From Fr Greg's Desk: Sunday 11th May, 2025

Hi everyone!
Habemus Papam!
I woke up Friday morning to news from excited friends over in Europe that, indeed, "we have a Pope" once again. I trust you will all be relieved that Pope Leo XIV was elected so quickly, indicating good general consent among the 133 Cardinals eligible to elect him. I am personally pretty chuffed! A religious of the order of the Augustinians, who was their Superior General in Rome for 12 years, a former missionary priest and then bishop in the Northwest of Peru, an English/Spanish/Italian speaker and, at 69 years of age, reasonably young for the role. May the Good Lord bless our new Pontiff with long life and health!

This being 'Good Shepherd Sunday', the election of the Pontiff comes in a very timely manner!!

Happy Mother's Day!
And, of course, I couldn't possibly write this column this week without expressing my heartfelt prayers for all you Mums, Grandma's and Great Grandma's 'holding the fort' in your individual domestic domains! In a special way, you are all eligible for the title of "Good Shepherdesses". We are all indebted to our mothers for bringing us into this world - and doing their utmost to ensure we didn't 'exit' it before our time. I thank you for being the 'backbone' of this Parish, without which we could not function, and the cause of joy of your family members.

I wish you all the very best for this celebration this Sunday ... and look forward [as I did for the choice of Pope] to see who the Holy Spirit will be naming as our 'Mother of the Year' at each of the six regular Sunday and Vigil Masses. A $50 Bunnings Card awaits you (err ... but not for more hard work around the house!!!). See you Sunday!

'Survey Sunday' is Coming - Weekend of 31 May - 1 June 2025
As I mentioned last week, we are planning to conduct a survey across our entire Parish to listen to you, the Parishioners, about your experience of 'Church' at our Parish, and better understand what you feel would improve that experience into the future.

The Late Pope Francis spoke extensively on the importance of listening, in order to spark a deeper conversation about our Church and our mission in the world around us. And Friday morning, the new Pope Leo XIV said this:

"We have to look together how to be a missionary Church, building bridges, dialogue, always open to receiving with open arms for everyone, like this square, open to all, to all who need our charity, our presence, dialogue, love." (Pope Leo XIV, St. Peter's Square)

To this end, we have engaged the National Church Life Survey model, presently used all over Australia and backed by Charles Stuart University (which was also used at St. Charles Borromeo some ten years ago, for those of you who remember, and should serve as a useful comparison survey to the present one being offered) as a way of 'feeling the pulse' of the Parish over a range of areas, and help us prepare for the 'Parish Forums' being planned for the near future.

The survey is open to all parishioners over the age of 15 (with a specific survey pre-prepared for minors), will be available both in paper and online format, and will be conducted primarily over the weekend of 31st May/1st June.

Members of the RGCP Parish Forums Planning Committee will speak at all our Masses this weekend (though prior to the drawing of the Mother of the Year awards...). They will also be on hand to help out on 'Survey Sunday' and to answer any queries you might have about the nature and reach of the Survey in between.

I heartily encourage you all to participate in this survey, as your responses will help shape our pastoral vision and outreach over the next five years of our Parish's life. Our desire is to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying, through you and with you, and continue to build and sustain - with your invaluable assistance - a vibrant, welcoming and faith-filled community at RGCP.

Please be assured that all responses are confidential and 'non-identifiable' to any particular person, so that you may enjoy complete freedom of expression. I would love to have a thousand responses to the Survey, so please let as many of our Parishioners know as possible and get them along to the Parish Masses on that weekend.

And that's about it for now. May the Good Lord abundantly bless and guide our new Pope, Leo XIV, and I wish a very Happy Mother's Day to all of you, who have not only brought us into this world, but have also opened up for us a future into the next, by imbuing us with your faith and encouraging us to keep it ourselves.

Fr. Greg