Today Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (8: 19-21) in which Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. Fr Paul says today, especially for Australia, we celebrate a very special feast, the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians.In 1844 when Archbishop Bede Polding convened the very first provincial Synod in Sydney, Mary, under the title, Help of Christians, was chosen as at that Synod as the patroness of Australasia. It was done because, at the time, the colonies which were just beginning and needed Mary’s help as a nation.Our nation still needs Our Lady’s help to this day.  Today we celebrate that we need Mary’s powerful intercession.  We also are helped by her example – the example of her life that we find in the Gospels.On this day, Fr Paul invites to ask ‘Mary Help of Christians, pray for us!’