10 CatholicOutlook August 2015
A warm welcome awaits visitors to the Upper Blue Mountains parish.
Preparing for the Church’s Holy Year of Mercy
Visitors to the scenic Blue Mountains will
find a warm welcome from Fr Ted Tyler
and the parish of St Mary of the
Cross MacKillop.
With the Pope’s announcement of
the Holy Year of Divine Mercy, due to
start on 8 December, the Upper Blue
Mountains parish is taking steps
to prepare.
Prior to the arrival of Fr Ted as parish
priest, the Feast of the Divine Mercy
had been celebrated in St Bonaventure’s
Church at Leura on the afternoon of the
Second Sunday after Easter.
About a year after he arrived, Fr Ted
suggested to some parishioners that,
in view of the centrality of the divine
mercy in revealed religion and the
special prominence it had been given in
the magisterium of the past few popes,
something a little more ambitious be
developed. The idea was taken up.
To begin with, steps were taken to
celebrate the annual Feast Day of Divine
Mercy in a more special way. This is
now done with joy and solemnity and is
well publicised, with a novena of Mercy
leading up to it, and preceded by many
Lenten groups.
Secondly, in each of the three parish
churches the picture of the Divine Mercy
was enshrined in the sanctuary: at St
Canice’s at Katoomba, at St Bonaventure’s
at Leura and at St Francis Xavier’s at
Wentworth Falls.
Due to the generosity of certain persons
the beautiful image in the sanctuary of the
Leura church is of life-sized proportions.
Thirdly, the celebration of the Divine
Mercy became far more frequent, with
Fr Ted's active encouragement. Gabe and
Stasia Very lead the music and singing for
the Sunday 5pm Mass at Leura. Together
with a small group of parishioners,
including Pam Le Breton and others, they
devised and now lead a monthly Sunday
afternoon Divine Mercy celebration. A
first-class relic of St Faustina is often
present. Confessions are available.
This beautiful afternoon on the first
Sunday of each month involves