For many Catholics, it can be so easy to just treat Mass as something that is simply part of their weekly routine. Some might see it as a chore that they’re required to complete for the sake of getting into Heaven.

I think this problem is only made worse in a world where everyone wants everything on demand and people cannot bring themselves to give more than an hour of their lives to the Lord each week. Even an hour is too much for some who end up seeking out a ‘quick’ Mass. They treat it like something that is necessary yet not incredibly important, like getting lunch from a fast-food place. They want something quick and easy so they can get back to what they want to do.

The lack of respect for God in our modern culture is bad enough as it is in secular society. It becomes more difficult to deal with when we have Catholics who have such a disregard for their faith and merely treat it as a free ticket to eternal life.

That’s not good enough.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is so much more than just a show you have to watch every week. It’s the re-presentation of the selfless sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross on Calvary. It is so Scripturally rich and so breathtakingly beautiful. Every week we are given the privilege of being a part of something that is far greater than us, far greater than we ever will be. It is Heaven on Earth.

The Mass is our taste of what Heaven will one day be like, when, God-willing, we will get to attend the Heavenly Wedding Banquet of Christ the Bridegroom and His Bride, the Church. We are so incredibly blessed to have even a taste of that. God could have left us with nothing when Christ ascended back into Heaven. Instead, He gave us the Mass, so that we could remember and commemorate the sacrifice of His Son for ever until this world passes away.

When we attend Mass, we should dress well. We are the Church, the Bride of Christ. The Mass is the celebration of the Lamb’s Supper, and so we must dress as if we are attending our wedding. That doesn’t mean you have to wear a suit and tie. Just make sure it’s something classy and not something incredibly casual. You’re not going to a football match or the movies or an arcade. You’re participating in the greatest sacrifice the world will ever know, the most beautiful ceremony you will ever attend (and you get to attend it every single week, even every day if you so wanted).

In order to prepare properly for Mass, you should be arriving at least 15-30 minutes beforehand. Getting to Mass in a rush is not going to prepare you well for what you are about to take part in. Arriving early will allow you to spend time sitting or kneeling in silence, bringing yourself into a state of prayer and uniting yourself to God, the Angels and Saints, and all His people. You might spend some time meditating on the day’s Readings, or you might prepare by praying the Rosary and meditating on the Mysteries of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.

Now look, we all have families, and sometimes it can be difficult to arrive early for Mass. Sometimes we’re able to get there just in time. Other times we might arrive after Mass has begun, maybe during the Readings. But we should do the best that we can to arrive at least on time, if not earlier. Arriving early gives us time to speak to God and attune ourselves to His will.

Some Parishes will also have Adoration available prior to Mass, possibly with the Sacrament of Reconciliation available. If this sounds like your Parish, try to go to Adoration so that you can spend more time with Jesus. And, if it’s been a while since your last Confession, visit the Confessional and receive the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness.

There are several things we can do during Mass to really make the most of it and deepen our participation and love for the Sacrifice.

Whenever the name of Jesus is said, we should all bow our heads to show respect and reverence His Holy Name. We should also bow our heads at the appropriate time when professing our faith by saying either the Apostle’s Creed or Nicene Creed. Although worded differently, the moment we bow our heads for each of the Creeds is when we recall the Incarnation. For the Apostle’s Creed, this is when we say “who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.” For the Nicene Creed, the lines we bow our heads for are “and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.” I know it seems like it should go without saying, but it might surprise you how many Catholics don’t know when to bow their heads during the Creed. Some don’t even do it at all.

To be quite honest, I think the use of PowerPoints on projector screens at Mass has not helped the faithful to memorise prayers and actually understand what they are saying when they pray those prayers. That is not to say such PowerPoints cannot be used for hymns. But I think it would be better if they were limited to just the hymns, the Responsorial Psalm and Gospel Acclamation, and possibly the Mystery of Faith (although this could even be omitted, allowing for the Priest himself to choose which Acclamation is said or sung).

I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t really know the Apostle’s Creed until I actually started praying the Rosary and learnt it by heart. I’ll also admit that I am still familiarizing myself with the Nicene Creed, which I still mix up with the Apostle’s Creed. There have been several times that I have started saying the Nicene Creed and ended up transitioning into the Apostle’s Creed. I think there are quite a lot of Catholics who wouldn’t be able to recite the Creed without reading it off a screen. We should all really be able to say it by heart.

