MESSAGE ON THE 24TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YR A)
Friday 11th September 2026.
My dear people,
The preparations for the visit of the pericardium of St Carlo Acutis are going well. I trust that you have seen the programme for the weekend of 10th and 11th October as advertised on the notice board in the gathering space, our website and Facebook page. The programme includes details about the veneration of the relic as well as times of the Solemn Blessing with the relic. May I ask you to put your name down now to spend some time with the relic? I am sure that you have many intentions and desires for which you will benefit from the intercession of St Carlo Acutis. There is a sign-up sheet on the table in the gathering space for you to write your name down. I invite you to be generous with your time.
This evening, we will hold our monthly Ablaze Men’s Group meeting. As always, we will start with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and the Sacrament of Confession will be available from 7pm until Benediction at 7:40pm. We are delighted to have a guest speaker at Ablaze Men’s Group this evening. Mr John Pridmore, whom we welcomed three years ago, is in Melbourne at the moment and he will give a talk during the time of the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. All men of the parish are warmly invited.
On Wednesday 16th September, we will hold the next session of VIA at 7pm in the church meeting rooms. VIA a great opportunity to deepen one’s understanding of faith, share our experiences and insights, and grow in friendship in a welcoming and relaxed setting. This will be our final VIA meeting for the year as a large group. New participants are always very welcome.
My next message to you will be on Friday 9th October. I will set out next Friday, together with 14 other pilgrims, on the parish pilgrimage for 2026. I humbly ask for your prayers for the pilgrims and for me and I assure you of mine particularly when we are in Siena and in Rome venerating our Patron Saint.
I would like to sincerely thank those of you who have contributed to the Special Appeal to raise funds for the shed and to fund our Youth Ministry Coordinator position. We have already received $4,980. May I encourage you again to help with this important appeal for our parish.
Today, I celebrate the 16th Anniversary of my Ordination to the Priesthood. As I reflect on the past 16 years, I can’t help but thank God most sincerely for having given me this truly wonderful blessing of sharing in the Priesthood of his son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I will forever be grateful for my first two and a half years as Assistant Priest of St Anthony’s in Noble Park and my time at St Patrick’s Cathedral for the following three years and nine months. I am particularly grateful to him for the past nine years as Parish Priest of St Catherine of Siena, Caroline Springs. My time here among you has taught me, in the most marvellous ways, what it means to be a pastor and I am encouraged to strive to be the Good Shepherd that the Lord wants me to be. I humbly ask you, out of your charity, to continue to pray for me, that Our Lord will mould me to be a priest after his own heart.
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