CO_November16

PARISH PROFILE
One big holy family at
Mount Druitt Parish
By Jordan Grantham
HOLY FAMILY PARISH, Mount
Druitt, lives up to its name. Indigenous,
Tongan, Samoan, Filipino
and Caucasian families build up this harmonious
and generous community. The
people are passionate about the truth of the
Catholic faith.
The beauty of the faith is expressed when
the choirs praise the living God in their
church. The annual re-enactment of the
Good Friday Way of the Cross gathers more
than 1000 parishioners, many of whom
participate as characters.
Fr Gregory Jacobs SJ is the Parish Priest.
A former pathology chemist, he recognises
the elements that make Holy Family a rare
concoction: “The people are incredibly
generous with their time and energy.”
Part of the mix is a vibrant musical
tradition: “There is a Tongan choir, a
Samoan choir, a Filipino choir and also a
mixed choir.”
The parish community works to help all
in need. Ignite Food Store is the parish’s
cooperative food pantry. It is almost a fullsized
supermarket.
Friendly volunteers keep the operation
The parish grounds include an extensive native plant garden.
ALBERT & MEYER
FUNERAL DIRECTORS
Serving the
Parramatta Diocese
since 1967
Australian Family Owned & Operated
301-303 PENNANT HILLS ROAD, THORNLEIGH
9484 3992
ALL SUBURBS 24 HOURS
www.albertmeyer.com.au
well oiled. There is a café and clothing shop.
Hospitality training occurs at the café,
creating new professional skills, increased
self-esteem and employment opportunities.
Fr Gregory jokes that it is also handy when
you run out of milk.
Harris Farm, IGA and other suppliers
generously donate many of the items,
some of which are given away for free.
Customers purchase (or are given) a
voucher that entitles them to a number
of items worth approximately double the
price of the voucher.
Don Mulholland runs the Men’s Shed. He
is a Gurindji man and dedicated to suicide
prevention. The Men’s Shed is designed to
welcome Indigenous men, who are more
concentrated in the Mount Druitt area than
anywhere else in urban NSW.
A 40ft didgeridoo stands near the
entrance. Indigenous designs, plants and a
boomerang-shaped path present a strong
sense of identity.
Laid-back BBQs run up the side of the shed,
facilitating the regular Wednesday lunch
gatherings. Service providers visit the men
at the Shed, where they are comfortable, to
offer legal, medical and financial assistance.
The benefits are innumerable, Don said.
Rebecca Pincott Michael Bolton
Don Mulholland from the Men’s Shed with Fr Gregory Jacobs SJ. Photos: Jordan Grantham.
The most common outcome is “saving them
from prison and, most importantly, getting
their health back,” he explained.
The Men’s Shed “offers an opportunity to
provide assistance to men in need. There are
a lot of men around that have health issues
– such as mental health, suicide prevention
… and everyday help with food vouchers,
electricity, relationships, gambling, drug and
alcohol,” Don said.
Holy Family Primary School is a key part
of the community. It opened in 2004 and
now caters for Kindergarten to Year 6. Holy
Family emphasises events like Father’s Day
and Mother’s Day to support and recognise
the importance of family.
Loyola College is the local senior secondary
school and forms part of the Jesuit network
of schools, providing formation inspired by
St Ignatius of Loyola.
The Jesuit connection is important to
the parish, with a community of 10 Jesuits
(three working in the parish and schools, a
Spanish chaplain working in Fairfield, the
Novice Master with four novices, and one
retired Spanish chaplain). The Jesuit novices
also serve in the parish during their first two
years of formation.
Holy Family has become part of the Jesuit
family, twinned with Our Lady of the Way
Parish, North Sydney, also in the pastoral
care of the Jesuits.
In the spirit of solidarity, students from
St Ignatius’ College, Riverview, and Loreto
Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy
Penrose Park
Fatima Day: Sunday 13 November
A day of prayer with Rev Janusz Pawlicha OSPPE.
Come and pray with us in this month of the Holy Souls!
Exposition 10am, Holy Mass 11am, After Lunch; Procession and Devotions at
Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Principal Celebrant:
Monthly Divine Mercy Sunday
6 November
11am: Solemn Mass followed by Devotions
including Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
Kirribilli volunteer in the parish community
as part of their immersion experiences.
Whether they are reading or playing
games in the pre-school and primary school,
or helping in the Store or Op-Shop, or other
parish activities, the idea is to give them their
own experience of people living in Mt Druitt.
This has the effect of restoring a more
balanced view of the struggles of poverty,
and the normal lives that people live in both
Eastern and Western Sydney.
Despite the hardships, against the odds,
the Church perseveres to provide for her
spiritual children, as one family, especially at
Holy Family.
5 facts about the
Society of Jesus
• 35 moon craters are named after Jesuit
scientists.
• The Jesuits educated former Prime
Minister Tony Abbott, Barnaby Joyce,
Joe Hockey, Christopher Pyne and Bill
Shorten.
• Descartes, Voltaire, Moliere, Castro,
Joyce and Hitchcock also benefitted
from a Jesuit education.
• The Holy See suppressed the Jesuits
from 1773 to 1814.
• Jesuit linguists wrote the first
grammars for many African, Asian and
American indigenous languages.
Rev Janusz Pawlicha OSPPE
Fatima Family Sunday
20 November
11am: Holy Mass with Renewal of
Wedding Vows, followed by Devotions.
Upcoming celebrations in Our Shrine
Friday 11 November: St Martin of Tours.
11am Holy Mass followed by Exposition and Benediction.
Pauline Fathers’ Monastery
Address: 120 Hanging Rock Road, Berrima, NSW, 2577 Phone: 02 4878 9192
Email: paulinefathers@yahoo.com.au
Website: www.penrosepark.com.au
10 CatholicOutlook NOVEMBER 2016 www.catholicoutlook.org