30 Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst Year in Review 2020 WORSHIP & PRAYER These words from the Australian Bishops’ 2019-2020 Social Justice Statement had a prophetic ring to them, as many pastoral endeavours went online during the COVID impacted year of 2020. The Sandhurst Diocese Adult Faith Education Ministry shared resources and information to support parishes, groups and individuals to stay connected and to pray together in the digital world. Parish leaders and parishioners in our Diocese learned to use Zoom and extended their social media skills. Information about livestreamed Masses, online resources for Faith Education prayer, retreats, conferences and small group gatherings were shared between Australian and overseas dioceses. 180 people shared their ideas for parish activities and actions to keep people connected and continue prayer and worship via a FaceBook page called ‘Sandhurst Parish Ideas for Parish Connections during COVID19’. In 2020, many of us, for the first time, could easily access live or recorded liturgies, conferences, parish renewal and faith formation opportunities from other regions of our Diocese, Australia and from countries far away. The Adult Faith Education Ministry assisted people of our parishes, who had digital access, to do the same. There were greater challenges in offering support during ‘lockdown’ to those without digital access, but parish Pastoral Associates and volunteers shared their experiences of ‘Phone Trees’ or ‘letterbox drops’ to help those who were isolated. Sandhurst Pastoral Associates Sandhurst Pastoral Associates network members met online via Zoom in 2020, with one Pastoral Associate writing: “Zoom has managed to keep us in touch – and given those of us who were feeling down and isolated, a feeling of connection and being all the better for the sharing of the load.” Liturgy of the Word and Communion for the Sick Another task undertaken by the Adult Faith Education Reference group was preparation of draft documents for celebrations of the Liturgy of the Word with Communion and Communion to the Sick for our Diocese. This project, due for completion in 2021, will be designed to support parishes that may find themselves without a priest available to celebrate Mass with them on some Sundays. ‘Our Catholic Faith’ video series With Scripture scholar, Fr Brian Boyle, short videos exploring ‘Our Catholic Faith’ were published online: ‘The Presences of Christ in the Mass’. ‘The Word of God’ and ‘Imaginative Prayer’. ‘Understanding the Word of God in the Catholic Tradition’. Understanding the Word of God Lecture series A full-day event planned for 2020, went online with Fr Brian’s three lectures: ‘The Canon of Sacred Scripture’, ‘Vatican II on Inspiration’ ‘Spiritual Sense and Literal Sense’ Adult Faith Education Sandhurst “I am inspired by the way our parish communities have looked out for each other, during lockdown and after the devastating fires of early 2020.” “Our Church has an important role to play in building the city of God in reality and online … We have the ability to connect with others in ways never dreamed of and to use that ability to bandage the wounded, lift them up and lead them to a safe place in both the online and real world. As a community of faith, let us make real the love of God in our virtual world.”
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