SEASONS Fifth Sunday of Easter— Year A 10th May 2020

Newsletter of the Catholic Parish of St. Thomas More, Mount Eliza

313 Canadian Bay Rd

Mount Eliza Vic. 3930

Phone: 9787 7777

Email: MountEliza@cam.org.au Web: www.stm-mteliza.org

Pastoral Leadership Team

Fr Joe Truong (Parish Administrator)

Jacinta Griffin (Chairperson)

Sue Carr Paul Stinear

Mass online

www.wordonfire.org/daily-mass

OR http://bit.ly/MassOnDemand

OR

https://melbournecatholic.org.au

/Mass

OR St Patrick’s Cathedral, Mel-

bourne. Daily and Sunday Mass is

available, with the 11am Mass live

streamed; it is also available as a re-

cording on-demand.

https://melbournecatholic.org.au

/Mass

No Public

Gatherings in

Victoria under

Stage 3

coronavirus

guidelines

A Mother's Love

There are times when only a mother's love Can understand our tears, Can soothe our disappoints And calm all of our fears.

There are times when only a mother's love Can share the joy we feel

When something we've dreamed about Quite suddenly is real.

There are times when only a mother's faith Can help us on life's way

And inspire in us the confidence We need from day to day.

For a mother's heart and a mother's faith And a mother's steadfast love Were fashioned by the angels

And sent from God above.

- Author Unknown

Fifth Sunday of Easter — Year A

We pray for...

Those who have passed away recently…

Maria Pham

Those whose anniversaries fall at

this time.. Eileen Cookesley, Keith

MacGregor, Scott Reade, Colleen

Duyvestyn,

the sick… Joanne O’Brien, Ron

Congues, Maree Bracken, Maria Truong, Fr Theo

Rush, Bill Luscombe, Brigitte Rohner, Ei-

leen O’Beirne, Helen Steinbach, Ava Macias, Mi-

chael MacKenzie, Luke Carroll, Betty Corke, Chloe,

David Dole, Maria Kelly, Helen Gibson, Elizabeth

Ware, Althea Greeff, Michael Blick, Maureen An-

stey, Jake Steyn, Adrian Gobel, and all of the sick at

the George Vowell Centre & Ranelagh Gardens

Nursing home

and the parishioners of St Thomas More Parish,

Tequinomata, East Timor, St Therese Parish,

PAGE 2 SEASONS FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER— YEAR A

Parish Office Hours: Tuesday to Friday 9am—5pm

After Hours: Please leave a message on 9787 7777

Family Reflection Time

Gospel: John 14:1-12

1– Nominate a member of the family to read out the Gospel passage. You may like to have a short pause to give everyone the opportunity to reflect upon the Gospel message.

2- What does it mean that “Jesus is the way”?

3— Why is it important to know that Jesus Is the only way to God?

4– What is God saying to your family through this Sunday’s Gospel? What is God saying to you?

5-Prayer of intercessions: you may like to pray for the needs of each member of your family...

6– You may like to bring this family reflection time to a close by saying together 1 x the Hail Mary for your family and 1 x the Our Father for the end to Covid 19.

Activities for children—pages7 & 8.

Next Week’s Readings - Sixth Sunday of Easter

1st Reading: Acts 8:5-8, 14-17

2nd Reading: 1 Peter 3:15-18

Gospel: John 14: 15-21

First Reading: Acts 6:1-7

They elected seven men filled with the

Spirit and wisdom.

Responsorial Psalm:

Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our

trust in you.

Second Reading: 1 Peter 2:4-9

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood.

Gospel Acclamation:

Alleluia, Alleluia!

I am the way, the truth, and the life, says the

Lord; no one comes to the Father, except

through me.

Alleluia!

Gospel: John 14:1-12

I am the way, the

truth, and the life.

The Bishops of Victoria have suspended the Sunday Mass Obligation for all Catholic

Faithfull during Stages 2 and 3 of lockdown.

Mass is broadcast via the Ten Network (6am, Sun-day) for any one who would like to participate.

PAGE 3 FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER— YEAR A SEASONS

What’s Happening Here...

Due to the Corona Virus pandemic, the Social

Club has decided to suspend all activities until

Financial Matters Stewardship Actual Pledge

3rd May $3526 $ 4009

(Please note that the majority of our contributions are done electronically via Direct Debit & Credit Card

Payments)

Thanks to all of you who give so generously to support our parish.

Homily

Mothers’ Day Appeal

Dear Father and Parishioners,

Our greetings of good health and wellbeing to you and your families.

PAF is unable to run the Mothers’ Day envelope drive this year so instead we are

suggesting that if you would like and are still able to donate to our annual to this

appeal, you can do by paying cash to the parish office, or the centre; by cheque or by a direct payment

into our account at WESTPAC BSB: 033 272 ACC: 318726.

If you would like a receipt, then please provide your name and contact details which you can email to

pafcares@gmail.com

We thought that this year we could extend the appeal run the length of May, the month of Our Lady,

Our Saviour’s Mother. She is the mother of all mothers and knows full well the struggles and needs of

disadvantaged pregnant women and their babies and families.

We wish a Happy Mothers’ Day to all the mothers reading this and may you and your fami-

lies be blessed abundantly.

Warm regards from the PAF Committee and Volunteers

Presbytery

3rd May $231

In today’s Gospel we hear the soothing messages that come directly from the lips of Jesus, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me…There are many rooms in my Father’s house….I am going now to prepare you a place for you….I shall return to take you with me; so that where I am you may be too”. When living in the time of challenges we would love to hear the words of comfort and assurance.

