MESSAGE ON THE SOLEMNITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE (YR A)
Friday 24th November 2023
My dear people,
We are all looking forward to Tien’s ordination to the priesthood tomorrow. I invite you to keep him and all the men ordained tomorrow in your prayers. As they receive the confirmation of their vocation, let us pray that the Good Shepherd will guide them along the paths he has traced for them. Fr Tien will be with us next weekend of 2nd and 3rd December. We will have a gathering after the 12pm Mass on Sunday 3rd December to celebrate his ordination. It is not too late to write your name down and bring something to share on the day.
I am very grateful to all of you who have made comments and also to those who have made suggestions about the plans for the proposed refurbishments to the church building in order to increase its capacity both in terms of seats and for other uses. The architects have proposed changes to the initial plans to reflect the comments we have received. These are now on our website and on the notice board in the gathering space. There will be a further consultation with them on 19th December 2023 at 7:45pm in the meeting room. Please come and share your observations and concerns about our church’s refurbishments.
I am likewise grateful for your comments about the change of Mass times for next year. It is apparent from many of your comments about the change of Mass times that half an hour between the end of one Mass and the start of another Mass on a Sunday morning is not enough. I will discuss with the Leadership Team how to collect your opinions about the change of Mass times in a more formal and organised manner.
Our parish’s Carols by Candlelight will be held this year on Sunday 10th December in the evening at the CRC Hall. You are invited to arrive at 5pm for the sausage sizzle as well as some activities for the children. We will start the carols from 6.30pm. I hope to see many of you there. The Christmas Raffle will also be drawn on the day and tickets for the raffle are on sale every weekend after all the Masses.
Ron Huntley, who works internationally with church leaders to achieve fruitful parish missionary renewal, was in our parish last Sunday. He addressed the Ministry Coordinators between 2pm and 4pm and the PLT between 5pm and 7pm. Ron’s time with us was most fruitful and I believe that he has made a positive impact on everyone who was there. He spoke about creating good organisational structure in his talk to the Ministry Coordinators and spoke to the Leadership Team about sustainable growth in our parish. Last night, the Leadership Team made a trip to East Bentleigh to hear Ron speak about growing vital parishes and that talk was equally insightful. As I have mentioned before, I have put our parish on this journey of missionary renewal in order to enliven in our hearts love for Our Lord and for his Church as well as to transform the hearts of the people of Caroline Springs for a personal, rewarding and fulfilling relationship with Our Lord Jesus Christ. I invite you to continue to pray for missionary renewal in our parish.
You may have noticed that there has been no update about the Leadership Team meetings for a couple of months. This is due to the absence of regular Leadership Team meetings since before my annual leave. We have started a practice of summarising the main points discussed at Leadership Team meetings and making these available once a month. We will resume that practice once we meet regularly.
We continue turning to our patron saint and we ask for her intercession.
St Catherine of Siena, Pray for us.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Fr Richard Rosse PP