We look forward to welcoming Fr Benedict Lee as the new Parish Priest for Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Palmyra. He is currently the Parish Priest of St Joseph’s Bassendean. He was ordained in Perth in 2002 and has served previously in Scarborough and Wanneroo parishes.

Fr Benedict Lee will start at Our Lady of Fatima on Wednesday 11th Jan 2023 after Fr Francis completes his tenure after 23 years of service.

We thank Fr Francis and wish him well as he begins his next chapter.  We hope to see him in May to celebrate his 50 years of ordination if not sooner.

THE BIRTH OF JESUS, THE MOTHERHOOD OF MARY, AND THE FATHERHOOD OF JOSEPH 
All world’s miracles begin with the birth of a child and the motherhood of the mother, and the fatherhood of the father. 
Motherhood here is used in its literal and metaphorical sense: every woman has the potential 
to be a mother whether or not she is gifted with biological motherhood. Every woman, to a 
satisfactory degree is instinctively maternal with care and concern for the child. 
When the Christian world talks about needing a saviour in the child Jesus, it is affirming, sometimes unthinkingly, the need to acknowledge the metaphor that only as a child, can we 
change and save ourselves and the world. 
The second element, which must be present in any salvific mission is motherhood. Without 
the love, care, compassion, kindness, patience,  of motherhood, salvation is impossible. 
The third element, which is inextricably linked to motherhood is the fatherhood of every man, 
with the ability to reason and reflect properly on such awkward moments as can stand in the 
way of salvation. There are many such moments. 

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
It is only the person who can read the signs of the times who can understand that history repeats itself everyday in our lives, in our families, in our societies, in our world.  
History repeats itself because human beings have short memories. After a disaster has occurred, generations who have not known the pain and suffering of the preceding generations cannot see an approaching disaster unless they have taken seriously the historical lessons of such preceding disasters. 
It requires honesty to admit to oneself that if human beings behaved badly and continue to 
behave badly, they would attract certain consequences to themselves and to others. When such consequences occur, innocent people are caught up in other peoples’ intransigence and intolerance. 
The evidence of history is that once love is eclipsed in men and women’s hearts, the world 
descends into an avalanche of hatred and nonlove. It is the sort of carelessness, which creeps upon men and women in times of forgetfulness. In order to avoid the historical consequences of human carelessness, there are simple but difficult things we all must do: respect people and their non-harmful beliefs; respect people and how they have turned out from their mothers’ womb; respect people and their non-harmful cultural beliefs; respect people’s lawful property and possession. By all means do no harm. 
“Mind your business”, as St Paul tells us in some of his letters, for example, in Ephesians 
4:28

Solo Exhibition and Website Launch by Yusef Hourani
Sunday 30th October 2022 at Our Lady of Fatima Church, Palmyra 2.00 pm till 5.00pm
Free Entry All are Welcome!
According to Yusef: “This will be my first solo exhibition in Perth after returning from Florence and I am looking forward to sharing what I have been working on since coming back. I would love to see you all there”

HUMILITY
Humility is knowing one’s place and keeping it: 
The biblical scholar, William Barclay, has a record of the saying of Rabbi Ben Jochai, a famous Rabbi of second century CE (Common Era): On one occasion, Rabbi ben Jochai said: “If there are only two righteous men in the world, I and my son are these two; if there is only one, I am he.” 

Humility is never to blame God when I fail: It is rather to know that my place in life is to work hard to succeed. 

“Humility is to keep your head when all about you are loosing theirs and blaming it on you. (Ruyard Kipling—hereafter, RK) 

“Humility is to trust yourself when all men [and women] doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too.” - RK 

Humility is to wait  and not be tired by waiting.” - RK. 

It is to be hated, [but] not give way to hating.” - RK 

“It is to dream and not make dreams your master.” RK 

“It is to meet with Triumph and disaster,  And treat those two imposters just the same.”- RK 

Every responsible human being ought to feel the weight of history on their shoulders. What occupies such consciences is the awareness of the urgency of not being an obstacle in anyone’s path. Scandal to any man, woman or child is to be avoided.
This means that what such consciences hand down to progeny is the truth and nothing but the truth. And with each day, which emerges, there is a fresh opportunity to examine the truth again and again to make assurances doubly sure that the truth one has spoken stands. This is especially true when we are imparting religious truth. Religious truth also touches on our social and political lives.
Because there are many opinions on religious truth, there is only one way to test the truth of these opinions, and it is a simple, uncomplicated test. It is this: What is its practical effect or result, for the soul? Does a religious statement, or story or command inspire me to love my neighbour as I love myself in every sense of the word, love, as Paul the Apostle puts it in (2 Corinthians 13: 1-13). Every doctrine of the Church is trying to say the same thing except for those times when the zeal of some interpreters lose that love of self and neighbour in translation.
There are, of course, stories and statements, which have been designed to appeal to our human psychology; that is, such stories or statements are there to strengthen people’s faith by appealing to what humans desire to see or believe or feel. The problem with these latter truths is that what makes one person feel good is not what makes another feel good.

