Diocesan Newsletter

News from North Rockhampton

Rocky Northside Catholic Youth

The youth are not just the future of our Church, but they are a most vital part of our Church right now, and we must make a place for them.

With this in mind, the Rocky Northside youth group was begun by the North Rockhampton Parish NET team in 2018.  The NET team did a marvellous job of bringing the youth on board and creating a safe space for youth to feel welcome in our parish.

Post NET, an incredible team of young adults has taken over the coordination of the youth activities, with lots of parent and parish support. In 2021, after a covid break last year, our youth group began to meet in conjunction with the monthly Youth Mass. Our high-school, Emmaus College, generously puts on ever-popular pizza after Mass (as well as providing some very lively music during Mass), and the fun continues after that, as the young people gather in Holy Family hall for games, team work activities, faith formation and prayer.

Some of the highlights of the year have been the recent school holiday movie night (complete with popcorn and churros), the crazy games night, the Pentecost Holy Spirit challenge where the youth created an image of the Holy Spirit out of Lego or on Minecraft, and on Good Friday we led Stations of the Cross in the Kershaw Gardens.

Together with the help of some young adults, the youth created a beautiful vignette for each station, along with prayers and songs. Many joined us in journeying a mini pilgrimage throughout the gardens, stopping along the way to pray each station, in a powerful witness to the reason for the “public holiday”, remembering the Passion of our Lord. The public Stations of the Cross was such a beautiful event that we hope it will be the first of many in years to come.

A huge thank you to Fr Marcel for his support and encouragement of the youth group, to all our North Rocky parishioners who rally around us with prayers and many donations, and to our phenomenal young adults team who volunteer so much of their time, energy and care for the young people.

If any youth from the Rockhampton area would like to join the fun and enjoy fellowship, faith formation and of course food, contact Laura at northrockyyouth@gmail.com.

NAIDOC Mass in Parish

Catholic Education Rockhampton held the annual NAIDOC School Mass at Holy Family Church on Tuesday 13 July, with all Catholic primary and secondary schools and colleges from Rockhampton and Yeppoon in attendance, including Chanel College from Gladstone.

The theme for NAIDOC 2021, was Heal Country! Fr Peter Tonti celebrated the mass with Fr Marcel Kujur, Fr Bryan Hanifan, Fr Mathew Moloney, Fr Matthius Ogwo along with parishioners, students, staff, families and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

The theme calls for all of us to continue to seek greater protections for our lands, our waters, our sacred sites and our cultural heritage from exploitation, desecration, and destruction.  NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.