Catholic Parish of Lindfield-Killara Diocese of Broken Bay Holy Family Parish Church, Lindfield Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish Church, Killara LINDFIELD: KILLARA: MASS TIMES: Saturday 6:00pm Saturday Vigil: 5:30pm Sunday: 8:15am Sunday: 9:15am 10:15am 12:00 (Chinese Community Mass) 6:00pm (for both our communities) Weekdays: Monday 9:15am 7:30am Tuesday 12:15pm 7:30am Wednesday 9:15am ~ Thursday 9:15am ~ Friday 9:15am * 7:30am *** Saturday 9:15am SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION: Saturdays 5:00 5:30pm (Lindfield) For 15 minutes after the 5:30pm Mass (Killara) * NO 9:15 Mass at Lindfield nor 7:30am Mass at Killara on the 2nd Friday of each month *** Healing Mass for whole parish at Killara at 10am each 2nd Friday of each month SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER 21 5 17 The season of glad song has come (Song of Songs 2:12) This week: Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; 1 Pet 3:15-18; Jn 14:15-21 Next week : Acts 1:1-11; Eph 1:17-23; Mt 28:16-20 John s Gospel often uses the terms Spirit and the world as opposites, as enemies. But we have to be careful lest we equate John s use of the world as simply meaning the world around us. John s community lived in a time of persecution and the word world for him has a special meaning the world which is blind to and opposes the Holy Spirit. But the key thing is that it doesn t simply mean the world as such as though everything outside of the Church is bad. Because the simple fact of the matter is that many good people and many good things exist outside the Church sometimes, sadly, better people and better movements than within the Church. If we simply oppose the Church and the world then we become blind, blind to what goodness lies beyond our own walls and above all blind to the challenges that the world offers us. To presume we own and hold a monopoly on the Holy Spirit is a gross spiritual arrogance and our challenge is to recognise the work, the promptings and the challenge of the Spirit wherever they may occur. Fr Colin
2 Parish Staff and Contact Information We are the one parish of Lindfield-Killara containing our two distinct but collaborating and cooperating communities centred on our two churches at Killara and Lindfield. Holy Family Church: cnr Pacific Hwy and Highfield Rd, Lindfield Immaculate Heart of Mary Church: cnr Fiddens Wharf Rd and Charles St, Killara Parish Priest: Fr Colin Blayney colin@lindfieldkillara.org.au 9416 7195 Assistant Priest: Fr Thomas Alackakunnel VC thomas@lindfieldkillara.org.au 0421 406 162 Apart from the case of emergency please restrict the use of the above numbers to between 9:30am and 5:00pm. For office or routine enquiries please contact the Parish Office during office hours. PARISH OFFICE: Parish Secretary: Philita Marundan: philita@lindfieldkillara.org.au Address: Level 1, 2 Highfield Road (cnr Pacific Hwy) Lindfield NSW 2070 (Postal: PO Box 22, Lindfield NSW 2070) Ph: 9416 3702 Fax: 9416 3913 Email: parish@lindfieldkillara.org.au Parish Office Hours: Monday to Friday 9:30am-1:00pm and 1:30pm-4:00pm Catechist Coordinator (Primary Schools): Sue-Anne Sherwood Sacramental Programme Coordinator: Sue-Anne Sherwood Assistant Sacramental Programme Coordinator: Maia Schulze Tsang Parish Priest s Secretary: Maia Schulze Tsang sue-anne@lindfieldkillara.org.au 0416 141 508 sue-anne@lindfieldkillara.org.au 0416 141 508 maia@lindfieldkillara.org.au maia@lindfieldkillara.org.au Parish Bookkeeper: Alison Williams alison@lindfieldkillara.org.au Parish Facilities Coordinator (volunteer):anthony Cassidy anthony@lindfieldkillara.org.au Youth Ministry Coordinator (volunteer) Jean Shatek youth@lindfieldkillara.org.au Parish Primary School: Holy Family School, 4 Highfield Rd, Lindfield 2070 Ph: 9416 7200 Fax: 9416 9342 Principal: Mr Lou Dogao Email: info@holyfamily.nsw.edu.au School Website: www.hfldbb.catholic.edu.au Parish Website: www.lindfieldkillara.org.au Saturday Lindfield 6:00pm Killara 5:30pm Sunday Lindfield 8:15am Killara 9:15am Lindfield 10:15am Lindfield 12:00noon Lindfield 6:00pm 20 May Fr Colin Fr Thomas 21 May Fr Colin Fr Thomas Fr Colin Fr Thomas Fr Colin 27 May Fr Thomas Fr Colin 28 May Fr Thomas Fr Colin Fr Thomas Fr Thomas Manimala Fr Thomas
