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ST MARTHA’S PARISH STRATHFIELD
‘Love your enemies’ … Matthew 5
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR CATHOLIC PRESS.
Copies of the Catholic Weekly $2 & Catholic Leader $2.50 are available at the Church Entrances.
GLUTEN FREE HOSTS ARE AVAILABLE FOR ANY CELIAC PARISHIONERS. IF YOU WISH TO RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION PLEASE TELL THE CHURCH WARDEN OR SEE AN ACOLYTE IN THE SACRISTY PRIOR TO MASS.
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
IF YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OF THE
FOLLOWING MINISTRIES YOU ARE
REQUIRED TO SIGN IN - ACOLYTES;
READERS; EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS; CHOIR; CHILDREN’S LITURGY
(LEADERS & CHILDREN) & SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM (LEADERS &
CHILDREN). SIGN IN FOLDERS ARE KEPT IN THE SACRISTY. THANK YOU
FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION.
ALTAR SERVERS ARE NOT PERMITTED IN THE SACRISTY
WITHOUT A PARENT/TEACHER. THE SIGN IN FOLDER IS
LOCATED IN THE CORRIDOR OUTSIDE THE SACRISTY.
A MESSAGE FROM THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY.
Abuse is a crime. The appropriate people to deal with a crime are the police. If
you – or anyone you know – have been abused, please contact the police.
Alternatively, you can contact the Safeguarding and Ministerial Integrity Office at
9390 5810 or [email protected]. You may also want to
speak to your Parish Priest who will be able to provide support and guidance.
The Archdiocese has a legal obligation to report crimes to the police..
Please be aware that if you “TAG” St Martha’s in photos on your Facebook page, the images also appear on an “unofficial” St Martha’s Facebook page. This “unofficial” page was created
automatically by Facebook and is not controlled by St Martha’s. We kindly remind you to take care when uploading photos of any
children without parent consent.
SHARING OF THE WORD Our weekly meetings are held at St Martha’s
parish hall on Mondays from 7-8pm. Everyone would be most welcome to join our
group
MASS TIMES
Tuesdays: 7.30am Wednesdays: 9.10am
Thursdays: 9.10am Fridays: 9.10am
Saturdays: 9.10am, 5pm Vigil Mass
Sundays: 8.00am; 10.00am & 6.00pm
1st Saturday of every month: 8-9am Adoration, 9am Benediction,
9.10am Healing Mass and Anointing of the Sick, followed by
reconciliation
RECONCILIATION: Saturday after 9.10am Mass or by appointment.
BAPTISM:
2nd & 4th Sundays of the month at 11.00am
by appointment only. (One months’ notice is required).
Contact the Parish Office.
Next Preparation Session: 1st March 2020 at 9.15am in Parish Hall
MARRIAGES: By appointment only.
(6 months’ notice is required).
ROSARY: Tuesday & Saturday after morning Mass, Wednesday, Thursday
& Friday 8.30am and 7.30pm on Fridays in conjunction with Marian Movement of Priests Cenacle and Divine Mercy Chaplet.
LIFE ASCENDING GROUP:
Resumes February 2020
PRAYER GROUP / ADORATION AT
ST MARTHA’S CHURCH: Mondays 10.30am – 11.30am
SYDNEY MALAYEALEE ROMAN CATHOLIC
COMMUNITY
Rosary, Mass & Adoration from 6.30pm to 9pm on
the 2nd Saturday of each month. Rosary & Bible Sharing 6.30pm on
the 4th Saturday of the month
ADORATION AT SISTER DISCIPLES
OF THE DIVINE MASTER: Daily from 2.30pm-6.00pm
Please continue to support the St Vincent De Paul Society
through the Church Poor Boxes.
THE PARISH OF ST MARTHA’S ACKNOWLEDGES THE WANGUL PEOPLE AS THE TRADITIONAL CUSTODIANS OF THE LAND ON WHICH THE CHURCH IS BUILT
Parish Priest: Fr Jacek (Jack) Cichy Priest in Residence: Fr Michael Milinga
Administration Coordinator: Nicolle Mazzaferro (Mon-Thurs) [email protected] Administration Support: Larissa Argiro (Fridays 9.30am – 2.30pm) [email protected]
Sacramental Coordinator: Patricia Saad (Monday & Tuesday) [email protected] Safeguarding Officer: Dianne Dawson [email protected]
Parish Ministries Coordinator: Helen Williamson Music Ministry: Marcella Ayoub & Jane Phillips Children’s Liturgy Coordinator: Rachel Suriano
Plenary Council 2020 Ambassador: Helena O’Neill Youth Ministry: Jessica Gereis [email protected]
St Martha’s School: 9764 1184 Email: [email protected]
Principal: Judy Gastin Assistant Principal: Leanne Meehan
REC: Attilia Kazacos
Vision:
Welcoming
Eucharistic
Transformed by the Word
Full of Grace
Proclaiming Good News
Mission:
Alive with the Spirit
Inspired by St Martha
We Celebrate & Witness
God’s love
Using our Gifts & Talents
70 Homebush Rd Strathfield NSW 2135 Phone: 9746 6131 Fax: 9764 3040
Email: [email protected] Website: www.stmarthas.org.au
Parish Office: Mon- Fri 9.00am-3.00pm
Please continue
to support the St Vincent De Paul Society
through the Church Poor Boxes.
