DEVOTIONAL PRAYER FOR APRIL
Divine Mercy Prayer
You expired, O Jesus,
But the source of life gushed forth for souls
And the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world
O Fount of Life,
Unfathomable Divine Mercy,
Envelope the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.
O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus
As a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You.
Amen
Entrance Antiphon
Like newborn infants, you must long for the pure, spiritual milk, that in him you may grow to salvation, alleluia!
1st Reading (Acts 4:32-35)
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; no one claimed for his own use anything that he had, as everything they owned was held in common. The apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power, and they were all given great respect. None of their members was ever in want, as all those who owned land or houses would sell them, and bring the money from them, to present it to the apostles; it was then distributed to any members who might be in need.
The Word of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting.
2nd Reading (1 Jn 5:1-6)
A reading from the first letter of St. John.
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten by God; and whoever loves the Father that begot him loves the child whom he begets. We can be sure that we love God’s children if we love God himself and do what he has commanded us; this is what loving God is – keeping his commandments; and his commandments are not difficult, because anyone who has been begotten by God has already overcome the world; this is the victory over the world – our faith. Who can overcome the world? Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God: Jesus Christ who came by water and blood, not with water only, but with water and blood; with the Spirit as another witness – since the Spirit is the truth.
The Word of the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me; happy those who have not seen me, but still believe!
Alleluia!
Gospel (Jn 20:19-31)
A reading from the holy Gospel according to St. John.
In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. ‘As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.’ After saying this he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.’ Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him: ‘You believe because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’ There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Communion Antiphon
Bring your hand and feel the place of the nails, and do not be unbelieving, but believing, alleluia.
Next Week’s Readings
Acts 3:13-15, 17-19; 1 Jn 2:1-5; Lk 24:35-48
PARISH NEWS
THANK YOU
Fr. Vincent, Dcn. Charles and the Parish Pastoral Council would like to take this opportunity to thank the Sacristans, Altar Servers, Choirs, Lectors, Extraordinary Ministers of Communion, Ladies Auxiliary, Ushers, Gatekeepers and everyone who worked tirelessly at all the Holy Week services to ensure that everything went through so smoothly. Without your help we could not have achieved this.
BOOKING FOR WEEKEND MASSES
Registration for weekend Masses via Try Booking link https://www.trybooking.com/BNKFG. Bookings open on a Monday and close on a Friday prior to the weekend. If you have not booked for a weekend mass you can register your attendance upon arrival using the QR code. (We request that you come in early to do this to avoid queuing at the entry door).
WEEKLY PARISH DATES
| Sundays |
9:15am to 10:25am – Sunday School for children attending non-Catholic Schools. 10:30am Mass – Children’s Liturgy held 2nd and 4th Sundays. 6:15pm – Young Adults (18 -29 years) meet in Community Centre every week. 6:15pm – School of Discipleship meet in St. Peter’s Church Hall. |
| Mondays | 7:00pm to 9:00pm – Bible Study (St. Peters & St. James). 1st, 3rd & 5th Mondays at St. James’ Church. |
| Wednesdays |
7:00pm Mass followed by Mother of Perpetual Succour Novena. 7:00pm to 8:30pm RCIA in Theatrette |
| 1st Fridays | 7:00pm to 8:15pm Mass & Adoration |
| Saturdays | 2:30pm to 4:00pm – St. Peter’s Charismatic Prayer Community Praise & Worship held in church. Bookings https://www.trybooking.com/BODRD |
| Baptisms | 12 noon – Baptisms held 1st & 3rd Sundays. Baptism Preparation Meeting held on the 1st Monday of the month at 7:00pm in Church. |
DCN. CHARLES & KATHLEEN ENGLISH thank all our parishioners for their prayers, thoughts and kind wishes.
Please continue to keep Dcn. Charles in your prayers as he continues with his medical treatment.
PROJECT COMPASSION BOXES
A reminder to please return all Project Compassion boxes either to the Parish Office or by leaving them on the table outside the Sacristy after the weekend Masses. Your donations are greatly appreciated.
GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY – 25TH April 2021
World Day of Vocations
Let us pray for the young people in our community, and in our families and circle of friends. May our prayers help them to be open to the Lord’s call to consecrated life or priesthood.
Pope Francis tells us:
There can be no greater joy than to risk one’s life for the Lord! I would like to say this especially to you, the young. Do not be deaf to the Lord’s call. If he calls you to follow this path, do not pull your oars into the boat, but trust him.
Pope Francis – Message for 2021 World Day of Vocations. Saint Joseph: The Dream of Vocation
‘God looks on the heart (cf. 1 Sam 16:7), and in Saint Joseph he recognized the heart of a father, able to give and generate life in the midst of daily routines. Vocations have this same goal: to beget and renew lives every day. The Lord desires to shape the hearts of fathers and mothers: hearts that are open, capable of great initiatives, generous in self-giving, compassionate in comforting anxieties and steadfast in strengthening hopes.’
