Screen shot of Father Andrew celebrating mass live stream

Star of the Sea Parish, Gladstone has been such a blessing during these unusual times. The Parish has taken the challenge as an opportunity.

An opportunity for our Shepherds, Father Andrew and Father Simeon to explore ways to stay connected with their flock and minister to us. It is such a blessing to be able to live stream mass 5 days a week and twice on Sunday. Stations of the cross and Adoration are opportunities we are also grateful to access.

An opportunity to reflect on what is really important to us as family, as church and being a child of God.

An opportunity to look beyond ourselves – to those who may not be seen, heard or noticed.

An opportunity to dialogue via different means, in different dosages and with people who are often closest to us with which we dialogue the least.

An opportunity to evangelise in ways we may not have thought of.

Our Children participating in a live stream home mass

An opportunity to access resources for prayer, family activities about Lent, Easter and the global church

An opportunity for the Staff team and Parish Pastoral Council to reconnect personally with all the parishioners during this period.

An opportunity to be still and Know He is God, which I have found to be the most rewarding. God has us and will never leave us.

At Star of the Sea we all are in need of receiving love and giving love especially now and, as a community, have discovered and are still discovering, ways to remain church more than ever. Whilst we may not be able to visit, clothe or feed in the same way we could, we remain called to visit, clothe and feed those who are with us both physically and spiritually.  

Bernadette Ariens

We’ve had to become innovative, that’s for sure. Having to close our church doors three weeks ago to the peoples’ prayer and sacramental life caused us great sorrow and anguish. However, little did we know that together, as a Team, we could do great things. What a blessing to have two under-25s on our Team! And little did we know that sitting behind the reception desk and in the finance department were two seriously creative tech-savvy people!

Our main focus at this time has been to keep in touch with our parishioners as best we can, to support them in their prayer life in the absence of the Eucharist, and to ensure theirs as well as our health and safety is maintained.

Bulletins

To achieve this, we have continued to produce a weekly bulletin that is accessible on the parish website, Facebook page, and on outdoor church noticeboards. Admittedly it’s half the size of the previous editions but, for many of our parishioners, a hardcopy is the only medium of communication they will have and so we will continue to produce these. Letter-box drops are being done by visitation ministers and Team members to those who have asked for a copy.

Staying in Touch

As soon as the churches closed, a meeting of the Visitation Ministry was organised. Fr Peter and Marcia Sharp, the parish Visitation Co-ordinator, asked that each minister make phone calls to their “regulars” as a means of staying connected. As well as the Visitation Ministers, the Passionists Family Group members, MenAlive and the Parish Stewardship Council members have come on board and have been allocated several parishioners with whom to stay in touch during the course of the pandemic.

The youth of the parish have volunteered their time and know-how to help the older generation use their devices and install apps such as Zoom and What’s App.

Church Chat

An interview with Fr Peter, recorded live in our parish studio each week and sometimes twice weekly, is up and running on our Facebook and Youtube pages and parish website. Our first guests were Lizzie and Maddi, our Youth coordinators with the knowledge and tech savvy ability to “talk the talk” and reassure us all is possible. They introduced themselves, read one of their favourite gospels with an accompanying explanation, and spoke of their plans in Youth ministry. Activities for the young are happening each weekday via Zoom during this stay-at-home period.

Church Chat is written and presented by Fr Peter and the guest-of-the-day, produced, directed and edited by Jeffrey “Spielberg”, former parish Finance Officer, graphic designs by Raquel, receptionist, sound and lighting by Jeffrey “Spielberg”, with running commentaries from Anne, Norm and Marcia. All rights reserved.

Resources

Facebook, Youtube and our website are our major forms of communication. On these we place links to various prayer resources and online Masses. We are grateful to be able to view the livestream Mass from the cathedral each day.

Anne Sheehan

We are reaching our parishioners via email. Each week we send them resources to help support their faith.

This week the Parish Bulletin included Homilies for Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday and Good Friday by Fr Stephen and Fr James, and to enhance the faith experience we have included youtube links for relevant hymns so the people can read the Reflection and listen to the beautiful hymns so they can connect a little with the beautiful Holy Week Liturgies. We have also provided the Sunday Prayer of Intercessions to be prayed at home. We are also currently working on setting up a Parish Facebook Page which will also boost out contact with our parish community.

Christine Haines.

The Cathedral Dean: Fr Bryan Hanifin

• Sends relevant articles to all volunteers each week. (eg Take 2 with Jesus)
• Bulletin available on website and placed in a prominent place outside the Cathedral centre.

Pastoral Associate: Marg Hallinan

• Shared Spiritual Communion prayers with residents at aged care facilities where I volunteer. Also, with all those I visit for home communion.
• Sent copy of the Spiritual Communion to those on the Liturgy committee to share with whomever.
• If I see anything uplifting on Facebook I share. (e. g. Message from Bundaberg about Churches being closed that is the buildings. etc)
• Send prayers on emails to all on Mass distribution lists relating to COVID 19 encouraging prayer and support.
• Phone those who do not have internet (that I am aware off) once a week offering prayer and support. (this has just started)
• Phone/text all those I usually visit at home once a week – for prayer.
• Commencing to phone residents (whose Phone numbers I have and given permission to do so) at the local aged care facility

Associate Pastor: Fr Bill Senn

In Mt Morgan & Gracemere I have been keeping connected pastorally via phone calls & emails to various parishioners, a few times per week. Basically, I have a parish contact list and I am working my way through the list, I haven't yet reached everyone but that is the aim towards which I'm working.

