St. Thomas More Catholic Church 298 BAY ST, BRIGHTON-LE -SANDS, NSW 2216,

Australia

Phone: 9567 3589 Parish Priest : Fr Manuel Santiago.

Permanent Deacon : Rev Raymond Hung

Weekend Mass Times: Sat: 5.30pm, Sun: 8.00am, 10.00am, (7pm IS BACK!)

Confessions 4.30pm—5.15 pm Saturday Afternoons

5TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 7TH FEBRUARY 2021 (B)

1st Reading Job 7:1-4. 6-7

Job began to speak:

Is not man's life on earth nothing more than pressed service, his time no better than hired drudgery? Like the slave, sighing for the shade, or the workman with no thought but his wages, months of delusion I have assigned to me, nothing for my own but nights of grief. Lying in bed I wonder, 'When will it be day?' Risen I think, 'How slowly evening comes!' Restlessly I fret till twilight falls. Swifter than a weaver's shuttle my days have passed, and vanished, leaving no hope behind. Remember that my life is but a breath, and that my eyes will never again see joy.

The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Resp Psalm Ps 146:1-6

R. Praise the Lord who heals the broken-hearted.

Praise the Lord for he is good; sing to our God for he is loving: to him our praise is due. R.

The Lord builds up Jerusalem and brings back Israel's exiles, he heals the broken-hearted, he binds up all their wounds. he fixes the number of the stars; he calls each one by its name. R.

Our Lord is great and almighty; his wisdom can never be measured. The Lord raises the lowly; he humbles the wicked to the dust. R.

2nd Reading 1 Corinthians 9:16-19. 22-23

I do not boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty which has been laid on me; I should be punished if I did not preach it! If I had chosen this work myself, I might have been paid for it, but as I have not, it is a responsibility which has been put into my hands. Do you know what my reward is? It is this: in my preaching, to be able to offer the Good News free, and not insist on

the rights which the gospel gives me.

So though I am not a slave of any man I have made myself the slave of everyone so as to win as many as I could. For the weak I made myself weak. I made myself all things to all men in order to save some at any cost; and I still do this, for the sake of the gospel, to have a share in its blessing. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Acclamation Matthew 8:17

Alleluia, alleluia! He bore our sickness, and endured our suffering. Alleluia!

Gospel Mark 1:29-39

On leaving the synagogue, Jesus went with James and John straight to the house of Simon and Andrew. Now Simon's mother-in-law had gone to bed with fever, and they told him about her straightaway. He went to her, took her by the hand and helped her up. And the fever left her and she began to wait on them.

That evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by devils. The whole town came crowding round the door, and he cured many who were suffering from diseases of one kind or another; he also cast out many devils, but he would not allow them to speak, because they knew who he was.

In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there. Simon and his companions set out in search of him, and when they found him they said, 'Everybody is looking for you.' He answered, 'Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns, so that I can preach there too, because that is why I came.' And he went all through Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out devils.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Lost Items - If an item is left behind, and you find it, please take it to the Sacristy .

PARISH DIRECTORY

Parish Office Hours. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 9.30am and 3.30pm.

Contact Details : Phone: 9567 3589 Email: office@thomasmorebrighton.org.au

Finance Chairman : Mr Patrick Bugden WEB SITE : www.thomasmorebrighton.org.au

St Thomas More Primary School: Tel: 9597 5884 - Principal Mrs Jenny Frost

The Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney’s policy on the care, wellbeing and protection of children and young persons is available on the Back Notice Board — www.sydneycatholic.org

ALL parishioners, volunteers and parish families are asked to take the time to look at the rear notice board and make yourself, and in particular those with families—familiar with what the Archdiocese has in Place in regards to the Recent Safeguarding Response. Please be aware that the Parish has a safeguarding officer, any questions or concerns can be confidentially discussed with the Safeguarding officer . All contact details of the Parish Safeguarding Officer and those of the Archdiocese can be found on the back notice board.

Childrens’ Liturgy In RECESS! Returns in February!.

This Week ahead in the parish

4 Feb Mon

9am Communion Service– Followed by Rosary

5 Feb Tue

9am Mass—Followed by Rosary

St Agatha

6 Feb Wed

9am Mass—Followed by Rosary

St Paul Miki and Companions

7 Feb Thur

9am Mass—Followed by Rosary

8 Feb Fri

8.15 Adoration

9am Mass—Followed by Rosary

9 Feb Sat

4.30pm—Confessions— 5.30 - Vigil Mass— 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

10 Feb Sun

8 am , 10am Morning Mass

7pm Evening Mass

Prayer for Child Protection

Lord, you asked that the little children be allowed to come to you, for it is such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs. You entrust them to the care and protection of our communities of faith. Guide us as we strive to ensure that our Catholic Communities provide a safe environment for each child. We pray especially for all those who have been harmed in their childhood, give them courage in facing the past and lead them to your healing protection. Amen

7pm Sunday Evening Mass.

