News from the Capricorn Coast
17 August, 2021
Sacraments
The sacraments of Confirmation and First Eucharist were celebrated over several days due to the number of candidates (2020 & 2021 student cohort). They were wonderful occasions of celebration and faith. Thanks to the parents, parish and the children themselves for their special day. A busy but very special few days for our parish community. Bishop Michael passed on his prayers and thoughts to the community on this occasion as he was still recuperating. Fr Matthew presided at the ceremonies.
For our primary school students, Confirmations were held over two nights, Thursday and Friday and then First Holy Communion on Saturday evening and each night the church was filled with joy and celebration.
Then at the Sunday evening Mass the students and families from St Brendan’s and St Ursula’s gathered and celebrated the Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. Again, it was a wonderful, faith filled time for our parish.
Thank you to the many people who helped prepare and make the celebrations the wonderful occasion they were. To Vanessa, Andrea, Melissa, Helen, Kathy, Shane, Tink, Nita, to all those who helped out, thank you.
St Benedict’s – Prep & Year 1 Visit for Mass at Sacred Heart Church
The children were excited by their visit to Sacred Heart Church. Many had never been on a bus before. One student told some parishioners that they were coming to The Jesus Museum! Well, thankfully, we hope they didn’t encounter a museum. During the Mass, Fr Matthew shared (dramatically) the story of the Gospel of Jesus Walking on Water. They were very prayerful, knowing quite a few of the responses. After Mass, while Fr Matthew gave the Preppies a detailed tour of the Church, the parishioners were quizzed by the Year 1 students as to what they did in the parish. Far from being museum pieces, this group of mostly retired people witnessed not only to their faith and friendship with each other, but also to the services they provide to the wider community who are in need – through the St Vincent de Paul, Communion Ministry to the Sick and Housebound, visiting those who are lonely or cannot get out, etc. They had plenty of questions and, hopefully, they discovered how alive we are. Thanks preps and year ones for your presence.
Youth Group– Sunday night after Mass Gathering
Shane Pianta and a small group organised a wonderful occasion for our high school aged children and gathered after Mass one Sunday night and shared the faith and stories of life. The BBQ and food were also a hit and the evening was a great success. They will gather each first Sunday to continue to share their journey of faith.
Gathering for a Cuppa after Mass
This was started up again as a regular event and on the first Sunday of the month all our communities gathered for a cuppa and catch up. It’s been a long while due to the pandemic where we have not been able to do so and was great to simply have a cuppa with each other. It was appreciated by us all.
Our gathering of both sides of the parish to ‘Meet in the Middle’ was also enjoyed this month by 21 of our parishioners. See you on October 11th for our next meet.
Bereavement Team
One of our parishioners told me how very appreciative she was of the support offered in her time of grief. Thank you to Margaret and her team for getting this ministry up and running.
Catholic Education Week Mass
It has been many years since we have been able to gather with all our school communities to celebrate Mass. St Brendan’s College hosted the Mass and with students from St Ursula’s, Sacred Heart and St Benedict’s together celebrated the contribution of Catholic Education not only locally but the 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia. It was a prayer filled occasion and stories of our schools were shared and celebrated.
Afterwards there was light lunch for all and then a famous netball game of St Ursula’s against St Brendan’s. The girls had won the last nine occasions and it was a game closely and hard fought. On the last minutes St Brendan’s scored the winning goal and won 7-6. It was a great day for all. Thank you to all our school communities who are so very important and very much part of our parish.
