Dear parishioners of Corio and Lara,
Before I commence my four weeks of annual leave on Monday, I wanted to share some thoughts on two important aspects of parish life.
Mass schedule ideas.
“If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do the builders labour,” (Ps 127:1). Fruitful evangelisation and works of charity must flow from prayerful friendship with the Lord Jesus. With this in mind, one of my priorities for this first year of my appointment to Corio Lara is increasing the availability and accessibility of the sacraments and devotions.
From last weekend, the Vigil Mass moved to 5.00pm. I am grateful to those parishioners who regularly attend the Vigil Mass for their flexibility and openness to this adjustment. The Mass was well attended last weekend.
Since arriving in the parish, several parishioners have asked about the possibility of introducing a regular Sunday night Mass. I am aware that there is no longer a Sunday night Mass available in Geelong. The closest Sunday night Mass is Werribee! I am very open to considering this request. In the long term, I think a Sunday night Mass will help grow the parish and provide a way for families from the region to more easily commit to regular Sunday Mass attendance. At the same time, I am concerned that introducing a Sunday night Mass might dilute attendance at our Sunday morning Masses and have a negative effect on the spirit of fellowship that has been built up on Sunday mornings. I am also conscious of the need to ensure the Mass is celebrated well, with a full compliment of readers and especially musicians. While I am away, take some time to think over the pros and cons of a Sunday night Mass. When I return from holidays, I will seek your feedback with a view to possibly introducing a Sunday night Mass later in the year.
I am also thinking about making a couple of adjustments to the weekday Mass schedule from the beginning of August. Currently, a Saturday morning Mass is celebrated at Corio on the first Saturday of the month. From the beginning of August, I am open to celebrating this Mass every week. Since this would mean an extra weekday Mass at Corio, I am also open to moving the Friday morning Mass to Lara each week. This would mean that Corio would have weekday Masses on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, while Lara would have weekday Masses on Wednesday and Friday.
Finally, I am contemplating moving the Tuesday morning Mass into the evening (around 5.30pm, with the Holy Hour following at 6.00pm). Over the last five months, I have found that I often need to be in the parish on Sunday afternoons and evenings. This need will only increase if a Sunday night Mass is introduced. This means I am not easily able to get back to Melbourne to visit family and friends on my day off. Moving the Tuesday Mass into the evening would enable me to have at least one night a week (Monday night) away from the parish for rest.
Finances.
Another goal for the year is bringing stability and order to the parish finances. Last week I met with our Parish Finance Committee for the second time this year. The existing members are Bernard Lewis from Corio and Maricar Mesoga from Lara. We welcomed Jo-Anne Dean from Lara and Gerard Rowan from Corio as new members. Jo-Anne brings expertise in accounting, while Gerard brings expertise in business and IT. At the beginning of August, I will present parishioners with a Parish Finance Statement for 2023 and the first half of 2024.
Please be assured of my prayers over these coming weeks.
Fr Marcus Goulding