St Gerard's, Dandenong North

10/09/2026

💛 A little help can make a big difference 💛

We are reaching out to our family, friends and community to ask for a little support for a beautiful family who are going through an incredibly difficult time.

Their precious little baby has arrived very early and is currently facing the challenges that come with being a preemie. While their focus should be on being there for their baby, they’re also having to navigate the emotional and financial pressures that come with an unexpected and lengthy hospital journey.

We’re hoping to raise funds to help ease some of that burden — whether it’s helping with travel, accommodation, meals, bills or simply giving them one less thing to worry about while they focus on their little one. ❤️

Every donation, no matter how big or small, will make a difference. And if you’re unable to donate, sharing this post can help us reach someone who can.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your kindness, love and support. 🙏💛

Please keep this precious little baby and their family in your thoughts as they take things one day at a time. 🩷. 🩷

Help Support Baby Margaret Rose and Her Family. My beautiful niece Little Margaret Rose was born at 27 weeks and 4 days on the 26th of June and has been fighting every day since. She was defying all o

08/09/2026

Today we celebrate the Nativity of Our Lady.

Some memorials are so special that only the words of a great poet can do them justice. On the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, William Wordsworth offers this tribute to the woman through whom Christ entered the world:

‘Woman! above all women glorified,
Our tainted nature's solitary boast.’

It was necessary that Mary be ‘wholly borne by God’s grace’, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, for her to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation’ (§490).

Today, as we celebrate Mary's birth, may her humility, faith and openness to God's will continue to inspire us.

🎨 Painting in the choir stalls of St Anne's church in Krakow. Photo by Fr Lawrence Lew OP.

02/09/2026

28/08/2026

‘Give me chastity and continency, only not yet.’ St Augustine, Confessions VIII 7.

Augustine knew what was good, but he was not yet ready to surrender what he loved. He wanted freedom from desire, but … later.

His prayer exposes the divided heart: longing for God while still clinging to old comforts.

Augustine did not rewrite his past to appear holy. He confessed his very human weakness openly and admitted that self-restraint was not something he could manufacture.

St Augustine reminds us that God can work with an honest, divided heart – even one that is still praying, ‘Not yet.’

📷 Stained glass window from the Caldwell Chapel in the Catholic University of America, Washington DC. Photo by Fr Lawrence Lew OP.

21/08/2026

The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary memorial honours the special place of Mary as Queen of Heaven, and completes the octave that began with her Assumption on 15 August.

Mary's queenship is not one of power or privilege, but of a ‘service of love’ in which Mary cooperated with God's plan for humanity and today continues to watch over us.

May we seek to imitate her humility and openness of heart, and embrace her maternal protection as she intercedes for us to her Son, Jesus.

Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!

🎨 Coronation of Mary, by Hans von Aachen.

21/08/2026

Today we honour St Pius X, who served as Pope from 1903 to 1914, guided by the motto Instaurare Omnia in Christo – to ‘restore all things in Christ’.

Pope Pius brought humility and simplicity to his pontificate, influenced by his poor upbringing, and a deep commitment to preserving the faith. He admired – and canonised – St John Vianney and St Joan of Arc as examples of holiness, courage and simplicity.

St Pius X is especially remembered for encouraging frequent reception of Holy Communion, knowing the Eucharist is one of the Church’s greatest gifts.

His legacy continues to inspire Catholics to draw closer to Jesus through the Eucharist.

📷 Photo by Fr Lawrence Lew OP.

14/08/2026

The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary reminds us that the mother of Jesus is with him, body and soul, in heavenly glory.

Mary, whose soul proclaimed the greatness of the Lord.
Mary, whose spirit rejoices in God her Saviour.
Mary, whose faith has been passed down through the generations to us, so that we too may revel in God’s glory.

And as we mark this solemnity, it’s worth pondering the words of Pope Pius XII at the declaration of Mary’s assumption: ‘And so we may hope that those who meditate upon the glorious example Mary offers us may be more and more convinced of the value of a human life entirely devoted to carrying out the heavenly Father's will and to bringing good to others.’ (Munificentissimus Deus, §42)

🎨 The Assumption of the Virgin, by Juan Carreño de Miranda.

08/08/2026

03/08/2026

Today is the feast day of the patron saint of parish priests, Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney – known as John Vianney.

The farmer’s son was born at the beginning of the French revolution and was forced to take his first Communion and Confession in secret while France was under the anti-clerical ‘reign of terror’. He never forgot the heroism of the nuns and priests who risked everything for their faith.

He was renowned as a confessor and for performing healing miracles. His church in the village of Ars in eastern France became a pilgriamge site in the mid-19th century as tens of thousands sought to make their confession to him.

St John Vianney, pray for our parish priests.

📷 Statue in the apse of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. Photo by Fr Lawrence Lew OP.

31/07/2026

The life of St Ignatius of Loyola reminds us that God can transform even our most unexpected setbacks.

A serious battle injury led the young Spanish soldier to encounter Christ through prayer and spiritual reading. Leaving behind his former ambitions, Ignatius went on to found the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) and become one of the Church's most influential saints.

His story invites us to reflect: What shapes our hopes and ambitions? Who inspires us? And is Christ at the centre of the life we are striving to build?

🎨 Saint Ignatius of Loyola, by Peter Paul Rubens.