3 RICHARD ROHR S MEDITATION: THE RECOVERY OF CHRISTIAN CONTEMPLATION: PART 7 UNION WITH INFINITE LOVE James Finley a psychologist, retreat leader, and member of CAC s core faculty continues exploring meditation (another name for contemplative prayer) from a Christian perspective. Meditation is the transformative process of shifting from surface, matter-of-fact levels of consciousness to more interior, meditative levels of awareness of the spiritual dimensions of our lives. I will be referring to the more surface levels as ego consciousness. By ego consciousness, I mean the self-reflective bodily self in time and space, which is our usual day-by-day consciousness. Ego manifests itself in saying, I want, I think, I need, I feel, I remember, I like, I don t like, and so on. Our ego consciousness is a precious gift from God. God wants us to have a healthy ego, because when our ego is not healthy we suffer and those around us suffer. There are interior dimensions to ego consciousness in which we can reflect on our lives in ways that can help us to be less anxious, less depressed, less addictive in short, less subject to all the ways in which we as human beings suffer and, in our own suffering, contribute to the suffering of others. But even if we could develop a perfectly healthy ego, there would remain the suffering that arises from experiencing ourselves as nothing more than our ego. Ego consciousness, in and of itself, is not expansive enough to fulfil our hearts. Ego is not generous or gracious enough to bring us all the way home. God creates our hearts in such a way that only God will satisfy our longing. Scripture says, God is love (1 John 4:8). And so we can say that the infinite love that is the architect of our hearts creates our hearts in such a way that only an infinite union with infinite love will do. In passing from ego consciousness to meditative states of awareness, we are awakened to our inner longings for eternal oneness with God in whom is hidden the very reality and fulfilment of ourselves and of everyone and everything around us. We begin imagining that the union with God we seek is far off. After all, ego consciousness is the subjective perception of being a separate self that has to find God, who is perceived as being other than one s self. But as ego consciousness yields and gives way to meditative awareness, we begin to recognise God s surprising nearness. God is already here, all about us and within us the very source, ground, and fulfilment of our being. But subject to the limitations of ego, we tend not to experience the divine mystery of who we are, created in the image and likeness of God. We do not directly realise the God-given Godly nature of ourselves in our nothingness without God. This is why we meditate: that we might awaken to God s presence all about us and within, as Saint Augustine phrased it, closer to us than we are to ourselves. To practice meditation as an act of faith is to open ourselves to the endlessly reassuring realisation that our very being and the very being of everyone and everything around us is the generosity of God. God is creating us in the present moment, loving us into being, such that our very presence is the manifested presence of God. We meditate that we might awaken to this unitive mystery, not just in meditation, but in every moment of our lives. This is how Jesus lived. Whether he gazed at a child on his lap or a leper wanting to be healed; whether he looked at a prostitute or his own mother; whether he witnessed the joy of a wedding feast or the sorrow of loved ones weeping at the burial of a loved one; whether he observed his own disciples or his executioners Jesus saw God. We meditate that we might learn, with God s grace, to see God in all that we see. Saint Paul writes, In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5). Our oneness with Christ deepens in a lifelong process of conversion in which Christ s mind and our mind become one mind, one way of seeing and being in the world. The faithful practice of meditation is a way of learning to follow the Spirit s prompting along this self-transforming path.