‘The priesthood and the consecrated life greatly need these qualities nowadays, in times marked by fragility but also by the sufferings due to the pandemic, which has spawned uncertainties and fears about the future and the very meaning of life. Saint Joseph comes to meet us in his gentle way, as one of “the saints next door”. At the same time, his strong witness can guide us on the journey.’
CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE
Newman and the Nineteenth Century Church. Online unit via zoom on 12 Saturday mornings. Lecturer is Rev. Prof. Austin Cooper OMI AM. Audit, Undergraduate and Postgraduate Options available. Enquiries: Dr Rosemary Canavan, Academic Dean, 9412 3333 or dean@ctc.edu.au.
REFLECTION ON DIVINE MERCY
Our Gospel (John 20:19-31) recounts one of the Post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus to his disciples, where Jesus appears to his disciples, coming through locked doors and says Peace be with you breathing upon them the Holy Spirit and communicating His authority to forgive sins. However, Thomas was not present and when the other disciples said to him, We have seen the Lord, he said to them, Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. A week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, Peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe. Thomas answered and said to him, My Lord and my God! Thomas’s response in his encounter with the Risen Lord, “My Lord and My God" reveals the very heart of prayer as a call to adoration and communion with God. It has become the exclamation for millions, when faced with the Mystery of Mysteries, the Holy Eucharist, at the elevation during Mass.
Pope St Gregory the Great preached a marvelous homily on this encounter between Thomas and the Risen Lord. In it he asked: What conclusion, dear brethren, do you come to? Surely it was not by chance that this chosen disciple was missing in the first place? Or that on his return he heard, that hearing he doubted, that doubting he touched, and that touching he believed? It was by divine dispensation and not by chance that things so fell out. Jesus turned Thomas’s doubt into an event of Mercy for generations to come. Out of the repentance born from seeing Mercy Incarnate, touching the wounds of His Divine love, came that response, those wonderful words that have formed the most profound of personal prayers for millennia “My Lord and My God”. Pope St Gregory was so right; Thomas’ doubt healed the wounds of all of our doubts. Today we join with our Holy Father Pope Francis and Catholics throughout the whole world, in celebrating the Feast of Divine Mercy. To Saint Faustina Our Lord said: "I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of my tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of my mercy. This day we are invited to approach the throne of Mercy and cry out with St. Thomas: "My Lord and My God" (Jn 20:28). Those who do are forever changed.
RECENTLY DECEASED
We pray for Christina Lyngdoh, Helena Krawczyszyn, Violet Pisani, Albert D’Costa, Hermie Getalado, Veronica Dabu-McDaniel, Norma Keyte, Tracey Foss, Peter Farrugia, Adrian McDonald, Kath Bowman, Brian Connor, Carmen Desira, Wilmyr Sevilla, Otila Wright, Nelson Dayrit, all who have died due to COVID-19 and all who have passed away recently.
DEATH ANNIVERSARIES
We pray for Lorna Anderson, Maxwell Poppen, Judith & Sebastian D’Cruz, Afra & Isidonio Fernandes, Fr. Ave Maria D’Sa, Angelo Piscopo, Sam Sultana, Jose Golaw, Antonino Failla, Edgar Bersabe, Aniceta Esmaquel, Elena dela Cruz, Annamma Mathew and all whose anniversaries occur at this time.
PRAYERS FOR THE SICK
We pray for Dcn. Charles English, Gary Spotswood, Sean Donaldson, Kath Meddings, Jean Cameron, Gordon Newman, Denis Webber, Monique Hoaster, Wilfredo Villareal, Anne Deluca, Hellen Bonnici, Filippo Sciglitano, Norma Medina, Christine Hall, Esther Uwase, Steven Smith, Liss Corado, Helen Smith, Yvonne Norris, Shirley Linehan, James D’Silva, Jack Davies, Mila Africano, Albert Wankhar, Dale D’Souza, Melissa Bear, Lynn Worsley, Henry Lewis and all who are ill in our Parish.
ROSTERS
Counters – 18 Apr 2021
| Pravin Albuquerque / Clarence D’Souza / Grace Sharman |
Readers –17/18 Apr 2021
| 6:00pm | David Roga |
| 8:30am | Sharon D’Silva |
| 10:30am | Sharon Arubia |
| 5:00pm | Youth Mass |
Extraordinary Ministers of Communion – 17/18 Apr 2021
| 6:00pm | J. Roga / S. Joseph / S. Albuquerque |
| 8:30am | K. Fernandes / G. Sharman / Volunteer |
| 10:30am | L. Ortega / B. Keane / S. Delos Reyos |
| 5:00pm | Youth Mass |
Music Ministry – 17/18 Apr 2021
| 6:00pm | Mater Dolorosa |
| 8:30am | St. Philomena Choir |
| 10:30am | FilOz |
| 5:00pm | Young Adults |