Our Faith - Religion - Prayer 

St Patrick's Church Walcha 

For Baptism or Marriage enquiries by emailing Father Elino Comanda: walchaparish@armidale.catholic.org.au

Fr Elino would like to invite parishioners to Sunday Mass 10am.

Term 3 Mass Dates

Friday 31st July: Mass(Feast of St Ignatius of Loyola)

Friday 14th August: Mass (Feast of St Maximilian Kolbe)

Friday 18th Sept: Mass

A Journey to Magdala: Remembering St Mary Magdalene

During the recent school holidays, Mr Hyatt spent some time sorting through photos from a pilgrimage he took to Israel back in 2018. Among them, he came across the photographs he took at the Duc In Altum church in Magdala—the ancient hometown of St Mary Magdalene. It felt like a wonderful piece of irony to find them just as we celebrated her official feast day this week on Wednesday.

Magdala, located on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, was a prosperous fishing village in the first century. Today, it is an incredible archaeological and spiritual site. The Duc In Altum centre built there honours the public ministry of Jesus and highlights the significant role women played in the early Church.

St Mary Magdalene herself is one of the most prominent figures in the Gospels. Often called the "Apostle to the Apostles," she was a devoted follower of Jesus, stood faithfully at the foot of the cross, and was the very first person to witness the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Looking back at those photos was a timely reminder of her enduring example of faith, loyalty, and witness.

Prayer

Saint Mary Magdalene,

You followed Jesus with a devoted and courageous heart,

standing faithfully at the foot of the cross

and becoming the first witness to His joy on Easter morning.

Pray for us, that we too may have the courage to follow Christ,

the strength to remain steadfast in times of trial,

and the grace to share the good news of His love with others.

Amen.

School Mass, Friday 31st July at 12.00pm.

We will be celebrating our first Mass of Term 3 onFriday 31st July at 12:00pmat St Patrick’s Catholic Church. This Mass is an opportunity for us to come together as a community to pray for the term ahead. Everyone is warmly invited to attend and join us. We look forward to seeing you there.

Implementing the Angelus Prayer at St Patrick's

Bishop Murphy has recently instructed all schools within the diocese that he would like staff and students to pray the Angelus daily. This traditional Catholic prayer honours the Incarnation and invites us to pause for a moment of reflection during the day.

At St Patrick’s Primary, we are currently working on a structured timeframe to implement this practice meaningfully across the school. To begin, we are focusing on developing our staff members' understanding and appreciation of the prayer by using it to open all of our staff meetings this term.

Following this initial staff preparation, we look to introduce the Angelus to the wider school community. Our current plan is to begin practicing it as a whole school when we gather in the morning, with an expected rollout scheduled for mid-Term 4 or the beginning of next year.

Below is some information provided by Armidale Catholic Schools concerning the question: Do Catholics Worship Mary?

The International Eucharistic Congress 2028

This is a major event in the global Church calendar: the 54th International Eucharistic Congress, which will be celebrated in 2028.

An International Eucharistic Congress is a historic gathering that brings together clergy, religious, and laypeople from all over the world to bear witness to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. These congresses are held every few years in a different host city chosen by the Pope, featuring days of prayer, theological reflection, cultural events, and large-scale liturgies.

We look forward to sharing more updates and resources with our school families as the Church begins its official spiritual preparations for 2028.

Calling for Altar Servers

It was great to see we had five students receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time recently. Did you know that once a child can receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion they can take part in altar serving at both of our school and parish Masses?

Father Elino is looking out for any of our students who would like to become an altar server. Altar Servers must be Catholic and have a basic understanding of the mystery of Jesus present in the Eucharist and of the importance of prayerful reverence in their role as Altar servers.

Servers will be shown how to serve commencing in the near future during lunchtime.

If you have any questions regarding altar serving, don't hesitate to get in touch with Mr Hyatt.

Catherine McAuley

Catherine’s spirituality was centred on the mercy of God…prayer in action…action in prayer.