Mary Immaculate Parish

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| M A R Y I MM A C U L AT E PA R I S H E AG L E VA L E

Dear Parishioners,

Every jubilee gives us an

opportunity to look back and

to realise howmany blessings

have come our way in years

past. Amarried couple on

the day of their wedding

anniversary looks back only

to be amazed by how quickly their little children

have grown up, earned a university degree,

and got their first job. A priest who has served

for the last ten or fifty years looks back and is

happy that he has helped some people to be

reconnected with God, and is truly grateful for

remaining faithful to the Lord despite the many

storms that beset him.

As we celebrate the Silver Jubilee we look

back and count our blessings too. Over the

last twenty five years over 9,000 people have

been baptized in our parish, roughly 2,500

confirmed, nearly 400 knots have been tied,

and a countless number of men and women

have been reconciled to God in the sacrament of

confession. Those who attended overcrowded

masses in the hall would confirmwhat a

blessing it was to finally have a spacious

church built on the site without themhaving

to set up and pack up after masses every week.

Above all, as we look back we remember with

gratitude so many committed parishioners

who have worked hard to make our community

thrive e.g. catechists, ethnic communities,

Vinnies, musicians, and those on the weekly

rosters. Also, we count it a true blessing that

our parish has never been priestless. Since

the official founding of the Mary Immaculate

Parish, twenty Oblate priests have been serving

zealously the people of God in the Eagle Vale

area. May God be glorified for every good that

has been done through our parish in the last

twenty five years!

The Jubilee also inspires us to look forward into

the future with hope. What will our parish look

like in 2041 when the next generation of our

Parishioners is celebrating the Golden Jubilee?

We don’t know that yet. The future, however,

is being already shaped by us today. If our

children, grandchildren, and our youth can see

our genuine love for the Lord, our joy at being

Catholics, and our faith in action, there is

hope that they will not only continue what we

have begun but will bring fresh spirit and new

enthusiasm into the Church and our parish.

In ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ Pope Francis gives us a

valuable hint as to which direction our parish

ministry should take: I dream of a “missionary

option”, that is, a missionary impulse capable

of transforming everything, so that the

Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times

and schedules, language and structures can

be suitably channelled for the evangelization

of today’s world rather than for her self-

preservation. The renewal of structures

demanded by pastoral conversion can only be

understood in this light: as part of an effort to

make themmore mission-oriented, to make

ordinary pastoral activity on every level more

inclusive and open, to inspire in pastoral

workers a constant desire to go forth and in

this way to elicit a positive response from all

those whom Jesus summons to friendship

with himself. (EG 27)

It is my prayer that in the years to come we

will strive to make Francis’ dream come true,

that as a parish we will courageously embrace

the ‘missionary option’ and put all our efforts

into the evangelisation of this corner of the

world. May Mary Immaculate who hurried to

share her joy with Elizabeth be our example

to follow. In our mission-oriented parish

endeavours, may we be always supported by

the prayers of St Eugene de Mazenod, so that

thanks to us, other people may come to know

and love the Lord as well.



O U R

PA R I S H

T O DAY

Fr Slawomir Plonka OMI

Parish Priest

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