4 Youth News BLAST has moved to SUNDAYS this term! Our next gathering will be SUNDAY 4 June at 4 pm in the Shirley Wallace centre. All kids years 4-6 are invited..! Praisefest! Calling all youth year 10 and older! Lindfield-Killara Parish with Catholic Youth Broken Bay present: Praisefest FRIDAY 2nd June from 6 to 9 pm MacKillop Hall (between the church and the school at Lindfield) What is Praisefest? Praisefest is a gathering of more than 100 teens and young adults from all over our diocese. A chance to nourish your physical, emotional and spiritual self with Free food Socialising and friendship LIVE music! A celebration of our faith for teens and young adults in all stages of their faith development. Want to know more? Contact us on youth@lindfieldkillara.org.au or ring Jean on 0437 445 347. PARISH YOUNG ADULTS GROUP - the next gathering takes place next Sunday 28th May immediately following the 6pm Mass in the lounge in the Shirley Wallace Parish Centre on the first floor of Lindfield church a relaxed gathering over a meal with discussion. PARISH FINANCE COMMITTEE meets this Wednesday 24th May at 7:30pm in The Library of the Shirley Wallace Parish Centre. CLASSROOM MASS Year 5 will have their classroom Mass this Thursday 25th at 11am. All class families welcome. PARISH PLAYGROUP Characters Playgroup meets every Wednesday from 10:30am till noon (during school terms) in the Shirley Wallace Parish Centre on the first floor of Holy Family church. Please register via Trybooking: www.trybooking.com/jykw Please contact Sue-Anne for more details: sue-anne@lindfieldkillara.org.au
5 Two upcoming ecumenical gatherings this week and the next. THIS WEEK: ECUMENICAL SERVICE FOR THE RENEWAL OF THE TRI-DIOCESAN COVENANT This year s Ecumenical Service of Worship to reaffirm the Covenant signed in 2008 by the Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay, the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle and the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle is to be hosted by our own Diocese of Broken Bay and will take place on: THIS Tuesday 23rd May at 7:45pm in St Luke s Anglican Church Metcalfe St, Wallsend (in Newcastle). The celebration will be jointly presided over by the bishops of our dioceses. A FREE BUS WILL OPERATE AS FOLLOWS: Depart 23 Yardley Ave Waitara (outside Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral): 5:30pm The bus will commence the return journey at 9:15pm. Please bring your dinner to eat on the bus (and perhaps a snack for the return journey). Please be part of this important ecumenical gathering. Please invite other parishioners to come with you. THE FOLLOWING WEEK: Roseville-Lindfield-Killara Interchurch Fellowship Following our gatherings in Lent our next Interchurch Service will be to celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on Tuesday 30 th May at 7:45pm at Lindfield Uniting Church cnr Provincial Rd and Pacific Hwy Lindfield Preacher: Rev. Dr Clive Pearson A collection in aid of Act for Peace ( The Christmas Bowl) will be made during the service. This year marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and the theme of the service is 'Reconciliation -The Love of Christ Compels Us'. Rev Dr Clive Pearson will preach on this subject. There will be supper as an opportunity for fellowship following the Service.
6 Ding Dong! A DATE FOR YOUR DIARIES Please note the date of Sunday 18th June - 6pm Mass at Lindfield church when Bishop Peter will be here to dedicate the newly installed ring of bells and they will ring out for the first time. A parish supper will follow the Mass. Above: The blessing of the bells themselves two weeks ago. Left: One of our young adult bellringers assisting last Monday in the raising of the bells into the belfry in readiness for their installation. Full details about the bells can be found on the parish website by clicking on the hotlink box on the homepage. CASUAL PAID POSITION IN THE SACRAMENTAL TEAM Our Sacramental Team of Sue-Anne and Maia is looking to share some of their paid hours with a third person who could help with the supervising of the weekend sessions and helping with the weekend celebrations - approximately 3 times a term for a couple of hours. If you are interested in this paid position please contact Fr Colin (colin@lindfieldkillara.org.au; 9416 7195).
