Category: Messages and Pastoral Letters

Farewell and Heartfelt Thanks to the Missionaries of Charity

Mother Teresa used to say “Take what God gives; give what God takes.” This is good advice for us to ponder as the Missionaries of Charity prepare to leave Orange and so our Diocese on 5^th August this year. We thank God for this unmerited, but deeply appreciated gift of the sisters’ presence among us.

Since 1987, the sisters have lived out their ministry here, generously and faithfully; and have brought great blessings to the people they served; and to their parish and the Diocese more broadly. God alone knows all the stories of the lives they have touched, especially people, young and old, who found in their gentle, welcoming ways a new possibility of connection to the life of Christ’s Church.

The Missionaries of Charity serve all across the world, usually in the most deprived and even dangerous places. In recent years, their numbers have become fewer, so they are being moved to missions of greatest need. We will “give what God takes”; and assure the sisters that our prayer and support accompany them wherever they may go.

I will celebrate Mass in St Mary’s Church in Orange at 10.00am on Saturday 25^th July to unite all these intentions in the best way we can. All are welcome.

+Michael McKenna
Bishop of Bathurst

10^th July 2026

Good Shepherd Sunday 2026

I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full

Dear Friends in Christ,

This year, as the people of our Diocese gather for their Parish Assemblies, is a good time to think about the vocation which each of us received in Baptism. Let’s listen for and respond to the particular call that God has for each of us to play his or her part in the mission of the Church.

Today, on Good Shepherd Sunday, remembering the common share that all the baptised have in the priesthood of Christ, we give thanks for the unique and indispensable ministry of ordained priests.

The Church needs priests for the sacraments, especially the Mass; and for leading and teaching in the way of the Apostles, lest we become just another organisation or club, forgetting our mission and who Christ calls us to be.

Today, I ask you again to pray for your priests and to support them in practical ways. They cannot carry out their ministry without your active contribution to your community of faith.

The cost of educating our priests is a responsibility for everyone: and I invite you to consider prayerfully and generously your donation to this annual appeal.

May I also request your prayers for the five young men who are at various stages of the journey to ordination for our local church. Please remember especially Ha Van Tran, who I will have the privilege and joy of ordaining a priest in our Cathedral on Friday, 1^st May.

Yours in Christ,
+Michael McKenna
Bishop of Bathurst

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV FOR THE 63^rd WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS

EASTER 2026

In the Easter Sunday Mass, before the Gospel is proclaimed, the sequence Praise to the Paschal Victim may be chanted or said. It contains these striking verses: 

Death with life contended:
  combat strangely ended!
Life’s own Champion, slain,
  yet lives to reign.

The gift of faith offers us confidence that death will never have the final word, because the author of life has disarmed its finality. Jesus is the one to lead us through death to fullness of life. As the great Australian poet, Les Murray, put it: making of himself the companionway of our species.

The shadows of death are always around us, whether in faraway wars or more closely and personally. But, when we gather to celebrate Easter, may we encourage one another in the light of faith. At the Easter Vigil, we proclaim:

O love, O charity beyond all telling,
to ransom a slave you gave away your Son!
O truly necessary sin of Adam,
destroyed completely by the Death of Christ!
O happy fault
that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!
O truly blessed night,
worthy alone to know the time and hour
when Christ rose from the underworld!

+Michael McKenna
Bishop of Bathurst

Image: “The witness of the light” by: Ella, James Sheahan Yr 10
An entry in the Diocesan Annual Easter Story exhibition 2026

Lent 2026

Any day, any season, can be a time of individual repentance and renewal for each of us. But in this holy season of Lent, belonging to one another as members of the Church, we can make the personal journey in common.

This year, as each parish prepares for its Assembly, it is especially important to have this awareness.

The words of Jesus that we hear together on Ash Wednesday call us to give to the poor; to pray; and to fast. More than that, Jesus teaches us how to do these things; and shows us that they relate to each other and our relationship with God.

May we be aware of one another and our shared pilgrimage as we walk these forty days together.

+Michael McKenna
Bishop of Bathurst

CHRISTMAS 2025

We are the times

When we are dismayed and troubled by the world we live in, the ancient politician Cicero knew how we feel. On several occasions, in his speeches, he lamented the way things were going with the phrase Such times, such customs!

A few centuries later, another Roman orator, St Augustine, gave this sentiment a Christian slant: Bad times, troublesome times! This is what people are saying. But let our lives be good; and the times are good. We make our times; such as we are, such are the times.

