OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL PARISH – BALLUTA

PARISH NOTICES – SUNDAY  28th October 2018

1.   THIS EVENING, at 4.00pm, at the St. Venera Parish Church, there will be the Carmelite Third Order Congress.

2.   Today is the last day for Fr. Joe Saliba as parish priest of this parish.  AS FROM TOMORROW MONDAY,  Fr Renald Lofreda will be administering the parish.  Later on we will inform you of the date for the canonical possession of the new parish priest.  While we thank Fr Joe for his work amongst us, we wish Fr. Renald fruitful work in his new ministry.

3.   We would also like to congratulate Fr. Charles Mallia who once again has been confirmed Prior of the Balluta Carmelite Community.

 4.  TOMORROW MONDAY, at 5.00pm, at the parish centre, children who attend catechism classes will be having a special activity linked to the feast of All Saints.  Children and parents are invited to attend.

5.    ON WEDNESDAY, on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary from the death of Fr. Avertan Fenech, there will be Mass and Vigil at the Carmelite Church in Mdina.  Those who would like to attend can list his name in the sacristy.  Transport leaves at 5.00pm.

6.    THURSDAY is the solemnity of All Saints Day.

7.   FRIDAY is All Soul’s Day.  At 6.30pm there will be a Concelebration in remembrance of our dearly departed.

8.  Those who would like to book mass for the repose of the souls of relatives and friends, can do so at the parish office.

 9.  Throughout the month of November in the evening there will be special prayers for the souls of our dearly departed.  Who wishes to list his relatives and friends for these special prayers, can make use of the envelopes with forms by the church’s entrance, and after filling it in, hand to anyone of the friars

 10..May we remind you one last time, that those who have no yet brought the envelope with donations for the Missions, and would like to make an offering, can bring the envelope and hand it to anyone of the friars.  Donations during the church collection for the Mission amounted to €1804. 

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL PARISH – BALLUTA

PARISH NOTICES – SUNDAY 21st October 2018

1.   WE REMIND YOU THAT THROUGHOUT THIS MONTH at 5.55pm, the Holy Rosary will be recited infront of the Holy Eucharist.

2.  This coming SATURDAY, at 3.30pm there will be a Carmel Teens meeting at the Carmel Youths Centre in Old College Street.  Students in secondary schools are welcome to attend.

3.  NEXT SUNDAY, at 5.00pm, at the St. Venera Parish Church, there will be the Carmelite Third Order Congress.  Transport leaves at 4.00pm from Balluta Square.  Who would like to make use of this transport can list his name in the sacristy.

 4.  ON 31st OCTOBER, on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary from the death of Fr. Avertan Fenech, there will be Mass and Vigil at the Carmelite Church in Mdina.   Those who would like to attend can list his name in the sacristy.  Transport leaves at 5.00pm.

5. BOOKINGS for the coming year FOR MASS for the repose of the souls of our dearly departed can be made as from tomorrow, MONDAY, from 9.00am to 11.00am and from 4.30pm to 6.30pm. Bookings will continue as shown on the church’s notice boards.

6. Throughout the month of November in the evening there will be special prayers for the souls of our dearly departed.  Who wishes to list his relatives and friends for these special prayers, can make use of the envelopes with forms by the church’s entrance and after filling it in, hand to anyone of the friars.

7. May we remind you that those who have not yet brought the envelope with donations for the Missions, and would like to make an offering, can bring the envelope and hand it to anyone of the friars.

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL PARISH – BALLUTA

PARISH NOTICES – SUNDAY 14th October 2018

1.   WE REMIND YOU THAT THROUGHOUT THIS MONTH at 5.55pm, the Holy Rosary will be recited infront of the Holy Eucharist.

2.  ON TUESDAY, at 9.30am at the Parish Centre, there will be a meeting OF THE CATHOLIC ACTION.                                                                                                                   In the evening at 7.15pm, at the Parish Centre there will be a Grufan meeting.

3.  ON SATURDAY, the present Parish Priest, Fr. Joe Saliba will be saying mass in thanksgiving to the Lord for his work in this parish throughout the last three years.  We encourage you to attend so, together with Fr. Joe, we thank God for his service.   We would like to note that no personal invitations are being sent and that everybody is invited to attend.                                                                       The new Parish Priest, Fr. Renald Lofreda will start his ministry as parish administrator on Monday 29th October.

4. SUNDAY IS MISSIONS DAY, a day when we pray for the missions and the missionaries.  All collections on Saturday evening and on Sunday will be in aid of the missions.  The reason for these collections is to help the Church in continuing it’s work with the missions through projects that enable those in need to have the basic needs in life, and to proclaim to people the Good News of the Holy Gospel.   The Auxiliary Bishop appeals for our generosity.  He reminds us about the envelopes for the Missions Collection which have been sent to homes.  Those who have not yet returned the envelope or have not yet sent their donation directly to Missio Malta, are encouraged to do so at their earliest.  The Bishop heartily thanks everybody for his generosity.

5. ON WEDNESDAY 24TH OCTOBER, THE St. Julian’s Local Council is organising an outing for the elderly.  More inofrmation can be obtained by phoning the local council.

