Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
To be a vibrant Catholic Community
unified in its commitment
to growing disciples for Christ
Resident Seminarian: Br Cris Mendoza Mob: 0408 389 216
chris_mendoza2080@yahoo.com
Postal Address: PO Box 362, Devonport
Parish Office:
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am - 3pm)
Secretary: Annie Davies / Anne Fisher
Pastoral Council Chair: Jenny Garnsey
Pastoral Council Chair: Jenny Garnsey
Parish Mass Times: mlcpmasstimes.blogspot.com.au
Weekly Homily Podcast: mikedelaney.podomatic.com
Parish Prayer
Heavenly Father,
We thank you for gathering us together
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
You have charged us through Your Son, Jesus, with the great mission
of evangelising and witnessing your love to the world.
Send your Holy Spirit to guide us as we discern your will
for the spiritual renewal of our parish.
Give us strength, courage, and clear vision
as we use our gifts to serve you.
as we use our gifts to serve you.
We entrust our parish family to the care of Mary, our mother,
and ask for her intercession and guidance
as we strive to bear witness
as we strive to bear witness
to the Gospel and build an amazing parish.
Amen.
Our Parish Sacramental Life
Baptism: Parents are asked to contact the Parish Office to make arrangements for attending a Baptismal Preparation Session and booking a Baptism date.
Reconciliation, Confirmation and Eucharist: Are received following a Family–centred, Parish-based, School-supported Preparation Program.
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: prepares adults for reception into the Catholic community.
Marriage: arrangements are made by contacting one of our priests - couples attend a Pre-marriage Program
Anointing of the Sick: please contact one of our priests
Reconciliation: Ulverstone - Fridays (10am - 10:30am)
Devonport - Saturday (5:15pm – 5:45pm)
Penguin - Saturday (5:15pm - 5:45pm)
Care and Concern: If you are aware of anyone who is in need of assistance and has given permission to be contacted by Care and Concern, please phone the Parish Office.
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Weekday Masses 20th
– 23rd December, 2016 Mass Times Next Weekend 24th & 25th December,
2016
Tuesday: 9:30am
Penguin As per timetable printed below
Wednesday: 9:30am
Latrobe
Thursday: 12noon
Devonport
Friday: 9:30am
Ulverstone
Eucharistic
Adoration - Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon,
concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Benediction
with Adoration Devonport: -
first Friday of each month.
Christian
Meditation: Devonport, Emmaus House - Wednesdays
7pm.
Prayer
Group: CCR Prayer meeting currently in
recession, recommencing Thursday 2/2/2017. Enquiries phone Michael Gaffney 0447
018 068
Ministry Rosters 24th & 25th December, 2016
Devonport: OLOL Readers please note: New Rosters and Guidelines are available in the
Sacristry
Readers:
M
Heazlewood, B Suckling, G Lee-Archer, M Kelly, P Shelverton
10.30am: M Sherriff, T & S Ryan, D & M Barrientos, M
O’Brien-Evans
Cleaners 23rd Dec: K.S.C. 30th Dec: P & T Douglas
NO Piety Shop 24th & 25th Dec Flowers: M Knight, B Naiker
Ulverstone:
Readers: R Locket Ministers of Communion: M Mott, M Fennell, T Leary
Cleaners: M Swain, M
Bryan Flowers: M Swain Hospitality:
M Byrne, G Doyle
Penguin:
Greeters: G & N Pearce Commentator: E Nickols Readers: Fifita Family
Ministers of
Communion: M
Murray, M Hiscutt Liturgy: Pine Road Setting Up: A Landers
Care of Church: G Hills-Eade, T Clayton
Latrobe:
Reader: M Eden
Port Sorell:
Readers: M Badcock, L Post Ministers of Communion: G Duff Clean/Flow/Prepare: B Lee, A Holloway
Readings this Week: Fourth Sunday of Advent – Year A
First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-14
Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7
Gospel: Matthew 1:18-24
Prego Reflection
I come to my place of prayer and calmly try to be aware that I am in
God’s presence – the God who is-with-us.
