THE PARISH OF BAULKHAM HILLS
Click here to go to St Michael's church site. Email St Michael's at admin@parishofbaulkhamhills.org.au Phone: +61 2 9639 0598 |
![]() |
Click here to go to Our Lady Of Lourdes church site. Email Our Lady of Lourdes at olol@parishofbaulkhamhills.org.au
Phone: +61 2 9639 8385
|
PARISH UPDATE – FRIDAY JULY 1
A COVID SAFE PARISH
Dear
Parishioners,
SECOND ASSEMBLY OF THE FIFTH PLENARY COUNCIL
The Second assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council
starts this Sunday, 3 July with Mass at St Mary MacKillop Chapel, North Sydney,
where up to 300 delegates will pray for the Holy Spirit to guide them as they
discuss and vote on around 30 motions which have been proposed.
The Plenary Council concludes with Mass at St Mary’s
Cathedral on Saturday 9th July at 10.30am to which all are invited.
Delegates from Parramatta Diocese are Bishop Vincent,
Frs Peter Williams, Chris De Souza, Fernando Montano, Paul Marshall and myself,
and Wendy Goonan and Carol Teodori-Blahut.
This is a live-in Gathering so I will be away for the
week – from Sunday afternoon to Saturday afternoon. Please pray for us.
FROM DIOCESE of PARRAMATTA - Involvement and Arrangements
for the Assembly
Opportunities for parishioner involvement
·
Prayer:
Parish communities are encouraged to pray the Plenary Council prayer for the
Diocese of Parramatta which was developed by the Members of the Plenary Council.
You can find it
here.
·
Follow the livestreams: A
livestream will take place each day from the Plenary Council from 8.30am 4 to 8
July, and 9am on 8 July. The daily Masses will also be livestreamed. You can
find the schedule of livestreams
here.
·
Direct messages to the members:
The Plenary Council will feature a message board at the assembly venue where
Members can read the prayers, hope and messages of support from parishioners
around Australia. The link for messages can be found
here.
·
Attend the closing Mass:
The Catholic community is invited to attend the closing Mass of the Second
Assembly on Saturday 9 July at 10.30am at St Mary’s Cathedral. You can find
details
here.
Diocesan resources
To help you follow the events of the Second Assembly, the Diocese
of Parramatta will feature useful links on the website page
parracatholic.org/plenary.
Catholic Outlook will also feature the daily updates, articles and videos
from the Plenary Council, and we will be sharing highlights on our social media
channels. We encourage you to share these on your own channels.
We have interviewed members of the Plenary Council from the Diocese
of Parramatta, and we will be releasing videos of these interviews in the lead
up to, and during the Second Assembly.
More details and links can be found at
https://plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au
VINNIES WINTER APPEAL
Thank you to those who supported the Vinnies Winter
appeal over these last few weeks – your donations have been gratefully received,
and will be used for Vinnies work in the Hills area.
SHALOM WORLD
SHALOM WORLD is a Catholic, commercial-free, 24/7, HD
family entertainment channel, reaching out to the world with the Truth and Peace
that can only be found in Jesus Christ! Amidst the sea of secular media offering
lies and sins disguised as freedom and rights, we know that you are searching
for something more for yourself and your loved ones. Let SHALOM WORLD be your
source of informative, inspirational and vibrant entertainment, reaching out to
everyone everywhere. Website:
https://www.shalomworld.org
WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES
The World Meeting of Families concluded last Sunday, 26th June in Rome. In
his Mass, Pope Francis said
“Above all, I thank the married couples and families
who will bear witness to family love as a vocation and path to holiness. Have a
good meeting!”
The full text of the Pope’s homily can be found below following his teaching on
old age.
MASS LINK
The Mass link for this
Saturday for the
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sat 6pm) and available on
YOUTUBE after that is
https://youtu.be/UHQDW5Dx1Zk.
Please copy the link into
browser if it does not immediately work.
Mass is live streamed on Saturday evening at 6pm from Our
Lady of Lourdes, and available for viewing afterwards via the link. We are also
using FACEBOOK links via the Parish of Baulkham Hills FACEBOOK page. Thank you
to Jim and Brian for your help with this every week.
POPE FRANCIS AND CATECHESIS ON OLD AGE
Pope Francis continued his reflection on old age, and that reflection
follows these notices. This week he
reflects
the theme: “Peter and John”
FOR THE DECEASED
Please remember those for whom prayers have been requested, especially
for:
Recently deceased:
Fr Kevin O’Grady, Bob Daley, David Gallahar,
Terry Coy, Richard Joseph, Stephanie Shield, Andrelina Cayanan
Anniversary:
Josephine Day, Kay James (Kocsis), Karen Ritky, Roberto Capitulo
SUPPORT DONATIONS
WE really appreciate your continued support.
