1. religion and spirituality
2. christianity
3. catholicism

YEAR B
First Reading — Jer 31:31-34
A reading from the prophet Jeremiah
See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when I will make a new covenant with the
House of Israel and the House of Judah, but not a covenant like the one I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that
covenant of mine, so I had to show them who was master. It is the Lord who speaks. No, this is
the covenant I will make with the House of Israel when those days arrive – it is the Lord who
speaks. Deep within them I will plant my Law, writing it on their hearts. Then I will be their God
and they shall be my people. There will be no further need for neighbour to try to teach
neighbour, or brother to say to brother, ‘Learn to know the Lord!’ No, they will all know me, the
least no less than the greatest – it is the Lord who speaks – since I will forgive their iniquity and
never call their sin to mind.
Second Reading — Heb 5:7-9
A reading from the letter to the Hebrews
During his life on earth, Christ offered up prayer and entreaty, aloud and in silent tears,
to the one who had the power to save him out of death, and he submitted so humbly
that his prayer was heard. Although he was Son, he learnt to obey through suffering;
but having been made perfect, he became for all who obey him the source of eternal
salvation.
Gospel — Jn 12:20-33
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. These approached Philip, who came from Bethsaida in Galilee, and put this request to him, ‘Sir,
we should like to see Jesus.’ Philip went to tell Andrew, and Andrew and Philip together went to tell Jesus. Jesus replied to them: ‘Now the hour has come for the Son of
Man to be glorified. I tell you most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls on the ground
and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest. Anyone
who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the
eternal life. If a man serves me, he must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be
there too. If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him. Now my soul is troubled.
What shall I say: Father, save me from this hour? But it was for this very reason that I
have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name!’ A voice came from heaven, ‘I have
glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ People standing by, who heard this, said it was a
clap of thunder; others said, ‘It was an angel speaking to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘It was
not for my sake that this voice came, but for yours. ‘Now sentence is being passed on
this world; now the prince of this world is to be overthrown. And when I am lifted up
from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself.’ By these words he indicated the kind of
death he would die.
A house of welcome to all and a place of service to all
Fifth Sunday of Lent — Year B
March 22, 2015
Dying for our faith
If you thought the days of Christians being martyred for their faith were long past,
you would be wrong. It is deeply disturbing to hear today of so many people being
killed by religious fundamentalists for their religious beliefs.
Not only Christians but other religious minorities are being targeted. Even many
Muslims in Iraq and Syria who refuse to join extremist sects like the Islamic State are
being killed. The vast majority of Muslims are appalled at such violence against innocent people.
Christians have always revered those who died as martyrs, but undoubtedly God
honours people of all faiths who die in good conscience, as innocent victims of religious persecutors.
Until the siege at the Sydney café in December, Australia have not suffered from
such religious fanaticism, but it was a real issue for the early Christians for whom
John was writing in today’s gospel. They were alarmed that the imperial powers of
the day were imprisoning and killing Christians, and feared the choice of remaining
Christian or being put to death.
The apostle John sets the stage carefully, with Jesus addressing the Greeks, i.e. those
seeking God in the wider Roman world. Jesus explains how he himself will die on the
cross, surrendering his life into the arms of his Father, who will receive him into eternal life, glorifying Jesus.
Weekly Mass Timings:
Monday:
7.00 am
Tuesday:
5.30 pm
Thursday: 7.00 am
Friday:
5.30 pm
Saturday: Vigil 6.30 pm (Novena 6.00 pm)
Sunday: 8.00 am, 9.30 am, 11.00 am & 6.00 pm
Reconciliation: Saturday: 11.00am - 12.00 noon and
Wednesday:
Saturday:
8.00 am
8.30 am
5.00pm - 6.00pm
for 29 MAR
NEXT WEEK
Fr. Phong Nguyen
Parish Priest
Fr. Jeronimo
Assistant Priest
Fr. Cyprian Shikokoti
Priest in Residence
Deacon Bruce
Parish Deacon
As a follower of Jesus in these circumstances, Christians had a difficult choice to
make if they faced persecution. John has Jesus encouraging his followers that by
accepting death they will gain a far richer life, like the grain of wheat being transformed into an abundant harvest; by surrendering our life in this world, we will enjoy eternal life.
