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Sunday 7 April 2019
Sr Colleen Livermore, a Sister of Mercy together with Sister Carmel Boyle, a Presentation Sister were entrusted with the pastoral care of the communities of Blackwater, Duaringa, Dingo and the Bluff (the Parish of Blackwater/ Duaringa) over 12 years ago by my predecessor, Bishop Brian Heenan. Last night, I joined the Catholic Community who gather on a Saturday evening at Mary Immaculate Church, Blackwater and celebrated Sister Colleen’s fifty years of professed religious life. Sr Colleen has spent a quarter of her religious life in Blackwater and with Sister Carmel, they have loved and nurtured the faith of many people of the towns and properties within the parish and beyond.
This year, four of our religious Sisters of Mercy celebrate significant anniversaries: Sister Denise Hinton – 50 years, Sr Amabile Speranza – 60 years and Sr Anne Marie Kinane – 70 years.
Congratulations Sisters on your marvellous commitment and love and being Mercy to the people of our Diocese and beyond.
As well, Sister Anne Baxter smsm, who serves our community at Monto, is celebrating 50 years of religious profession. Congratulations to you sister from all within our diocese.
After the mass, it was good to join the community for the shared meal and reconnecting with the many people of the community. During the mass, Paias and Apolonia, regulars at Blackwater joyfully presented their young son Wojem for Baptism.
The past month has been very full of happenings across the Diocese. In these past five years, I am still coming to grips with the vastness of the Diocese and its complexities. My diary normally tracks most of my movements and each month, these are put into the Bishop’s diary at the top of this newsletter.
Over the month, as Bishop, weekends are spent with a parish community and most recently these have been the communities of North Mackay, Cathedral Parish, Peak Downs Cluster of Parishes and Blackwater. This past week has included the blessings of a Memorial garden at St Peter’s, Allenstown to remember two wonderful teachers, Mrs Mary Jones and Mrs Cathy Williams. Then, at St Joseph’s Wandal was the blessing of classrooms followed by the new Kindergarten at St Anthony’s, Rockonia and the new Library at The Cathedral College.
This month too our priests gathered under the leadership of Fr Paul Chandler, O Carm, the Spiritual Director of Holy Spirit Seminary as we prepared to celebrate the Easter Triduum. The Mass of the Blessing of the Holy Oils where all of our priests and religious and people from around the Diocese gather at the Cathedral and renew our commitment to the mission of Christ and receive the Holy Oils fittingly completed the week together.
The Diocesan Assembly of last weekend brought our Diocese together after the past two years of meeting with you in the various regions. I am deeply grateful for all who have contributed to the discussion and for the discernment over these past few years of how best to plan for the future in our Diocese. I look forward to the formation of the Regional Pastoral Councils and to a new Diocesan Pastoral Council.
During the month, I joined with the Queensland Bishops in Brisbane and the Bishops of Oceania for a planning meeting for a 2022 gathering. In setting up the diary each year, the following meetings are included: twice a year with the Queensland Bishops, twice a year with the Australia Bishops and every four years a gathering with the Bishops of Oceania (Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Zealand and most of the Pacific from Tahiti to Guam and Australia) and then with the Bishop of Rome every seven years. On the local level, I meet with our priests four times a year for two-three days each gathering, every Parish once a year for pastoral visitation, confirmations and special events. As Bishop, I meet at least month with the Directors of Catholic Education, Centacare and Financial Services and more regularly with those who are in the Pastoral Ministries: Regional Tribunal, pastoral projects, safeguarding and professional services, chancellery, St Vincent de Paul, youth ministry, prison ministry and pastoral ministries such as Stella Maris (Apostleship of the Sea). The diary also includes the Councils (Education, Centacare Finance) and when time permits committees including Diocesan Development Fund, Building & Property, Ecumenical & Interfaith Committee, Social Justice Committee. Just last week, I began to look at the Calendar for 2020!
Last week, we received the message from our Vietnamese Community about the death of their young man, David Pham. My prayers reach out to our Vietnamese Community and to David’s Mum and Dad. David completed Year 12 in 2017 at Emmaus College and during the Awards night, he received an award and was in the Confirmation class at St Mary’s a few years back. Please join with me and extend your prayers and support over this grieving community.