We are happy to announce the Msgr Archbishop has appointed FR. RENALD LOFREDA O. Carm, as the new Parish Priest of our Balluta Parish.

Let us pray that consecrated religious men and women may bestir themselves, and be present among the poor, the marginalized, and those who have no voice.

[…] 1. That the old saying will always be true: “Where there are religious, there is joy”. We are called to know and show that God is able to fill our hearts to the brim with happiness; that we need not seek our happiness elsewhere; that the authentic fraternity found in our communities increases our joy; and that our total self-giving in service to the Church, to families and young people, to the elderly and the poor, brings us life-long personal fulfilment.

None of us should be dour, discontented and dissatisfied, for “a gloomy disciple is a disciple of gloom”. Like everyone else, we have our troubles, our dark nights of the soul, our disappointments and infirmities, our experience of slowing down as we grow older. But in all these things we should be able to discover “perfect joy”. For it is here that we learn to recognize the face of Christ, who became like us in all things, and to rejoice in the knowledge that we are being conformed to him who, out of love of us, did not refuse the sufferings of the cross.

In a society which exalts the cult of efficiency, fitness and success, one which ignores the poor and dismisses “losers”, we can witness by our lives to the truth of the words of Scripture: “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:10).

We can apply to the consecrated life the words of Benedict XVI which I cited in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium: “It is not by proselytizing that the Church grows, but by attraction” (No. 14). The consecrated life will not flourish as a result of brilliant vocation programs, but because the young people we meet find us attractive, because they see us as men and women who are happy! Similarly, the apostolic effectiveness of consecrated life does not depend on the efficiency of its methods. It depends on the eloquence of your lives, lives which radiate the joy and beauty of living the Gospel and following Christ to the full.

As I said to the members of ecclesial movements on the Vigil of Pentecost last year: “Fundamentally, the strength of the Church is living by the Gospel and bearing witness to our faith. The Church is the salt of the earth; she is the light of the world. She is called to make present in society the leaven of the Kingdom of God and she does this primarily by her witness, her witness of brotherly love, of solidarity and of sharing with others” (18 May 2013).

2. I am counting on you “to wake up the world”, since the distinctive sign of consecrated life is prophecy. As I told the Superiors General: “Radical evangelical living is not only for religious: it is demanded of everyone. But religious follow the Lord in a special way, in a prophetic way.” This is the priority that is needed right now: “to be prophets who witness to how Jesus lived on this earth… a religious must never abandon prophecy” (29 November 2013).

Prophets receive from God the ability to scrutinize the times in which they live and to interpret events: they are like sentinels who keep watch in the night and sense the coming of the dawn (cf. Is 21:11-12). Prophets know God and they know the men and women who are their brothers and sisters. They are able to discern and denounce the evil of sin and injustice. Because they are free, they are beholden to no one but God, and they have no interest other than God. Prophets tend to be on the side of the poor and the powerless, for they know that God himself is on their side.

So I trust that, rather than living in some utopia, you will find ways to create “alternate spaces”, where the Gospel approach of self-giving, fraternity, embracing differences, and love of one another can thrive. Monasteries, communities, centres of spirituality, schools, hospitals, family shelters – all these are places which the charity and creativity born of your charisms have brought into being, and with constant creativity must continue to bring into being. They should increasingly be the leaven for a society inspired by the Gospel, a “city on a hill”, which testifies to the truth and the power of Jesus’ words.

At times, like Elijah and Jonah, you may feel the temptation to flee, to abandon the task of being a prophet because it is too demanding, wearisome or apparently fruitless. But prophets know that they are never alone. As he did with Jeremiah, so God encourages us: “Be not afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you” (Jer 1:8).

3. Men and women religious, like all other consecrated persons, have been called, as I mentioned, “experts in communion”. So I am hoping that the “spirituality of communion”, so emphasized by Saint John Paul II, will become a reality and that you will be in the forefront of responding to “the great challenge facing us” in this new millennium: “to make the Church the home and the school of communion.”[5]I am sure that in this Year you will make every effort to make the ideal of fraternity pursued by your founders and foundresses expand everywhere, like concentric circles.

Communion is lived first and foremost within the respective communities of each Institute. To this end, I would ask you to think about my frequent comments about criticism, gossip, envy, jealousy, hostility as ways of acting which have no place in our houses. This being the case, the path of charity open before us is almost infinite, since it entails mutual acceptance and concern, practicing a communion of goods both material and spiritual, fraternal correction and respect for those who are weak … it is the “mystique of living together” which makes our life “a sacred pilgrimage”.[6] We need to ask ourselves about the way we relate to persons from different cultures, as our communities become increasingly international. How can we enable each member to say freely what he or she thinks, to be accepted with his or her particular gifts, and to become fully co-responsible?

I also hope for a growth in communion between the members of different Institutes. Might this Year be an occasion for us to step out more courageously from the confines of our respective Institutes and to work together, at the local and global levels, on projects involving formation, evangelization, and social action? This would make for a more effective prophetic witness. Communion and the encounter between different charisms and vocations can open up a path of hope. No one contributes to the future in isolation, by his or her efforts alone, but by seeing himself or herself as part of a true communion which is constantly open to encounter, dialogue, attentive listening and mutual assistance. Such a communion inoculates us from the disease of self-absorption.

