Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
Parish Priest: Fr Mike Delaney
Mob: 0417 279 437
Mob: 0417 279 437
Assistant Priest: Fr Paschal Okpon
Mob: 0438 562 731
paschalokpon@yahoo.com
Priest in Residence: Fr Phil McCormack
Mob: 0437 521 257
Mob: 0437 521 257
Postal Address: PO Box 362
Parish Office: 90 Stewart Street
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am - 3pm)
Office Phone: 6424 2783 Fax: 6423 5160
Email: merseyleven@aohtas.org.au
Secretary: Annie Davies
Finance Officer: Anne Fisher
Finance Officer: Anne Fisher
Parish Mass times for the Month: mlcpmasstimes.blogspot.com.au
Weekly Homily Podcast: mikedelaney.podomatic.com
Archdiocesan Website: www.hobart.catholic.org.au for news, information and details of other Parishes.
Parish Office Closed until Tuesday 22nd January, 2019
OLOL Piety Shop will be closed until 3rd February, 2019
PLENARY COUNCIL PRAYER
Come, Holy Spirit of Pentecost.
Come, Holy Spirit of the great South Land.
O God, bless and unite all your people in Australia
and guide us on the pilgrim way of the Plenary Council.
Give us the grace to see your face in one another
and to recognise Jesus, our companion on the road.
Give us the courage to tell our stories and to speak boldly of your truth.
Give us ears to listen humbly to each other
and a discerning heart to hear what you are saying.
Lead your Church into a hope-filled future,
that we may live the joy of the Gospel.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, bread for the journey from age to age.
Amen.
Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us.
St Mary MacKillop, pray for us.
Come, Holy Spirit of the great South Land.
O God, bless and unite all your people in Australia
and guide us on the pilgrim way of the Plenary Council.
Give us the grace to see your face in one another
and to recognise Jesus, our companion on the road.
Give us the courage to tell our stories and to speak boldly of your truth.
Give us ears to listen humbly to each other
and a discerning heart to hear what you are saying.
Lead your Church into a hope-filled future,
that we may live the joy of the Gospel.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, bread for the journey from age to age.
Amen.
Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us.
St Mary MacKillop, pray for us.
Parish Prayer
Heavenly Father,
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
as we use our gifts to serve you.
as we strive to bear witness
to the Gospel and build an amazing parish.
Amen.
Our Parish Sacramental Life
Devonport Friday Adoration: Recommences 1st February, 2019.
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
as we use our gifts to serve you.
as we strive to bear witness
Amen.
Our Parish Sacramental Life
Baptism: Arrangements are made by contacting Parish Office. Parents attend a Baptismal Preparation Session organised with a Priest.
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)
Devonport Friday Adoration: Recommences 1st February, 2019.
Devonport: Benediction (1st Friday of the Month) - Recommences Friday 1st February, 2019
Prayer Groups: Charismatic Renewal – In Recess until Monday 4th February, 2019 - Healing Mass sponsored by CCR will be held at St Mary’s Church Penguin on Thursday 14th February, 2019
Weekday Masses 8th - 11th January
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe
Thursday: 12noon Devonport
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone
Weekend Masses 12th - 13th January
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin
6:00pm Devonport
Sunday: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am Devonport
11:00am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
Readings this week –The Feast of the Epiphany (Year C)
PREGO REFLECTION ON THE GOSPEL:
Readings next week –The Feast of Baptism of the Lord (Year C)
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
Christiana Okpon, Maree Walsh, Joy Kiely, Robert Harcourt-White, Rose Grimes, Isabelita Santos, Vic Slavin, Lionel Faustino, Marg Stewart & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Carmel Cook, Gladys Ballini, Nestor Manundo, Fortunata Paule, Pat Faulkner, Denise Payne, Zeta Mahoney, Monica Piggot, Isabel Archery
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 2nd – 8th January
Nicola Tenaglia, Roy Beechey, Cavell Robertson, Joshua & Elizabeth Delaney, Tess Landers, Alfred Harrison, Virginia Miller, Nancy Bramich, Janelle Payne, Catherine Gibbons, Graham Hollister, Agnes & William Marshall, Ronald Bramich, Ellen Fay
May they Rest in Peace
This article is taken from the Daily Emails from Fr Richard Rohr OFM and the Center for Action and Contemplation. You can subscribe to receive the emails here
Recently I shared some of the complex history—much of it
painful and still raw—of my adopted home state, New Mexico. Thankfully there
are many courageous people collaborating to acknowledge and heal these wounds.
