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December 2010 - February 2011
St Declan’s Parish, Penshurst
Pastoral Care 9580 1310
www.stdeclanspenshurst.org.au
Newsletter
Blessings!
Blessings!
Christ- our peace;
May the Christ-child bring us and our loved ones hope and peace;
all
may we remember Jesus in all we do and in those we meet;
happiness,
and may each step be a step towards happiness, healing and love.
We thank you God for the past; and with your Spirit, may we rejoice
in the present and be open to a promising future.
Wishing you all the very best and may 2011
be a year filled with hope.
Welcome to the last Newsletter for 2010 and first for and involvement. Our prayers will be with you as your
2011. faith journey continues.
To our ‘webmaster’ Ed, for your ongoing updates and
Thank you input into the parish website; it looks great!
It’s that time of the year when we all get a little To those who offer me continued support and love;
sentimental and thank everybody… This is my opportunity, who keep me on track and bring me back to reality; who
once again, to do just that! Thank you to all the wonderful never cease to surprise or amaze me with energy and
people of St Declan’s who make this parish what it is – a commitment, thank you.
welcoming and vibrant, caring community! You’re all an inspiration to those you meet.
To the visitation ministers, for the giving of your time in
taking Holy Communion to parishioners who are unable to
2011 Dates ADVANCED NOTICE
come to our church celebration. This ministry and your Ash Wednesday
support, friendship and care are truly appreciated by Wednesday, 9 March 2011
many! I would personally like to acknowledge each one of Ashes may be distributed to the following nursing
you, because without your involvement many people homes/care facilities on the day: Fairlea, Shangri-La,
would feel isolated from the church and lose their Ferndale Gardens, Gannon Gardens and Nunyara.
connection to a community of faith. If you would also like to distribute ashes to your home
To the Bereavement Group, who offer friendly support visits on Ash Wednesday, please let me know by Friday,
to those grieving and help organise and participate in the 4 March.
Annual Remembrance Mass. Your presence has made Ashes, prayers and lists of residents will be provided
the burdens of others much lighter and easier to bear. and ready for pick-up on Ash Wednesday from 6.45am
To the parish team and those in the office (past and Mass onwards in the sacristy.
present) – John, Van, Noreen, Geoff, Clare, Lynne, Thank you to those who assist with these visits each
Silvana, Nicole, Paula and Frances, your continued year, your service is inspiring!
support, friendship and assistance towards pastoral
initiatives and events throughout the year are very much Reflection
appreciated; you enrich my role and the life of this parish! Christmas is Hope
To the Hospital Visiting Group and Friendship Club, Hope is the very essence of the life of God. Without it
your enthusiasm and activities truly give people a sense of we would perish in darkness and despair, unable to
worth, not to mention fun! A special thank you for reach out for and receive the gift of eternal life. When
organising the masses at each of the four aged care that sweet baby was born and placed in Bethlehem’s
facilities four times a year. Always a life-giving experience! manger, our hope was born with Him. As He grew in
A special note of thanks goes to those who after some wisdom and stature, our hope grew with Him. As He
discernment, have retired from the various ministries. We walked through the countryside healing the sick and
wish you God’s continuous love and strength. restoring sight to the blind, our hope increased with
To St Declan’s Primary School, thank you for your every miraculous touch of His healing hands. When He
ongoing support and the ease of working together as one gave His life on Calvary’s Cross, our hope was
community. purchased, and when He rose from the grave, our hope
To the Parish Council, who have seen, supported and was forever secured.
acted upon the needs and initiatives of the parish. Shouldn’t it be our mission to shine the light of hope
To our youth, thank you for your ongoing enthusiasm into every heart we encounter? In each basket of
Christmas goodies, each note written within a Christmas kind of tears that soften and stretch the heart. It is helpful
card, each gift carefully chosen and meticulously wrapped, to remember that tears are salt-water, of one substance
every act of kindness and goodwill, we deliver hope to the with the waters of the original oceans from which we
world. We are ambassadors of hope, and when better to sprung. Tears connect us to our origins and allow the
carry out our mission than at Christmas? primal water of life to again flow through us.
