The 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B 7th & 8th July 2018

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1 Parish Priest: Fr Thanh Tran Parish Secretary Dominique Hockey Amelia Younane Parish Office Hours Tuesday - Friday 9am 3pm Baptisms Please contact the Parish Office. Weddings By appointment and after Preparation Children s Ministries Kathy Menzies stschpar@bigpond.net.au St Schols Community Centre info@stscholscc.org.au St Scholastica s Primary School Principal: Jenny Rohan principal@ssbennettswood.catholic.edu.au Outside School Hours Care Camp Australia St Scholastica s Kindergarten Director: Catherine Findlay st.scholasticas.kin@kindergarten.vic.gov.au Administrator: Katherine Presley stscholskinderadmin@bigpond.com 348 Burwood Highway, Bennettswood VIC 3125 ABN Phone: Fax: stschpar@bigpond.net.au Website: The 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B 7th & 8th July 2018 SCHOOL HOLIDAYS Wishing our school, kinder and Catechesis families a wonderful, safe and relaxing holiday. Enjoy the break with family and friends and stay safe wherever you may be. See you all back on Monday 16 July 2018 for another term of fun! Seniors Lunch for July Date: Time: Where: RSVP: Tuesday 10th July Community Centre 12 noon Friday 6th July Come and enjoy a warm meal in the company of fellow parishioners. Everyone welcome! You can find the menu on the Church exit doors. Please note that for catering purposes it is essential to RSVP s by Friday 6th July on the list in the Gathering Area or by calling the Parish office on If you do RSVP and are unable to attend please let the Parish Office know. Thanksgiving Envelopes There are still 30 sets that are yet to be collected. Are now ready for collection in the Gathering Area. Please collect your envelopes and help us save on postage. Thank You!

2 WEEKLY CALENDAR 2018 Monday 9 July 08.00am Communion Service NO Vinnies Meeting tonight Remembering Our Community Sick Nancy McDonald, Marie Campos, Blossom Corfield Tuesday 10 July 08.00am Mass 12.00noon - Seniors Lunch 07.30pm Prayer Group - McAndrew Room Wednesday 11 July 10.00am Exposition 10.30am Rosary 11.00am Mass followed by a cuppa GA 01.00pm Legion of Mary GA NO NOVENA DURING WINTER MONTHS Thursday 12 July 08.00am Mass 07.30pm Social Committee Meeting in Presbtery 08.00pm Burwood Discussion Group Friday 13 July 8:00am Mass Saturday 14 July 09.00am Mass/Confession 05.30pm Mass Anniversaries John Garton, Peter Leotta, Edith Corfield, Caterina Cannestra, Giovanna Pinzone Recently Deceased Bartolo Ziino Condolences St Scholastica s Parish would like to offer deepest sympathies to the family of Bartolo Ziino who died on 28 June May God be watching over you all during this challenging time. New to St Scholastica s? WELCOME Please take a new parishioner pack home with you, located in the foyer of the church. There are so many ways to get involved in your new parish, browse through the pack, call into the parish office and introduce yourself we d love to meet you and help in any way we can. Sunday 15 July 09.00am Mass 11.00am Mass 05.30pm Mass - MGL s ROSTERS Day Mass Time 2nd Sunday of the Month 7/8 July 2018 Readers Special Ministers Saturday 6.00 pm Rachel Cordeiro Charlie Mellican Noela Corby John Corby Sunday 9.00 am Avishka Godakandage Betty McDonald Murray McCormack Anna Gaetano am Bev O Neill Jill Bartley Tam Pham Anna Marie Ziino 5.30 pm Louise Willison Michael Chan Netty Solomon Volunteers Needed - Seniors Lunch We are in need of volunteers to help once a month at the Seniors Luncheon in the clearing away of the crockery and cutlery from the tables. The seniors lunch is held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month and it would only require a few hours of your time for this wonderful service to the seniors of our community. If you are able to assist, please contact the Parish Office on Help Required for our Parish We are currently in need for volunteers for the following ministry: ROSTERS Day Saturday Sunday Mass Time 6.00 pm 3rd Sunday of the Month 14/15 July 2018 Readers Special Ministers Dianne Smith Lindy Leigh Fred Hillas Franklin Rozario 9.00 am Sylvia Chuah Susan Jenkins Daniel Leong Anna Gaetano am Ren Maliakal Quyen Truong April Lewis Janto Haman 5.30 pm Florianne Ravanne Anna Nguyen Netty Solomon Baptism Preparation Team. This ministry requires you to attend one meeting on the first Thursday of each month to provide the families of the children to be baptised valuable information about the Sacrament of Baptism. The meeting starts at 7.30 pm in the Gathering Area. Training provided. If you are able to help with the above ministry, we would love to hear from you. You can contact the Parish Office by on stschpar@bigpond.net.au or phone on Alternatively you can give your details to Fr Tran. Thank you to the parishioners who have come forward to volunteer their time for the above ministries. We would still like to have a couple more volunteers for each of the ministries if possible, please consider joining. Thank you! Music - 1st Sunday of the Month at 5.30 pm Mass St Scholastica s Parish Community would like to thank Charmaine and Stephanie Fernando for the time they have volunteered singing at our 5.30 pm Mass every 1st Sunday of the month. We wish them well in their next adventure in Sydney. Calling all our music coordinators and choirs we now have a vacancy for the 1st Sunday of the month at the 5.30pm Mass and would love to hear from anyone who is willing to cover this Mass. Please let Fr Thanh or the Parish office know.