Catholics from throughout the vast Rockhampton Diocese have gathered to discuss the needs of their diocese with the view to drafting a 10-year pastoral plan. The Rockhampton Diocesan Assembly 2019 was convened at St Joseph’s Cathedral, Rockhampton, on March 28, following a Chrism Mass attended by priests, parishioners, assembly delegates and students. This was followed by an opening liturgy attended by 170 delegates from across the diocese, representative of those who had attended the regional ‘listening gatherings’ held in 2017 and 2018.
“This is a diocese of many challenges – those of distance, isolation, poverty, impacts of economic downturn, impacts of fly-in/fly-out mining workers on towns in the region. There are many challenges to family life,” Bishop Michael McCarthy said. “The assembly was marked by excellent discussions, deep reflection and some beautiful liturgy and moments of prayer. There was such a richness of stories.”
The theme of the assembly was ‘Into the Deep’ with the symbol of water which is so crucial in the diocese with many communities suffering from years of drought. The story of Jesus, walking on the water, and inviting Peter to step out into the deep was a central motif.
In his final address to the assembly, Bishop McCarthy said: “The spirit of the Lord has been here with us this weekend. Our assembly is about our Diocese. We need to nurture the strength we have seen here this weekend. This is the Church that we are working together in as the people of God.”
Prior to this year’s assembly, two ‘listening gatherings’ were held in each region of the diocese, facilitated by local people to raise their pastoral needs and suggest solutions.
The Rockhampton assembly process was developed by Joy Philippi, Diocesan Pastoral Coordinator, and Shane Dwyer, from the National Centre for Evangelisation.
Issues discussed included:
- The pastoral and sacramental care of parishioners in isolated and remote areas
- The role of the laity in today’s Church, especially in their region
- The formation needs of lay ministers and how to provide good formation for leaders and all adults wishing to deepen their relationship with God
- Priorities of evangelisation – how to minister to those in the region who are disadvantaged and marginalised, to the youth and young families, and the elderly.
Delegates gathered in groups to develop propositions for the future and their propositions will be collated, refined and discussed further with the eventual result being a map to guide the next 10 years.
Bishop McCarthy said “We have heard so many wonderful stories of evangelisation, of pastoral care and cooperation of priests and lay people working together! I wish I could take (the delegates) with me in person – take the whole Diocese!”
During the assembly, Lana Turvey-Collins, coordinator of the Plenary Council 2020, provided a session on the Plenary Council. Ms Turvey-Collins said attending the Rockhampton assembly was an experience of a truly Synodal Church: the people of God gathered together, speaking truth, listening deeply to one another and to the Holy Spirit and making decisions together.
“The gifts of many contributed to making the whole event a resounding success and I have no doubt that that resulting pastoral plan and strategic directions for the Catholic communities of the Diocese of Rockhampton will charge a missionary pathway towards a strong and faith-filled future,” she said.
Reflections from some who were there
Fr Matthew Moloney
Part of Fr Matthew Moloney’s homily for the Capricorn Coast gives the background and an understanding of what happened.
It has been an extra-ordinary few days of gathering with people from Mackay, down to Bundaberg, out to Aramac and many from the west. Some were delayed or did not get there due to beautiful rain which some have received out in the west. What a beautiful gift it was too. People from the highlands and mining fields and many from around this region of the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton as well. One hundred and seventy delegates from the listening and gathering sessions from all over the Diocese of Rockhampton, gathered, worked at a plan and looked at the issues of our church and the future. These are exiting times.
Bishop Michael this morning spoke of some of the things which he heard as a summary of the day and a half’s gathering. He said that we are together missionary disciples and that this was a time of privileged moments where we listened to the voice of the Holy Spirit in our Church. He spoke of how we are all on a Mission. This is not about the maintenance, but mission. A mission where we seek out those who are not here in our church and those on the margins who feel they are not welcome. To go out to them and by the witness of our lives and by our invitation, God’s invitation, share the news of Jesus Christ. He said that he heard that there be an honest renewal and transformation of hearts – for all of us. With new models of pastoral care for our people, priests and people working together for the mission of Jesus Christ in our world.
The facilitator was a man called Shane Dwyer from the National Centre of Evangelisation. He said evangelisation was touching people’s hearts and leading them to a relationship with Jesus Christ and communion with one another. A churchy way of saying: loving and caring for people and showing them a way of life, which makes a difference to who you are and who they are. He then asked a central question which I held on to throughout the time and will reflect upon a fair bit more. He asked and put the word evangelisation at the very centre of who we are.