John is not naïve in thinking that Christians find such decisions easy. He has Jesus
saying even his ‘soul is troubled’ at his approaching death. Yet Jesus embraces his
mission, and the voice from heaven confirms that this is God’s secret plan for the
resurrection of Jesus to welcome all of us into his kingdom.
Not many of us in Australia are likely to be killed for our faith. But we all will experience pain and suffering at times. It is then comforting to see how Christ too suffered
dark times, and entered extraordinarily into human suffering for our sake. It highlights God’s eternal bond of solidarity with all who suffer.
What helps make sense of it all is this conviction that, despite everything, we live in
this firm hope that our very selves will be transformed by Jesus’ resurrection and
swept up in God’s love. This hope empowers our faith and action to transform this
world for peace and justice.
Bruce Duncan CSsR
© Redemptorists 2015
Copyright of the Majellan Publications
Baptisms:
We welcome Blake Robin Murray and Sean Tadg Wilbraham into our Parish
Community.
PLEASE PRAY FOR
Anniversaries:
Please pray for Ken Rao, Eliza Alex, whose anniversaries occur around this time.
Bulletin:
Flowers :
Counter:
Helmy Hartano
Palm Sunday
1. A Vinci
2. C Iannello
Saturday
6.30pm
3. P Murray
Sunday
8.00am
Sunday
9.30am
Sunday
11.00am
Sunday
6.00pm
Greeters
J Standing
T Tloczek
G Moriarty
P Owens
A Lauw
G Dunsford
P Zulkifli
E Connolly
B D’ Mello
S Shim
Acolytes
P Doss
P McManus
L Papineau
S McMahon
F Norton
Altar
Servers
L Connors
R Dellaca
O Dellaca
A Flexman
N Sweeney
C Goh
S Ho
A Ho
G Mascarenh
J Mascarenh
A Dinata
A Dinata
M Franyne
Special
Minister
C
G
V
O
L
A
V
R
L
B
M
B
B
C
A
D
L
A
L
L
D
Y
H
A
M
P
R
L
R
M
W
R
O
H
S
Lasrado
Lopez
Marshall
Morais
Morzenti
Mourad
Ng
Oetomo
Rego
Auret
Banasik
Bydder
Bydder
Cox
Gabriel
Gabriel
Gabriel
Fong
Fong
Ford
Garreffa
Johan
Klass
Lai
McFarlene
McMinn
Wong
Yeo
Yeo
Cole
Cox
D’Annunzi
D’Mello
Dumbell
Dyer
Youth
Special
Ministers
Catechists
J Shales
(Yrs 1-4)
P Ruban
(yrs 5-6)
S Fuderer
(Yrs 5-6)
R Rodrigues
(Yrs 5-6)
Readers
D Hoare
C Hoare
P Pickersgi
C Rugdee
J Tang
C Plottke
G Librita
K Lingoh
C Banasik
N Banasik
Piety
stall
Isabelle
Mary
Patrick
Poake
Ayenis
Readers’ Coordinator:
Michele Doray
9310 4051
MORE CARE
Do you need help or know someone who does?
 Geraldine
9332 8795 (Visiting)
 Bernie
9417 7931 (Transport)
 Monica
9364 9358 (General/Meals)
 Caroline
9313 5452 (Transport/Meals)
 Juliana
9310 1747 (General-office hrs)
Rose Garden
April 2015
Section A
Claude Ianello
Section B
Glenn Trimm
Parish News
M o r e F o r Yo u t h
Stronger Teens
On Friday 27th March the Stronger Teens Youth Group will be heading to Kolbe
Catholic College for the CYM Stronger Rally! This will be the last session for
term one so don’t miss out on such a fun night! We will be leaving Bateman
Parish at 5.15pm as a group in a bus. If you are interested in going we will need
you to hand in your permission slip with the $10 for the bus to one of the youth
leaders by Tuesday 24th of March. For any more information please contact us.
We can’t wait to see as many of you on the night!
Calling all altar servers and special ministers!
As the time has come we are asking all youth special ministers to please help out on Good Friday. If you are able to help out please send us an email or contact Josh and Aura so that they
can organise everything for the day. Also for the altar servers we are looking to have some of
the stronger teens serve at stations of the cross at 10am on Saturday. Please once again contact
us for any further information.