You and I are not, thank God, responsible for everything. However, each of us can make a difference in our family, our community and even sometimes beyond. Our actions may seem small to the world, even to ourselves, but God measures differently.

May the Beloved Son, who has entered our world to redeem it from within, give you hope and peace as we rejoice at his birth.

+Michael McKenna
Bishop of Bathurst

Wilderness to the Word
Charlotte, St Matthews Catholic School, Mudgee

Statement by Bishop Michael McKenna on the Bondi Shootings

The horrific shootings and killings at the Hanukkah festival in Bondi last night have shocked and disturbed all of us. For our Jewish brothers and sisters, it is a deep and alarming blow. The menace of antisemitism, here and now, is plain to see. Tonight, I will offer Mass in our Cathedral for everyone affected, directly and indirectly, by this tragedy. Let us ask God to show us the paths of fraternity and peace.

+Michael McKenna
Bishop of Bathurst

WE ARE THE TIMES
Participating in Communion for Mission

A Pastoral Letter to God’s People of the Diocese of Bathurst – 2025

Bishop Michael McKenna has written a Pastoral Letter to God’s People of the Diocese of Bathurst, titled “WE ARE THE TIMES”.

You can read the Bishop’s Pastoral Letter for 2025 here.

PENTECOST

How does it happen?

The miraculous event of Pentecost which grabs our attention is that the crowd, comprising people of many languages and cultures, could hear the disciples proclaiming the Good News to them in their own tongues. However, the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus had promised, first brought the miracle of courage to the frightened and timid group gathered in that room in Jerusalem. The two miracles were part of the great miracle of unity which the Spirit came and still comes to give. We pray for this miracle today.

The Gospel is not meant for this culture or that: it is for every human being. “How does it happen,” asked the crowds, “that each of us hears them in our own native language?” Whenever the Church opens herself to the power of the Spirit, she leaps over barriers of age, of race, of class, of customs, to share that life. She becomes what she is called to be: a sign of unity and an instrument of peace.

Our new Pope has chosen as his motto In illo uno unum. It comes from St Augustine of Hippo and means that in the one Christ his followers become one. The gift of unity, which we are called to share with the world, must at the same time become a reality among all who claim the badge of “Christian”.

How does it happen? The Holy Spirit brings us “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”  These fruits, when we say yes to them, produce unity: the love of God that binds together the Body of Christ. Christ calls his Church to become one within so that she may become a sacrament of unity for this broken world. We pray for this miracle today.

Come, Holy Spirit!
Heal our wounds, our strength renew
On our dryness pour your dew
Wash the stains of guilt away:

Bend the stubborn heart and will
Melt the frozen, warm the chill
Guide the steps that go astray…

+ Michael McKenna
Bishop of Bathurst

Pentecost 2025

Dear Friends in Christ,

As the Cardinals prepare to enter the Sistine Chapel to elect a new Pope, we pray that they will tune in to what the Holy Spirit is saying to them. We also pray for the man they will choose to be Bishop of Rome, that the same Spirit will strengthen and guide him as he accepts the call to exercise the ministry of St Peter in our time.

I have asked all our parishes to offer the Mass for the election of a Pope in these days; and invite everyone to unite in personal and family prayer as well.

“O God, eternal shepherd,
who govern your flock with unfailing care,
grant in your boundless fatherly love
a pastor for your Church
who will please you by his holiness
and to us show watchful care.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

+Michael McKenna
Bishop of Bathurst

Calculating the date of Easter is a complicated business, which I won’t detail here. However, it got more complicated when the Gregorian calendar began to be adopted

in Western Europe in the sixteenth century and we diverged from the practice of the Eastern churches. The result is that, most years, East and West celebrate Easter on different days.

This year, though, is one of those occasions when we all line up on the same date. It is nice timing, because this year we mark the 1700^th anniversary of the opening of the Council of Nicea, which set a common observance throughout the Church, still then breathing with both lungs.

More importantly than setting the date of Easter, Nicea tackled the difficult task of finding language to express the core of Christian faith: that Jesus Christ is truly God and truly human.

The events we ponder at Easter: that Jesus Christ was crucified, died and was buried; and rose again on the third day in accordance with the scriptures; derive their power from our belief that he took flesh of our sister the Virgin Mary and remained God. Otherwise, those events might be poignantly beautiful, but ineffective in the forgiveness of sin and the defeat of death.

In this world torn and battered by injustices and wars, let’s renew our faith in the offer of reconciliation and new life that we celebrate at Easter. And may we discover how to communicate that hope to all; fulfilling the Church’s mission to be a sign of unity and an instrument of peace.