Jesus said these words of comfort to the apostles at the Last Supper while he was making the farewell discourse. Je-sus knew that the apostles would find it extremely difficult to witness the crucifixion and that they would need assurance and hope to get through such a major crises in their discipleship. Jesus knew that some of his apostles will desert him because of the scandal of the cross. Hence, Jesus encouraged the apostles to keep on trusting in him no matter what - he will not be letting them down. Jesus assured the apostles that there will be a place for them in his Father’s house and that they will be at his side.

We too can find comfort and assurance in Jesus’ words to the apostles. We believe that the God who is impartial and has no favourite will give to us the same comfort that he gave to his first disciples. There are many things in life that may give us a heavy heart – these might be work, relationships, family life and even illnesses. Often, during the time of sadness we do feel lonely and we are more inclined to think that others and God have abandoned us. However, in the Gospel Jesus tells us to have faith in him and to trust in his fidelity to us. Jesus does not abandon us and he has also prepared a place for us in his Father’s home. We too will be with Jesus wherever he is. We need to be patient and keep our eyes fixing on him.

There is something to think about during the coming week. Jesus’ love and fidelity for us is certain. However, what about our fidelity to Jesus? Will we remain faithful to Jesus no matter what?

Dear friends, no matter what is happening for us in life, let us always trust in God and trust also in Je-sus. At times we may be unfaithful to Jesus, but, his love and fidelity to us are never ending.

What’s Happening Here ...

PAGE 4 SEASONS FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER— YEAR A SEASONS PAGE 4

Combined Catholic Parishes Raffle Due to the current restrictions imposed by the Victorian

Government because of the Corona Virus pandemic, the

Gambling Commission has granted approval to extend this

raffle. The new Draw Date is 26th September 2020 at

7.15pm. If you still have a raffle book at home—you can

drop it back to the office or put it into our locked mail box.

Hopefully we can resume with this fundraiser later in the

year. Regards Vicki.

Pastoral Care for STM Parish during the time of the Coronavirus pandemic

This plan will be revised upon further restrictions from the Government.

1. STM Church Closed until further notice

2. Seasons continues to be published online, send out by email, or by post, copies of Seasons will be

available on the church door for people to collect. Homily will be included with Seasons.

3. Pastoral visitation: Parishioners who would like a visit from Fr Joe are to contact the parish office.

4. Anointing of the Sick, and Communion for the housebound: Fr Joe is now only permitted to

administer the Anointing of the Sick to the seriously ill, and also, Fr Joe is only permitted to give the

Eucharist as Viaticum to the dying

5. Fr Joe is available at the parish office from Tuesday to Sunday afternoon for spiritual guidance

over the phone…

6. If you are elderly/living alone and need assistance with shopping—please call Fr Joe at the Parish Office.

7. Private Mass of the Priest: Fr Joe will be offering Mass in private as follows:

Tuesday——Funeral Mass for Mrs Maria Pham at Flemington 10:30AM

Wednesday—for the victims of sexual abuse—8:30AM

Thursday— for the end to Covid 19—8:30AM

Friday—for the repose of the souls of the faithful departed—especially those have died from

Covid 19—8:30AM

Saturday—Social Justice 12 noon

Sunday—for the spiritual/temporal needs of the parishioners of STM Parish—10AM

Baptisms Due to lockdown, all Baptism Information/Preparation evenings are

postponed until further notice.

Community Corner Hello Everyone. What a strange world we are living in but how quickly we have adapted! Personally I am enjoying the slow, tranquil pace of my ‘new’ life. However, I am missing the connection to the community of STM Parish.

Father Joe has agreed to include in Seasons a ‘Community Corner’ section. The intention is to keep us connected by sharing anecdotes on life in isolation. These could be happy or sad. You might have welcomed a grandchild, farewelled a family member, mastered a new skill, have some wisdom to share or just want to say hello to your Parish family.

Should you wish to contribute, you can submit your ‘article’ to the Parish via email or by post. Remember to keep it short and sweet.

Isolation may prevent us from gathering as a community for quiet a while, so let’s get writing and keep in touch.

Fond regards, Maree Taverna

STM Children and Young People

Safeguarding Committee

At STM Catholic Parish, Mount Eliza, we hold

the care, safety and wellbeing of children and

young people as a central and fundamental

responsibility of our parish. For more infor-

mation please call: John Natoli (Coordinator) on

0418 208 778; or Julie Carter (Banda) on 0420 923

859

STM PPLT News

Back in February, before the Covid-19 pandemic and crisis, the PPLT put out a call for parish-ioners to indicate their interest in joining us on the Parish Pastoral Leadership Team as our numbers over the last two years have begun to wane. We have been blessed with a number of people who have put their hand up to help our Parish in this way. In the past, new PPLT mem-bers have introduced themselves at a Parish meeting but that is not possible at the moment. We would also have photos taken which would be on display at the back of the church so that you know who we are. At the moment this is not as easy as it sounds, so instead of the usual face to face meeting we would like to introduce some of the new PPLT members to you here in Seasons.

Hopefully we can share some more with you next week. Just a reminder, you can speak to any of the PPLT members at any time with regards to our parish. Fr. Joe, Jacinta Griffin (Chair), Paul Stineer, Sue Carr, Carmel Huggard, Margaret Jameison, Michael Robertson via email to the Parish Office - MountEliza@cam.org.au

Dear Fr Joe and Members of the PPLT,

My name is Leonie Bourke and I have been a part of the St Thomas More Parish for 14 years. I was a parent at St Thomas More and Padua. I was a nurse for many years and now I work fulltime in Safety at a water company. I am a proud member of the St Thomas More Choir.

As a member of the PPLT I look forward to working collaboratively with the rest of the team and the parish community to support the church in moving forward through challenging times.

Kind Regards,

Leonie Bourke

New Members of PPLT

Margaret Jamieson

Michael Robertson

Carmel Huggard

ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN