The Joyful Commission - Lent 2022

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11th - 13th Of March 2022 PERTHVILLE

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Make the most of

Lent 2022

ANOINTING MASS AND MORNING TEA We are pleased to announce an Anointing Mass for the frail, elderly, and seriously ill this Lent.

The Mass will be celebrated at 9.30am Saturday 9 April at St Mary's Church followed by morning tea. Anointing will be with individual pieces of cotton wool for COVID safety.

Please bring a plate to share at morning tea.

Ash Wednesday 2 March 2022 Parish Mass Times: 8.00am St Mary's 5.45pm St Joseph's 9.00am Molong 10.30am Manildra

Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and abstinence from red meat for healthy adults.

Distribution of ashes will be by sprinkling on the head for COVID safety.

Project Compassion One great way to commit to almsgiving this Lent is to support Caritas Australia through Project Compassion.

Envelopes, boxes, and online giving information is available in the churches and in the weekly Parish Overview. Please be generous in your support.

Enter the Penitential Season

pray - fast - give

Lenten Groups

24 Hours for the Lord 25/3- 26/3

Beginning with the 5.45pm Mass on Friday 25/3 at St Joseph's our parish will pray silently with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament for 24 hours finishing on Saturday afternoon. Jesus asks us: can you stay awake with me for just one hour? Together in the deep silence we pray for the parish, the Church, Australia, and the whole world.

Lenten Groups are a wonderful way to journey with the Sunday readings.

A group meets 10.30am at the Parish Office every Tuesday starting 1/3.

The Way of the Cross The Way (or stations) of the Cross is an opportunity to spiritually walk with Jesus as he caries his Cross to Calvary for our salvation. They are prayed at 5.15pm at St Joseph's every Friday starting 4/3.

Syro-Malabar Retreat

Led by a visiting priest, Fr Ronnie, this retreat for the Syro-Malabar community will take place at St Mary's over 3 days: Wednesday 9/3; Thursday 10/3, and Friday 11/3.

The Gospel Journey through

Lent 2022

ENCOUNTER THE MERCY OF GOD A prayerful evening including the Second Rite of Reconciliation will take place at 7.30pm Tuesday 12 April at St Mary's.

This Lent our communal celebration of the sacrament of Penance will be by candle light and include the meditative music of Taizé.

This is a gentle time of forgiveness and peace.

First Sunday 6/3 Luke 4: 1-13 Led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, Jesus is tempted by the devil for 40 days and 40 nights.

Second Sunday 13/3

Laetare Sunday Rejoice! 27/3 Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32 Jesus welcomes sinners. To bring the message home, he teaches the disciples the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

Luke 9: 28- 36

Fifth Sunday 3/4

Taking Peter, James and John with him, Jesus goes up the mountain and is transfigured before them.

John 1:8-11

Third Sunday 20/3 Luke 13: 1-9 Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree: leave it for one more year, tend to it, and give it time to bear fruit.

In the temple, Jesus tells us not to condemn others, even a woman caught in adultery.

'Let the one among you who has not sinned be the first to throw a stone.'

Palm Sunday 10/4 Luke 19: 28-40 Entering Jerusalem on a donkey, Jesus is greeted by joyful cries: "blessed is the King"!

A time of branches, blood, and glory

Holy Week 2022

Week Days of Holy Week Monday 11/4 9.30 am St Mary's: Mass 6.00pm Chrism Mass at Cathedral in Bathurst.

Sacred oils are blessed and priests renew their priestly promises.

Tuesday 12/4 9.30am St Mary's: Mass 7.30pm St Mary's Candle Light Encounter Evening.

Reconciliation, Taizé, and Adoration.

Wednesday 13/4 12.30-1.30pm St Joseph's: individual confessions 5.00pm St Joseph's: Adoration 5.45pm St Joseph's: Mass Thursday during the day 14/4 12.30-1.30pm St Joseph's: individual confessions

The Sacred Triduum Begins

Holy Thursday 14/4

Mass of the Lord's Supper ORANGE CITY 7.30pm St Joseph's followed by vigil until midnight.

