Thoughts on the Gospel

‘It is easy to think that being a Catholic means being concerned with the relation- ship between God and me, that my duty is to “save my soul”. But, in fact, the only way to “save my soul” is by becoming a truly loving and caring person as part of a loving and caring community of people united in Christ. And sometimes that car- ing may involve bringing the brother/sister face to face with the loving demands of the Gospel. We do not help each other by turning a blind eye to behaviour which is clearly unchristian. ‘As a community we have a responsibility for each other’s well- being. We do not further the witness of a loving community when we, in false“charity”, ignore social problems such as drug-taking, alcoholism, compulsive gam- bling, violence in the home, discrimination against the physically and mentally handicapped, racial exploitation and the like taking place in our parish community. It is not enough just to deal with these things in the privacy of “Confession” for, ulti- mately, reconciliation must be at the community level. And, as such, this is the re- sponsibility of the community exercising its calling as the Body of Christ.

Excerpt from a homily by Fr Frank Doyle SJ

Feast Days of the Week

Thur Sep 8Birth of the Virgin Mary

The Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been celebrated in the Church at least since the 8th Century. The birth of Mary was miraculous – she was con- ceived without sin as a special grace because God had selected her to become the mother of His Son.

There is nothing contained in Scripture about the birth of Mary or her parentage, though Joseph’s lineage is given in the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. In celebrating the nativity of Mary, Christians anticipate the Incarnation and birth of her Divine Son, and give honor to the mother of Our Lord and Savior.

Communion Antiphon:

“I am the light of the world, says the Lord; the man who follows me will have the light of life.”

NOTICE

1.Many thanks to Fr Ed Stewart for celebrating parish masses with us over the last six weeks, while Fr Nick has been away on leave. We have been very fortunate to have wonderful priests in this parish, and we hope that Fr Ed has felt welcomed and appre- ciated.

2.Please pray for the year 3 students at Our Lady of Lourdes who are preparing for the sacrament of reconciliation later this month. We pray also for the staff of the school, particularly those involved in the sacramental preparations.

3.Bishop Gerard Holohan celebrates his birthday this weekend, as well as the 40th anni- versary of his ordination to the priesthood, and his 10th anniversary of his elevation to Bishop. Please keep our Bishop in your prayers.

4.Neo-Catechumenate Invitation—a reminder that Fr Vittorio will be conducting a Cat- echesis for Adults at the Bunbury Parish Hall (adjacent to the Cathedral) over the com- ing weeks. The first session will be this Monday September 5 at 7.30pm and will con- tinue on each Monday and Friday following. Any enquiries to Fr Vittorio on 9721 2141 or             0433 211597      .

5.Parish Collectionfor the weekend 24/25 August—$908.00. Thankyou

PRAYER FOR THE PARISH COMMUNITY

Our Father in Heaven, You call us to form a Family of families, A community of Families, Led by your hand and guided by Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Grant our parish and home: Unity and Creativity in serving one another; Imagination and Right Motivation in spreading the Good News of your Kingdom; Joy and Enthusiasm as we grow in Holiness through the celebration of the Sacraments, the study of the Sacred Scriptures, and the Deepening of experiences through our Catholic Christian formation. Make our parish and home a worthy dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, who will throw Fire into our hearts and minds; to enable us attain Unity that will move us towards Mission. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives, and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception	Pray for us!

Parish Vision Statement:

In union with the entire Church, we aim to be a Christ-centred Family of families, spiritually alive and growing in our faith, reaching out, welcoming and engaging all in a spirit of generosi- ty, compassion and love.

Parish Mission Statement:

Through the example of our lives, we proclaim the Gospel by: Actively seeking opportunities to engage everybody in the sacramental life of the parish; Answering the call to serve with gener- osity; Providing opportunities and on-going support for the deepening of our faith; Recognizing the value of the parish school community to the life of the parish and supporting them in their faith journey; and Looking for ways to engage and include the broader community.

