What’s on…

First Holy Communion

Please continue to pray for all our young children as their preparation to receive their First Holy Communion reaches its climax.  Last Wednesday, they celebrated their First Reconciliation and this weekend is the final preparation session before next weekend’s celebration of their First Holy Communion.  Next weekend will be a great celebration for the entire Parish, but please be aware that especially at the 8.00am Sippy Downs and 9.00am Maroochydore Masses parking will be at a premium as we welcome friends and family to our celebrations. Congratulations to the First Communicants.

A Great Start

Last Sunday, we launched our revamped Junior Ministers programme at Stella Maris.  The Junior Ministers Youth Group is specifically designed for your younger children from Year 3 to Year 6. Every Sunday during school term from 3.00pm to 5.00pm at Stella Maris, our Junior Minister programme explores various ministries within our parish, as well as fun activities and afternoon tea. Our plan is to wrap up in time for the 5.00pm Sunday Mass celebration.  If you’re interested and would like to learn more, please reach out to Bernie Bailie at [email protected].  All young children are welcome and also adult volunteers who would like to be involved.

Welcome

In our highly mobile society there are people moving to our Sunshine Coast community all the time and joining our Parish Family.  The challenge for us as members of our large and busy Parish Family is to be welcoming and conscious of those who are new to our community. Several times a year we host a Welcome Cocktail Party at the Stella Maris presbytery.  Actually, it is not so much a cocktail party (so don’t go out buying a cocktail dress)  but an excuse to invite all new and returning parishioners to a gathering where we can introduce ourselves and share some of our story.

Our next Welcome Cocktail Party is on this Monday evening, 19 August at the Maroochydore presbytery from 6.00pm to 7.30pm. If you are new to the parish or if you are returning to the Church, you are invited to take home a Welcome Folder, which you will find at the entrance to the church. By completing the details we will get in contact with you – once again, on behalf of the entire parish, welcome.    

Thanks For Your Support

Ignite Conference Fundraiser

Each year, one of the biggest Catholic youth gatherings takes place in Brisbane with the Ignite Conference this year taking place at St Laurence’s College in September. This year our Stella Maris Parish is planning on sending 50 of our young adults to the Ignite Conference.

The next youth fund raiser to help cover the costs of attending the Ignite Conference will be a car wash at  Sippy Downs on Sunday morning, 8 September.  A big thank you to the members of our Knights of the Southern Cross for generously  assisting with last Sundays BBQ at Stella Maris.

Craft Group

The monthly gathering of our Parish Craft Group is on this Friday in the Bliss Room immediately after the 9.00am Stella Maris Mass.  New members are always welcome.  Please feel free to drop in and see what we are doing!

A Time of Prayer and Purpose for our Young Adults.            

In our busy, nonstop modern world everyone needs to occasionally stop and consciously spend some quiet time—some time in prayer.  Our NET team has organised such a time for this Sunday!

At the conclusion of our Sunday evening Mass at Stella Maris until 8.30pm, all our young adults are invited to join our NET team for a evening that will feature a time to connect with each other, dinner, input, a panel, live worship and adoration. The night asks the question, “are you living for more?”.

It’s an opportunity for young adults to be reminded about the importance of community, a common goal, and most importantly what they bring to the life of our community and the mission of the Church.  We finish by 8:30pm.

Sisterhood – Our Parish Women’s Ministry       

A warm invitation is extended to all women of our Sunshine Coast community to join us this Tuesday, 20 August, 6.00pm. With the dynamic and inspirational Kym Keady as our guest speaker. Kym has been working in youth ministry for over 30 years. As a counsellor, youth worker, author and inspirational speaker, Kym draws on her experience of working in the Church, helping leaders, young people, women and parents realise their potential and worth. She has worked in a variety of settings like parish, school, retreat ministry and ecclesial movements in the areas of youth ministry, pastoral care, event planning, leadership development, women’s formation and community building. She is currently the Director of Ignite Youth, part of the Senior Leadership Team for Emmanuel Community, Brisbane and is completing her masters in Leadership and Theology. Kym is passionate about communicating the gospel in authentic and relevant ways especially to young people, which is why she founded Real Talk Australia. Kym is married to Patrick, a mother to 3 young adult children, 2 Son-in-laws and a proud Nana to 3 grandchildren. Kym’s driving value is her family, which fuels her ongoing passion to renew the Church for future generations. Kym will share some practical pointers on finding purpose and meaning in our spiritual lives. As always, a light supper will be provided.  Please come along and why not invite a friend?

HeBrews

Our Coffee Van is here and ready to be of service but we need you to join our Ministry of Hospitality to make it work!  We are forming 4 people teams so that we can make our Coffee Van part of the life of our parish.

Training will be provided and it is a great way of being part of the life of the community – why not get some of your friends together and form a 4 person team?  Contact Fr Peter or Fr Isaac if you are interested – you are never too old or too young to become a hipster barista!

Next Saturday morning at 9.00am at Stella Maris we will have a barista workshop so please come along and join us. 

A Snapshot of our Sunshine Coast Parish

The Australian Catholic Council for Pastoral Research provides each parish in Australia data which is sourced from the Australian Census.  The following data comes from the 2021 census.   The information helps parishes and the Archdiocese plan for the future and identify certain trends and challenges.

Total Population: 135,817

Catholic Population: 22,419

Catholics make up 16.5 per cent of the total population

Median age of Catholics is 48 years

Total Catholic families: 9,912

2,252 Catholics live alone

4,787 Catholics were born overseas

115 Catholics do not speak English well

1,439 Catholics need assistance with core activities

11,800 Catholics have changed address since 2016

Maroochydore 10:10

Every Thursday evening from 5.30pm to 7.30pm,all students from Year 7 to seniors are invited to our weekly youth gathering at Siena College, Sippy Downs.  Each gathering will be full of games, fun, food, new friends, formation in faith and prayer experiences. You don’t want to miss it! Our group is called Maroochydore 10:10 and if you want more information contact one of the NET members or talk to Fr Isaac.

RCIA

You might have heard us talking about the RCIA.  The initials simply stand for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.  When people decide they would like to know more about the Catholic Faith, we invite them to COME AND SEE by joining the RCIA Group. The RCIA, also called the Catechumenate, is the process by which adult persons are brought into membership of the Roman Catholic Church.  Currently, we have several RCIA groups and we keep all the enquirers and their sponsors and catechists in our prayers.

However, the Holy Spirit is certainly working in our midst and we have had many requests to explore joining the Church and discovering what we believe and what guides our lives. So, this is an invitation for anyone who would like to know more about the Catholic Faith, for people who have not been baptised and for those baptised in other Faith Traditions and for Baptised Catholics who have been taken time out and wish to reconnect. In the next couple of weeks we will be starting an additional RCIA group and if you would like to know more please contact Fr Isaac ( [email protected] )