ORANGE DISTRICT 7.00pm Molong followed by vigil until 9.00pm. d

Good Friday 15/4

Day of Fast and Abstinence ORANGE CITY 9.30am pilgrimage walk from St Joseph's to Botanical Gardens 10.30am Botanical Gardens: Way of the Cross 3.00pm St Josephs AND St Mary's: The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, followed by individual confessions ORANGE DISTRICT 10.30am Molong AND Manildra: Way of the Cross 3.00pm Molong: The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ 3.00pm Mullion Creek: Way of the Cross

Holy Saturday 16/4 10.00am St Mary's: Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, and Catechumen prebaptism rites.

Easter Vigil 16/4 ORANGE CITY 6.00pm Saturday St Mary's ORANGE DISTRICT 6.00pm Saturday Manildra

Easter Sunday 17/4 ORANGE CITY 8.30am St Joseph's 10.00am St Mary's ORANGE DISTRICT 8.00am Mullion Creek 8.00am Cudal 9.30am Cargo 10.00am Molong

Easter Monday 18/4 9.30am St Mary's: Mass

COME AND SERVE Could Jesus be asking you to be an Altar Server?

Registration is now open for teenagers and children wanting to become altar servers at the 10.00am Sunday Mass at St Mary's Church.

If you have made your First Holy Communion and are in Yr 4 - Yr 12 at any school, this great opportunity might be for you.

What does it mean to be an altar server?

Altar serving is a great privilege and an important ministry in our parish, particularly for young people. An altar server assists the priest at Mass. This is a special way to serve God and his people. As an altar server, you will have new experiences, learn new skills, become more confident, and meet other young people.

You will be given all the training and help you need and it's OK to make mistakes. During the school term you will be invited to altar server get-togethers to socialise and have fun. If you decide to have a go, you commit to serving two Sundays each month, and then after one year you can choose whether you want to continue. Right now, we are only asking for altar servers for the 10.00am Sunday Mass at St Mary's Church.

Later this year will we ask for altar servers for the Saturday evening Mass at St Mary's and Sunday morning Mass at St Joseph's

Do you have what it takes to be an altar server?

An altar server is: a young person (male or female) in yr 4 - 12 who has made his/her First Holy Communion an enthusiastic young person eager to serve God and his people prayerful and respectful during Mass but sometimes nervous and makes mistakes unafraid to ask questions and to ask for help, and is willing to help others willing to learn from others and to do his/her best keen to work in a team with others and is willing to take instructions happy to wear neat and tidy clothing and appropriate footwear to Mass willing to commit to serving at two rostered 10.00am Sunday Masses per month at St Mary's Church able to attend three training sessions before beginning service and occasional future sessions committed to arrive 15 minutes before the start and will let the parish know if he/she can't make it

Training Sessions First Session: 1.30-3.00pm Sunday 13 March at St Mary's Second Session: 1.30-3.00pm Sunday 20 March at St Mary's Third Session: 1.30-3.00pm Sunday 27 March at St Mary's

I WILL GO UP TO THE ALTAR OF GOD

Altar Server Form 10.00am Sunday Mass at St Mary's Church RETURN THIS FORM BY WEDNESDAY 9TH MARCH TO THE PARISH OFFICE OR YOUR TEACHER IF YOUR SCHOOL IS MCAULEY OR ST MARY'S, OR EMAIL A COPY TO OFFICE.ORANGE@CDOB.ORG.AU