One of these is a friend of the Center for Action and Contemplation, Eileen
Shaughnessy. Eileen teaches on environmental and social justice at the
University of New Mexico and co-founded the grassroots Nuclear Issues Study
Group. She also writes and makes music with her indie folk band, “Eileen & the
In-Betweens.”
As you reflect on the meditations from past weeks—the words
or phrases that stood out to you, the questions unanswered, the physical
sensations you experienced, perhaps feeling overwhelmed with the work ahead of
us to create a more peaceful world—hold some space for the possibility, as
Eileen suggests, that we might “learn how to fly.”
Watch this short music video of Eileen & the In-Betweens
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTxqkF8BnH0) hosting a dance party with
friends in front of a beautiful mural—“Honor the People” by artist Nani
Chacon—on historic Route 66 through the heart of Albuquerque.
This world is for the lovers and the fighters
What do you want to get rid of? What systems of oppression
are you trying to dismantle? What do you fight for with a bold and loving
heart? Watch the video again, sing along, and move to the music. Then let your
heart and body be moved in the peaceful fight for justice.
[1] Eileen Shaughnessy, “Lovers and Fighters,”
http://www.eileenshaughnessy.com/lyrics/. Video and lyrics used with
permission.
My Top 10 Books in Spirituality for 2018
This list is taken from the Archives of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find the original article here
This year I will restrict myself to focusing only on books that deal explicitly with spirituality, notwithstanding some very fine novels and books on social commentary that I read this year.
But first, an apologia: Taste is idiosyncratic. Keep that in mind as you read these recommendations. These are books that I liked, that spoke to me, and that I believe can be helpful for someone seeking guidance and inspiration on the journey. They may not speak to you in the same way.
Which spiritual books did I find most helpful this year?
- Veronica Mary Rolf, Julian’s Gospel, Illuminating the Life and Revelations of Julian of Norwich. Julian of Norwich is one of the great Christian mystics, but her thought is not easily accessible to most readers. This book gives a good introduction to her life and her writings and highlights as well how much of a spiritual oasis she was in a time when most parts of Christianity conceived of God in very harsh terms.
- John Shea, To Dare The Our Father, A Transformative Spiritual Practice. Shea takes up each article within the Lord’s Prayer to challenge us regarding various aspects of our lives, not least vis-à-vis our struggle to come to reconciliation with others. The section on Jesus’ own struggle in Gethsemane is especially insightful.
- Gerhard Lohfink, Is This All There Is? A world-class scripture scholar takes up the question of the afterlife as spoken of in scripture. This is first-rate scholarship rendered accessible to everyone. Lohfink is a gifted scholar and gifted teacher. This is a graduate course on the afterlife made available to everyone regardless of academic background.
- Benoit Standaert, Spirituality An Art of Living. Standaert is a Dutch Benedictine monk and this book (easy to read because it is broken up into short meditations) is gem of wisdom and challenge. Those of you with Protestant and Evangelical backgrounds schooled on Oswald Chambers’ classic will know what I mean when I say this book is a “My Utmost” for all Christians.
- Thomas Moore, Ageless Soul, The Lifelong Journey Toward Meaning and Joy. Moore is always brilliant and this book is no exception. He’s one of our generation’s best defenders of soul. But this book comes with a bit of a warning label: Some people may find it a bit too much of a stretch in terms of lacking religious boundaries. Be that as it may, it’s a brilliant book.
- Elizabeth Johnson, Creation and the Cross, The Mercy of God for a Planet in Peril. One of the foremost Catholic theologians of our generation pushes her thought (and ours) a little further apposite the issue of how the incarnation of God, in Christ, is a “deep incarnation” that affects physical creation as well as humanity. Christ came not only to save the people on this earth, but also to save the earth itself. Christ also takes in nature. Johnson helps explain how that might be better understood. The book contains an expert theological synthesis on Christian views of why Christ came to earth.
- Jordan Peterson, 12 Rules for Life, An Antidote to Chaos. This is one of the most argued about books of this past year. It’s brilliant, a good read, even if you don’t agree with everything or even most of what Peterson says. Some conservatives have used the book very selectively to suit their own causes; just as some liberals have unfairly rejected the book because of some of its attacks on liberal excesses. Both these readings, to my mind, are unfair. Peterson’s overall depth and nuance doesn’t allow for the way it has been misused on the right and criticized on the left. In the end, Peterson lands where Jesus did, with the Sermon on the Mount. Its title is somewhat unfortunate in that it can give the impression that this is just another popular self-help book. It’s anything but that.
