HOLY EUCHARIST PARISH 1A Oleander Drive, St Albans South 3021

Office Hours: Tues - Fri: 9:00am - 3.30pm Phone: 9366 1310, Fax: 9366 9359 Email: stalbanssouth@cam.org.au

Website: www.holyeuchariststalbans.org

REDEMPTORIST COMMUNITY

Mission Leader Fr Peter Danh CSsR Parish Priest Fr Vincent Long Pham CSsR Assistant Parish Priest Fr Vinsensius (Lovin) Lolo CSsR

Fr Oche Matutina CSsR Fr Patrick Corbett CSsR

Parish Secretary Mary-Lucy Atonio PH: 9366 1310

Parish School Acting Principal Michael Bonnici PH: 8312 0900

Filipino Chaplain Fr Joselito Asis

South Sudanese Chaplain Deacon George B.P.Meat

Novena 5pm on 2nd & 4th Saturday of every month

Mass Times Tues-Fri: 9:00am Saturday: 6:00pm Sunday: 9:00am,10:30am,

6:00pm 12:00pm Vietnamese Other Masses 1st & 2nd Sun Sudanese Mass -

3.00pm 3rd Sun Samoan Mass - 2.00pm 4th Sun Filipino Mass - 3.00pm

SOCIAL OFFICE Contact: Son Nguyen & Tammy Le Phone 9366 1310 Tuesday & Friday 10:00am-3:00pm. Currently closed & reopened 19th January 2021

FOODBANK open Fridays 10.30am until 2.00pm. More details call Charlie 03 9366 1310. Closed 18/12/2020 Reopened 5/2/2021

St Vincent de Paul: Call Centre is now open. Please contact 1800 305 330. Thank you.

THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD 2 & 3 JANUARY 2021

PLEASE NOTE the Parish

Office will be closed

from the 24th December 2020

and will be reopened on the

7th January 2021.

Thank You for your patience.

My Prayer...

Holy and Almighty LORD,

my Father in heaven, I want

to honour you and ignore

the temptations of Satan.

Please empower me with

your Spirit and capture my

heart with your grace as I

commit to live each day for

you. In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES

For the safety of everyone Please use the hand sanitizer provid-

ed and keep social distancing at all time.

Everyone over 12 years of age, please wear face coverings/masks at all times.

When a cantor is singing or a reader/commentator is reading, the face covering/masks may be lowered, but must be worn at all other times.

Please find a mark on the pew to sit when you enter inside the church.

Rite of Peace, please avoid shaking hands but instead say “Peace be with you” and offer a smile, wave, nod or bow.

Please observe social distancing at Holy Communion, which will only be given in the hand.

If you feel unwell, please stay home.

Thanks for your collaboration.

BECOME LIKE A CHILD

The great temptation is to use our obvious failures and disappoint-

ments in our lives to convince ourselves that we are really not worth

being loved. Because what do we have to show for ourselves?

But for a person of faith the opposite is true. The many failures may

open that place in us where we have nothing to brag about but every-

thing to be loved for. It is be-

coming a child again, a child

who is loved simply for be-

ing, simply for smiling, simp-

ly for reaching out.

This is the way to spiritual

maturity: to receive love as a

pure, free gift.

By Henri J. M. Nouwen

THE LIVING WORD

First Reading Is 60:1-6 A reading from the prophet Isaiah

The glory of the Lord shines upon you. Arise, shine out, Jerusalem, for your light has come, the glory of the Lord is rising on you, though night still covers the earth and darkness the peoples. Above you the Lord now rises and above you his glory ap-pears. The nations come to your light and kings to your dawning brightness. Lift up your eyes and look round: all are assembling and coming towards you, your sons from far away and your daughters being tenderly carried. At this sight you will grow radiant, your heart throbbing and full; since the riches of the sea will flow to you; the wealth of the nations come to you; camels in throngs will cover you, and dromedar-ies of Midian and Ephah; everyone in Sheba will come, bringing gold and incense and singing the praise of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 71:1-2. 7-8. 10-13, R. see v.11

(R.) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you. 1. O God, give your judgement to the king,

to a king’s son your justice, that he may judge your people in justice and your poor in right judgement. (R.)

2. In his days justice shall flourish and peace till the moon fails. He shall rule from sea to sea, from the Great River to earth’s bounds. (R.)

3. The kings of Tarshish and the sea coasts shall pay him tribute. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall bring him gifts. Before him all kings shall fall prostrate, all nations shall serve him. (R.)

