Waiting For Gabriel.....Diocese Of Parramatta - Catholic

Waiting for Gabriel 

Sunday 11 November at the IFM 1:30pm – 4:00pm

Are you or your loved ones trying to conceive?

This can be a time of excitement and great joy but if it’s not happening as planned you may be feeling great anxiety, tension and a sense of helplessness. 

Most couples assume that pregnancy will happen quickly and easily and are surprised when it doesn’t; as many as one in six couples struggle with infertility.

You’re invited to come along to our “Waiting for Gabriel’ Seminar for couples hoping to conceive.

There will be information, support, testimonies, afternoon tea and a blessing from Bishop Vincent Long. You will be introduced to natural ways to improve your cycle and information related to hormonal and medical treatments to help you conceive.

Couples may find that this experience has many positive outcomes not only relating to pregnancy - a deeper sense of intimacy and togetherness, improved communication skills, or a deeper knowledge, love and appreciation of their spouse.

RSVP nfs@parracatholic.org or 8838 3460 www.parralmf.org.au/nfs  

For more information contact Natural Fertility Services, Diocese of Parramatta catherine.bourne@parracatholic.org 0400 427 605.

Parramatta Diocesan Plenary 2020 - Information & Training Sessions Up And Coming....

Plenary 2020 is the name given to a process initiated by the Australian Bishops who are inviting people to engage in listening, dialogue and discernment about the future of the Catholic Church in Australia ahead of a Plenary Council in 2020. Significantly, a process such as this has not happened in Australia since 1937.  Our voices are needed and we are invited to engage with family, friends and colleagues in this time of renewal.

Information and Training Sessions have already been held. There is a growing interest in Plenary 2020, and so we are now repeating these earlier sessions.

All parishioners are invited as the sessions assist with both a parish level response as well as helping individuals share the Plenary invitation with friends and family.  Our next upcoming Information and Training Sessions are as follows -

Thursday, 20 September     -           7.00 pm to 9.30 pm             -              Parramatta Cathedral Hall (1 Marist Place, Parramatta)

Saturday, 29 September      -           10.00 am to 12.30 pm         -              St Thomas Aquinas Springwood School Hall (168 Hawkesbury Rd, Springwood)

Saturday, 29 September      -          2.00 pm to 4.30 pm             -              Emu Plains School Hall (17 Troy Street, Emu Plains)

**Light refreshments will be provided at all sessions**

The following people will greatly benefit from attending a session:

·         All parishioners

·         Clergy

·         Parish staff, council members, ministry co-ordinators

·         Parish volunteers

·         Ethnic community representatives

·         Chaplains

·         Community group representatives

We strongly encourage you to participate in one of the above sessions and to invite others to attend.  This is a unique and exciting time.  Our voices are important.  Let us speak boldly and with passion and listen with an open and humble heart. 

Please reply to this email with your RSVP to 
marisa.vanderhout@parracatholic.org with date and time and parish or agency as soon as possible.

Click here for previous post

All Of Us Can 'Have Your Say' In Australian Catholic Bishops Plenary Council - Parramatta Diocesan

In our society, we all are human beings living together in our wonderful world and that is the great thing. In communities, people live together and as we find each individual is different and has a different life.

We expect all of us to live good and respectable lives, staying on the straight and narrow path of life. When we are adults, we take on certain community roles, that are regarded as highly respectable sand honourable, we must maintain that stance within our community. This must be done with personal dignity.

Most people maintain their dignity within their community When this is not done then all the community respect is lost. Or is it?

With the Final Report from the Royal Commission, on Recommendations of the Australian Institutional Responses To Child Sexual Abuse click here for details, our Australian Catholic Church Parramatta Diocesan, is in the forefront of allowing parishioners and Non-Catholics to 'Have your say'. 

Bishop Vincent Nguyen, Bishop of Parramatta Diocesan is asking, *'What do yous think God is asking us in Australia at this time?'

He is also supporting the Australian Bishops Plenary Council 2020 and our Diocesan Response.

What is Plenary 2020?

• Plenary 2020 is the name given to a process initiated by the Australian bishops.
• Our bishops are inviting people to engage in listening, dialogue and discernment about the future of the Church in Australia around the Plenary Council meetings in 2020 and 2021.
• A plenary council is the highest form of gathering that a church in a particular country can have. It is a process by which lay people and clergy can be heard and has legislative power.

Why are Bishops holding a Plenary Council?

• The contemporary society has changed significantly, and the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse has exposed the significant suffering our Church has caused, revealing our failures, and calling us to change.
• “We must become a humble, listening and discerning church. The Plenary Council… will be an opportunity for us to listen humbly and with open hearts to one another and especially to what the Spirit is saying to us at this time.”
  -Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv

What is the Plenary timeline

• The national dialogue started in May 2018 around the question: What do you think God is asking of us in Australia at this time?
• The four main stages of Plenary 2020 are:
• Listening Sessions: Now till 6 March 2019
• Discerning, Developing & Testing Themes: May 2019 to Dec 2019
• Drafting Council Program and Documents. Meetings Held (2020 & 2021)
• Implementation: 2021 and beyond

Click here for Video on Plenary Council 2020

Click here for video 'Your Voice' on Plenary 2020

How do we participate in Stage One: Listening sessions?

• Go to HAVE YOUR SAY to find out the many ways you can offer feedback.

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For further information go to https://parracatholic.org/haveyoursay/ 

Or contact your local Parish Priest or Parish Pastoral Council

'Your Voice Matters'

Even Non-Catholics are invited to 'Have Your Say' as well

*Details used from Parramatta Diocesan Plenary 2020

Palm Sunday - At Parramatta - Diocese of Parramatta Invitation....

Join Bishop Vincent and Catholic Youth Parramatta as we journey with Christ into Holy Week this 2018:

5:15pm - Gather at Parramatta Town Hall
5:30pm - Process down Church Street
6:00pm - WYD Mass in St. Patrick's Cathedral
7:00pm - Food and WYD Panama 2019 Event

Installation OF New Catholic Bishop Vicent Long Van Nguyen OFM CONV DD STL At St Patrick's Cathedral. Parramatta!

Mount Druitt, South Mount Druitt Plumpton, Rooty Hill and St Marys Catholic Parish fall under the  Catholic  Diocese of  Parramatta and  for 20 months we have been waiting for a new  Bishop. Finally, the 4th Bishop of Parramatta, since Parramatta became a Diocese in 1986.

A refugee from Vietnam,  Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM CONV DD STL was installed as a Bishop by  former  Bishop of Parramatta,now Arch Bishop of Sydney, Andrew Fisher DD BA LIB BTHEO DPPHIL.

I was honored by Parish Priest, Father Greg Jacobs, Holy Family, Mount Druitt to watch the  Liturgical reception and solemn mass of  Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM CONV DD STL, coming from Melbourne as an Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne and a former Parish Priest at Kellyville for 7 years.

At Holy Family Parish Mount Druitt, we are proud to have one of our Parish Priest been installed as the First Bishop of Parramatta, Bishop Bede Vincent Heather DD LSS BA.


Click here for Recessional Hymn 'All Creatures Of Our God And King" Celebrating Bishop Vincent's Installation!