St. John’s Parish Mitcham 494 Whitehorse Road, Mitcham 3132

(Postal: P.O. Box 95, Mitcham 3132) Email: Mitcham@cam.org.au

Website: www.stjohnsmitcham.com.au Phone: 03 9401 6366 Fax No. 03 9872 4316

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time July 5 2020—Year A

In the ordinary

Come to a quiet place, a place so quiet

that you can hear the grass grow. Run your fingers

through the softness of its petals, and listen:

listen to the earth, the warm earth,

the life pulse of us all.

Rest your body against its warmth; feel its greatness,

the pulse and throb, the foundation of the world.

Look up into the sky, the all-embracing sky, the canopy of heaven.

How small we really are: specks in the greatness but still a part of it all.

We grow from the earth and find

our own place.

Anon.

Communion Reflections—Donal Neary SJ

“St John’s Parish community, committed to the Victorian Child Safe Standards & acknowledges that Child Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility”

Parish Information

Faith Formation, Social & Others

Normal Weekend Mass Times at St. John’s Saturday Vigil, 6pm, then 8.30am, 9.45am, 11.15am, 5pm

Parish Priest

Fr Dispin John Supported by Fr Michael Kelly, CSsR Parish Office

Visitation and Communion to the Sick & Housebound: Office hours: Closed until further notice please call for assistance

Co-ordinator: Cath Brindle 0423 065 825 Monday-Friday 9am-4pm Ph: 9401 6366

Bereavement Ministry: Monika Bredhauer Parish Secretaries: Martine Giles (Monday-Wednesday & Friday)

Schools Elisa Kelesidis (Tuesday-Friday)

St John’s School, 494 Whitehorse Road, Mitcham, 9874 1575 Principal: Mrs Verona Gridley St. James School, 51 Centre Road, Vermont, 9874 1830 RE for Government Schools:

Principal: Mr Dave Mutimer Andrew Puls—0407 352 706

Services: St Vincent de Paul Shop 2/82 Maroondah Hwy Ringwood 9870 9124 - St Vincent de Paul Furniture Pick-Ups 1800 621 349 The House of Books (house next door to the Church) 9401 6306 - St Vincent de Paul Welfare Assistance 1800 305 330

Scripture Readings for week Mon: Hosea 2:16-18 21-22 Matthew 9:18-26 Tues: Hosea 8:4-7 11-13 Matthew 9:32-38 Wed: Hosea 10:1-3 7 8 12 Matthew 10:1-7 Thur: Hosea 11:1-4 8-9 Matthew 10:7-15 Fri: Hosea 14:2-10 Matthew 10:16-23 Sat: Isaiah 6:1-8 Matthew 10:24-33 Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Isaiah 55:10-11 Romans 8:18-23 Matthew 13:1-23

AMONGST OUR PARISH FAMILY

We ask for the grace and peace of Eternal life for Cyril Jose, Ramon Balajadia dela Cruz, Christine Knights and those who have recently passed away, and for those whose memories are sacred to us at this time especially, Lancelotte Henricus, Heather Holsinger, Francesco Lombardi, Margaret Ansell, Kathleen Ditchburn, Ted Rodrigues, Phyllis Craig, Richard Richardson, Flo Page, Tom Maguire, Margaret Dixon, Giuseppe Abate, Paul Andrews, Doris Maragret

Andrews.

The Travelling Rosary will be held at the home of Vera Patterson from Sunday 5 July—Friday 10 July We encourage you to say the Rosary in the safety of your own home during this time.

Inspiration for the coming week from the Compassion and Friendship Group

“If you think you’re too small to make a difference....Try sleeping with a

mosquito in the room.” Dalai Lama

PARISH OFFICE OPERATION

For general enquiries please contact the Parish Office on 9401 6366 or alternatively email mitcham@cam.org.au and a member of the Parish Team will respond to your query. If you need to contact Fr Dispin urgently, please call him directly 0413 683 153.

Parish News for the weekly Newsletter

The Parish Newsletter which will be posted on the parish website each week. Please feel free to email the parish office any parish news, recent deaths or anniversaries of loved ones and want to share.