Altar Server Information and Declaration Full name of altar server: ______________________________________________________________________ Year level at school: __________________________________________________________________________ School: _____________________________________________________________________________________ Postal Address: ______________________________________________________________________________ Family Phone: _______________________________________________________________________________ Family Email address: _________________________________________________________________________ I would like to be an altar server at St Mary's Church for the 10.00am Sunday Mass because I really want to help serve God and his people. I agree to attend the three training sessions and I will arrive to my rostered Mass by 9.45am at the latest. I will be respectful and follow instructions. I will work with the other servers as a team. I will be neat and tidy and wear appropriate shoes for serving. I have celebrated my First Holy Communion. I am making this commitment for one year and may choose to continue or leave altar serving after the one year commitment is finished. ___________________________________________ Altar Server Signature

___________________________________________ Date Signed

Parent/Legal Guardian Permission and Commitment I give permission for my son/daughter to be an altar server at the 10.00am Sunday Mass at St Mary's Church. I will be encouraging and will assist my son/daughter to arrive at the rostered Mass at least 15 minutes before start time. I understand this commitment is usually two weekends per month and I will inform the parish or arrange a swap if our family is unable to attend a rostered Mass. I will facilitate my son/daughter attending the three training sessions prior to commencing service.

At the final training session on Sunday 27 March we will have pizza. Do you give permission for your son/daughter to participate? Please write 'yes' or 'no' below and indicate any dietary requirements. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Is there anything else we need to know? ________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________ Print name of Contact Parent/Legal Guardian

___________________________________________ Parent/Legal Guardian Signature

SURRENDER DISCIPLESHIP MISSION

Youth, Men Alive, Net Ministries, the MGL Brothers and Fathers, Parousia Media, and many others. SHALOM WORLD can be trusted to stand with and for the Church, to promote the Good News of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

It is with great joy that I introduce to you SHALOM WORLD Australia, a dynamic new Catholic channel available in Australia. On 26th of January 2018, as the patron of the Shalom Media in Australia, I had the honour of launching SHALOM WORLD at St Mary’s Cathedral in Hobart.

SHALOM WORLD is produced by Shalom Media, a Catholic media ministry that began through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit nearly thirty years ago in a small village in South India. The ministry has a mission to reach out to the world with the Gospel of Christ using all modern means of communication. Today, Shalom Media has offices in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and here in Australia. Since 2014, SHALOM WORLD television has already reached many viewers across North America and Europe and now Australians can easily access the channel. The SHALOM WORLD channel provides highdefinition and vibrant programs that complement the pastoral efforts of the universal Church to evangelise. The channel offers programs for the entire family, from children's programs, movies, music, interviews, conferences, documentaries, and so much more.

SHALOM WORLD has already made efforts to showcase Australian ministries such as IGNITE

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER for Lent 2022

“Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up. So then, while we have the opportunity, let us do good to all” (Gal 6:9-10) Dear Brothers and Sisters, Lent is a favourable time for personal and community renewal, as it leads us to the paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For our Lenten journey in 2022, we will do well to reflect on Saint Paul’s exhortation to the Galatians: “Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up. So then, while we have the opportunity (kairós), let us do good to all” (Gal 6:9-10).

1. SOWING AND REAPING In these words, the Apostle evokes the image of sowing and reaping, so dear to Jesus (cf. Mt 13). Saint Paul speaks to us of a kairós: an opportune time for sowing goodness in view of a future harvest. What is this “opportune time” for us? Lent is certainly such an opportune time, but so is our entire existence, of which Lent is in some way an image.1 All too often in our lives, greed, pride and the desire to possess, accumulate and consume have the upper hand, as we see from the story of the foolish man in the Gospel parable, who thought his life was safe and secure because of the abundant grain and goods he had stored in his barns (cf. Lk 12:16-21).

Lent invites us to conversion, to a change in mindset, so that life’s truth and beauty may be found not so much in possessing as in giving, not so much in accumulating as in sowing and sharing goodness. The first to sow is God himself, who with great generosity “continues to sow abundant seeds of goodness in our human family”

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Cf. SAINT AUGUSTINE, Serm. 243, 9,8; 270, 3; En. in Ps. 110, 1.

