Notices — First Sunday in Lent — 21st February 2021

 NOTICES:

Len­ten Study — Wed­nes­day 24th Feb­ru­ary:

‘CLIMATE for CHANGE’ sponsored by ABM.  Wed­nes­days after morn­ing tea, around 11.00 a.m.  Some cop­ies will be avail­able, also can be down­loaded from ABM web­site.

Len­ten Quiet Day — Sat­urday, 6 March, 2021 at 10am:  The Sydney Mis­sion-Col­lege of the Oratory of the Good Shep­herd invites you to share in their annu­al Quiet Day for Lent, in the church and grounds of St John’s Church, Bal­main, in Spring Street, Birch­grove.  The event is free of charge, and par­ti­cipants usu­ally bring their own packed lunch. Tea and cof­fee will be provided. This is a silent retreat, but as well as Morn­ing and Even­ing Pray­er and a mid­day Euchar­ist, two lay Com­pan­ions of the Sydney Mis­sion-Col­lege will give short present­a­tions, based on their read­ing and exper­i­ence, on the prac­tice of prayer.  We gath­er in the church at 10 am.  The Day ends at 4.15 pm.  Register by email­ing rhenderson@ogs.net or on arrival at the church door.  All very wel­come.

Email Etiquette Policy: 

In these ‘days of email’ we must be care­ful how we use this meth­od of com­mu­nic­a­tion.

The fol­low­ing rules must be observed in this com­munity to avoid dis­turb­ing and upset­ting each oth­er:

• We must NOT add any­one to an email­ing list without their pri­or con­sent.
• If we have done this in the past, then either (1) ask that per­son if they want to remain on the email­ing list, or (2) remove any such per­son from your mail­ing list.
• If you are receiv­ing unwanted emails from any­one in this par­ish com­munity then let them or me know and ask for your name to be removed from that list.

This does not apply to par­ish emails regard­ing attend­ance.

Thanks for your cooper­a­tion.

Future Dates for your Diary:

28^th March – Palm Sunday: 9.30am Ser­vice.

1^st April – Maun­dy Thursday: 7.30 pm Ser­vice.

2^nd April – Good Fri­day: 9.30am Ser­vice & 12pm — Way of the Cross.

4^th April – East­er Day: 9.30am Ser­vice.

Let’s Start Think­ing – From Fr. Jeff.  2020 was in some ways a year in which the aim was to “get through and make the best of it.”  2021 brings with it the hope of a vac­cine and the chance to re-set our course forward.  I am very inter­ested in hear­ing the ideas of ALL parish­ion­ers as to what we need to do, change, do more of, do less of, add to our activities.  It is best to put these ideas on paper rather than in a con­ver­sa­tion.  There will be a more form­al pro­cess later in the year, but let’s start think­ing now.

Art in the Hall:  At our recent Poetry Day, parish­ion­ers dec­or­ated the Hall with some art­works loaned for the occa­sion which was much appreciated.  The Par­ish Coun­cil has now endorsed the idea of allow­ing parish­ion­ers to have art works hung in the Hall on a tem­por­ary basis.  Please note that no respons­ib­il­ity is taken for the secur­ity or pro­tec­tion from dam­age or theft of any art­work on loan.  A form waiv­ing any claim by a lender/donor must be signed before any art­work is accepted.  Pref­er­ence is for art with a recog­nis­able Anglic­an content.  This month’s piece is a tapestry ver­sion of Canaletto’s “Westminster Abbey”,1730.

The new ver­sion of the video from our “Words of Hope’ Poetry Day is now avail­able at: https://www.stlukesenmore.org.au/poets/words-of-hope.html

The poetry board in the par­ish hall has recently been updated by Jo Middleton and Louisa Silverman.  The work of anoth­er poet, Judy Ann Phil­lips (bio is on the board), is now avail­able to view in large print.

We need parish­ion­ers spe­cially to assist with welcoming:  Thank you to those who have already volunteered.  Please speak to Ruth Cham­pi­on if you can help Mob: 0400 166 041.

Lea MacNeil has jam to sell and vari­ous sauces; please email her lea.macneil@gmail.com if you would like to give her an order.  You may, of course, ask her what type of jam and/or pre­serve or sauces she has on hand.  Don­ald, her hus­band can deliv­er your spe­cif­ic order to the Opshop where you are able to pay for it.