To assist with the proper recording for
the second collection, please include your envelope number if you have one.
For EFT to the First Collection -
supporting the priests
BSB
067 950
Account No
000004265
Account Name
Diocesan Clergy
Reference
6001 your name
For EFT to the second (envelope and loose) Collection – for support of the
Parish,
BSB
067 950
Account No
000000214
Account Name
St Michael’s Baulkham Hills
Reference
Envelope Number or Your Name
If you wish to pay by
credit card, please use this link
https://www.bpoint.com.au/pay/stmichaelsparishbaulkhamhills
POPE FRANCIS ON OLD AGE
In his address in Italian, the Pope continued his cycle of catechesis on old
age, focusing on the theme: “Peter and John”.
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John,
do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I
love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lamb. A second time he said to him,
“Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I
love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.
He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt
hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to
him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him,
“Feed my sheep. … After this he said to him, “Follow me.”
Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the
one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it
that is going to betray you?”
When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”
Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that
to you? Follow me!”
So the rumour spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet
Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is my will that he
remain until I come, what is that to you?”
(Bible reading: John 21.15-23).
Dear brothers and sisters, welcome and good morning!
In our catechetical journey on old age, today we meditate on the dialogue
between the risen Jesus and Peter at the end of John’s Gospel (21:15-23). It is
a moving dialogue, from which shines all the love of Jesus for his disciples,
and also the sublime humanity of his relationship with them, in particular with
Peter: a tender relationship, but not melancholic; direct, strong, free, and
open. A relationship between men and in truth. Thus, John’s Gospel, so
spiritual, so lofty, closes with a poignant request and offer of love between
Jesus and Peter, which is intertwined, quite naturally, with a discussion
between them. The Evangelist alerts us: he is bearing witness to the truth of
the facts (cf. Jn 21:24). And it is in the facts that the truth is to be
sought.
We can ask ourselves: are we capable of preserving the tenor of this
relationship of Jesus with the disciples, according to his style that is so
open, so frank, so direct, so humanly real? How is our relationship with Jesus?
Is it like this, like that of the Apostles with Him? Are we not, instead, very
often tempted to enclose the testimony of the Gospel in the cocoon of a
‘sugar-coated’ revelation, to which is added our own circumstantial veneration?
This attitude, which seems respectful, actually distances us from the real
Jesus, and even becomes the occasion for a very abstract, very self-referential,
very worldly journey of faith, which is not the path of Jesus. Jesus is the Word
of God made man, and He comports Himself as man, He speaks to us as man,
God-man. With this tenderness, with this friendship, with this closeness. Jesus
is not like the sugar-sweet image of the picture cards, no: Jesus is close to
hand, he is near us.
In the course of Jesus’ discussion with Peter, we find two passages that
deal precisely with old age and the passage of time: the time of
testimony, the time of life. The first passage is Jesus’ warning to Peter: when
you were young you were self-sufficient, when you are old you will no longer be
so much the master of yourself and your life. Tell me I have to go in a
wheelchair, eh? But that’s how it is, that’s life. With old age you get all
these illnesses and we have to accept them as they come, don’t we. We don’t have
the strength of youth! And your witness will also be accompanied by this
weakness. You have to be a witness to Jesus even in weakness, illness and
death. There is a beautiful passage from St Ignatius of Loyola that says: “Just
as in life, so also in death we must bear witness as disciples of Jesus.” The
end of life must be an end of life of disciples: of disciples of Jesus, whom the
Lord always speaks to us according to our age. The Evangelist adds his
commentary, explaining that Jesus was alluding to the extreme witness, that of
martyrdom and death.
But we can understand more generally the meaning of this admonition: your sequela [following in
my footsteps] will have to learn to allow itself to be instructed and moulded by
your frailty, your helplessness, your dependence on others, even in
getting dressed, in walking. But you: “Follow me” (v. 19). The following
of Jesus is always going forward, in good health, in not so good health;
self-sufficient, without physical self-sufficiency. But the following of Jesus
is important: to follow Jesus always, on your feet, running, going slowly, in a
wheelchair… but always following Him. The wisdom of the following [of Jesus]must
find the way to abide in its profession of faith – thus Peter responds: “Lord,
you know that I love you” (vv. 15.16.17) – even in the limited conditions of
weakness and old age. I like talking to the elderly, looking into their eyes:
they have those bright eyes, those eyes that speak to you more than words, the
witness of a life. And this is beautiful, we must preserve it until the end.
