Hi everyone!

Feast of Christ the King this Weekend

This weekend marks the final week of the Church's liturgical year, and so we will begin Advent (with the colour purple) the weekend after, and the lighting of our first candle in the Advent Wreath at both churches. 

The purpose of it all is to turn our attention to a future reality promised to us by Jesus: that he will come back to take us into his Kingdom, whether that be at the moment of our individual passing from this world, or at the end of time as we know it.

Hence we are about to enter into a time of expectation, of preparation, and of metanoia, the Greek Gospel term for change, transformation, conversion. I pray that these next six weeks or so until Christmas be a time for reflection, pondering on who we are and are becoming, in expectation of Jesus' birth into a new sector of our lives, hearts and minds.

Thank You Breaky for Volunteers Sat Dec 7 @ 8 am Mass SCB

I have often said that, if it weren't for our little army of volunteers, in all sorts of ministries and support roles, this Parish could not function at the dynamic levels that it is currently functioning at. As a way of saying 'thank you' to them, as mentioned in last week's bulletin, I am inviting all our volunteers to a Mass and Morning Tea, with free coffee and hot chocolate from Little Noah's Cafe and a scrumptious selection of really 'high end' breaky or morning tea delights.

Yes, we are going to have Fr. Dan on the BBQ with his infamous bacon and egg rolls. So, the Mass will be on at 8 am, and each volunteer gets to light a little candle at the start in front of the altar as a way of symbolising your contribution to making our Parish a 'light to the nations' (Is 49, 6) as there are heaps of nationalities in our Parish. I look forward to meeting as many of those as possible there.

Christmas at The Cathedral

Don't forget to book your seat on the bus to the opening of the Christmas Light Show' on the facade of St. Mary's Cathedral on Thurs 12 Dec. It is now an annual pilgrimage to our 'Mother Church' and a stunning way to open up our meditations on the Christmas mysteries, when God became a human being. See info box on opposite page and the link for our Try Booking page. Fr Daniele will be accompanying you on the bus.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Dec 12 SCB Church 5.30 pm

Another annual event for Spanish speaking devotees is that of The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We will once again be hosting a Mass in honour of the unique and heart-warming apparitions of our Lady to a budding young Mexican Catholic Church in 1591, which basically paved the way for the evangelisation of the whole of the South American sub-continent in subsequent centuries. I am a great devotee of 'la Guadalupana' (as she is affectionately known), and will be celebrating the Mass and hanging around afterwards for some Mexican music from some Mariarchis, along with a few tacos and other Mexican treats. Nos vemos allí entonces!

Possible Shortening of Sunday Opening Hours at Little Noah's Cafe

Seeing that very few people are availing of a coffee after the 8am Mass, I am thinking of making it easier for our 'volunteer baristas' on the van each Sunday morning to both participate in the 8 am Mass and then start up the coffee van in time for the aftermath of the 10 am Mass. I would be happy to keep it going, but it is a bit demoralising for our volunteers who are cranking up the service from 8 am onwards, only to serve to a handful of people, if that each week. So, we will give it a few more weeks, but if the number of customers doesn't improve, I think it will be more appropriate to open up on Sundays from the 10 am Mass onwards.

Hello to our Housebound Parishioners

Big 'shout out' to all our readers who can't make it to Mass and are receiving this bulletin and Holy Communion due to the determined efforts of our Home Visitation team. I have heard from them that you are very much engaged with our Parish in spirit, that you avidly watch our live streamed Masses and await with delight for someone to come and bring Holy Communion to you. I want you to know that you are very present to our Priests and, should you require a visit from one of us in addition to these weekly visitations, just let either those who visit you from the Parish know, or phone our Parish office on 9807 2966. If you happen to know of someone else who is housebound, but could do with a visit from either one of our Visitation Ministry people, or one of our Priests, get in touch with us as well.

And that's about it for now.

God bless!

Fr. Greg