WORLD YOUTH DAY!
Do you want your faith to be shared with others? Do you want to travel to Poland? Do you want
to have the experience of a life time? Well… World Youth Day is your answer! As
in previous years Bateman parish will be looking at having a group of young people attend WYD. This will be next year (2016). To be able to organise everything
we will be hosting an information evening on Monday 30th of March at 7pm in
the parish hall where you will be able to know the final price of trip and the journey that you will be embarking on. Even if you are still unsure we would l0ove to
see you there. At this time we will also be looking at some ways to fundraise and
other important things that you should know. See you then!
Youth Fundraising
It is the time of year again when the Youth at St Thomas More will begin to prepare themselves
to travel to World Youth Day in Poland 2016 and to the Australian Catholic Youth Festival in
Adelaide. One of the ways in which we will be fundraising is by having a Parish Quiz Night on
Friday 17th of April. For this we are asking if you could please donate things which can go towards being the prizes won during the night. Your help will be greatly appreciated. Further information will come out shortly. Thank you all in advance and don’t forget to save the date!
Community Events
Each Wednesday during Lent - the CYM Chaplain Fr Brennan will lead young adults through the
series 'Catholicism - The New Evangelisation' (by Fr Robert Barron).
Join them for Mass at 5:30pm at the CYM office in Highgate followed by Holy Hour at 6:30pm.
Then supper is available for $5. At 7:30(ish) they will commence the program viewing & discussion groups.
CYM STRONGER TEENS RALLY 27TH MARCH @KOBLE CATHOLIC COLLEGE 6—8.30PM
Theme: “Is Faith Relevant”. For youth from Years 7—12. For more info, contact CYM on 9422
7912 or email [email protected]
COMMITMENT SUNDAY 2015
The parish will be having our annual Commitment Sunday this weekend of 21st/22nd
March. Please take some time to reflect on your talents and time and please be
generous with them, when you fill up the Commitment form this weekend.
EASTER RECONCILIATION TIMES 2015
Riverton Parish
Langford
Applecross
Canning vale
Como/Manning
Attadale
Bateman
Tuesday
Tuesday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Wednesday
Wednesday
Thursday
24/3/2015
24/3/2015
24/3/2015
25/3/2015
25/3/2015
25/3/2015
26/3/2015
7.00pm
7.30pm
7.30pm
7.00pm
7.00pm
7.30pm
7.30pm
PLAYGROUP
The Parish Playgroup has vacancies for their Monday and
Tuesday sessions from 9 -11am. New members are welcome and have 3 free visits to try out the playgroup. For
more details, please contact Liza Rebelo on 0412939430
Invitation From Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB to the Annual Chrism Mass
I invite you to attend the Chrism Mass which I will concelebrate with the Priests of the
Archdiocese of Perth at St Mary’s Cathedral on Tuesday 31 March at 7.00pm. During
this Mass the Holy Oils will be blessed and the Oil of Chrism consecrated. The Priests
will also renew their Ordination Commitment. The Laity are invited to renew their commitment to holiness of life and to service of the Church and society.
Kenyan Mission & Cultural Experience
A small group of friends from Perth are preparing to visit Fr Cyprian’s and Fr Ken’s Villages in Western Kenya during the month of January next year for a 2-3 weeks Mission
& Cultural Experience. Opportunities for Cultural exchange, teaching and medical experiences are most available even for only 2-3 weeks. We also have the opportunity to
experience 2-3 days of Kenya Safari in Amboseli National Park and or Tsavo National
Park. If you are interested in something like this, please contact Fr. Cyprian on
0450464678 or Fr. Ken on 08 92741495 or Mobile 0434934286.
A Reflection Week-end for Women
Friday 17th—19th April; Commencing 5pm 17th—1pm on 19th.
Theme: “How have our images of God grown as a result of the bridges we have encountered in life?”
This reflection weekend is designed to experience quiet space away from your busy
schedule in order to recognise the gift of faith that sustains you.
Venue: St John of God Retreat Centre: 47 Gloucester Cres, Shoalwater.
Enq: Sr. Ann Cullinane sjg on 0418130200 or email [email protected]
A DEEP, BIBILICAL LOOK AT JESUS CHRIST
The better we understand Jesus, the better we understand ourselves. But who was
Jesus, this itinerant preacher whom many called the Messiah?
