Dear brothers and sisters,

1.      “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep.”  (John 10:11)

2.      What does God reveal to man? God in his goodness and wisdom reveals himself. With deeds and words, he reveals himself and his plan of loving goodness which he decreed from all eternity in Christ. According to this plan, all people by the grace of the Holy Spirit are to share in the divine life as adopted “sons” in the only begotten Son of God.

3. Currently we have little to eat at our parish patron saints at 9am on Sunday 28 April.  Please record what food you will bring in the registers after mass.

4. Men and boys are welcome to our mass for St Joseph the Worker on the 1 May at 7pm (confessions also available), followed by a feast in the hall.

5. Thank you for your suggestions so far about what should be preserved or changed in the church.  Some of the more dramatic suggestions include changing the glass (and colour) of all the windows given their poor condition, rendering the walls, or removing the Sacred Heart statue to put in something which better balances and corresponds to the mosaic of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.  There are also other less dramatic suggestions.  Please note that (1) these are suggestions from others, not me, which I don’t necessarily support (2) they are just suggestions which will not necessarily be acted upon, (3) any changes will only be made following the slow due process of the parish, the diocese and civil regulations (4) which may never be able to be made due to cost or practicality anyway.  But you see why it is important to have your say.  So please feel free to speak to Father in the three weeks remaining, perhaps saying the three things you do want or don’t want to see done.  For those who wish there will also be a listening session on 7 May in the hall from 630-730pm for anyone who wishes their views to be listened to by me and others.  Please keep in mind that the point of this process is also to preserve much of what those before us have left us, prepare our church to be loved by our children and grandchildren where they desire to do all their sacraments, and to be a place which better touches hearts with God’s grace by its beauty, helps us to pray, and be a worthy place for almighty God to dwell.

6. We will be refurbishing the confessional.  Why? Some penitents complained about the level of soundproofing.  I then asked you all to give me your feedback: some of you said there is no problem, and some of you have told me to please fix the confessional as you can “hear everything”.  Logically then, there is a problem which needs fixing.  Why is this urgent? Because we owe protection of the seal to each penitent; because the confessional is one of the key tools of pastoral care, and so needs to be working properly; and because one of our duties is good capital allocation – ie deploying our resources wisely and to the best quality.

Yours in Our Lord,

J+