Catholic Outlook August 2015

10 CatholicOutlook August 2015Preparing for the Church’s Holy Year of MercyVisitors to the scenic Blue Mountains willfind a warm welcome from Fr Ted Tylerand the parish of St Mary of theCross MacKillop.With the Pope’s announcement ofthe Holy Year of Divine Mercy, due tostart on 8 December, the Upper BlueMountains parish is taking stepsto prepare.Prior to the arrival of Fr Ted as parishpriest, the Feast of the Divine Mercyhad been celebrated in St Bonaventure’sChurch at Leura on the afternoon of theSecond Sunday after Easter.About a year after he arrived, Fr Tedsuggested to some parishioners that,in view of the centrality of the divinemercy in revealed religion and thespecial prominence it had been given inthe magisterium of the past few popes,something a little more ambitious bedeveloped. The idea was taken up.To begin with, steps were taken tocelebrate the annual Feast Day of DivineMercy in a more special way. This isnow done with joy and solemnity and iswell publicised, with a novena of MercyA warm welcome awaits visitors to the Upper Blue Mountains parish.leading up to it, and preceded by manyLenten groups.Secondly, in each of the three parishchurches the picture of the Divine Mercywas enshrined in the sanctuary: at StCanice’s at Katoomba, at St Bonaventure’sat Leura and at St Francis Xavier’s atWentworth Falls.Due to the generosity of certain personsthe beautiful image in the sanctuary of theLeura church is of life-sized proportions.Thirdly, the celebration of the DivineMercy became far more frequent, withFr Ted's active encouragement. Gabe andStasia Very lead the music and singing forthe Sunday 5pm Mass at Leura. Togetherwith a small group of parishioners,including Pam Le Breton and others, theydevised and now lead a monthly Sundayafternoon Divine Mercy celebration. Afirst-class relic of St Faustina is oftenpresent. Confessions are available.This beautiful afternoon on the firstSunday of each month involves songs,prayer and Divine Mercy readings fromSt Faustina’s Diary. It begins at 3pm andends at 4.30 pm when preparations beginfor the 5pm Mass. This has been going forabout two years now.As a further initiative, participantsincluding Matalena Ale and a fewothers began a 35-minute Divine Mercycelebration of prayer, readings fromthe Diary and songs with organ everyFriday at 5pm in the Leura church. Likethe monthly Sunday celebration, thiscontinues throughout the year.Each Sunday at 1pm in St Canice’sChurch at Katoomba there is an hourof silent prayer and private personalreflection before the Divine Mercy imagefor any who might wish to come. It iscalled the Divine Mercy Hour and is ledby Geraldine St George andJennifer McPhee.Recently, a copy of Pope Francis'document for the Holy Year, The Face ofMercy, was distributed by Fr Ted to allMass-going parishioners.All of this complements the many otherspiritual activities of the parish, the dailyConfessions and Masses, Exposition threetimes a week, a monthly Scripture session,monthly Stations of the Cross in each of thechurches, special celebrations of feasts suchas Pentecost, the recent two Sunday sessionson marital life and love led by Ben Smith,daily Rosaries in our churches, the busywork of many catechists, instructors forBaptism and the Sacraments, and very manyother parishioners who do such fine workfor God behind the scenes.Father Ted hopes that the parish will beable to participate in its own way in theHoly Year of Mercy and perhaps help makeit available to others.Holy Scripture, St John Paul II’s Encyclicalon God Rich in Mercy (1980), Pope Francis’sdocument for the Holy Year, The Face ofMercy (2015), Saint Faustina’s Diary, allprovide rich resources for appreciating theinfinite mercy of God.Of course, visitors are most welcometo join the parish at any time for Mass,Confession, and especially the Divine Mercycelebration at Leura on the afternoon of thefirst Sunday each month.For more information there is the parishwebsite. Please click on Mass Times &Sacraments then Devotions: http://www.marymackillopupperbluemountains.org.au/HARVEST PILGRIMAGESJOURNEY OF CHRISTfromToll Free: 1800 819 156$4,290 **PLUSAIRFARESA 16 day pilgrimage departing16th October 2015 withFr Ray Chapman SMExperience the very land where Jesus livedand worked His ministry and gain a privilegedinsight into His life as the child of Nazareth,healer of Galilee and our Saviour on Calvary.Featuring: Dead Sea • BethlehemNazareth • Sea of Galilee • JerusalemLic. 2TA 003632*Costs have been based on prices as at 30 September 2014 and must remain subject to change without notice based on currencyexchange rates, departure city and minimum group size contingency. Prices are based on twin share or double rooming.www.harvestpilgrims.comALBERT & MEYERFUNERAL DIRECTORSServing theParramatta Diocesesince 1967Australian Family Owned & Operated301-303 PENNANT HILLS ROAD, THORNLEIGH9484 3992ALL SUBURBS 24 HOURSwww.albertmeyer.com.auRebecca Pincott Michael Bolton