During the Liturgy of the Word, we should listen carefully to the Readings, including the Psalm, and the Gospel. We should also try to take heed of what the Priest or Deacon reflects on in his Homily. There might be something you take from the Readings or the Homily that you can implement in your own life to better live a life of virtue.

When the Priest is saying the prayers of consecration, it is appropriate to bow our heads again, particularly when the Priest is repeating the words that Christ said to His Disciples on the night of the Last Supper. When the Priest elevates the Host we can bow our heads, then look up adoringly at the Body of Our Lord, and then bow our heads again. The same is appropriate when the Priest elevates the Chalice containing the Blood of Christ.

When the Priest is saying the Eucharistic Prayer, it’s worth paying attention to what he’s actually saying. The Eucharistic Prayers are so beautiful. While it may not be said as often, Eucharistic Prayer I is a personal favourite. I just love hearing the names of the Saints. The lines, “a pure victim, a holy victim, a spotless victim” are quite powerful as well. Just think about it – Jesus Christ was pure, holy, and spotless. He did no wrong. He was perfect. And yet He was put to death by the same people He had come to save. He gave His life willingly. That right there is selflessness personified.

After receiving Holy Communion, please don’t leave the church straight away. Spend time in prayer thanking the Lord for allowing you to receive Him in the Holy Eucharist. Thank Him for all He has given to you. Bring your prayers and intentions to Him. Talk to Him. He wants nothing more than to talk to you and have a relationship with you.

Some people will even stay and continue praying after Mass has concluded. If you have a few extra prayers to say or haven’t finished saying your regular ones, you can always just kneel there in front of the Tabernacle and pray. If your Parish is lucky enough to have a 24-hour Adoration Chapel, you might like to visit the Chapel following Mass and speak to Jesus more while looking at Him in the Blessed Sacrament.

My final tip for making the most of Mass is this: don’t rush off after Mass is finished. Stick around. Get to know other Catholics you haven’t met before. Be a part of the community. Good Catholic communities build each other up and help each other to grow in their faith. If you leave immediately after Mass, you might not realise what you’re missing out on.

The Mass is such a beautiful gift from God. We are so privileged to be able to take part in it. The incredible thing is that we are not restricted to taking part only once a week on Sundays. We can go to Mass as often as we would like. Most churches have daily Mass. Some even have more than one Mass available each day. Going to Mass is such an amazing way to enrich your faith and grow in love for God, to deepen your relationship with Jesus Christ, to grow in understanding of the Scriptures, and to enhance your prayer life.

We can go to Mass once a week, and that’s fine. But we should be trying to give up more than just a single hour each week for Our Lord. He deserves so much more from us. After all, He gave His life for us so that we might be able to live forever with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Go to Mass as often as you can. But don’t just be a bystander. Be a participant. When the priest offers the sacrifice, offer your own sacrifice within your own heart. We can offer so much to our Lord, and there is no greater occasion on which to do it than at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, when we can unite our sacrifices not only with Christ’s loving sacrifice on the Cross, but with the sacrifices of all those gathered together at the Supper of the Lamb.

May God Bless us all and help us to continue to grow in our devotion and love for the Mass.

I think one of the greatest gifts that God has given us is the ability to adore and spend time in the True Presence of His Son. Jesus Christ did not just come to earth, evangelise, teach, proclaim the Kingdom of God to the people, enter into His Passion, die on the Cross for our salvation, rise from the dead having conquered sin and death, and then ascend back into Heaven and leave us on our own. He is still present on this earth in the Most Blessed Sacrament, residing in Tabernacles in churches and chapels throughout the world.

We have all been provided with the opportunity to go and spend time with Him as often as we would like to.

Many Parishes have a Holy Hour each week, maybe even more than one. where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed in the Monstrance and we all have the chance to spend time with Jesus. A communal Rosary or another set of prayers is often prayed by all in attendance, which is so beautiful and powerful. The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) is usually available during this time. If it has been a while since you have been to Confession, there is no more perfect a time to go than during a Holy Hour when Our Lord is exposed right there in front of you, His arms outstretched in love, waiting to embrace you with mercy and forgiveness. Often, Holy Hours end with a Benediction, a special blessing where the priest blesses those gathered with the Blessed Sacrament, the Divine Praises, and Reposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

It is an incredible experience that all Catholics should try to get to at least once a week. It is one of the best ways to enrich your faith and prayer lives and deepen your relationship with Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Some parishes even have 24-hour Adoration Chapels, which can be visited at any time of the day. If you want to visit one after hours, access is usually available by getting in touch with the Priest or the Parish Office, as a system is often set up to allow the faithful to visit our Lord when they would like to.

