On Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, the season of Lent began. This day also marks the beginning of the annual Caritas Australia Project Compassion Appeal. Donations to Project Compassion allow Caritas Australia, the Catholic Agency for International Aid and Development, to work with local communities around the world to end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.

Please give generously to Caritas Australia this Lenten season and help vulnerable people around the world, now and for all future generations.

With your support, Caritas Australia has been able to assist communities around the world through income generation, water and sanitation, food security, education and disaster risk reduction programs.

Project Compassion 2024 reminds us that the good we do today will extend and impact the lives of generations to come. Together, we can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow.

Each class has a Project Compassion Box on their Prayer table for donations and we thank you in advance for supporting such a worthy cause. 

SACRAMENTS IN THE PARISH

A reminder that enrolment for ALL Sacraments (Confirmation, Eucharist & Reconciliation) will be completed at the beginning of the year this year. Attached to this section of the newsletter is the information sent out by the Parish earlier this year. ALL SACRAMENT ENROLMENTS must be completed on the Parish page of QkR!. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Anne Gowan, our Parish Sacramental Coordinator, via email on TuggeranongSouth.Sacraments@cg.org.au 

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B

Mark 1:12-15- He was tempted by Satan, and the angels looked after him.

Mark’s Gospel is bold and challenging. It doesn’t beat around the bush. Throughout this year, there will be many Sundays when we really need to tune in because Mark’s Gospel doesn’t wait for the reader to be ready. It is right in your face, to use a modern expression. Sometimes Mark reminds us of the wise old person who doesn’t use many words, but every one of those words counts. There can’t be many books of so few pages that have had such a mighty impact on the world. 

Today, a few lines tell us that Jesus went into the desert for 40 days and ‘was tempted by Satan.’ He was ‘with the wild beasts’, meaning he was vulnerable as he was immersed in the natural world. This was surely an experience of struggle and growth. Then suddenly Jesus discovers that John the Baptist has been arrested. In a few lines, Mark creates the impression of a challenging time. 

How did Jesus respond? He seems to have been enlivened, to have decided to create change. He is full of energy and purpose. ‘The time has come,’ he says. In his vulnerability, he has discovered that ‘the kingdom of God is close at hand.’ 

This year, through Project Compassion, Caritas Australia will ask us to consider several stories of vulnerability and hope in action. Over the coming weeks, we will meet a number of extraordinary women: Ronita from the Philippines, Leaia from Samoa and Memory from Malawi. They remind us that in many situations around the world, women are the heart of the community and the drivers of change. In each case, a partnership involving Caritas Australia and local agencies has led to new opportunities not just for an individual but for families and communities. The kingdom of God is, indeed, closer than we think. Together with Ronita, Leaia and Memory, our decisions help to bring it to reality around the globe. 

Perhaps we might spend time with the words of Sunday’s Psalm: ‘God guides me in the right path; God teaches the Lord’s way to the poor.’ 

Adapted from Michael McGirr

Have a great week!

Sharee Thomas

REC