7 Coming up this year get your diaries out! THIS Tuesday 23rd May (7:45pm) Tuesday 30th May (7:45pm) Sunday 18th June (6pm) Wednesday 11th October (6pm) Tuesday 24th October (7:30pm) Sunday 5th November (10:15am) Annual Ecumenical Service to re-affirm the Inter-Diocesan Covenant (see p.5) Our next local Ecumenical Service at Lindfield Uniting Church to observe the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (see p. 5) Bishop Peter at Lindfield church to celebrate Mass and to dedicate the ring of bells which will ring forth for the first time followed by parish supper (see p. 4) Mass & supper for HSC students & families Parish Thank You Evening for Volunteers: Mass and social evening Blessing and welcome for 2018 Kindergarten families at Holy Family School Sunday 12th November (10:15am) Visit by choir from St Francis of Assisi at Paddington Friday 8th December (evening) for the third year, our joint parish and school celebration of Carols Under The Stars. (All these dates [and more as they are added] appear under Diary/Events in the News and Events section of our parish website) Snippets [of faith] I would like to start a fortnightly bite-sized snippet - which over time would range across a broad spectrum of Christian faith and spirituality a little re-cap, as it were, of what our faith and spirituality are about. Fr Colin GRACE A sense of God s grace (Latin gratia, Greek = free gift) is at the heart of Christian faith and spirituality. It is the distinctive mark of St Paul s proclamation of the Gospel: in Jesus we are saved and drawn into the life and love of God by God s free gift it is not something we can earn, and the Good News is that we don t have to earn it (that s why it s Good News - Godspell Gospel ). It s a liberating, transforming message and marks Christian faith out as different from all others: we don t and can t - earn God s love and salvation by following laws, we don t and can t - merit salvation by following a moral code. God s life and salvation is a free gift to us in Jesus Christ. It s a liberating message. As St Paul puts it we are called to the freedom of God s children (Rom. 8:21). Our call then is to rejoice in this freedom, to embrace this gift, and to live our lives in its light. The moral life is our response to God s gift, not a means of earning it. The challenge is to look out for those movements and spiritualities which try to lure us back onto the treadmill of trying to earn the love and forgiveness of God.
8 THE PRAYERS AND RESPONSES OF MASS GLORIA: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory, Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father. Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; you take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer; you are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen. INVITATION TO PRAYER LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST: Celebrant: Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours.. May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise & glory of his name, for our good and the good of all his holy Church. SANCTUS: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. INVITATION TO HOLY COMMUNION: Celebrant: Behold the Lamb of God All: Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. MEMORIAL ACCLAMATION:
THE PSALM Ps 65:1-7. 16. 20. Cry out with joy to God all the earth, O sing to the glory of God s name. O render God glorious praise. Say to God: How tremendous your deeds! Before you all the earth shall bow; shall sing to you, sing to your name! Come and see the works of God, tremendous God s deeds among us. The Lord turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the river dry-shod. Let our joy then be in God; the Lord rules for ever by his might. Come and hear, all who fear God. I will tell what the Lord did for my soul: Blessed be God who did not reject my prayer nor withhold his love from me At Masses at which the Psalm is sung the response is: Let all the earth cry out to God with joy. GOSPEL ACCLAMATION : Alleluia, alleluia! The Lord said: I will not leave you orphans. I will come back to you, and your hearts will rejoice. Alleluia! RESPONSES TO THE PSALM FOR WEEKDAY MASS : 9 THE APOSTLES CREED I believe in one God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, (all bow at the following words in bold): who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen Monday: The Lord takes delight in his people. Tuesday: Your right hand has saved me, O Lord. Wednesday: Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever. Thursday: The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power. Friday: God is king of all the earth. Saturday: God is king of all the earth. CELEBRATIONS THIS WEEK SIXTH WEEK OF EASTER Wed.: Solemnity of Our Lady Help of Christians, patroness of Australia. Fri.: Memoria of St Philip Neri. Next Sunday, the seventh in the Easter Season, is the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. The following Sunday, 4th June, is the great feast of Pentecost, which brings the Easter Season to its climax and conclusion.