In Priest, Prophet, King, you’ll discover Jesus as the Anointed One—the ultimate
priest, prophet and king foreshadowed throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. Using
biblical insights and engaging stories, Fr Barron affirms that we see Jesus most
clearly through the lens of the Old Testament.
Through this deeply biblical program, you will better understand Jesus, become more
familiar with Scripture and realize your own priestly, prophetic and kingly mission,
received when you are baptized “into Christ “.
Our Lenten Reflection every Tuesday 7pm at the Parish Hall.
STATIONS OF THE CROSS
Every Friday we have the Stations of the Cross after the 5.30pm Mass. All are
welcome.
SACRAMENTAL DATES for 2015
Reconciliation: 15/16 September 2015
First Holy Communion: 20/21 June 2015
Confirmation: 8/9 August 2015
Please note that Confirmation is a 2 year program.
DIOCESAN NOTICES
Shrine Time Holy Hour for single Young Adults 18-35 yrs is on Sunday March 22nd;
7.30pm, 9 Talus Drive Mt Richon. Please do join for prayer; praise and worship
followed by a social. The Shrine Time Team
1914—100 Years of Schoenstatt—2014
Your Covenant—Our Mission
Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary
WORLDWIDE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER:
Your wedding was just one day in your life, but your marriage is
forever. A Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend can put the
newness back into your relationship. Give yourself and your spouse
time away from pressures of work and everyday responsibilities. You’ll
love the difference a Marriage Encounter Weekend can make. Contact
Joe & Margaret on 0424220625 for info/booking or email
[email protected] Website—www.wwme.org.au
Weekends 17-19 April 2015, 31 July—2August 2015, Swanleigh, Middle Swan.
DIOCESAN NOTICES
Feast of the Annunciation Rosary at Fremantle Mausoleum
A Rosary to commemorate the Feast of the Annunciation will be held at Fremantle
Mausoleum on Wednesday 25th March 2015 at 6pm. The Metropolitan Cemeteries
Board welcomes all parishioners to this spiritual occasion. For further details, please
contact Fremantle Cemetery on 9319 0400. All visitors are asked to park in the
Carrington Street car park at the front of the cemetery.
Day of the Unborn Child
All are invited to attend Perth’s tenth annual day of prayer, for the protection of unborn
babies and in remembrance of those who have died before birth. Those Present may
honour these precious pre-born babies in a procession with flowers during Mass.
MASS—DAY OF THE UNBORN CHILD
Principal Celebrant Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB
Saturday 28th March 2015—St Mary’s Cathedral, Victoria Square, Perth
10am—Holy Hour
11am—Mass All Welcome
27 MARCH PRAYING OUR EXPERIENCE— GROWING AWARENESS OF GOD IN
MY EVERY DAY
A retreat time to bring to my self-awareness that God is in my life at each moment.
Using a theme, personal prayer time and option sharing assists individuals in this time
of retreat.
Date:
Friday 27th March. Refreshments available
Theme:
Palm Sunday. Holy week is an intense time in the Lenten journey.
What has been our Lenten experience so far? Has Holy Week
something more to offer us? Taking a deeper look in to this special
time with Jesus may bring surprises of love and joy and healing.
Time:
There is a morning and evening session. 10.30am—12 noon and 6.30
-8pm
RSVP:
9334-0999 or [email protected]
Venue:
Mary Mackillop Centre, 16 York Street, South Perth (Free and easy
parking) Ministry of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart
IONA PRESENTATION COLLEGE OPEN MORNING
Iona Presentation College are having an OPEN MORNING on Thursday 26 March
2015 from 9.30—11.30am. To register your interest, please visit www.iona.wa.edu.au
Scholarship opportunities for 2016 are now open. Tel: 9384 0066.
IONA PRESENTATION COLLEGE ANNUAL PRODUCTION
Iona Presentation College is bringing their annual production of “The Wiz” to the Regal
Theatre from 28—30 March 2015. The students have been working extremely hard on
this production and would like to invite you to experience this production first hand.
Group bookings can be made for their Matinee Show on Monday 30 March 2015.
Further queries can be made at the school office on 9285 5269.