4. For he shall save the poor when they cry and the needy who are helpless. He will have pity on the weak and save the lives of the poor. (R.)

Second Reading Eph 3:2-3. 5-6 A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Ephesians

The revelation means that pagans now share the same in-heritance, that they are parts of the same body.

You have probably heard how I have been entrusted by God with the grace he meant for you, and that it was by a revelation that I was given the knowledge of the mystery. This mystery that has now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets was unknown to any men in past generations; it means that pagans now share the same inheritance, that they are parts of the same body, and that the same promise has been made to them, in Christ Jesus, through the gospel.

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!

We have seen his star in the East; and have come to adore the Lord.

Alleluia!

Gospel Mt 2:1-12

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

We have come from the East to worship the king. After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in Ju-daea during the reign of King Herod, some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east. ‘Where is the infant king of the Jews?’ they asked. ‘We saw his star as it rose and have come to do him homage.’ When King Herod heard this he was perturbed, and so was the whole of Jerusalem. He called together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and en-quired of them where the Christ was to be born. ‘At Bethlehem in Judaea,’ they told him, ‘for this is what the prophet wrote: And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means least among the leaders of Judah, for out of you will come a leader who will shepherd my people Israel.’ Then Herod sum-moned the wise men to see him privately. He asked them the exact date on which the star had appeared, and sent them on to Bethlehem. ‘Go and find out all about the child,’ he said ‘and when you have found him, let me know, so that I too may go and do him homage.’ Having listened to what the king had to say, they set out. And there in front of them was the star they had seen rising; it went forward and halted over the place where the child was. The sight of the star filled them with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they of-fered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. But they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, and returned to their own country by a different way.

First, pilgrims understand that their journey has an in-ternal dimension. In other words, the travel is as im-portant as the destination. Travel challenges pilgrims to look at themselves openly and honestly and to consider changing what needs to be changed. And after the changes are made to appreciate the effort it has taken to make those changes.

Understanding that our pilgrimage has an internal di-mension is like planning to take an airline flight to see family or friends. Arriving at the airport, we find that our flight has been cancelled. What do we do? We don’t want to abandon our plans? We have arranged and looked forward to being with the people we love. So we evaluate our situation. We check out alternative forms of travel. We do the best we can to negotiate with the airlines to arrive at your destination by air, by bus, by train, or by rental car.

When we finally arrive at our destination, we appreciate our ingenuity and our determination. Our experience of being “seasoned travelers,” dependent upon ourselves but in dialogue with others, encourages us to recognize and appreciate our own capabilities and the capabilities of those who have helped us. The internal dimension of a pilgrim is the persistent and undying source of life that enables a pilgrim to continue living life no matter the obstacles, no matter the struggles, no matter the disap-points and discouragements that might appear in our pathway.

EPIPHANY REFLECTION

A Dominican Friar (priest) reflects: remembering the Magi as pilgrims.

On the Feast of the Epiphany, there are a number of images, metaphors, analogies, and similes from the scripture readings we hear, from the hymns we sing, from the legends we have heard, and from the personal experiences we have had that give both personal and collective meaning to our celebration.

If we were to sit down with a piece of paper and pencil with the intention of writing down what comes to our mind when we think about the Feast of the Epiphany, what would we write? Undoubtedly, some of us would write the words: “shining star,” “magi,” “three gifts,” and more likely the words “gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Our words might include: “Melchior,” “Balthazar,” and “Gaspar,” the names of the three magi according to medieval legends. And possibly, but not very likely, our words would include “Asian,” “Persian,” and “Ethiopian,” the three nationalities known to the old world represented by the magi.

But I would venture to say that the word that would not likely be found in any one’s list, including my own, is the word “pilgrim.” And yet, the word “pilgrim” is the theme of today’s celebration and more importantly the underlying theme of our lives.

When we study the poetic language and the historical context of the first reading, the words of the Prophet Isaiah describes the Israelites as pilgrims who are jour-neying home to Jerusalem after their captivity in Baby-lon. Their way is illuminated by the shining light of God’s glory. Traveling with the Israelites are pilgrims from far-off lands bringing with them caravans of wealth and gifts, as they proclaim the glory of the God of Israel. When we view the gospel from the perspective of its writer, the three magi fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah as pilgrims when they find Jesus after encountering Her-od. Not as wealthy royalty but as humble pilgrims they come to the infant Jesus with their gifts of gold, frankin-cense and myrrh.