3 Communion to the sick Do you know anyone who is sick or housebound, who would like to receive a visit from Father Tran? Perhaps the sick/ homebound person is feeling isolated from the parish community and would like to receive communion on a regular basis. This can easily be arranged by phoning the parish office on or ing stschpar@bigpond.net.au Baptism at St Scholastica s It is a requirement of the parish that a Baptism information night must be attended prior to having your child baptised. Contact the parish office on to make a booking into one of the monthly sessions. Next session: Thursday 2nd August 2018 at 7:30pm in the Gathering Area. Children s Liturgy - 2nd Sunday of the Month The Children s Liturgy is held on the 2nd Sunday of each month at the 9am Mass. The next Children s Liturgy is: - Sunday 8th July - 9am Mass As the Children s Liturgy commences with Father giving the children a special blessing at the beginning of Mass before they go out for the liturgy, we ask that all children attending are punctual so they don t miss this important part. We look forward to welcoming all children to our next Children s Liturgy. St Vincent De Paul - Compeer Program The Compeer Program advertised by the St Vincent de Paul Society over recent weeks may have stimulated your interest?? Hopefully it did. To learn more of this rewarding friendship activity there will be information sessions held at the St Vincent de Paul Headquarters at Prospect Street, Box Hill on Monday 16th July at 1:30pm- 3:30pm and 6pm-7:30pm. Bookings are essential. Please contact the Compeer office on or compeer@svdp-vic.org.au to find out more or to make a booking. Seniors Social Night Functions We d love to see you at our next Senior Singles Social Night Functions. The Seniors Single Social Nights are a regular occurrence for the Men on the 3rd Tuesday of the month and the Ladies on the 4th Tuesday of the month. The July nights out will be held at Mountain View Hotel at 6:30pm. The dates for July are: - Men s Dinner - Tuesday 17th July - Ladies Dinner - Tuesday 24th July Mark your diary now for a night of company and a nice meal. All are welcome. Chosen Conference You did not choose me but I chose you. and I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last - John 15:16. The Chosen Conference is a national conference of young people and young adults between years old, from 12th - 15th July 2018 at Mannix College Clayton, Melbourne. This conference is organised by Jesus Youth, an International Catholic Association with a focus on evangelising young people and nurturing their missionary initiatives. The conference consists of youth rallies, up-lifting talks, workshops, Theatre, Eucharistic celebrations, Vocation & Mission Expo & Live music from Master Plan, the band performed last two WYD's. If you are interested or want to register please visit For more information about the group registration please contact register@chosenconference.org.au or call us at Europe Pilgrimage Fr. Stephen from Highett Parish would like to invite you for a 17-day pilgrimage that he is leading departing on 7th October This pilgrimage features Avila, Fatima, Santiago, Medjugorje, Lourdes, Milan, Padua, Assisi and Rome for an all-inclusive price of $7200. This fare includes Return Airfares + Local Transfers + Stay in 4 Star Hotels + All Breakfasts & Dinners. For enquiries & bookings call & or us pilgrimage@magiholidays.com.au. Last 2 seats available for 15th August Group departure. CALL NOW!! The Journey Catholic Radio Program - Airs 8 July 2018 Just a reminder, that all Journey Catholic Radio information is always a week in advance This week on the Journey Fr Richard Healey reflects on the Gospel of Mark, Sr Hilda shares her Wisdom from the Abbey talking about The Broken Heart Syndrome, our very own Pete Gilmore reminds us to Live Big and Marilyn Rodrgues, The Peaceful Parent, encourages us with her God spot on Creating Memories. Go to or where you can listen anytime and subscribe to weekly shows by . July 8, th Sunday in Ordinary Time As the Lord spoke to me, the spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and I heard the one who was speaking say to me, Son of man, I am sending you EZEKIEL 2:2-3 God asks each of us to do some special work for Him. He gives us the resources we need to do His work. However, do we listen to God when He calls? Do we get up on our feet and use our talent to do the work He asks of us? Remember, God doesn t call the equipped, he equips the called.

