Parish of Corio/LaraSt Francis Xavier Church, CorioSt Anthony of Padua Church, Lara

Archdiocese of Melbourne Australia

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Sunday 15th October, 2017

Today’s Gospel is from St. Matthew 22:1-14 It is hard to imagine that anyone receiving an invitation to a royal wedding would refuse to go. When Prince William married Catherine Middleton in 2011, guests naturally included their own families, members of other royal families, religious and political leaders; but, breaking with precedent, half the guests were friends from their childhood and university days, as well as representatives of charities they supported, celebrities and some people who would never have expected an invitation. As everyone present at dinner was deemed “equally important” to the couple, the tables were a mix of royals, family members and friends.Only 15 of the 2000 invitees declined, most of them through ill health. The Crown Prince and Princess of Japan could not come because their country had been hit by earthquake and tsunami. And the Prince of Liechtenstein was attending the beatification of John Paul ll, which clashed with the wedding.In today’s Gospel Jesus presents a strange story about a royal wedding. Servants delivered personal invitations to the wedding of a king’s son, but no one turned up. When the banquet was ready, the king sent more servants to tell them to come. But they made limp excuses, beat up the servants and killed them. Then the story becomes really bizarre. The furious king despatched troops to burn down the town where these murderers lived. After that, by which time the food on the table must have been stone cold, he sent another lot of servants out into the streets to fetch in anyone at all, good and bad alike, until the hall was filled with guests.The theme is the familiar one of the failure of God’s chosen people to respond to what God expected of them, and their replacement by others who did. It is a peculiar story, but those who first heard it would know some things we may not. They would know that the first servants sent out were the prophets Moses, Elijah, Elisha and others, whose message was ignored. The second lot of servants were more prophets, like Isaiah, who, in the first reading, talked about God preparing a banquet of rich food and fine wines for all people. The prophets made heartfelt appeals for men and women to repent and accept God’s invitation to enter the kingdom of God, but they were scorned, ill-treated and some of them were killed. The sending of the troops to burn up the city while the food was on the table refers to the tragedy of AD70: the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans and massacre of its inhabitants, which Jesus warned would happen because of their rejection of God’s kingdom. The first readers of St Matthew’s Gospel would have had vivid memories of it.After that, the servants went out along the roads and invited anyone they could find, good and bad alike; people who would never have expected an invitation. These Gentiles responded to their invitation with joy, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

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Welcome Fr Pius!

********PARISH PRAYER We, the people of Corio/Lara Catholic Parish give thanks and praise to God the Father. By the power of the Holy Spirit, may we become more like Jesus: listening to the Word of God and celebrating the Eucharist; sharing each other’s lives and forgiving one another; respecting creation and taking responsibility for our world. Like St Francis Xavier, may we offer light to those in darkness, and warmly welcome all people. Like St Anthony of Padua, may we nourish the hungry with wise words and kind deeds. St Francis Xavier, pray for us. St Anthony of Padua, pray for us.

PARISH MISSION STATEMENT We, the Catholic people of Corio/Lara guided by the Spirit, participate in Christ’s Mission.

With our gifts we create a Parish that welcomes all people.

PARISH CALENDARMONDAY16th Oct

TUESDAY

17th Oct

WEDNESDAY18th Oct

THURSDAY19th Oct

FRIDAY20th Oct

SATURDAY21st Oct

SUNDAY22nd Oct

7pm SVDP, Lara

8.45am Rosary9am Mass, Corio7.30pm Baptism Preparation, Ron Lowe Room

9am Rosary9.15am Mass, Lara6.30pm Rosary, Novena, Corio

8.45am Rosary9am Mass, Corio10am Liturgy Meeting, Corio

9.15am Mass, Lara7pm Bingo7pm Adoration

9am Corio working bee.7pm Mass, Corio

9am Mass Lara10am Rosary Corio10.30am Mass Corio

ROSTERSTIME ANDDATE

READER/COMMENTATOR EUCHARIST MINISTERS

FLOWERS, ST FRANCIS CHURCH CLEANERS

21st Oct 2017 7pm Corio

F MoloneyA Randall

K McCarthy CORIO – C GrayLARA- C HarrisCLEANING- Legion of Mary (Adela)

22nd Oct 2017 9am Lara

FAMILY MASS T McManusD SalibaK Knight

10.30am Corio L PollardH WebbWelcome- S FloodPiety stall-F Geerts

L PollardF GeertsK Tancio

NEXT WEEKS READINGS- Is 45:1,4-6; Ps 95:1,3,5,7-10; Thess 1:1-5; Mt 22:15-21Death: Len EganAnniversaries: Nicanor Rama, Rukeena GloriaSick: Nicholas Francis, Emily Gilson, Kirk Watson, Greg & Sally Brown, Jessica de Grandis, Andrea Franchina, Mary Christensen, Cheril MoylanBaptisms: Analiza Tonkin, Harry Patterson, Isla Chisholm and Ava Torphy.

Prayer Intention of Pope Francis for October 2017: Rights of workers and the unemployed. That all workers may receive respect and protection of their rights, and that the unemployed may receive the opportunity to contribute to the common good.

Vocation View: Once we have been captured by the beauty of God’s promised reward, we want to go out into our world and invite others into the heavenly banquet.

Who will tell the Good News? Now is a good time to begin.

Children’s Liturgy: The celebration of the Word for Children is held during Mass in Corio every Sunday. Lara Term 4: Oct 15, 29, Nov 12, 19, Dec 3, 10, 17.

COLUMBAN CALENDAR: Calendars for 2018 are on sale in the Piety Stalls. They are still only $9.00. Get in early before they all sell as they make a lovely Christmas gift.