LENT 2020
THE SEASON OF LENT COMMENCES ON ASH WEDNESDAY - 26th FEBRUARY
ASH WEDNESDAY IS A DAY OF FASTING AND ABSTINENCE.
6.45am Mass & Distribution of Ashes
9.10am Mass with the school community
7.30pm Mass & Distribution of Ashes
“Grace” Lenten Program Meetings will be held every Monday morning in the Church at
10.30am commencing on 2nd March. Sign-up sheets are located in
the Church foyer. Thank you to Cathy Milgate who will be
facilitating the program.
Background on the Gospel Reading (Loyola Press)
7th Sunday in Ordinary Time The last two antitheses offered in the Sermon on the Mount deal with love of enemies. We should not look at “an eye for an eye” as an inordinately strict punishment. It is actually meant to limit acts of revenge by making sure the punishment is not excessive but fits the crime. However, Jesus asks his followers to take a different approach by resisting retaliation altogether. The response to a stronger person who slaps us on the cheek, takes us to court, or demands a service of us is not to resist. Similarly, for a weaker person, such as a beggar or borrower, we are to give him or her what he or she asks for. Those who are called to the Kingdom of Heaven are to go beyond the way the
world usually works and serve God’s kingdom here on earth. The other difficult demand of those who are called to the kingdom is to embrace the enemy. There is no command in the Old Testament to hate individuals in a personal or vindictive way. But there is a religious stance that calls one to hate evil and to distance oneself from those who participate in evil. In contrast, Matthew emphasizes that love of God and love of neighbor are the fundamental commands on which all else depend. Because God’s love is unconditional, we are to strive to love as God does, though, of course, it is challenging. Is it even possible? The key is in the final verse. We are to be perfect as our heavenly father is perfect. Matthew uses the Greek word telos, which is probably better translated here as “complete.” We are not to be perfect as in doing everything correctly, that is, as in being absolutely morally correct. We are to be perfect as in striving to reach the completeness we are called to in the Kingdom of Heaven. Attempting to love our enemies is part of striving for that completeness.
"Let's Celebrate At Mass Today” is a brand new Catholic Children's
Book that tells the story of a young boy who attends Sunday Mass
with his family. This story will guide and help families find joy, love
and God in the celebration of the Mass. Limited copies of this great
Australian story can be purchased in the Church foyer for $20
each. Alternatively, you can visit
www.letscelebrateatmasstoday.com or follow
@letscelebrateatmasstoday on instagram for great inspiration on
how to encourage young children to actively participate in the Holy
Mass.
We have a dedicated team of people who visit the sick and vulnerable in
the nursing homes within ort parish to offer spiritual support, comfort,
Holy Communion or just a chat. One of our regular ladies is taking 2020 to
look after her grandchild. We would welcome someone who would like to join our team and visit
the residents in one of our local nursing homes. The day for ministry is Wednesday after 9.10am
Mass. The usual working with children compliance applies. Please contact Helen Williamson
0408 970 120 if you would like more information.
MASS INTENTIONS Recently Deceased:
Vicky Buttel, Raymond Wehbe, Anne Russo, Antony, Angelina & Siena Abdallah, Veronique Sakr, Rudy Jimenez, Baby Xion Bangalan Marcos, John McManus, Leni Fragassi, Alice Herro.
Repose Of The Soul:
Fr Adrian Horgan, Fr Paul Ryan, Br Ray Dowding, Gerald Wilson, John Ferguson, Ken Fraser, Connie Wong, Aldo Amarino, Salvatore (Phillip) Puglisi, Dan Dillon, William (Bill) & Dorothy Starr, Roger O’Reilly, Stefano, Francesco & Maria Colagiuri, Estelle Thurn, Lisa Cooke, Michael & Mary Cassar, Romilda Reginato, Anne Cecilia Glass, Reginald & Agnes Glass, Gerald & Frances Gleeson, Faado Herro, Elias Mounayer, Patrick & Janet Reynolds, Jim Reynolds, Ken Rich, Monica & Patrick Ryan, Stephen Maxwell Stewart & Christopher John Stewart, Dr Stephanie Winfield, Philip Winfield, Hamid Taouk, Peter & Margaret Hetherton, Norman & Christine Coorey, Jerko Ancic, Norman & Christine Coorey, Holy Souls of the D’Angelo, Pizzirusso & Vece Families.