Evangelisation?
Living the faith in such a way that it makes people around you, ask questions of me?
How am I living life in such a way that other people question me about it?
As Bishop Michael heard of the comments and questions and discussions, the main one was asking of me and all of us: an honest renewal and transformation of hearts.
May that be our prayer and our continuing of the journey, amen.
Greg Dwyer, the Facilitator.
What struck me is the faith and resilience of the diocesan faith community, committed as they are to genuinely seeking a way forward as they seek to discern what God is asking of them as a community today.
I was encouraged to experience the willingness with which participants engaged with the assembly process. This was not necessarily easy for them to do, as the assembly process itself had to be open-ended. Any attempt to lockdown the outcomes in anticipation would have been counterproductive to the purpose of the assembly: to work together to discuss and discern the way forward for the diocese over the next 10 years. Yet people were willing to work with it…
I was moved by a number of the 1-1 encounters I had as people shared with me their faith stories and the personal convictions that keep them going in what are often difficult circumstances.
The venue was great and the hospitality offered by Rob and the staff was much appreciated.
Shane Dwyer is the Director of the National Centre for Evangelisation
John Kennedy
A general comment from people was that it was a great opportunity to interact with people from across the Diocese – especially from people away from the main population centers e.g. the far west – good to hear their views about the issues facing Catholics in the Diocese
- Was a good opportunity to connect with all the priests from across the Dioceses
- Wonderful liturgies to unit all the members of the Assembly
- An opportunity to hear more about the Plenary Council in 2020
Diocesan Assembly
Members of the Capricorn Coast Parish gathered with over 170 delegates at our recent Diocesan Assembly with Bishop Michael to hear and plan for our Diocese into the future. It was fantastic to gather with so many from all over the Diocese, and to share in this very important part of the life of the Diocese. This photo captures Bishop Michael giving a summary of the time and then a blessing for those who gathered as we went to our home parishes.
Listening in Lent
Last Saturday we continued with our discussions as we looked at the topics of Mission, Making Disciples, Evangelisation and From Disciples to Apostles. This time of Listening in Lent is working towards a process of discernment which will conclude on Wednesday of Holy Week. A group of 4 – 6 people will accept nomination to become part of a Team Ministry for the parish. The Easter period will be a time of reflection and then conclude with commissioning at Pentecost.
50th Wedding Anniversary
Our congratulations were expressed by our parish community last Sunday, to two of our very active parishioners – Dave and Collette Bowman. Our parish family sang the Blessing Song over Dave and Collette for having reached this wonderful milestone last Friday April 5th. We pray that they will enjoy many
more years to come.
A fitting tribute to a caring, gentle lady – Marg Kershaw.
Farewell to Marg Kershaw
Last week, Sacred Heart School said farewell to the wonderful Marg Kershaw, their office secretary.
Marg has carefully tended the wisdom of the school for many years – in fact she has kept a comprehensive history of our school, including a hard copy of every paper newsletter. But most importantly she has kept the wisdom of the families in this community, safe – in a confidential and gentle manner, Marg knows the background to the little ones that enter our gates. She is the wise mother who has overseen our Catholic school.
Marg, her husband, Dave and children were instrumental in assisting with the physical building of the Barracuda Crescent site of our school through working bees and transportation, in the years leading up to its opening in March 1991. That generosity led Marg to volunteer at Sacred Heart, leading to a position of employment in August 1993. In 1996, Marg became our main School Secretary and has dedicated her life to that role to this present day.
Marg’s four children were all educated at Sacred Heart – Luke, Laura, Claire and Joseph. The older three children’s education crossing the two campuses of John St and Barracuda St.
Marg is the lady with the ready smile and welcome as people arrive at our front desk. Many times, we have gained enrolments due to the sense of community and acceptance that was encountered on the phone and at that first greeting. Marg’s dedication goes well beyond her hours and we have appreciated her extraordinary commitment.
Marg also has a quiet spirituality. A fact which has been inspiring to us all.
Marg isn’t really retiring, with four children and four grandchildren (with one on the way) to keep her and Dave busy.
Marg, you have been an extraordinary influence on Sacred Heart. You are one of those people who will be inscribed firmly on the history of our school.
You are part of the regular beat and health of that HEART.
We will survive without you but your influence and passion will not fade. Thank you for all you have done. We wish you the best in your well-deserved retirement.
