O Holy Night! God's stars were brightly shining this Friday night at our Young Adults evening as He worked so beautifully and boldly in our hearts as we welcomed new friends, shared home cooked meals, laughed together, prayed together, listened to the spirit, reflected and spoke bravely of personal testimonies and profound moments (especially the little moments) in our relationship with God. He transforms our ordinary into the extraordinary everyday - it is up to us to say

We celebrated our last Healing and Anointing Mass for the year on Friday 6 December 2019. Fr John and Christine provided a beautiful liturgy and our wonderful Grade 5/6 children joined our parishioners at mass. We try to give lunch after the December Healing Mass a bit of festive spirit and this one had it in spades. Our beautiful parishioner Marietta once again made two huge dishes of her homemade lasagna - always such a treat. One of the highlights was the arrival of the Gr

Last Wednesday, I attended a Parent Information Evening at De La Salle College. My son, Jeremy, is transitioning to Year 9 attending the newly refurbished campus of De La Salle at the former Holy Eucharist School. At the start of the evening, as is customary at De La Salle events, we began with a prayer. The director of the campus told us that the "Prayer For Change" was one that the boys prayed together on this, their first day at the campus transitioning from Year 8 to Year

"Dear friends, The Australian Catholic Youth Festival is a place where young people can gather to share faith and celebrate the vitality of the Catholic Church in Australia. You will meet with Church leaders, encounter the Sacraments, and discover God’s love for you and how you are called to be a disciple. Together, let us 'listen to what the spirit is saying'" - Peter A Comensoli, Archbishop of Melbourne With one week to go until I fly off to Perth for my pilgrimage, I beg

Last weekend I attended our weekend masses for the launch of our Service and Support Program which gives a fresh approach to our annual thanksgiving program. Our wonderful parishioners, Adrian and Carlo, talked about our exciting new Program, including how we have finally embraced the technological age with options for cashless payments. Parishioners can now support the parish via Tithe.ly, a secure downloadable app and via our 'Tap and Go' machines - for those times you arri

Red Wednesday is an initiative by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) dedicated to creating awareness and support for persecuted Christians throughout the world. From Wednesday 20-27th Cathedrals and churches across Australia will be lit red in solidarity to our brothers and sisters in Christ. On Wednesday 20th, St Patrick's Cathedral will be lit red with a display held for the week on the South East Corner of the entrance. Archbishop Comensoli will be celebrating mass at St John

On November 1st, the young women of our parish gathered again, joined by Fr John who gave an enlightening reflection on the gospel story of Martha and Mary. Fr John helped us draw light on both the positive and negative qualities of Martha and Mary and how together they have potential to balance eachother out. "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another" Proverbs 27:17. We shared our own experiences of the Martha and Mary in us all and the way in which we invite Je

On Saturday 26th October 2019 a parish retreat was held at St Joseph’s Hall in Port Melbourne. This was a spiritually enriching day where 16 of us from the parish came together to reflect, talk, listen, share, collaborate, meditate, delve and reach into our inner selves. Fr John facilitated the retreat’s activities with the help of Christine Mitchell, our Pastoral Associate. After our usual introductions, Fr John began the day’s proceedings telling us about his recent visit t

What a fruitful time it has been! On the first Friday evening of September, and again in October, the young women of Sacred Heart and St Columba have gathered to share not only a meal, but their faith and friendship. This is a monthly event that we hope to continue into the New Year, focusing on a particular faith theme or topic for the season, nuturing our youth in community, faith and formation. Each evening the guests arrive early with gifts of food in their hands and leav

We are looking for a few volunteers with talents and gifts to share as the PLDT establish a new committee to support the Parish with fundraising and communication. Bloggers and Intagrammer’s who would like to help share content and create discussions about the work of our parish People with fundraising experience or great at organising events If you have website design, app or graphic design experience, that would be great also or Simply you have a passion for service within

"...for I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me; sick and you visited me; in prison and you came to see me" Matthew 25: 35-36.> The Mission’s story began in St Kilda in 1982, when Parish Priest Father Ernie Smith opened his door and shared a meal with a man who was hungry and experiencing homelessness. It was this first act of generosity which led to the formation of Sacred Hear

We are thrilled to announce a new Youth Minister, India Mitchell-Fletcher "For those who have not known me since I was a baby at St Columba, my name is India and I am offering an invitation to all the young people not only of our parish, but of our community, schools, families and friends to join me in building a youth family to support one another in our lives understanding Jesus’ call, and contribute our gifts for mission in our community and beyond. For now, I am taking ba