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Welcome
Welcome, and thank you for visiting St Agnes' Catholic Church, Highett online. We hope that our website highlights the wide variety of worship, fellowship and service opportunities available. Please feel free to read more about our church on this site, or come in for a visit. We would love to greet you and share with you our love for Jesus Christ and for you, our neighbor.
Our Mission
We believe that the door to salvation is always open and so are the doors to our church. Our mission is to be fully devoted to Jesus by opening our arms to those in search of the truth. We show God’s love and concern for our fellow man at every opportunity. Through works of charity and opening our doors to listen and love, we feel that we are walking in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.
Sacraments
The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "Christian initiation is accomplished by means of the sacraments which establish the foundations of Christian life. The faithful born anew by Baptism are strengthened by Confirmation and are then nourished by the Eucharist."
Baptisms:
Are during the 10 am Mass on Sundays by appointment .
Enquires are to be directed to the Parish Office.
Mass Times
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament: SUSPENDED
Weekend: SUSPENDED
Saturday Vigil 6pm
Sunday 8am &10am
Weekday: SUSPENDED
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 9am
Wednesday: 9 am Communion Service
Special Devotions: SUSPENDED
Friday after 9am Mass
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament,
Novena, Benediction
Reconciliation: SUSPENDED
Saturday 5.15pm to 5.45pm by appointment
Any additional services will be announced on our notice board and on our website.
Latest News & Events
MESSAGE FROM FR ALAN FOX
Dear Parishioners of St Agnes,
In this most challenging of times and circumstances, we do our best to turn to the Lord for reassurance and well-being. The scene we have before us in this week’s Gospel, of the disciples battling a heavy sea and headwind, while Jesus remains on the mountain, i.e. not with them, reflects something of the story of God’s people struggling against forces that threaten to engulf them. The disciples became acutely aware of the Lord’s physical absence. Wind and water out of control are consistent images of chaos and destruction in biblical thought.
In some ways we too are battling a storm, of sorts, one that threatens to engulf many, not least of all on the psychological significance of the challenge. COVID-19 has us all on edge, ordered to stay home, or should essentials be required, we’re permitted to venture just a short distance from our homes to acquire these.
My thoughts turn particularly to those who live alone, and whose family members live some distance away. The thought of not seeing those they love, face to face, with some regularity over these weeks ahead is a difficult one. Ordinarily, family members living some distance away would not be a problem, particularly given modern means of transport, however under the current restrictions surrounding movement, things are not so straightforward. Permits are required for many workers to carry out their work, but only if they must leave their homes to do so.
These are such strange circumstances, and we must think of, and pray for, those locally and abroad, who are suffering from the ravages of this virus, for their loved ones, and for all those endeavouring to assist them, particularly the doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals working on the front line of this response. This is such an alien situation in which we find ourselves, an exile, as such, from what we might otherwise consider to be normal! But as the authorities keep reminding us, we now have ‘a new normal’!
I’m reminded of Psalm 137, where the Israelites, in exile in Babylon, wept as they remembered Zion, asking the question, when their captors asked them to sing, “How can we sing the Lord’s song, in an alien land?”
Let our belonging to the Lord, to the people he calls His own, the communities of faith to which we belong, and His presence known to us in His Word, reassure us that the Lord, while not physically present to us, is not far from us, even in the midst of this present storm. Our Judeo-Christian story consistently reminds us that our God does not abandon us. Let’s continue to ask God to once again come to the aid of all, and to strengthen us and afford us His comfort and peace.
We have a long tradition within the life of the Church, God’s people, of praying for one another, something we can continue to do even with, and especially because of, the challenges currently before us. We’re not singing the Lord’s song for any captors, we do so to reassure one another of the hope we find in the faith we share, together trusting that the Lord is never far from us, helping us to look beyond this time of storm to a time where we can gather at the Lord’s table once again.
Please God, we’ll remain safe and well, do remember to check up on, and touch base with, your fellow parishioners, and let’s continue to pray for one another.
Take care and God bless,
Fr Alan
P.S As directed by the Archdiocese, all Parish offices are closed, so please, if you have any non-urgent correspondence that you wish to deliver, please hold on to it until after lock-down is over. We want everyone to be safe.
Again, if you need to get in touch with me, for any reason, I can be contacted via email: alan.fox@cam.org.au or by phoning: 9583 6161 (Cheltenham Parish).
Weekly Parish Bulletins
NOTICE
THE HALL IS CURRENTLY NOT FOR HIRE