All at Sacred Heart School.
Ash Wednesday Mass in Emerald
We all gatheredarly on Ash Wednesday morning to begin the solemnity of our Lenten journey. Our ceremony began outside the church with the burning of last year’s palms and reflecting on what we wanted to let go of from the previous twelve months.
”We rise again from ashes “ then became our theme song for celebrating Mass. Fr Raj gave a very uplifting homily and reminded us to adopt the Gospel message and turn away from sin and repent. We were then blessed with the ashes and instructed to go and preach the Word
All in all it was a very solemn and reflective ceremony, liturgy and mass to help us focus on our Lenten journey.
St Patrick’s Day
”Hail Glorious St Patrick’s” - 17th March is always a day of wonderful celebration at St Patrick’s community in Emerald in the midst of Lent this day is always joyful and full of fun - only the Irish would make that rule many years ago!! And traditions have to be adhered to!!
How nostalgic and emotional was it to see our beloved Fr Dan on the big screen. He would have approved of “his” flock keeping up Irish traditions. Fr Raj (a missionary himself) spoke of the Irish missionaries (like Fr Dan) who brought the faith to Australia and like their patron St Patrick nurtured the faith in so many communities.
This was a family fun day with BBQ brunch, games and friendship followed by mass.
☘️ the Irish spirit is still very alive at St Pat’s Emerald
Margaret Smith
Outstanding Success – Lenten Retreat
The recent Lenten Guided Retreat in Blackall was a huge relief to many older parishioners and a very big surprise for many not so old parishioners! This welcome time with the Lord was led by two extremely approachable and creative Missionary Sisters from the Verbum Dei Brisbane Community.
The Retreat began on Friday 8th March with and an evening meal and registration (eleven people including two from Barcaldine and one from Tambo) followed by a talk, reflection and Mass. Saturday was busy with more talks, sharing, confession, Mass, dinner and adoration. Sunday was another day of learning, sharing and reflecting.
At the Retreat we were given the opportunity to accept into our lives the very important step of Praying the Word of God so each day we will be able to find God’s perspective for the choices we make. The Sisters had prepared many strong, clear talks relating to the theme of walking with Jesus or rejecting Him. We are very grateful to the Sisters for accepting our invitation to come out to the West to help begin work that is desperately needed. May more of these such Retreats filter through all our parishes to help bring back life into our faith communities. Many more people were wanting to come but due to illness and drought situations were not able to be with us this time.
Some comments from participants were, “It was refreshing to have two such vibrant, youthful nuns to lead us and passionately witness to the will of God. The retreat itself was challenging, a wake-up call for me, something I have wanted and needed for quite some time, and not sure how to access. I hope this can become an annual event.”
“The retreat was a reminder that the Ten Commandments are still God’s Law; Satan....the devil is working very hard in our country and world; hell still exists and sin still needs to be confessed - just a few of the topics covered over the weekend. All of these topics were covered in the Bible readings which tells us what God wants us to do.....we just need to listen.”
“I thank the LORD our GOD for giving us such wonderful sisters to lead this Retreat. Thank you for the reminder of the importance of the Bible, Prayer and the 10 Commandments. Moreover, this retreat cleansed my soul and heart by attending reconciliation.”
“Information that Australia is a very pagan country was a reality check! The Sisters have been given a huge mission in Australia to help people return to God through prayer and listening to the Word of God.”
“In a country where many of us have turned away from God, this retreat was a much- needed sign of hope. It all comes back to ourselves if we are willing to be part of this change. It will not happen by ignoring the voice of Jesus. Thank you to the Verbum Sisters who came to share their mission with us.”
In closing, we thank Most Rev. Bishop Michael and Fr Jayanthi Maddala for supporting our Lenten Retreat which has offered a way to move forward with hope and renewed strength.
Moira Kent
St Patrick's Day
The St Patrick’s Day CWLA Cent Sale is always well supported, and this year was no different. The ladies, and gents, came dressed in green for a morning of Irish entertainment, good conversation with friends, morning tea and the opportunity to go home with Cent Sale prizes. This year Frs Jomon and Ronaldo experienced a St Patrick’s Day morning, with Fr Jomon leaving a winner! The Shalom ensemble, Suellen Cusack-Greenshill, Irish and Scottish dancers provided entertainment.
