The Announcer IMS24

The Announcer

Immaculata Community, St Thomas Becket Parish Sisters of the Immaculata LovingJesus Jesuswith Withthe TheHeart Heartof OfMary Mary Loving

Aug 2009

The Immaculata Convent, 40a ThomasArmidale Street, Lewisham NSW 2350 Ph: 0406 Ph: Srs. Mary Therese & Francis Mary on 0414 372 830 608 412 IMS 2024 SPECIAL EDITION Email: sistersoftheimmaculata@gmail.com www.immaculatacommunity.org

HOW HAS IMS24 INSPIRED YOU TO BE A FISHER OF MEN?

Prayer, fellowship, faith & formation at IMS24

th Sr. Mary Madeline on the Beauty of Pro-Life: Reachout August 15 “You are called to be a saint, to evangelise, and to “Before I came here I

“It’s really helped me to get outis Sr. Mary One of Sydney’s mostgrappling engaging and thought-provoking speakers was really be a fisher of men!” This call echoed throughout of myself and talk to people - I what it means to Sisters of St. Cecelia Madeline, fromwith the Dominican in Nashville. She will be at the Immaculata Mission School which took place in find it hard to introduce myself fully love others, but Armidale from 1-10 January; the theme “Fishers of St. Thomas Becket in August for the parish’s monthly Reachout, an event that but it’s got me out my shell. I since coming here it’s invites all to come together to share a meal and fellowship, talkcalled on all of us to think about bringing the crystallised - it’s about love how there’sfollowed so muchby aMen” Kingdom of God to others, while first living it out m e r c y, l o v e a n d an issue of faith. emphasis on the Holy Spirit forgiveness. From talks through a relationship with Christ.

He’s so important because with and from spending of Pro-Life, is a topic This month’s topic, the Beauty the that SpiritSr. we’Mary re notMadeline given a addresses time in Adoration that For the first six days, over 360 youth and adults with honesty and compassion. all and wetravelled strongly message has sunk in.” It is an issue that should spirit ofengage timidity.”usSebastian, from all over Australia, to start their year Gemma, Sydney encourage you to bring along family, friends, neighbours and workmates. The Bacchus Marsh with night God. Each day began with Adoration, which also includes Adoration, with prayer ministry and confession available – it is a included beautiful times of silence and also the St Michael “I was impacted by myself, myparish soul, incommunity. opportunity to share in fellowship “By andstilling prayer as a Chaplet and Rosary prayed aloud. Praying together

learning that it’s okay to order to hear God’s voice every morning was a highlight for many participants, stepJoin out even if you’ re in the Immaculata withCentre clarity(to I can then of the church) for who us at 6pm the right a homeexperienced deep peace, joy and love in the notcooked fully prepared. respond to that The call program and mealI’m($15 for main, dessert and drink). begins at 7:30pm, with presence of Jesus and said that they realise now how follow Him - it’s like Jesus, going to have to depend Sr. Mary Madeline’s talk, followed byHea started candlelight procession through Lewisham possible it is to pray every day! Wonderful speakers, before His public on God like a child, and times of fellowship and prayer groups, praise and prayer and confession Thomas mission, in HeSt. went to theBecket church.

Sr. Mary Madeline sit before at His feetAdoration, in order worship and times for Confessions were also wilderness.

I want to increase for Him to prepare me my prayer life, that’s what I’ve important features of the School. for what He wants to Sydney Congress Embracing the New Evangelisation! received.” Yvonne,the Newcastle do.” Charlie, Melbourne The first phase concluded on 6th Jan, and from 7-10

Immaculata Youth at SCENE: “I loved Br Maximilian Mary’s video on the imperfection of St Peter. Our whole time at Mission School has been a reminder not to let imperfections stand in the way of going out to be a fisher of men.” Jovina, Brisbane

Paul & Sari at Catholic Underground

What did we learn?

January the Mission School entered the married couples “We’ve listening and families The first call of the enjoyed Church is totoshare the phase. There were over 170 adults and 120 testimonies theto children Good News. In order and to watching witness othersin attendance, and children’s ministry sessions beautiful families - we wish featured times of prayer, catechesis, games and lots of about Christ we have out we first had this whento we seek were Him soccer! For adults, the rhythm of Adoration and the in a personal relationship. younger, but for whatever Rosary, daily Mass, talks and spending time with other reason it’s happening now families brought many graces.

What were our highlights? and evenreligious though our and kids are Meeting passionate lay people older they can still witness We are so thankful to all the volunteers, speakers and from Australia and across the world, who came to serve. Their example as “fishers of our search.” Br yan & priests learning so much about our Catholic faith – men” inspires us all to go out and bring Christ to others!