Thus to follow Jesus: full of life.
This conversation between Jesus and Peter contains a valuable teaching for
all disciples, for all of us believers, and also for all the elderly. From our
frailty we learn to express the consistency of our witness of life in the
conditions of a life largely entrusted to others, largely dependent on the
initiative of others. With sickness, with old age, dependence grows and we are
no longer as self-dependent as before; this grows and there too faith matures,
there too Jesus is with us, there too that richness of the faith well lived on
the road of life springs forth.
But again we must ask ourselves: do we have a spirituality truly
capable of interpreting the season – now long and widespread – of this time of
our weakness entrusted to others, that is greater than to the power of our
autonomy? How do we remain faithful to the lived act of following [Jesus], to
the promised love, to the justice sought in the time of our capacity for
initiative, in the time of the fragility, in the time of dependence, of
farewell, in the time of moving away from being the protagonist of our lives?
It’s not easy, is it? To move away from being the protagonist. It’s not easy.
This new time is also certainly a time of trial – beginning with the
temptation – very human, undoubtedly, but also very insidious – to preserve our
protagonism. And at times the protagonist has to diminish, has to lower himself,
to accept that old age reduces you as protagonist. But you will have another way
of expressing yourself, another way of participating in the family, in society,
in the group of friends.
And it is curiosity that comes to Peter: “What about him?” says Peter,
seeing the beloved disciple following them (cf. vv. 20-21). Sticking your nose
in other people’s lives. But no: Jesus says: “Shut up!”. Does he have to part of
“my” following [of Jesus]? Does he have to occupy “my” space? Will he be my
successor? These are questions that do no good, that don’t help. Must he outlive
me and take my place? Jesus’ answer is frank and even rude: “What does it matter
to you? You worry about your own life, about your present situation, and don’t
stick your nose into the lives of others. What does it matter to you? You follow
me” (v. 22).
This is important: the following of Jesus, to follow Jesus in life and in
death, in health and in sickness, in life when it is prosperous with many
successes, and in life when it is difficult, in many bad moments of failing. And
when we want to insert ourselves into other people’s lives, Jesus answers, “What
does it matter to you? You follow me.” Beautiful.
We old people should not be envious of young people who take their path, who
occupy our place, who outlive us. The honour of our faithfulness to sworn love,
fidelity to the following of the faith we have believed, even in the conditions
that bring them nearer to the end of their life, is our claim to admiration of
the generations to come and of grateful recognition from the Lord. Learning to
take leave: this is the wisdom of the elderly. But to say farewell well,
carefully, with a smile, to take one’s leave in society, to take one’s leave
with others. The life of the elderly is a farewell, slow, slow, but a joyful
farewell: I have lived live, I have kept my faith. This is beautiful, when an
elderly person can say, “I have lived life, this is my family; I have lived
life, I was a sinner but I have also done good.” And this peace that comes, this
is the farewell of the elder.
Even the forcibly inactive following [of Jesus], made up of enthusiastic
contemplation and rapt listening to the word of the Lord – like that of Mary,
the sister of Lazarus – will become the best part of their lives, of the lives
of us elderly persons. May this part never be taken from us again, never (cf. Lk 10:42).
Let us look to the elderly, let us look upon them, and let us help them so that
they may live and express their wisdom of life, that they may give us what is
beautiful and good in them. Let us look at them, let us listen to them. And we
elders, let us look at the young, and always with a smile, at the young: they
will follow the path, they will carry forward what we have sown, even what we
have not sown because we have not had the courage or the opportunity: they will
carry it forward. But always this relationship.
Message
from Pope Francis to the Families of the World
In this Tenth World Meeting of Families, it is now the time for thanksgiving.
Today we bring before God with gratitude – as if in a great offertory procession
– all the fruits that the Holy Spirit has sown in you, dear families. Some of
you have taken part in the moments of reflection and sharing here in the
Vatican; others have led them and participated in them in the various dioceses,
creating a kind of vast “constellation”. I think of the rich variety of
experiences, plans and dreams, as well as concerns and uncertainties, which you
have shared with one another. Let us now present all of these to the Lord and
ask him to sustain you with his strength and love. You are fathers, mothers and
children, grandparents, uncles and aunts. You are adults and children, young and
old. Each of you brings a different experience of family, but all of you have
one hope and prayer: that God will bless and keep your families and all the
families of the world.