Last Mass in St George/Sutherland Area!

Bethany College will be holding their 2019

Open Day on 5 March from 3.00pm to

6.00pm. Meet the Principal at 4.30pm

Enrolling Year 7, 2021 Enrolment packages

will be available on the day

Visitor Offering Envelopes are now available at the back of the church - Visitors to the parish are encouraged to use these envelopes for your offering—please place them on either collection—Thank you

EVERY FRIDAY—8.15AM ADORATION BEFORE MASS

2019 Rosters are now available—they are located on the top of the organ

Volunteers Needed—there are spots on our Liturgy Roster for those that can help out—please call the office if you are able to help.

We remember and pray for all our family and friends.

The Sacrifice of the Holy Mass was offered this week for :

Sick and other intentions— All our Parishioners who are sick at the moment; Jesse Valenzuela, Bernice Fahey;

Recently Deceased: Ivan Soljic; June Waters; Garry Hood.

Deceased/Anniversaries— Lee Say Hun; Lee Bok Soon and Pammy; Sixto Rubio; Mary Gatt (31/1/2018); John Sultana; Evelyn Aca; Mary Cassidy; Doreen Grady (29/1/2009) John (Reg) Grady (5/2/2009), Herbert Fenech; The Holy Souls in Purgatory;

2nd Sunday of the month

9 February 5.30 PM (Sat) Vigil

10 February 8:00 AM (Sun)

10 February 10:00 AM (Sun)

C S Barakat Ave Maria Choir

L F McManus, A Beltran

S Barakat, J Meagher

M Pirotta, L Adams

E C Rees, L Manalac

T Lenzo, T Liaw

G Ataya, J Meagher

A M Tomasiello R Hung

M Raymundo P Healion

M Diel R Legaspi

Lost Items - If an item is left behind, and you find it, please take it to the Sacristy .

PARISH DIRECTORY

Parish Office Hours. Mondays, and Fridays. 9.30am till 3.30 pm Contact Details : Phone: 9567 3589 Email: office@thomasmorebrighton.org.au Finance Chairman : Mr Patrick Bugden WEB SITE : www.thomasmorebrighton.org.au St Thomas More Primary School: Tel: 9597 5884 - Principal Mrs Jenny Frost

Prayer for Child Protection Lord, you asked that the little children be allowed to come to you, for it is such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs. You entrust them to the care and protection of our communities of faith. Guide us as we strive to ensure that our Catholic Communities provide a safe environment for each child. We pray especially for all those who have been harmed in their childhood, give them courage in facing the past and lead them to your healing protection. Amen

We remember and pray for all our family and friends.

The Sacrifice of the Holy Mass was offered this week for :

A message from the Archdiocese of Sydney Child sexual 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 (02) 9390 5810 or

safeguardingenquiries@sydneycatholic.org. 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.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney’s policy on the care, wellbeing and protection of children and young persons is available on the Notice Board located in the Choir Area, on the western wing of the church.

— www.sydneycatholic.org ALL parishioners, volunteers and parish families are asked to take the time to make yourself aware and familiar with what the Archdiocese has in place in regards to the Recent Safeguarding Response. Please consult firstly with the Parish Priest or the Parish safeguarding officer any questions or concerns will be confidentially discussed. All contact details of the Parish Safeguarding Officer and those of the Archdiocese can be found on the special Safeguarding Notice Board located in the Choir Area

Would you like to donate to our PARISH Our Website donate button is now operational .

Use this QR Code to sign right in!!

This Week ahead in the parish

8 February Mon

9am Mass—

9 February January Tue

9am Mass—Followed by Rosary -

10 February Wed

9am Mass—Followed by Rosary - St Scholastica

11 February Thur

9am Mass—Followed by Rosary - Our Lady of Lourdes

12 February Fri

8AM Adoration and Benediction 9AM Mass—Followed by Rosary

13 February Sat

4.30pm—Confessions 5.30 pm - Vigil Mass- Please Book for Weekend Masses—online

14 February Sun

6th Sunday in Ordinary time (B) Please Book for Weekend Masses—online

Please note - office will not be open before 8.30am

8/2 T Fahey; T Comans 14/12 A Mackenzie, G Daniels, P Harding

A GENTLE REMINDER - For all Readers and

Extra Ordinary Ministers

Please remember to arrive at least 15 minutes before

Mass and to make your attendance known to the Acolyte in

Charged. If you have not arrived five minutes before the

Mass then the Acolyte will need to find a suitable

replacement. - I thank you all for your co-operation Fr Manuel

INFORMACIÓN

MISA MENSUAL EN ESPAÑOL Recuerda que la misa se celebra el tercer domingo de cada mes a las 12:30 p.m.— Sunday 21st February 2021

ONLINE BOOKINGS ARE OPEN!

