AS A PARISH WE OFFER OUR

PRAYERS FOR :

RECENTLY DECEASED Betty List, Helen

Nolan, Kathleen Weale, Mark Hall, Russell Hall,

Amy McAuliffe, Jean Hartley, Christine Mooney, Vicki

Weisback, Terry O’Shea, Raymond Cave, Stephen Hawking,

Mel Murphy, Dorothy Cheney, Bede Fallon, Tony Burgun,

Ray Beggs, Janice Bradley, Troy Perey, Emmett Doggett,

Judith Naughton, Ros Hocking, Christine Flanagan, Patricia

Goodyer, Kerry Rosengren, Brian Lynch, Lyall Barclay, Ken

Harmer, Lynne Purcell, Noel Fitzpatrick, Kade Adams, Fr

Peter McGrath, Janina Kovacs, Angela Ceddia, Michael

Vineburg, Maureen Cottrill, Lucy Borgese, Mal Crouch, Fr

Anthony Smith sj, Rev Billy Graham, Arnold Velthuis, Bever-

ley Ashford, Coral McKenzie & Winifred Whitaker .

ANNIVERSARIES For those whose anniversaries occur

about this time - Brian Shaw, Michael Bradley, Anne Van

Well, Glen Semken, Val Kelly, Ben Thompson, Philip Cattell,

Fr Kevin Flanagan, Lil McGrath, Val Marshall, Veronica

Rodd, Virginia Sykes, Joan Price & Bruce Kennedy. Eternal

rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let the Perpetual Light

shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.

WE PRAY FOR THE SICK OR IN NEED Names will

normally only be published in the bulletin with an individual or

family member’s permission: Benjamin Jones, Irene Scho-

nenberg, Matthew Evans, Fr Peter Dorfield, Ronnie Mat-

thews, Alice Carroll, Tony Bolger, Yuri Dobinson, Chris Pan-

nier, Pat Plum, Peter Grainger, Shiela Cuell, Mark Harris,

Graham McMullen, John Whiter, John McInnes, Justin

O’Neill, Marjory Hale, Fay Roberts, Jim Crofton, Marisha

Petzel, Jane Larson, David Farrell, Anthony Moore, Michaela

Phillips, Cindy Soward, Maureen George, Sandra Gunning,

Marie Thomas, Jason Hackett, Veronica Tarry, Denise Goo-

nan, Simon Tombek, Lucy Swain, Chris Johnson, Nick

Kurrle, Natalie Quinlivan, Ray Jewell, Genevieve Keogh, Jim

Powell, Joy Powell, Graham Mohr, Robert Hassall, Ros

Wild, Chris Bishop, Tracy Martin, Narelle McCann, George

Parkins, Scott Bennett, Charlie Morris, John McCoy, David

Boswell, Bernice McInerney, Joe Howard, Justin O’Reilly,

Mark Reid, Chris Sparks, Dylan Robertson, Tricia Jackson,

Carolyn Shaw, Gail Manderson, Fred Koelmeyer, Marie

Middleton, Judy Ferrari, Josh Armstrong, Katerina Di Salva-

tore, Molly Pauline Forge, as well as those in hospitals and

nursing homes in Wagga and those not able to come to

Mass.

DIRECTORY

Fr Paddy Sykes - Parish Priest

Fr Anto Francis - Syro-Malabar Chaplain

Parish Secretaries -

Katrina Cooper and Cheryl Hart

Parish Office: 103 Fernleigh Road.

Office hours: 9am - 1pm Tuesday - Friday

Phone: 6925 2111

Email: olofparishsouthwagga@gmail.com

Web: olof.waggamatters.com

Henschke Primary School

Phone: 6925 1870 Email: hp-info@ww.catholic.edu.au

OUR LADY OF FATIMA

looks after the needs of:

The Forrest Centre, The Haven and

RSL Life Care Remembrance Village. Also

Kildare Catholic College and Henschke School

and provides catechism classes at Turvey

Park, Red Hill & Uranquinty Public Schools.

MASSES NEXT WEEKEND 14 - 15 APRIL

SATURDAY: 5.00pm;

SUNDAY: 8.30am and 10.30am

8.30am Uranquinty

WEEKDAY 9 - 13 APRIL

TUES: 8am Mass, Kildare Catholic College

11am RSL Village Mass

WED: 7am Mass

THUR: 11am Forrest Centre Mass

FRI : 5.45pm Mass

RECONCILIATION

Saturday:10.30-11.30am

BAPTISMS

At any of the weekend Masses or

at 12 midday on Sunday.