The feedback is overwhelmingly positive and I've found that emails are proving to be the most efficient with regards to two-way pastoral conversation. Of course, speaking via the telephone is by far the best option however there are times when that may be unsuccessful or not possible; so in that case an email conversation is very successful and reliable in maintaining the pastoral connection between pastor and people.

I continue at present to deliver the Parish Bulletin each Saturday to both Churches in Mt Morgan and Gracemere. As a priest, I prioritise this task as it assists both pastor & people in continuing, maintaining and nourishing the same pastoral connections. These documents are available online also and I'm in contact with parishioners via an email to advise them of this. 

Of course, this too is a collaborative effort with various parishioners in each parish maintaining similar connections with each other and myself; so basically we are working as a team regarding implementing and maintaining these pastoral initiatives which are now essential by way of our operating as Church in this new situation of the Corona virus pandemic. 

Fr Bill Senn

Like everywhere, life is evolving in the parish on the Cap Coast in the new ways of connecting and ‘praying together with distance’.

It was a daily cycle of new procedures, as news came and continues to come out in what we can and cannot do.

“However, all is not lost! We are able: to reach out to each other; to be a people who pray;

to be faithful witnesses in how we live and care for each other; to remain safe and well in our homes;

to be thoughtful of others and each other in our world.

We are a people of hope and prayer, and

we offer this for those close to us and for those in the world who are in need of healing and hope at this time.” (quote from parish bulletin).

There are many things we can do in supporting, caring and looking out for each other.

People have been discovering social media on our

Parish Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CapricornCoastCatholicParish and the Parish Webpage http://yeppoon.com/catholic/

Our guru of all things tech Denis Murphy, with our secretary Vanessa add daily updates, resources and prayers for our people.

Denis has also started the new found app Zoom, a wonderful way of bringing together people for group prayer and connection.   

We have begun a weekly Gospel discussion via Zoom.  Denis has developed a ‘Power Point’ program, that includes hymns sung by our music team, gospel reading, time for reflection and sharing, a teaching reflection, time for prayer.

Sue and our RCIA group support each other and those who were on the journey to celebrate the sacraments at Easter are continue to be in touch to share the journey. The weekly newsletter is slowly being renewed to have information and ‘links’ for people to use at home.

Each day Bishop Michael celebrates Mass and the YouTube daily broadcast gathers people daily online as well and many have said it is a wonderful time of prayer and being in communion with each other. Fr Matthew celebrates at this time as well praying with and for our people.

Getting the word out to people is a work in progress but already many have connected, phoned each other, supported from a distance and are using the internet to connect and share this time together. We are all discovering new ways and ideas of how to do this.

We are currently setting up a group email system by which we can keep in touch with parishioners as possible sending them the Parish bulletin, prayer resources and news. 

Stay safe everyone.

May the blessings of Easter bring hope for us all.

Fr Matthew Moloney

The sun continues to shine in our lives. We are in extraordinary times.
May we continue to be people who reach out and show hope, kindness & support for each other. Our faith in a God who is made present in the mystery of our experiences & lives will always be with us. May the Son who is our light, guide & bless us this day & into our tomorrows. Amen.
Thinking of all in our community.

Each Sunday, Father Thadayoose is saying mass via Zoom.  We email our parishioners with the Zoom ID number each week to they can join in the mass and we have people joining in from Biloela, Monto and Dawson Valley.  This is a great way to still feel connected to each other while we are isolated in our homes.

Here in the West, responses to the COVID-19 changes have been predictably varied.  For about half of our communities the changes are yet to be fully realised, as the time of their first COVID-19 cancelled service is yet to occur.  For parishioners of communities with a Sunday service each week, and maybe even multiple weekday Masses, the restrictions have been a big change to their lives and undoubtedly caused uncertainty and angst. 

Telstra is getting a work out as we attempt to connect via telephone and email.  Now, more than ever, we are grateful for modern telecommunication! Whilst limited internet connectivity means that it isn't an option for everyone, a number of parishioners are enjoying the opportunity to watch daily Mass online and experience a feeling of connection with the rest of the diocese and the Catholic Church throughout the world.  On top of day-to-day communication, to ensure that no community 'falls through the cracks', our priests will be contacting a couple of parishioners from each town on the days when they would normally celebrate Mass there.  This is a huge undertaking for Fr Raj and Fr Shaiju who will sometimes be contacting people and communities whom they have not yet met.

Our weekly Cluster Bulletin is continuing as a means of sharing notices, connecting communities and building familiarity between the parishioners and our two new priests.  Our priests are sharing personal stories and writing gospel reflections as a way of introducing themselves and providing spiritual guidance.  Many people have been working hard to contact parishioners and build a list of email addresses for distributing the Bulletin each week.  In addition to this, numerous volunteers will be printing a few copies of the Bulletin each week and delivering them to the letterboxes of those parishioners who do not have email. 