Lent
A Lenten Retreat was offered in early April, led by Fr John Daly, with nearly 70 people in attendance. It was an evening of prayer and reflection based around the journey of the RCIA Elect at this time, the journey to baptism. During Lent, the Elect are in a period of enlightenment and purification, inviting the Spirit to guide them, heal them, and give them strength to be Christian. With the use of the baptism symbols we were reminded of our baptismal call to mission and the need during Lent to stop for a “check-up”, maybe to get us back on track.
We have been especially blessed to have two adults and five children journeying to Easter. Our young adults, Will Mizzi and Ayla Duffy, give us hope because of their youthful enthusiasm to become a part of the Catholic family.
With Easter fast approaching many people are assisting in behind-the-scenes preparations, beginning with the making of palm crosses for Palm Sunday. We look forward to celebrating Holy Week, the climax of our year, together.
St Anthony’s Catholic Kindergarten and Prep
On Thursday 4th April, St Anthony’s Catholic Kindergarten and Prep Facilities were officially blessed by Bishop Michael and opened by Director of Catholic Education, Miss Leesa Jeffcoat.
Rockhampton Catholic Education Early Learning and Care Coordinator, Kathryn Byrne, said the new Kindergarten facility had generated enormous interest and has been very well-supported by the local community. “There has been a strong demand from families for Kindergarten places right from the early planning stages and it is very satisfying for Catholic Education to be able to support children and families, particularly working parents, with options that suit them,” Mrs. Byrne said.
Mrs Byrne said Catholic Education was particularly appreciative of the support received from Rockonia Parish (especially the Holy Family Catholic community) and St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School in establishing the new kindergarten.
Expressions of Interest forms are available on the Catholic Education Diocese of Rockhampton website: https://www.rok.catholic.edu.au/our-schools/kindergarten/.
Mrs Byrne said it was an exciting time for St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School and Catholic Education was pleased to be a part of such a vibrant and friendly community. The practical support offered, and many hours of planning and coordination have been integral to establishing St Anthony’s Catholic Kindergarten,” she said.
Diocesan Director of Catholic Education, Leesa Jeffcoat, congratulated all involved in the establishment of the new Catholic Kindergarten.
Dr Mark Copeland and Bishop Michael.
Dr Mark Copeland lead a Social Justice Workshop on the 6th April at the Duhig Centre. Mark is Mission executive St Vincent`s Hospital Toowoomba. He is actively involved in social justice in SE Queensland as well as having completed a Doctorate in Aboriginal dispossession. Bishop Michael McCarthy welcomed delegates and spoke of current and evolving social justice issues and of the Diocesan response to them.
The Scrutinies-The next step
Parishes, where the elect are preparing to receive the sacraments of initiation at the Easter Vigil, would have been witness to the three scrutinies celebrated on the third, fourth and fifth Sundays of Lent. The readings are taken from Year A. (Variations may apply according to parish circumstances) RCIA #132, 133.
RCIA #130 “In order to inspire in the elect a desire for purification and redemption by Christ, three scrutinies are celebrated.
- By this means, first of all, the elect are instructed gradually about the mystery of sin, from which the whole world and every person longs to be delivered and thus saved from its present and future consequences.
- Second, their spirit is filled with Christ the Redeemer, who is living water (gospel of the Samaritan woman in the first scrutiny), the lights of the world (gospel of the man born blind in the second scrutiny), the resurrection and the life (gospel of Lazarus in the third scrutiny).
From the first to the final scrutiny the elect should progress in their perception of sin and their desire for salvation.”
“These rites, therefore, should complete the conversion of the elect and deepen their resolve to hold fast to Christ and to carry out their decision to love God above all.” RCIA #128
Confirmation dates have been set and information regarding readings (outside of Mass) for Year C, as well as templates for ‘The Order for the Conferral of Confirmation within Mass’ and ‘The Order for the Conferral of Confirmation without Mass’, have been sent to parish offices from the Bishop’s Office.
Dynamic Catholic has a free online programme, Blessed First Reconciliation and Blessed First Communion, which are available at https://dynamiccatholic.com/blessed . The student book and teacher guide are free to download, and the videos are accessible to all. Please contact me regarding any queries.
Please feel free to contact me regarding any queries concerning sacramental preparation for school aged children. (phone 4994 8104).
Jocelyne Benoit (Sacraments’ Resource Contact-Diocese of Rockhampton)