The Catholic Parish of Frenchs Forest
Welcome
Our Parish is made up of three vibrant communities:
Our Lady of Good Counsel - Forestville
St Martin de Porres - Davidson
St Anthony in the Fields - Terrey Hills.
If you’re a visitor or new to our parish, we extend a very warm welcome to you.
If you have any questions, please chat with Fr Shiju, Fr Satheesh or myself, or browse our website.
We want you to feel at home with us. - Fr Jose
Each of our special communities is centred on a different church and has its own story to tell.
Together, as a parish, we are united in 'Sharing One Faith in Christ’.
Here at Frenchs Forest Parish we offer many opportunities for personal growth,
spiritual enrichment and social interaction.
Mass Online
We will not be doing Mass online however here is the link for the Diocesan Masses at Hornsby Cathedral Church -
Daily Mass is live streamed at 7.00am. Sunday Mass is live streamed at 9.30am at link below https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNenwlfI7i14XB9TsVBrLvQ/videos
Greetings from Fr Jose…………
On Friday 23rd October Fr Shiju and I will be sleeping rough to raise funds for St Vincent de Paul. We would really appreciate your support and sponsorship, all money raised goes to St Vincent de Paul. You may have noticed the flyers and previous notices about this Sleepout for Vinnies
This weekend in our Gospel we hear the story of a man had two sons, one refused to do the job he was asked to do and then later did it, the other said he would do it but later on decided not to. What does this story mean? We cannot spend all of our lives blaming others for what has happened to us. At a certain stage we must accept responsibility for our own lives and deeds. Change is always possible. If we have the desire, God will guide us in the right path.
You will all remember Brother Roger Delmonte, he is to be ordained a Deacon on Wednesday 7th October, as always in these times he cannot invite many people to join him for the celebration, but I believe that it is going to be live streamed, please keep Roger in your prayers as he prepares for this great celebration.
I ask you to continue to keep our Parish Children in your prayers as they prepare for their First Holy Communion in October.
Reflection
The Month of October is the Month of the Rosary.
This we dedicate Our Prayers to the end of the Pandemic
The month of October is especially dedicated to the Prayer of Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our mother and Mother of the church. I remember my parents were keen on praying the rosary every evening with us before dinner. I am a priest only because of my mother’s special devotion to the Blessed Mary. In every October in the parishes, we have the practice of saying rosary 10 days continuously. My congregation (The Society of the Oblates of Sacred Heart) holds a 5 day continuous chain rosary yearly, for the day and night in our retreat centre where thousands of people attend. If you travel in India especially in Kerala where we come from, you can see churches everywhere named after Blessed Mary and a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother. Every day I try to pray the rosary with parishioners in the morning after Holy Mass or privately. It is the prayer I can hold on to when I feel shy, frightened, not confident, dull, sad and lonely. It gives me lots of strength and power in my ministry.
John Paul 11 once said that The Rosary is my favourite prayer. A marvellous prayer! Marvellous in its simplicity and its depth. The rosary is “our daily meeting which neither I nor the Blessed Virgin Mary neglect.
If you do not say the Rosary often, I challenge you this month to make a special effort to rediscover this beautiful Christian prayer. If we can’t pray the whole Rosary, let us say at least a decade. Or pray a full five decades a couple times a week. One tradition is praying the Rosary together as a family. The rosary is a good prayer for both children and adults because it is simple, yet full of depth. Saint Padre Pio said “The rosary is the weapon for these times”
So dear friends let us dedicate Month of October for our families and parish to recite the rosary in the evening with us. The efforts will strengthen us and Blessed Mary will intercede for us every day.
I invite everyone to pray the rosary in front of the Blessed Sacrament and receive the blessing of the Eucharistic Lord through Benediction.
St. Anthony’s Terrey Hills - October 1 to 10 - 7.00PM
St. Martin’s Davidson - October 11 to 20 - 7.00 PM
OLGC Forestville -October 21 to 30 - 7 PM
OLGC Forestville -31 October, Saturday, Vigil Mass and Rosary Procession
Fr Shiju
Amazing Catechists
Bishop Anthony Randazzo is encouraging anyone who can help to come forward as a relief Catechist. The CCD have a campaign called - BE THERE FOR ME – please go to the following link if you would like to know more about this campaign
If you are interested in in knowing more about our Parish Catechist Ministry please contact our Catechist Coordinator, Fran van Schie on pastoral@ffcp.org.au or phone 9451 509.
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Parish News
full blog at Parish News Blog