10 Happiness Acquiring Life s Most Important Skill Part 2 This is the second part in a series summarizing the book Happiness A Guide To Developing Life s Most Important Skill by the Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard (Atlantic Books, London, 2007). Ricard has been a monk for 30 years but was previously a scientist and has subsequently worked with many psychologists to facilitate greater mutual understanding between psychology and the wisdom drawn from the Buddhist contemplative tradition. Ricard warns us that we re on a futile search for happiness if we identify it with the satisfaction of our external desires that is, if we equate happiness with having everything perfect and settled in our external world with all, or at least most, of our needs and wants fulfilled. As he points out there are people who have everything they need to be happy and aren t; whereas there are people who are able to maintain a deep serenity in the face of great personal adversity. Happiness is fundamentally about inner peace and wisdom. If we decide that we will only be happy by finding the perfect mate, the best car, the biggest house, the greatest reputation and the most money then what will happen if we don t achieve those things, or if we lose one or more of them? If happiness is equated with possessing them, if happiness is not found fundamentally within ourselves, then happiness will quickly evaporate. In this vein we might reflect on three words: aloneness, loneliness and solitude. All three relate to a person by being themselves: aloneness is a neutral word simply describing the fact that person is by themselves; loneliness is one way of experiencing that aloneness, a painful way; solitude also describes a state of being alone but being peaceful and serene in that state. Happiness, he maintains, is also fundamentally not selfish if we are concerned with achieving our own happiness and have no concern for the happiness of others then we are certainly not on a path to real happiness. True happiness will involve a deepseated love for all beings this is part of the inner wisdom that he equates with real happiness: a deep-seated animosity to the world around us and the people in it is no recipe for inner peace. His conclusion is that happiness is a skill - a way of being that can be acquired by diligent inner work. It involves arriving at a new way of approaching our thoughts and emotions. What will follow in coming weeks is based on the belief that the way we live and think, how we perceive life s events, and how we react to them exerts an enormous amount of influence on our experience of happiness and unhappiness. (to be continued )
11 CHARITABLE WORKS FUND APPEAL The third and final Charitable Works Fund Appeal will take place this weekend 20/21 May and next weekend. Through your donation, you support: o Catechists - Bringing God's love to nearly 20,000 students in State Schools o Hospital Chaplaincy - Providing care to Catholic patients in hospital o St Lucy's School - A school of excellence for children with disabilities K-6 o St Edmund's School - A Year 7-12 co-educational special high school for teenagers with a wide range of disabilities. o The Ephpheta Centre - Supporting the Catholic Deaf community in wider Sydney. We are obliged to meet the quota set for us and so if we don t achieve that quota we have to make up the shortfall from our own parish funds which of course doesn t help us to achieve our own financial goals. Please support the appeal generously. Donations are 100% tax deductible. RENOVATIONS & BUILDING MAINTENANCE CHRIS IACONO Parishioner All work large and small Lic 89879c Fully Insured 50 years experience Mobile : 0412 256 616 Phone : 9416 36 98 chris.iacono@bigpond.com Comfort Inn North Shore Family owned and professionally operated motel with on-site restaurant Address: 1 Gatacre Avenue, Lane Cove Phone: 02 9427 0266 Email: res@cins.com.au Website: www.cins.com.au PARISH RETREATS AT TARRAWARRA ABBEY - THIS YEAR AND NEXT YEAR This year s retreat group with Bro. Bernard Redden osco, Prior of Tarrawarra Abbey. The retreats in 2018 will take place as follows: Monday afternoon 9th April Sunday lunchtime 15th April (outside school holidays) Monday afternoon 16th April Sunday lunchtime 22nd April (within school holidays). Please contact Fr Colin if you re interested.
12 A Meditation on Mercy A beautiful meditation on the limitless mercy of God based on the scene in Luke s Gospel where the sinful woman enters the house of the Pharisee and washes Jesus feet: Kiss, I say, those feet, press your fortunate lips to them, so that after you no sinner may be afraid of them, no-one may be overcome by the consciousness of their unworthiness. Kiss them, embrace them, hold them fast, those feet venerated by angels and humans alike. Apply to them to them the ointment of confession and repentance, so that the whole house may be filled with the fragrance of the ointment. Woe to you, Pharisee, for whom this fragrance is the smell of death, bringing death, you who are afraid of being stained by the sins of another when your own pride is a much worse defilement. You do not realise how sweet to Mercy is the wretchedness confessed to by this sinner, how welcome to loving-kindness is the sincere avowal of sin, how pleasing to it the sacrifice of a contrite heart, what a weight of sin is consumed by burning love. For many sins have been forgiven her because she loved greatly. Thanks be to you, blessed sinner, for showing the world a safe place for its sinners, the feet of Jesus, which despise no-one, welcome everyone, admit everyone. It is only the Pharisee who does not spit out his pride.i do not care if the Pharisee mutters, if he thinks I should be kept away from his own feet, if he judges me unworthy to touch the hem of his own garment. Let him mock, let him laugh and jeer, let him turn his eyes away, let him hold his nose; for all that I will cling to your feet, my Jesus, I will hold them fast with my hands, press my lips to them, and I will not stop weeping and kissing them until I am told: Many sins have been forgiven her, because she has loved much (Luke 7:47). (A meditation written by St Aelred of Rievaulx (1110 1167), saintly Abbot of the Cistercian abbey at Rievaulx in northern England. Bell No. 2 of our new ring of five bells is dedicated in his honour).
