DEVOTIONAL PRAYER FOR AUGUST
CORONAVIRUS PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, you travelled through towns and villages curing every disease and illness. At your command, the sick were made well. Come to our aid now, in the midst of the global spread of the coronavirus, that we may experience your healing love.
Heal those who are sick with the virus. May they regain their strength and health through quality medical care. Heal us from our fear, which prevents nations from working together and neighbours from helping one another. Heal us from our pride, which made us claim invulnerability to a disease that knows no borders.
Lord Jesus Christ, healer of all, stay by our side in this time of uncertainty and sorrow.
Be with families of those who are sick or have died. As they worry and grieve, defend them from illness and despair. May they know your peace. Be with doctors, nurses, researchers and all medical professionals who seek to heal and help those affected and who put themselves at risk in the process. May they know your protection and peace. Be with leaders of all nations. Give them the foresight to act with charity and true concern for the well-being of the people they are meant to serve. Give them the wisdom to invest in long-term solutions that will help prepare for or prevent future outbreaks. May they know your peace, as they work together to achieve it on earth.
Whether we are home or abroad, surrounded by many people suffering from this illness or only a few, Lord Jesus Christ, stay with us as we endure and mourn, persist and prepare. In place of our anxiety, give us your peace. Lord Jesus Christ, heal us.
Entrance Antiphon
O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me! You are my rescuer, my help; O Lord, do not delay.
1st Reading (Is 55:1-3)
A reading from the prophet Isaiah.
Thus says the Lord: Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty; though you have no money, come! Buy corn without money, and eat, and, at no cost, wine and milk. Why spend money on what is not bread, your wages on what fails to satisfy? Listen, listen to me and you will have good things to eat and rich food to enjoy. Pay attention, come to me; listen, and your soul will live. With you I will make an everlasting covenant out of the favours promised to David.
The Word of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
The hand of the Lord feeds us, he answers all our needs.
2nd Reading (Rom 8:35,37-39)
A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans
Nothing can come between us and the love of Christ, even if we are troubled or worried, or being persecuted, or lacking food or clothes, or being threatened or even attacked. These are the trials through which we triumph, by the power of him who loved us. For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Word of the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia! No one lives on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Alleluia!
Gospel (Mt 14 :13-21)
When Jesus received the news of John the Baptist’s death he withdrew by boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves. But the people heard of this and, leaving the towns, went after him on foot. So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them and healed their sick. When evening came, the disciples went to him and said, ‘This is a lonely place, and the time has slipped by; so send the people away, and they can go to the villages to buy themselves some food.’ Jesus replied, ‘There is no need for them to go: give them something to eat yourselves.’ But they answered, ‘All we have with us is five loaves and two fish.’ ‘Bring them here to me,’ he said. He gave orders that the people were to sit down on the grass; then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven and said the blessing. And breaking the loaves he handed them to his disciples who gave them to the crowds. They all ate as much as they wanted, and they collected the scraps remaining, twelve baskets full. Those who ate numbered about five thousand men, to say nothing of women and children.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Communion Antiphon
You have given us, O Lord, bread from heaven, endowed with all delights and sweetness in every taste.
Next Week’s Readings
1Kg 19:9, 11-13; Rom 9:1-5; Mt 14:22-33
Feasts of the week
Mon, 3 Aug - St. Dominic
Tue, 4 Aug - St. John Vianney
Thu, 6 Aug - Transfiguration of the Lord
Sat, 8 Aug - St. Mary of the Cross
PARISH NEWS
THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND
(A reflection by Dcn. Charles English)
Today’s very well known miracle of the multiplication of the two fish and five barley loaves and the feeding of the crowd of 5,000, is the only miracle that is recorded in all four gospels. This is because the link between this miracle, to the Eucharist is obvious. We see immediately that the verbs used to describe this miracle that Jesus performed with the bread are repeated at every Mass.
Jesus ‘taking the fives loaves and two fish raised His eyes to Heaven, said the blessing and breaking the loaves He handed them to His disciples who gave them to the crowds. They all ate as much as they wanted …’.
