HOMILY by Richard Leonard SJ Around the world there are women’s shelters run by the St Vincent de Paul Society called ‘Manna

House’. It’s an inspired name for such an important work. Women and their children, in the midst

of fear, and having suffered terrible abuse, are welcomed into a safe-haven where they can be

loved and looked after. It’s a temporary respite where broken families can piece their lives back

together and be revived for the journey ahead.

What happens at ‘Manna Houses’ for women at risk happens for each of us when we come to the

Eucharist. We receive manna from heaven. It’s our stop on the journey of faith so that we can go

out spiritually revived to be the face of Christ in the world. Sometimes we need this ‘manna come

down from heaven’ when we are spiritually most at-risk.

I love the fact that as Catholics we believe that Christ is present in ordinary gifts of bread and

wine blessed and offered at the Eucharist. We don't just believe that Christ is present in sunrises,

sunsets and in natural beauty, we also believe that God comes to us in a special and unique way

in the simple, ordinary things of life. And it is in what we do with these gifts of bread and wine

that Christ is really present. The earliest Christians called the Eucharist ‘the breaking of the

bread’. It is the broken bread and the poured cup given into our hands to which we say ‘Amen’

and so affirm our belief that Christ is present here.

We often need to be reassured of Christ’s presence when we are in the desert periods of our own

life. We can feel we are wandering around in the wilderness looking for some sign of God’s life.

For all of us who are broken in mind, body or spirit, or who are pouring ourselves out in love for

other people, communion is precisely the time Jesus meets us where we are. Is it any wonder

that the Eucharist means so much to us? May we never feel as though we are not good enough to

be here, for Jesus has invited us to his table where we are loved and cared for.

As important as the Eucharist is, however, it is not ‘ours’, in the sense that we can selfishly hold

on to the gifts we receive here. We are given Christ in Word and Sacrament, so we can become

Christ.

In a sense Jesus says the same thing in today’s Gospel when he talks about how the Father draws

people to faith.

Sometimes we can fall into the trap of thinking that faith is only an intellectual exercise. As

important as good thinking and the power of strong arguments might be, the truth of faith is best

demonstrated on an emotional and intuitive level when others see the power of God’s saving love

active in the way we live our lives. This is what really captures people’s attention, and draws

them to ask what gives our lives this quality, direction, purpose and meaning.

So may this respite from the journey of faith dispel our fears, revive us for the task ahead and

enable us to live as though the only Bible others will read will be our lives, and the only

Sacraments that will captivate them and draw them to Christ will be our justice and joy.

© Richard Leonard SJ.

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) 12th of August, 2018

St Vincent de Paul Meeting

will be held on

Monday, 13th August at 5pm

Social Bowls & Cards

will be held on

Monday, 20th August

from 9:30 – 12:00

Come along and enjoy this social

morning.

Mila Rose Gibson

was welcomed into the St Mary’s Parish

family last weekend through the sacrament

of Baptism.

Mila is pictured with her parents

Brogan and Kate.

May the peace of Christ be ever present in the

lives of this family.

The next Finance Committee

Meeting will be held on Thursday 6th

September at 5.15pm.

Thank you to our Finance Committee

– Phil O’Shea, John Toohey, Denise

McCormack, Tony Tonkin, Julie

Tonkin, Michael Cowley & Mary

Collins.

Thank you to Jon Jon & Reece Charles

for kindly donating the cost of the new

Church computer. We appreciate your

generosity.

We are thinking of our Farmers and our whole

community who are suffering in this terrible

drought. Please say a prayer for them –

Prayer In Time of Drought:

O God, Lord of all creation, by whose power the whole earth came to be, look upon our parched land, we pray, and bestow upon it abundant rain, that pastures, fields and paddocks may by your goodness thrive once more. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

from the English Translation of the Roman Missal © 2010 (ICEL). All rights

reserved.

SAVE THE DATE

Starry Starry Night

Saturday 27th October 2018

More details to follow

St Vincent de Paul Meeting

will be held on

Monday, 13th August at 5pm

Thank-you for your contributions:

05/08/18

Envelopes: $437.00 Loose: $153.00

Direct Deposits: $125/wk (average over a month)

Parish Bank A/C Details

A/C Name: ADF St Mary’s Parish Goondiwindi

BSB: 064-786 A/C Number: 518826001

If paying by direct deposit, please use your

initials/surname as the reference.

