French's Forest Catholic Parish eNEWS

Blessed are the poor? – the hungry? – those who mourn? What is Jesus doing in these Beatitudes? Jesus was not a ‘pie in the sky’ dreamer saying: ‘You are destitute, hungry now. Don’t worry, you will be okay in paradise in the long distant future. ’That would be a cruel celestial joke. Rather, Jesus was setting about the task of creating a new sort of society, the Kingdom of God on earth, in which the destitute, the starving, the weeping, are blessed in the sense that they can expect their suffering to be alleviated, companions to be found in their distress. The Divine imperative is that His followers break out of their comfort zone of plenty of money, full stomachs, much to laugh about. They must enter into the harsh reality of other people’s destitute, starving, weeping lives. Woe to them if they do not. Can Our Lord look into the heart of each one of us living in our comfortable world, and then with confidence turn to that other world and recite the Beatitudes? We might pause for a momen…

Lent offers us a privileged time to reflect on our faith life and reorient ourselves more closely towards God. This year, our Parish is taking part in The Light Is ON, where every Friday evening during Lent, churches will be open for quiet time and prayer, with the Sacrament of Reconciliation available.
OLGC will be open on Fridays during Lent from 7pm-8pm and you are invited to spend this time with God. March 8, 15, 22, 18, April 5, 12.

We're proud to announce our very first Frenchs Forest Parish Holy Land Pilgrimage. Accompanied by Fr Jose and Deacon Peter, we're leaving on Monday 7 October 2019 for two weeks, staying in 4-5 star accommodation. We'll fly Emirates to Jordan where we'll first visit the Dead Sea, Mt Nebo, Madaba and Petra. Then in Israel we'll visit many different places, including the site of Jesus' Baptism, Jericho and Mt. Quarantal, where Jesus fasted for 40 days. We'll go boating on the sea of Galilee, and we'll visit the Church of the Beatitudes and Capernaum nearby. We'll go to Mt Tabor (site of the Transfiguration), Nazareth, Cana, Caesarea Maritima (for the ruins of Herod's palace), Ein Karem (site of the Visitation), Bethany (where Martha and Mary lived), Masada, Qumran and Bethlehem.  And of course Jerusalem, and many more places besides.
This is a wonderful way to make friends, nourish our faith and deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ. The cost is…

Would your child like to join the NEW children’s choir group?
The choir will sing on the 4th Sunday of each month at the 10am Mass at Our Lady of Good Counsel.
The first Children’s choir Mass will be held on Sunday 24th February and all children are invited to be part of the choir.
There is a practice this Sunday 17th February after the 10am Mass for any children that would like to be involved.

I am very pleased to introduce our seminarians, Roger Delmonte and Thomas Tan Nguyen, to you.  Their appointment to our parish commenced last Sunday.  Roger is a 5th Year seminarian who has been given a pastoral appointment to Frenchs Forest Parish, so we should see him often.  Tan is a 1st Year Seminarian who will be studying at the Good Shepherd Seminary in Homebush.  Frenchs Forest is now Tan's home parish for his holidays and weekends off.  Please extend a warm welcome to both Roger and Tan when you see them.
Fr Jose

Thank you to all our Catechists who attended our first meeting of the Year. Classes being in our State Schools on the weeks beginning 18 February or 25 February. We wish all our Catechists blessings for the year ahead.
CCD Ministry Induction course Friday 22 February begins with “Mission and Ministry of the Catechist” and “SRE Teacher in the Parish and the School” This MI course is taking place at Our Lady of Good Counsel.The dates for the full course will be up on Notice Boards in the Churches
Catechist Commissioning Sunday – 10 March Catechist Morning Tea – Wednesday 10 April 10.30am
We have a few classes without a Catechist this year.Please consider volunteering.The impact you will have on our young people who are eager to hear about God’s love is unique and lasting.

Enrolments for the Sacrament of First Reconciliation close on Wednesday 27 February.Preparation for this Sacrament begin on the weekend of 2/3 March.

The agenda for the first session of the Council will be formed in response to the dialogue and listening process that has happened up until Ash Wednesday this year, so we only have a short time left to get our responses to the Plenary Council team. After this we have a discernment period,Please check our notice Board for all the dates that are planned and get involved.

We will remember our former Parish Priest Fr Peter McGrath with an Anniversary Mass on Sunday 3 March St Anthony’s at 9am

Saturday 16 March (after 5.30 pm Mass) Join us for our annual St Patrick’s Day celebration in the OLGC Hall. BYO & bring a plate & glasses. To help us plan, please RSVP on the clipboards at the back of each church , indicating the food you will bring. Bring your family! Bring your friends! Prize for best dressed! Gold coin donation requested.