We are so lucky to have such Adoration Chapels, as they provide us with an opportunity to visit our Lord whenever we need it, even if it is every single day. If there is a time when we want to go see Jesus and talk to Him, or even just gaze at Him in Adoration, and there are no Holy Hours available, we can just find our nearest 24-hour Adoration Chapel and spend as much time as we want with Christ.

Adoration is something I really wish I had discovered and understood earlier in my life. I only really began to develop a devotion to Holy Hours and Eucharistic Adoration earlier this year. But I’m so glad that I did discover it that night at Mary, Queen of the Family Parish, Blacktown. I can still recall going to the church that Friday evening for Confession, and when I was sitting there in the queue next to the Confessional, I listened as the regular attendees prayed the Rosary together.

At the time, I only really knew the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be prayers for the Rosary. I was never one to really pray it that much, and I wouldn’t have been able to say the Apostle’s Creed, the Fatima Prayer, the Hail, Holy Queen, or the closing prayer of the Rosary without having the words written out in front of me. I couldn’t even remember what the Mysteries for each day were, or which Mysteries were prayed on each day of the week.

But after coming back again and again, and when I began praying the Rosary each day (using a guide on my phone at the time), I was able to memorise all the prayers, even extra ones like the Memorare and the Prayer to St Michael the Archangel, as well as all the Mysteries and which days each were said on.

A Holy Hour drew me towards the Rosary, and the Rosary kept me coming back to Holy Hour each week. Jesus led me to His Mother, and His Mother led me back to Him.

I am so happy to be attending Adoration at least once a week now. Most weeks I go two or three times. It is so important to give time to God and spend time with Jesus Christ. We spend so much time doing meaningless things like scrolling on our phones and watching mind-numbing television programs. There are far too many people who even put sport and other activities above going to church. And Jesus just waits there, in the Tabernacle, for us to come and visit Him.

If we find ourselves saying we ‘don’t have time,’ we should make time to go and see Our Lord. We should take every opportunity we can to spend time in His Presence.

When you go to Adoration, even if you don’t know what to say to Our Lord, even if you don’t have the energy to pray like you usually would, you can simply just kneel there before Him and look at Him. You’ll be looking at Him, and He will be looking at you. There can be an incredible sense of wonder that can wash over you just by gazing upon Him.

I recently visited an Adoration Chapel and just got lost in the moment when I was looking at Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. A lot of the time I’ve noticed that my prayers can become very ‘robotic’ of sorts. I just tend to repeat the same prayers that I say every day. But on this occasion at the Adoration Chapel, after praying my Rosary, I just knelt there, looked up at Jesus, fixed my eyes on Him, and poured my heart out to Him.

I think it was one of the greatest prayer experiences I have ever had. I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be. There have been occasions on which I have been praying various prayers, and have been distracted throughout them, or have taken a look at my watch to see what time it was. But in that moment nothing else mattered. All that mattered was Christ. I became so enamoured with Him in that moment that I didn’t want to look away from Him. It was like everything else around me went out of focus and my focus was solely on Him.

To be quite honest, I did not want to leave. I just wanted to stay there, in that moment, where everything was beautiful and everything was perfect.

God is so good.

On the night Jesus Christ was betrayed and entered into His Passion, He went out to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed. When He returned to where He had left His disciples, He found them asleep.

‘Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”’ (Matthew 26:40-41)

Jesus wants us to spend time in prayer with Him. Going to Adoration is one of the greatest ways to do this. He has given us this gift so that we can grow in our relationship with Him and deepen our love for Him. The least we can do is try to go to Adoration at least once a week, even if it is just for half an hour.

But if you want to really deepen your relationship with Jesus and nourish your own faith and prayer lives, try to get to a Holy Hour each week if you can. Or, if you can’t make a Holy Hour, visit an Adoration Chapel. You can go on your own and just spend time alone with Our Lord, or you could go with your family or even some friends and spend time with Jesus together, growing in faith and holiness together.