Giving—Our Parish needs your support Details are: First Collection: Account Name: St John’s Presbytery Account BSB 083343 Account No. 515 469 035 Second Collection: Account Name: St John’s Church Account BSB 083347 Account No. 676 841 942 Reference field: Envelope number and Surname (contact the Parish Office if you don’t know your envelope no.) You can also mail a cheque, mentioning the split between the 1st and 2nd collections. Please mention your name and envelope number. If you have any questions about this, please ring the Parish Office 9401 6366 or email: mitcham@cam.org.au

ST VINCENT DE PAUL DRIVE BY FOOD DRIVE

Our Team continues to provide emergency food aid to people in our area. We need food donations to help continue this work. From Tuesday through to Friday between 10am till 2pm, the garage behind the Parish Office will be open for food donations. You will be able to drive in and drop off food donations in the plastic bins in the garage. The priority items we need are rice, pasta, pasta sauce, coffee, tins of soup, breakfast cereal, long life milk, biscuits.

Faith Formation, Social & Other

Nothing can Separate us from the Love of Christ It is encouraged to continue active participation in the life of the Church, through activities such as time in personal and family prayer, reflecting on the Scriptures and making a spiritual communion.

Please be aware that you can access the parish website to view the video of Fr Dispin’s Homily and Gospel of the weekend https://www.stjohnsmitcham.com.au/ or you can participate in a Mass online via http://bit.lyMassOnDemand, or www.wordonfire.org/daily-mass

Masses are livestreaming from St Patrick’s Cathedral Monday—Friday at 1pm, Saturday 8am and Sunday 11am. This is available to view on demand until one hour prior to the next scheduled Mass https://www.cam.org.au/mass

CHILD SAFETY

To view our Safeguarding Children & Young People Code of Conduct, go to stjohnsmitcham.com.au

Catholic Social Teaching—What Can I Do About it here and Now?

HOUSE OF BOOKS

Have you read everything on your bookshelves during the stay at home period? Then we have good news for you. The House of Books has re-opened on for limited trading hours. The shop will be open from 10am until 1pm, Monday—

Friday. Commencing Saturday 4 July the House of Books will be open on Saturday mornings

from 10am-1pm.

The team at the Bookshop has implemented a CovidSafe plan designed to keep customers and volunteers safe. The total number of customers in the shop at any one time will be limited to eight people. Social distancing rules will be observed and hand sanitiser available. Extra cleaning will be done. Customers will be asked to provide their name and a contact phone number. Please note that the Bookshop cannot currently offer “contactless” payments so extra care will need to be taken in making payments. Due to safety concerns, the Bookshop will not be taking donations at the present time. Apologies for any inconvenience. The really good news is that we have lots of great books and our prices are still mainly $1—$5.

REMINDER TO ALL VOLUNTEERS

A WORKING WITH CHILDREN CHECK IS ESENTIAL

Any parishioner who kindly volunteers in any capacity in the Church is now required to have a current Working with Children Check in place. Could you please ensure to advise the Parish Office with details in order for the data base to be accurate. If you don’t have one unfortunately you will not be able to volunteer in any capacity. If you would like assistance with applying for one please contact Elisa Kelesidis at the parish office 9401 6366. Thank you for your continued support of our parish community.

New Date for Draw of Combined Catholic Parishes Raffle supporting “Lifeboat Foundation” to provide support to established victims of church-related sexual abuse Due to the current restrictions imposed by the Victorian Government, application has been made and approval received for an extension/postponement of the 2020 Combined Catholic Parishes Raffle to the following dates: Draw Date: 26 September 2020 at 7.15pm, Draw Venue: 2 Taylors Lane, Rowville (St Simon’s Church) Publication of Winners Date: 30 September 2020

Faith Formation, Social & Other

VINNIES WINTER APPEAL 2020

As we are unable to hold collections at the Sunday Masses this year, here are three ways you can donate to our Winter Appeal. Thank you for your support. 1) Mail a cheque to the Parish Office at 494 Whitehorse Road (PO Box 95)

Mitcham 3132 marked Vinnies Winter Appeal including your name and address so that we can send you a receipt.

2) If you use internet banking, Vinnies bank details are as follows:

BSB 063-003 1008-1787. This is a bucket account for all Conferences in Victoria so on the details line please enter Agent 446 which identifies Mitcham Conference.