I read the text slowly a couple of times and then maybe try to imagine Joseph’s situation, just as he tries to see Mary’s too.
I see this upright and compassionate man struggling in making the right decision.
As I ponder this story what strikes me?
Maybe I reflect on how I make decisions?
Or where I see God’s will in my life?
Or how I strive to listen to my God?
I speak to the Lord of this… perhaps of my hesitations and fears, my blindness in seeing God’s will so close to me, or of my lack of commitment...
Joseph welcomes Mary, the Christ-bearer into his home.
Does this speak to me?
He also has the privilege of naming the child—does the Lord have a mission for me?
I end my prayer with gratitude and praise to God, maybe for the gift of his Son, for Joseph's example, or for the ‘angels’ he has sent in my life who have guided me.
I read the text slowly a couple of times and then maybe try to imagine Joseph’s situation, just as he tries to see Mary’s too.
I see this upright and compassionate man struggling in making the right decision.
As I ponder this story what strikes me?
Maybe I reflect on how I make decisions?
Or where I see God’s will in my life?
Or how I strive to listen to my God?
I speak to the Lord of this… perhaps of my hesitations and fears, my blindness in seeing God’s will so close to me, or of my lack of commitment...
Joseph welcomes Mary, the Christ-bearer into his home.
Does this speak to me?
He also has the privilege of naming the child—does the Lord have a mission for me?
I end my prayer with gratitude and praise to God, maybe for the gift of his Son, for Joseph's example, or for the ‘angels’ he has sent in my life who have guided me.
Readings Next Week: The Nativity of the Lord – Year A
First Reading: Isaiah 62:11-12
Second Reading: Titus 3:4-7
Gospel: Luke 2:15-20
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
John Lee-Archer, Helen Willis, David Welch & ....
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Mark Marshall, Martin Xavier, Peter Patmore, Udofia John Okpon, Barry Geard, Mathilda Luyks, Robert Shepherd, Bernadette Maguire, Jim Suckling, James McLagan, Katrina Wilson, Doreen Traill.
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 14th - 20th December
Paul Rech, Fr Bill Egan, Jim Rogers, Thomas Last, Audrey Cassidy, Beau Reynolds, Marie Williams, Jamie Fahey and Sr Marlene Binns ssj. Also Arokiasamy, Muriel & Fabian Xavier, Joyce, Jim & Beatrice Barry and Ryan Jackson.
May they Rest in Peace
WEEKLY RAMBLINGS:
This weekend we start the final week of Advent and I’m sure
that there will be many demands on your time and energy and patience. I know it
might be almost impossible but can I express the hope that you might make just
a little time to be still so that the wonder of the birth of the Christ Child
does not get lost in all the busyness.
Just a little reminder. Every week when you check the list
of the sick whom we are praying for at this time you might just notice that
there are three little dots – they are there to remember all those people who
have asked for our prayers but who prefer to remain unnamed at this time.
Because it will be busy next weekend and many people head
off over the Christmas break I would like to take the opportunity to thank all
those who work to make our Parish such a great community to be part of. I won’t
try to name everyone but just to express my heartfelt thanks to you all and to
wish you every blessing at this time.
Please
take care on the roads and in your homes,
Mersey Leven Parish Community welcome
and congratulate ….
Lochlyn Wyatt son of Timothy &
Jacinta
who is being baptised this weekend.
SACRED HEART CHURCH CHILDRENS
MASS - CHRISTMAS EVE:
All children are welcome to
participate in the Children’s Mass (nativity play), 6pm Christmas Eve. Practice will take during 9am Mass. For more
information please phone Charlie Vella 0417 307 781.