Jesus loves us all so much. He loves you so much. And He wants to spend time with you. He is waiting for you to come and visit Him. So go and spend some time with Him. You won’t regret it.

I look around at the world these days and I’m often just taken by the chaos that we’re seeing. There are wars breaking out in a multitude of nations with no sign of ending. There are so many senseless deaths, so much loss of life. There is so much hurt, so much pain, so much grief. There are people who have no sense of morality doing what they think is ‘right.’ So much greed, so much selfishness, so much destruction.

I think it can be so easy to be overwhelmed by the evil and the hurt that has infiltrated and infested our world. Given we live in the world, we are inevitably going to be privy to what is occurring whether we like it or not. And we cannot necessarily stop it from happening. After all, this is a fallen world. There will always be evil dwelling within it, as our concupiscence makes us vulnerable to sin.

I think this is why faith is such a critical element for all human beings to possess.

The world can be so depressing, so disheartening, and can really make us feel so small and insignificant. But we are so much more than just pawns in someone else’s game. We are God’s creatures. Each one of us was fearfully and wonderfully made by our Creator in His own image. How incredible is that, right?

But when we are placed on this earth to live out our earthly lives, God does not control us like a puppet-master. Each one of us is given free will. We are all given the choice to turn towards God and follow Him, or turn away from Him. Our decisions in this life ultimately impact our final, eternal destination in the life to come.

So we can choose to have faith, or we can choose to live without it. But why would we want to live without something that is so incredibly beautiful and enriching?

Faith is quite literally having complete trust or confidence in someone or something. When we have faith, we place our trust entirely in God. We are confident that He will listen to us, that He will hear our prayers, and that He will guide us throughout our lives, leading us to the places that we need to be and the people that we need to have by our side on the journey.

I have wondered on many occasions why people would choose not to have faith, or even why people might lose it. While there are many reasons that an individual may not have faith or may have lost it over time, there is one that comes to the forefront.

I think something people can really struggle with when it comes to faith are the evils of this world. Often, I think it comes down to something like this: If God exists, and if He is so good, why is evil allowed to exist in the world?

The answer to this question can get very complex, but I think it all boils down to one thing: choice.

Evil was brought into the world by a choice made by Adam and Eve to disobey God’s one and only Commandment that He gave to them. At this point, when they were cast out of the beautiful Garden of Eden, God could have just left humanity to their own devices to die off and then try again with a different creation.

Yet, instead, he continued to pursue us. He planned out a way to bring us back to Him. He devised a method for our salvation. God did not have to send His Only Son down to Earth to live among us and then be tortured and die a horrible death. He could have given up on us and spared Jesus Christ from his Passion. But He did not. He loves us all so much that He offered up His Son as a perfect sacrifice so that we would be able to have the opportunity to live in eternal joy and glory with Him in His Kingdom. He wanted us to be able to enter His Heavenly home.

Again, we have the choice to choose good or evil. One of the beauties of faith, however, is that even if we choose evil we can still turn back to God. He wants us to run back to Him like the Prodigal Son ran back to his father. When one of His flock goes astray, He will not give up on us, but will pursue us until He has found us and brought us back into the sheepfold.

The great beauty of faith is that even with everything that is going on around us, even in our darkest moments, there is always someone there that we can turn to. It doesn’t matter where we are, what we are doing, who we are with, or what time of the day it is. He is there waiting for us to talk to Him. It doesn’t matter how far we have fallen or how broken we are. He is there ready to pick us back up and help us to get through whatever challenges we are facing.

Even when the world is so bleak, when wars are being fought, when lives are being lost, when society is so broken and we are so uncertain of what the future holds, faith can provide steady ground to stand upon.

I can attest to this. I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ll say it again. There was a time just a few years ago when I was really struggling with a lot of things. Even though I wasn’t exactly the most devout Catholic at the time, I credit my faith with getting me through that dark period in my life. If I didn’t have my faith, I’m not sure what I would have done, or where I would have ended up. I doubt I would have had the motivation to write something like this.

Praise be to God for getting me through that so I could be here at this point in my life writing this reflection on faith.

