Reflections on Faith
From the desk of the Religious Education Coordinator - Miss McMeniman
Grandparents / Grandfriends Day Mass:
Thank you to all our wonderful Grandparents / Grandfriends, parents and friends who joined with our St. Joseph’s Community to celebrate Mass together, praying for and giving thanks to God for the gift of grandparents and grandfriends in our lives - these exceptional people who love us, guide us and give us wisdom and who help our parents care for us. We remembered Sts Joachim and Anne the parents of Mary the Mother of Jesus and Jesus’ earthly grandparents. It was a joyous and prayerful celebration and it was wonderful to have some many people at Mass with us.
OCTOBER – Month of the Holy Rosary
October is the month of the Holy Rosary. During the holidays we will celebrate the Feast Day of Our Lady of the Rosary on the 7th October. This day is an important day for our diocese as Our Lady of the Rosary is the Patron of the Diocese of Armidale. The shown image is a mosaic of Our Lady of the Rosary which was placed above the main entrance to the Cathedral in Armidale by Bishop E. ‘Doody in 1961. Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics worldwide to pray the Rosary for peace in war-torn lands in October, the month the Church dedicates to the Holy Rosary. The Pope made his request at the end of his weekly general audience yesterday and the day after he said he had spoken again with the pastor of Holy Family Church in Gaza City, the only Latin-rite Catholic parish in Gaza. Pope Leo noted that October was approaching and that with the October 7 feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, the Church traditionally dedicates the whole month to praying the Rosary. “I invite everyone to pray the Rosary every day during the coming month — for peace — personally, with your families and in your communities,” he said.
What is the Rosary?
The Rosary is one of the most cherished prayers of our Catholic Church. The Rosary is a combination of vocal prayer (the Our Fathers & Hail Marys) and of mental or meditative prayer, reflecting on important events in the life of Christ and His Mother. The Rosary is the story of the New Testament. Through the beads we follow the life of Mary and Jesus. In praying the Rosary, we do not pray to Mary, but honour her as we meditate and bring to mind the mysteries or events of our salvation through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Mary as the Mother of Jesus had an important role to play in God’s plan. Mary is the first disciple, she listened, responded and said ‘yes’ to God. We can ask Mary to pray for us that we may follow her example and pray with us for our needs and the needs of our world especially for the gift of peace amongst nations and people of the world.
Mary, Queen of Peace - pray for us.
Safeguarding Sunday
Please find a message from Bishop Murphy