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ST BERNADETTE'S

Catholic Parish

Weekly Bulletins (click to view):

ST BERNADETTE’S PARISH BULLETIN (22-23 JAN)

St Bernadette's Catholic Parish, Dundas Valley, is under the pastoral care of the Friars of St Francis.

Sunday Obligation reinstated
From 15 December 2021 Catholics in the Diocese of Parramatta who were dispensed from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass due to the Covid-19 crisis are once again required to fulfill the Sunday obligation.

Parish Priest: Fr Christopher F.S.F
Assistant Priests: Fr Ruben F.S.F & Fr Benedict F.S.F.

Sacramental Coordinator: Frances Zore
Parish Secretary: Joanne Habib

Address: 1 Cox Crescent Dundas Valley NSW 2117
Postal: P.O. Box 248 Oatlands NSW 2117
Phone: 02 9871 4414
Email: neversdv@bigpond.com

Weekend Mass Times:
Saturday Vigil: 6.00pm
Sunday: 8.00am & 10.00am.

Weekday Mass Times:
Tuesday: 9.00am
Wednesday: 7.30am
Thursday: 9.00am
Friday: 9.00am
Saturday: 7.30am

Sacrament of Reconciliation: Saturday 5.00 - 5.45pm
Thursday (during Holy Hour) 5.15pm - 5.45pm. Please note that holy hour with confessions (on Thursday) are cancelled during the Christmas season until 27 Jan.

Please come early so you don't miss out. It is not possible for the priest to remain in the confessional after 5.45pm.

Live-streamed Masses: For the time being, weekday and Sunday Masses (8AM) will continue to be live-streamed HERE

Holy Hour and Exposition: Thursdays, 5.00pm - 6.00pm.
Begins with Vespers (evening prayer of the Church) and finishes with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Confessions are available during holy hour from approx 5.15 - 5.45pm (Regular holy hour with confessions resume on Thursday, 27 January, 2022)

All Night Adoration: First Friday of each month, from 8.30pm throughout until Saturday morning, concluding with Benediction at about 7 am.

Sunday School: N.B. Catechism classes were suspended when the lockdown began in June, 2021. We hope to resume the lessons at the beginning of the new school year in 2022. 11am. For school students in years K-12, in three distinct groups: infants, primary and high-school ages. Held in St Bernadette's Primary School. Includes catechism and Scripture lessons beginning at 11am and finishing by 12pm on Sundays during school term. Inquires: Please contact Fr Ruben.

Infant Baptism
Please book with the parish secretary. Baptisms held every third Sunday of the month at 11.30am.

Sacrament of Matrimony and Weddings
Please give at least 6 months notice.

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Volunteering in our Parish

There are many ministries and support activites that underpin the successful running of St Bernadette's Parish. Would you consider putting your talents to charitable service and join our wonderful team who volunteer their time for building up our parish church and community?

For more information about our Parish Stewardship Program, please download the stewardship-programme leaflet, where you familiarise yourself with the many activites and services undertaken by the parish. If you would like to volunteer for one or more ministries, please complete the form and return to the parish office.

May God bless you and reward you for all your efforts toward building up the Body of Christ.

St Bernadette's Youth Ministry

About 

St Bernadette's Youth Group is a ministry for young disciples of Jesus Christ from the ages of 12-35. It consists of four groups:

  1. Younger teens - years 6-8
  2. Older teens - years 9-12
  3. Young adults 18-35 (Parish based group)
  4. Catholic central 18+ (Regional large group)

The focus of each of our groups and their activities is to make available to the young people of this generation the freedom to access limitless goodness and grow to their full potential of happiness by growing closer to God in the company of friends. 

Our goal is to foster attentive care and personal connection amongst each and every member so that each of us can more easily and truly grow closer to our Greatest Friend, Jesus Christ. 

We aim to: 

  • Build lifelong disciples 
  • Provide solid faith formation
  • Promote growth in all facets of the human person - spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional, artistic & social.
  • Involve parents and families 

What is it we do?

Teens

Every month our group offers the following:

  • Life night: Faith Formation answering the 'whats and the whys' of life and God and the world within the setting of amazing food, great company and lots of fun!
  • Social outing: Friendship with Christ and others in the context of a fun outing. We have been to: the movies, ice skating, laser-tagging, winter fest, disco, games night, karaoke, escape room, kayaking, Putt-Putt Golf, bowling, bushwalking, beaches... with more to follow!
  • Sports afternoons and interparish competitions 
  • Community service: As disciples of Christ, we minister to our Lord in the guise of the sick, poor and needy (Visiting Allowah Children's Hospital, assisting the Manning Foundation serving the poor, and Heaven on Wheels feeding of the homeless)
  • Prayer formation, communal eucharistic adoration and Youth Mass. This includes assisting in feasts such as Corpus Christi, the Novena of St Francis, Christmas and Easter. We also offer a yearly spiritual retreat to go deeper in their prayer lives.
  • Youth Choir: cultivating musical and singing skills for the glory of God and offering opportunities both in mass, adoration and concert settings to develop their performing and presentation.

Young Adults

Every fortnight we offer opportunities for the young adults in our parish to come together in friendship to share great experiences and conversations, with Jesus and each other. 

'Catholic Central'

Under the guidance of the Friars of St Francis, Catholic Central was established for the purpose of reaching out to and engaging with the Catholic community in order to promote, facilitate and support their efforts in living out the universal call to holiness (Mt 5.48). 

We meet fortnightly on a Sunday night ( Look out for the events for dates!) at St Bernadette’s Dundas Valley, starting at 6pm for Confession and Adoration, followed by a talk/ workshops on formation from 7pm until 8:00pm ( see events for talk details). 

Catholic Central is based on five pillars:

  1. Sacred Scripture: We recognise the centrality of the revealed Word of God in the Catholic tradition.
  2. Sacred Tradition: We look to the Sacred Tradition that has been passed down to us along with Scripture as a source of transmission of the Word of God as entrusted to the apostles by Jesus and through the Holy Spirit (c.f. CCC 81).
  3. The Magisterium of the Church: We trust in the authority of the Church and the ongoing guidance and protection of the Holy Spirit in the interpretation, development and transmission of doctrine, spirituality, and moral and social teaching in the service of both Scripture and Tradition (c.f. CCC 85-86).
  4. Prayer: We understand prayer to be inseparable from the Christian life as a source of nourishment to “animate us at every moment”, and as an expression of love for the Persons of the Trinity and for all our brothers and sisters. (c.f. CCC 2697, 2744-45).
  5. Sacraments: A rich sacramental life and the accompanying graces received are fundamental to a lived Catholic faith and our efforts should therefore both proceed from and lead to frequent and active participation in the sacramental life of the Church.

Please contact Fr Benedict (brbenedictfsf@bigpond.com) for all enquiries.