Multicultural Mass
Planning for our Multicultural Mass continues and we need you to be involved to make the day a celebration of the great diversity that underpins our Parish Family. Please make contact with our coordinators to lend a hand:
Philippines – Maricel Morris
Latin American – Stella Passeggi and Maria Fry
Pacific – John Ioane
Poland – Ursula Riggio
Brazil – Paula Rodrigues
Nigeria – Fr Ejikeme
Indian – Molly Jain
South Africa – Robert Baatjes
Celtic Flavours – Margaret Southon and Patricia Sweeney Fawcett
Malaysia – Jane Chung and Peter Thien
Matla – Terry Schembri (0401 030 039)
Indonesia – Daniel & Eva O’Connor
Can’t see your group? Would you like to help coordinate a table? Would you like more information – if so please get in contact with Fr Peter by parish email ([email protected]).
Our Multicultural Mass is inclusive of all in our Parish Family. If you can’t see a group or association that you fit into then perhaps you might join in the celebrations by bringing something Australian – ANZAC biscuits, lamingtons, jam drops – use your imagination!!!
We journey with them
Once again on Monday evening, 100 of our young boys and girls and their families will descend on Stella Maris to continue with their preparation to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Last Monday the focus was on the chrism and the anointing that takes place during the ceremony, while this Monday they will reflect on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Please keep them in your prayers as they journey towards their night of Confirmation on 8 June, and remember during this preparation programme there is no Monday 5:30pm Mass at Stella Maris.
Hospitality next weekend
Next weekend, being the first weekend of the month, we have a special focus on hospitality across our Parish Family. Why not linger a little longer after Mass and enjoy the company of our fellow parishioners. A big thank you to all who are involved in providing and coordinating the hospitality that has become a hallmark of our Parish.
First Friday
On the first Friday of every month we celebrate an Anointing Mass at Stella Maris Church and everyone is welcome. The Anointing of the Sick is a sacrament of the church for those whose health is impaired by sickness or old age. The sacrament enables the person to be anointed with the oil of the sick, to experience the healing and strength of Jesus Christ and to be supported by the praying community.
The Summit 2023
Last week a few parishioners attended the Summit 23 gathering. With a keen focus on the future direction of the Archdiocese, Archbishop Mark led the participants through his Apostolic Priorities with a sense of hope. There’s still more work to do in realising these priorities, but we strain forward as a Church embodying as much as we can through our lives. We pray for the wisdom to enact upon some, if not all, of these priorities into the future.
è amore
When did you last spend time really investing in your relationship? Regardless of whether you’ve been together for only a few months or several decades, whether your relationship is thriving or facing challenges, the Marriage Course offers practical, online sessions to help strengthen your most important relationship. No group sharing, just time together for you and your partner. It starts this Wednesday!
Be supported and encouraged with seven online sessions in the privacy of your own home covering topics from the art of communication, to resolving conflict, to the power of forgiveness.
Time: 7:30pm to 9.00pm
Date: Wednesday nights beginning 31 May 2023 (for seven sessions)
Where: Online Zoom link will be shared after registration.
Cost: Course is free.
Option to purchase journals at $50 per couple or to download the PDF version for free RSVP: Wednesday 24 May. Find out more and register now
Baptismal Preparation
The monthly baptismal preparation takes place at Stella Maris Church this thursday beginning at 6.00pm. At this short meeting, we give an overview of the ceremony and explain some of the symbols used in the sacrament. All parents with infants under 3 years-of-age are invited to contact Challis at the Parish Office to receive the registration paperwork before the meeting.
Celebrating and Remembering
We welcome into God’s Family, the Church, Patrick Speekman, Daisy Gadsby, Baye Tinson and Tane Milson who will be baptised this weekend in our Parish. We prayerfully remember all those who have died, especially Cecile Santos whose funeral was celebrated last Thursday, and James Husband whose funeral will be celebrated on Monday. May the souls of all our departed priests, religious, parishioners and family members, through the rich mercy of God, Rest in Peace.
Sale! Sale! Sale!
Everyone loves a bargain! During all the weekend Masses at Stella Maris Church on the weekend of June 10/11th there will be tables of piety goods for you to grab a bargain! Great religious items and books at reduced prices!
Catechism in a Year
This coming Wednesday night (31 May) we have our Catechism In A Year (CIAY) class. This week we’ll talk about the Holy Spirit in light of Pentecost. We’ll cover paragraphs #721-747.
See you at St Mary’s Church, Buderim at 6:30pm.
Friends in our community
St Vincent’s Care Services are looking for people just like you, to help their residents live their life to the fullest. Are you interested in woodwork, singing, reading, music, shopping, painting, memory support… the list goes on! If you have any skills/interests you would like to share why not contact Catherine on 5459 6600 or email Catherine at c[email protected] and offer little bit of your time.
