St Mary’s Parish Prayer

God our Father, as we thank you for the blessings, we ask you to bless this Parish of yours, so that

we may love you more.

Encircle our families with your loving care.

Help parents to be good examples to their

children and our youth to grow in strength as good Christians.

To the sick grant health, to the aged bring serenity and to those in sorrow, joy.

May we grow stronger in faith and may

our love for one another become deeper

in our daily living.

We make this through the intercession of our Mother Mary. Amen

UPDATED - Paris Office Hours

Tuesday and Thursday, 9.00am to 4.00pm, But Brenda may be working from home for some of those hours. Important parish issues will be addressed and you are welcome to call directly on 0466 830 682 if the parish number 5825 2034 is unattended.

Bulletin notices are welcome and can be phoned to 5825 2034 or emailed to the office

mooroopna@cdos.org.au

OUR CHURCH IS CLOSED

In view of the Premiers announcement

regarding Stage 3 “stay at home”

restrictions, Bishop Shane has advised

that we must close our churches from

Thursday 6th August.

Sadly, this means that we are unable to

conduct our daily and weekend masses.

NO WEEKDAY MASSES

NO WEEKEND MASSES

LIVE-STREAMING ONLY

FUNERALS—maximum 10 people

Mons Peter will continue to video a mass each week and up to 5 helpers

can assist.

As we prepare for this new period of increased distancing, let us renew our commitment to ongoing connection with one another and with our communities, and especially supporting those who are facing illness and the loss of loved ones during this pandemic.

Updated - On the Lighter Side

All generalizations are false, including this one.

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. Quotes from Mark Twain

New - Feast of the Week - St John Eudes 19 August

John Eudes (born in Normandy, France 14/11/1601 the son of a farmer and died 19/8/1680). Fr Eudes became increasingly aware of the moral distress and exploitation of many girls and women. In 1641, he established a refuge in Caen. It was the beginning of what would become the Order of Our Lady of Charity. Rose Pelletier entered the Order, given the name Mary of St. Euphrasia. And later she founded the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. Sr Mary Euphrasia longed that the whole world would benefit from the saving work John Eudes initiated. He was canonised 31/5/1925.

NEW - Quote of the Day

Our wish, our object, our chief preoccupation must be to form Jesus in ourselves, to make his spirit, his devotion, his affections, his desire, and his disposition live and reign there. St John Eudes

New - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Confined to the house on Saturday because of a combination of government mandate, wintry weather and inertia (coronavirus fatigue is definitely a thing), I opted to rewatch the first movie in the Lord of the Rings triology – The Fellowship of the Ring.

Despite having seen it numerous times, this time I was struck with a piece of dialogue between one of the main characters – Frodo – and his friend and mentor, Gandalf. Frodo has been given a seemingly impossible task and in a moment of fear and despair he wishes 'it need not have happened in my time'. 'So do I', said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us'. This idea of doing your best in the time you find yourself resonates as we struggle with the coronavirus, which came just after the summer's horrific bushfires.

In Sunday's Gospel we meet a Canaanite woman who makes the most of the times she is given. Neither deterred by Jesus' rudeness or the apostles' complaints about the fuss she is making, her clever retort results in her being granted her wish for a cure for her daughter.

Michele Frankeni - Australian Catholics assistant editor

NEW - Looking at the Readings

From the time of Isaiah in the First Reading to the time of Christ in the Gospel and in the days of Paul’s epistles and preaching during his years of mission the question about foreigners, gentiles and pagans has occupied the minds of God’s prophets and Christ’s disciples. Isaiah cites God’s promise to foreigners that they will come to his house (56:8-9), Paul reminds his own people that he is an apostle to the Gentiles. Yet God’s people forget, don’t make the connection when it matters. Jesus tests his own apostles when the Canaanite woman asks for a miracle. Are they going to remember the prophets and Christ own inclusive ministry with Samaritans, Gadarenes and Romans? Jesus praises the faith of the Canaanite and heals her daughter.

“The number of times Jesus and the apostles minister to the Gentiles are too numerous to need quotations.” (J L Mackenzie, Dictionary of the Bible). Yet the first disciples, the early Christians, the Medieval Church and ourselves in present times must relearn this lesson given in Phoenicia (now modern day Lebanon) and apply it to the “foreigner, the outcast, the stranger, the marginalised and the discriminated”. “O God, let all the nations praise you.” (Ps 67:4-5)

NEW - VINNIES, Mooroopna

Advise that the shop will re-open from

Monday, 17th August.

UPDATED - MASS with MONS PETER

These masses are again being videod on Friday and uploaded to YouTube and the parish website late Saturday afternoon

https://www.stmarysmooroopna.com

and go to - Mass Schedule,

- This week

NEW - SOCIAL JUSTICE SUNDAY 30TH August, 2020

To live life to the full—Mental Health

Understanding mental health will help us to be aware of those who need support. We are encouraged to reject stigmatisation, to work for the transformation of social determinants of mental ill-health and service provision that meets the needs of the most marginalised.

Live Services From Sandhurst With Bishop Shane

12.10pm every weekday and 10.00am Sundays

www.sandhurst.catholic.org.au

OTHER OPTIONS FOR YOU AT HOME -

DAILY TV MASS Livestream from the National Catholic Broadcasting Council of Canada: https://dailytvmass.com/ and

Facebook: ‘Daily TV Mass’

ST MELS PARISH LIVE STREAMING

This takes place every Sunday at 9.30am. To be part of this you must email their parish office on :-

sheppartonsouth@cdos.org.au

and register your interest and they will send you a link each week.

Bulletin Advertising

The Parish are currently calling for businesses that are interested in advertising in the Parish Bulletin and the School newsletters. We have 2 vacancies available.

If you are interested in discussing this, please contact Brenda at the Parish on 5825 2034 or The school Office on 5825 2858

Parish Sponsors

News from around the school

REMINDER - Pupil Free Day

UPDATED - ICAS 2020

UPDATED - Subway