Thoughts on the Gospel

„“Denying one‟s self” is more profound than daily acts of “mortification.” It means displacing one‟s self from the centre of our consciousness while looking to the true self embodied by Jesus‟ teaching. The self that is lost is the autonomous individual so dear to modern consciousness. The self found is true life in a community of brothers and sisters who take up the challenge of discipleship by speaking and liv- ing from that fire that burns within their hearts.

„Such discipleship embodies a life of “costly grace,” as described by Dietrich Bon- hoeffer, who carried his cross to death in opposing Nazism. He describes costly grace as “the Gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for…such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs him his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.” Peter, firm rock and stumbling stone, learned this only after he failed and even denied Jesus.‟

Excerpt from a homily by Fr John Donahue SJ

Feast Days of the Week

Monday 29

Aug

Beheading of John the Baptist

John the Baptist, a cousin of Jesus, was the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets. When Jesus left to preach in Galilee, John continued preaching in the Jor- dan valley. Fearful of his great power with the people, Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Perea and Galilee, had him arrested and imprisoned when John denounced his adulterous and incestuous marriage with Herodias, wife of his half brother Philip. John was beheaded at the request of Salome, daughter of Herodias, who asked for his head at the instigation of her mother.

Communion Antiphon:

“Praise the Lord, Jerusalem; he feeds you with the finest wheat.”

NOTICE

1.Sacred Heart Devotion of First Fridayswill be this coming Friday 2nd September at 6.00pm at the Immaculate Conception Church, Dardanup. Everyone is very welcome to come and join for prayer, exposition and benediction.

2.Holy Hour this Saturday 3rd September at St Louis Church Boyanup from 9am.

3.Dayadan - Sabrina and Alison are collecting some clothes to sendto one of the homes of the Missionaries of Charity nuns in Calcutta.While the Haines family were in India they worked at this home and the children (ranging in age from babies to 14 year olds) were short of clothes. The package will leave in October and be hand delivered. If you would are able to donate some clothes to these children please give to Sabrina or Ali- son by end of September.

4.Dardanup Parish Youth Group - Thank you to the Keeffe family and Dewar family for organising our last youth group activity.A great time was had by the young and the parents. Next month we are looking forward to the activity being organised by the Mangano family, Saturday 3rd September 4:30pm at the Prayer House. Its going to exciting. For further information please speak to Gemma—9728 0886.

5.Parish Collectionfor the weekend of 20/21 August—$874.05. Special collectionfor East Africa—$907.00. Thankyou.

PRAYER FOR THE PARISH COMMUNITY

Our Father in Heaven, You call us to form a Family of families, A community of Families, Led by your hand and guided by Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Grant our parish and home: Unity and Creativity in serving one another; Imagination and Right Motivation in spreading the Good News of your Kingdom; Joy and Enthusiasm as we grow in Holiness through the celebration of the Sacraments, the study of the Sacred Scriptures, and the Deepening of experiences through our Catholic Christian formation. Make our parish and home a worthy dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, who will throw Fire into our hearts and minds; to enable us to attain Unity that will move us towards Mission. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives, and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception

Pray for us!

Parish Vision Statement:

In union with the entire Church, we aim to be a Christ-centred Family of families, spiritually alive and growing in our faith, reaching out, welcoming and engaging all in a spirit of generosi- ty, compassion and love.

Parish Mission Statement:

Through the example of our lives, we proclaim the Gospel by: Actively seeking opportunities to engage everybody in the sacramental life of the parish; Answering the call to serve with gener- osity; Providing opportunities and on-going support for the deepening of our faith; Recognizing the value of the parish school community to the life of the parish and supporting them in their faith journey; and Looking for ways to engage and include the broader community.

Thoughts on the Gospel

‘The Pebble That Became a Rock. Some people have claimed that Jesus did not have a sense of humour because he is never shown laughing in the Bible. Actually, he told many jokes. They were puns, but these do not survive language translation. One of his best known witticisms is found in today’s Gospel.