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5 The 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B 7th and 8th July 2018 Entrance Antiphon Your merciful love, O God, we have received in the midst of your temple. Your praise, O God, like your name, reaches the ends of the earth; your right hand is filled with saving justice. First Reading: Ezekiel 2:2-5 A reading from the prophet Ezekiel The people are rebellious; they shall know there will be a prophet in their midst. The spirit came into me and made me stand up, and I heard the Lord speaking to me. He said, Son of man, I am sending you up to the Israelites, to the rebels who have turned against me. Till now they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me. The sons are defiant and obstinate; I am sending you to them, to say, The Lord says this. Whether they listen or not, this set of rebels shall know there is a prophet among them. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God Responsorial Psalm: Ps 122. R. v.2 R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy. To you have I lifted up my eyes, you who dwell in the heavens: my eyes, like the eyes of slaves on the hand of their lords. R. Like the eyes of a servant on the hand of his mistress, so our eyes are on the Lord our God till he shows us his mercy. R. Second Reading: 2 Cor 12:7-10 A reading from the second letter of St Paul to the Corinthians I will glory in my infirmities so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. In view of the extraordinary nature of these revelations, to stop me from getting too proud I was given a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to beat me and stop me from getting too proud! About this thing, I have pleaded with the Lord three times for it to leave me, but he has said, My grace is enough for you: my power is at its best in weakness. So I shall be very happy to make my weaknesses my special boast so that the power of Christ may stay over me, and that is why I am quite content with my weaknesses, and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and the agonies I go through for Christ s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Gospel Acclamation Alleluia, alleluia! The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; he sent me to bring Good News to the poor. Alleluia! Gospel: Mark 6:1-6 A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark A prophet is despised only in his own country. Jesus went to his home town and his disciples accompanied him. With the coming of the sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue and most of them were astonished when they heard him. They said, Where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through him? This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here with us? And they would not accept him. And Jesus said to them, A prophet is only despised in his own country among his own relations and in his own house ; and he could work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. Communion Antiphon Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed the man who seeks refuge in him. Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy. We are filled with contempt. Indeed all too full is our soul with the scorn of the rich, with the proud man s disdain. R. Readings for 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B - 15th July 2018 First Reading: Amos 7:12-15 Second Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14 Gospel: Mark 6:7-13

6 Scripture Commentary for The 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B The theme that links the readings today seems to be that of the rejected prophet. The not very attractive but mercifully brief first reading, taken from the call of the prophet Ezekiel (2:2-5), sets this up. The Lord instructs the prophet that he is to stand by his message even though it will meet with rejection from a rebellious people. The message will be vindicated in due course. It is against this background that the Gospel, Mark 6:1-6, describes Jesus return to his home town Nazareth. He is accompanied by his disciples, who are now beginning to constitute his new family (3:31-35), distinct from the members of his original family listed here. When on the sabbath day he begins to teach in the synagogue, his former townsfolk are amazed at the authority and wisdom of his words. In a sense they ask the right question, Where did this man get all this? But the contemptuous tone ( this man ) already signals rejection. Had they pondered a little longer on the where (or whence ), they might have begun to arrive at the right solution: that the authority and wisdom Jesus is displaying comes from God. Instead, they try immediately to put him back into the box of their previous knowledge of him: he is the carpenter and, yes, they know and can list all the members of his family. With this they can be comfortable. Impossible that one of them, one so familiar, could really be a prophet sent from God to instruct them. Small-town prejudice and narrow-mindedness blinkers perception of the reality that is there before them, forcing Jesus to repeat in reference to Nazareth the adage, The only place where prophets are without honour is in their own hometown,... (v 4). This Markan account of the incident goes on to comment, And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them (v 5). Deeds of power in Mark s Gospel refer to the liberation of people from a variety of afflictions (spiritual, psychological and physical) which the worldview of the time attributed to demonic possession. We do not have to follow that attribution in all instances but we should ask what corresponds in our understanding to this sense of captivity to demonic forces. We see Jesus confronting all that seeks to control and dehumanise people, alienating them from God and from fellow-human beings. What is remarkable here is the way in which the Gospel so frankly records Jesus helplessness to do any such deeds of power for his townsfolk because of their lack of faith. Faith or the lack of it conditioned his power to help. Put the other way round and more positively, it is faith that allows God s power to be effective in our world. The episode shows that the greatest enemy to faith can simply be familiarity : a refusal to believe that God s presence and God s power could come to us in so familiar a form as the person next door. The Nazarenes had their own fixed ideas as to when and where and how the Messiah should come to Israel and the one they knew as the carpenter simply didn t fit the bill. So the only place that really missed out on Jesus works of power was his own hometown! Progress in the spiritual life growth in the Spirit almost always shows itself in the ability to recognise God more and more in the ordinary, the everyday. This is why the great saints never stopped wondering being filled with wonder at the mysterious presence of God they constantly sensed all round them. The full meaning of the Incarnation is not only that the Son of God became a human being but that he took human form in a town as ordinary and insignificant and out of the way as Nazareth (cf John 1:46). Perhaps we have to identify and name the Nazareth in our own selves. With respect to the second reading (2 Cor 12:7-10) we surely should be grateful to St. Paul for the frankness with which he acknowledged the thorn in the flesh that remained despite all his pleadings with God to take it away. It must have been something well known and obvious, since he clearly expected his Corinthians audience to know what he was talking about something like a physical ailment that made his appearance unattractive or an impediment of speech. Whatever it was, the thorn that God would not take away became a key aspect of his spirituality and sense of God s grace. Faced with seemingly ineradicable character traits and weaknesses, we too have to learn, When I am weak, then I am strong. Brendan Byrne SJ