VOLUNTEERS

MASS TIMES

Wednesday 15th August Holy Adoration 4.30pm - 5.30pm Rosary 5:10pm).…..5:30pm

Friday……12:15pm

12th August 2018 SUNDAY EVENING: Goondiwindi 6.00pm

19th August 2018

SUNDAY MORNING: Goondiwindi 9.00am

25th/26th August 2018 SATURDAY EVENING: Goondiwindi 6.00pm

SUNDAY MORNING: 8.00am

1st/2nd September 2018 SATURDAY EVENING: Goondiwindi 6.00pm

SUNDAY MORNING: Daymar 8.00am ; Weengallon 10.00am

WE PRAY FOR THOSE: Who have entered your kingdom: including Mervyn Fleming, Elly Heynen Knols (Teresa Heynen’s aunt),Brian O’Brien (FM’s Uncle), Nick Heironymus, Stella McGovern, Loretta Brennan, Tom Mitchell, Steve Aspinall, Delva Brown, Fay Hunt, Don McDonald, Allan Amey, Barry Kindt, Gwendolyn “Henny” Makim, Epigenia Cabus (Claire & Rose’s sister), Barbara Duffy, Vince O’Brien (Roma), Bishop John Gerry, Laurance Martyn, Frank Brosnan, Max Hohn, Kath Johnson, Muriel “Sis” Plain (Len Cleal’s sister), Robert Miller, Elaine Symes, June Corish, Ted Heironymus, Gloria Glasser, Therese Sullivan, Helen Farrell, Fr. Merv Ziesing, Joan Lawson, Thea McNaulty, Whose anniversary is at this time: including Kevin “Skeet” McMaster, Audrey Albeck., Sr Bess Turvey, , Mona O’Brien, Maria Magoffin, Chris Finlayson, Shirley Byrne, David Hiles, Ziggy Schmidt, Terence Collins, Alma Rigney, William “Des” Whittle, Joseph Fraser, Olive Thompson, Noel McGovern, Jill Field, Frank Holland, Trish Taylor, Madeline Cubby, Noela McDonald, Barbara Bardsley, Mary Cannon, Rita Johnson, Frank Smith, Margaret Cook, Pauline Pollock, Joan “Mary” Terry, Len Collins, Vincent Mullins, Darren Benecke, Beryl O’Keefe, John Webber, Robert “Bob” McCall, Sarah “Dot” Drew, Constance Butler, Norman Montgomery, Gay Brydon, Clarence Manton, Kathleen Kyte, Jason Webster, Kathleen Nolan, Gordon “Matey” Cairns, Dolly Cubis, Jamie Smith, Norman Harpur, Peter Lloyd, Kevin O’Brien, Edward Holcombe, Who are ill: including Iris Simpson, Celie Brosnan, Mel Cairns, Mick Kelloway, Joy Collins, Hardy Sutton, Donna Lindores, John Abbot, Angus Rigney, Jan Jan Charles, Tom Turvey, Bill Dyer, Trish Dyer, Brian Freeney, Pat & Teresa Mullins, Deanna Dawson, Anne Hunt, Kevin Lawless, Ray Mackie, Peter Keehn, Joan Fleming, Gloria Bale, David Croft, Tim Bourke, Joe Cowmeadow, Shirley Schluter, Stasia Lawless, Paul Lloyd, Mavis Gordon, Jean Ramada, Jean Sizer, Francis Lloyd, Madonna Nicoletti, Stephanie & Chris Adamson, Bailey Brennan, Pauline Robinson, Win Skinner, Sonya Horrigan, Helen Paige, John Toohey, Marie Cook, Phillip Carney, Shirley Riley, and Joseph Hord; also those ill at home, in hospital and for those in Kaloma.

We pray for the clergy of the Toowoomba Diocese whose anniversary is during

this month.