All our Parishioners who are sick at the Moment;

Rita Shah; Joseph Kos; Margaret Kazi ; Joseph Barry Cartner; Fr Janusz—Parish Priest of Hurstville; Alicia White; Cabera; Anthony Hunt; Jose Ramirez; Sean Finnerty; Jan Varon; Marika Mag; Maria Micalizzi ; Daniella, Mirjana, and Family; Recently Deceased: Kalim Assaf; Josephine Rubio; Father Isidore Anantharaj, Parish Priest of Mater Dei Blakehurst ; Liliana De Pasquale; Tina Veselic; Chrish Calameros; Fred Carter; Jean Spiteri; Madam Lim Soo Lan; Tonko Mandzo; Noeleen Eldridge; Attila Fodor; Yvette Kordovlos; Aurora Rabago; Charles Copeland; Deceased/Anniversaries Colleen Mary Cartner; Mark David McIntosh; Paulina Kristiono; Alicia Erasmo; Bienvenido Paul Ferrer; Angel Aca; Evelyn Asa; Irenea Basco; Doreen Grady; Reg Grady; Chung Van Nguyen; Josephine Gittany; Maria Cortiss; Antonina Vella; Vitina Sirotich; Mary Cassidy; Felice and Mary Mandile and Family; Mary Gatt; Bartolo and Francis Natoli; Ruza Keri; Colleen McIntosh; Jim Dickson; June Waters; Herbert Fenech; Paul Russell; Gary Hood; The Holy Souls in Purgatory; Special Intention; All those who have no-one to pray for them,

Ash Wednesday is the 17th of February—Times of Mass will be 9am and 7pm

2nd Sunday of the month

13 Feb 5.30 PM (Sat) Vigil

14 Feb 8:00 AM (Sun)

14 Feb 10:00 AM (Sun)

14 Feb 7.00 PM (Sun)

C S Barakat Ave Maria

Choir Money warden

S Tavera

L T Iakopo P Botteril

S Barakat J Meagher

M Pirotta, L Adams

C Palomero G Gaw

E C Rees, L Manalac

T Lenzo, T Liaw

G Ataya, J Meagher D’Amato

J Varga

A M Tomasiello R Hung

T Thumboo M Diel R Legaspi

R Varga (Altar Server)

To enable registrations to flow more efficiently and effectively we ask that you book beforehand for each

weekend mass via online at www.thomasmorebrighton.org.au

or call the office 9567 3589 OR bring your mobile to access our NSW Services QR CODE .

PLEASE REMEMBER….

• Please do not come to mass if you feel UNWELL. • In keeping with NSW Health directives, anyone

attending a church now must wear a face mask. Children under the age of 12 are exempt from this rule, but are encouraged to wear face masks where practicable.

• NSW Health can impose a $200 fine on each individual failing to abide by this rule.

• Please keep social distancing between you—especially Waiting outside for the church to open, Keep your distance when processing to receive Our

Lord at communion, and Exiting the church. • Please consider other people—and move along to the

centre of the pew—to save others climbing past you. • Please collect all your tissues, or belongings that fall to

the ground. • Please take the bulletin home with you—the bulletin is

for single use only. • Please do not congregate in groups after the Mass—we

are to keep a safe distance even outside. • With so much concern in the community, it is vital that

we keep our churches safe and open for worship, and that our people know their church is safe.

MASS BOOKINGS OPEN EACH MONDAY FOR THE COMING WEEKEND

Please support the 7pm Sun. Evening Mass—to ease the growing numbers at 10am Mass

A warm welcome to those who have recently returned to mass. Let us all try to encourage or invite at least one person back to the church for Sunday Mass! — You could help them by booking for them and explaining the changes .

St Vincent De Paul - Thank you Everyone for your very generous support .

St Vincent De Paul Donation Box located at the back of the church—thank you to our gen-erous supporters your generosity is very much

appreciated.

STM—MEN’S BREAKFAST If you haven't been able to join a meeting so far—may I ask you to put aside one Saturday Morning to come along! We get together on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month and the next one will be held on the 13th of February in the Parish Centre starting at 9am for Breakfast followed by the talk/ reflection. The Morning finishes around 11am. Men of All ages are welcome, both from our parish or surrounding parishes —

Hope to see you ! Fr Manuel

Catechist Commissioning Mass

Today at the 10am Mass—

Every year the parish thank and support our Catechists in a special parish mass of commissioning. All catechists and helpers are asked to register for this

mass and attend for your special blessing. We also congratulate our

Catechists who will be receiving awards.

