Parish Bulletin
PARISH NEWS
On Friday we celebrated the feast day of Pope Saint John Paul II who has a special place in the hearts of Aboriginal Catholics and indeed of Aboriginal Australians. His 1986 Alice Springs speech recognising their unique culture, contribution to the Catholic Church and their long history of survival despite discrimination was a proud, pivotal moment for Aboriginal peoples and remains a stark wake up to the rest of us.
Saint John Paul’s profound address showed great understanding and empathy, laying bare the pain of dispossession, transportation from homelands, break-up of families, splitting apart of tribes, orphaned children and “people forced to live like exiles in a foreign country.” At the same time he celebrated and honoured their “Dreaming,” their songs and stories, paintings and languages with deep respect, dignity and affection. Finally: understanding! (Address of Pope John Paul II to the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, Alice Springs 29th Nov 1986) The Pope’s words were a balm to Aboriginal ears, akin to Jeremiah’s words to the people of Israel in our first reading this week, “They had left in tears, I will comfort them as I lead them back”. (Jer 31:9)
All these years later the Plenary Council is discerning how our Australian Church might be newly open to Indigenous ways of being Catholic in spirituality, theology, liturgy, and missionary discipleship. Vigorous support is being expressed for Church efforts to “bridge the gap” with First Nations people, not least of which is endorsement of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Indigenous Catholic and Plenary Council delegate Ms Toni Janke, feels a real sense of hope in the Council, reminding us that indigenous Australians “have a beautiful rich culture that is in excess of 60,000 years old and a lot to teach not just the Church but the community at large.” (Catholic Leader 5th Oct 2021).
Deacon Mark Kelly
FIRST HOLY COMMUNION 2021
If your child is in Grade 4, or above, is baptised, has received the Sacrament of Reconciliation and is ready to receive First Holy Communion please come along to our parent only information meeting on Wednesday 27th October at St Ita’s Church, Drouin 7pm OR Thursday 28th October at St Joseph’s Church, Warragul. 7pm. We are sending a letter of invitation home with more details via your school. Please keep an eye out within the next day or two. If your child is in Grade 4 and you don’t receive the invitation for some reason please email me. We are looking forward to sharing this very important next step in your child’s faith journey.
Due to the current situation, dates are subject to COVID-19 restrictions. We may need to conduct the above meetings online via Zoom, so we are asking interested parents to please send their preferred email address for receiving the Zoom link if need be. Please send your email address to the following email address.
Email: Warragul.sacraments@cdsale.org.au
For further inquiries please contact Thérèse on M: 0499 116 428
