GOSPEL: Luke 12:13-21

A man in the crowd said to him, 'Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance.' He said to him, 'My friend, who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?' Then he said to them, 'Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for life does not consist in possessions, even when someone has more than he needs.' Then he told them a parable, 'There was once a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, "What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops." Then he said, "This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time." But God said to him, "Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?" So it is when someone stores up treasure for himself instead of becoming rich in the sight of God.'

REFLECTION
This week's Gospel begins with an individual in the crowd asking Jesus: “Teacher, tell my brother (or sister) to share the family inheritance with me.” Jesus responds to this person’s statement by saying: “Friend, who appointed me as your judge or your arbitrator?” Then he adds: “Take care to guard against all greed. For though a person may be rich, one’s life cannot be measured by the number of possessions a person has accumulated.”

In today’s world, we hear or see numerous ads every day on television, radio, the Internet, and billboards. We are bombarded with messages enticing us to buy clothing, electronics, cars, or televisions. Count the number of commercials on TV or radio today. The sad news is that many of us have come to believe that more is better or that the newest computer or car is essential for the good life.

Today Jesus also tells the crowd the story of a rich man. This rich man had a great deal of land that typically produced a bountiful harvest. This particular year’s crop produced such a good yield that the man did not have a barn that was large enough to store his abundant crop. Finally, the rich man decided to tear down his barns (notice the plural) and build larger barns. This would not only give him room for his grain, he also would have room to store some of his numerous possessions. Stockpiling this wealth would ensure that he would be able to eat, drink, and be merry for many years.

Sounds like the good life, doesn’t it? The reality is that many people work very hard to ensure that they will have a good life. However, God says to this man: “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded of you. And everything you have worked so hard to accumulate will belong to others.” Jesus then adds: “Thus will it be for the person who stores up earthly treasures for him/herself but who is not rich in what matters to God.”

In today’s world, we are enticed on every front to accumulate wealth, possessions and status, but today Jesus reminds us that when we die, our wealth, our possessions, and our status will not matter. The only criterion we will be judged on is whether we have worked to accumulate the riches only God can give. Today may be a good day to ask ourselves: Who and what is most important in my life? Is it money, status, possessions, esteem? Or is it the people that I love or the many individuals who are in need? Do I strive to make a difference in our world by my love, care, and generosity? Do I freely share the many gifts that God has given me? 

Today and every day we are paving our road to heaven. What is the path we will pave today by our choices? Will Jesus approve of our path? I pray so! (Sr Kristine Anne Harpenau)

FEAST OF SAINT MARY MACKILLOP PRAYER SERVICE
​On Thursday 8th August, 2TD will be leading the school in a special prayer service to celebrate the Feast of Saint Mary MacKillop at 9am in the PAC. We invite all members of our school community to come and pray with us.

Mary Helen MacKillop (1842-1909), known in life as Mother Mary of the Cross, was born on 15 January 1842 in Fitzroy, Melbourne, the eldest of eight children of Alexander McKillop and his wife Flora, née McDonald. Her parents had migrated from the Lochaber area in Inverness-shire and married soon after they reached Melbourne. After a prosperous start the family became impoverished.

Mary was educated at private schools but chiefly by her father who had studied for the priesthood at Rome. To help her family Mary became in turn a shopgirl, a governess, and at Portland a teacher in the Catholic Denominational School and proprietress of a small boarding school for girls. As she grew to womanhood Mary was probably influenced by an early friend of the family, Father Patrick Geoghegan, and began to yearn for a strictly penitential form of religious life. Concluding she would have to go to Europe to execute her plan, she placed herself under the direction of Father Julian Tenison-Woods who, as parish priest of Penola in South Australia sometimes visiting Melbourne and Portland, wanted to found a religious society, 'The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart'; they were to live in poverty and dedicate themselves to educating poor children. With Mary its first member and Superior the society was founded at Penola on 19 March 1866 with the approval of Bishop Laurence Sheil. By then she was spelling her surname MacKillop. The Sisterhood spread to Adelaide and other parts of South Australia, and increased rapidly in membership but ran into difficulties. Tenison-Woods had become director of Catholic schools and conflicted with some of the clergy over educational matters. One priest with influence over the bishop declared publicly he would ruin the director through the Sisterhood. The result was that Mary was excommunicated by Bishop Sheil on 22 September 1871 for alleged insubordination; most of the schools were closed and the Sisterhood almost disbanded. The excommunication was removed on 21 February 1872 by order of the bishop nine days before he died.

In 1873 at Rome Mary obtained papal approval of the Sisterhood but the Rule of Life laid down by Tenison-Woods and sanctioned by the bishop on 17 December 1868 was discarded and another drawn up. Tenison-Woods blamed her for not doing enough to have his Rule accepted and this caused a permanent breach between them. She travelled widely in Europe visiting schools and observing methods of teaching, and returned to Adelaide on 4 January 1875. In March she was elected Superior-General of the Sisterhood. In journeys throughout Australasia she established schools, convents and charitable institutions but came into conflict with those bishops who preferred diocesan control of the Sisterhood rather than central control from Adelaide. In 1883 Bishop Christopher Reynolds, misunderstanding the extent of his jurisdiction over the Sisterhood, told her to leave his diocese. She then transferred the headquarters of the Sisterhood to Sydney. On 11 May 1901 she suffered a stroke at Rotorua, New Zealand. Although retaining her mental faculties, she was an invalid until she died in Sydney on 8 August 1909.

Mary's finest feature was her large blue eyes. Affectionate but determined, her virtues were multitudinous with charity towards her neighbour outshining all. Always regarded as holy, she was put forward in 1972 as a candidate for the honour of beatification and canonisation and on 1 February 1973 the Cause was formally introduced. Mary was beatified on 19 January 1995 at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, in a Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II. She was canonised as Saint Mary of the Cross at a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI in St Peter's Square in the Vatican on 17 October 2010. (Osmund Thorpe, )

FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION MASS
Next Thursday, August 15, we will celebrate the Feast of the Assumption through a Parish Mass at St Augustine's Church, commencing at 9:45am. We welcome all members of our community to come an celebrate with us.

​God Bless,
Warren Ziebowski
Religious Education Coordinator