St Mary’s Website
Welcome to the St Mary’s website, here you will find information on the community, read about upcoming events, view liturgies, share comments and feedback with us and view an archive of amazing homilies. Take the time to sign up for our weekly e-news on the left. Also have a look through the four sections above and make sure to visit back regularly!
– St Mary’s Web Team
04/12/2009 at 10:22 am Permalink
Hello there, I’m looking for a Christmas Eve service at St Mary’s in Exile – what are the details please.
In peace, namaste, Rosemarie
10/12/2009 at 1:12 am Permalink
Hello,
I lived in Brisbane for 2 years and went to your services twice.
I love the Catholic church and have an open mind. I feel it is sad that you have chosen to self impose an exile on your community, when there is room in the church for everyone. Yes, including gay and divorced people. But you can´t welcome gay people unless you recognize that homosexuality itself is wrong. Otherwise you are fooling everyone- gay people and your self.
What is the need to change the liturgy so that it becomes alien, to our universal church? If you sing the Australian hymn with different lyrics, would it still be the Australian hymn?
In any community- including yours- there are elements of identity that hold it together, that make it what it is. That is the case of the liturgy, of the baptism formula for the church.
Why try to give the impression that only you work in social justice? I met many parishes in Brisbane that work with refugees, homeless, etc. Why look for the differences with the “institutional church” instead of looking for the common things with this parishes? Why being negative instead of positive ?
I met many holy priests in my life. Fr. Peter gave me the impression of being one. Sadly, he has lead you away from the church, unnecessarily. You could do all the good things that you do without changing your identity and your place in the church.
You are always welcome back. Learn more about the church. We all aknowledge its failures and miseries. But there is soooo much room for styles, ideas and ways. All within a frame worked over centuries. Within our tradition. Please come back from your exile.
Your brother in Christ,
Bernardo from Bolivia
11/12/2009 at 7:55 pm Permalink
Could I just comment that most Catholics have completely left the RC Church. Something like 10% go to mass and in the 20-40 age group it is even lower at around 6%. This is taken from those who still officially call themselves Catholic on the census. The figures would be much lower if we were to include those who no longer call themselves Catholic. So, is there something missing here? Could it be that Rome is still stuck in a cosmology of 2000 years ago?