Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, “Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.”

Dear Friends,

We begin the season known as “Ordinary Time”. “Ordinary Time” does not mean ordinary in the usual sense of the term. “Ordinary” refers to “ordinal time”, as in “ordinal numbers” or, if you like, “counted time” (e.g. First, second, third, etc). The liturgical colour is green, which is the colour of growth. It is meant to be the season in which we continue to grow in faith and grow in our humanity. It is the longest feast of the Church’s year. “Ordinary Time” is not the name we give to the season when nothing is happening — it is the season in which we live the ordinary moments that make-up our life. Let us embrace this season as an opportunity to continue to deepen our faith and broaden our horizon.

A number of people have asked if there will be a second priest appointed to the parish. At this stage, there will be no permanent appointment. Given that I have a number of outside commitments at the seminary and with Brisbane Catholic Education, we will rely on supply priests to assist with week day and Sunday Masses. Fr. John Sullivan is available to help us with some of the week day Masses (at this stage, Wednesdays and Fridays) and Fr. Orm Rush, who lectures in theology at ACU, will support us on weekends. Fr. Orm will commence towards the end of January. I am grateful to both for their assistance with the parish Masses and I know that you will make them welcome.

Our teachers are back at school this coming week, and I will be joining the staff of St. Agatha’s School down at the Gold Coast later in the week for some professional development days. This means that the start of school for our children is not far away (is that a sigh of relief I hear from some of our parents?). The summer holidays come and go, and we will soon be in full swing. May this “ordinary time” be a season of new growth for each of us and our parish community.

Fr. Anthony