13 APPROACHING THE END OF THE FINANCIAL YEAR As we enter the final six weeks of this Financial Year just a reminder of two things: any extra that you can contribute to our First and Second Collections over this time will be of great assistance towards us achieving a good result for this year. the third and final Charitable Works Fund Appeal (CWF) for this Financial Year will take place over the weekends of: * Today Sunday 20th/21st May * and next weekend 27th/28th May. Please support this appeal generously. Donations to CWF are 100% tax deductible. SOCIAL JUSTICE HERE AT LINDFIELD-KILLARA PARISH Are you interested in social justice? Helping others? Would you like to do more but don t know where to start? Please join us for a brainstorming/information session about what we could do as a parish Social Justice group. We are meeting Tuesday 23rd May at 7 pm in the old Parish Meeting Room under the Holy Family church. EVERYONE WELCOME! Can t make the meeting? Email us on lksocialjustice@gmail.com to get on our email list or to find out more. PHYSIOFIT Lindfield Parishioner PHYSIOTHERAPISTS: KERRY WESTON (Bogard) THERESA GUDE Hands on treatment Exercise prescription Exercise classes We are located at 7/345 Pacific Highway, Lindfield 2070 (Scholastic Building) Ph: 9416 3155 Mob: 0417 456 294 Email: kerry@physiofitlindfield.com.au Advertisement Space Available Please contact parish office at 94163702 Henry & Gloria Cheung Parishioners Serving the Australian Construction Industry for 30 years UNIVERSAL INSTRUMENTS 326 Pacific Hway, Lindfield NSW 2070 Tel no. 94165335 Fax no. 94161538 E:sales@universalinstruments.com.au Being a catechist is a calling, an invitation from God, an honour!!!!! Beaumont Rd Yr 4, Tues 11.30-12pm Is still waiting for a special person to teach this class are you called? Please contact Sue-Anne at sue-anne@lindfieldkillara.org.au
復活期第六主日 21/5/2017 讀經一 ( 伯多祿和若望給他們覆手, 他們就領受了聖神 ) 恭讀宗徒大事錄 8:5-8,14-17 那時候, 斐理伯下到撒瑪黎雅 城, 給眾人宣講基督 群眾留意斐理 伯所講的話, 都同心合意地聽教, 並 看見他所行的奇蹟 : 有許多附了邪魔 的人, 邪魔從他們身上, 大聲喊叫著 離開了, 又有許多癱瘓的人和跛子, 也被醫好了 ; 為此, 城裡的人皆大歡 喜 在耶路撒冷的宗徒, 聽說撒瑪黎 雅接受了天主的聖道, 便打發伯多祿 和若望去他們那裡 伯多祿和若望一 到, 就為他們祈禱, 使他們領受聖 神, 因為聖神還沒有降臨在任何人身 上 ; 他們只是因主耶穌的名受過洗 那時, 宗徒便給他們覆手, 他們就領 受了聖神 上主的話 14 CHINESE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY 美, 因他從未拒絕我的哀 禱, 也從來沒有從我身上, 撤回他的憐憫 答 讀經二 ( 就肉身來說, 基督被處死 了 ; 但就神魂來說, 他卻復活 了 ) 恭讀聖伯多祿前書 3:15-18 親愛的諸位 : 你們要在心裡尊崇基督為主 ; 如果有人詢問你們心中所懷希望的 理由, 你們要時常準備答覆, 且要 以溫和 以敬畏之心答覆 要保持 純潔的良心, 好使那些誣告你們在 基督內有良好品行的人, 在他們誹 謗你們的事上, 感到羞愧 如果天 主的旨意, 要你們因行善而受苦, 這總比因作惡而受苦更好, 因為基 督也曾一次為罪而死, 且是義人代 替不義的人, 為將我們領到天主面 前 ; 就肉身來說, 他固然被處死 了 ; 但就神魂來說, 他卻復活了 我決不留下你們做孤兒 ; 我 要回到你們這裡來 不久以後, 世 界就再看不見我, 你們卻要看見 我, 因為我生活, 你們也要生活 到那一天, 你們便知道我在我父 內, 你們在我內, 我也在你們內 接受我的命令而遵守的, 便是愛我 的人 ; 誰愛我, 我父也必愛他, 我 也要愛他, 並將我自己顯示給 他 上主的話 ( 講道後默想片刻 ) 華人天主教會北區中心 主日彌撒 12 時, 彌撒後午餐., 餐費 $5.00 牧職修女司徒金美修女 聯絡 0419-426899 中心聯絡 Gloria Cheung 聯絡 0416-118089 www.ccc-inc.org.au E :contact@ccc-inc.org.au 主日學 Sunday School, Parish meeting room ( 默想片刻 ) 答唱詠詠 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16,20 答 : 普世大地, 請向天主歡呼! ( 詠 66:1) 領 : 普世大地, 請向天主歡呼! 請歌頌他聖名的光榮, 請獻給他輝煌的讚頌 請你們向天主說 : 你的作為是何等驚人! 