What is Christmas? Moreover, when we take our pain to our hearts, when
It is tenderness for the past, we honestly admit our weaknesses and helplessness,
God can finally begin to fill us with strength. Why?
courage for the present and hope for the future. Because it is only when we are brought to our knees in
It is a fervent wish that utter helplessness, only when we finally give up on our
every cup may overflow own strength, that God can send an angel to strengthen
with blessings rich and eternal, us, like God sent an angel to strengthen Jesus during his
agony in the garden.
and that every path may lead to peace. One night, some months before his death, Martin
Agnes M Pahro Luther King received a death-threat on the phone. It had
Excerpt taken from “The Big Book of Christmas Joy – An
Inspirational Treasury to Celebrate the Season”
happened before but, on this particular night, it left him
frightened and weakened to the core. All his fears came
Taking Pain to the Heart down on him at once. Here are his words as to what
Writing in his journal during a time of bitter heartbreak, happened next:
Henri Nouwen wrote these words: The great challenge is I got out of bed and began to walk the floor. Finally I
living your wounds through instead of thinking them went to the kitchen and heated a pot of coffee. I was
through. It is better to cry than to worry, better to feel your ready to give up. With my cup of coffee sitting untouched
wounds than to understand them, better to let them enter before me, I tried to think of a way to move out of the
into your silence than to talk about them. The choice you picture without appearing a coward. In this state of
face constantly is whether you are taking your wounds to exhaustion, when my courage had all but gone, I
your head or your heart. decided to take my problem to God. With my head in my
Part of us understands exactly what he is saying here, hands, I bowed over the kitchen table and prayed aloud.
even as another part of us congenitally resists his advice: The words I spoke to God that midnight are still vivid in
There’s place in us that doesn’t want to cry, doesn’t want my memory. “I am here taking a stand for what I believe
to feel our hurt, doesn’t want to take our pain to a place of is right. But now I am afraid. The people are looking to
silence, and doesn’t want to take our wounds to our heart. me for leadership and if stand before them without
And so instead, in our heartaches and wounds, we grow strength and courage, they too will falter. I am at the end
anxious and obsessive, we struggle to understand, we talk of my powers. I have nothing left. I have come to the
endlessly to others, and we try to sort things out with our point where I can’t face it alone.” At that moment I
heads rather than letting ourselves simply feel them with experienced the presence of the Divine as I had never
our hearts. experienced Him before.
And that isn’t always a bad thing. Nouwen’s counsel, for It is only after the desert has done its work on us, says
all its wisdom, needs some qualification: It is important Trevor Herriot, that an angel can come and strengthen
that we also take our wounds to our heads. Our hearts us. That is why it is better to feel our wounds than to
and heads need to be in sync. But what Nouwen points to understand them and why it is better to cry than to worry.
here is something that he, a man blessed with an Written by Ronald Rolheiser, omi (28/2/10)
extraordinary sensitivity to the things of the heart, learned Visit his website on www.ronrolheiser.com/index.php
only through crushing heartache and breakdown, namely,
that we more easily take things to the head than to the Prayer
heart, even when we think we aren’t doing this. Dear God,
The way we take pain to our heads and block healing During this Christmas and New Year help us to
tears in our hearts is by denial, by rationalization, by remember and celebrate our loved ones who have
blaming, by not simply and honestly admitting and owning died, those who are unable to be with us and
our own pain, our own helplessness, our own weakness, those who have been a huge part of our life
and our own inadequacy. journey. Keep them forever in our hearts.
And we all have plenty of occasions to do this: The And through the birth of your son, Jesus,
more alive and sensitive we are the more we will fill us, and those we love, with
experience excruciating heartaches. The more honest we renewed hope, peace, love and joy.
are the more we will be aware of our own limits and We ask this through Christ our Lord.
inadequacies. And the more generous and pure we are Amen.
the more we will be aware of our own sin and betrayals. Until next time...
And so Nouwen’s counsel contains a healthy challenge:
When we are brought to our knees by heartache and pain, Yours faithfully,
we shouldn’t try to deny that pain, deny its bitter strength,
or deny our helplessness in dealing with it. To do so is to Paulineke
risk becoming hard and bitter. But if we give our deep Paulineke Nolan – Pastoral Care Coordinator
pains and heartaches their honest due they will induce the
Pastoral Care… responding to the needs of St Declan’s Parish
Pastoral Care aims to provide spiritual nourishment, social interaction and support to parishioners who are
bereaved, lonely, aged, infirmed, sick, disabled and are unable to take part in parish Eucharistic celebrations by:
● involving parishioners to minister to others & share their faith ● creating a community of care ● developing a strong parish network.
