THE PARISH OF BAULKHAM HILLS
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Click here to go to St Michael's church site. Email St Michael's at admin@parishofbaulkhamhills.org.au Phone: +61 2 9639 0598 |
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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
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COVID UPDATE – FRIDAY OCTOBER 22
A COVID SAFE PARISH
Dear Parishioners,
As we have now opened up
under the 4 sq mtr rule, our Liturgy schedule has resumed, as of last Monday.
St
Michael’s
Mass Mon – Fri
9.15am
Sat morning
9.00am
Sat Vigil
5.30pm
Sun
8.00am, 10.00am, and 6pm
OLOL
Mass Wed-Fri
9.30am
Sat Vigil
6.00pm (livestreamed)
Sun
9.30am
Reconciliation @ St Michael’s Sat morning 9.30am – 10.30am & 4.45pm - 5.15pm
Reconciliation @ OLOL will resume on Saturday 6 November at 5pm - 5.30pm
Rosters will resume this
weekend, but if you wish to be removed from the roster for whatever reason,
please advise Betty at
bettyc@parishofbaulkhamhills.org.au
The following conditions
remain in place:
·
There is no requirement
from the
Government to check
the vaccination
status of
people attending our churches.
·
Attendance is
limited to a maximum of 170 at St Michael’s and 120 at Our Lady of Lourdes until
30 November as the 2 sq mtr rule comes into play on 1 December (at this stage).
·
COVID Safe practices
apply:
o
You will need
to register your attendance using the QR Code on your mobile (Preferable) , or
writing in your name and details if no mobile phone
o
Masks for indoor venues remain compulsory until 1 December
o
Avoid handling and passing of objects, for example the collection
plate and Mass books
o
Communion of
the Precious Blood will
be for
the celebrant
only.
o
The faithful
can be
invited to
share the
Greeting of
Peace through a
bow of their heads.
o
All ministers of Holy Communion are
to use hand sanitisers before the
distribution of Holy Communion commences. Those who wish to receive Communion on
the tongue
should be asked
receive Communion
at the end and the priest
should endeavour to sanitise his hands after each of these
communicants.
o
Allow for
ventilation in the Church by
opening doors and
windows where
possible.
As always, you are invited
to attend Mass via our YOUTUBE link as noted below. We will continue to live
stream this Mass even when we re-open.
BISHOP
VINCENT – PASTORAL LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF THE DIOCESE ON RETURNING TO CHURCH
Bishop Vincent has written
a pastoral letter to our Diocese on the return to Church. The letter follows
these notices.
MOVEMENTS
As you know by now, Bishop Vincent has appointed Father Chinonye to the Parish
of Mary Queen of the Family, Blacktown, beginning on 1 January 2022.
The Bishop has also appointed Fr Jessie Balorio, currently at St Nicholas of
Myra, Penrith, to the Parish of Baulkham Hills. Fr Jessie will commence on 1
November, so we are graced that for November and December there will be three
priests plus a deacon, ministering in the Parish.
PLENARY COUNCIL
The First assembly of the
Plenary Council finished a few weeks ago, and I forgot to include the Concluding
Statement of that Plenary, which I had intended to attach to these notices. But
the Bishop’s letter takes precedence, so the Concluding Statement will be
included in next week’s bulletin. It is also available
via this link.
The recess will now involve
a series of reflections and consultations over the next nine months
before we all gather in Sydney on the
first week of July next year to consider the various suggestions and
motions, which will ultimately be considered by the Australian Catholic
Bishop’s Conference and then submitted to the Holy see for approval.
NOVEMBER MASSES FOR THE DECEASED
Please see the note within
the bulletin. Envelopes will be available in the Churches.
PARISH
GATHERINGS
With the return to a normal
liturgy schedule, this week marks the end of our ZOOM gatherings. They have been
an opportunity to gather, to share and to pray, but as we open up, the clergy
find themselves involved in various activities.
The Monday and Wednesday
gatherings have now stopped, and the Tuesday and Thursday Rosary and Night
Prayer session will conclude after this Thursday.
Thank you to all those who
have participated in these “Lockdown” activities.
·
Tuesday 7.30pm – ZOOM Rosary and Night Prayer
·
Thursday 7.30pm – ZOOM Rosary and Night Prayer
These is the link for the
Rosary and Night Prayer for this week.
LIVESTREAMING
Mass will continue to
be 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.