Then email mitcham.conf.treas@svdp-vic.org.au with details of your payment (your name does not appear on our bank statement) and the name in which you would like your receipt to be issued. 3) Credit Card or Paypal Payment. You can phone 131 818 and follow the prompts or; log on to Vinnies.org.au and fill in your details. If you would like your donation to be directed back to Mitcham Conference section please enter St Johns Mitcham 446 in the comments section of the online form. Vinnies Head Office will issue receipts for all credit card donations.

APPLY NOW

Enrolments 6th July—16th July 2020

Study at Yarra Theological Union in Semester 2

Offering undergraduate and postgraduate awards of the University of Divinity. Equipping people for

various ministries in the church, parishes, schools, hospitals and church agents.

Classes commence 27th July 2020.

Options for Enrolment:

1) Current students wanting to add units for Semester 2, please complete the Unit amendment form

& email to registrar@ytu.edu.au

2) For students who have a question about their enrolment please email the Dean at dean@ytu.edu.au

3) For students who need to discuss their enrolment please call or email, to make an appointment.

Email address: registrar@ytu.edu.au Phone: 9890 3771 #1

Check the YTU website for the Semester 2 timetable and fees.

Yarra Theological Union, 98 Albion Road, Box Hill admin@ytu.edu www.ytu.edu.au

It’s Time to Lift Our Spirits

We invite you to contribute to our new initiative eg Household tips, Gardening Tips, Simple recipes, Sharing Stories of Hope. Your contributions will be included on our parish website. If you would prefer, your contribution can remain anonymous. Please send your contributions to the parish office via email: mitcham@cam.org.au or by post or please call Monika on 0438 220 361 for any queries.

Once again we are faced with ever tightening restrictions and wonder are we ever going to see a light at the end of the tunnel. We feel very worried, frustrated and helpless. We are hearing heart-warming stories from parishioners about how they are overcoming feelings of loneliness and isolation. At Mass, we are creatures of habit and always sit in the same spot every Sunday (sound familiar) and we remember those faces and get to know one another become acquainted and see each other around the local area. One parishioner has made contact with one such friendly face from Mass and has invited her to come to her home every second Sunday and watch our virtual Mass Celebration recorded by Dispin. We cannot meet in the church together yet but I was very moved to hear how our fellow parishioners are keeping in touch with one another. Others, I have heard, make it a point to call and chat to at least 3 people every few days. The majority of us have our families to keep in touch with and assist us with shopping running errands etc. but our parish community is also our “family” and it is wonderful to reach out to one another. I’m sure there are many uplifting stories out there in our community so please feel free to share these with us and of course you can remain anonymous. So as we patiently wait to be reunited and meet in larger friendship groups, here is a recipe for you to try and sample. Don’t be put off by healthy vegies and fruit combination in this recipe; it is delightful! It has a lower sugar content but the dates add sweetness. Maybe a cake to bake for Dispin so he doesn’t have to feel guilty and count calories☺ Please keep your recipes, tips and stories coming in. We love to read and share them with

everyone. Monika

It’s Time to Lift Our Spirits

Carrot and Zucchini Fruit Cake

Ingredients: 2 medium sized carrots grated 1 medium sized Zucchini grated 1 small granny smith apples peeled, cored and grated ½ cup chopped dates ½ cup currants 3 – 4 large eggs ½ cup rice bran or any lightly flavoured oil ½ cup of buttermilk 2 tspns vanilla essence Grated zest of an orange 2 cups of SR flour sifted 1 tspn each of ground cinnamon, cardamom and ginger 2 tbpns of LSA (Ground Linseeds, Sunflower seeds and almonds) ½ cup brown sugar

Method: Preheat fan forced oven to 180c In a large bowl, combine carrots, zucchini, apple, dates, currants and orange zest. Add flour, spices, LSA and sugar to fruit mixture. Whisk eggs, buttermilk, oil, buttermilk and vanilla essence and add to fruit/flour mixture. Spoon in to a 25 cm diameter baking tin lined with baking paper and bake for approximately 1 hour or until golden brown. Test with a skewer. Allow to cool and dust with icing sugar and sprinkle with Vanilla sugar. This cake is delicious served with a cuppa or served warm with ice cream for dessert.