On Sunday 28 September 2025, Holy Spirit Parish, St Clair-Erskine Park blossomed into a vibrant tapestry of colour, prayer, and fellowship as the community gathered for Migrant and Refugee Sunday together with the parish’s much anticipated Annual Multicultural Mass.
The celebration began with a procession of national flags, carried proudly by parishioners representing their countries of origin. Each flag told a story of heritage and journey. Together, they painted a striking image of the parish’s rich diversity, where people of many cultures, languages, and backgrounds gather each week as one family of faith.
During the Mass, the Prayers of the Faithful were read in different languages—a beautiful expression of the Church’s universality. Each petition carried the longings, gratitude, and hopes of a community that embraces both its global roots and its local home.
Parishioners of Holy Spirit Parish, St Clair-Erskine Park proudly representing their countries of origin. Image: Supplied
After the liturgy, the celebration continued with lively fellowship. Tables overflowed with dishes from different cultural groups – each plate not only a taste of home but also a sign of hospitality and joy. Laughter and conversation filled the air, embodying what Pope Francis calls the “culture of encounter”: the simple yet powerful gift of meeting each other as brothers and sisters.
The Gospel of Noticing
In his homily, Parish Moderator Fr Percival Sevare OSA drew from the parable of the rich man and Lazarus and the wisdom of St Mary MacKillop, who urged: “Never see a need without doing something about it.”
He reminded parishioners that the rich man’s sin was not his wealth but his indifference. Day after day, he walked past Lazarus, seeing yet refusing to truly see.
“Indifference doesn’t explode loudly—it creeps in quietly,” Fr. Percival said, inviting reflection on how easily we, too, can grow blind to the needs of others.
The challenge, he added, begins at home: when a spouse is too absorbed in work or screens to notice the other’s needs, or when parents and children grow so busy that they stop listening to one another. Left unchecked, this quiet neglect erodes relationships just as surely as any loud conflict.
Parish Moderator Fr Percival Sevare OSA celebrating Mass. Image: Supplied
But Migrant and Refugee Sunday, he stressed, calls us to open our eyes and hearts. When we do, we discover that those we might once have called “strangers” are, in truth, brothers and sisters – bearers of hope who enrich our community.
“Migrants are missionaries of hope” he said, echoing Pope Leo XIV, and not just recipients of aid.
Living the Gospel of Welcome
That message came to life in a parish story shared by Jeanne Appleton of the Social Justice Commission.
In July, Holy Spirit Parish rallied around a young Syrian refugee family – affectionately named here as Louise, Michael, and their son Sam – as they settled into a new home in St Clair.
What began as an empty house soon became a true home through the outpouring of parish generosity. Furniture, food, and essential items poured in. Parish groups like the Men’s Business team worked tirelessly, while Catholic Care Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains and St Vincent de Paul Society provided vital support.
Parishioners of Holy Spirit Parish, St Clair-Erskine Park proudly representing their countries of origin. Image: Supplied
In a moment that reflected the very heart of the Gospel, the family – once overwhelmed with need – chose to share their surplus gifts with another refugee household. In living the Gospel of Welcome:
“An empty house became a home. Strangers became neighbours. And a parish lived out the Gospel by opening its heart.”
One Family in Christ
This year’s Multicultural Mass and Migrant and Refugee Sunday celebration was more than a joyful event. It was a living witness to what the Church is called to be: a community where no one is a stranger and where faith and culture together reveal the face of Christ.
Celebrations following Mass. Image: Supplied
In Fr. Percival’s words:
“Today we are called to notice—to really see, and not to ignore. Indifference has no place in our families, our parish, or our lives.
“If we live with open eyes and open hearts, we will not only see hope—we will become missionaries of hope for one another.”
On this special Sunday, Holy Spirit Parish shone brightly as a community of welcome – proving once again that the Gospel is most powerful when it is lived in love, hospitality, and unity.
The Multicultural celebration of World Day of Migrants and Refugees aligns with the Diocesan Pastoral Plan priorities of Community, an Inclusive and Welcoming Church and a Church Walking Together. To learn more, visit the Synodality page of our website.
Fr Pervical Sevare OSA is the Parish Moderator of Holy Spirit Parish, St Clair-Erskine Park.
