Queen of Apostles Catholic Parish - Stafford

23/08/2026

PARISH FEAST DAY MESSAGE Throughout the Gospels, Mary stands quietly but faithfully at the heart of the Church's beginnings. While the Apostles are the ones sent out to preach, Mary is there at every turn — present at the key moments of Christ's life, and present again at the birth of the Christian community. Her relationship with the Apostles is one of faith, encouragement, and spiritual motherhood, and it has much to teach us about our own place in the Church.

We first meet Mary as the humble servant of the Lord who said "yes" to God's plan at the Annunciation. Through that "yes," the Word became flesh and dwelt among us — the very mystery the Apostles would spend their lives proclaiming. At Cana, Mary gently pointed others toward her Son, telling the servants, "Do whatever he tells you" (John 2:5). Those words have guided disciples ever since, the apostles included, and they still guide us today.
Mary's closeness to the Apostles becomes most visible during the Passion. She stayed faithfully at the foot of the Cross when so many others had fled. It was there that Jesus entrusted her to the beloved disciple, saying, "Behold your mother" (John 19:27) — words the Church has always heard as reaching beyond John alone, making Mary a mother to every one of Christ's disciples.

After the Resurrection and Ascension, Mary remained close to the Apostles. The Acts of the Apostles tells us they gathered in prayer in the Upper Room "with Mary the mother of Jesus" (Acts 1:14), waiting together for the Holy Spirit. Just as she had received the Spirit at the Annunciation, she was there when the Spirit came upon the whole Church at Pentecost. Her quiet, prayerful presence must have brought real comfort and courage to the early church in those uncertain days.

Catholic tradition tells us something of Mary's later years. In keeping with Jesus's words from the Cross, John took Mary into his home, and tradition holds that he cared for at Ephesus. Another tradition has her returning to live in Jerusalem at her death. The Church has never defined, and Scripture is silent on the year of her death but, but tradition generally holds that Mary was about seventy-two years old when she was taken body and soul into heaven — the mystery of the Assumption that we celebrate on 15 August.

From the earliest centuries, the Church has recognised Mary's special place among the Apostles. She was not one of the Twelve, yet she shared fully in their mission through her faith, her prayer, and her witness. As the mother of Jesus and the first and most perfect of his disciples, she helped nurture the faith of that first Christian community — much as she still nurtures ours.
One of Mary's most beautiful titles is Queen of the Apostles. It doesn't place her above Christ, the King of Kings — rather, it honours the unique part she plays in God's plan of salvation. She is Queen because, like we hope for, shares in her Son's glory, and Queen of the Apostles because she supported the early church’s mission with her faith and her care. She continues that same quiet accompaniment with us today, encouraging every believer to follow Christ with the trust, courage, and obedience that marked her own life.

Our Lady, Queen of Apostles at Stafford began in 1955, when the parish land was purchased under Archbishop James Duhig, and the community was formally divided from Enoggera the following year under Fr Michael Carew. The very first Mass was celebrated in a marquee on the property in April 1957, and in November of that year Archbishop Duhig had blessed and opened the first church and presbytery. The parish grew steadily in the decades that followed, welcoming a school and the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in the early 1960s, and later a larger church, blessed and opened by Archbishop Francis Rush in 1987. More than seventy years on, we carry that same story forward — still gathered under Mary's title and her care, still trying, as she did, to say our own "yes" to God.

As we honour Mary, may we imitate her faith, stay close to her in prayer, and join her in sharing the Good News, as apostles through our words and deeds, with the world around us. Let us also keep Fr Denis in our prayers under the protection of Mary.

19/08/2026

Several members of Our Lady, Queen of Apostles, have completed the Catholic Leadership Initiative.

15/08/2026

16th August 2026
A Church for All in a Time of Social Division.

In this Sunday's Scriptures,God's love reaches beyond every border, culture and nation. Through faith in Christ and our commitment to human dignity, the Church in Australia continues to invite all people into God's family while working to protect those who are
vulnerable and excluded.

The prophet Isaiah proclaims God's promise that foreigners who join themselves to the Lord will be welcomed: "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples" (Isaiah 56:7). From the beginning, God's hospitality was not limited to one nation but
offered to all people.

This promise is continued in the Gospel of Matthew (15:21–28). The Canaanite woman was an outsider, a foreigner to the Jewish community. Yet she approached Jesus with great faith, asking healing for her daughter. At first, the disciples wanted her sent away. Through her persistence and trust, however, Jesus revealed that God's mercy is for all, praising her faith and granting her request. The Gospel challenges us to look beyond barriers of race, language, nationality and even religion to recognise the faith and dignity present in every person.

