A warm welcome to the Catholic Parish of St John’s Wood/The Gap, in the Archdiocese of Brisbane Queensland
Here you will find information on mass times and happenings within our parish.
Lenten Devotions at Mater Dei
Join us every Friday night during Lent for a time of prayer and reflection:
Adoration – 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Stations of the Cross – 7:30 PM
Take this opportunity to deepen your Lenten journey and walk with Christ. We look forward to seeing you there!
Lenten Season
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of our Lenten journey—a time of reflection, prayer, and renewal. During the Mass, ashes will be distributed as a sign of our commitment to repentance and spiritual growth. We hope you can join us in this meaningful time as we prepare our hearts for Easter.
As we journey through the season of Lent, we invite you to join us for Stations of the Cross each Friday night at 7:30pm at Mater Dei Church.
This powerful devotion allows us to walk with Christ on His path to Calvary, deepening our reflection on His sacrifice and love for us. We hope you will take this opportunity for prayer and contemplation as we prepare our hearts for Easter.
We invite you to a special celebration of the Third Rite of Reconciliation on the 7th of April at 7pm at Mater Dei Church. This communal service of confession and forgiveness is a beautiful opportunity to come together as a faith community, reflect on God’s mercy, and prepare our hearts for Easter. All are welcome to receive God’s grace in this sacrament of healing. We look forward to seeing you there.
Easter Mass Times to be confirmed
Jubilee 2025: Pilgrims of Hope
What is the Jubilee?
“Jubilee” is the name given to a particular year; the name comes from the instrument used to mark its launch. In this case, the instrument in question is the yobel, the ram’s horn, used to proclaim the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This (Jewish) holiday occurs every year, but it takes on special significance when it marks the beginning of a Jubilee year. We can find an early indication of it in the Bible: a Jubilee year was to be marked every 50 years, since this would be an “extra” year, one which would happen every seven weeks of seven years, i.e., every 49 years (cf. Leviticus 25:8-13). Even though it wasn’t easy to organise, it was intended to be marked as a time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation, and involved the forgiveness of debts, the return of misappropriated land, and a fallow period for the fields.
Quoting the prophet Isaiah, the Gospel of Luke describes Jesus’ mission in this way: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord,” (Luke 4:18-19; cf. Isaiah 61:1-2). Jesus lives out these words in his daily life, in his encounters with others and in his relationships, all of which bring about liberation and conversion.
In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII called the first Jubilee, also known as a “Holy Year,” since it is a time in which God’s holiness transforms us. The frequency of Holy Years has changed over time: at first, they were celebrated every 100 years; later, in 1343 Pope Clement VI reduced the gap between Jubilees to every 50 years, and in 1470 Pope Paul II made it every 25 years. There have also been “extraordinary” Holy Years: for example, in 1933 Pope Pius XI chose to commemorate the 1900th anniversary of the Redemption, and in 2015 Pope Francis proclaimed the Year of Mercy as an extraordinary jubilee. The way in which Jubilee Years are marked has also changed through the centuries: originally the Holy Year consisted of a pilgrimage to the Roman Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul, later other signs were added, such as the Holy Door. By participating in the Holy Year, one is granted a plenary indulgence.
The Jubilee Logo
The logo shows four stylized figures, representing all of humanity, coming from the four corners of the earth. They embrace each other to indicate the solidarity and fraternity which should unite all peoples. The figure at the front is holding onto the cross. It is not only the sign of the faith which this lead figure embraces, but also of hope, which can never be abandoned, because we are always in need of hope, especially in our moments of greatest need. There are the rough waves under the figures, symbolising the fact that life’s pilgrimage does not always go smoothly in calm waters. Often the circumstances of daily life and events in the wider world require a greater call to hope. That’s why we should pay special attention to the lower part of the cross which has been elongated and turned into the shape of an anchor which is let down into the waves. The anchor is well known as a symbol of hope. In maritime jargon the ‘anchor of hope’ refers to the reserve anchor used by vessels involved in emergency manoeuvres to stabilise the ship during storms. It is worth noting that the image illustrates the pilgrim’s journey not as an individual undertaking, but rather as something communal, marked by an increasing dynamism leading one ever closer to the cross. The cross in the logo is by no means static, but it is also dynamic. It bends down towards humanity, not leaving human beings alone, but stretching out to them to offer the certainty of its presence and the security of hope. At the bottom of the logo is the motto of the 2025 Jubilee Year: Peregrinantes in Spem (Pilgrims in hope), represented in green letters.
THE JUBILEE PRAYER
Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us
into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos
Parishioners and visitors are invited to sign-up to Flocknote, our communication and engagement tool. Our Parish (and the Archdiocese of Brisbane) has officially adopted Flocknote for all parishes, as a safe, new, and improved way of communicating in parishes. Flocknote is free for parishioners to use, and there is no need to download anything. Your info is kept secure and private. It only takes a couple minutes to sign up to receive emails from the parish. You are even able to reply directly back to those emails so we can get feedback and hear from you.
Flocknote is an amazing engagement and communication tool that gives parishes the ability to easily gather all of their parishioner contact info, sacrament history, and planned giving history. Flocknote also helps parishes communicate with their flock through beautiful email newsletters, emails to ministry groups, and is also the place parishes will use to manage their volunteer records. This will give all our parishes a consistent communication hub and interface for all ministry and parish activity, while simplifying communication across the entire archdiocese.
As part of our transition period, we would like to invite our parishioners to register on our new database.
If you have any questions, please speak with the Parish office.
There is also a template of the registration form that can be printed for those who don’t have access to a phone or computer. If you need a paper form you will need to return it to the parish office and these forms will be added to Flocknote.
Parishioners and visitors are invited to use the link or QR code below and signup and register with the parish.
Mass Times: Weekdays – Wednesday and Thursday 9:00 am
Weekends – Sundays, 8:00 am & 5:00 pm
Baptisms: Fourth Saturday of the month, 11:00 am
PLEASE NOTE: Confession times in our parish will be held prior to these weekend Masses as follows: 5:00pm – Saturday Night Mater Dei 4:30pm – Sunday Night SPC If a parishioner would like confession at any other time, they can speak to Fr Anthony after any mass.
MD students attend mass each term
SPC students attend mass each term
Regis Nursing Home Mass every First Wednesday
Anointing Mass every First Wednesday (St Peter Chanel) & First Friday (Mater Dei Church) of each month
Reconciliation by appointment with the priest.
Communion of the Sick at Home and Home Visits available upon request.
Sacramental Program involving Confirmation, First Communion (Eucharist) and First Reconciliation (Confession) scheduled periodically.
Baptismal Preparations every Third Sunday, 3 pm at SPC.
Please feel free to contact the Parish Office should you require further information
‘In the spirit of reconciliation the The Parish of St Johns Wood/The Gap acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.’