 

 Food for our worms – Food scraps (no dairy, cit­rus or meat) can be left in the buck­et provided.  This is part of our Par­ish envir­on­ment­al ini­ti­at­ive.

 

Weekly Inter­ces­sions for our Com­munity:

Sunday: Stephan Gates & Andrew Eld­er; Mar­ilyn Gibbs; Kev­in Green; and Peter Gil­bert & Alfredo Narnolo.

Monday: Stu­art Grigg & ‘Tricia Blom­berry; and Richard Hagen & Som.

Tues­day: John, Martha & Chris­toph­er Haly; and Selina & John Hardy.

Wed­nes­day: Susan Hill, Janet Broady & Alex; and Moya Holle.

Thursday: Anne Hywood & Peter Tre­gil­gas; Noel Jeffs; and Diana Jef­fer­ies.

Fri­day: We pray for Fr John Bunyan’s pas­tor­al care min­istry at Bank­stown Hos­pit­al and all those he min­is­ters to.

Sat­urday: Dear lov­ing Fath­er, please deliv­er us from the coronavir­us and lim­it its impact on Aus­tralia and the world. In your mercy bring a swift end to this crisis.  Please pro­tect with your lov­ing care those we love — our fam­il­ies, friends and neigh­bours.  Let your fath­erly hand guide, shel­ter and strengthen them.  Cast out all anxious fears and doubts.  Give us an increas­ing trust in you and fill our hearts and minds with your peace.  We pray for those around the world now strug­gling with COVID-19.  Heal and com­fort those who are sick and suffering.  Pro­tect and guide the health pro­fes­sion­als who are at the front line.  Please give wis­dom and cour­age to those who bear respons­ib­il­ity for con­front­ing this chal­lenge. We ask these things through the power­ful name of Jesus.  Amen.

Pray­ers for the sick: Kristen Har­ley; Steph­en Thur­ley; Mary Middleton; Fr John Bunyan; John Hardy; Louise Trott; She Kar Nair; Maur­een Clunas; Wolf Winter; Linda Mac­qual­ter; Esth­er Middleton; Peter Cinelli; John Dick­son; Rita Mus­cat & her fam­ily; Tamara & Craig; John Can Pahali; Alex Regos; Aman­da Cow­ley; Gra­ham Sadler; Fr Phil­lip Carter; Phil­lip Kuwert; Peter Knox; Sr Colleen Crook; Nada G.; Br Wil­li­am; Ron Clarke & his fam­ily; and Lyn­dall McCar­ron.

 

Anniversar­ies of the Depar­ted: Kath­leen Rushton; Her­bert Caines; and Her­bert Wand­maker.

Saints Commemoration:  23^rd Feb: Polycarp, Bish­op of Smyrna, Mar­tyr (d.c. 155);  24^th Feb: Mat­thi­as, Apostle and Martyr;  and  27^th Feb: George Her­bert, Par­ish Priest, poet (d.1633).

 

Long Term Pas­tor­al Pray­er list: Andrew Reddy; Shir­ley, Bar­bara & Jade Allen; Br Noel Jeffs (SSF); Kiki Chun; Beth Arm­strong; Ann Jeffs; Rhi­an­non Henry-Edwards; Marissa; Jude, Isla, Meg & Al Don­nell; Suz­anne Camp­ton; Pau­line Newell; Bar­bara Beec­roft; Ann Con­nolly; Day­alan Sam­inath­an; Grace & Han­nah Ashton; Anaisha, & her par­ents Anu & Digvi­jay; Ron Nath; Ron­an Nath; Veron­ica Nath; Rose­mary Brad­ford; Rev Laurie McIntyre; and Ver­ity Wright.

Read­ings for the com­ing week: Even­ing Pray­er

 

Read­ings for Next Sunday — Second Sunday in Lent:  First Read­ing: Gen­es­is 17.1–7, 15–16;  Psalm: 22.24–32;  Second Read­ing: Romans 4.13–25;  and  Gos­pel: Mark 8.31–38

Dis­cus­sion Ques­tions from WorkingPreacher.org

1. Why do you think it mat­ters that God estab­lishes a cov­en­ant with all anim­als as well as humans? (Gen 9:10)

2. In what set­tings and in what ways do you allow God to teach you and lead you? (Psa 25:4, 5, 8, 9)

3. The voice from heav­en calls Jesus “Beloved.” What does Jesus’ beloved­ness mean to you? (Mark 1:11)

This week’s Reflect & Con­nect ques­tions writ­ten by Lynne Baab.