Anniversaries:
Mrs Raju, Joseph & Margaret McGannon, Maureen Sarks, Grace Hunt, Gwenyth Pearce, Anne Pittorino, Jim Henness, Tiarnan Rafferty, Declan & Mary Anne Dower, Rajko Stanisic, Maged Morian, Helen Rudkowsky, Harry Thorpe, Gloria Behringer all those whose anniversaries occur at this time.
Sick Intentions:
Luis Eladio Torres, Maria Almeida, Jaden & Livia Noronha, Rob & Val Reberger, Fr David Coffey, Fr John Langtry, Baby Chloe Alison, Marc Kayrouz, Conny Nilson, John Georges, David Freeland, Frances Spicer, Beryl Morahan, Mildred Azares Panes, Br Jude Butcher cfc, Lucy Washburn, Peter Starr.
Special Intentions: Patricia McManus, Rita Fragassi, Judith Ferguson, Members of the Choi Family, Matteo & Caterina Genova, Filomena Pagano, Raffaele & Giuseppe Pagano, Deceased Friends, Relatives & Benefactors of the Dominican Order & the St Vincent de Paul Society & Benefactors, Holy Souls.
Mass Intention Envelopes are available at the Church Entrances
Parish Nursing Homes Masses:
Wednesday 4th March 10.00am Strathdale Nursing Home
Friday 6th March 10.00am Meredith Nursing Home
Wednesday 11th March 2.00pm Strathfield Gardens
Friday 13th March 10.30am Goondee Nursing Home
Wednesday 18th March 10.00am Jesmond Nursing Home
The social connections we need to live well together depend on trustworthy
institutions, communities and individuals. Join Eva Cox, AO, social
researcher writer, activist for fairness and civility in society, to explore
together how we can help create a more trustworthy society. Saturday, 14th March, 10.30 – 3 pm. The Grail
Centre, 22 McHatton Street, North Sydney. All welcome. Contact [email protected] or 9955
3053 before Tuesday 11th March.
29th Feb / 1st March
VIGIL 8AM 10AM 6PM
Special Grace Herro Gina Surjadinata Therese Issa Theresa Kuk
Ministers Rick Herro Andri Surjadinata Maria Soares Theresa Ravi
Jackie Romanous
VIGIL 8AM 10AM 6PM
Readers Julie Erskine-Henness Maria Yu Steve Doumit Lena Melhem
Camille Kafka Maria Yu Michael Quinlan Jenny O’Hehir
VIGIL 8AM 10AM 6PM
Altar Nathan C. Dominic N. Catelyn C. Ryan N.
Servers Sophie C. Thomas C. Elijah M. Nathan N.
Nicholas E. Volunteer Needed Emilia T. Volunteer Needed
Kathryn E. Volunteer Needed Volunteer Needed Volunteer Needed
Wardens VIGIL 8AM 10AM 6PM
Joy Li Phil Robinson Trudie Rogers Vince Blefari
Children’s 10AM 10AM
Liturgy Lena Melhem Pierre Wong
THE NEW ROSTER IS NOW AVAILABLE TO COLLECT FROM THE SIDE ENTRANCE OF THE CHURCH OR VIA THE PARISH WEBSITE.
FOLLOWING JESUS ACCORDING TO THE LETTER OR THE SPIRIT?
By Ron Rolheiser
I work and move within church circles and find that most of the people I meet there are honest, committed, and for the most part radiate their faith positively. Most church-goers aren’t hypocrites. What I do find disturbing within church circles though is that too many of us can be bitter, angry, mean-spirited, and judgmental, especially in terms of the very values that we hold most dear. It was Henri Nouwen who first highlighted this, commenting with sadness that many of the really angry, bitter, and ideologically-driven people he knew he had met inside of church circles and places of ministry.