The
link for Saturday evening’s Mass for the
30th Sunday in
Ordinary Time is
https://youtu.be/m6kBZePNjrU
As always it is livestreamed at 6pm
AEDT (summer) time, and then available on YouTube. Also it is now available via
Parish of Baulkham Hills Facebook page, although there were some hiccups last
week. Apologies.
Please note that it is our
intention to continue live-streaming the Saturday Mass for the foreseeable
future, even when Churches re-open.
SACRAMENTAL PROGRAMS
Please pray for the children who will be receiving the sacraments of
Reconciliation, Holy Communion and Confirmation over the next six weeks.
ALPHA
Please pray for those who are involved in the Thursday ALPHA program of
formation and reflection.
ST PAUL, HIS LIFE AND TEACHING
This week we continue Pope Benedict’s’ catechesis on the life of St Paul
and his teaching, which was given in 2008. This week’s focus is on Paul’s
Ecclesiological Dimension.
PRAYERS PLEASE
In your mercy
please pray for those who have died recently – including Bryan Chester, Dan
Kennedy, Thomas Worrell and our COVID casualties in NSW and throughout the
world,
and
those whose
anniversaries occur around this time – James Rowan, Edwarde Muller, Clarence
Muller, Emerita Parra, Eric Blank, Aileen Sinclair, May Reidy, Lily D’Cunha,
Patrick Canty.
MAILING LIST
A reminder that if you
would like to be part of a parish email list for updates plus copies of the
bulletin, and are not currently receiving any emails from the parish, please
send an email to
wimh@parishofbaulkhamhills.org.au – please also indicate if
you are regularly a worshipper at Our Lady of Lourdes or St Michael’s.
In these difficult times,
if you need pastoral support or hear of anyone in need of assistance from a
priest, the Parish Office or Vinnies, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Fr Wim
SUPPORT DONATIONS
Even though our Churches
are closed, I would like to thank those who have made contributions to our
parish and priests at this time. To assist 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
________________________________________________________________________
Pastoral letter
to the People of
Parramatta on the
return to
worship
Dear
Sisters and
Brothers,
Praised be to
our God who as St Paul says is always at work for the good of everyone who loves
him (Romans 8:28).
Next, I want to say a big thank you to all the families
and parish communities in our Diocese
of Parramatta!
During the
long months of necessary lockdown, you have all risen to the challenge of
sustaining one another through times
of great isolation, loneliness, and
grief in
an impressive variety of ways,
spiritual, emotional and practical. Thank you for bearing all these
things with patience
and for
promoting the
common good
so responsibly.
I especially
thank all who have worked tirelessly, in hospitals, aged care homes and across
the nursing and
medical profession for
giving of
yourselves so generously.
I thank all
who have worked valiantly in our schools, facing unforeseen demands, and
meeting them
with characteristic professionalism, a
sense of
duty and
dedication.
So many laity,
consecrated persons, deacons, and priests have given so generously of their
time and energy to keep open our churches here in the Diocese of
Parramatta, as havens of peace and prayer.
In
this pandemic
crisis so
many have
creatively developed diverse new patterns
of outreach
- of prayer, catechesis, study, and spiritual solidarity;
all who have made participation in the
Mass possible through the internet. A special thanks to our Diocesan team
who have provided us with
The Well (thewell.org.au) which has
nourished so many in these trying
times, including those from
far and
wide.
Perhaps,
some may
be concerned
that when
things finally
return to
‘normal,’ many
Catholics will
have grown
accustomed to
staying home
and either
watching Mass
online or
not participating at all.
But
as we
all know
deep down,
‘virtual’ worship
can never
really replace
the in-person
celebration of Mass.
Livestreamed liturgies should
remain available for
the sick and the elderly.
But, even
then, parishes
should try
to reach
out to
them in
a personal
way so
that they
remain connected
to the
community.
And how can we fail to thank all those in the outreach
agencies of our Diocese who serve the
Body of Christ in the poor, the refugees, the lonely and all on the
‘peripheries’? They have contributed
magnificently to the immense effort of providing food for those most in
need. The generosity shown in the distribution of so very many meals and
other acts of solidarity has given eloquent expression to the mercy, love and
compassion which are at the very
heart of
the Gospel.
What will be
the pace of our emerging from this pandemic remains as yet unclear. However,
one challenge is certain.
Sometimes
in times
of stress
like these,
our work,
shopping, sport,
and entertainment media can
capture our
hearts. Let’s
all now
take special
care to
recover a
sense of sacred
time as
we emerge
from this
pandemic.
