From Fr Greg's Pew: 19th April
We are now a week out from Easter, and this weekend we are invited to reflect on the greatness of the mercy of God in all of this.
Jesus has certainly not abandoned us in the present difficulties. Rather, he is in the midst of us all, and He mercifully comes back looking for us after we run away from him for whatever reason: out of fear, or self-interest, or we simply somehow disconnect from spiritual life, or because the noise and clutter of our daily routines drowns out His voice.
Jesus first did this with Peter and the other apostles (John 21) who, having gone back to their old haunts were asked if they’d caught any fish? Jesus had told them to “Seek first the Kingdom of God and it’s justice, and all other things would be given to them as well.” (Matt 6,33) Why, then, had Peter gone fishing? Had he lost faith in Jesus' words? He seems to have disconnected from the Risen One, and done things ‘off his own bat’. But he hadn't caught any fish, and he'd succeeded in leading the others astray to boot...
Seeing the fruitlessness of their efforts, and feeling compassion for them, Jesus invites them instead to do things his way, to throw the nets out 'to the other side'. Meaning: if we go it alone, even though we end up doing good and useful things, we may not connect with what Jesus wants of us. And then we miss out on bagging the fish, the fruit, and the fun.
Jesus showed them the way forward and they caught plenty of big fish. They then brought them to Jesus, who gave them breakfast - though not from what they’d caught, but from his own stock, symbol of the weekly Eucharist.
This Gospel is also the image of the Church of the Resurrection. Our aim as a Parish, as you know, is to move 'from mere maintenance to mission'. We, too, are called to go out in search of the ones who have dropped off the Church’s radar, and reach out to the disconnected. Even the most dedicated of ministers can wind up like Peter, and go back to what they’ve always done in the past; how would it be for the other churchgoers? The world is constantly changing; and Jesus tells us to ‘read the signs of the times’ and act accordingly.
This is what we are attempting to do at the Parish, and we ask your help in creatively reaching out to people around you, as the ‘branches’ reaching out from the vine (John 15). This is a great time for reconnecting with people who may have lost contact with the Parish, maybe even offering them a link to a live broadcast? Or delivering a bulletin to them, printing it out at home from your home computer? The Holy Spirit is never short on initiatives ... ask the Spirit for guidance. Maybe you, too, in your own ministries, if you’re not 'catching many fish', could try ‘fishing on the other side'?
Live Streaming at SCB Church. Speaking of changes, we have had lots of positive correspondence about our 'live streaming' and other website activities from many of you at Easter. It certainly has been a lot of work opening up new paths to get the message out, but also very worthwhile. By the way, did you notice the newly minted Easter candles of both OLQP and SCB Churches, flanking the lectern at all the live streamed masses? For now we can only live stream at SCB Church, but our OLQP mass goers are ever present...
Live streamed regular Mass times. In the meantime, we will continue to live stream all the weekday Masses (Tues to Fri at 9.20 am, Saturday morning at 9 am), as well as the Saturday night vigil at 5 pm and Sunday Morning mass at 10 am. There is now also an additional Spanish language Mass with Fr. Alfredo at midday on Sundays, and an Italian Mass the same day with Fr. Daniele at 4 pm.
Live Streaming is also available for weddings and funerals. Our live streaming capacity at SCB Church is also proving popular and providential for weddings and funerals, especially given the current limitations on the number of participants. You will even be able to get baptisms and other services live streamed in future. Contact the office on 9807 2966 or write to office@rgcp.org.au for more details.
Limits to participants at Masses. Some of you have expressed a desire to participate in the live streamed Masses. We apologise if only a few people are able to participate, as we have to comply with the COVID - 19 rules being imposed upon us. Now that the Easter Liturgies are finished, the instructions given to us by the Archdiocese, based on what we are now permitted to do, allows the Parish to be considered as a ‘work site', and so people who have specific functions at the Masses: priests, acolyte, musician and cantor (weekend liturgies only), readers, AV operator and so forth, are permitted to attend.
In order to limit possible exposure to the coronavirus, we have restricted the participants to office staff and a small number of representatives of both Churches and schools. The parish office is presently collating the teams for each Mass and will advise the people concerned in advance. Someone will always 'be left out'; we apologise for that and count on your patience and understanding. Hopefully the lockdown will soon be lifted, even if only partially, and we will be able to widen the scope of participation to others in due time.
Sacramental Support. Our Parish is still very much ‘open for business'. If anyone needs specific sacraments, please give us a ring and we will see how we can get them to you. We won't enter into your houses, but Jesus certainly can. I mean, he got through those ‘closed doors’ (John 20, 19) the day of the resurrection, why couldn't he get to you wherever you are? That is our challenge, and we as a Parish are up to it. Fr. Alfredo and Fr. Daniele have been selected and trained for visits to COVID -19 patients in our deanery. For now they haven't been needed, but they are available should that become necessary in future.
If anyone feels the spiritual communion offered at each live streamed Mass is insufficient, please contact the Parish Office and we will arrange for communion to be brought to you. However, as the Parish is very large, with over 1000 people normally coming to Mass each week, we may not be able to accommodate everyone with our ‘home delivery service’. Priests and other ministers will not be entering your houses; we have instead developed other means of ministering communion to the sick and the housebound, especially through carers and relatives.
Ongoing expenditure. Though we are minimizing our expenses as much as possible, many of them are unavoidable and ongoing. The specialised work of restoration on the OLQP Church windows, doors, eaves, walls, roofing and statues needs to continue, and for that we can't use volunteers. We will also be replacing the old halogen lights inside SCB Church with new LED’s over the next few weeks, limiting electricity costs. All these need to be paid for, so we are still heavily dependant on you for your support!
Planned giving. Thank you to those who have continued to support us financially over the last few weeks. However, the amount of money received has fallen dramatically from what it was ‘pre- lockdown’. We understand if you have lost work, or are under financial strain, that you may have to reduce or withdraw what you would normally have given, but please understand that the maintenance of priests and parish, buildings and ministries goes on, and has to be funded.
If you have not already signed up to Planned Giving, you can do so either via the parish webpage or by contacting the Parish Office. If you could help to cover for less fortunate people in the current crisis by raising your own contributions a little, it would be greatly appreciated.
Planned Giving envelope collection. As a means of facilitating your planned giving via the use of envelopes, if you are presently housebound and need for your envelopes to be collected, please let the office know. We will be very happy to oblige! Or you can drop them into our parish letterbox on your way to buy essential supplies at 2A Charles Street, which we are checking regularly.
Direct Debit and Bank Transfers. Perhaps now is the right time to begin making regular electronic transfers to our Parish bank account? This can be easily done via your online banking facilities. Other options are also available.
Volunteer work around the Parish. We have gone back to using volunteers (and the Parish Priest!) to mow the lawns. We still need volunteers to help with weeding and keeping the grounds in top shape at both Churches. Cleaning out of cupboards and other ‘spring cleaning’ needs to be done (we have ‘Christmas in July’, so why not ‘Spring Cleaning in April’?). There is also a lot of work cleaning the windows, windowsills and pews of our Churches and buildings (the Parish is currently deemed a valid ‘work place' under government regulations). A few hours a week should suffice. Let me know if you could help!
And that's all for now, folks! God bless you all, and may you stay safe and sound!
Your brother in Christ's service, getting used to being on camera,
Fr Greg
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