MARRIAGE

At least six months prior to wedding date.

CHOIR

2nd & 4th Saturday of the month at 2pm.

THE PARISH OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA STH WAGGA

AND ST PATRICK’S URANQUINTY

SECOND SUNDAY of EASTER 8 APRIL 2018

The Catholic community of Our Lady of Fatima welcomes all visitors

joining us for this Eucharist Celebration

We acknowledge and respect the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which we stand, the Elders past

and present and all the Wiradjuri Peoples. May we too be good stewards of this land.

READINGS FOR NEXT

WEEK

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER

First: Acts 3:13-15,17-19

Second: 1 John 2:1-5

Gospel: Luke 24:35-48

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

RESPONSE: Give thanks to the Lord

for he is good, his love is everlasting.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Alleluia, Alleluia! You believe in me,

Thomas, because you have seen me;

happy those who have not seen me,

but still believe! Alleluia!

The Gospels tell us that Jesus appeared to the disciples on several occasions after they discovered that his tomb was empty. Part of the mystery of Jesus’ Resurrection is that he appeared to his disciples not as a spirit but in bodily form. The bodily form was not one that the disciples recognised though. In John’s Gospel, Mary of Magdala does not recognise that the fig-ure standing before her is Jesus until he speaks to her. In Luke’s Gospel the disciples who meet Jesus on the road to Emmaus do not recognize him until he breaks bread with them. The resurrected Jesus had a physical presence, but the disciples couldn’t recognise Jesus unless

he allowed them to. His resur-rected body, nonetheless, showed the marks of his crucifix-ion. From readings such as today’s Gospel, we also see that in his resurrected body, Jesus seems to be free of physical constraints. He appears to the disciples de-spite the fact that the doors were locked. Jesus greets his disciples with the gift of peace and the gift of the Holy Spirit. In doing so, Jesus commissions his disciples to continue the work that he has begun: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” During the meeting, Jesus also shows the integral connection between forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The story of Thomas illustrates our Christian experience today: We are called to believe without seeing. In fact, all Christians after the first witnesses have been called to believe without seeing. Thomas’s doubt is hardly surpris-ing; the news of Jesus’ appear-

ance was incredible to the disci-ples who had seen him crucified and buried. Thomas’s human nature compelled him to want hard evidence that the Jesus who appeared to the disciples after his death was indeed the same Jesus who had been cruci-fied. Thomas is given the oppor-tunity to act on that desire. He is our witness that Jesus is really risen. Our faith is based on the witness of the Church that has preceded us, beginning with Thomas and

the first disciples. Through Bap-tism we receive the same Holy

Spirit that Jesus brought to the first disciples. We are among those who are “blessed” be-

cause we believe without having

seen.

THOUGHT

When it rains,

look for rainbows.

When it is dark,

look for stars

This weekend we

welcome the

families who are

committing to

the First Eucharist program.

Hospitality after Mass this weekend. Remember if

you can help, please offer your services.

Pope Francis In his homily during

the Easter Sunday liturgy in St Peter's Square, Pope

Francis said he was moved to say three things. Firstly,

God surprises the women with a proclamation which

became a greeting in the early Church: "The Lord is

risen!" When God announces something it is always a

surprise because God is a God of surprises, Pope Francis said. It has been that way from the beginning

of the story of salvation with Abraham: one surprise

after another. God does not know how to make an

announcement without surprising us. Surprise moves our hearts and touches us where we do not expect.

The second thought is the haste of the women.

God’s surprises demand an immediate response. Peter

and John ran to the tomb. The Pope added that there

is one person in the Gospel who takes his time, who does not want to take a risk. This is Thomas. But the

good Lord waited for him in the same way that he waits

patiently for those people who do not get up and

respond to the surprise announcement right away. me?

Pope Francis’ third thought is a question. What about

me? “Do I have a heart open to God’s surprises?" Am I

able to go quickly, or do I always hang back and ex-

cuse myself until tomorrow. “What does a surprise say to me?” Pope Francis asks.

John and Peter ran to the tomb and the Gospel says

they believed. Pope Francis says that Peter’s belief

was “a bit mixed with remorse for having denied the Lord.” The Pope concluded his homily saying that now

it is our turn to ask “what about me today in this Easter

2018. What about you?”

Congratulations to Margaret Conway,

Kath Needham, Clinton and

Kira Lough who were received

into the Church at

the Easter Vigil.