- Makoto Fujimura, Silence and Beauty. This is a beautiful book, written by an artist highly attuned to aesthetics. It’s a book about art, faith, and religion. Fujimura is a deeply committed Christian and an artist. For most people this would constitute a tension, but Fujimura not only shows how he holds faith and art together, he also makes a sophisticated apologia for religion.
- Pablo d’Ors, Biography of Silence. Ors is a Spanish author of both novels and spiritual essays. This book (small, short, and an easy read) can be a good shot in the arm for anyone who, however unconsciously, feels that prayer isn’t worth the time and the effort. Writing out of a long habit of silent meditation, Ors shows us what kind of gifts prayer can bring into our lives.
- Trevor Herriot, Towards a Prairie Atonement. Herriot is a Canadian writer and in this, his latest book, he submits that just as when we wound others reconciliation demands some kind of atonement, so too with our relationship with earth. We need to make some positive atonement to nature for our historical abuses.
Happy reading!
The Most Holy Name of Jesus
Weekday Masses 8th - 11th January
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe
Thursday: 12noon Devonport
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone
Weekend Masses 12th - 13th January
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin
6:00pm Devonport
Sunday: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am Devonport
11:00am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
Christiana Okpon, Maree Walsh, Joy Kiely, Robert Harcourt-White, Rose Grimes, Isabelita Santos, Vic Slavin, Lionel Faustino, Marg Stewart & …
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe
Thursday: 12noon Devonport
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone
Weekend Masses 12th - 13th January
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin
6:00pm Devonport
Sunday: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am Devonport
11:00am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
Readings this week –The Feast of the Epiphany (Year C)
First Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6
Second Reading: Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6
Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12
PREGO REFLECTION ON THE GOSPEL:
The mad Christmas rush may have subsided a little. Maybe
finding a quiet time to pray has become easier. I go to my preferred place and
settle down. Perhaps I can light a candle to remind me of the light of the star
guiding the wise men. I read the text, perhaps several times. I try to enter
into the scene. I see the people, the baby; I hear their voices, his crying for
food. I smell the warmth of the stable and the animals; I touch the rough wood of
the manger.
What feelings arise in me? I remain there, silently
watching. What treasures do these men have in their coffers? As they open them
and offer the contents to the child, I look in amazement. I ponder.
What did Mary and Joseph think of it all? Strangers doing
homage to their baby with gold fit for a king and frankincense to worship him
... but what about myrrh, the spice for death and mourning?
I turn to the Father and tell him how I feel. I speak to
him freely about what is in my heart, about Mary and Joseph in this bewildering
situation. Maybe now I focus once again on the wise men.
They were delighted when they arrived. How do they feel as
they start back on their journey home? Were they somehow changed by their
encounter with ‘The Prince himself come from heaven’, as the Jesuit martyr
Robert Southwell describes him? Once again I ponder. In time, ‘With joy, I
approach … and do homage to my King’, then I conclude my prayer: Thanks be to
God! Deo Gratias!
Readings next week –The Feast of Baptism of the Lord (Year C)
First Reading: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
Second Reading: Titus 2:11-14, 3: 4-7
Gospel: Luke
3:15-16, 21-22
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
Christiana Okpon, Maree Walsh, Joy Kiely, Robert Harcourt-White, Rose Grimes, Isabelita Santos, Vic Slavin, Lionel Faustino, Marg Stewart & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Carmel Cook, Gladys Ballini, Nestor Manundo, Fortunata Paule, Pat Faulkner, Denise Payne, Zeta Mahoney, Monica Piggot, Isabel Archery
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 2nd – 8th January
Nicola Tenaglia, Roy Beechey, Cavell Robertson, Joshua & Elizabeth Delaney, Tess Landers, Alfred Harrison, Virginia Miller, Nancy Bramich, Janelle Payne, Catherine Gibbons, Graham Hollister, Agnes & William Marshall, Ronald Bramich, Ellen Fay
May they Rest in Peace
Fighting For Justice
This article is taken from the Daily Emails from Fr Richard Rohr OFM and the Center for Action and Contemplation. You can subscribe to receive the emails here
Recently I shared some of the complex history—much of it
painful and still raw—of my adopted home state, New Mexico. Thankfully there
are many courageous people collaborating to acknowledge and heal these wounds.
