Our Lady of Fatima | Our Parish

OLF Peakhurst response to COVID-19

May the peace of our Lord Jesus fill your heart and your home in this unprecedented time.

As you may be aware, Archbishop Anthony Fisher announced that all churches must be closed and all public Masses and other communal devotions, whether inside or outdoors, including private prayer in the church, has to be suspended until further notice. Click here for a copy of the Archbishop’s pastoral letter dated 30 March 2020.

Listed below are some important aspects to note as a response to the latest developments.

SUNDAY AND WEEKDAY MASSES: Priests can still say Mass privately using the closed church for this purpose. The MGLs are committed to holding you in our prayers and offering Masses for you and your loved ones. You can join us live on the internet:

Our Lady of Fatima Peakhurst Parish Masses will be streamed on Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30am and on Sundays at 9:15am. Click here to join in and scroll down to find the live video.
St Declan's Penshurst Parish Masses are streamed live every weekday at 9:15am and on Sundays at 9am. Click here to join in.

Click here for details of how to make an act of Spiritual Communion. The prayer can be said particularly during Communion time of the Mass.

SEND US YOUR PHOTOS: Mass is essentially a communal celebration. It is quite odd for us to celebrate Mass facing an empty church. Even though you might be joining us online it would be good to see some physical form of your presence in church. So how about this: please email us a photo of you and your family. We will print them and stick them to the pews in the church. This will help your priests remember you and pray for you as we offer Mass.

INTERCESSION: In these unprecedented times, a great source of strength and consolation is to turn to the Lord in prayer. We will be having a group of people dedicated to praying for the various intentions of members of our parish. So, if you have any petition for yourself, for your family members or for people you know, please let us know and we will have the intercessory team praying for your intentions.

IF YOU ARE SICK: Please get in touch with us. We want to assure you that our priests will anoint, give communion and pray for those who are seriously ill, including those who may have contracted COVID-19. Please contact the priests (Wed-Fri Day: 9533 2594; all other days and all nights: 9580 1310; in an EMERGENCY: 9580 1310).

FUNERALS: The government has allowed funerals as an exception to the church closure direction. However, these are to be restricted to immediate family only, with a maximum of 10 persons in total. We will still need to follow social distancing rules inside the church, appropriate hygiene and a thorough cleaning of the church afterwards.

BAPTISMS: If possible, baptisms should be postponed for at least six months. If there is a risk to the person's health, please contact the Parish.

FRAIL, ISOLATED or ELDERLY and NEED HELP? Please contact us so we can work out how best we can serve you.

KOINONIA (COMMUNION)

This is a time that we need to keep in touch and encourage each other even more. I urge you to get in touch with people in the parish community who you think may be vulnerable and look out for each other. I also encourage you to keep in touch with me or any member of the Leadership Team. Tell us how you are going, give us information about people you know who may need our help. Also, feel free to give us your suggestions on how we can grow in communion at this time.

HOLY WEEK: As we begin this most sacred time of the Liturgical Calendar, we enter into the mystery of God’s love for us through the passion, death and resurrection of his son Jesus.

All the Holy Week liturgies can be viewed live on the internet from our Facebook page. Please check our home page, the latest bulletin or our Facebook page for details and regular updates.

The following liturgies at St Mary’s Cathedral will be broadcast live on Channel 7:

The Lord’s Passion at 3pm on Good Friday

Easter Sunday Mass from 10:30am

Here are some ways to meaningfully symbolise your participation in the liturgies:

Palm Sunday: display a palm branch or any green branch on your front door

Holy Thursday: place a white cloth over your dining table to remind you of the institution of the Eucharist and the Priesthood

Good Friday: have a crucifix or a cross laid on a red cloth signifying Jesus’ passion and death

Easter Sunday: be creative and symbolise New Life in any form, signifying Jesus as the resurrection and life

Why not take photos of what you have done and share it with us on Facebook or send us an email.

RESOURCES: This time of being restricted to our homes can be an opportune moment to discover the richness of some traditions of the Church. Praying a Novena to St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, the Divine Mercy Novena of Chaplets (from Good Friday to Divine Mercy Sunday), the Rosary and the Regina Caeli prayer (from Holy Saturday to Pentecost) can be profound moments of encounter of the love and mercy of God. Click here for details.

I am praying for you. May the Lord protect us from all danger, keep us under His care and grant us His peace. May we also entrust ourselves to the intercession and care of our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Fatima!

Fr Tony Alex MGL and the Parish Leadership Team
04 April 2020