From Fr Greg's Desk: Sunday 6th June

Hi everyone!

Cemeteries Takeover Decision by NSW Govt. At the doors to our Churches you will find a handout from Archbishop Anthony Fisher urging you all to get in contact with your local MP and sign the online Petition called "Save Our Graves" to help us stop this appalling and brazen forced takeover by the NSW Govt of the cemeteries currently being successfully managed by the Catholic Metropolitan Cemetery Trust for the last 150 years. Incidentally, that management has been carried out respectfully, and is ecumenically supported and financially viable. Read about this in this week's Catholic Weekly in which both Archbishop Anthony Fisher and Monica Doumit have penned clear and informative articles concerning this unprecedented move. I trust you will join me in signing the online petition to express your concerns regarding at www.saveourgraves.com.au. There is also a petition you can sign at the doors of our Churches in case you do not have an email or access to the internet. Please consider calling our Local MP, Victor Dominello 9808-3288 telling him you are a resident of this electorate, and that you oppose the cemetery takeover by the Government.

Congrats Frs. Steve and Dan Drum, fmvd!! Amazing and inspiring weekend, that last one! Fr. Dan and Fr. Steve's ordination was a wonderfully joyful occasion both for our Parish and their extended (and considerably numerous) family, as well as for my own religious family, the Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity, to which all five of us missionaries belong . And I cannot thank you, our RGCP Parishioners, enough for all your enthusiastic support, help and prayers for these two brothers of ours over the last few years that they have spent at RGCP. For 'brothers of ours' they remain - and not just in terms of their family origins - even if they are now also missionary priests!

Thanks especially to all our Volunteers who helped us out so generously and effectively on the weekend, both at the Cathedral and Cathedral Hall on Saturday and at SCB Church and Holy Cross College on Sunday. I'd like to especially thank Samantha and Paul Profilo who headed the hospitality team for The Big Bash Luncheon on Sunday afternoon, and to Phil Stewart, Principal of Holy Cross Ryde, who was present from 8.30 am to 4 pm that day, to set up and remove chairs and tables and ensure nothing was overlooked. Good on you, Phil! It was a truly significant Parish event following the unforgettable experience of their double ordination in the Cathedral, with immense thanks going to his Grace, Archbishop Anthony Fisher, OP for hosting it at St. Mary's Cathedral in the first place.

Extra Copies of the Catholic Weekly Ordination Special are now available at the OLQP and SCB Church doors. As you can see, Frs. Dan and Steve have made the front page (and page 13), so they gave us plenty of extra copies. There are also copies available of the beautiful homily Archbishop Anthony Fisher gave that day, and you can still catch the Ordination video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsEDjoy7354 or by visiting the St. Mary's

Cathedral website: www.stmaryscathedral.org.au, and there is a YouTube video available of the Seven News report given last Saturday night on the 6 pm news called: "Nola Drum's sons, Daniel and Stephen, enter the priesthood together |7NEWS" at www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz8t2U33BSE. Phew!

Trip to Temora. Frs Dan and Steve have headed off this weekend to their home town of Temora in regional NSW for a couple of First Masses there, but they will soon be back with their smiling faces in a Parish Church near you. They will especially be covering all those Masses which they could not attend up until now in future weeks, so that you all get a chance to greet them personally.

Confirmations. Our beloved Bishop Terry Brady will be with us this weekend for three of our Confirmation Masses on Friday night and Saturday afternoon, so please make him welcome. It is always a pleasure to have him visit us, and I am sure that the young ones making their Confirmations will be very happy to have him preside over the Masses.

Upcoming October Plenary Council Assembly. Our Church in Australia is facing many challenges and needs to Listen to what the Spirit is saying to her. Over the next few months we will be accompanying the preparations for the Plenary Council and I will be posting helpful commentaries and insights gleaned from those meetings as they come to hand. I will personally be attending an "Ambassadors' Gathering" Reflection Day on behalf of the Parish on 3rd July, 2021 to assist in leading the Parish to prepare for this important event in the life of our local Church. More about this in the coming months.

"Southern Glories NZ Catholic Roadtrip" Invitation. Harvest Pilgrimages have begun a wonderful initiative called "Catholic Roadtrips" as an alternative to pilgrimages and retreats, in which they seek to combine stunning scenery with spiritual input and daily Mass at exotic locations. They have invited me to accompany Chris Hohnen of Harvest Pilgrimages and their professional tour guides to lead an 11 day getaway to New Zealand's gorgeous South Island, 13 - 23 October, 2021. Hence, I have included an advertisement in the bulletin for anyone who might like to join us? They are taking advantage of the "travel bubble" in place between NZ and AUS, in a round trip lasting 11 days from Christchurch via unforgettable places like Greymouth, Queenstown, Milford sound, Dunedin, Lake Tekapo and Mount Cook. This should prove to be a wonderful way to enjoy a relaxed 'retreat' in stunning locations, meeting the local Catholics at their Parish Churches, whilst enjoying the breathtaking sights the Lord created in the 'Land of the Long White Cloud'. Again, I will be celebrating Mass each day with our 'Catholic brethren across the Tasman' and we will have some reflection points during the day to accompany this 'pilgrimage of sorts'. Brochures are available from the Parish Office and from Harvest Pilgrimages. And of course, your Parish priest, Fr. Greg Morgan, fmvd is always available for more information!!!

And that's about it for now! God bless you all, and thanks for the gift of your being with us on the journey of life at RGCP!

Fr Greg