Fr Anthony’s Message
Dear brothers and sisters,
I wish you and your family a blessed Sunday. Today is the final day of our National Vocations Awareness
Week. It is providential that we hear the account of Jesus breaking five loaves [and two fish] and then
giving them to his disciples, who in turn distributing to people. I be lieve this is the true meaning of all
vocations in the Church, namely, we are called to give to one another what God has blessed and handed to us.
Allow me to firstly focus on Jesus, who, for the
sake of the crowds, had postponed his time of solitude
to feed them. Now, at last, when everything is done, he
finds some time for quiet and prayer. He sends his
disciples ahead of him by boat, dismisses the crowds,
and then withdraws to the mountain to pray. This
calls us to pay attention to our time for quiet and
prayer; to our time for being alone with ourselves and
with God; to be alone with our loved ones and to what
is most important in our life.
Dear brothers and sisters, time for quiet and prayer is important when we struggle to weather the wind and waves, making little progress in our journey like the twelve. It is here that we are reminded of a previous story in Chapter 8 of Matthew’s Gospel, when Jesus calms the seas. This time, however, Jesus does not calm the seas, and the disciples do not express
fear until they see Jesus walking toward them on the water. In this story it is not the storm that is feared but the sight of Jesus before them, whom they mistake for a ghost. While the disciples confused, Jesus calls
them and calms their fears. He is not a ghost. The impulsive Peter seeks proof that the person is indeed Jesus. He asks Jesus to call him out onto the water, and Jesus grants this request. Peter’s fear and doubt overtake him, however, once he is walking on the water. Jesus reaches out to Peter and saves him. When Jesus and Peter enter the boat, Mat thew reports that the wind ceases, and the disciples confess that Jesus is the Son of God.
In the last analysis, this Sunday’s Gospel calls us to
faith in Jesus. This is the faith that enables us to do the
work that Jesus has done: to walk on water, to feed a
multitude of people. However, we need to learn from
Peter that when he fears and doubts the person of
Jesus, he falters. Peter’s example teaches us that true
Christian ministry emerges from the faith that Jesus is
the Messiah, God’s only Son.

National Vocations Awareness Week
Please pray for our priests today in thanksgiving for their ministry and presence in our community. Please pray for the religious who do so much in pastoral care, education, health care and many other ministries. Pray also that the saints may inspire many vocations to consecrated life and priesthood, especially from our community.

Mary Glowrey Museum visit [see articles below]
Following the recent article in the parish bulletin about the nearby Mary Glowrey Museum
https://maryglowreymuseum.info, a number of
parishioners have expressed interest in visiting the
Museum and learning more about Sr Dr Mary Glowrey JMJ, whose cause for canonisation is being promoted.
The Museum is located at 20 Brunswick Street,
Fitzroy, on the second floor of Cathedral Hall. The
planned visit is on Thursday, 17 August at 10 –
11.30am.
Those intending to participate are asked to
advise the Parish office: collclift@hotmail.com The
outing is no charge, but bookings are essential.
Participants will gather to commence the Museum
visit at 9.50am in front of Cathedral Hall. Trams 11
and 86 both stop on the corner of Brunswick and
Gertrude Streets which is two minutes walk from
the Museum. Gabrielle.


Fr Peter Varengo will be celebrating his 50th year of priesthood on Sunday, 27th August at our 11am Mass. Please join us for Mass and refreshments afterwards. All welcome !!


A working Bee is being held on Saturday, 19th August
starting at 10 am at St John’s. Please help us clean the
church.

A very warm thank you to Madeline and Barry again for their generous availability of a skip for St Joseph’s working bee. Thank you most sincerely.

PHOTOGRAPHER(S) WANTED
Are there any budding photographers out there who would like to have their work immortalised? If so, could you please offer your services to record the Celebration of the Consecration of our church, St John the Baptist on Sunday 8 October. Digital images are fine. History will be indebted to you. Please let Joan at the parish office know. John Andrews

Parish Pastoral Council
Greetings and a quick update from the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC). We have met twice this year and our initial focus was on how we work together as a new team and defining our operating model under the Instruction "The pastoral conversion of the Parish community in the service of the evangelising mission of the Church", of the Congregation for the Clergy, 20.07.2020, Rome. Closer to home, we are excited about being involved in a number of upcoming activities, including:
   • Working with the Planning Committee for the Parish Centenary of Consecration and representatives across all community groups to make October a very special month of celebrations, particularly, our combined mass on 8 Oct. We will be looking for volunteers to help with the celebrations, including greeters, singers, musicians and readers. Please email the office if you would like to be involved.
   • Working Bee on Sat 19 August from 10am – Please come and join us and the Samoan Community to spruce up our church and hall.
  • Finalising the Vision and Mission Statement – many of you have been involved in the discussions and drafting of the Parish Vision & Mission Statement – coordinated by our very own John Andrews. There is a copy of the statement at the back of the church for your review before it goes live mid-August. We will keep you posted with other Parish activities including the return of our Parish Fun Night!! We would also love to hear your ideas on how we could enrich our parish life. Quyen Pham-Nguyen.



Online training program for Ministers of the Word
The Archdiocese is running another "online training program for Ministers of the Word starting 16 August". The link is https://www.acu.edu.au/about-acu/institutes-academies-and-centres/acu-centre-for-liturgy/pastoral-training

Parishioners’ Column
We recently celebrated the birthday of Sr Dr Mary Glowrey JMJ, an Australian woman whose cause for canonisation is being promoted – she was born on 23 June 1887 in Birregurra near Colac. Before leaving

Melbourne in 1920 to spend 37 years in India serving the sick poor, she worked in our neighbourhood, both at
St Vincent’s Hospital and the Eye and Ear Hospital. In 1916 she was the founding President of the Catholic Women’s Social Guild, now the Catholic Women’s League Victoria and Wagga Wagga. During the years of World War I, Mary both advocated for social reforms and actively served the disadvantaged in Fitzroy and Collingwood.
Her Indian legacy includes the Catholic Health
Association of India (CHAI), which she founded in
1943 and whose members today care for at least 21
million people annually. Mary Glowrey's cause for
canonisation opened in 2010 and she has been declared a Servant of God.

Some years ago, a museum in her honour was
established on the top floor of Cathedral Hall in
Brunswick Street, which is now part of Australian
Catholic University. Here is a link to the Museum
website: https://maryglowreymuseum.info/, which
provides information about Mary’s remarkable life.
On her birthday this year, the Museum launched
the Mary Glowrey Circle which will both promote
her cause and seek to preserve and catalogue her
extensive correspondence and other artefacts.
Given the location of the Mary Glowrey Museum in our precinct, perhaps we could organise a parish visit. I would be happy to arrange that.
Gabrielle McMullen