Rev Fr Mark Cosgrove (07/08/47) Rev Fr John Ryan (09/08/01)

Rev Fr Patrick Kelly (10/08/86) Rev Fr Charles McDonald (24/08/70)

Rev Msgr Patrick Doyle (27/08/00) Rev Fr Bryan Nolan (28/08/68)

Rev Msgr Stanley Skehan (29/08/00)

Lord, hear our prayers and be merciful to your servants, the Bishops and Priests of this Diocese whom you have called from this life. Welcome them into the company of your Saints in the Kingdom of light and peace. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

WELCOMERS AT DOOR

JENNIFER MAKIM (12/08)

ANNE WEBSTER & PAULINE CORCORAN (19/08)

CLAIRE CHARLES (26/08)

WELCOMER AT MICROPHONE

MARY COLLINS (12/08)

MARY BELL (19/08)

ST MARY’S SCHOOL (26/08)

1ST READER/PSALM

YVONNE ISAAK (12/08)

CARMEL SCHAUMBURG (19/08)

GRAHAM MCGOVERN (26/08)

2ND READING/ALLELUIA

VOLUNTEER NEEDED (12/08)

ROBYN LINDORES (19/08)

ANDREW ERBACHER (26/08)

EUCHARIST MINISTERS

CAMILLE KELLOWAY, MICK CLANCY &

CLAIRE CHARLES (12/08)

BRIAN COOK, YVONNE ISAAK &

CLAIRE CHARLES (19/08)

CARMEL GEESON, MARY COLLINS &

DAWN CLANCY (26/08)

DATA PROJECTOR

CARMEL SCHAUMBURG (12/08)

MARY COLLINS (19/08)

ROS PHILLIPS (26/08)

MONEY COUNTERS

MARY COLLINS & ROS PHILLIPS (12/08)

DENISE MCCORMACK & JENNIFER LAWLESS (19/08)

TERESA HEYNEN & BELL FAMILY (26/08)

GROUNDS ROSTER

GRAHAM MCGOVERN & TERRY RYAN (AUGUST)

ALAN WELSH & DAVE BAUER (SEPTEMBER)

Introduction

When given seemingly impossible tasks or if we carry

burdens of fear and doubt, the Lord does not abandon

us. When we question the presence of the Lord in the

midst of our very human struggles, he reminds us that

he is the living bread that came down from heaven. If

we taste and see the goodness of the Lord, if we eat

this bread and fervently ask to become what we

receive, then anger will dissipate in our lives. The

marks of faith in Jesus — kindness, forgiveness and

compassion will define our lives.

First Reading Kings 19:4-8

When we are filled with doubt, God remains near

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 33:2-9

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord

Second Reading Ephesians 4:30-5:2

Be imitators of God in our daily lives

ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA!

I am the living bread from heaven, says the Lord;

whoever eats this bread will live forever .

ALLELUIA!

Gospel John 6:41-51

I am the bread of life come down from heaven; eat

and you shall live

Prayers of the Faithful

For those filled with bitterness, for those who

struggle to be free of anger, for grace to

forgive ourselves and others; to openness to

the Spirit who helps us live as the beloved

children of God ... we pray

For all who hunger for food, for those who

hunger for justice to find ways to feed the

hungry of our world, to ensure that all

humanity has enough to live in dignity ... we

pray

For students who begin a new academic year,

here at home and on college campuses, for

parents who send them forth ... we pray

For the sick of our parish community, for

those who daily face depression or addiction,

for all who have asked for our prayers ... we

pray

Parish Priest: Fr Hermi Rafada Ph: 0435 006 513 or 4671 1091

email: rafsteel2005@yahoo.com St Mary’s School: Mr Brett Pollard Ph: 4671 1730

Parish Contact Details stmarysgdi@bigpond.com 69 Callandoon Street PO Box 45, Goondiwindi 4390

Parish Secretary:

Sarah Hedges

Mobile Ph: 0429 926 231

Office Ph: 4671 5087

Wednesday 9.30am – 3.30pm Parish Safeguarding Rep: Mrs Carmel Schaumberg Ph: 0419 786 738

PARISH INFORMATION

19TH

SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

12TH

AUGUST, 2018