From Fr Greg's Desk: Sunday 12th February 2023

Hi everyone!
Summer is definitely 'in swing' and the rain this week has certainly helped our lawns and gardens. And the new awning outside the Parish Office at SCB Ryde is certainly proving to be very useful indeed.

Wednesday OLQP and Thursday SCB Morning Playgroups (9 – 10.30 am)
Just a reminder that for all you looking after toddlers and pre-schoolers, every Wednesday (at OLQP hall) and Thursday at (SCB hall), we have our morning ‘playgroups’. Grab a cup of coffee (either from our coffee trolleys or Noah’ s Arc Cafe at SCB) while your toddlers play with some seriously fun toys and stuff.

And our Family Educators will be there to organise it all for you; just pop on in and 'let the toddlers play'.
Our Catechists are Back at our State Schools this Week
Our intrepid catechists are back 'at action stations' this week. We are happy to say that twelve more parishioners have signed up to help out with this noble pastoral work of ours. If you happen to know any Catholic parents with kids in year 3 or year 6 at state schools in our Parish, please let them know that the registration is now open for them to receive their First Holy Communion and Confirmation at the Parish this year. Please contact the office for further information.

Pilgrimages with Fr. Greg in the Near Future
Many of you have asked me of late when I will next be leading a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, as I did back in 2018, or in the “Footsteps of St. Paul’ as I had planned to do in 2020 for my 25th Anniversary of Priesthood (COVID-19 effectively ‘canned’ that one!)

Harvest Tours have recently invited me to lead a few more pilgrimages in the near future, so I thought I’d mention two of them to you, in case you might want to join me as a fellow pilgrim.

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land (13-23 Oct 2023)
The first is a pilgrimage to the Holy Land on October 13- 23 (not including travelling time to and fro). We aim to walk ‘In the Footsteps of Jesus’.

A trip to the Holy Land is an unforgettable experience, and I often say that every Catholic, if they can, ought to visit the Holy Land at least once in their lifetime. I never realised what a profound effect it would have on my own Catholic faith until I experienced it for myself.

We stay in great accommodations at Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Lake of Galilee and the Dead Sea, and visit unforgettable places like Nazareth, Jericho, Mount Tabor and Cana in Galilee. There is an optional visit to the far side of the Jordan, where Elijah struck the waters and parted them, and John the Baptist probably baptised Jesus; and to Petra, where the Three Wise Men are thought to have come. So it is a pretty impressive pilgrimage!!

I am happy to field any queries you might have about it. Or you can click on the following link which will take you to the pilgrimage website:https://www.harvestjourneys.com/tour/footsteps-of-jesus/

Pilgrimage in the Footsteps of St. Paul (April 2024)
Next year, in April 2024, I will be following in the "Footsteps of St. Paul" to the lands of Greece and modern day Turkey, where he carried out his mission to the pagans.

It passes through iconic places such as Corinth, Philippi, Thessalonica and Ephesus (to whom he wrote letters that we read out at Mass), and even the Island of Patmos where St. John was exiled (Rev 1, 9).

If you would rather go there this year, however, our former Parish Priest, Fr. Paul Monkerud, will be the Chaplain at a similar pilgrimage from 29/5/23 to 9/6/23 June.

Information on these pilgrimages can be found at: : https://www.harvestjourneys.com/tour/journey-of-st-paul/.

St. Charles Gardening Rosters.
Great to see how the gardens and lawns are looking, thanks to our volunteers of our Green Finger’s Gardening Ministry. If you can help us out or for more information please contact the office on 9807 2466.

And that’s about it for now! Your brother in Christ’s missionary service,

Fr. Greg