We will commence our 24 Hours directly after the 9.15 am Mass at OLGC on Friday 8 March and finish Saturday 9am. We need people who love Jesus to roster themselves to sit quietly with him sometime during those 24 hours. Clipboards with roster sheets have been placed at the back of each church.

Saturday 2 March, 5pm Dust off your dancing boots and cowboy hat! Bring your family and friends and join us for a night of live music and bootscooting…..
FREE BBQ, plus drinks and icecreams on sales (no nuts or alcohol please)
RSVP by Tuesday 26 February for catering purposes: Tinyurl.com/smdbushdance

We hear the beautiful words in Isaiah that we all know so well “Here I am, send me” This first reading provides a perfect balance to the gospel. Jesus is being closely pressed by the crowd when he asks a nearby fisherman to take him just off shore to preach without being overwhelmed by the crowd. Seemingly at random, he has selected the boat of the fisherman Peter. Having finished preaching for the day, Jesus tells Peter to set out into deeper water and pay out his fishing nets. Peter is certainly not keen on the idea! Out of some interest or good nature he had agreed to allow this preacher to use his boat for a while, but now this country bumpkin is trying to tell him how to fish! Just to prove Jesus wrong, Peter agrees to go through the futile exercise and is overwhelmed by the enormous catch of fish. Like Isaiah in the first reading, Peter is suddenly acutely aware of his own deficiencies – ‘Leave me Lord; I am a sinful man’. Like Isaiah, he recognises that he has just seen the glor…

Sacrament of Reconciliation Program will begin with Parent information night on Thursday 14 February at 7.30pm. This meeting is essential for Parents of children who were Confirmed last year in August. This is the second Sacrament in the program and we look forward to seeing all parents whose children will take part in this at the Parent information night.

More than 30,000 people have now shared their stories with the Plenary Council, either as individuals or as part of a group gathering. Most of those people have a strong connection with the Church and with parish life, though significant numbers of people from other Christian traditions or other faith traditions are also considering the question:
"What do you think God is asking of us in Australia at this time?"
So today we ask ourselves “What will be on the agenda for the Plenary Council in 2020?” The agenda for the first session of the Council will be formed in response to the dialogue and listening process that has happened up until Ash Wednesday this year, so we only have a short time left to get our responses to the Plenary Council team. After this open and inclusive process of listening, dialogue, prayer and discernment, the Council agenda will be formed in late 2019 and early 2020. Please visit plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au if you would like to know more or have your s…

All I Have is Yours....... 40 DAYS TO FREEDOM During these coming 40 days of Lent Michael McGirr, the author of this Lenten program, asks us to consider that choosing what we do in our lives is really about choosing the kind of people we want to be. Through a selection of readings, prayers and personal reflections you are invited to take some time to prepare to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, the heart of our faith and the source of our freedom.
DATES:March 5, 12, 19, 26 April 2 & 9 VENUE:St Martin’s. TIME:7pm – 8pm. Booklets distributed at the first session. To register please ring the Parish Office 9451 5097 or clipboards are available in all churches.

Catechists we look forward to seeing you at our first meeting for the year on Wednesday 13February beginning with prayer in OLGC Church at 7pm, followed by our meeting in the Parish Centre at 7.30pm.
Some dates for your diary:Friday 22 February CCD Ministry Induction course begins with “Mission and Ministry of the Catechist” and “SRE Teacher in the Parish and the School” This MI course is taking place at Our Lady of Good Counsel. The dates for the full course will be up on Notice Boards in the Churches.
We have a few classes without a Catechist this year.Please consider volunteering.The impact you will have on our young people who are eager to hear about God’s love is unique and lasting.
Our task is to perceive the call of God and then to do His will.But in order to do His will we must ask ourselves ‘what is God’s will in my life?’Pope Francis

We are looking for a new group or familyto join the morning tea roster on Sunday mornings at OLGC. It is an easy job and only requires basic set up and pack up and you will only be needed once a month. Please contact the office if you can help

SERRA VOCATIONS MASS AND DINNER MEETING
Father Shaju John OSH, Parish Priest of Ku-ring-gai Chase Parish will be celebrating Mass for Serra at Sacred Heart Church, 2 Richard Porter Way Pymble on Thursday 28th February 2019.
The evening will commence with Mass at 6.30PM followed by a light meal and a short meeting.
After the meal Father Shaju will be our guest speaker.He will speak to us about his faith and vocation journey.
Everyone is welcome. Please "come and see".
Please remember to pray every day