CAN YOU HELP OUR CATECHISTS once a week! Due to a number of retirements in the past year we are in need of new volunteer catechists and helpers. We encourage anyone who would like to become a catechist or catechists helper to contact the parish office by calling 9567 3589.

Annual Catechists Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral St Mary’s Cathedral will be

livestreaming the Mass via its You Tube channel for those unable to attend in person, via this link: https://youtu.be/myqi2nC_SpQ

Thinking About Priesthood? A Seminary Open Day will be held at on Sunday 14 February 2021 at the Good Shepherd Seminary, 52-58 Abbotsford Road, Homebush starting with Morning Prayer at 9 am and a public Mass at 10:00 am. The day will include prayer, con-versations with seminarians and priests, talks with infor-mation about the studies required of men training for the priesthood and a guided tour around the Seminary. Brunch will be provided. For registration or more information visit us at vocationcentre.org.au or contact us at the Vocation Centre on 02 9307 8424 or email vocations@sydneycatholic.org.

OUR WEBSITE WILL KEEP YOU UP TO DATE WITH ANY CHANGES

WEB SITE : www.thomasmorebrighton.org.au

Volunteers Needed for the Little Shop.Volunteers are needed to assist in the Little Shop in the foyer at Calvary Health Care, Kogarah, Mon-day to Friday 10am to 3.30pm. Volunteers are ros-tered on your choice of day

Volunteers Needed for the Little Shop.Volunteers are needed to assist in the Little Shop in the foyer at Calvary Health Care, Kogarah, Mon-day to Friday 10am to 3.30pm. Volunteers are ros-tered on your choice of day once a month. For more in-

Volunteers Needed for the Little Shop.Volunteers are needed to assist in the Little Shop in the foyer at Calvary Health Care, Kogarah, Mon-day to Friday 10am to 3.30pm. Volunteers are ros-tered on your choice of day once a month. For more in-

The Story of Job

Our first reading this Sunday offers a deep meditation of the purpose of life. In the Book of

Job, the main person, Job represents us all. I found his life story immersed with a deep reflection

from Fr. John J. Walsh, O.S.A. *

For the people of the Old Testament, who as yet did not believe in a general resurrection, the

virtuous person was held to be rewarded in this world with prosperity, health and long life, whereas

the sinner was punished by poverty, sickness and untimely death. Such was the theory, but in

reality it did not always work out like that. The book of Job set out to try and find a reason why God,

who is the God of justice, could allow a good person to suffer. Job was a virtuous man who

trusted in God, believed in God’s goodness and power; and here he was, robbed of his family,

stripped of all his possessions, and a prey to extreme bodily affliction. Moreover, the suffering of his

body is matched by the torture of his soul, as he struggles to discover why this should be.

Such was his anguish that, instead of showing what is commonly referred to as ‘he patience of

Job’, he cursed the day he was born, and in a rage hurled protests at God. Gripped by a bitter

fatalism, he saw man as being condemned to a daily drudgery, the slave seeking rest in the shade

of a palm tree, the paid workman concerned solely with the amount of his wages. Job undergoing

this interior struggle really stands for each of us. What is the purpose of my life, I, this solitary

person who thinks and loves, remembers and hopes, lives and dies? His wife urged Job to curse

God, but this he refused. What Job learns in the end is that God is beyond all human scrutiny,

understanding or argument, and that never is he under any obligation to human beings however

upright their lives may be. Realising that he has no ground for arguing with God, Job, retracts is

words, repents, and humbles himself before his Creator. *A Time To Speak, Sunday Homilies for the

Three-Year Cycle, by John J. Walsh OSA, copyright 2003, Daughters of St Paul, pages 168-169

Quote for the week:

“Bad things do happen to good people in this

world, but it is not God who wills it. God would

like people to get what they deserve in life, but He

cannot always arrange it. Forced to choose

between a good God who is not totally powerful,

or a powerful God who is not totally good, the

author of the Book of Job chooses to believe in

God's goodness.”

― Harold S. Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good

People(Acknowledgment www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/

book-of-job)

No matter how we try, poor

humans cannot demand God's

intervention. Yes, life is short,

and God is faithful. He may

not show his concern in ways

we expect. And his concern may interfere in

daily routines, hopes, and ambitions.

Ultimately, we, like Job, cannot answer the

question "Why me, God?" We cannot answer it

simply because only God can provide the

answer. Have you ever questioned God's

fidelity? Have you ever asked the question

"Why me, God?" What happened? What

helped you to return to God or remain

faithful, like Job? Permission for use. All materials found in word-

sunday.com are the property of Larry Broding (Copyright 1999-2018). Viewers may

copy any material found in these pages for their personal use or for use in any non-

profit ministry. Materials may not be sold or used for personal financial gain

https://www.salfordliturgy.org.uk/