The Catholic Parish of Frenchs Forest.

My Dear Parishioner,

On this Fifth weekend of lent, in the gospel we recall how Jesus was told of the death of his friend Lazarus and how he restored him to life. In this we have a ‘trailer’ of the whole message of Christian life: to believe in Jesus Christ is to be brought out of the tomb of death, freed from what binds us, and offered eternal life. A wonderful hopeful lesson for us all as we come to the end of our Lenten journey.

A hearty congratulations and my gratitude to our wonderful Youth group who organised such a beautiful St Patrick’s Day dinner and trivia night. Everyone who attended said what a great celebration it was and that it was so well organised. It was truly amazing. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful Youth Group in our Parish. Also, my deep appreciation to all who organised, participated, and supported the Rice Night on 23 March to raise funds for the work of Caritas through Project Compassion.

Next week we have the Parish Reconciliation on Thursday 30th at 7.30 pm to 8.30pm in OLGC Church. All are welcome to come and feel the forgiveness and grace that God gives us in this wonderful Sacrament.

In this week’s bulletin you can see the schedule for our Parish’s Holy week celebrations. We have many beautiful services held in our different communities. Beginning with the Chrism Mass which is held at the Cathedral on Tuesday 4th April at 7.30pm. A very powerful Mass where the priests of the Diocese renew their vows and the Oils for all the Parishes are blessed and sent back to each Church.

We have tried to alternate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday every year and this year it is being held at St Anthony’s Church, Terrey Hills. Please support all our Holy week Liturgies to help make Easter a very meaningful celebration. I encourage you to participate in all our Holy week celebrations with your family.

I am planning my annual holiday and will be leaving on Monday 10th April and return on Friday 12th May. More about this in next week’s bulletin.

Thank you to all those who are helping with the Holy Week and Easter ceremonies. I am so grateful to Fr. Shiju, and our wonderful parish staff. I appreciate all your support in my ministry as the Parish Administrator.

May God Bless you all,

Fr. Satheesh Antony OSH

This Gospel tells us that Our Lord was moved with compassion in an almost violent way, raging against the seeming finality of death. The raising of Lazarus was a demonstration of his power to rob death of its supposed supremacy.

But, Our Lord did not set Lazarus completely free! You may think that to be raised from the dead was not a bad start, but Lazarus was still shuffling: bound, constrained, constricted by the past. To those gathered around the tomb Jesus issued the command: ‘Set him free, unbind him.’ It was the collective effort of others which enabled Lazarus to walk as a liberated son of God.

You may find yourself commanded by the Lord to help unbind a person who has had a deadening experience which has drained them of life. We get the courage to respond because it is the command of the One who definitively conquered death.

We could pause for a moment to resolve to help liberate others already helped by the grace of Him whom we believe to be the Resurrection and the Life.