Embracing the worshipping communities of

Embracing the worshipping communities of
CHILDERS * BIGGENDEN * GIN GIN * MT.PERRY * WOODGATE
Fr. Sunny Mathew CMI - CHILDERS 4126 1256
PO Box 45, CHILDERS QLD 4660
FAX 41263716
Parish Office 4126 1256; Secretary Maureen McCarthy. For urgent matters contact Fr Sunny 0428 235 783
St Joseph’s Primary School: Principal Mr John Hinton – Ph 4126 1866
St Vincent de Paul – Ph 4126 1822
PARISH WEBSITE: www.childerscatholic.com
Email: [email protected]
23rd NOVEMBER 2014
SACRED HEART CHILDERS
WEEKDAY MASS – MON, WED, FRI 9am
ADORATION & ROSARY WED 8-9am
SATURDAY VIGIL 6.00 pm
SUNDAY
6.30 am
Reconciliation: Sat. 5.00 pm
ST PATRICK’S MT. PERRY
1st SUNDAY OF MONTH 10.30 am
OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE
ST MICHAEL’S GIN GIN
SUNDAY 8.30am
TUESDAY 5pm
Rosary 9am Fridays
YEAR A
ST PETER’S BIGGENDEN
SUNDAY 10.30 am
st
(1 Sunday Liturgy of the Word
and Communion)
Rosary before Mass 10.05am
WOODGATE BEACH
SUNDAY 6.15pm
Please pray for those who are ill in our families and communities especially Fr Sunny’s dad, Mike & Chris Cook,
Theresa Loganathan, Olivia Greci, Martyn Jones, Marietta Ricciardi, Ann Sutherland, Julie Green, Amy Pointing, Baby
George, Josh Ruane, Bailey Sykes, Leanne Crooks, Charlie Ricciardi, Bill Peters, Susan Von Richter, Veronica Saunders,
Elizabeth Rayner. (Please contact the office if someone is well again and can be removed from the list).
ANNIVERSARIES: Eric Kingston, Olga Atwell, Roy Bateman, Robert Knight, Charles Fenton Michell, Aurora
Rossato, Carmel Caravella. May they rest in peace. Amen.
ANNIVERSARIES: May they rest in peace. Amen.
MESSAGE
FOR THE WEEK: "Lord, May your kingdom come"
FEAST DAYS THIS WEEK: Monday St Elizabeth of Hungary; Friday The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today, we celebrate the feast of Christ our King. This great feast brings to an end the Church's liturgical year. In this twentyfirst century, the image of king would seem to be an unlikely one to attribute to Jesus. Usually, we would prefer an image
which speaks in a more personal, simple way of Christ. Curiously, this feast of Christ as king was only introduced in 1925. It
was an attempt on the part of the pope to counter the increasing atheism and secularisation of society. It was an assertion of
Christ's sovereignty over all human societies and institutions. As such, it does not really recognise and respect the diverse
and pluralistic cultures of the modern world. Recent revisions of the feast have emphasised rather the cosmic and future
character of Christ's kingship. Christ is Lord of all creation, his is 'a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and
grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace', as the preface declares. Today's feast of course is not the only feast that
recognises the glorious reign of Christ. Already acknowledged in the Epiphany, it is celebrated especially in the feasts of
Easter and Ascension. In that sense, today's celebration leads us to the very heart of our faith; the death and resurrection of
Christ.
Like the Responsorial Psalm that follows it, the first reading today images God as shepherd of Israel. It serves a double
purpose. It provides a link with the gospel: God, the good Shepherd, judges between sheep and goats. Secondly, it proposes
an ideal leadership for the people of Israel, a leadership unlike their secular kings, a leadership that defends the just and
upholds the weak. What voice do we employ for God as Shepherd of the flock? Obviously it is one of concern, caring, overseeing. When we think of a king we think of someone who is very remote from his people, and before whom they bow and
scrape. But Christ is not like that. He came among us as brother and a friend. He came to serve, not to be served. And he
showed special concern for the weak and the poor. The one thing he wants from us his followers is that we should imitate
him in this. And the gospel reading today reminds us that we will be judged on our deeds of love, our kindness to others,
especially on our care for the needy. It is not quite true to say that, besides love, nothing else is necessary. But it is true to
say that, faith in Christ is expressed in practical charity towards others. Today's gospel reading not only set forth the
establishment of Christ, in solemnity, as king, making judgement between 'sheep' and 'goats', but in rich and evocative
language, the reading goes further to set forth the deeds of the virtuous and sinners and their respective rewards. The
corporal works of mercy are highlighted as the deeds of the righteous. It is not a question of doing great things, rather, it is a
question of doing little things - loving and helping in the many little ways that are open to us each day. As we pray for the
coming of God's kingdom among us, a kingdom in which all of God's children will have enough of the good things of life to be
able to attain their true dignity, let us also ask God for his grace and strength to be able to immense ourselves in the work of
helping each other, especially the poor and the needy. May God bless us all, Amen,
Odinaka
WELCOME BACK FR SUNNY
We warmly welcome Fr Sunny back to our parish centres
this weekend and assure you that you, your dad and
family have been, and will continue to be, in our thoughts
and prayers. We are grateful to our supply priests, Fr Pat
Dowd, Fr Bavin Clarke and Fr John Begg for filling in and
ask God to bless them in their work.