May we all, as
the People of God in the Diocese of Parramatta, recommit ourselves to
awaken in
people a
grateful love
for the gift
of the
Eucharist as
well as the
Lord’s Day.
When we go to
Communion, we receive Christ
in the most intimate way
possible during our
life —
allowing him
to become one
with us
— so
that we
actually become
what we
receive, the
Body of
Christ.
May we
again devote
ourselves to
the grace and
beauty of
the Eucharist.
Our Risen
Lord is
so close
to us
in the
Eucharistic mystery.
Strengthened
by His
Body and
Blood, our
Saviour Jesus
of Nazareth,
constantly sends
us out
on mission,
to live
the Gospel
afresh.
In Christ,
Most Reverend Vincent
Long Van
Nguyen OFM
Conv Bishop
of Parramatta
Given at Parramatta on 22 October 2021 -
The Feast of
St John
Paul II,
Pope
ST PAUL, HIS LIFE AND HIS
TEACHING (Pope Benedict – given in 2008, the year of St Paul))
(8) Paul's Ecclesiological Dimension.
Dear Brothers and
Sisters,
In last Wednesday’s
catechesis, I spoke of Paul's relationship with the pre-Paschal Jesus in his
earthly life. The question was: "What did Paul know about Jesus' life, his
words, his Passion?".
Today I would like to
speak about St Paul's teaching on the Church. We must start by noting that this
word "Chiesa" in Italian as in French "Église" and in Spanish "Iglesia" comes
from the Greek "ekklesia". It comes from the Old Testament and means the
assembly of the People of Israel, convoked by God. It particularly means the
exemplary assembly at the foot of Mount Sinai. This word now means the new
community of believers in Christ who feel that they are God's assembly, the new
convocation of all the peoples by God and before him.
The term ekklesia comes
for the first time from the pen of Paul, the first author of a Christian text.
It makes its first appearance in the incipit of his First Letter to the
Thessalonians, where Paul textually addresses "the Church of the Thessalonians"
(cf. also "the Church of the Laodiceans" in Col 4: 16). In other Letters he
speaks of the Church of God which is at Corinth (1 Cor 1: 2; 2 Cor 1: 1) and of
the Churches of Galatia (Gal 1: 2, etc.) particular Churches therefore but he
also says he persecuted "the Church of God": not a specific local
community, but "the Church of God". Thus we see that this word, "Church", has a
multi-dimensional meaning: it indicates a part of God's assembly in a specific
place (a city, a country, a house) but it also means the Church as a whole. And
thus we see that "the Church of God" is not only a collection of various local
Churches but that these various local Churches in turn make up one Church of
God. All together they are "the Church of God" which precedes the individual
local Churches and is expressed or brought into being in them.
It is important to
observe that the word "Church" almost always appears with the additional
qualification "of God": she is not a human association, born from ideas or
common interests, but a convocation of God. He has convoked her, thus, in all
her manifestations she is one. The oneness of God creates the oneness of the
Church in all the places in which she is found. Later, in the Letter to the
Ephesians, Paul richly elaborated the concept of the Church's oneness, in
continuity with the concept of the People of God, Israel, considered by the
prophets as "God's bride" called to live in a spousal relationship with him.
Paul presents the one Church of God as "Christ's bride" in love, one body and
one spirit with Christ himself. It is well known that as a young man Paul was a
fierce adversary of the new movement constituted by the Church of Christ. He was
opposed to this new movement because he saw it as a threat to fidelity to the
tradition of the People of God, inspired by faith in the one God. This fidelity
was expressed above all in circumcision, in the observance of the rules of
religious purity, abstention from certain foods and respect for the Sabbath.
The Israelites had paid
for this fidelity with the blood of martyrs in the period of the Maccabees, when
the Hellenistic regime wanted to force all peoples to conform to the one
Hellenistic culture. Many Israelites spilled their blood to defend the proper
vocation of Israel. The martyrs paid with their lives for the identity of their
people who expressed themselves through these elements. After his encounter with
the Risen Christ, Paul understood that Christians were not traitors; on the
contrary, in the new situation the God of Israel, through Christ, had extended
his call to all the peoples, becoming the God of all peoples. In this way
fidelity to the one God was achieved. Distinctive signs constituted by special
rules and observances were no longer necessary since all were called, in their
variety, to belong to the one People of God in the "Church of God" in Christ.