Catherine, Melbourne and seeing the Immaculata youth perform at Catholic Underground!

Quote from the week: “We don’t just evangelise for the day people die but because the day of salvation is now – and what is salvation but freedom from oppression and what is the greatest oppression? Sin.” Fr Anthony, CFR

Community Day photos – join us for this month’s gathering. See back page for info.

Yuti & Ruth

Brendan & Pat

Our youngest youth, Elijah, with Fr. Christopher, CFR

Read on … wha t’s inside: How you can help!

• Adoration at St. Thomas Becket • John Mara reflects on his faith journey • Maximilian Kolbe, Saint of Auschwitz • Upcoming events •

The last 12 months in review: prayer and mission!

Throughout 2023, the Sisters of the Immaculata and their associated lay missionaries served in a variety of ways in Armidale and beyond. It was a full and joyful year of mission and outreach!

Before any apostolic work takes place, the community begins our days in prayer and seeks to be like Our Lady who always sought the Lord first.

Prayer prepares the way for all we do.

Many outreach activities also involve an invitation to prayer, so that children and teens, university students, parishioners and everyone in between has an opportunity to encounter the love of God and learn to hear His voice.

On a parish level, serving in the Cathedral of Saints Mary and Joseph in Armidale, we have been running junior and senior youth groups, a monthly Sunday night dinner and teaching SRE (catechesis) classes in public schools.

We also play music for Mass and help with sacristy work and altar serving.

Beyond our parish, we helped to lead the Armidale Diocese’s pilgrimage to World Youth Day in Lisbon, ran a number of retreats throughout the year and made mission visits to parishes and schools in our diocese and beyond. One highlight was our Sisters and missionaries serving around 300 children and teens at the Shalom community retreats in Melbourne, Sydney and Townsville!

Another was door-knocking in Quirindi, in regional NSW, and connecting locals to the parish community.

Applications open for the Long-Term Mission School 2024!

Are you called to give the Lord nine months of your life … and receive more than you could ever imagine? The Immaculata Long-Term Mission School is an incredible opportunity to go deep in love for God and in discipleship, with an aim of helping participants grow in becoming the saints they are called to be!

Leading children in Adoration at a Shalom retreat

In 2024, the LTMS will be running for nine months, from late March through until January 2025. As a training school for saints, the focus is on four pillars: prayer, intellectual formation, community life and mission. Each pillar aims to give young people a foundation in the Lord so they can be equipped to follow Christ for the rest of their lives.

LTMS participant Bianca shares about how the School has helped her:

Visiting Fatima while on the WYD pilgrimage

Due to World Youth Day, we held a onemonth Immersion Mission School in place of the Long-Term Mission School. Nine young people travelled from all over Australia to go deeper in their faith during the month of October. The School culminated in a retreat in Armidale with speakers Peter Holmes, from Notre Dame in Sydney, and Tomasz Juszczak, from Donum Ministries.

“If I could sum up my experience of Long-Term Mission School in one word, that word would be ‘life-changing’! During my time on the Long-Term Mission School I learnt more deeply who God is and how to listen to His voice. I experienced such peace in the moments of prayer where I was able to receive God’s love in new ways as well as by being surrounded by such loving people. The times of mission gave me the opportunity to put into practice all I had learnt and share my renewed love of God with others.”

The LTMS is open to young people aged between 18-35. To apply, contact us at immaculatamissionschool@gmail.com

If you would like the Sisters and missionaries to serve on mission in your parish or school in 2024, please contact us!

Sisters and participants on the last LTMS visit St Joseph’s Primary School in Quirindi, NSW

Donations

Immersion School participants celebrate an awesome two days of prayer, formation and fellowship with those visiting for a retreat on the last weekend of October!

See more online!

In order to share about the history of our community and the work we are doing, we created a video called “Immaculata: Who We Are & What We Do” which can be viewed on YouTube (search using the name of the video).

The video features Mother Mary Therese explaining how the community came to be and a run down on the various ways we are currently serving in the Armidale Diocese and beyond! You can hear from the Sisters, Brothers and missionaries, as well as from parishioners and those who have been attending our activities.

The Sisters rely on Divine Providence for all our needs and in order to do mission. Thank you to all those who support our religious life and the work we do through your generous tithes and donations!

If you would like to make a donation to our community, our bank details are below. We pray daily for our benefactors and we are so grateful for any support. If you are not able to give financially, we are so grateful for your prayers!

Account name: Sisters of the Immaculata BSB: 062770 Account number: 10066339