of a prophet. A
prophet is one who keeps God free for people and who keeps people free for God.
It is a two-sided task. He or she is committed to the covenant love between
humanity and the Divine--at all costs--and keeping God totally free for people.
That is a very hard thing to do, because at least in the Bible the priestly
class invariably makes God less accessible instead of more so: "Neither
entering yourselves nor letting others enter in" as Jesus boldly puts it
(Matthew 23:13). For our own job-security, the priestly mentality tends to say,
"You can only come to God through us, by doing the right rituals and
obeying the rules." Formal ministers are too often good at teaching people
"learned helplessness." That's why the prophets spend so much time
destroying and dismissing these barriers to create "a straight highway to
God" (Matthew 3:3) as John the Baptist tries to do, and Jesus does with
such determination and partial success. But now you know why they were both
killed.
The other half of the prophet's job is to keep people free
for God. People get trapped in chains of guilt and low self-esteem, what they
judge to be poor performance and less than perfect attendance. As if the goal
of religion is "attendance" at an occasional ritual instead of
constant participation in an Eternal Mystery!
Walter Brueggemann has given his whole life to understanding
the Hebrew Scriptures, and is my favorite Old Testament Christian scholar,
hands down. I think he is a prophet himself. In the end, he says that the only
consistent pattern he could find in the way God works with God's people is that
there is no pattern! There is no one image of God in the Bible. There must be
at least 50, I would think. God is always breaking God's own rules to get to
this person, to change this situation, to transform this event. If you are
honest about the text, this should be clear. You do realize, I hope, that every
time God forgives, God is breaking God's own rules, and saying relationship
with YOU matters more than God being right! I would base my life on that
assertion.
Adapted from Way of the Prophet (no longer available);
and Prophets Then, Prophets Now (CD, MP3 download)
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