答 領 : 普世都要朝拜你, 歌頌你 ; 全球也都要歌頌你的聖名 請你們前來觀看天主的作為 ; 他對世人所做的一切, 實在令人敬畏 答 領 : 他曾使海洋乾涸, 使人徒步走過江河, 叫我們因他而喜樂 他以自己的大能, 永遠統治萬邦 答 領 : 凡敬畏天主的人, 請你們前來靜聽, 我要敘述他為我靈魂所做的一切 天主應受讚 上主的話 ( 默想片刻 ) 福音前歡呼領 / 眾 : 亞肋路亞 眾 : 亞肋路亞 領 : 主說 : 誰愛我, 必遵守我的話, 我父也必愛他, 我們要到他那裡去, 並要在他那裡, 作我們的居所 ( 若 14:23) 眾 : 亞肋路亞 福音 ( 我也要求父, 他必會賜給你們另一位護慰者 ) 恭讀聖若望福音 14:15-21 那時候, 耶穌對門徒說 : 如果你們愛我, 就要遵守我的命令 ; 我也要求父, 他必會賜給你們另一位護慰者, 使他永遠與你們同在 他是世界所不能領受的真理之神, 因為世界看不見他, 也不認識他 ; 你們卻認識他, 因為他與你們同在, 並在你們內 28/5 午餐北區中心舉行 5 月及 6 月生日會及結婚記念慶祝會, 餐費 $5.00, 華人天主教會慶幸能邀請到加拿大 程明聰神父, Fr. Francis Ching 蒞臨 雪梨,6/7-16/7 分別在 CCC 各中心 及其他天主教華人團體主持彌撒 住宿避靜 講座及 Young Adult Retreat, 6/7-8/7: 兩晚住宿避靜 (Mount Schoenstatt Spirituality Centre) 8/7 : Praise and Worship Night (Eastwood Centre) 14-15/7 : Young Adult Retreat (Mount Schoenstatt Spirituality Centre) 住宿避靜報名表在門口接待處索取 E :contact@ccc-inc.org.au
15 (continued from page 16 ) underwhelm, others. And yet we understand this, at least somewhat, in our experience of babies, who can overpower us precisely by their powerlessness. Around a baby, as most every mother and father has learned, we not only watch our language and try not to have bitter arguments; we also try to be better, more loving persons. Metaphorically, a baby has the power to do an exorcism. It can cast out the demons of self-absorption and selfishness in us. That s why Jesus could cast out certain demons that others could not. And that s how God s power forever lies within our world and within our lives, asking for our patience. Christ, as Annie Dillard says, is always found in our lives just as he was originally found, a helpless baby in the straw who must be picked up and nurtured into maturity. But we are forever wanting something else, namely, a God who would come and clean up the world and satisfy our thirst for justice by showing some raw muscle power and banging some heads here and now. We are impatient with quiet, moral power that demands infinite patience and a long-term perspective. We want a hero, someone with the blazing guns of a Hollywood superhero but the heart of a Mother Teresa. The guns of the world blasting away evil, that s what we want from our God, not the power of a baby lying mute and helpless against the cruel powers of our time. Like the Israelites facing the Philistines, we are reluctant to send a shepherd boy against an ironclad giant. We want divine power in iron, muscles, guns, and charisma. But that s not the way intimacy, peace, and God are found. Fr Ron Rolheiser omi (from the Centre for Liturgy, University of St Louis) Address: 319 Pacific Highway, North Sydney, NSW 2060 164 King Street, Newton 6 Pitt Street Parramatta Phone: 9519-5344/99545255 FAX: 95194310 W: www.wnbull.com.au E: wnbull@wnbull.com.au Member of Australian Funeral Directors Association Lindfield Dental Practice Dr Peter Chung DDS, MDS, PhD Clinical Assoc Professor Open: Mon-Sat P: 9416 5000 Suite 1, 345 Pacific Highway (Scholastic Bldg) Next to Lindfield Medical Practice Lord, in Jesus your Son, you restored to us the gift of everlasting life. Grant that life to: Recently deceased: Kay (sister of Don Cronin of our parish), Joan Swan, Maria Ng, Ian Berman (younger brother of Michael of our parish), Jim Kelseo, Rosa Curtis (grandmother of Therese Walsh and great-grandmother of Daniel, Patrick and Rachel). Anniversaries: Margarita Tu, Joseph Pham Ngoc Dinh. Please pray for those who are sick : Alan Betts, Paddy Nolan, Gizelle Tan, Basilisa Choi, Cyril Ferriere, Br Braden, Brian Couper, Kieran Norton, Sean Maguire, Pakie Maguire, Naneth Bernado, Marjorie Simpkins, Michael Swan.
