Happy Birthday Father Liem

Best wishes to Fr Liem who celebrated his Birthday last Thursday.

Father John

Father John will be away from the Parish from 10th – 20th June.

End of Financial Year Process

As the 30th June falls on a Sunday, the last banking for the 2023/2024 financial year will be at 9.00am on Monday 24th June.

Any donations received after this date will go into the next financial year.

St Vincent de Paul Society's Winter Appeal

Is still running this weekend. Our conference members thank you sincerely for your past donations. Times are tough for everyone, and there are many calls on your generosity. Our members and those we serve are grateful for anything you can spare. As always, you can give by cash or credit card by putting the appeal envelopes in either collection. Wardens with buckets will also be at the church doors at the end of Mass on that weekend. You can also scan the QR code or give online at https://www.vinnies.org.au/.

Thank you again for your generosity!

Anthony Thurn, St. Martha’s Conference, St Vincent de Paul Society

Holy Father's Appeal

The annual Holy Father’s Appeal will be held across the weekend 29th & 30th June. This appeal, also known as Peter’s Pence, is a gesture of solidarity with the universal Church to support the works of the Holy Father Pope Francis.

Volunteers Needed

We urgently need more volunteers to fill a rotating roster. Children’s Liturgy during the 10am Mass (school term only). We are asking anyone that wishes to volunteer to please contact the Parish Office and provide your Working with Children compliance documents. We also encourage any senior school students who are enrolled in the Duke of Ed Award to utilise this opportunity to complete community time. Students under 18 are exempt from WWC compliance.

Background on the Gospel Reading

In the section of the Gospel just before these verses, Jesus calls his Twelve Apostles. Now he performs his first exorcism. It is told within the context of conflict with his family. A crowd so large has gathered that Jesus and his disciples are not even able to eat their bread. His family comes to take him away because they think he is beside himself. And the scribes think he is possessed by the devil. Jesus points out to them the absurdity of their thinking that he uses the devil to cast out demons. In fact, it is Jesus who ties up the strong man, Beelzebub, and overcomes him. He concludes with a brief saying about the forgiveness of sins. All sin can be forgiven except for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. It’s not known exactly what he means by this. It could be that the only sin that can’t be forgiven is the one that cuts you off from the source of forgiveness, the Holy Spirit. Mark then brings Jesus’ family back into the picture. They are not presented in a critical light but are just trying to see him. This gives Jesus the opportunity to point out that family for him is not based on blood.

Family Connection

Families are places of beginnings. Within our family, we first learn what it means to be part of a community. We share a closeness and experience mutual understanding and support. We learn how to love one another, how to ask for and receive forgiveness, and how to apply all these lessons to the world outside our homes. As you gather as a family, talk about what makes your family special. Share some of the lessons you have learned together about love, forgiveness, and understanding. Then read today’s Gospel, Mark 3:20–35. Jesus wants us to understand that by doing God’s will, we are part of a bigger family. Choosing to follow Jesus, being his disciple, means we must treat one another with kindness and mercy. We must become a family. Conclude by asking God to bless your family and to help you do God’s will by seeing all his people with the same kind of love and compassion. Pray together the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary.

Dates to Remember