Let us look again at these verbs; ‘raised His eyes, blessed, broke, gave, eat’. At every Mass, the priest at the consecration as he holds the bread in his hands, repeats the words of Jesus at the Last Supper: ‘On the day before He was to suffer, He took bread in His holy and venerable hands, and with His eyes raised to Heaven, giving thanks, He said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his disciples saying: Take this all of you and eat it, for this is My Body…..’. These words of Jesus at the Last Supper, also remind us of the words of Jesus at the feeding of the 5,000. This miracle seems to prefigure the Last Supper and the institution of the Holy Eucharist.
We Catholics are so privileged, so blessed to have the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus, at every Mass; Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the form of bread and wine. We should all stand in awe at this great gift that Jesus gave to us.
Another aspect of this miracle is, in the face of limitations, Jesus intervenes and works the miracle, satisfying the hunger of all the people who follow Him. The gift of the bread is not only sufficient to satisfy the crowd, but it is so superabundant that it becomes necessary to gather what is left over. Jesus feeding the crowd is ‘a sign’ that He is indeed the Messiah, and that He prepares a banquet of joy for all humanity. ‘The Eternal Banquet in Heaven whose host is the Bridegroom, Our Lord Jesus’. The disciples learn from Jesus. Our Lord gives them the bread and fish to distribute. This gesture contains a real fact that is projected into the future. At our daily Eucharistic celebration, the priest distributes the bread, Holy Communion, to us the crowd. This great miracle took place at the most unlikely moment, at the end of the day; when it was almost time to return home. Jesus asked His disciples and the crowd to trust Him, to ‘sit down’ on the grass as if they were not in any hurry. Those who trusted Our Lord Jesus got much more than they needed.
If we look back over our lives, we will see moments when we experienced God’s abundant generosity.
During this time of the pandemic, when there is so much uncertainty and stress, we ask Our Blessed Lord to help us ‘sit down’ and wait on His goodness, in this moment of crisis. We need to trust in Jesus and remember His words and His promises. ‘Feed my lambs, feed my sheep’.
LIVE STREAMING OF DAILY MASS FROM OUR CHURCH
Our church will live stream daily Mass through our Facebook Page link https://m.facebook.com/stpetershoppers/
Masses are Monday to Friday 8:30am, Saturday 9:00am.
Sunday 10:30am Mass will also be available on YouTube link as follows https://youtu.be/OmIfBi0prZQ
ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive you into my soul. Since I cannot, at this moment, receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
UPDATED PARISH GUIDELINES
Our church is now closed as per Government regulations. Please note that the Sunday Obligation will not apply during this time of suspension.
- During this lockdown period, the Parish office will be open on Tuesday/Thursday/Friday from 9:00am to 3:30pm.
- See our note on live streaming of daily Masses from our church in a separate note in this bulletin.
- To keep yourself updated with Parish news, visit the
Parish website at http://stpeterapostlemission.org.au
Facebook at https://m.facebook.com/stpetershoppers/
Weekly Bulletin – kindly send your email address to stpeters@westnet.com.au to have a copy of our bulletin emailed to you every Friday.
THANKSGIVING CONTRIBUTIONS
If you would like to continue your contributions to support the parish during this time of church closure, the following options are available:
- Drop off your Thanksgiving envelope at the Parish office during office hours Tuesday/Thursday/Friday from 9:00am to 3:30pm.
- Thanksgiving donations can be made directly to our Church Bank Account. Details as follows:
Account Name: St Peter Apostle Parish Church Account
BSB: 083-347 Account No: 637286747
Please use your Thanksgiving Envelope Number and your name for reference purposes (eg.TG123 - Tom Smith) - Parishioners can also make payments online if you wish to do so, either by going to the link Online Thanksgiving Payments CDF Pay OR by going to the link on our website (under the Support your Parish tab) Please add your Thanksgiving Envelope number if you have one. You also have the option to choose which collection you would like the offering to go to, i.e. first collection (Parish) or second collection (Presbytery).