16 REFLECTING ON THIS SUNDAY S SCRIPTURES.. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and the Father will give you another Advocate to be with you always. POWER There are different kinds of power and different kinds of authority. There is military power, muscle power, political power, economic power, moral power, charismatic power, and psychological power, among other things. There are different kinds of authority too: We can be bitterly forced into acquiescing to certain demands or we can be gently persuaded into accepting them. Power and authority are not all of a kind. Imagine four persons in a room: The first is a powerful dictator who rules a country. His word commands armies and his shifting moods intimidate subordinates. He wields a brutal power. Next to him sits a gifted athlete at the peak of his physical prowess, a man whose quickness and strength have few equals. His skills are a graceful power for which he is much admired and envied. The third person is a rock star whose music and charisma can electrify an audience and fill a room with a soulful energy. Her face is on billboards and she is a household name. That s still another kind of power. Finally, we have too in the room a newborn, a baby, lying in its crib, seemingly without any power or strength whatsoever, unable to even ask for what it needs. Which of these is ultimately the most powerful? The irony is that the baby ultimately wields the greatest power. The athlete could crush it, the dictator could kill it, and the rock star could out-glow it in sheer dynamism, but the baby has a different kind of power. It can touch hearts in a way that a dictator, an athlete, or a rock star cannot. Its innocent, wordless presence, without physical strength, can transform a room and a heart in a way that guns, muscle, and charisma cannot. We watch our language and actions around a baby, less so around athletes and rock stars. The powerlessness of a baby touches us at a deeper moral place. And this is the way we find and experience God s power here on earth, sometimes to our great frustration, and this is the way that Jesus was deemed powerful during his lifetime. The entire Gospels make this clear, from beginning to end. Jesus was born as a baby, powerless, and he died hanging helplessly on a cross with bystanders mocking his powerlessness. Yet both his birth and his death manifest the kind of power upon which we can ultimately build our lives. The Gospels describe Jesus power and authority in exactly this way. In Greek, the original language of the Gospels, we find three words for power or authority. We easily recognise the first two: energy and dynamic. There is a power in energy, in physical health and muscle, just as there is a power in being dynamic, in dynamite, in having the power to generate energy; but when the Gospels speak of Jesus as having great power and as having a power beyond that of other religious figures, they do not use the words energetic or dynamic. They use a third word, exousia, which might be best rendered as vulnerability. Jesus real power was rooted in a certain vulnerability, like the powerlessness of a child. This isn t an easy concept to grasp since our idea of power is normally rooted in the opposite, namely, the notion that power lies in the ability to overwhelm, not (continued on page 15 )