I’m sure we have all faced difficult times in our lives. It might have been a tough decision we had to make. We might have battled inner demons and struggled with mental illness. We may have had to deal with addiction, loss, pain, heartache, heartbreak, or even death. We may have struggled to understand why something is happening to us, or even where God is taking us. Some of us might even be experiencing some of these things right this very moment.

These times in our lives are when faith can be the difference between enduring and giving in. Again, we have a choice. We can either give in to all the pressures we are facing and end up letting them define us, or we can have faith that God will get us through what we are going through and endure it, knowing that it will not last forever.

I think something that all Christians must bear in mind is that God isn’t necessarily going to answer our prayers straight away. He might not even answer them in the way we are hoping He will. But, as I noted in my reflection on God’s perfect timing, He will answer them. We just need to have faith that He will and persist in prayer.

I think it is also important to remember that there are probably going to be times when you start to question your faith. This is part of the journey of Christian life. When this does happen, it often helps to consider what your life would be like without your faith. Chances are it’s not going to be much better, if at all, than living with faith.

Just look at Peter. When Jesus called to His Disciple in the boat and told him to step out from the boat and walk across the water to Him, Peter began to undertake this task. But as he began to lose faith that he could actually walk on the water and fear began to creep in, he began to sink into the lake.

‘Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:31-33)

Even when they doubted, even when they were struggling with their faith, Jesus was still there to help His Disciples. And they praised Him for it, their faith strengthening.

God will answer that prayer at the time that you really need it. I have attested to this in my reflections over the past few days, and I will continue to attest to it and praise God for it in many more to come.

Faith is such a beautiful thing to have. As the storm of the world rages around us, it is like a lifeboat keeping us afloat just enough to keep us going until the storm passes.

So keep the faith. Maintain it. Nurture it. Allow it to grow, to consume you. Allow the Holy Spirit to ignite a fire within you. And allow Him to work through you. Share the faith with others and help each other to grow in your faith.

Glory to God for giving us the faith and allowing us to grow in love for Him. He is so, so good to us.

Every year when I sit down to write a ‘Year in Review,’ I reflect on what the most important parts of my year were. I consider what parts of my life had the greatest impact on me, and how I may have impacted others. And I reflect on what lessons I have learned throughout the year. It can be an incredibly sobering experience that really puts what matters most into perspective.

So many people write a ‘Year in Review.’ Honestly, I wouldn’t blame you if you’re sick of reading them. So I’m not going to write a ‘Year in Review.’

Instead, I’m going to share with you my reflections on what 2023 has taught me. It’s not going to be entirely structured . It’s just going to be me reflecting on what I’ve learnt and what matters most to me now.

Change is, I suppose, inevitable. But it’s what we make of it that matters. Earlier this year, I experienced a significant change that, to be quite honest, devastated me. I probably wasn’t the only one who felt like I was experiencing a great loss. In fact, I know I wasn’t the only one. But I think what really made this change difficult to comprehend was that it was taking away something that had really helped me on my own journey the previous year and was continuing to do so.

But you know what? Looking at what happened after that change came about, I feel like there have been such incredible things that have made up for the sense of loss I was feeling earlier in the year.

That change put me in a position where I realised that I wanted to do more. I wanted to serve others as much as I could and help them to grow in their faith.

Ash Wednesday this year was the real turning point for me. It was on this evening, after attending the Sacrament of Reconciliation, that I realised just how beautiful the Rosary was. I began to develop a devotion to Our Lady, who I thank every day for bringing me closer to her Son. I discovered the beauty of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. It never ceases to astound me that we are able to come and spend time in the True Presence of Jesus Christ. It is also so wonderful to know that there are 24-hour Adoration Chapels where Jesus is waiting for us to come and visit Him all the time. I really wish I had understood and truly discovered Adoration earlier in my life, but I know God’s timing is perfect, and He brought me to His Son when I was in need of a greater relationship with Him.

In order to continue to deepen my relationship with Christ, I decided to start going to Mass at least a little more often than just once a week for Sunday Mass. It started with attending a First Friday Mass at Mary, Queen of the Family Parish, Blacktown. I noticed that the parishioners were praying the Rosary together during the time of Adoration, and so I began to pray my own Rosary. I was so happy to be there that I decided to come back the next Friday, and the Friday after that, and so I became a regular attendee of Friday Adoration and Mass at Blacktown.