+Michael McKenna
Bishop of Bathurst

LENT 2025

STARVE YOUR SIN

There is a wonderful old poem called “To Keep a True Lent”. Its message is worth looking at as we begin this season of grace and opportunity.

Robert Herrick, who wrote the verses almost 400 years ago, relays the same message we hear from Jesus himself in the Gospel for Ash Wednesday: don’t be content with superficial gestures of “giving up” this or that; be ready to open your heart to this opportunity for conversion.

He links fasting with generosity to the poor: 

‘‘’tis a fast to dole thy sheaf of wheat,
and meat,
unto the hungry soul.” 

More deeply, he urges us to seek and accept the healing of our relationships:

“It is to fast from strife,
from old debate
and hate…”

The short poem concludes with a remarkable expression:

“To starve thy sin,
Not bin…”
Starve your sin.

That would be a great plan for a true Lent.

+Michael McKenna
Bishop of Bathurst

CHRISTMAS 2024

Helpless but not hopeless

Dear Friends in Christ,

At Christmas, we look to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. The name of the town means “house of bread (food)”. This has great significance for us who believe that Jesus is the bread come down from heaven: for the life of the world. An important detail in Luke’s account of the Nativity is that, after he was born, Jesus was placed in a manger. “Manger” is an old word, no longer in common use, which means feeding trough. From the outset, Jesus is presented as the living bread offered for those who desire to live with God forever.

As our gaze turns to Bethlehem, we grieve for the present reality of the land where the Son of God took his first human breath. The words I wrote earlier this year, at Easter, are still sadly true: “Violence has begotten more violence; and ordinary and defenceless people are being ground up in the unforgiving wheels of history, politics and the arms trade.”

We may feel helpless, but let’s not give in to hopelessness. The true message of Christmas is that a light has shone into our darkened world. God has entered our world to redeem it from within. Each one of us can say yes to this hope every time we say yes to the acts of forgiveness, reconciliation and love that we can decide to do. And we can find the strength to keep doing that when we come to Mass and are nourished by the living bread who is our Saviour.

+Michael McKenna
Bishop of Bathurst

ADVENT 2024

What are we waiting for?

Dear Friends in Christ,

“Advent” means “coming.”  

In the four weeks leading up to Christmas, we can prepare to celebrate properly the wonderful feast of Christmas: the first coming of the Son of God into our broken world to begin to change our sorrows into joy.

It is also a time to look forward to the day when he will come again, with just and merciful judgment, to fulfil his promise of a new creation.

And yet, he is already among us, already building his Kingdom, even though he is unrecognised by many. We can look for him now in the community that bears his name, his Church. He is among us in the poor and afflicted and accompanies us in our works for peace and justice.

What are we waiting for? Let’s look for him today: pray; read the Bible; come to Confession and Mass; and go out to do good for others.

The better we celebrate Advent, the more deeply we’ll celebrate Christmas.

+Michael McKenna
Bishop of Bathurst

GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY 2024

Dear Friends in Christ,

Just over a week ago, I had the joy of ordaining two new priests for our Diocese: Fathers Cong Van Hoang and Duong Van Ha. These men, like all our priests are not, as the Gospel today reminds us, merely “hired hands.” They have generously offered their lives to share in the work of the Good Shepherd. 

Every Christian has his or her part to play in the mission entrusted to the Church; and the dignity of each vocation is enhanced in appreciating more deeply the specific service of each one. Today, we give thanks for the unique and irreplaceable gift of the ordained priesthood, which does not exist for itself, but to serve the pilgrim Church. It is both an awesome call and, properly understood, a humble office.

For Catholics, this is a day not only to pray and give thanks for the priests who generously serve us, but to recommit ourselves to supporting them. This means a willingness to be generous in our own service, working with them for the Church and her mission. It also means playing our part in ensuring that their modest material needs are cared for.

Each year, we also make a collection on this day to help meet the expenses of training future priests. In the old days, the expenses of educating seminarians were met by their families. These days, we accept that this is a responsibility to be shared by the whole local church.

At the moment, our Diocese has five young men at various stages of formation and discernment. You can contribute to their support either through your own parish, or click this link.

Please pray for the priests we have, for those who are preparing for ordination; and for those whom the Lord is calling to leave everything and follow him.

Yours in Christ,
+Michael McKenna
Bishop of Bathurst

To make a donation to the Good Shepherd Sunday Giving Appeal please click this link https://www.bpoint.com.au/pay/CATHOLICDIOCESEOFBATHURST?billercode=1700376