Adoration
In honour of the Feast of Corpus Christi we will hold 24 hours of Adoration at Stella Maris on the 9th -10th of June. We are inviting prayer groups to host a particular hour block and pray before the Blessed Sacrament in the way you know best. At 3pm-4pm Friday 9th and at 3am-4am Saturday 10th a Rosary and Divine Mercy will be prayed. Fr William will lead a Taizé style of prayer from 7.00pm-8.00pm on Friday 9 June. Next week we’ll have an idea of which hour block we will set aside for Praise and Worship. The rest of the time slots will be in silent prayer. All are welcome. The sign-up form is located at the entrance to the church so we know the Blessed Sacrament will be accompanied during the whole 24 hours.
Feast of Corpus Christi invitation
In preparation for the Feast of Corpus Christi on the weekend of 10/11 June we are organising 24 hours of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. The adoration will begin after the 9.00am Stella Maris Mass on Friday, 9 June and conclude with Benediction on Saturday morning at 9.00am. At the entrance to the church you will find a sign-up sheet where you can indicate what time you would like to commit to during the 24 hours of adoration.
Also, the Feast of Corpus Christi (June 11), you can join over 4000 other Catholics making a public testimony of faith by walking in a Eucharistic procession through the streets of Brisbane city. It will be a colourful display as groups gather from all across the Archdiocese of Brisbane to represent their parish or cultural community.
The Corpus Christi Procession will start and end at the Cathedral of St Stephen and feature prayers, rosary, hymns and Benediction with proceedings led by Archbishop Mark Coleridge.
Bus transport is available. Keep your eye on this website for more details as they become available.
Date: Sunday, 11th of June
Time: 2pm
Cost: Free
Location: Cathedral of St Stephen, Brisbane City
News from the Archbishop
Last Wednesday the announcement was made that Ken Howell, currently Auxiliary Bishop of Brisbane has been appointed as the new Bishop of the Diocese of Toowoomba. Bishop Ken succeeds Bishop Robert McGuckin and becomes the Seventh Bishop of the Toowoomba Diocese. We keep Bishop Ken in our prayers during this time leading up to his installation on the 11 July.
Also during the week Deacon Isaac Falzon received correspondence from His Grace, The Archbishop, confirming the date of his ordination on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, 29 June. Naturally, for Isaac these weeks leading up to his ordination will be busy and exciting as plans are finalised. We are organising a bus to go to the ordination which will leave Stella Maris Church at 4.00pm, and then leave the cathedral for the return trip at 9:30pm. The cost is $20 and there are only limited seats available so to reserve your seat on the bus please contact the Parish Office. Deacon Isaac’s first Mass will be at Stella Maris Church on Friday, 30 June at 5.00pm followed by supper.
Retreat Opportunity
If you have a desire to deepen your relationship with God and find God’s presence in your everyday life, why not consider joining this retreat? The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola are a means of opening oneself to the work of God in one’s life. Ignatius, a Basque nobleman of the late 15th and early 16th centuries, underwent a powerful spiritual conversion in his late twenties. The experience of his own conversion led Ignatius to share what he learned with others and, eventually, refine his personal prayer journal into what we now call the Spiritual Exercises. There are no special requirements to attend – come as you are!
Monday 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31 July from 9.30am to 11.00am at “The Avenue” Conference Room, 32 Baden Powell Street, Maroochydore Retreat
Givers: Marie and Eric (Trained and Certified Givers of The First Spiritual Exercises) Just go to to register. This retreat is free of charge. You may gift any amount towards the ongoing support of the First Spiritual Exercises Ministry when you register.
With Lamps Ablaze
This weekend the much anticipated Archdiocesan Summit concluded when representatives from across the archdiocese reflected upon the document “With Lamps Ablaze: Apostolic Priorities for the Archdiocese of Brisbane from 2023”.
Over the past weeks we have been publishing outlines of the seven priorities for the Archdiocese contained in the document.
You can Read the Document here
Priority Seven: Embedding Synodal Governance
“We have begun the long and complex process of moving towards a synodal mode of governance in the Church, but the process is far from complete; and there is much to be done to embed synodal governance more securely at every level in the Archdiocese… Synodality implies inclusion, and therefore we will have to keep asking how we might at every level include women in the decision making processes of the Archdiocese. So too synodality requires transparency and accountability, and we will have to keep asking what we need to do make the Archdiocese more transparent and accountable.”
Archbishop Mark Coleridge
New to the neighbourhood
We live in an extremely mobile society, and especially here on the Sunshine Coast there are always people coming and going. If you are new to our Parish, or if you are reconnecting with the Church, we would love to welcome you more formally to our Parish Family. You will find “welcome packs” at the entrance of our churches, and if you complete and return the form we will be in contact with you. Alternatively, you can complete the form online.
Once again – welcome – we are glad you have joined our Parish Family!