After some time, I stopped praying my own Rosary by myself and joined in with the other faithful Catholics who were praying it together. I think it was after I read that it is so much more powerful to pray it together, given that when we do it is like an army going into battle against evil.

After a while, I was asked to lead the third decade of the Rosary whenever I was at St Patrick’s on a Friday night. I felt so privileged to be able to not just pray with others, but to lead them in prayer.

But I think the greatest thing to come out of becoming part of the community at MQOF Blacktown is the opportunity I have been given to help out with the youth that are part of the Parish. This has been one of the great highlights of my year, and I feel privileged to have had the chance to get to know such good people.

I think something I really lacked when I was going through a dark period in my life was good solid people to lean on (other than my amazing family, of course!). I feel like I have now found those people.

Last year, I was introduced to two people who I only knew by name as the leaders of the youth at Blacktown Parish. I only really got to know them a little more over the remaining six months of the year, meeting them here and there at events mainly.

It wasn’t until the change occurred this year and I began going to MQOF more often that I really got to know them.

I feel honoured to have been there to witness the beginning of their initiative to get the youth of the Parish to engage more with the Sacraments, running a Victus program every First Friday with Adoration, Reconciliation, Holy Mass, and Fellowship following Mass, often with a great talk to help young Catholics to continue to develop their faith and grow in their love of God.

I felt even more privileged when I was asked to lead the Rosary on these Victus nights. It is such a beautiful experience to lead people in prayer. Being at MQOF and praying the Rosary with others, I have ended up learning prayers that I never knew before, including the Memorare and the Prayer to St Michael the Archangel.

I was also asked to be the Reader at Victus nights for Mass. It is always a privilege to be able to proclaim the Word of God, and I am so grateful to have been able to do so on many occasions.

In doing all of this, I have gotten to know and grown closer with two people who I am truly grateful to God for. Cryste and Blake, I know you’ll read this. So consider this an appreciation post.

Blake worked hard to get the youth established at MQOF. As Youth Minister, he had the task of engaging the youth and providing them with opportunities for formation. One way in particular that he was able to do this was by getting Simon Carrington, a gem of a speaker on Theology of the Body, love, and chastity, to come out MQOF to give a series of talks. It was so heartwarming to see so many young people attending these talks. Simon is a really great guy with such an important message.

While Blake was working behind the scenes to make things happen, Cryste was using the gifts and talents that God has given her to engage and connect with the youth and keep them involved in Parish life. She used her skills to put together engaging content and get the Victus program off the ground.

When Blake departed MQOF Parish, the youth were left without a Youth Minister. Having worked closely with Blake and Cryste, I saw how valuable the work they were doing in the Parish was, how it was having a profoundly positive impact on the youth, how even youth from other Parishes were coming to MQOF for Victus.

Having just returned from the World Youth Day pilgrimage, Cryste and the youth were thrown in the deep end. But even in the face of such a challenge, she stepped up as Youth Coordinator and has volunteered countless hours to enrich the faith of MQOF youth. It has been a great privilege to work alongside Cryste as part of the core team for youth at MQOF and I am in awe of the way she has kept the youth going strong at the Parish and her dedication to serving the Lord. God has truly blessed the youth of MQOF with a brilliant leader.

It would be remiss of me not to make mention of the Annual Christmas Gala at MQOF as well. The youth of the Parish worked so hard and put in so much effort to write, produce, and put on an incredible and entertaining musical built around the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. As someone who has been helping out with the youth for a little while now, I am so proud of what they have accomplished. They are so talented. If you weren’t at the Christmas Gala this year, or even if you were there, you need to come next year. These young people are some of the best and MQOF is lucky to have them.

Blake, thank you for being such a good friend and helping me in my journey of serving the Lord this year.

Cryste, I am so grateful to you for allowing me to be a part of the youth team at MQOF. Thank you for trusting me to help out and serve God by serving the young people of the Parish. And thank you for being such a wonderful companion on my journey of faith this year.

God has truly blessed me, and I am so grateful to Him for these two dedicated servants of God.

To all the youth at MQOF, if you happen to be reading this, thank you for making me feel welcome and part of your community. You are all good people, and it has been so lovely getting to know you all.

It is my hope and prayer that MQOF youth will continue to thrive in 2024 and the years to come.