PRAYER FOR THE ELECTION OF A BISHOP

O God, eternal shepherd, who govern Your flock with unfailing care, grant in Your bound-

less fatherly love, a Bishop for the Diocese of Wagga Wagga, who will please You by his

holiness and to us show watchful care. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and

reigns with You in unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

PARISH OFFICE

The Parish Office will be closed on Mondays

and will be open from 9am - 1pm Tuesday

to Friday.

PROJECT COMPASSION

Please return your Project Compassion boxes or

envelopes to the collection plate or Parish Office.

NOTE: Mass times at Sacred Heart Parish, Kooringal will change on the weekend of 14/15

April to the following: 5.30pm Vigil Saturday; 9am & 5.30pm Sundays.

If you would like to donate to the Parish by

direct debit, our details are: Name of account:

South Wagga Parish; BSB 066 789; Account no:

100004152; Ref: Your name.

Planned Giving envelopes are also available.

Thank you for your support of the Parish.

Families seeking to have their chil-dren baptised at OLOF must attend a preparation session beforehand. The next session will be held at 6.30pm Friday 13 April.

Please contact the office for more information.

Fr Paddy recommends two movies: “Mary Magdalen” now showing at Forum 6.

“I Can Only Imagine”, a special event at

Forum 6 being shown at 7pm Tuesday 10th, Thursday 12th & Monday 16th April. Tickets

are $15 each but need to be purchased in

advance from the Wagga Christian College and

the Wagga Baptist Church.

ROSTER FOR 14 & 15 APRIL 2018

5.00pm

8.30am

10.30am

LECTOR

Sr C Byrne

B Esler

C Chalker

COMMENTATOR

P Horan

C Haining

M Graham

EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS

K Mowett & ME Taylor

M Esler, help needed

K Ross, help needed

ROSARY STATUE

Catherine Malone

COLLECTIONS THIS WEEK - First Collection $2985 Second $1748

Thank you for your support. It is essential and very much appreciated.

PARISH LIFE THIS WEEK

SAT 7/SUN 8 April: Commitment Masses for First

Eucharist

SAT 7/SUN 8 April: Cuppa after Mass

SUN 8 April: 2pm - 3pm Holy Hour for Divine Mercy

Sunday, St Michael’s Cathedral.

MON 9 April: Loreto Home of Compassion Auxiliary

meeting in Function Room.

FRI 13 April: 10am, end of term school Mass.

FRI 13 April: 6.30pm baptism preparation session in

OLOF.

SAT 14 April: 10am-4pm Mt Erin Heritage Centre Open

Day

WED 18 April: 2pm OLOF monthly cuppa and chat at

Tolland Bonsai Garden.

One Easter a priest and a taxi driver both died and went to heaven. St. Peter was at the pearly gates waiting for them. 'Come with me,' said St. Peter to the taxi driver. The taxi driver did as he was told and followed St Peter to a mansion. It had everything you could imagine from a bowling alley to an Olympic size pool. 'Oh my word, thank you,' said the taxi driver. Next, St. Peter led the priest to a rough old shack with a bunk bed and a little old television set. 'Wait, I think you are a little mixed up,' said the priest. 'Shouldn't I be the one who gets the mansion? After all I was a priest, went to church every day, and preached God's word.' 'Yes, that's true.' St Peter rejoined, 'But during your Easter sermons people slept. When the taxi driver drove, everyone prayed.'

Remember to check the bench and the notice board at the back of the church for current events and information.

MT ERIN HERITAGE CENTRE Open Day

10am—4pm, Saturday 14 April All invited to attend

ST MICHAEL’S CATHEDRAL

Ordination to the Priesthood

of Deacon Paul Lu

7pm, Friday 13 April

followed by the Mass of Thanksgiving

at 9.30am Saturday 14 April. All welcome. Donations of sandwiches, cakes &

slices would be appreciated.

Congratulations to Steven Chalker and Jemma Walker, as well as Rhys van der Rijt and

Catherine Jermanus who were married this weekend.

The latest issue of Together is available.

As we only order 50 copies of The Swag, please

pass your copy around or bring it back to the

Church when you have finished.

Mass will be celebrated at

9am at St Michael’s

Cathedral on Anzac Day.

Altar guard and bugler

will be present. All welcome to attend.