MESSAGE ON THE 20TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YR A)
Friday 14th August 2026
My dear people,
It is with great pleasure that I announce the appointment of Melissa De Sieno as our Youth Ministry Coordinator. After a long and arduous process of recruitment, Melissa has been the successful applicant. She has had the opportunity to talk to the current leaders of our Youth Ministry. Melissa will come and talk to us in the next few weeks about her vision and hopes for the Youth Ministry in our parish. Many of you would remember Melissa as a member of the Evangelisation Team and she was also involved in other ministries in the parish. I invite you to join me in praying for Melissa that the Lord will inspire her and guide her as she assumes responsibility for Youth Ministry in our parish.
I take this opportunity to remind you of the visit of the pericardium of Saint Carlo Acutis. May I ask you to start thinking about the possibility of coming to spend one hour with the relic overnight from 10th October to 11th October this year. The relic will arrive at 8 AM on Saturday 10th October and will leave the parish at 5 PM on 11th October. We are very close to publishing the timetable for the time the relic of Saint Carlo will be with us.
This weekend we continue to accompany and pray for our younger parishioners who will receive Holy Communion for the first time. This week, students from St George Preca Catholic primary school will receive Holy Communion for the first time. Let us pray that as they, and those who received Holy Communion for the first time last week, go through this next step in their Christian initiation, their relationship with our Lord will be deepened, and their friendship with him awakened.
Tomorrow, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of our Lady, which is a holy day of obligation in Australia. This means that Catholics must go to Mass. To make fulfilling the obligation easier, there will be a Vigil Mass at 7 PM this evening and the usual Saturday morning Mass tomorrow will be the Mass of the Assumption of our Lady. In case I am not able to wish you personally, I take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Happy Solemnity of the Assumption.
To finish my fortnightly message this week, I share with you the sad news that Margaret Bartolo has decided to resign from being the coordinator of the Sacristan, the Altar Linen and Counting ministries. Margaret has mentioned declining health as the reason why she is resigning from coordinating these ministries. Margaret also said that she has been helping in the church in different ways for 45 years and it is with a very heavy heart, she has come to this decision. We thank Margaret from the bottom of our heart for the past 20 or so years that she has served in various ministries in our parish. There will be various opportunities to thank Margaret as she will conclude her ministries at the end of September. I certainly will miss her and I thank her very warmly for her tireless dedication to everything that she has done for us.
We continue turning to our patron saint and we ask for her intercession.
St Catherine of Siena, Pray for us.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Fr Richard Rosse PP