As I have continued to grow in my faith throughout the year, I made the decision to take up serving at Mass. After undertaking a highly informative and well-run Acolyte course in the Archdiocese of Sydney, I have had the opportunity to serve at several Masses. It is always a special privilege to serve the people of God in any way, especially in the Holy sacrifice of the Mass.

I am also thankful to God for helping me to finally complete my university degree. I have now achieved a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, majoring in Creative Writing and Journalism. And while I am glad to have finished my studies, I must say that I’m not entirely sure that journalism is something I want to pursue anymore. I think that, as a writer, I want to be able to do good rather than just be a part of entertaining people with negativity. I want to be able to give back to the community in some way. I have also developed a great love for the liturgy, which is something I am considering pursuing more. I’m honestly not really sure where I’ll end up at this stage, but I know that God will guide me to where I need to be.

I was just saying to someone the other day that God has a way of placing us where we are needed to continue to build His Kingdom and help bring others to Him, to be His representatives here on earth.

I also had the incredible opportunity to attend the Sydney Catholic Youth Purpose Conference this year, where I had the privilege of hearing both Matt Fradd and Jason Evert speak and got to meet more good and faithful Catholics.

And I also finally got to see my favourite band, OneRepublic, live in concert this year. It was absolutely worth it.

I think for me this year has been one where I have experienced so much growth, especially in my faith and prayer life. It has been a year about building community, about understanding my faith, sharing it with others, and walking alongside them on the journey towards eternal life.

I think it goes without saying that I wouldn’t be where I am today without my family, and I am grateful to God for them. They are always there to support me and I am blessed to have them.

But I think what this year has really taught me is that everyone needs a good community that they can be a part of. For me, that community needed to be faith-based, and I am so happy that I have finally found that community. I am grateful to the community at St Bernadette’s, which will always be my home Parish. I am also grateful to have met some great people at St Paul the Apostle Parish, Winston Hills. But I think what I really needed this year, what I’ve really been looking for, is a good community of young people who love God and want to share the faith with others, and I am so glad to have found that in MQOF Youth.

I feel truly blessed that God has brought certain people into my life, answering the prayers I made back when life wasn’t so great. I understand now that God was listening. He was just making me wait, and I know now that the wait was so worth it.

I am so grateful for these people that God has blessed me with. It has been such a wonderful experience getting to know them more, watching them achieve incredible milestones, and, above all, to grow in holiness with them throughout the year. I hope God will continue to shower us all with blessings in 2024 and beyond.

Glory to God, man. Without Him, without my faith, I really don’t know where I’d be right now. I think that even in the darkest moments of my life, it’s my faith that has been the one thing that has kept me from going over the edge. Faith is such a beautiful thing to have. While we all inevitably fall at times, as is part of our human nature, God is always there to help us back up. He is so good. He loves us so much, even when we are struggling, even when we are at our lowest, even when we have fallen into sin, even when we don’t love Him. He wants us to seek Him out, He wants us to come back to Him when we have fallen, He wants us to love Him even when it’s hard to do so. He wants each one of us to be with Him in His Heavenly Kingdom one day.

God is so good. I’m so glad to actually have a proper relationship with Him now. And I’m so glad to be able to share that with others. I am so unashamedly Catholic, and I have so much love for Our Lord and for Our Blessed Mother and all the Saints. I have done so much reading on the Church and the Saints this year, including reading through the Catechism of the Catholic Church. And while the Church may go through its own struggles and stray from the teachings of Christ at times, I know that we have such a beautiful faith, that God has given us such an incredible gift, and that Jesus Christ has already won the battle against sin and evil.

Viva Cristo Rey!

Thanks be to God for another year.

May God Bless you all.

Many times in life we can become impatient. We know that we only have a limited amount of time on this earth, and so we want things immediately. We struggle with waiting.

Certainly, the culture of instant gratification that has crept into the world does not help with this lack of patience that we have. We feel like we need everything right away, rather than being happy with what we have and having faith that what we desire will come in time.

I think something we really tend to wrestle with God on is timing. When we ask God for something, when we pray for something, we hope that He might respond immediately, or at least very soon after we make our petition. But oftentimes that doesn’t happen. Instead, we find ourselves being made to wait. Sometimes we will pray over and over again for something we would like, or a certain outcome we desire, and yet receive no indication that it will even come to pass.