One of these is a friend of the Center for Action and Contemplation, Eileen
Shaughnessy. Eileen teaches on environmental and social justice at the
University of New Mexico and co-founded the grassroots Nuclear Issues Study
Group. She also writes and makes music with her indie folk band, “Eileen & the
In-Betweens.”
As you reflect on the meditations from past weeks—the words
or phrases that stood out to you, the questions unanswered, the physical
sensations you experienced, perhaps feeling overwhelmed with the work ahead of
us to create a more peaceful world—hold some space for the possibility, as
Eileen suggests, that we might “learn how to fly.”
Watch this short music video of Eileen & the In-Betweens
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTxqkF8BnH0) hosting a dance party with
friends in front of a beautiful mural—“Honor the People” by artist Nani
Chacon—on historic Route 66 through the heart of Albuquerque.
This world is for the lovers and the fighters
The bold hearts and the dream-igniters
The bold hearts and the decolonizers
The bold hearts and dream igniters
You better believe there’s cracks in the cement,
Capitalism just came and went
You better believe there’s cracks in the cement,
Patriarchy just came and went
Since we’re all on this plane together,
And it’s goin’ down in bad weather
We might as well just learn how to fly
We might as well just learn how to fly
You better believe there’s cracks in the cement,
Transphobia came and went
You better believe there’s cracks in the cement,
White supremacy came and went
Since we’re all on this plane together
And it’s goin’ down in bad weather
We might as well just learn how to fly
We might as well just learn how to fly
This world is for the lovers and the fighters
The bold hearts and the dream-igniters
The bold hearts and the decolonizers
The bold hearts and dream igniters [1]
What do you want to get rid of? What systems of oppression
are you trying to dismantle? What do you fight for with a bold and loving
heart? Watch the video again, sing along, and move to the music. Then let your
heart and body be moved in the peaceful fight for justice.
[1] Eileen Shaughnessy, “Lovers and Fighters,”
http://www.eileenshaughnessy.com/lyrics/. Video and lyrics used with
permission.
My Top 10 Books in Spirituality for 2018
This list is taken from the Archives of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find the original article here
This year I will restrict myself to focusing only on books that deal explicitly with spirituality, notwithstanding some very fine novels and books on social commentary that I read this year.
But first, an apologia: Taste is idiosyncratic. Keep that in mind as you read these recommendations. These are books that I liked, that spoke to me, and that I believe can be helpful for someone seeking guidance and inspiration on the journey. They may not speak to you in the same way.
Which spiritual books did I find most helpful this year?
- Veronica Mary Rolf, Julian’s Gospel, Illuminating the Life and Revelations of Julian of Norwich. Julian of Norwich is one of the great Christian mystics, but her thought is not easily accessible to most readers. This book gives a good introduction to her life and her writings and highlights as well how much of a spiritual oasis she was in a time when most parts of Christianity conceived of God in very harsh terms.
- John Shea, To Dare The Our Father, A Transformative Spiritual Practice. Shea takes up each article within the Lord’s Prayer to challenge us regarding various aspects of our lives, not least vis-à-vis our struggle to come to reconciliation with others. The section on Jesus’ own struggle in Gethsemane is especially insightful.
- Gerhard Lohfink, Is This All There Is? A world-class scripture scholar takes up the question of the afterlife as spoken of in scripture. This is first-rate scholarship rendered accessible to everyone. Lohfink is a gifted scholar and gifted teacher. This is a graduate course on the afterlife made available to everyone regardless of academic background.
- Benoit Standaert, Spirituality An Art of Living. Standaert is a Dutch Benedictine monk and this book (easy to read because it is broken up into short meditations) is gem of wisdom and challenge. Those of you with Protestant and Evangelical backgrounds schooled on Oswald Chambers’ classic will know what I mean when I say this book is a “My Utmost” for all Christians.
- Thomas Moore, Ageless Soul, The Lifelong Journey Toward Meaning and Joy. Moore is always brilliant and this book is no exception. He’s one of our generation’s best defenders of soul. But this book comes with a bit of a warning label: Some people may find it a bit too much of a stretch in terms of lacking religious boundaries. Be that as it may, it’s a brilliant book.
- Elizabeth Johnson, Creation and the Cross, The Mercy of God for a Planet in Peril. One of the foremost Catholic theologians of our generation pushes her thought (and ours) a little further apposite the issue of how the incarnation of God, in Christ, is a “deep incarnation” that affects physical creation as well as humanity. Christ came not only to save the people on this earth, but also to save the earth itself. Christ also takes in nature. Johnson helps explain how that might be better understood. The book contains an expert theological synthesis on Christian views of why Christ came to earth.
