Education in Faith
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Feast Day
Last week Galilee attended Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel for their feast day. Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites were Christians living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land during the late 12th and early to mid 13th centuries. They built a chapel in the which they dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, whom they conceived of in chivalric terms as the "Lady of the place."
The Carmelites see in the Blessed Virgin Mary a perfect model of the interior life of prayer and contemplation to which Carmelites aspire, a model of virtue, as well as the person who was closest in life to Jesus Christ. She is seen as the one who points Christians most surely to Christ, saying to all what she says to the servants at the wedding at Cana, "Do whatever Jesus tells you." Carmelites look to the Virgin Mary as a Spiritual Mother.
Readings This Week
This week’s readings focus on Jesus as the compassionate shepherd–king, who gathers and instructs a scattered people. Early Christians read passages in the Old Testament as a window into the revelation of Jesus, the Messianic Shepherd–King, which we find in the Gospels. The Responsorial Psalm is one of the most familiar and best-loved psalms of the entire psalter. God is characterised as a shepherd who attends to both the physical and the spiritual needs of each individual sheep.
In the second reading from Ephesians (2: 13–18), Paul speaks of Christ breaking down the wall that separates Jews from Gentiles through his sacrifice, forming a united community in the Church which forms the nucleus of a new humanity. A modern parallel might be the breach of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Upcoming Dates
July 26 Mediation at OLMC Malone Room
July 28- 29 OLMC Church and Library and Hall are open as part of Open House Melbourne
July 31 The Saints 6.30-9.30 pm Guest speaker discussing the lives of inspirational saints Sts. Peter and Paul’s Hall
Aug 15 Feast of the Assumption
Aug 20 Grandparents’ Day Mass at Sts. Peter and Paul’s 9.30 am
Aug 31 Father’s Day Mass at Sts. Peter and Paul’s 9.30 am
Sept 3 P-2 Parish Mass at Sts. Peter and Paul’s 9 am
Sept 10 3-4 Parish Mass at OLMC 9 am
Sept 17 5-6 Parish Mass at St. Joseph's 9 am
Sept 19 Parent Information Session for the Sacrament of Confirmation OLMC at O’Connor Pilkington Rooms 7 pm
Nov. 9 OLMC Sacrament of Confirmation
Prayer The Whispering of God’s Word
We have heard the whisper of your word Almost silent, yet insistent
Breaking through the chatter
Of many voices
The clatter
Of background noises
The wind
The rain
The storms and troubles of life Through all of this
Your word remains Unchangeable
Cuts through to the heart
And soul
Unmissable
‘Come follow me
Take up the Cross...
My burden is no burden at all It is simply love
Poured out for you
And through you
Sustaining
Empowering ...
Come follow me’
The world has ears
Yet fails to hear
But we have heard the whispering of your word and we trust your quiet work
in the hidden depths of our hearts.
Adapted from www.faithandworship.com