Copy
View this email in your browser
Mount Carmel Church
We value your feedback to help us provide you with a newsletter that matters.
PLEASE CLICK THE BLUE BUTTON BELOW to answer 4 quick questions.
NEWSLETTER FEEDBACK SURVEY - CLICK HERE

Second Sunday of Advent

6 December 2020 - Year B
Make the way straight
Sunday Reflection
 
‘Prepare a way for the Lord’ – Mark 1:3
 
So now we are onto the second week of Advent, and the theme for this week is Encouragement.  For me, the word courage doesn’t only just mean ‘brave’ - it comes from the Latin word ‘cor’ meaning ‘heart’. And in French the word is ‘coeur’. So when someone encourages me or I encourage them, we are giving heart or a depth of meaning to our lives.
The readings of Advent pick up and reiterate themes which are common to us all over the years. I have heard these themes so often before, but how fresh can this message be for me today? Can I really hear these words with fresh ears and respond with a renewed heart?
 
Advent is a time of waiting and preparation for the coming of the Lord.  Just as we ready ourselves for the coming of important visitors to our homes, we prepare, we clean, we discuss what we might eat and drink.  In fact, we celebrate and give heart to others through our preparations.
 
Isaiah’s reading is one of excitement calling us to prepare for the coming of the Lord.  Isaiah gives us no indication as to when the Lord might be coming, and we are still waiting.  And John the Baptizer heightens the expectation in today’s Gospel saying ‘someone is following me, and he is more powerful than I am’.  It almost sounds as though the Lord is about to arrive at any tick of the clock.
 
I can so easily recall tiny voices from the backseat of my car forty odd years ago saying: ‘Daddy, are we there yet?’  Similarly, just like those little voices of my children, I am asking in my mind  ‘is the Lord coming soon?’  Peter answers me in the second reading and makes me even more frustrated when he tells me that a day for the Lord can mean a thousand years and vice versa in human terms.
 
I am somewhat impatient when I’m waiting, but I am particularly conscious of people whose lives are in distress while waiting;   for those experiencing the fog of grief,  waiting for the results of medical diagnoses, who are hungry, homeless, jobless, abuse victims, refugees, or in prison. For anyone suffering great distress, waiting is difficult let alone trying to encounter the Lord or allowing an openness to Jesus encountering them. I have been with some of these people. I’ve been there myself. Writing about Advent a couple of years ago Pope Francis encouraged those in distress to allow ‘the joy of faith to slowly revive as a quiet yet firm trust’.
 
I enjoy reading scriptural passages and have sometimes thought of it is a big tease.  But I have to admit that it forces me to think a bit deeper and realise that God’s time is not my time. Peter points out that God is so patient, loves us so much, wants no-one to be lost, and accordingly encourages us to clean up our acts.  So, is it me doing the waiting, or is it God giving us every chance to get our act into gear?
 
Peter’s final compassionate statement is encouraging us to simply ‘do our best’ to change our way of life.
Chris Harkin, Parishioner
Year of Prayer
Come, Listen, Live. We invite you to take every opportunity to enter into our Mt Carmel community Year of Prayer in 2021. Read the invitation on our blog

⦿ PRAY AS YOU GO: Weekly Advent Retreat 2020
    
Available Online, App Store and Google Play


⦿ FREE Virtual Advent ZOOM Series hosted jointly by Yarra Theological Union & Garratt Publishing. For more details and registration follow this link>

⦿ Stories From the Heart: Penning the Pandemic

This collection of stories comes from the heart of Queensland – its people. Stories from the heart captures the uncertainty, anxiety, resilience, courage, and humour arising in the stories of the impacts and responses, both direct and indirect, positive and negative, that COVID-19 has had on everyday lives.
Read the first story here or access the e-book collection at The Royal Historical Society of Queensland.
check in for Masses
On arrival at Masses PLEASE check in with QR code or sign in sheet. Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our community safe.
Weekend Masses: Saturday 6:00pm, Sunday 8:30am & 5:30pm
Sunday Readings:  Is 40:1-5, 9-11; 2 Pet 3:8-14;  Mk 1:1-8
NO 9:00AM MASS on WEDNESDAY 16 DECEMBER as there is the Mass of Forgiveness at 7:00pm
Christmas Mass Times
WED 16 Dec ⦿ NO 9 am Mass ⦿ 7:00pm Liturgy of Forgiveness
THU 24 Dec ⦿ 5:00pm Family Mass - School (P-2) REGISTER
⦿ 6:30pm Family Mass - School (3-6) REGISTER

⦿ 8:30pm Parish Mass - Church register on the day
FRI 25 Dec ⦿ 7:00am & 9:00am Mass - Church register on the day

SAT 26 Dec ⦿ 6:00pm Mass - Holy Family
SUN 27 Dec ⦿ 8:30am Mass - Holy Family ⦿ NO 5:30PM MASS

FRI 1 Jan 2021 ⦿ 9:00am Mass - Mary, The Mother of God
Prayer Intentions
We remember Charles Evison Junior recently deceased.                   
May the peace and comfort of the risen Christ be with him and his loved ones.
We pray for all those who are sick. May the healing spirit of Christ bring comfort and hope.
Mt Carmel Place
A parish collaboration between Carmel Care and the St Vincent de Paul Society: outreaching to those who are experiencing social isolation and loneliness. Mount Carmel Place offers:
⦿ a warm welcome, peace and friendship
⦿ a listening ear, respect and understanding
⦿ a restful and safe environment
⦿ a sense of belonging
Hosted in the courtyard outside the Carmel Community Room,
Tuesday 15 December, 9.30am to 11.00am. Read more about it here>
St Vincent de Paul Cards and Hampers
⦿ Christmas Cards are available  - $3 for a pack 8.
Please purchase these at the St Vincent De Paul stall in the Church foyer.


⦿ Christmas Hampers
Help our Mt Carmel St Vincent de Paul Society to create hampers and support local families this Christmas by donating non-perishable festive food items including christmas cakes, puddings, chips and pretzels, nuts and chocolates, sweet or savoury biscuits, soft drinks and juices...
Please leave food donations in the box in the church foyer. 
Thank you for your support!
 
This Saturday at our 6pm Mass, we welcome and confirm Olwyn Connolly into full communion with the Catholic Church.
Welcome Olwyn!
Baptisms
This weekend we welcome into Our Lady of Mt Carmel Catholic Community:
Charlotte Arnaud, Olivier Arnaud,
Ernest Munro, Billie Ramsey
and Lulu Ramsey,
who join in the life of our faith through the Sacrament of Baptism.
Stewardship
Your volunteering and giving enables our Mount Carmel community to:
⦿ provide resources for our sister parish community in
Zumalai, Timor-Leste;

⦿ maintain community buildings and grounds for community life, prayer, celebration, stillness and remembering;
⦿ explore new and changing ways to reach out, build community, and enact Gospel values of justice, peace and care of creation.
Parish Giving - Direct Debit Request Form
Celebrating Sunday at Home Resources
Catholic Leader Online
Weekday Masses: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 9:00am
Liturgy of the Word and Communion: Tuesday 9:00am
Sacrament of Penance: Saturday 4:30pm-5:00pm
Email
Facebook
Website
Copyright © 2020 Our Lady of Mt Carmel Catholic Community, All rights reserved.


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp