All posts by 3 churches

The King’s people

newsletter,

Happy feast day for today, Christ the King parish and school! Happy 50th anniversary for eight days’ time, St Brigid’s!

Celebration is an important part of our faith, as it is in life itself. I have always believed in marking the patron saint’s feast day in parishes, and Christ the King has a spectacular one this weekend. A few decades ago, the Church moved this feast from the last Sunday in October to the last Sunday in the liturgical year. It’s as if we wanted to go out with a bang. The universal kingdom of Jesus is such a powerful theme. Our Lord lived his kingship in an extraordinarily hidden and serving way. Yet when challenged in his last hours during his trial he affirmed that he is indeed a king – ‘So you are a king then?’ asked Pilate. ‘It is you who say it’ answered Jesus. ‘Yes, I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.’ So feel free to celebrate this beautiful feast of Christ the King!

Our celebrations for the 50th anniversary of St Brigid’s Church reach their climax with the visit of the Archbishop on Monday 1st December to celebrate Mass with us. And here also we have every reason to celebrate, as the building both houses and in a certain way symbolizes the real Church – the people. We are marking not just bricks and mortar, but flesh and blood, those who have gone before us and those with whom we continue to journey onwards as the People of God. Please make every effort to join the parish family, with our bishop and some former priests, to celebrate this important birthday.

So there you have it – two very different causes for joy. On the horizon lies Christmas, with its season of preparation starting next Sunday. We will publish a full list of Advent and Christmas services and information in next week’s newsletter.

Fr Matthew

Into your hands

newsletter,

After the Second Vatican Council, the various liturgical books were renewed and translated. The Missal for Mass, the words for the seven Sacraments – it was a long process. One of the very last texts to be renewed (appropriately) was the Rite of Christian Funerals. I’m not sure if lessons had been learned in the previous years, but many agree that it is one of the best post-Council rites.

Not only are there many different prayers for every situation imaginable, but the quality of the translation was somewhat better than some previous efforts. The language is modern yet dignified, suitable for public speaking and not contorted. One of my favourite liturgical prayers is the Prayer of Commendation at the end of a funeral. It is a key moment as we prepare to leave the church, the emotions of the bereaved are often strained by this point in the Mass, and something profound yet accessible is called for. And it certainly works – you can usually hear a pin drop as the much-loved person is handed back to the God who gave them to us… It is a prayer for November:

Into your hands, Father of mercies,
we commend our brother/sister N.
in the sure and certain hope
that, together with all who have died in Christ, he/she will rise with him on the last day.
We give you thanks for the blessings which you bestowed upon N. in this life: they are signs to us of your goodness and of our fellowship with the saints in Christ.
Merciful Lord,
turn toward us and listen to our prayers:
open the gates of paradise to your servant
and help us who remain
to comfort one another with assurances of faith, until we all meet in Christ
and are with you and with our brother/sister for ever. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Fr Matthew

Christ the King bidding prayers, 16 November 2014

bidding prayers

Bidding prayers (Christ the King) for the 33rd Sunday of the year 2014.

P. Recalling our Father’s promises to listen when we ask we offer our petitions with confidence in His love and generosity

R. Our response is “Lord, let my prayer come before you”

R. Listening to the horrors of daily life for Christians in the Middle East we pray for all who suffer for their faith on a daily basis

PAUSE

R.    We pray

Lord let my prayer come before You

R. Let us pray for peace in the world, in our country and in our families where peace must begin

PAUSE

R. We pray

Lord let my prayer come before You

R.As the financial leaders of the world assemble in Brisbane for another G20 summit we pray they may hear and respond to the voices of the poor, the hungry and neglected across the world and remember the need of all developed nations to care for the dispossessed

PAUSE

R. We pray

Lord let my prayer come before You

R.Let us pray for all who have died and gone to glory in the Lord remembering particularly Ann Botwood of our community who died this week. May she now know the comfort of the Lord. We remember also Ann’s Family and friends in their time of sorrow

PAUSE

R. We pray

Lord let my prayer come before you

R.Let us pray now for our own community thinking especially about the sick, the lonely, the unemployed, the worried and the bereaved  and ask the Lord to comfort them in His own way

PAUSE

R. We pray

Lord, let my prayer come before you

R. In the quiet of our hearts let us listen to the voice of our beloved Father

LONGER PAUSE

R. Mary our mother is always anxious for us. Let us ask her to pray with us now saying HAIL MARY etc.

P. Heavenly Father hear and grant our petitions through Jesus you beloved Son

AMEN