Within church circles, it sometimes seems, everyone is angry about something. Moreover, within church circles, it is all too easy to rationalize our anger in the name of prophecy, as a healthy passion for truth and morals. The logic works this way: Because I am sincerely concerned about an important moral, ecclesial, or justice issue, I can excuse a certain amount of neurosis, anger, elitism, and negative judgment, because I can rationalize that my cause, dogmatic or moral, is so important that it justifies my mean spirit: I need to be this angry and harsh because this is such an important truth! And so we justify our anger by giving it a prophetic cloak, believing that we are warriors for God, truth, and morals when, in fact, we are mostly just struggling with our own wounds, insecurities, and fears. Hence we often look at others, even whole churches made up of sincere persons trying to live the gospel, and instead of seeing brothers and sisters struggling, like us, to follow Jesus, we see “people in error”, “dangerous relativists”, “new age pagans”, “religious flakes”, and in our more generous moments, “poor misguided souls”. But never do we look at what this kind of judgment is saying about us, about our own health of soul and our own following of Jesus. Don’t get me wrong: Truth is not relative, moral issues are important, and right truth and proper morals, like kingdoms under perpetual siege, need to be defended. Not all moral judgments are created equal, neither are all churches. But the truth of that doesn’t trump everything else or give us an excuse to rationalize our anger. We must defend truth, defend those who cannot defend themselves, and be solid in the traditions of our own churches. But right truth and right morals don’t necessarily make us disciples of Jesus. What does? What makes us genuine disciples of Jesus is living inside his Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and this is not something abstract and vague. If one were searching for a single formula to determine who is Christian and who isn’t, one might look at the Epistle to the Galatians, Chapter 5. In it, St. Paul tells us that we can live according to either the spirit of the flesh or the Holy Spirit. We live according to the spirit of the flesh when we live in anger, bitterness, judgment of our neighbour, factionalism, and non-forgiveness. When these things characterize our lives we shouldn’t delude ourselves and think that we are living inside of the Holy Spirit. Conversely, we live inside of the Holy Spirit when our lives are characterized by charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness, longsuffering, constancy, faith, gentleness, and chastity. If these do not characterize our lives, we should not nurse the illusion that we are inside of God’s Spirit, irrespective of our passion for truth, dogma, or justice. This may be a cruel thing to say, and perhaps more cruel not to say, but I sometimes see more charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness, and gentleness among persons who are Unitarian, New Age, or Baha’i (and are often judged by other churches as being wishy-washy and as not standing for anything) than I see among those of us who do stand up so strongly for certain ecclesial and moral issues but are often mean-spirited and bitter inside of our convictions. Given the choice of whom I’d like as a neighbour or, more deeply, the choice of whom I want to spend eternity with, I am sometimes pretty conflicted about the choice: Who is my real faith companion? The angry zealot at war for Jesus or cause? Or the more gentle soul who is branded wishy-washy or “new age”? At the end of the day, who is the real Christian? We need, I believe, to be more self-critical in regards to our anger, harsh judgments, mean-spirit, exclusiveness, and disdain for other ecclesial and moral paths. As T.S. Eliot once said: The last temptation that’s the greatest treason is to do the right thing for the wrong reason. We may have truth and right morals on our side. But our anger and harsh judgments towards those who don’t share our truth and morals may well have us standing outside the Father’s house, like the older brother of the prodigal son, bitter both at God’s mercy and at those who are receiving that mercy.
In today’s Gospel Jesus calls us to a higher love. Jesus calls us to forgive and love our enemies! Clearly, this is no small task. St. Francis de Sales stresses that perhaps the best way to be instruments of God’s merciful, forgiving love is to first accept that same divine merciful and forgiving
love ourselves. Truly in no way must we lose heart. For even though we are weak, our weakness is not nearly as great as God’s mercy toward us,
who desire to respond to God’s love. All of us are subject to some passion or changes and ups and downs. Do not worry about these
feelings. Persevere in your call to holiness. In all good faith, you are trying to do all for God. It is God’s merciful love that constantly transforms us, so let us do what we can. First thing in the
morning, prepare your heart to be at peace. Then take great care throughout the day to frequently call your heart back to that peace. And as it were, take your heart in your hand. If you happen to do something that you regret, do not be
astonished or upset. Acknowledge your failing. Quietly place yourself before God, and try to regain your gentle composure. Say to your soul: “There we have made a mistake, but let’s go on now and be more careful.” Each time you fall do the same.
No matter how frail and weak you feel, remember that the divine Craftsman delights in putting up magnificent buildings with badly twisted pieces of wood that are good for nothing. When you are inwardly peaceful, don’t miss an opportunity to
perform as many acts of gentleness as you can—and as frequently as you can—no matter how small these acts may seem. For as our Lord says: “To the person who is faithful in little things, greater ones will be given.” Walk very simply along the way our Lord shows you. Don’t worry. For if little chicks feel perfectly safe when they are under their mother’s wings, how
secure should the children of God feel under God’s protection! God’s merciful love is eternal. (Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales, esp. Francis de Sales, Jane de Chantal: Letters of Spiritual Direction, J.
Power, W. Wright, Eds. P)
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to poverty. Palms Australia will provide you with thorough preparation and support. You will be rewarded with riches greater than you might imagine. Look at www.palms.org.au and talk to Roger on O422472567, or email [email protected]
PLENARY COUNCIL 2020