When we think about the three magi and their journey to find Jesus, it becomes clear that to be human is to be a pilgrim. From conception to old age, we long for, we search for, and we ever so slowly travel toward the one who calls us home. So what does it means for us to be people on the move, a pilgrim people in this life?

CHURCH CLEANING Week beginning: 30th Dec. 2020 Group 7 – South Sudanese Com-munity (Peter Adiang)

CHOIR GROUPS Sat. 9th Jan 6pm – Sun. 10th Jan 9am - Charlie Schembri 10.30am – Osana Choir 6.00pm – Youth for Christ Choir

LET US PRAY FOR Prayers For The Sick Toni Antonowicz, Linda Ratbone, Anna, Maria Kim, Yulette Tanner, Peter Disco, Jessie Spiteri, Stella San-dle, Frank, Doris Carabott. Recently Deceased Lily Luu, Vinh Quang Dinh, An-thony Bartolo, Anna Jarnevic Anniversaries Ivica Krizmanic, Angel Dacaya, Nazareni Spiteri, Antonio Mifsud, Philip Gauci, George & Angela Bugeja, Wayne Camilleri, Bartolo family, Brincat & Galea family, Vin-cent Duong Kham Su, Mary Camil-leri & Family, Joseph, Frank & John Xerri, Charlie Xerri, Lewis Spiteri, Raymond Abela and All Souls.

SAFETY FOR ALL Holy Eucharist Parish is com-mitted to the safety, wellbeing

and dignity of all children, young people and vulnerable

adults.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Holy Eucharist parish respectfully acknowledges the Wurundjer people as the traditional custodians of the

land on which we reside and worship.

VOCATION VIEW: “Even gift bear-ing kings, accompanied by camels and servants, went to visit Jesus Christ. You, come and follow Him. Take the Good News back to your people: Jesus is Lord of all."

All information used in accordance

with the terms of our privacy policy.

READERS/COMMENTATOR/COORDINATOR/EUCHARIST

Tues 9:00 AM, 05-01-21 Reader Volunteer

Wed 9:00 AM, 06-01-21 Reader Carmen Camilleri

Thur 9:00 AM, 07-01-21 Reader Shirley Krizmanic

Fri 9:00AM, 08-01-21 Lit. Coordinator: Volunteers Reader Helen Maddela Eucharist: Volunteers

Sat 6.00 PM, 09-01-21

Lit. Coordinator: Reno Attard Charlie Pace Commentator Alaistar Surrao Reader : Violeta Montoro Anthony Naidu Eucharist:: Miriam Vella Carmen Camilleri

Sun 9.00 AM, 10-01-21 Lit. Coordinator Monica Lomen Commentator Mini Eddy Reader: Shirley Krizmanic Helen Maddela Eucharist: Wilma Marmur Monica Lomen

Sun 10:30AM, 10-01-21 Lit. Coordinator: Saua Tufuga Commentator Joh Cablao Reader Yoko Foaese Susan Hallorina Eucharist: Rita Martin Saua Tufuga

Sun 6.00PM, 10-01-21 Lit. Coordinator Lani Laririt Commentator Lani Laririt Reader Xuan Duong

Second, pilgrims realize that while they may travel by themselves they do not travel alone. Traveling is al-ways done with others. This re-quires concern and thoughtfulness. Concern and thoughtfulness is when we create space for other hu-man beings by sharing our own space. This means that we are called upon not to change others but to provide them with an opportunity to be themselves. Perhaps in the process we learn something new about ourselves.

It is like getting on a flight with peo-ple we’ve never met before. People have their own habits and way of doing things. But if we are sensitive and share concerns, we can do all sorts of things to make our trip suc-cessful. I think it is very interesting that people will help others on the same flight. From letting the elderly and families with children board a plane first to helping the frail and tired place their baggage in the stor-age bin overhead. Be it a short flight or long a flight, we are somehow joined to form a community of pil-grims who pass pretzels, peanuts, and drinks from the person sitting on the aisle to the person sitting at the window. And the process is done again passing empty glasses and packages back towards the aisle before the jet lands. But we seldom remember what goes well. We gen-erally remember what has been dis-ruptive to our travel and in doing so miss what it means to be truly hu-man.

Our human life is a journey of the heart. We are journeying our way home to the God who lovingly hears and attends to our every need while we are journeying. We travel from different directions, at differ-ent speeds, with different customs and traditions. But we all have the same Godly goal. Because of that common goal, all who travel toward it are pilgrims with us.

Today’s feast serves as an annual reminder that since the beginning of time people have been pilgrims. It is God’s gift given to us.