From Fr Greg's Desk: Sunday 8th August

Hi everyone,

Pastoral Assistance
In a week in which it seems the 'Delta' COVID strain has somewhat 'taken off', we once again pray that this latest “Delta flight" will soon be over, and that with vaccinations, we will soon be able to open up our Churches once again and enjoy our weekly worship altogether. 

In the meantime, we are doing the best we can to minister to all of you within the constraints of current NSW Health restrictions. Please don't hesitate to text or call us on 0413 226 508 or email the Parish Office at office@rgcp.org.au for anything we could do to assist, or to send in requests for Mass intentions, bulletin deliveries via our 'buddy system', or reception of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick if seriously ill (except, of course, if they exhibit symptoms of the COVID virus), or to be put on the sick list.

Feast Day of Saint Mary of the Cross Mackillop
This weekend we celebrate the feast day of our greatest (... and for now only...) Aussie Saint, Mary (Of the Cross) Mackillop, whose mother was actually buried in our graveyard ('Flora MacDonald') after she drowned tragically in a ship wreck off the coast of Eden (NSW). The sad thing about her death was that she was on her way to help Mary and the Sisters at a fundraising event in Sydney. She was later exhumed and reburied in the Nun's Section over at Macquarie Park Cemetery. This feast day in Australia takes precedence over both the normal Sunday liturgy as well as the Feast of the Trasfiguration, which was celebrated instead last Friday. We also thank the Lord on this day for our Sisters of the Congregation of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, the "Josephites" as they are known, and for all the many apostolic works they have founded and currently maintain.



Some Gems of Wisdom from Saint Mary Mackillop
What can we learn from Saint Mary Mackillop in these troubled times we live in? What did she do and say that could empower us once again into action and lift our heavy hearts through despair and discouragement? What might she say to us today? How about this one, for starters:



"Whatever troubles may be before you, accept them bravely, remembering Whom you are trying to follow. Do not be afraid. Love one another, bear with one another, and let charity guide you all your life. God will reward you as only He can." (St. Mary Mackillop)



Wow. That is pretty relevant to what we are going through right now. Even in lockdowns, love will always find a way to express itself, if we but allow God to act in us, let Jesus’ love – charity – guide us through life. And to 'accept out troubles bravely' is also fantastic advice. Or how about this one:



"Remember we are all but travellers here."



I wonder if that is what Mary Mackillop said to her mother before she took that final trip up to Sydney, and died shipwrecked off the shores of Eden? We are nothing more than pilgrims in this world; We were never meant to stick around here much more than a century at best, but in the time we have in our hands, we are meant to win an eternal inheritance, and we do that with every little hands selfless love we manage to let fly. Or this last one, from Mary Mackillop’s store:



"Believe in the whisperings of God to your own heart."



Prayer is about letting God whisper things into your heart, when we make connections between life and what he says, that no other person has told us. And when we believe in those “whisperings of God” to our own heart, enough to act on them. Like Peter did in the Gospel from last Thursday (Matt 16, 16 - 17), having somehow realised Jesus was the Christ he was waiting for, and told him so. Jesus then said to him: “Simon, son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven." The joy Jesus speaks of is from experiencing that "whispering" within, when the Word of God leaps out of the page at you and captivates you, takes you by surprise! There really is nothing like it, and nothing else stands out in my memory as much as these experiences.



Listen for the voice of God inside, moving you to act in a selfless and loving way. I think this is what Mary Mackillop was getting at when she said these words. Don’t worry, they won’t lead you astray. You will be able to tell by the fruits of those words in you. St. Paul lists them out in Gal 5, 22 - 23 as follows: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control”, what he calls the “fruits of the Spirit”. To which he adds, “against such things there is no law".



And nor should the present circumstances stop us from seeking creative ways of tending to the needs of the people around you, as best as you can and within the constraints public health orders impose on us. You can still share the fruits of the Spirit at least with those with whom you are sharing this lockdown! To which Mary Mackillop would probably tell us today, as she told her sisters:



"Never see a need without doing something about it."



I think that one is fairly self-explanatory; only that perhaps we would do well to make an extra effort this week to look outside of ourselves and our little family circles with the 'eyes of the heart' to actually see the needs of others around us, in order to know how to respond...



God bless you all, and Happy Feast Day with Mary Mackillop, our one and only (for now) officially recognised Australian Saint!



Your brother in Christ’s service, as always,

Fr Greg