(Fratelli Tutti, 54). During Lent we are called to respond to God’s gift by accepting his word, which is “living and active” (Heb 4:12). Regular listening to the word of God makes us open and docile to his working (cf. Jas 1:21) and bears fruit in our lives. This brings us great joy, yet even more, it summons us to become God’s coworkers (cf. 1 Cor 3:9). By making good use of the present time (cf. Eph 5:16), we too can sow seeds of goodness. This call to sow goodness should not be seen as a burden but a grace, whereby the Creator wishes us to be actively united with his own bountiful goodness.

What about the harvest? Do we not sow seeds in order to reap a harvest? Of course!

Saint Paul points to the close relationship between sowing and reaping when he says: “Anyone who sows sparsely will reap sparsely as well, and anyone who sows generously will reap generously as well” (2 Cor 9:6). But what kind of harvest are we talking about? A first fruit of the goodness we sow appears in ourselves and our daily lives, even in our little acts of kindness. In God, no act of love, no matter how small, and no “generous effort” will ever be lost (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 279). Just as we recognize a tree by its fruits (cf. Mt 7:16, 20), so a life full of good deeds radiates light (cf. Mt 5:14-16) and carries the fragrance of Christ to the world (cf. 2 Cor 2:15).

Serving God in freedom from sin brings forth fruits of sanctification for the salvation of all (cf. Rom 6:22).

In truth, we see only a small portion of the fruits of what we sow, since, according to the Gospel proverb, “one sows, while another reaps” (Jn 4:37). When we sow for the benefit of others, we share in God’s own benevolent love: “it is truly noble to place our hope in the hidden power of the seeds of goodness we sow, and thus to initiate processes whose fruits will be reaped by others” (Fratelli Tutti, 196). Sowing goodness for the benefit of others frees us from narrow self-interest, infuses our actions with gratuitousness, and makes us part of the magnificent horizon of God’s benevolent plan.

The word of God broadens and elevates our vision: it tells us that the real harvest is eschatological, the harvest of the last, undying day. The mature fruit of our lives and actions is “fruit for eternal life” (Jn 4:36), our “treasure in heaven” (Lk 12:33; 18:22).

Jesus himself uses the image of the seed that dies in the ground in order to bear fruit as a symbol of the mystery of his death and resurrection (cf. Jn 12:24); while Saint Paul uses the same image to speak of the resurrection of our bodies: “What is sown is perishable, but what is raised is imperishable; what is sown is contemptible but what is raised is glorious; what is sown is weak, but what is raised is powerful; what is sown is a natural body, and what is raised is a spiritual body” (1 Cor 15:42-44). The hope of resurrection is the great light that the risen Christ brings to the world, for “if our hope in Christ has been for this life only, we are of all people the most pitiable.

In fact, however, Christ has been raised from the dead, as the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:19-20). Those who are intimately united to him in love

“by dying a death like his” (Rom 6:5) will also be united to his resurrection for eternal life (cf. Jn 5:29). “Then the upright will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Mt 13:43).

2. “LET US NOT GROW TIRED OF DOING GOOD” Christ’s resurrection enlivens earthly hopes with the “great hope” of eternal life, planting the seed of salvation in our present time (cf. BENEDICT XVI, Spe Salvi, 3; 7).

Bitter disappointment at shattered dreams, deep concern for the challenges ahead and discouragement at the poverty of our resources, can make us tempted to seek refuge in self-centredness and indifference to the suffering of others. Indeed, even our best resources have their limitations: “Youths grow tired and weary, the young stumble and fall” (Is 40:30). Yet God “gives strength to the weary, he strengthens the powerless… Those who hope in the Lord will regain their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles; though they run they will not grow weary, though they walk they will never tire» (Is 40:29, 31). The Lenten season calls us to place our faith and hope in the Lord (cf. 1 Pet 1:21), since only if we fix our gaze on the risen Christ (cf. Heb 12:2) will we be able to respond to the Apostle’s appeal, “Let us never grow tired of doing good” (Gal 6:9).