Saint Paul, in today’s second reading, spoke to us about freedom. Freedom is
one of the most cherished ideals and goals of the people of our time. Everyone
wants to be free, free of conditioning and limitations, free of every kind of
“prison”, cultural, social or economic. Yet, how many people lack the greatest
freedom of all, which is interior freedom! The greatest freedom is interior
freedom. The Apostle reminds us Christians that interior freedom is above all a
gift, when he says: “For freedom Christ has set us free!” (Gal 5:1).
Freedom is something we receive. All of us are born with many forms of interior
and exterior conditioning, and especially with a tendency to selfishness, to
making ourselves the centre of everything and being concerned only with our own
interests. This is the slavery from which Christ has set us free. Lest there be
any mistake, Saint Paul tells us that the freedom given to us by God is not the
false and empty freedom of the world, which in reality is “an opportunity for
self-indulgence” (Gal 5:13). No, the freedom that Christ gained at the
price of his own blood is completely directed to love, so that – as the Apostle
tells us again today – “through love you may become slaves of one another”
(ibid.).
All of you married couples, in building your family, made, with the help of
Christ’s grace, a courageous decision: not to use freedom for yourselves, but
to love the persons that God has put at your side. Instead of living like
little islands, you became “slaves of one another”. That is how freedom is
exercised in the family. There are no “planets” or “satellites”, each travelling
on its own orbit. The family is the place of encounter, of sharing, of going
forth from ourselves in order to welcome others and stand beside them. The
family is the first place where we learn to love. We must never forget
that the family is the first place where we learn to love.
Brothers and sisters, even as we reaffirm this with profound conviction, we
also know full well that it is not always the case, for any number of reasons
and a variety of situations. And so, in praising the beauty of the family, we
also feel compelled, today more than ever, to defend the family. Let us
not allow the family to be poisoned by the toxins of selfishness, individualism,
today’s culture of indifference and culture of waste, and as a result lose its
very DNA, which is the spirit of acceptance and service. The mark of the family
is acceptance and the spirit of service within the family.
The relationship between the prophets Elijah and Elisha, as presented in the
first reading, reminds us of the relationship between generations, the
“passing on of witness” from parents to children. In today’s world, that
relationship is not an easy one, and frequently it is a cause for concern.
Parents fear that children will not be able to find their way amid the
complexity and confusion of our societies, where everything seems chaotic and
precarious, and in the end lose their way. This fear makes some parents anxious
and others overprotective. At times, it even ends up thwarting the desire to
bring new lives into the world.
We do well to reflect on the relationship between Elijah and Elisha. Elijah,
at a moment of crisis and fear for the future, receives from God the command to
anoint Elisha as his successor. God makes Elijah realize that the world does not
end with him, and commands him to pass on his mission to another. That is the
meaning of the gesture described in the text: Elijah throws his mantle over the
shoulders of Elisha, and from that moment the disciple takes the place of the
master, in order to carry on his prophetic ministry in Israel. God thus shows
that he has confidence in the young Elisha. The elderly Elijah passes the
position, the prophetic vocation to Elisha. He trusts the young person, he
trusts in the future. In this gesture, there is hope, and with hope, he passes
the baton.
How important it is for parents to reflect on God’s way of acting! God loves
young people, but that does not mean that he preserves them from all risk, from
every challenge and from all suffering. God is not anxious and overprotective.
Think about it: God is not anxious and overprotective; on the contrary, he
trusts young people and he calls each of them to scale the heights of life and
of mission. We think of the child Samuel, the adolescent David or the young
Jeremiah; above all, we think of that young sixteen or seventeen year old girl
who conceived Jesus, the Virgin Mary. He trusts a young girl. Dear parents, the
word of God shows us the way: not to shield our children from the slightest
hardship and suffering, but to try to communicate to them a passion for life, to
arouse in them the desire to discover their vocation and embrace the great
mission that God has in mind for them. It was precisely that discovery which
made Elisha courageous and determined; it made him become an adult. The decision
to leave his parents behind and to sacrifice the oxen is a sign that Elisha
realized that it was now “up to him”, that it was time to accept God’s call and
to carry on the work of his master. This he would do courageously until the very
end of his life. Dear parents, if you help your children to discover and to
accept their vocation, you will see that they too will be “gripped” by this
mission; and they will find the strength they need to confront and overcome the
difficulties of life.
I would like to add that, for educators, the best way to help others to
follow their vocation is to embrace our own vocation with faithful love.