CHRISTMAS
EVE SUPPER ULVERSTONE & DEVONPORT:
Sacred Heart Church Ulverstone: After the Children’s Mass (6pm) supper will be served in
the Community Room. Please bring a plate of food to share.
Our Lady of Lourdes Devonport: After the 8pm Mass supper will be
served in the Parish Hall. Please bring a plate of food to share. We would also
appreciate help with the set-up and clean-up. Please contact Felicity Sly
on 6424:1933 or fsly@internode.on.net
Please take the opportunity to celebrate with the Parish
Community!
EMPTY CRIB:
The empty crib has been placed in Our Lady of Lourdes
Church Devonport and baskets in the foyer of Sacred Heart Church Ulverstone for
the donation of non-perishable goods and gifts to be distributed by St Vincent
de Paul Society. Your contribution of non-perishable food or gifts will be most
welcome and appreciated.
SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM:
Families with children in Grade 3
or above are invited to participate in our family-centred, parish-based and
school-supported Sacramental Program to prepare to celebrate the sacraments of
RECONCILIATION, CONFIRMATION AND EUCHARIST in 2017. Information Sessions to
explain the preparation program will be held on: Monday 20th February
7.00pm at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Stewart Street, Devonport and Tuesday 21st
February 7.00pm at Sacred Heart Church, Alexandra Road, Ulverstone.
For further information, or any questions please contact Fr
Mike on 6424:2783 or mike.delaney@aohtas.org.au
OLOL CHURCH PIETY SHOP ROSTER:
To all that help out with the ongoing running of the Piety
Shop, the new roster commencing February 2017 is now available for you to
collect.
CHRISTMAS MASS TIMES
2016
OUR LADY OF
LOURDES STEWART STREET, DEVONPORT
Christmas Eve 6.00pm Children’s Mass
8.00pm Vigil Mass
Christmas Day 10.30am
Mass
ST PATRICK’S,
GILBERT STREET, LATROBE
Christmas Day 9.30am Mass
HOLY CROSS
HIGH, STREET, SHEFFIELD
Christmas Day 11.00am Mass
ST JOSEPH’S
MASS CENTRE, ARTHUR STREET, PORT SORELL
Christmas Day 8.00am Mass
SACRED HEART
ALEXANDRA ROAD, ULVERSTONE
Christmas Eve 6.00pm
Children’s Mass
Christmas Day 9.00am
Mass
ST MARY’S KING
EDWARD STREET, PENGUIN
Christmas Eve 8.00pm Vigil Mass
RECONCILIATION: will be celebrated in preparation for Christmas at:
Our Lady of Lourdes Church
Devonport on Monday 19th December at 7:00pm
Sacred Heart Church Ulverstone on Tuesday
20th December at 7:00pm
Kenosis
This is taken from the daily email series from Fr Richard Rohr OFM. You can subscribe and receive the emails by clicking here
The Trinity
is unhindered kenosis or self-emptying, self-giving, holding nothing back.
Jesus modeled such vulnerability and surrender: becoming human, serving the
poor and the sick, and giving up his life. As Paul writes:
Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross. [1]
Contemplative
prayer is a practice of kenosis or self-emptying. At its most basic,
contemplation is letting go of our habitual thoughts, preferences, judgments,
and feelings. Although life itself—love, awe, or suffering—is often the catalyst
for our transformation, contemplation is a daily, small death to false self and
ego. It prepares a spacious place in which resurrection of True Self can occur.
Imagine you
are part of a water wheel. Water flows into one bucket and pours out and into a
lower bucket. In the act of lowering and emptying yourself, you make room for
more water to fill you. This self-giving flow creates energy and power; it can
literally change our relationships, our politics, and our world.
As you
practice, I hope this way of being will become part of your actions and
interactions with others, beyond your meditation cushion. People filled with
the flow will always move away from any need to protect their own power and
will be drawn to the powerless, the edge, the bottom, the plain, and the
simple. They have all the power they need—and it always overflows, like water,
seeking the lowest crevices to fill.