Let us not grow tired of praying. Jesus taught us to “pray always without becoming weary” (Lk 18:1). We need to pray because we need God. Thinking that we need nothing other than ourselves is a dangerous illusion. If the pandemic has heightened the awareness of our own personal and social fragility, may this Lent allow us to experience the consolation provided by faith in God, without whom we cannot stand firm (cf. Is 7:9). No one attains salvation alone, since we are all in the same boat, amid the storms of history;2 and certainly no one reaches salvation without God, for only the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ triumphs over the dark waters of death.

Faith does not spare us life’s burdens and tribulations, but it does allow us to face them in union with God in Christ, with the great hope that does not disappoint, whose pledge is the love that God has poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 5:1-5).

Let us not grow tired of uprooting evil from our lives. May the corporal fasting to which Lent calls us fortify our spirit for the battle against sin. Let us not grow tired of asking for forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, knowing that God never tires of forgiving.3 Let us not grow tired of fighting against concupiscence, that weakness which induces to selfishness and all evil, and finds in the course of history a variety of ways to lure Cf. Extraordinary Moment of Prayer presided over by Pope Francis (27 March 2020).

3 Cf. Angelus, 17 March 2013.

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men and women into sin (cf. Fratelli Tutti, 166). One of these is addiction to the digital media, which impoverishes human relationships. Lent is a propitious time to resist these temptations and to cultivate instead a more integral form of human communication (ibid., 43) made up of “authentic encounters” (ibid., 50), face-to-face and in person.

Let us not grow tired of doing good in active charity towards our neighbours. During this Lent, may we practise almsgiving by giving joyfully (cf. 2 Cor 9:7). God who “supplies seed to the sower and bread for food” (2 Cor 9:10) enables each of us not only to have food to eat, but also to be generous in doing good to others. While it is true that we have our entire life to sow goodness, let us take special advantage of this Lenten season to care for those close to us and to reach out to our brothers and sisters who lie wounded along the path of life (cf. Lk 10:25-37). Lent is a favourable time to seek out – and not to avoid – those in need; to reach out – and not to ignore – those who need a sympathetic ear and a good word; to visit – and not to abandon – those who are lonely. Let us put into practice our call to do good to all, and take time to love the poor and needy, those abandoned and rejected, those discriminated against and marginalized (cf. Fratelli Tutti, 193).

3. “IF WE DO NOT GIVE UP, WE SHALL REAP OUR HARVEST IN DUE TIME” Each year during Lent we are reminded that “goodness, together with love, justice and solidarity, are not achieved once and for all; they have to be realized each day” (ibid., 11). Let us ask God to give us the patient perseverance of the farmer (cf. Jas 5:7), and to persevere in doing good, one step at a time. If we fall, let us stretch out our hand to the Father, who always lifts us up. If we are lost, if we are misled by the enticements of the evil one, let us not hesitate to return to God, who “is generous in forgiving” (Is 55:7). In this season of conversion, sustained by God’s grace and by the communion of the Church, let us not grow tired of doing good. The soil is prepared by fasting, watered by prayer and enriched by charity. Let us believe firmly that “if we do not give up, we shall reap our harvest in due time” and that, with the gift of perseverance, we shall obtain what was promised (cf. Heb 10:36), for our salvation and the salvation of others (cf. 1 Tim 4:16). By cultivating fraternal love towards everyone, we are united to Christ, who gave his life for our sake (cf. 2 Cor 5:14-15), and we are granted a foretaste of the joy of the kingdom of heaven, when God will be “all in all” (1 Cor 15:28). in her heart” (Lk 2:19), obtain for us the gift of patience.

May she accompany us with her maternal presence, so that this season of conversion may bring forth fruits of eternal salvation.

Rome, Saint John Lateran, 11 November, 2021, Memorial of Saint Martin, Bishop.

[Francis]