This is because God does not work on our time. We work on His.

God’s timing is certainly something that can be difficult to understand. Sometimes we will find ourselves waiting for lengthy periods of time before we realise that He has answered our prayer. And this realisation may not come right away when the prayer is answered. It may take some time before we realise what God has done for us.

For example, there may be a time in your life where you find yourself really struggling. It might seem like the world is caving in on you. You lack motivation, your mental health has taken a significant hit, and you want nothing more than to find a shred of true happiness. You pray constantly for this, but the struggles you are facing persist.

While things may begin to get better over time, it is not until maybe two or three years later that you come to the realisation that God has actually answered your prayers from that period of darkness you faced. And that revelation can often come when you least expect it. For example, you might have just had a conversation with people you truly value, and, following this, when you are on your own again, it hits you – God brought these people into your life to answer that prayer you made three years ago when you were struggling to even accomplish anything meaningful.

God’s timing is perfect.

As a Catholic, I know how difficult it can be when God doesn’t seem to be answering your prayers. It can really test your faith. There have been times throughout my life that I have questioned God, when I have simply asked ‘Why?’ There are moments when you wonder if God is really listening, if He can really hear what you are saying, what you are asking, what you are pleading for. There might even be times when you wonder if it is even worth praying when your prayers seem to go unanswered.

I think that when we experience something difficult to deal with, most often a loss of some sort, we struggle to understand why God would allow this to happen to us. This struggle can be compounded if we have prayed for a different outcome, which we likely have done.

It is difficult for us as mere human beings to truly understand the will of God and His timing. We may never be able to truly comprehend the reasoning behind a loss we have faced, at least not until we meet God face-to-face. And yet, even then, we will be so enamored by His beauty that understanding the reasons behind the losses we faced in our earthly lives will no longer matter.

But while we are on this earth, we will inevitably continue to search for answers to these central questions of life. And so it is probably worthwhile to at least attempt to answer the question of loss and ‘unanswered’ prayers.

I think God allows us to experience such losses because He wants us to grow to love Him more. And yes, I know that sounds strange. Why would God want us to struggle if He wants us to love Him more? Won’t our struggles make it harder to love God, given He is allowing us to endure them?

In our limited human understanding of God, such a reason is difficult to comprehend. But I truly believe that this is what God is attempting to do by permitting us to endure difficult periods in our lives. Through our struggles, He is purifying us. He is allowing us to grow, deepening our faith and love for Him.

Because true happiness does not come without suffering.

All of this, the waiting, the suffering, and the cathartic moment of joy that follows, originates in the days of old. It dates back to the time of Abraham, with whom God made a covenant, promising him that he would be the father of many nations, and that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the night sky and the grains of sand on the seashore. Abraham and Sarah waited many years to have a child, each being put through trials of faith by God before they finally had a son in Isaac.

However, the waiting for the fulfillment of the covenant God made with Abraham continued for a long time. The people of Israel waited for centuries for the promise to be fulfilled, and so it was when Jesus Christ came down from heaven and humbly assumed our own human form. But in order for the fulfillment of the Scriptures to come to pass, Christ had to suffer immensely, being imprisoned, scourged, crowned with thorns, and made to carry a heavy cross a great distance (estimated to be approximately 600 metres, including up steps and mountainous terrain) before being nailed to the cross and left to die.

At the time, Christ was not the only one who was suffering. His Mother, Mary, and His disciples were all struggling with the loss of their Son and friend. Even though the Blessed Mother knew that her Son was going to endure great suffering and death, it did not lessen the grief she felt upon seeing what was happening to Him.

Yet that suffering turned into great joy when Christ rose from the dead having conquered sin and death and winning for us the opportunity to spend eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven with Him.

Again, God’s timing was perfect.

The suffering we endure in our own lives is nothing compared to the suffering that Christ endured for us. But that does not mean that it is any less difficult to deal with. When we are going through such difficult times, we should do our best to continue to pray, to continue to talk to God, and to unite our suffering with Christ’s suffering on the Cross.

Eventually, in God’s time, we will experience that cathartic moment where we realise that He has been listening, and He has answered our prayers, just maybe not in the way we expected.

God is so good. His timing is perfect. And He truly loves us, even when we may not be able to see it.