That is what the disciples saw Jesus do. Today’s Gospel shows us an emblematic
moment when Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Lk 9:51), knowing
well that there he would be condemned and put to death. On his way to Jerusalem,
Jesus met with rejection from the inhabitants of Samaria, which aroused the
indignant reaction of James and John, but he accepted that rejection, because it
was part of his vocation. He met rejection from the very start, first in
Nazareth – here we think of that day in the synagogue of Nazareth (cf. Mt 13:
53-58) – now in Samaria, and he was about to be rejected in Jerusalem. Jesus
accepted it all, for he came to take upon himself our sins. In a similar way,
nothing can be more encouraging for children than to see their parents
experiencing marriage and family life as a mission, demonstrating fidelity and
patience despite difficulties, moments of sadness and times of trial. What Jesus
encountered in Samaria takes place in every Christian vocation, including that
of the family. We all know that there are moments when we have to take upon
ourselves the resistance, opposition, rejection and misunderstanding born of
human hearts and, with the grace of Christ, transform these into acceptance of
others and gratuitous love.
Immediately after that episode, which in some way shows us Jesus’ own
“vocation”, the Gospel presents three other callings on the way to Jerusalem,
represented by three aspiring disciples of Jesus. The first is told not to seek
a fixed home, a secure situation, in following Jesus, for the master “has
nowhere to place his head” (Lk 9:58). To follow Jesus means to set out on
a never-ending “trip” with him through the events of life. How true this is for
you married couples! By accepting the call to marriage and family, you too have
left the “nest” and set out on a trip, without knowing beforehand where exactly
it would lead, and what new situations, unexpected events and surprises, some
painful, would eventually lie in store for you. That is what it means to journey
with the Lord. It is a lively, unpredictable and marvellous voyage of discovery.
Let us remember that every disciple of Jesus finds his or her repose in doing
God’s will each day, wherever it may lead.
A second disciple is told not to “go back to bury his dead” (vv. 59-60).
This has nothing to do with disobeying the fourth commandment, which remains
ever valid and is a commandment that makes us holy. Rather, it is a summons to
obey, above all, the first commandment: to love God above all things. The same
thing happens with the third disciple, who is called to follow Christ resolutely
and with an undivided heart, without “looking back”, not even to say farewell to
the members of his family (cf. vv. 61-62).
Dear families, you too have been asked not to have other priorities, not to
“look back”, to miss your former life, your former freedom, with its deceptive
illusions. Life becomes “fossilized” when it is not open to the newness of God's
call and pines for the past. Missing the past and not being open to the newness
that God sends always “fossilizes” us; it hardens us and does not make us more
human. When Jesus calls, also in the case of marriage and family life, he asks
us to keep looking ahead, and he always precedes us on the way. He always
precedes us in love and service. And those who follow him will not be
disappointed!
Dear brothers and sisters, providentially, the readings of today’s liturgy
speak of vocation, which is the theme of this Tenth World Meeting of Families: “Family
Love: a Vocation and a Path to Holiness”. Strengthened by those words of
life, I encourage you to take up with renewed conviction the journey of family
love, sharing with all the members of your families the joy of this calling. It
is not an easy journey: there will be dark moments, moments of difficulty in
which we will think that it is all over. May the love you share with one another
be always open, directed outwards, capable of “touching” the weak and wounded,
the frail in body and the frail in spirit, and all whom you meet along the way.
For love, including family love, is purified and strengthened whenever it is
shared with others.
Betting on family love is courageous: it takes courage to marry. We see many
young people who do not have the courage to marry and many times mothers say to
me: “Do something, speak to my son, he will not marry, he is thirty-seven years
old!” – “But, madam, stop ironing his shirts, start to send him away little by
little so that he will leave the nest”. Family love pushes the children to fly;
it teaches them to fly and pushes them to do so. It is not possessive: it is
always about freedom. In the moments of difficulty and crisis – every family has
them – please do not take the easy way: “I am going home to mommy”. No, move
forward with this courageous bet. There will be difficult moments, there will be
tough moments, but always move forward. Your husband, your wife, has that spark
of love that you felt in the beginning: release it from within and rediscover
love. This will help in moments of crisis.
The Church is with you; indeed, the Church is in you! For the
Church was born of a family, the Holy Family of Nazareth, and is made up mostly
of families. May the Lord help you each day to persevere in unity, peace, joy,
and in moments of difficulty, that faithful perseverance, which makes us live
better and shows everyone that God is love and communion of life.