- Jordan Peterson, 12 Rules for Life, An Antidote to Chaos. This is one of the most argued about books of this past year. It’s brilliant, a good read, even if you don’t agree with everything or even most of what Peterson says. Some conservatives have used the book very selectively to suit their own causes; just as some liberals have unfairly rejected the book because of some of its attacks on liberal excesses. Both these readings, to my mind, are unfair. Peterson’s overall depth and nuance doesn’t allow for the way it has been misused on the right and criticized on the left. In the end, Peterson lands where Jesus did, with the Sermon on the Mount. Its title is somewhat unfortunate in that it can give the impression that this is just another popular self-help book. It’s anything but that.
- Makoto Fujimura, Silence and Beauty. This is a beautiful book, written by an artist highly attuned to aesthetics. It’s a book about art, faith, and religion. Fujimura is a deeply committed Christian and an artist. For most people this would constitute a tension, but Fujimura not only shows how he holds faith and art together, he also makes a sophisticated apologia for religion.
- Pablo d’Ors, Biography of Silence. Ors is a Spanish author of both novels and spiritual essays. This book (small, short, and an easy read) can be a good shot in the arm for anyone who, however unconsciously, feels that prayer isn’t worth the time and the effort. Writing out of a long habit of silent meditation, Ors shows us what kind of gifts prayer can bring into our lives.
- Trevor Herriot, Towards a Prairie Atonement. Herriot is a Canadian writer and in this, his latest book, he submits that just as when we wound others reconciliation demands some kind of atonement, so too with our relationship with earth. We need to make some positive atonement to nature for our historical abuses.
Happy reading!
The Most Holy Name of Jesus
The Society of Jesus celebrates its titular Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus on 3 January. Fr Tim Byron SJ of Manchester’s Holy Name Jesuit Community explains the history of the devotion and invites us to embrace it this year.
One of the things that I have often admired in Islam is the respect for prophets’ names. The reverence that this expresses is something that has always been important to me: I have a lingering memory of bowing my head at Jesus’s name when praying the rosary at primary school in Merseyside. Researching this article I discovered that the inclination of the head at the name of Jesus as a devotional practice was decreed – yes, decreed! – by Pope Gregory X at the Second Council of Lyon in 1274.[i] So from thirteenth century Lyon all the way to 1980s Crosby…. that is impressive staying power!
The devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus has waxed and waned for 1500 years in the Church, a pattern it shares with other devotions. It is still strong in certain parts of the global Church – particularly in the Caribbean, Philippines, parts of Africa and, believe it or not, the US military; however, in Europe it seems to have gone the way of many other sometime-cherished devotions and remnants of its popularity are now hiding in grandparents’ attics, gathering dust. But it is a devotion with a fascinating history, and perhaps it is the time for it to make a comeback in the UK, not least because of Pope Francis’ stress on the deep value of the popular devotional life of the Church.
You can read the complete article on the ThinkingFaith.org website by clicking here
The Society of Jesus celebrates its titular Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus on 3 January. Fr Tim Byron SJ of Manchester’s Holy Name Jesuit Community explains the history of the devotion and invites us to embrace it this year.
One of the things that I have often admired in Islam is the respect for prophets’ names. The reverence that this expresses is something that has always been important to me: I have a lingering memory of bowing my head at Jesus’s name when praying the rosary at primary school in Merseyside. Researching this article I discovered that the inclination of the head at the name of Jesus as a devotional practice was decreed – yes, decreed! – by Pope Gregory X at the Second Council of Lyon in 1274.[i] So from thirteenth century Lyon all the way to 1980s Crosby…. that is impressive staying power!
The devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus has waxed and waned for 1500 years in the Church, a pattern it shares with other devotions. It is still strong in certain parts of the global Church – particularly in the Caribbean, Philippines, parts of Africa and, believe it or not, the US military; however, in Europe it seems to have gone the way of many other sometime-cherished devotions and remnants of its popularity are now hiding in grandparents’ attics, gathering dust. But it is a devotion with a fascinating history, and perhaps it is the time for it to make a comeback in the UK, not least because of Pope Francis’ stress on the deep value of the popular devotional life of the Church.
You can read the complete article on the ThinkingFaith.org website by clicking here
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