THANKSGIVING PROGRAM
If you have not already collected your Thanksgiving envelopes or letters for the new financial year, they are available for collection from the Church office (Tue/Thu/Fri, 9:00am to 3:30pm). New envelopes started from the weekend of 4/5 July 2020. Please contact the parish office on 9749 4300 if you have any queries regarding Thanksgiving Envelopes, Direct Debits or anything in relation to Thanksgiving contributions.
CHILDRENS LITURGY ON ZOOM
The online Children's Liturgy for children aged 5 to 8 years which was scheduled to begin this Sunday on ZOOM has been postponed pending completion of e-safety requirements and documentation. We will advise you of the new start date as soon as it is available.
HSI SCHOOL OF DISCIPLESHIP RECOMMENCES SUNDAY 2 AUGUST FROM 7:00PM Joint parishes of St Peters & St James are excited to announce that the HSI School of Discipleship will recommence over the ZOOM platform from Sunday 2 August 2020 from 7 PM. The session consists of prayer, song, video talk, discussion, sharing and blessing. This week the session is on PRAYER. Newcomers welcome. ZOOM Meeting Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84390845271
Meeting ID 843 9084 5271. No password required.
ZOOM INVITATIONS FROM:
ST PETER'S CHARISMATIC PRAYER COMMUNITY - KNK
Saturdays at 3:00pm – Divine Mercy & Praise & Worship
Sundays at 7:00pm – Rosary & Praise & Worship
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7414862105?pwd=NlVwaXUyS3hVSlFzZ0pNOG1MT29Ldz09
Meeting ID: 741 486 2105 Password: 023368
BIBLE STUDY MINISTRY
Every week on a Monday from 7:00pm to 8:00pm
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/9689427525?pwd=akpXUHFPQTJRazRxZVZaOVVhZlM4QT09
Meeting ID: 9689427525 Password: 2Vp4ef
CATHOLICCARE APPEAL, SUNDAY 9 AUGUST 2020
Next weekend is the CatholicCare Sunday Appeal. CatholicCare delivers family and relationship counselling, refugee and settlement support, education and school programs, and pastoral services. Donations from our parish community will help care for the most vulnerable families in our community. Please donate to CatholicCare Sunday Appeal. Your support and generosity will help break barriers to social inclusion and strengthen families and communities to live life to the full. You can donate online at www.ccam.org.au/SundayAppeal or call (03) 9287 5513. All gifts of $2 and above are tax deductible
MARIAN COLLEGE are offering:
Online Year 7 2022 INFORMATION NIGHT on 12 August from 7 to 8:00pm. Applications now open. Close 9 Oct.
Online TALK & TOURS from 4 August. For bookings call 9363 1711 or visit www.mariansw.catholic.edu.au
RECENTLY DECEASED
We pray for Philomena Jennings, Joe Trindade, Ronald Shegog, Rudolf Perez, Jawahar Fernando, Agnes D'Cunha, Carlo Lucarelli and all who have passed away recently.
DEATH ANNIVERSARIES
We pray for Brian Rego, Umberto Princi, Kathleen Bool, Harold & Evelyn Lazaro, Darrin Deniese, Shirley McCurley, Paolina Aparo and all whose anniversaries occur at this time.
PRAYERS FOR THE SICK
We pray for Adrian Tully, Bill Fairney, Gary Spotswood, Sean Donaldson, Kath Meddings, Lucy Ballan, Irene Jones, Thais Long, Jean Cameron, Gordon Newman, Denis Webber, Monique Hoaster, Wilfredo Villareal, Rolando Navarro, Avis Fernandes, Francis Goonting, Anne Deluca, Hellen Bonnici, Filippo Sciglitano, Anthony Hanford, James Barwick, Gerry Akein, Carmelina Costanzo, Bryan Dalton, Pat Borcich, Antony, Alki Christopoulos, Charlotte Mary, Frank Forbes, Baby Lucy Rodriguerz, Carmela Saragoza, Baillie Millar, Teresita Grisancich, Wilma Pimenta, Jobbin John, Kathy Smith, Paul Burton, Martina Serrao, Pam Bibby, Margie Fernando and all who are ill in our Parish.