Our Gospel Challenge this week is to.....

"Speak to someone that we have not seen for a long time".

There were two parables in yesterday’s gospel. The first is about the invited guests who are too preoccupied with their own business and affairs to come to the prepared feast. The response of the invited guests, the chosen people, was to kill the messengers, an echo of last week’s gospel, where the people of Israel rejected the prophets.

The second parable, in the longer version of the gospel, is about the one who came but did not bother to change into his wedding garments. In both, the reaction of the king seems somewhat extreme! But the parables make an important point about the invitation being offered by God: those who do not bother to respond will lose their invitation; those who accept but fail to change their way of life (their clothes) will also lose out. This text warns that Christian life is a web made up of God’s gracious invitation and our free response.

• What excuses do you make for not doing what you ought?

• Are there things that keep you from responding fully to the invitation?

• What are the things in your life that preoccupy you and make it difficult to respond to the invitation of God?

• The current COVID-19 crisis makes it difficult to invite others into our homes. What are some other ways we can offer and accept hospitality?

Socktober

As we kick off Term 4 and we begin World Mission Month and I would like to share an inspiring video with you. Mission Sunday is this coming Sunday 18 October and our Socktober/Mini Missions date for 2020 has been reset to Tuesday 27 October at 11:45am. Unfortunately only students will be able to attend and we will have a COVID Safe Plan for the event. Thank you to those students who have registered for Socktober and have been fundraising throughout Term Three. You still have time to participate by following the link: http://www.socktober.org.au/fundraising/schools/st-johns-primary-school-mitcham

Pope Francis highlighted his passion for the Pontifical Mission Societies, known in Australia as Catholic Mission, by reinforcing that mission is at the heart and identity of the Church.

“Catholic Mission is part of that global network. We are with all the communities, in every corner of the world,” says Catholic Mission National Director, Fr Brian Lucas. “Missionaries around the world, remain dedicated to serving their communities.”

“They are the people with a thousand faces, comforting the lives of some the most vulnerable communities, like Bishop “Kike”, they are saying we are still here doing our best to keep vital life changing projects running,” says Fr Brian.

The “We Are Still Here” global video launched as part of World Mission Month, connects more than 30 missionaries and mission partners based in over 25 different countries, speaking their own languages and the languages of those they work with. At its heart the video, has a simple message, but with great impact: we are still here.

Pope Francis’ new encyclical: Fratelli Tutti

Through the centuries, popes have written letters or encyclicals on important issues, sometimes addressed to bishops, other times to all Catholics, more recently to all people.

The pope had been rumoured to be writing an encyclical on nonviolence; and, once the COVID-19 pandemic struck, many expected a document exploring in depth his repeated pleas for the world to recognise the inequalities and injustices laid bare by the pandemic and adopt corrective economic, political and social policies. Fratelli Tutti combines those two elements but does so in the framework set by the document on human fraternity and inter-religious dialogue that he and Sheikh Ahmad el-Tayeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, Egypt, signed in 2019.

In fact, in the new document Pope Francis wrote that he was “encouraged” by his dialogue with the Muslim leader and by their joint statement that “God has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, and has called them to live together as brothers and sisters.” The encyclical takes its title from St. Francis of Assisi and is inspired by his “fraternal openness,” which, the pope said, calls on people “to acknowledge, appreciate and love each person, regardless of physical proximity, regardless of where he or she was born or lives.”

The title, which literally means “all brothers and sisters” or “all brothers, involves welcoming the stranger, feeding the hungry, listening to and giving a hand up to the poor, defending the rights of all and ensuring that each person, at every stage of life, is valued and invited to contribute to the community, he said. It also means supporting public policies that do so on a larger scale.

St John's Parish

Please remember that Father Dispin records Mass each week for families to view. It can be found on the Parish Website along with the weekly Parish newsletter.

https://stjohnsmitcham.com.au/

Monica O'Shannassy

moshannassy@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au

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