Next

weekend our parish will be holding the annual Catholic Mission

World Mission Appeal. This year we are invited to share our support for the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Nha Trang, Vietnam as they work tirelessly to provide critical community resources such as clean drinking water and medical care to the country’s 12 million forgotten farming families, living in the coastal mountain regions. Please come prepared next weekend to give generously. Thank you.

Fr Pius Kodakkathanath - We welcome you as our new Parish Priest. Fr Pius, was previously Parish Priest at St Andrews in Hoppers Crossing, and belongs to the same Vincentian Order as Fr Manoj. Please make yourself known to Fr Pius, as he makes Corio/Lara his new home.

Child Safety Standards Training: Saturday 28th October an information session will be held in the Ron Lowe Room, Corio from 1pm – 4pm for ALL leaders of children’s groups in the Parish. This includes leaders of Legion of Mary groups, Families for Christ, Youth Group, Children’s Liturgy and any other groups which meet in our properties and which involve children. This information session will cover the Victorian Government regulations for Child Safety which we are now required by law to follow. Please put your name and contact number on the clipboard in the foyer to enable us to gauge numbers for seating and photocopying of information.

St Anthony’s Fair: 29th October from 10am. We will be asking for help with the Plant Stall and the Silent Auction and Raffle ticket sales.

CORIO WORKING BEE 21st October – 9am-12noon, followed by a sausage sizzle.

Time for Listening: Lessons from the Royal Commission. A Public Conversation with Francis Sullivan, CEO Truth, Justice & Healing Council. The conversation with Francis will provide the opportunity to:  - Better understand the crisis and the reality of what happened. Gain insight into the findings of the Royal Commission, and hear what this means for the Church and our parishes 7pm – 9pm Thursday 19 October 2017 Pioneer Room St Mary’s Parish, 150 Yarra Street, Geelong.  This event is free. For further information:  St Michael’s Parish Office 03 5278 1343.

FAMILY/FOOD/FAITH - Enhancing the Aroma and Flavour of Family Life: A booklet produced by the Life, Marriage and Family Office, will be available for free. This booklet is designed to encourage families to make time for shared meals and to offer some practical guidance that will help strengthen relationships - with each other, with neighbour and ultimately with God.

St Vinnies requesting long life milk, pasta, pasta sauce, cereal and tinned foods. Also cash donations to the Poor Box would be greatly appreciated!

FEAST DAYS THIS WEEK: October 17th – St Ignatius of Antioch. Although St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, was an influential church leader and theologian, he is known almost entirely from his own writings. There is no record of his life prior to his arrest, but his letters reveal his personality and his impact on the Christianity of his time. Ignatius represented the Christian religion in transition from its Jewish origins to its assimilation in the Greco-Roman world. He laid the foundation for dogmas that would be formulated in succeeding generations. His advocacy of a hierarchical structure of the church with emphasis on episcopal authority, his insistence on the real humanity of Christ, and his ardent desire for martyrdom are subjects that have generated much discussion.

October 18th -St Luke the Evangelist was a Gentile Greek who practised medicine. He was the author of the Gospel which bears his name and also wrote a history of the early church; The Acts of the Apostles. He travelled with St Paul; together they evangelised Greece and Rome. He was also with St Paul during his ill-fated voyage to Italy. His Gospel is largely based on St Paul’s teachings as well as his own experiences. Legend has it that St Luke was also a painter of great talent who did portraits of the Blessed Virgin, but no existing paintings have ever been correctly attributed to him. It is true, however, that his

Gospel has inspired many artists, which led to his patronage of artists as well as doctors and surgeons.

NOVENA to our Mother of Perpetual Help is on every Wednesday with a Rosary at 6.30pm followed by Novena of Mother of Perpetual Help at St Francis Xavier Church, Corio. Parish Care Group: Carers are there for you at both Corio and Lara. The Care Group was established to support members of the Parish who are experiencing grief, loneliness or difficult times. If you would like a carer to visit you please ring the Parish Office or Pam Fitzgerald in Corio area on 5275 2507 or Lou Schepers in Lara Ph 0413 802 623.BINGO: Is held in the Xavier Centre, Corio every Friday night starting at 7.30pm. There is a friendly atmosphere, great prizes, cool drinks and supper available for sale and free tea and coffee.

Fr Pius Kodakkathanath Parish Priest

Pauline Gilmore & Diane Saliba Secretaries Bill Geerts Chairperson, Parish Pastoral CouncilMaria Scala Principal, St Francis Xavier School, Corio Ph 52751974Natalie Heard Principal, St Anthony’s School, Lara Ph 52821415PARISH OFFICE 143 Bacchus Marsh Road, Corio 3214 VICTELEPHONE 5275 4120. email fxcorio@iinet.net.au Web: www.coriolaraparish.org.au OFFICE HOURS Mon, Tues, Thur, Fri - 9.00am - 4.00pm (1-1.30pm Lunch Break) Wednesday – Office ClosedWEEKEND MASS TIMES-Saturday- 7.00pm, St Francis Xavier, Corio. Sunday-9.00am - St Anthony’s Lara, 10.30am - St Francis Xavier, Corio.WEEKDAY MASS TIMES: Tuesday and Thursday-9am, St Francis Xavier, Corio, Wednesday,2nd &5th Friday 9am Anthony’s Lara. 1st &3rd Friday- 10am Hume Court Lara, 4th Friday- 11:30am St Anthony’s Lara. SATURDAY DEVOTION: Mass at 9:30am followed by Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament every 1st Saturday each month, St Francis Xavier Church, Corio.RECONCILIATION-1st Sat of each month 10-10.30am and 6.15-6.45pm St Francis Xavier Church, Corio, 1st Sunday of each month- 8.15-8.45am St Anthony’s Church, Lara

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