Dear parishioners, visitors & friends,

The book of Ecclesiasticus confronts us today with the message, “If you wish, you can keep the commandments, to behave faithfully is within your power.” How does this message speak to us? Do we really have the power to behave faithfully to the commandments of the Lord? The question seems quite simple yet is very difficult at the same time. Each and every one of us have our own burdens to bear and very often we seem to perceive, in the midst of these burdens, that “behaving faithfully” to the commandments of the Lord is way beyond our reach. Sometimes it is just too hard to follow the Lord and sometimes it is just too hard to let go of certain habits that we have fallen into. Some habits may give us a lot of happiness and fulfilment but sometimes we can really wonder whether or not these habits, that have become second nature, are really good for us? This becomes a moral dilemma for us all as we find ourselves divided between what God wants and what we want. Sin in a broad sense is the very action that we commit against God’s Word and then we cannot reflect holiness. God never permitted anyone to sin since creation. “He never commanded anyone to be godless; he has given no one permission to sin” (Eccl. 15: 15-20). But if God never permitted anyone to sin, why do we constantly commit such sins anyway? Psalm 118 gives an entire account of what it means to be a human person who wants to live accordingly to the Word of God. It states that any one of us who chooses to live away from God is not capable of living a life without sin. If we live away from God then we become vulnerable to the various evils that can influence us in our everyday lives. Perhaps, not necessarily to the extent that we commit sins such as murder, but sins which degrade our human dignity in the moral sense. Our human dignity is often challenged and quite often we lack the moral understanding to defend what is good for us. We can easily abuse ourselves by doing things that don’t really reflect the dignity of the person that God has designed us to be. We can be so angry that we hate another person. We can be lustfully aroused and thus become unfaithful. Jesus has preached in the Gospel of Matthew that “if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:17-37). Jesus was very direct and straight to the point when He gave His teaching about the observances of God’s laws. It is never enough to keep His law for the sake of discipline. Also, it is not good for us to ignore His laws. But above all, it will always be difficult for us to know what is right and wrong if we don’t have a proper understanding of our human dignity and if we don’t strengthen our moral understanding by becoming familiar with the Word of God. The Word of God gives us wisdom. It also invites the Spirit of God to dwell in us so that we may receive understanding and grace for ourselves. By this we learn about our human dignity before God and His teachings for our moral goodness. God bless you all. Fr. Jeremy Santoso, OSPPE Associate Pastor

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS 2016

All  events and holy mass  will be held at the St. Mary’s Worship Center, Upper Coomera

Saturday, 24th December (CHRISTMAS EVE)

4.30pm –  Carol Singing   | 5:00  – Holy Mass 

9.30pm –  Carol Singing  | 10:00 pm –  Holy Mass 

Sunday 25th December 2016 (CHRISTMAS DAY)

7.30am Holy Mass

9.30am Holy Mass

Saturday, 31st December (NEW YEAR’S EVE)

6pm – Holy Mass 

Sunday 1st January 2017 (NEW YEAR’S DAY)

7.30am Mass  |  9am Mass | 5pm Mass