What’s on…

First Holy Communion Weekend                      

There has been an energy and an excitement building up across our Parish Family for over a month cumulating in this weekend’s First Holy Communion masses.  Congratulations to the 92 young members of our Parish who have spent the past 5 weeks preparing for this great day.  Along the way, there have been many others who have helped guide and prepare for this day – parents, catechists, people who have set up,  parishioners who have cleaned up, volunteers who have behind the scenes contributed to the smooth running of our First Holy Communion programme. To all those involved, a grateful Parish says thank you!

New Data System

What has become obvious over the past couple of years is that data is important.  Through baptismal details, marriage records, school enrolments and parish data it seems that the church has been collecting data since the last Supper! But, collecting data for the sake of collecting data just does not make sense!

Up until now, we have been using a data system called PAX, which has well and truly passed its use by date.  The Archdiocese, along with the Australian Church is transitioning to a new data system designed specifically for churches called Flocknote. This new data system promises to be user friendly, allowing our office to run more efficiently while at the same time giving us broader communication options. Over the next 4 months, we will slowly transition over to the new data programme and during this time familiarise ourselves with the different options the new software gives us. The first thing we need to do as a parish is to establish a reliable parish data base, so towards the end of September we will have a parish wide census allowing all parishioners the ability to register.  More details will follow.

The Annual Catholic Campaign 2024

The Annual Catholic Appeal will take place across our Parish Family next weekend. Your continued financial support of the different Church agencies is appreciated.

Grab A Bargain !                   

Once again our Parish Arts and Crafts group will be holding a stall after the Saturday night and two Sunday morning Masses (24 and 25 August) at Stella Maris.  As Father’s Day is the following weekend (1 September), a  portion of the proceeds will go towards an organisation that supports men’s health.

A BIG thank you to the Knights of the Southern Cross

10:10 youth group would like to thank the Knights of the Southern Cross for supporting us with our fund raising goals. Our sausage sizzle was a huge success with over $600 raised to help our youth attend Ignite Conference in September. It  was a wonderful atmosphere with the young and old working together, building our community. We are so grateful for the hard work and continued assistance of the Knights.

Thank you !

Car Wash Fundraiser 8 September St Catherine’s!

We are having another fundraiser to send our youth to Ignite Conference 2024. The car wash will take place at Sippy Downs from 7.30am on Sunday 8 September. The crew will  wash your car while you go to Mass. Please support us, no need to book just follow the direction of our volunteers.

The annual Ignite Conference takes place at St Laurence’s College from September 19-22. All money raised helps lower the cost of sending our youth to the conference and your support is greatly appreciated.

Tap&GO

You will notice our new Tap&Go machines at the entrance to the church. With the closure of the 3G network in October, our old machines were becoming obsolete.  The new Tap&Go machines operate using the 4G network.

Basically, the new Tap&Go devices work the same way with the exception that now you can select an amount.  Hopefully these new machines will also be faster and more reliable!

However you to choose to financially support the mission of your Church, a grateful parish says thank you.

R.C.I.A

The initials R.C.I.A. simply stands for The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults.  It is the prayerful journey of preparation and  discernment for those who are exploring the option of joining the church or for those who are returning to the Church.  The Holy Spirit is definitely at work in our community because currently we have two groups meeting regularly learning more about the Catholic faith.  Because of several requests, we are going to form another group so if you would like to discover more about what we believe and look at the possibility of being baptised and joining the Church, contact Fr Isaac ( [email protected] )

August Sisterhood

We had another fantastic gathering on Tuesday night. Our evening began with our wonderful NET team leading us in song, this was followed with an insightful presentation by Kym Keady. Kym spoke to us about our identity in Christ giving us 6 great points to ponder. Supper was a hit with some great home made arancini balls. We then moved into some group discussion, which is always a delight, as we mingle and get to know each other. If you haven’t had the chance to join us, come along to our 10 September meeting at 6pm, everyone is most welcome to join us.

Mass of Thanksgiving 

At the 8.00am mass on   Sunday, October 13th, our Parish Community welcomes His Grace, Archbishop Mark Coleridge to celebrate the Mass of Thanksgiving marking the 20^th anniversary of the blessing and opening of St Catherine of Siena Church. More details to follow.

Junior Ministers 

Our new revamped Junior Ministers programme at Stella Maris is up and running.  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.