Just a reminder to all to bring a plate for supper after Mass tonight, as we have newly ordained Fr Christian Irdi visiting! You can read Fr Christian’s account of his calling to the priesthood here. Today is doubly a feast because it’s also the Exaltation of the Cross.
The Isenheim Altarpiece, Matthias Grunewald, 1512-1516, Unterlinden Museum, Colmar, Alsace, France.
Fr Robert Barron explains why the cross was necessary here:
Thank you to those who took the trouble to attend the Atlantis Beach development meeting last Monday to find out about possibilities for a church and Catholic school in the area. We’ll be giving you feedback on this soon!
Hello all! Great news: we now have 63 regular followers by email as well as another 2 WordPress followers, so I would just like to thank you all for your interest! If there are any particular items you would like news about, please let us know.
Here is this week’s Parish Bulletin with the readings for Sunday.
This week’s newsletter commentary is taken from Fr John Speekman’s blog over at Sunday Homilies and Reflections from Australia. Fr John is the administrator of Howlong parish on the NSW/Victoria border.
In other news, I have been on the phone to the Archdiocesan Office and the Catholic Education Office (CEO). Tanya Davies from Strategy Policy Governance has informed me that the CEO has not yet been able to secure land in Yanchep or Two Rocks. They would like to secure about 4 ha in both suburbs and are intending to build a K-12 Catholic school in Alkimos/Eglinton. Theresa Carroll from the Archdiocesan Property Office explained that negotiations had been under way with Tokyu Corporation, but had ‘fallen over’. Apparently it is a matter of convincing individual developers to allocate land for a Private School , as it is more lucrative to sell off the land as individual housing lots, and only land for State Schools is written into the Local Structure Plan unalterably. If anyone would like to help me advance our case for a Catholic school and church here, please let me know. If you can’t help physically, at least keep praying for our pastoral area’s growth in the Lord. Stay tuned for further updates!
The Archbishop has requested that we pray and fast for Iraq (hence Fr Augustine’s additional prayer in the Prayers of the Faithful). Read the Archbishop’s letter here. The Archdiocesan website also has a media release on the prosecution of Fr Glenn Humphreys here. And, to read all the latest local Catholic news, The Record is available here.
Christ Handing the Keys to St Peter, Pietro Perugino, 1481-82, Sistine Chapel, Vatican.
Today’s readings show us how the relationship between the Pope and Jesus brings to fulfilment its prefigurement in the relationship of the Royal Steward to the Kingdom of David.
For a more in depth treatment, Scott Hahn has a beautiful and biblical explanation of the Papacy here.
Also, the movie, God’s not Dead is still showing at Innaloo and Morley. Session times for Innaloo for tomorrow are 11:00, 4:30, 6:15. If anyone wants to join us for the 6:15 session, please let me know! Movie review here.
We also need to join Bishop Anthony Fisher of Parramatta’s prayer crusade for Christians being martyred for their faith in Iraq and Syria. Fast, pray, go to Adoration and read the article in The Australianhere. And translate your prayers into action here with a donation!
Also, this is the last week you can make a submission to the Euthanasia enquiry. If you don’t know what this is about, let me explain. Green’s Senator, Richard di Natale, tabled a draft bill in parliament in June, proposing that doctors be allowed to prescribe and administer an end of life substance to a terminally ill person. Pleasego here to find out what you can do.
Some points to remember (quoted from ACL):
Legalising euthanasia puts at risk the lives of society’s most vulnerable people – the elderly, the lonely, the sick, and the depressed. Euthanasia transmits the message that some lives are no longer worth living or worth caring for.
Euthanasia undermines the fundamental relationship of trust between doctor and patient. Patients trust doctors to act in their best interest.
Euthanasia puts pressure on patients who are concerned about being a burden to their families or friends.
Despite safeguards, in countries where euthanasia has been legalised, a large number of euthanasia deaths occur without the explicit request or consent of the patient.
After euthanasia is introduced, the strict boundaries are often relaxed to include, for example, mental illness but no terminal physical illness. Euthanasia for children as young as 12 is permitted in the Netherlands, and for children of any age in Belgium.
In most cases, physical pain can be treated with palliative care.
Also this week, Senator Eric Abetz has been shot down for suggesting there is a link between abortion and breast cancer. MercatorNet has a great take on this issue here. Stay informed because you probably won’t be informed by the main stream media. By the way, Senator George Brandis has been a great defender of religious freedom and will this week be delivering the University of Notre Dame’s annual lecture on religious liberty. Read more here. (… and sorry, it’s in Sydney, not Perth).
And now a quote for the day:
“Love and ever more love is the only solution to every problem that comes up. If we love each other enough, we will bear with each other’s faults and burdens. If we love enough, we are going to light a fire in the hearts of others. And it is love that will burn out the sins and hatreds that sadden us. It is love that will make us want to do great things for each other. No sacrifice and no suffering will then seem too much.”
― Dorothy Day
Please also pray for the Australian Defence Force and Major Bernard Gaynor, whose commission in the ADF was terminated on 10 July 2014. Major Gaynor is a Catholic father of 6 who has had three deployments to Iraq with the ADF, and specialised in Military Intelligence and Arabic language and culture. In April 2013, Major Gaynor wrote a 26 page complaint to the chief of the Defence Force about the ADF’s participation in uniform in the Sydney Gay an Lesbian Mardi Gras; however, for reasons of apparent political correctness, the ADF has seen fit to remove him. To read more, and to write to the Minister for Defence click here: Good News Update 103.
Catholic in Yanchep 