Apr 17, 2024
Welcome back to another busy and slightly longer school term! This year, we have some important milestones to celebrate in our community. We have the 35th anniversary of our parish coming up and Fr John has organised a bush dance on our oval and in our hall this Friday evening 19 April from 6 pm to about 8.30 pm (it’s also Fr John’s birthday). The Mucky Duck Bush Band will be providing the entertainment and there will be a sausage sizzle and “food trucks” too. As well as this, some of our students will be assisting Fr John with the unveiling of his new statues. Hopefully, we can get lots of families coming along to join in the fun.
Mar 27, 2024
We are now in Holy Week, which for Christians is the most important week of the liturgical year. We will be holding a special reflection based on the Stations of the Cross this Thursday 28 March from 8.45am in the Church. You are most welcome to join us in prayer and reflection. In 2019, I was very fortunate to spend three weeks in Jerusalem and one special highlight was being able to retrace the footsteps of Jesus as he made his way to the cross. This walk goes along the Via Dolorosa and we paused at specific places to remember the events that took place. We walked along it on Good Friday and it was very sombre and somewhat confronting as we were watched closely by heavily armed soldiers. We ended up at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (also known as the Church of the Resurrection) which is believed to be the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. At dawn on Easter Sunday, we celebrated Mass in this incredible Church and our Irish priest, Fr Paddy O’Rourke, delivered a very short but powerful Easter homily. All he said was, “Tell everyone that I’m alive!” For us today, that is our simple message. Jesus is alive and because of his resurrection, we too will also experience it when our time comes.
Mar 13, 2024
As we are getting closer to Easter, it is a good time to think about the core teachings of Jesus’ ministry, which were forgiveness and healing. It is through forgiveness that we find healing. Sadly, we live in a broken world where there is so much unhappiness and war as a result of people wanting retribution. Just watch the news every night to see for yourselves! Perhaps the last words Jesus uttered were his most important, “Forgive them Father for they don’t know what they are doing.” Where can you find forgiveness in your lives this Easter? Imagine if everyone around the world practised forgiveness on a daily basis. Surely, it would make the world a better place to be!
Feb 28, 2024
As we move through the season of Lent, we can use this time to reflect upon God’s love for us. Divine love is received by surrender instead of any performance principle whatsoever. Divine love is a love that operates in an unqualified way, without making distinctions between people. I once heard a priest ask the question, “What if we are already saved?” Simple question, but quite profound if you spend time thinking about it as we are so conditioned into thinking that we have to earn God’s love.
Feb 14, 2024
Last year, I was very fortunate to travel to Greece and Turkey on a pilgrimage following the footsteps of St Paul. It was an incredible experience. One thing that struck me over and over again, was just how much meaning we have lost through translations over the years. The very first Bibles were written in Greek before they moved into Latin, English and then all other languages. One of the first things Jesus says in the Bible is to repent. Unfortunately, the word ‘repent’ has been misinterpreted into telling our children they are naughty if the don’t clean their rooms or help Mum around the house. The word ‘repent’ actually comes from the Greek work ‘metanoia’ which means to change one’s mind or to change the way you think. Today is Ash Wednesday which is the start of Lent which is the 40 days leading up to Easter where we are asked to ‘repent’ and reflect upon our relationship with God. This Lent, how can we change the way we think about God? I once read that God doesn’t love us because we are good. God loves us because he is good!
Jan 31, 2024
Welcome back to the start of another new year at Mary Mac! It was so wonderful seeing all our students return with big smiles on their faces (I think some parents had even bigger smiles!). I would like to extend a huge welcome to our new families. I hope you enjoy your time in our beautiful community. There are a number of new initiatives happening this year which I would like to share with you:
