ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE REPORT
Each year, St. Dominic’s and St. Catherine’s in Melton invite community radio to broadcast Christmas Mass live. This year, Melton community radio 979fm broadcast Mass came from the new school hall at St. Catherine of Sienna Primary School in West Melton.
By Bill Lucas
St. Dominic’s Parish, Melton.
The true spirit of Christmas may be getting lost in this modern world of commerce and self-indulgence but at St Dominic's Parish in Melton it couldn't be clearer.
The need to be politically correct in multicultural Australia means that the link between the holiday season and all its festivities and the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus is becoming more tenuous each year.
Even decorations in the streets of our cities and towns are becoming as far removed as possible from any display of religion so as to leave us wondering why we are in fact taking time off from work, spending thousands of dollars on gifts and eating until we can’t stomach any more.
As a recent visitor to China I can see the parallel between Christmas and the various festivals which come and go there with their colourful but quite meaningless decorations that go up for a short time but soon disappear as the city gets back to making ends meet.
Probably we should ponder why retailers have come to rely on Christmas spending for their very existence; no Christmas spend up, no more business. Christmas seems to have become just another festival for the shops to change decor, disguise the real prices of goods and go after the last dollar of hard working families.
Thank heavens for the Church. At least here we can forget about whom we have left off our gift list, when we are going to put the turkey in the oven and how we are going to handle the hu
ge crowd for lunch.The birth of Jesus and what it means for
the world is front and centre here and we can relax and enjoy each other’s
company and wish each other a very merry Christmas and know what we are saying
and why we are saying it.
However, there are still many people in our community who cannot join everyone else in celebrating Christ’s birth. Think of the infirmed, the elderly, the truly lonely and those newly arrived in our country. It is with these people in mind that each year St. Dominic’s and St. Catherine’s in Melton invite community radio to broadcast Christmas Mass live.
Radio can reach people otherwise cut off from community life and allow them to join in from wherever they happen to be. Some can’t leave their beds, others must work and still others feel unable to venture out for a variety of reasons.
Melton community radio 979fm sets up microphones in various parts of the Church to allow listeners to hear all the beautiful singing and all the liturgy as clearly as possible in their own homes. This year, Mass came from the new school hall at St. Catherine of Sienna Primary School in West Melton. Over 1000 people attended and this was only one of six Masses to be held in Melton this year.
Next year we look forward to having Mass in our new Church, which will start to rise there from February 2012. Christmas Mass was beamed all over Melbourne, so that no
t only the Melton community but people from everywhere could
participate in the ceremonies.
Because 979fm streams live to the internet, St. Dominic’s and St. Catherine’s Christmas Mass reached listeners in every country. Each year Fr Michael receives emails and messages from around the world congratulating St Dominic’s and St Catherine’s for the broadcast.
Hopefully, 979fm will be able to continue its relationship with the parish and bring Christmas Mass from Melton to the world for many years to come. The use of radio and other modern technologies is certainly the way of the future for the Church.
Whether people are able to get to a church or not, or indeed whether or not a church exists in various places, the true message of Christmas will be able to be heard and experienced by everyone as the church embraces all the new technologies. Who knows, perhaps Jesus can hitch a ride on santa’s sleigh and be brought to every household in the future.
http://www.cam.org.au/parish-school-news/broadcasting-christmas-mass-at-melton-to-the-world.html
Each year, St. Dominic’s and St. Catherine’s in Melton invite community radio to broadcast Christmas Mass live. This year, Melton community radio 979fm broadcast Mass came from the new school hall at St. Catherine of Sienna Primary School in West Melton.
By Bill Lucas
St. Dominic’s Parish, Melton.
The true spirit of Christmas may be getting lost in this modern world of commerce and self-indulgence but at St Dominic's Parish in Melton it couldn't be clearer.
The need to be politically correct in multicultural Australia means that the link between the holiday season and all its festivities and the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus is becoming more tenuous each year.
Even decorations in the streets of our cities and towns are becoming as far removed as possible from any display of religion so as to leave us wondering why we are in fact taking time off from work, spending thousands of dollars on gifts and eating until we can’t stomach any more.
As a recent visitor to China I can see the parallel between Christmas and the various festivals which come and go there with their colourful but quite meaningless decorations that go up for a short time but soon disappear as the city gets back to making ends meet.
Probably we should ponder why retailers have come to rely on Christmas spending for their very existence; no Christmas spend up, no more business. Christmas seems to have become just another festival for the shops to change decor, disguise the real prices of goods and go after the last dollar of hard working families.
Thank heavens for the Church. At least here we can forget about whom we have left off our gift list, when we are going to put the turkey in the oven and how we are going to handle the hu
ge crowd for lunch.The birth of Jesus and what it means for
the world is front and centre here and we can relax and enjoy each other’s
company and wish each other a very merry Christmas and know what we are saying
and why we are saying it.However, there are still many people in our community who cannot join everyone else in celebrating Christ’s birth. Think of the infirmed, the elderly, the truly lonely and those newly arrived in our country. It is with these people in mind that each year St. Dominic’s and St. Catherine’s in Melton invite community radio to broadcast Christmas Mass live.
Radio can reach people otherwise cut off from community life and allow them to join in from wherever they happen to be. Some can’t leave their beds, others must work and still others feel unable to venture out for a variety of reasons.
Melton community radio 979fm sets up microphones in various parts of the Church to allow listeners to hear all the beautiful singing and all the liturgy as clearly as possible in their own homes. This year, Mass came from the new school hall at St. Catherine of Sienna Primary School in West Melton. Over 1000 people attended and this was only one of six Masses to be held in Melton this year.
Next year we look forward to having Mass in our new Church, which will start to rise there from February 2012. Christmas Mass was beamed all over Melbourne, so that no
t only the Melton community but people from everywhere could
participate in the ceremonies.Because 979fm streams live to the internet, St. Dominic’s and St. Catherine’s Christmas Mass reached listeners in every country. Each year Fr Michael receives emails and messages from around the world congratulating St Dominic’s and St Catherine’s for the broadcast.
Hopefully, 979fm will be able to continue its relationship with the parish and bring Christmas Mass from Melton to the world for many years to come. The use of radio and other modern technologies is certainly the way of the future for the Church.
Whether people are able to get to a church or not, or indeed whether or not a church exists in various places, the true message of Christmas will be able to be heard and experienced by everyone as the church embraces all the new technologies. Who knows, perhaps Jesus can hitch a ride on santa’s sleigh and be brought to every household in the future.
http://www.cam.org.au/parish-school-news/broadcasting-christmas-mass-at-melton-to-the-world.html
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