Whilst our Church buildings are closed, our Church, the people of God, is very much alive and doing it's best to remain connected and supportive of each other during this time.

Loretta McKeering

Our wonderful North Rockhampton Community of St Mary’s, Our Lady Help of Christians and Holy Family are STAYING CONNECTED

We have been doing a mass email mailout with the subject “STAYING CONNECTED”.    We have been gathering and distributing correspondence from Bishop Michael, the Diocesan Office, Sr Kym’s ‘Take 2 with Jesus’,  our Parish Bulletin, general information, Prayers, and activities for our smaller people.

Many in our community don’t have access to the internet.  We have been phoning some of those Parishioners who in turn phone others etc. much like a phone tree.   We have been sharing news with them and where possible getting some printed material to some of them.

Fr Marcel is exploring ways that we can reach out to our parishioners and help keep them engaged during this time. 

He is keeping connected with parishioners, team coordinators, team leaders, hospital, prison, PPC, Finance team and schools through email and phone calls. Fr Marcel said “We understand that this is not a situation of our choosing but a situation that’s been given to us”

Parishioners are invited to send their prayer intentions so that during Mass Fr Marcel can remember them, pray for them and offer sufferings of this day to Jesus. He’d like parishioners to know that he cares about each one of you

The students of Emmaus College sent messages to residents of Bethany and Leinster Place.  The college contacted Mercy Aged Care Services via the facebook page, to share messages of comfort and kindness to the residents.

After China, Italy is one of the worst affected countries by COVID-19. When I arrived in Rome on January 31^st this year, there had been concern about the spread of the virus in the north of Italy, but life seemed to continue. The city was busy, still drawing tourists from all over the world. But on the night of March 8^th , it was apparent that the coronavirus crisis had escalated dramatically, and the Italian government announced it would soon be placing the whole country in lockdown. There were now 18000 cases across the nation, mostly in the northern regions. Later that night, with that news to hand, the Rector of the Venerable English College where I was residing, asked all the students to return home as soon as possible. Fortunately, I was able to get a flight early the next morning and returned to Australia on the afternoon of March 11^th.  I then went into 14 days of self-isolation. It all happened quickly. From one day still trying to adjust to being a full-time student at the Angelicum university, I was thankful that I was now safely back in Australia. Over the last few weeks, we have seen our own communities go into lockdown and so many adjustments are needed to cope and make sense of what is happening. Fortunately, the Angelicum University was able to continue its courses online, and so four nights each week, or rather, in the early hours of the morning, from the quiet of the Bishop’s residence, I attend lectures presented from Rome and delivered in real time to students on their computers who are dispersed across the world including throughout parts of Africa, Asia, America and also to the many who decided to stay in Rome.   

The whole experience of having to leave one’s residence or home in the middle of the night is an all too familiar experience for many in our world. It is similar to that recalled in Matthew’s Gospel when Mary and Joseph had to decide in the middle of the night to flee with the child Jesus and head for the relative calm and safety of Egypt. Considering our recent experience, so many people all over the world will be able to relate to this Gospel in a personal way and perhaps also to plight of modern-day refugees who flee and go into a future of uncertainty. Let’s continue to pray for those who have been affected by this virus; those who have died, those have contracted it, those caring for the sick on the front line of hospitals and other places, and of course our wider community and church that is grappling with its long reach. This is now a day to day experience, and we place our world and our lives in God’s care.

Fr. Don White.

Lent has been a little busy this year and for most of us we’ve given up whole lot more than we anticipated.  Someone even wrote “this has been the lentiest lent I’ve lented”!

Typically during Lent we support Project Compassion and the good work that Caritas does across the world.  This might form part of our calling of giving to the poor during this season – Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving.

Spanning through the six weeks of Lent each year, Project Compassion is an extraordinary, ongoing demonstration of the faith, love and generosity of Caritas Australia's caring supporters, all in the name of justice and peace. Millions of Australians come together in solidarity with the world's poor to help end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.

Visit https://lent.caritas.org.au/#blank to read up on the good work and projects that Caritas undertakes, and to make an online donation this year to continue to support this mission.

Shaun Pettett

St Joseph’s Cathedral YouTube site

Mass will be streamed at 9.30 am on Sundays and at 12 noon Monday-Saturday.  The Angelus will be recited just before Mass. 

Daily Readings Online These are the daily Mass reading, supplied through the Univeralis website.

Take 2 with Jesus   Daily Reflections on the Sunday Gospel.  By Email.  Please send your name and email address to prayer@rok.catholic.net.au.  

Prayers in time of Pandemic

Magnificat, a prayer resource, is offering its online material for free during this time.  You may find their material helpful.  See https://us.magnificat.net/free.

Washing hands prayer  Washing one’s hands with the Our Father.

Other useful links:

Diocese of Rockhampton https://rok.catholic.net.au/#

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference https://www.catholic.org.au/coronavirus

These will be updated as time goes on.  Please check http://rok.catholic.net.au/news-events/coronavirus-covid-19/#