Our Ministries

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In addition to the spiritual life of our community, many practical initiatives operate to support and connect members of the local and wider community. These ministries are run by volunteer groups, who are always looking to recruit volunteers.

We welcome all newcomers and hope you will soon feel at home and share with us your gifts and talents.  Through our parish ministries we create personal connections between the Parish and its members. We aim to help our community connect their faith with their daily lives and to see our Parishes of Our Lady of the Way as a community of people, not just a place to attend mass.

 

THE ROLE OF THE LAITY IN A SHARED MINISTRY

 

In a Parish Bulletin earlier this year the Parish Council advised parishioners that one of the three key objectives of the Council for 2011 would be: PROMOTING AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLE OF THE LAITY AND ENCOURAGING AN ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT BY THE LAITY IN THE LIFE OF OUR PARISHES.

 

Since then the Parish Council has spent much time developing an informed understanding of the role of the laity in a shared ministry. Father Tony Smith, our Parish Priest, calls it a new way of being the Church.  In his words “It is based on a partnership between laity and clergy which takes responsibility for living out God’s wishes” in the three parishes of Our Lady of the Way.

 

WHO IS THE CHURCH?

The important role of the laity in a shared ministry is set out in the teachings of the Church which call us to recognise that lay men and women ARE THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD, not passive recipients of ministry by the clergy.

 

In his address to the Pastoral Convention of the Diocese of Rome on 26th May 2009, Pope Benedict XV1 called for the laity to be recognised and encouraged as “co-responsible” with the clergy for the Church’s being and action, “thereby fostering the consolidation of the mature and committed laity”. To achieve this goal he said:  “it will be necessary to improve pastoral structures in such a way that the co-responsibility of all the members of the People of God in their entirety is gradually promoted…” This, the Pope said, “demands a change of mindset, particularly concerning lay people.” 

 

While the clergy have a special role to play in the ministerial priesthood of Jesus through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, each one of us as members of the Church has been called by God to our own specific vocation and mission in the life of the Church and for the good of mankind. By virtue of our Baptism:

 

  1. (a)   we are already empowered to be an active force within our Parishes and within the Church.
  2. (b)   So too we have the responsibility to give witness to Christ in the way we live our lives.  

 

To exercise our apostolate the Holy Spirit gives each one of us special gifts. It is important that we discern what these gifts and talents are and use them wisely, generously and with humility. As St Paul said to the Corinthians: ‘There will be many different gifts but always the same spirit, many different ways of serving but always the same Lord, many forms of activity… but the same God at work in them all”(12:4-6).

 

WHAT CAN I DO?

The challenge for each of us is:

  • Am I prepared to ask myself what gifts and talents I might be able to offer to the community of Our Lady of the Way parishes?
  • To which of the myriad of existing groups, community works and ministries in the Parishes might I be able to contribute? Can I suggest any new ministries?  (As a good start here you might like to look at those listed on the Parish website: www.northsydneycatholics.com and in the directories published by each of the three parishes which are to be found in the respective churches). Perhaps you might like to have a talk to the pastoral staff in your church ( Annette Benaud at Star of the Sea 0407 966 024, Judy Tusino at St Francis Xavier 8918 4131, Edwin Galea at St Mary’s 8918 4107 and Frances Tilly at St Mary’s 8918 4104) about how best you might contribute.
  • Can I use my gifts and talents to help create a new group?
  • Am I living every aspect of my life (at home, at work, in my dealings with neighbours and others I encounter along life’s journey etc), in the way that Jesus would want me to?
  • What am I doing to help the marginalised in our society?
  • What am I doing to further develop my faith by reading, attending study programs, and the like?  For example, there are courses in Ignatian spirituality available, the Camino Committee (our Catholic Adult education committee) each year organises talks on topics important to us as Catholics, we have various faith community groups including Christian Life Community groups, meditation groups etc and are presently looking to start up a scripture study group.

 

 

NO HANDS BUT YOURS

St Teresa of Avila, believing that Jesus wants us all to help keep his dream alive by the way in which we live, had this to say:

 

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands but yours,

No feet but yours.

Yours are the eyes through which

Christ’s compassion must look out on the world.

Yours are the feet with which

He is to go about doing good.

Yours are the hands with which

He is to bless us now.

 

Her profound words are as relevant today as they were all those centuries ago.

 

 

PARISH COUNCIL

PARISHES OF OUR LADY OF THE WAY

JULY 2011