NOVEMBER - MONTH OF THE HOLY SOULS
November is traditionally the time Catholics remember and
pray for the Holy Souls. If you wish to offer a Mass for a
departed loved one or friend, please use the Mass for the
Holy Souls Envelope in your Planned Giving envelope box
or envelopes are available at the door of the church or
pious goods stall. This week we especially remember and
pray for deceased members and friends of the O’Brien and
Jamieson families. May they rest in peace. Amen.
ORDINATION TO THE DIACONATE
A very good contingent of parishioners representing our
combined parish centres and teachers and students of St
Joseph’s School travelled to Brisbane on Friday to witness
the Ordination to the Diaconate of Odinaka Nwadike,
Paul Eloagu and Dominic Orih by Most Rev. Bishop
Brian Finnigan DD, Auxiliary Bishop of Brisbane at Holy
Spirit Chapel, Banyo. Please pray for these three young
men as they continue on their journey to priesthood.
CHILDERS PPC MEETING WED 26th NOVEMBER
Childers Parish Pastoral Council meeting was rescheduled due to storms to this Wednesday in the St
Joseph’s Meeting Room at 6pm. Plans will be discussed
for the Catholics Returning Home program we will be
running which will conclude at Easter.
BREAK OPEN THE WORD
Attention Readers: Please collect your Break Open the
Word for the new liturgical year (B) from the vestry. These
start next weekend with the First Sunday of Advent. If you
are a reader you will need one of these at home to prepare
for the readings when you are rostered on. Cost is $17.
LITTLE BOOKS FOR ADVENT
Advent starts next Sunday. Little Books are ready to
collect. These provide wonderful 6 minute reflections of
the weekday Gospels during the Advent and Christmas
seasons and contain all sorts of snippets of information to
help us prepare for the feast of Christmas.
POSITION VACANT – PARISH SECRETARY
The position of Childers parish secretary has become
vacant. If you (or someone you know) is interested and
would like more information and a job description, please
contact Fr Sunny. Thank you.
CATHOLIC LEADER
The Childers CWL members are hoping more parishioners
will read the Leader which contains so many interesting
articles about Catholic faith and life. If you wish to order a
Leader each week ($2), please put your name on the
clipboard or see the usual contact person in your area.
PETER’S PENCE COLLECTION NEXT WEEKEND
Each year parishes in the Archdiocese of Brisbane take up
the Peter's Pence collection as a retiring collection (as
people leave the church after Mass).
The Peter's Pence Collection gives Catholics in Australia
an opportunity to join in communion with the Catholic
faithful throughout the world in support of the charitable
works of the Holy See. It allows the Holy Father to respond
to the most needy throughout the world, to offer timely,
effective emergency assistance to our suffering brothers
and sisters. Please come prepared and give generously.
ROSTERS FOR NEXT WEEK 29/30th NOVEMBER
CHILDERS: Offertory/Greeters: D Bunn, P Russo
Readers: J Hinton, A LaRocca, Anna Bonanno
Ministers of Communion: T Clutterbuck, I Fernandes
Monitor:
Altar Servers: Josh & Sofie
Sunday: Greeters/Offertory: G Peters, D French
Readers: S Jones, B Kingston, T McDonnell
Ministers of Communion: Odinaka, D French
Monitor: Helen; Linen: NOV: Small – Monina; Large Denise
GIN GIN: Greeters & Offertory: Zwynenberg Family
Readers: Pat & Gail, Toni; Min of Communion:
Jim & Tegan; Flowers & Cleaning: Music: Carmel
COLUMBAN CALENDARS 2015 ON SALE NOW
Support Vinnies by buying a Columban calendar from the
pious goods stall for $9. A small percentage of the sale
goes to help Vinnies in their work with the less fortunate in
our community. Christmas cards are $2 per pack.
VINNIES CHRISTMAS APPEAL NOW ON
Envelopes are available at the door of the church if you
wish to donate to the Christmas appeal to help change the
lives of women and children escaping domestic violence,
by providing medication for a pensioner, or helping
disadvantaged kids participate in a confidence kids’camp.
Together, we can do something about it.
CHRIST THE UNIVERSAL KING RELECTION
“…as you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did
it to me” – Matthew 25:40
Most of us are generous when it’s convenient for us. We
are generous when we have the time or the money. But,
generosity is the opposite of that. It means giving of one’s
time, money, compassion, forgiveness, mercy when it’s
not convenient; when it’s not on our schedule, but on the
other person’s schedule.
ADVENT RETREAT DAY NEXT SATURDAY
Christ Church Anglican Church, Childers, invites you to an
Advent Retreat Day SAT 29TH NOVEMBER. It’s a time for
quiet preparation and stillness to carry through Advent. To
book a place contact Dilys 0421733394 or email
[email protected] Suggested donation is $20 to cover hand
out material, morning and afternoon tea. BYO lunch,
notebook, pen. Why not get a group together & go along?