The Catechism teaches that Jesus came to inaugurate the Kingdom of God and calls all people into it, with a particular welcome for those who receive his word with faith and identifying himself with the poor and those on the margins (CCC 543–544). The Church cannot separate faith in Christ from concern for human dignity. The Church is also "catholic" — universal — sent by Christ to the whole human race, gathering people from every nation, culture and language into one family of faith (CCC 831). Diversity is not a threat to the Church; it is one of the signs of God's work among us.

Australia's Catholic bishops echo this teaching in their August 2026 Social Justice Statement, Living the Gospel in Times of Social Division, released amid a painful rise in antisemitism, Islamophobia and racism, including the attack on the Jewish community at Bondi
Beach. The statement names a hard truth: we are increasingly tempted to define one another by political allegiance, culture or ideology, rather than by our shared identity as children of God, made in his image — an identity the bishops call imago Dei, which cannot be earned, and can never be taken away.

The Statement point to the witness of St Maximilian Kolbe, the Franciscan priest who gave his life in Auschwitz so that another prisoner, a husband and father, might live — a model of seeing every person, even a stranger, as kin rather than competitor. From
that witness flows a concrete "culture of encounter": listening before reacting, welcoming migrants and refugees, walking the path of reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and standing with those targeted because of their faith or background.

Every human person is created in the image and likeness of God — a dignity not earned by citizenship, ethnicity, status or ability, but given. The Church welcomes people from all cultures to discover faith in Christ, even as we are called to protect the vulnerable, speak against prejudice, and stand beside those who experience exclusion or injustice.

Through our parish’s hospitality, and partnership with Romero, may our community be a living sign of God's Kingdom: a house of prayer for all peoples, where every person is treated with the dignity that comes from being made in the image of God. Amen.

14/08/2026

Queen of Apostles Parish will celebrate the Feast of the Assumption at 7:00 am this Saturday.

With Christmas and all Sundays. the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is a day of obligation in Australia.

15/07/2026

Queen of Apostles Parish at Stafford will also be running an ALPHA group later this year. A very good group of volunteers will be inviting people to explore and deepen their faith. We ran a successful trial last year. Open to all

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03/07/2026

From the Sydney Catholic paper: The Catholic Weekly. Do Catholics need to do more than attend mass?

At Queen of Apostles we look at how we can serve God and neighbour through prayer and service. We have a Social Justice committee that seeks to address human dignity and a Convent committee that supports Romero Centre. The local St Vincent de Paul Conference looks after those and need. We need to continue to seek both personal holiness and the holiness of the world.

Sunday Mass is the foundation of Catholic life, but every baptised person is also called to holiness and to bring Christ's light into the world.

27/06/2026

Thank God for Sunday mass goers.

Forgive them their foibles, because these people are literally holding the church in Australia together, says Philippa Martyr.

24/06/2026

Our parish is looking at ways Men can be animated in their faith. We have a Men's group that meets on Friday for a coffee, feed and chat.

National Centre for Evangelisation, Australia

20/06/2026

A survey of what people are looking for from the Catholic Church in the USA

As to why they wanted to become Catholic, 84% of respondents were interested in exploring a deeper spirituality or relationship with God as the "most important consideration" or one they "considered strongly," the two highest ratings.

More than three-quarters (77%) of respondents identified wanting to grow in goodness and virtue, with over 70% saying they desired a deeper understanding of truth and a greater sense of peace (72%). More than half said they had a hunger for belonging and more meaningful relationships, as well as a desire for healing or redemption.

The report consists of more than a dozen insights gleaned from the data, as well as related recommendations for parishes and dioceses that include the need to reduce barriers for individuals interested in exploring Catholicism.

17/06/2026

One of Fr Joe McKay's roles is Spiritual Assistant to the Secular Franciscan Order Australia.

The Secular Franciscans are an international lay, secular (in the world) spiritual order made up of diocesan priests, married and single adults.

Lay people have come together in fraternities to pray, seek personal holiness, and serve God and neighbour since the time of St Francis of Assisi. Members make a lifetime commitment.

The friars act as Spirtual Assistants, acting as mentors and guifes , but the organisation is directed by its elected lay leadership.

It is true lay order and is supervised by the Vatican's Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

In Brisbane they meet monthly at Kedron and Wynnum parishes.

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EVERY day, Jim Kearney checks his smartwatch to ensure he hits his discipline of 10,000 steps. “Being part of the Secular Franciscan Order is a discipline as well,” Mr Kearney said, who shares his Franciscan life with the Kedron-based fraternity. He said keeping to the rhythm of the Divine Offic...