All Souls and All Saints Day
Thank you to those who attended our additional Mass at Stella Maris Church, Maroochydore, on All Souls Day. We had a large congregation of family and friends who lost a loved one in the past year. We remember the dead often in our weekly Sunday Mass during the Eucharistic prayer, but our Thursday celebration was a wonderful dedication to the Souls who journey closer and closer to God’s heart. Keep an eye out for the Remembrance Book located near the entrance of each Parish Church to place the names of your loved ones in the book as we pray for them throughout this month.
SOUNDs of celebrations
Next week on Sunday 12 November St Vincent De Paul Society, Coolum, will host their ‘Sounds of Celebration’ fundraising event. All parishioners are welcome to attend the afternoon, beginning at 2.00pm. Tickets for entry will be sold at the door for $15 per person. There will be choirs and voices from around the Sunshine Coast blessing us with their presence and talents. Raffles tickets are also selling fast, so get into the draw for your chance to win some fine wine, a TV or maybe even appliances. Come along on Sunday to enjoy this wonderful occasion.
Safeguarding team members
Safeguarding is an essential role in the parish community. As a parish, we’re dedicated to providing safe spaces for our children and vulnerable adults but we need your help. We’re looking for representatives from each parish community to be part of a team that cares for our Parish community. If you’re interested and would like to learn more about how you can get involved, contact the Parish Office to speak to Fr Will or send an email to [email protected] with your details.
SISTERHOOD – parish women’s retreat
You may have seen some of our parishioners giving out flyers last week to a women’s retreat that is happening on Saturday 25 November from 8:30am-4:30pm. The day retreat will include input from Karen Doyle, founder of the Genius Project and Genius Podcast, and mentor to many women around Australia. If you’re interested in being part of this exciting new initiative, log onto the parish website and go to the Sisterhood page (under the Connect tab). Register online with your details. The day retreat will cost $30 per person. Sign up today for this wonderful and meaningful time.
Karen Doyle, guest speaker
Greetings all from Fr Geoff
From now and for the next 2 months I’ll be helping out round the parish with Masses and other sacramental ministries until Fr Peter returns. Running a parish is more demanding than years ago, and thankfully, in retirement, I’m free from that! So I will have time on my hands. If anyone would like me to knock on their door for a home visit just for a chat about whatever – plus a coffee and biscuit – I should be able to comply. It used to be called Home Visitation in the old days. Phone the parish office and I’ll give you a call to arrange a date and time.
Hospitality Volunteers
Our parish is extending a welcoming hand to our regulars and visitors through Hospitality on the first Sunday of every month and at funerals and special occasions, but we need more volunteers. Across the parish we have St Peter’s Church who have a morning tea every Sunday morning after Mass, St Catherine’s who have a cuppa after every Sunday morning Mass, and St Mary’s and Stella and St Peter’s who have something light every first weekend of the month. This good work relies on the help of volunteers and we’re currently looking for more hands. If you’re free to assist in any way be it through your baking skills, lifting skills or mingling skills, we would love to hear from you and connect you with a team. Contact the Parish Office to volunteer your time and talents to this wonderful ministry in our Parish.
Parish Endowment Fund
As you may have read on the front cover of this newsletter, our parish now has an Endowment Fund. Parishioners and supporters of the parish… if you’re interested in donating to our Endowment Fund there’s several options for you. The first is by making a Cash, Cheque or Credit Card Gift. Simply request a donation form from the Parish Office. This form will then be sent to the Catholic Foundation Office in Brisbane. You could make a gift online via the Archdiocese of Brisbane website
Then select “Maroochydore – Stella Maris Parish” and make a secure donation using credit card.
Parishioners and supporters can also make a gift over the phone by calling the Catholic Foundation on (07) 3324 3200. Finally, you can choose to make a gift via Electronic Funds Transfer. Donations can be made by bank transfer to the Maroochydore Parish Endowment Fund.
ACCOUNT name: Religious Ministries Fund
BSB: 064 786
ACCOUNT number: 100022581
REFERENCE: *Donor SurnameSMEND
*It is important to include the Reference when donating via EFT as well as completing the Donation Form
Meet the Parish
Today we meet two very faithful parishioners, (L to R) Mirjana Bek-Zembic and Maricel Morris. You might have seen these ladies working with Nicole Mennie to set up and decorate Stella Maris Church’s space for our weekend and major liturgical celebrations. Mirjana has been doing flowers since 2021 and Maricel has been doing it since 2017. When asked what was the most fulfilling aspect of this ministry, Mirjana said ‘when it’s done!’ Seeing the beauty of their time and effort come together at the end gave her a sense of accomplishment especially when they’ve sourced beautiful flowers from someone else’s garden (hahaha). Maricel found that when they put the time and effort into preparing the space it really enhanced the liturgy itself and brought life to it. Both Mirjana and Maricel said that their favourite season in the life of the Church was Easter, although it is a busy time it was certainly a rewarding time. Thank you to Mirjana, Maricel and team for all the work they do around Stella Maris Church Maroochydore. We are blessed to have creative and committed women in this role.
The Catholic Leader
As you may already now, the Catholic Leader will no longer be sending out bulk deliveries to parishes, and will stop production of their digital online editions from the end of the year. Their new subscription-only model means they will be able to print their newspaper with less excess and streamline delivery so readers will receive the newspaper straight to their door. The Catholic Leader is always full of local and global Church news, and well worth reading. If you would like to receive them call their office on 07 3324 3555 or go online on catholicleader.com.au/subscribe. (Every new subscription will go into a draw for a chance to win from a range of weekly prizes like movie tickets, books and restaurant vouchers.)
MenALIVE small groups
This coming week marks one month since our menAlive weekend in October. We hope the men are still connecting with one another since then. This coming Thursday at 6.00pm we will meet at Stella Maris Maroochydore to solidify our small groups and catch up with everyone to see how our men are going. We warmly welcome any other men in the parish who would like to connect with a small group for prayer, support and fraternity.
Parish welcome night
On 20 November from 6.00pm to 8.00pm we have our Parish Welcome Night. This informal gathering welcomes new parishioners to the area and extends a hand of friendship and companionship to them. This coming welcome night, we also include our newly baptised children and their families. We hope to stay connected with you as a community that supports and cares for each other. If you are new to our parish and haven’t yet completed a Welcome Pack, available at our church entrances, we invite you to do so this week.
Social gathering
Stella Maris Social Group will be meeting again on Tuesday 7 November at 11.30 for our usual morning tea, chat and socialising. This group started to assist parishioners to meet and chat with others after the disruption of the pandemic caused numerous folk to isolate and lose social contacts. Please join us at Connection Café, The Avenue, 32 Baden Powell St (opposite the church). To book call Angelina on 0410 660 890 or Angela on 0447 016 779.
Celebrating and Remembering
We welcome into God’s Family, the Church, Torin O’Connor, Ellie Shephard, Lilly Waller, Jethro Gray, Bodhi Gray and Nea Viviers who will be baptised this weekend in our Parish.
We also welcome Quang Thien Le (Luke) who will be received into the Catholic Church through the RCIA ritual.
We prayerfully remember all those who have died, especially Max Lennox whose funeral rites 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.
