iServi News | 23 July 2021 | Term 3, Week 1
St Kieran Parish Family Mass
The Family Mass encourages the participation of young people and their families in all aspects of the liturgy and supports young people through the sacraments. As a continuation of our commitment to supporting families and connecting one another with our Parishes, Father Wilson warmly invites all Servite families to join in the parish Family Mass at St Kieran.
At present, parishioners participate in welcoming, hospitality, collecting, serving as acolytes, communion ministers and ministers of the word. As the Family Mass grows, the College will work alongside students from St Kieran Catholic Primary School to prepare for the mass. Our Student Ministry Team and Year 10 Leadership students will act as mentors helping the primary school students prepare in their roles and as time progresses, we hope our families become more involved in this tradition.
Our first Family Mass will commence at St Kieran Parish at 6.30pm on Saturday 31 July and we hope many families attend this wonderful opportunity.
Mr Ryan Wiles
Director of Ministry
World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly
To celebrate the love, care, and wisdom of our grandparents and the elderly, the Church has named the Fourth Sunday in July as the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly recognising the awesome contribution these people make to our lives and society as well as the importance of our grandparents in the family unit.
Pope Francis announced the institution of World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, which will take place each year, close to the Feast of St Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus. The upcoming feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple – when the elderly Simeon and Anna encountered the child Jesus and recognised Him as the Messiah – “stirs up thoughts and words of wisdom in the elderly” Pope Francis said.
As we celebrate the life, love and wisdom of our grandparents and elderly in our families and community this weekend, let us thank God for them and all their love and care in our lives. Pope Francis has offered a Plenary Indulgence to all the families who visit their grandparents and the elderly this weekend and encourages us all to keep reaching out to the elderly in our community as a sign of our charity to the world.
World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly Prayer
I thank You, Lord, for the comfort of Your presence: even in times of loneliness,
You are my hope and my confidence,
You have been my rock and my fortress since my youth!
I thank You for having given me a family and for having blessed me with a long life.
I thank You for moments of joy and difficulty, for the dreams that have already come true in my life and for those that are still ahead of me.
I thank You for this time of renewed fruitfulness to which You call me.
Increase, O Lord, my faith, make me a channel of your peace, teach me to embrace those who suffer more than me, to never stop dreaming and to tell of your wonders to new generations.
Protect and guide Pope Francis and the Church, that the light of the Gospel might reach the ends of the earth.
Send Your Spirit, O Lord, to renew the world, that the storm of the pandemic might be calmed, the poor consoled and wars ended.
Sustain me in weakness and help me to live life to the full in each moment that You give me, in the certainty that you are with me every day, even until the end of age. Amen.
Sr Chitra Justin
Ministry Team