News from the Net Team
28 April, 2025
We have had quite the adventure in the first two months in the Diocese of Rockhampton. It has been such a pleasure to firstly be welcomed by the Rockhampton community, with the gift of a house to live in, an office to work in, a cathedral to pray in, and a welcoming community to be immersed in.
Within the Rockhampton community we have managed to visit and introduce ourselves at almost all of the Mass centres, with the added bonus of running multiple youth groups with the Rockhampton Youth Ministry Team; a Sacramental Retreat with the primary students preparing for their Sacraments; an RCIA retreat and assisting with various music ministries in the parishes. We have also been blessed with the hospitality of the Cathedral College. We have gladly accepted invitations from TCC to their Formal Boarder’s Dinner, visits at lunchtimes to meet staff and students, sharing moments of prayer and meals with the boarders at both the girls and boys boarding houses, as well as the weekly Thursday morning community Masses. We were welcomed by Emmaus College for their Easter Liturgy and their World’s Greatest Shave Fundraiser. We have also been able to spend some time at St Paul’s Primary School,Gracemere where we discussed the topic of the Eucharist with their Year 6 classes.
We have been getting the kilometres up as well with a few expeditions around the diocese. In each of these places we have felt truly welcomed by the parish and school communities. We have loved sharing our stories with the people we meet and getting to know their stories as well. Some highlights include the Youth Mass at St Mary’s Church and the CCR gathering in Mackay, assisting with the flourishing Bundaberg Young Adults group and the parish Alpha Retreat, celebrating St Patrick’s Day with the school and parish communities in Emerald and Springsure, and stations of the Cross and a very joy-filled youth group with the Gladstone community.
We look forward to continuing to minister to and with those we have already connected with throughout the diocese and cannot wait to meet those communities we haven’t had the opportunity to get to yet. We pray for a blessed Easter season for you all and cannot wait to see what God has in store for our team this year.
Hannah Smailes, Nathan Sachse, Sarah Thomm, Kali Yopp, Craig Joyce