Dives And Lazarus - Spiritual Burden and Spiritual Waste
When we declutter, we feel lighter; and people declutter all the time. Here in Australia, households declutter all the time. Every suburb in the city or town is allocated a day in a year in which everyone is encouraged to leave out on the verge or on their front lawn those household items, which they no longer need or simply want to discard. But it always turns out that what one person discards another picks up as an item with which to redecorate their house. Thus the saying goes: “one person’s trash is another’s treasure.”
The problem with Dives as with many people, is that they want to hold on to the items that have flayed on the edges, past-their-use-by-date, no longer needed in the household, best for the rubbish-bin.
The sin of Dives is not his wealth, it is not his “gluttony and the gourmet feeding on exotic and costly dishes,” which was his daily practice. It is his unwillingness to discard that which was no longer useful to him, and which would eventually end up in his trash-can.
In the days of Jesus, people ate with their hands for there were “neither knives, nor forks, nor napkins.” In wealthy homes, therefore, people cleaned their hands with hunks of bread, and then the bread was discarded as trash. It was this bread used for cleaning hands that Dives was unwilling to make available to Lazarus.
One person’s pleasure, can become his spiritual undoing, which denies another her own pleasure.

Here are a few updates from Our Lady of Fatima School for the final week of Term 3:
• It was wonderful coming together as a whole on Wednesday of Week 9 for the finals of Fatima’s Got Talent. This involves students nominating themselves with their special talents to present to their classmates and then one or two performers are selected for the finals. And what a diverse number of talents that we witnessed - amazing music performances, dance and gymnastics and even comedy!
• After a false start, we held our school Athletics Carnival on Thursday in Week 9. Although the weather was gusty and we experienced a bit of rain, it was a fantastic day and we saw excellent performances and beautiful examples of sportsmanship. We are grateful to Seton Catholic College for providing the venue, as well as supporting us with their efficient, well-mannered and helpful students who assisted on the day.
• Tuesday was a special day for our school community, as we held our Open Afternoon. This provides an opportunity for parents and grandparents to come into classrooms and see the fabulous work that students have been doing. A massive thank you to the staff for their hard work in preparing this for families.
• We wish all our students, parents and staff a safe and happy school holidays!

The Rosary on Wednesday 7th September was very moving and uplifting. Before the Rosary
we unveiled the beautiful painting of Our Lady of Sorrows painted and donated to the Parish by young local artist Yusef Hourani.

Yusef gave a brief but very inspiring talk on his inspiration and insights into his painting. He explained the pose, the positioning of her hands, the dark background, the expression on her face. In essence the style of the painting presents a timeless and ever relevant image for our lives. We can draw solace and comfort from spending time with Mary, in our times of sorrow and hardship. All who attended were moved and impressed with Yusef’s talk.

In 2023 our Parish turns 100 and as it happens to be, Father Francis' golden anniversary of ordination. The inaugural celebration is on the 13th May, which is the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. 

If you would like to particiapte in planning and coordinating events for this special celebration year please contact Stefano Zagami [email protected] or any member of the Parish Council.

Look out for updates from the Organising Committee here and on our Facebook page. All are welcome to get involved and share their ideas.

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK
Stay in touch via the Our Lady of Fatima Facebook page. 

Please visit the Parish Facebook page via this link https://www.facebook.com/OLOFParish/ and like our page to receive update notifications.
We’d love your feedback: so, kindly leave a comment.

You do not need to be a Facebook member to view the page or watch the videos, but you do need to join to leave comments or receive update notifications.

Due to health concerns and other reasons not all of our Parishioners have returned to mass following the COVID lockdown. If you or a loved one would like to stay connected and receive a phone call from the Parish Council please register your interest with the Parish office.  
Someone from the Parish Council will give you a call to say hello, give you an update on the Parish and answer any questions you may have. Please share this opportunity with anyone you think might need it and email [email protected] or phone 93391298 to register your interest.

Enjoy a cuppa after 9:00am Mass each Monday in the Parish Hall. All are welcome!

MY JESUS, I believe that you are in the Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things, & I long for You in my soul. Since I cannot now receive You Sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. As though You have already come, I embrace You and unite myself entirely to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

If you have updated your address or contact details recently please update the Parish office so we can keep in touch.

To update your contact details or register for electronic communications email [email protected] or phone 93391298.