References:
[1]
Philippians 2:6-8, New Revised Standard Version.
Adapted from
Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your
Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016), 91. This book is available at thedivinedance.org.
OUR CHURCHES AS SANCTUARIES
This article is by Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. The original article can be found here
Whenever we have been at our best, as Christians, we have opened our churches as sanctuaries to the poor and the endangered. We have a long, proud history wherein refugees, homeless persons, immigrants facing deportation, and others who are endangered, take shelter inside our churches. If we believe what Jesus tells us about the Last Judgment in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, this should serve us well when we stand before God at the end.
Unfortunately our churches have not always provided that same kind of sanctuary (safety and shelter) to those who are refugees, immigrants, and homeless in their relationship to God and our churches. There are millions of persons, today perhaps the majority within our nations, who are looking for a safe harbor in terms of sorting out their faith and their relationship to the church. Sadly, too often our rigid paradigms of orthodoxy, ecclesiology, ecumenism, liturgy, sacramental practice, and canon law, however well-intentioned, have made our churches places where no such sanctuary is offered and where the wide embrace practiced by Jesus is not mirrored. Instead, our churches are often harbors only for persons who are already safe, already comforted, already church-observing, already solid ecclesial citizens.
That was hardly the situation within Jesus’ own ministry. He was a safe sanctuary for everyone, religious and non-religious alike. While he didn’t ignore the committed religious persons around him, the Scribes and Pharisees, his ministry always reached out and included those whose religious practice was weak or non-existent. Moreover, he reached out especially to those whose moral lives where not in formal harmony with the religious practices of the time, those deemed as sinners. Significantly too he did not ask for repentance from those deemed as sinners before he sat down at table with them. He set out no moral or ecclesial conditions as a prerequisite to meet or dine with him. Many repented after meeting and dining with him, but that repentance was never a pre-condition. In his person and in his ministry, Jesus did not discriminate. He offered a safe sanctuary for everyone.
We need today in our churches to challenge ourselves on this. From pastors, to parish councils, to pastoral teams, to diocesan regulators, to bishops’ conferences, to those responsible for applying canon and church law, to our own personal attitudes, we all need to ask: Are our churches places of sanctuary for those who are refugees, homeless, and poor ecclesially? Do our pastoral practices mirror Jesus? Is our embrace as wide as that of Jesus?
These are not fanciful ideals. This is the gospel which we can easily lose sight of, for seemingly all the right reasons. I remember a Diocesan Synod within which I participated some twenty years ago. At one stage in the process we were divided in small groups and each group was given the question: What, before all else, should the church be saying to the world today?
The groups returned with their answers and everyone, every single group, proposed as its first priority apposite what the church should be saying to the world some moral or ecclesial challenge: We need to challenge the world in terms of justice! We need to challenge people to pray more! We need to speak again of sin! We need to challenge people about the importance of going to church! We need to stop the evil of abortion! All of these suggestions are good and important. But none of the groups dared say: We need to comfort the world!
Handel’s Messiah begins with that wonderful line from Isaiah 40: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” That, I believe, is first task of religion. Challenge follows after that, but may not precede it. A mother first comforts her child by assuring it of her love and stilling its chaos. Only after that, in the safe shelter produced by that comfort, can she begin to offer it some hard challenges to grow beyond its own instinctual struggles.
People are swayed a lot by the perception they have of things. Within our churches today we can protest that we are being perceived unfairly by our culture, that is, as narrow, judgmental, hypocritical, and hateful. No doubt this is unfair, but we must have the courage to ask ourselves why this perception abounds, in the academy, in the media, and in the popular culture. Why aren’t we being perceived more as “a field hospital” for the wounded, as is the ideal of Pope Francis?
Why are we not flinging our churches doors open much more widely? What lies at the root of our reticence? Fear of being too generous with God’s grace? Fear of contamination? Of scandal?