Consecrated men and women are also called to true synergy with all other vocations in the Church, beginning with priests and the lay faithful, in order to “spread the spirituality of communion, first of all in their internal life and then in the ecclesial community, and even beyond its boundaries”.[7]

4. I also expect from you what I have asked all the members of the Church: to come out of yourselves and go forth to the existential peripheries. “Go into all the world”; these were the last words which Jesus spoke to his followers and which he continues to address to us (cf. Mk16:15). A whole world awaits us: men and women who have lost all hope, families in difficulty, abandoned children, young people without a future, the elderly, sick and abandoned, those who are rich in the world’s goods but impoverished within, men and women looking for a purpose in life, thirsting for the divine…

Don’t be closed in on yourselves, don’t be stifled by petty squabbles, don’t remain a hostage to your own problems. These will be resolved if you go forth and help others to resolve their own problems, and proclaim the Good News. You will find life by giving life, hope by giving hope, love by giving love.

I ask you to work concretely in welcoming refugees, drawing near to the poor, and finding creative ways to catechize, to proclaim the Gospel and to teach others how to pray. Consequently, I would hope that structures can be streamlined, large religious houses repurposed for works which better respond to the present demands of evangelization and charity, and apostolates adjusted to new needs. […]

APOSTOLIC LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS
TO ALL CONSECRATED PEOPLE
ON THE OCCASION OF THE YEAR OF CONSECRATED LIFE
FRANCIS
21 November 2014

See full message:

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_letters/documents/papa-francesco_lettera-ap_20141121_lettera-consacrati.html

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL PARISH – BALLUTA

PARISH NOTICES – SUNDAY 7th October 2018

1.   WE ARE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT MSGR ARCHBISHOP HAS APPOINTED FR. RENALD LOFREDA O. CARM, AS THE NEW PARISH PRIEST OF OUR BALLUTA PARISH.

WHILST THANKING FR. JOE SALIBA FOR HIS PASTORAL WORK AS PARISH PRIEST FOR THESE LAST THREE AND A HALF YEARS, WE CONGRATULATE AND WELCOME THE NEW PARISH PRIEST, AND PRAY FOR HIM.

2.  THIS EVENING AND THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF OCTOBER, at 5.55pm, the Holy Rosary will be recited infront of the Holy Eucharist.  We encourage all those who can attend to take part in this biblical prayer for the needs of the Church, the Missions and Vocations.

3.  ALSO THIS EVENING, at 7.15pm, at Independence Gardens, there will be the recital of the Holy Rosar inforn ot the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes.

4. ON TUESDAY, at 9.30am at the Parish Centre, there will be a meeting OF THE CATHOLIC ACTION.

5. ON FRIDAY, meetings for the Group 60+ will be starting at the Parish Centre.  The first meeting will start with mass at 10.00am. 

6.  ON WEDNESDAY 24th OCTOBER, the St. Julians Local Council will be organising an outing for elderly persons.  More information can be obtained by phoning the Local Council.

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL PARISH – BALLUTA

PARISH NOTICES – SUNDAY 30th September 2018

1.   TOMORROW AND THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF OCTOBER, at 5.55pm, the Holy Rosary will be recited in front of the Holy Eucharist.  We encourage all those who can attend to take part in this biblical prayer for the needs of the Church, the Missions and Vocations.

2.  ON TUESDAY, during the 9.30am Mass there will be the MEMBERSHIP CEREMONY FOR MEMBERS OF THE CATHOLIC ACTION.

3. FRIDAY 5TH OCTOBER 2018 at 9.30am at the Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady in MOSTA, there will be Mass led by Msgr Archbisop to commemorate the Day of Senior Persons.  The theme chosen for this year by Pope Francis is “Old Age is a Time of Grace”.  Transport will leave at 8.30am from infront of the church. Those wishing to attend can list their names and telephone numbers at the sacristy.

4.  NEXT SUNDAY we celebrate Environment Day and Grandparents Day.  On that day we invite children, parents and grandparents to attend the 10.00am Mass which will be with the partecipations of childrena and families.

Also on SUNDAY, at 10.00am, at the Titus Brandsma Centre there will be a meeting for members of the Carmelite Third Order.

5.  The Auxiliary Bishop Msgr Joseph Galea Curmi notifies that this year the Church will be commemorating the 450th Anniversary from the birth of ST ALOYSIUS GONZAGA, a youth who was born in a noble family but who renounced to all material riches.  He became a Jesuit and started caring for victims of plague.  He died at the age of 23.  The Church declared him the patron saint of students and of those with AIDS.  Pope Francis has launched The Jubilee of St. Aloysius Gonzala.  Msgr Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna, has been given permission so that in some churches plenary indulgencies can be gained daily throughout the jubilee year.  The three churches are the Sarria Church in Floriana, the Chapel of St. Aloysius College in Birkirkara, and the Parish Church of Lija.  One can find more information on the notice boards.