One thing was
immediately clear to Paul in his new situation: the fundamental, foundational
value of Christ and of the "word" that he was proclaiming. Paul knew not only
that one does not become Christian by coercion but also that in the internal
configuration of the new community the institutional element was inevitably
linked to the living "word", to the proclamation of the living Christ through
whom God opens himself to all peoples and unites them in one People of God. It
is symptomatic that in the Acts of the Apostles Luke twice uses, also with
regard to Paul, the phrase "to speak the word" (cf. Acts 4: 29, 31; 8: 25; 11:
19; 13: 46; 14: 25; 16: 6, 32) evidently with the intention of giving the
maximum emphasis to the crucial importance of the "word" of proclamation. In
practice this word is constituted by the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ in
which the Scriptures found fulfilment.
The Paschal Mystery,
which brought the Apostle to the turning point in his life on the road to
Damascus, obviously lies at the heart of his preaching (1 Cor 2: 2; 15: 14).
This Mystery, proclaimed in the Word, is brought about in the Sacraments of
Baptism and of the Eucharist and then becomes reality in Christian love. Paul's
only goal in his work of evangelization is to establish the community of
believers in Christ. This idea is inherent in the actual etymology of the term ekklesia, which
Paul, and with him all Christendom, preferred to the term "synagogue": not only
because the former is originally more "secular" (deriving from the Greek
practice of the political assembly which was not exactly religious), but also
because it directly involves the more theological idea of a call ab extra, and
is not, therefore, a mere gathering; believers are called by God, who gathers
them in a community, his Church.
Along these lines we
can also understand the original concept of the Church exclusively Pauline as
the "Body of Christ". In this regard it is necessary to bear in mind the two
dimensions of this concept. One is sociological in character, according to which
the body is made up of its elements and would not exist without them. This
interpretation appears in the Letter to the Romans and in the First Letter to
the Corinthians, in which Paul uses an image that already existed in Roman
sociology: he says that a people is like a body with its different parts, each
of which has its own function but all together, even its smallest and seemingly
most insignificant parts are necessary if this body is to be able to live and
carry out its functions. The Apostle appropriately observes that in the Church
there are many vocations: prophets, apostles, teachers, simple people, all are
called to practise charity every day, all are necessary in order to build the
living unity of this spiritual organism. The other interpretation refers to the
actual Body of Christ. Paul holds that the Church is not only an organism but
really becomes the Body of Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, where we
all receive his Body and really become his Body. Thus is brought about the
spousal mystery that all become one body and one spirit in Christ. So it is that
the reality goes far beyond any sociological image, expressing its real,
profound essence, that is, the oneness of all the baptized in Christ, considered
by the Apostle "one" in Christ, conformed to the Sacrament of his Body.
In saying this, Paul
shows that he knows well and makes us all understand that the Church is not his
and is not ours: the Church is the Body of Christ, it is a "Church of God",
"God's field, God's building... God's temple" (1 Cor 3: 9, 16). This latter
designation is particularly interesting because it attributes to a fabric of
interpersonal relations a term that commonly served to mean a physical place,
considered sacred. The relationship between church and temple therefore comes to
assume two complementary dimensions: on the one hand the characteristic of
separateness and purity that the sacred building deserved is applied to the
ecclesial community, but on the other, the concept of a material space is also
overcome, to transfer this quality to the reality of a living community of
faith. If previously temples had been considered places of God's presence, it
was now known and seen that God does not dwell in buildings made of stone but
that the place of God's presence in the world is the living community of
believers.
The description "People
of God" would deserve a separate commentary. In Paul it is applied mainly to the
People of the Old Testament and then to the Gentiles who were "the non-people"
but also became People of God thanks to their insertion in Christ through the
word and sacrament.
And finally, one last nuance. In his Letter to Timothy
Paul describes the Church as the "household of God" (1 Tm 3: 15); and this is a
truly original definition because it refers to the Church as a community
structure in which warm, family-type interpersonal relations are lived. The
Apostle helps us to understand ever more deeply the mystery of the Church in her
different dimensions as an assembly of God in the world. This is the greatness
of the Church and the greatness of our call; we are a temple of God in the
world, a place in which God truly dwells, and at the same time we are a
community, a family of God who is love. As a family and home of God, we must
practise God's love in the world and thus, with the power that comes from faith,
be a place and a sign of his presence. Let us pray the Lord to grant us to be
increasingly his Church, his Body, the place where his love is present in this
world of ours and in our history.