One wonders whether more people, especially the young and the estranged, would grace our churches today if we were perceived in the popular mind precisely as being sanctuaries for searchers, for the confused, the wounded, the broken, and the non-religious, rather than as places only for those who are already religiously solid and whose religious search is already completed.
O Emmanuel
This article is taken from the Thinking Faith website. The original article can be found here
I once heard a memorable homily that gave eloquent expression to the idea that the structure of the liturgical year is not a matter of doing what we did last year again and in exactly the same way. Yes, each year we live the same sequence of Advent and Christmas, then Lent and Easter, with blocks of Ordinary Time in between. But every time we approach one of those seasons, each of us is changed from the person who celebrated it the previous year. So it’s never a matter of doing it all over again; instead, every year we bring our changed selves to familiar patterns, and thereby we create something new.
The cyclical nature of life and liturgy is also at play in the sequence of the O Antiphons. The last antiphon to be professed in the Liturgy of Hours is the first that appears on the hymn sheet when we sing ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’. Consider, too, that when we play a neat Scrabble trick with the antiphons, reversing their traditional order and taking the first letter of each, we spell the Latin word, erocras: ‘tomorrow I will be’. This promise points us towards a future that we anticipate but cannot lay claim to, because tomorrow never comes.
But of course, the promise is already fulfilled. We have been rescued, shone on, taught – all of those things that we have prayed for when we recite or sing the antiphons. O Emmanuel suggests that we are consigned to wait with ‘captive Israel’: we mourn ‘in lonely exile here/until the Son of God appear’. But Christ has appeared – been born, and died, and raised from the dead. So what happens ‘tomorrow’? What are we waiting for?
Take a step back from these questions and think not about why we wait, but about how we wait. To be dormant in captivity is a sign that something is corrupt: the guilty prisoner rests easily. The captive who is held unjustly is restless. And so Advent is not about sitting around passively until there is a new arrival in the crib on Christmas morning. Advent, and in fact our whole lives as sisters and brothers of that child in the manger, requires us to wait actively; it requires response and choice, even radicalisation. The radical choice that we have to make is to become exiles.
An exile is someone who is separated from the place they call home. That relationship defines them. Without that connection, they would be free from the mournful longing for a particular place, but they would then just be a wanderer. Our task is to make ourselves exiles rather than wanderers: to orient ourselves towards God and long to abide in Him rather than to wander aimlessly in separation from Him. It’s a twofold process: to cultivate a deepest desire for God; and to recognise why we are exiled, distanced from Him, to recognise what we are held captive by.
The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius are the map par excellence of this terrain. Coming to understand God’s inexhaustible love for us and then, secure in the knowledge of that love, identifying the disordered attachments that navigate us away from the riches of the Kingdom, are the first steps that Ignatius asks us to take as we seek to give ourselves in the best vantage point to our home. ‘Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth.’ (Isaiah 46:22)
The exile has known home but is now separated from it, and so her cry is all the stronger because she already knows what it is she has lost. That is reflected in the nature of this antiphon’s cry – ‘come to save us’, ‘come and set us free’ – which is arguably less specific, more primal than any of the other antiphons. That innate longing is different to the anticipation of rewards as yet unknown – you can’t miss what you never had – and it gives Christian hope its unique dynamic. We wait expectantly for what tomorrow brings, even though we have already received it.
In the midst of a refugee crisis, to choose exile as a way of life is indeed radical. But that choice is a recognition that we have a room in the Father’s house but are not yet within its walls – we are exiles from our home. We are in a constant state of flux, where endings are beginnings and vice versa, where we do the same things differently, where we wait for something which has already happened... it’s unsettling, but that’s ok. This agitation is the restlessness of the captive, the desperate longing of the exile, and it serves to keep us awake and alert, and ready to recognise the one we wait for, who is always already here.
‘Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.’
Frances Murphy is Editor of Thinking Faith.
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