“Lord, it is good for us to be here”....

Now as we enter the Second Week of Lent, our task is to continue to examine our hearts and to repent in order to prepare ourselves for the glorious paschal mystery. The Gospel this weekend speaks of the transfiguration of Jesus in the presence of His disciples, manifesting to them His divinity to strengthen them in their faith before He enters into His Passion and death on the cross. The invitation to “Listen to him” is directed to the disciples and us. We need to pray and listen to what God says during this Lent and yet we know God has no need of our prayer, in fact the very desire to pray be a gift from God. So I invite you during this Lenten season to spend an hour to be still before God in our Birkdale Chapel through the 40 Hours adoration on March 27th- 29th. You are invited to come and pray anytime during the 40 hours or commit to spend a specific hour with Jesus.

Stations of the Cross
Every Friday during Lent, there will be Stations of the Cross at Birkdale church starting at 9.00 am followed by Holy Mass.

Good News for kids
Our parish is aiming to start children’s liturgy to explain the message of the Gospel and to stimulate involvement from the children so that they can relate to their own lives. The children’s liturgy sessions are run by parish catechists and volunteers. They take place during the mass. The children are led out by catechists at the start of mass, and return during the Preparation of the Gifts. Each session is led by at least 2 Adult. Parents can also assist children to engage more fully in the Sunday Gospel by looking up the weekly readings prior to attending Sunday Mass.

Children’s Liturgy will take place about every first and third Sunday. The sessions go for no more than 20 – 25 minutes during the 9:30am Mass at Manly and 8.00 am mass at Birkdale and that includes time for a themed activity. All children are welcome to join in.

Your presence here makes all the difference....
Our parish needs more volunteers for all the Ministries and volunteers play an important part in the day to day operation of the parish. If you are interested in any ministry, please email the Parish or talk to me. It’s a great way to get more involved in the Parish.

About That Virus COVID-19
There is a message below from the Archbishop about a response to the coronavirus.

• Parishes should refrain from distributing Holy Communion from the chalice until further
  notice, with a reminder to the faithful that Christ is fully present under either species.
• All ministers of Holy Communion should wash their hands before and after distributing,
  and provision should be made for this.
• When exchanging the Sign of Peace, people should avoid shaking hands but say “Peace
  be with you” with some eye contact and perhaps an appropriate gesture.
• Holy water should be temporarily removed from fonts at the doors of churches, though
  still be available for people to take home.
• Parishes and other settings where liturgies are celebrated should make alcohol based
  gels or rubs (or like products) available near the entrances.
• It would be preferable and perhaps prudent for people to receive Holy Communion in the
  hand rather than on the tongue, but the decision on this is left with the communicant at
  this stage.

The Archdiocese will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide further advice as required. In the meantime we pray fervently that the threat of COVID-19 will ease, that those suffering from the virus will be cured and that those working for its relief will be strengthened.


Blessings,
Fr. Dantus Thottathil

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