‘The Old Testament referred to a mysterious figure called “One like a Son of Man” This was synonym for “human-appearing”. He would bring help from God. Jesus asks his apostles about current speculation on the figure’s identity. The disciples give the most common guesses. Jesus then quizzes them why they haven’t added his own person to the list. Only Simon Bar (son of) Jonah gets the point. He blurts out that Jesus must be the mystery man, the Messiah.

‘”Simon” means “pebble” in Hebrew. “Cephas” (or Peter) means “rock”. Jesus makes a double pun. He says that the little pebble is going to be a big rock in his scheme of things.’

Excerpt from a commentary by Fr Richard Lonsdale

Feast Days of the Week

Monday Aug 22 Queenship of Mary

The words of Pius XII well describe the Queenship of Mary: ‘Jesus, the Son of God, reflects on His heavenly Mother the glory, the majesty and the dominion of His kingship, for, having been associated to the King of Martyrs in the unspeakable work of human Redemption as Mother and co-operator, she remains forever associated to Him, with a practically unlimited power, in the distribution of the graces which flow from the Redemption. Jesus is King throughout all eternity by nature and by right of conquest: through Him, with Him, and subordinate to Him, Mary is Queen by grace, by divine relationship, by right of conquest, and by singular choice *of the Father+. And her kingdom is as vast as that of her Son and God, since nothing is excluded from her dominion.

Parish Collection 13/14 August— $819.45

Communion Antiphon:

“The Lord says: Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood will live forever; I shall raise them to life on the last day.”

NOTICE

1.Please pray for all the pilgrims and clergy attending the World Youth Dayin Madrid, Spain, especially Fr Wayne and the others that have travelled to Spain from our dio- cese. The curial tribunal, the Apostolic Penitentiary has announced that it will grant “partial indulgence,” or reduction of the temporal punishment of sins, for those who pray for World Youth Day. We also pray for the Pope’s intentions at this time.

2.Many thanks to Kath Rodwell, Denise O’Meara, Audrey Reilly, Carmel Logiudice for organizing the clean up of the Boyanup Church following the repairs to the ceiling. This is yet another example of how the Body of Christ is built up and encouraged through little works of charity and selflessness.

3.The Bunbury Parish has extended an invitation to all of us to attend aCatechesis“ for Adults”, every Monday and Friday at 7.30pm for eight weeks, commencing on Mon- day 5 September. These will be held in the Bunbury Parish Hall (in the new Cathedral complex) and enquiries can be directed to Fr Vittorio on 9721 2141 or            0433 211597      .

4.There will be a special collectionat each of this weekend’s masses for Caritas to sup- port the provision of humanitarian aid for those suffering in the terrible droughts affecting Eastern Africa.

PRAYER FOR THE PARISH COMMUNITY

Our Father in Heaven, You call us to form a Family of families, A community of Families, Led by your hand and guided by Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Grant our parish and home: Unity and Creativity in serving one another; Imagination and Right Motivation in spreading the Good News of your Kingdom; Joy and Enthusiasm as we grow in Holiness through the celebration of the Sacraments, the study of the Sacred Scriptures, and the Deepening of experiences through our Catholic Christian formation. Make our parish and home a worthy dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, who will throw Fire into our hearts and minds; to enable us attain Unity that will move us towards Mission. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives, and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception

Pray for us!

Parish Vision Statement:

In union with the entire Church, we aim to be a Christ-centred Family of families, spiritually alive and growing in our faith, reaching out, welcoming and engaging all in a spirit of generosi- ty, compassion and love.

Parish Mission Statement:

Through the example of our lives, we proclaim the Gospel by: Actively seeking opportunities to engage everybody in the sacramental life of the parish; Answering the call to serve with gener- osity; Providing opportunities and on-going support for the deepening of our faith; Recognizing the value of the parish school community to the life of the parish and supporting them in their faith journey; and Looking for ways to engage and include the broader community.