The Catholic Weekly 12 April 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 7 12, April, 2020 Ordinary things done extraordinarily well. Fostering hard work as a gift to God and as a service to others. WOLLEMI COLLEGE Boys Year 2 to Year 12 4 Gipps St, Werrington NSW 2747 wollemi.nsw.edu.au | 02 9833 0499 REDFIELD COLLEGE Boys Year 2 to Year 12 855 Old Northern Rd, Dural NSW 2158 redfield.nsw.edu.au | 02 9651 4066 MONTGROVE COLLEGE Infants Girls and Boys K to Year 1 Girls Year 2 to Year 12 140 Bringelly Rd, Orchard Hills NSW 2748 montgrove.nsw.edu.au | 02 4736 5977 TANGARASCHOOL FORGIRLS Infants Girls and Boys Reception (4yr olds) to Year 1 Girls Year 2 to Year 12 77-97 Franklin Rd, Cherrybrook NSW 2126 tangara.nsw.edu.au | 02 9680 4844 of Catholic Clergy we are in- viting all priests, ACCC mem- bers and beyond, to commit themselves to one hour (or several hour-long sessions) before the tabernacles of their own closed churches or chap- els, in prayer and adoration.” “Perpetual Adoration for Holy Week begins at 12am Priests lead online Adoration INGENIOUS USES of new technology by some imagina- tive and diligent priests and deacons have done much to assist the faithful to pray, see and hear Masses, liturgical readings, music and prayers during the lockdowns of the Covid-19 pandemic. The promotion of Spiritual Communion has revived among isolated Catholics a traditional practice of prayer- fully desiring union with Christ in the Eucharist. This virtual “new normal” does not replace the true and embodied sacramental life of the Church. While it is im- portant that Catholic “influ- encers” and writers remain uplifting, we cannot be tone deaf to the rawness of “exile” which many Catholics are ex- periencing in both small and in spiritually serious ways. Fr Marcus Goulding, a young Melbourne priest, is acutely conscious of the real harm of this ecclesial and sac- ramental separation. “I am aware that we priests are the ones who have access to the Christ in The Blessed Sacrament, while our people do not,” he told The Catholic Weekly . He has devised a way for priests around Australia, to carry their people in solidarity and prayer in Perpetual Ado- ration before The Blessed Sac- rament during the seven days of this coming Holy Week. “It is a really simple idea,” Fr Goulding explains, “Through the Australian Confraternity on Sunday, 5th April 2020 (Palm Sunday) and concludes at 11.59pm on Sunday, 12th April 2020 (Easter Sunday)” “The continuous prayer before the Lord will be for the needs of our people, for the Church and for the healing of the afflicted and the over- coming of the Coronavirus.” Fr Goulding is tech-savvy and is using Calendly software to co-ordinate the adoration roster while protecting the priests’ privacy. Through it he will communicate via email and generate SMS reminders within 24 hours of their cho- sen adoration time slots. “The response from the priests has been very posi- tive – just from priests around Victoria alone – but we are in- viting priests from all across Australia to join us.” Father Goulding, as well as serving as the Secretary of the Confraternity, is also the newly appointed Assistant ¾ ¾ Anna Krohn Adoration of The Blessed Sacrament is livestreamed by Father Tom Kovatch in the US. Victorian priest Fr Marcus Goulding has initiated a growing online Eucharistic Adoration campaign which is being supported by Catholics within and far outside his Laverton parish. PHOTO: CNS, KATIE RUTTER Priest to the busy Holy Trin- ity Catholic parish cluster of Laverton, Altona Meadows and Point Cook on the South- west rim of Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay. Until the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus, it was a rap- idly developing and culturally diverse area of new housing development with an influx of young families and trades- people. Fr Goulding is especially conscious of the social, psy- chological and economic bur- dens which the pandemic is imposing on his parishioners. He suspects that the “after” of the crisis will throw up many new questions and challenges for the Church and for parish- es like his. Fr Goulding reflected on the important lessons from this watershed in time: “I wonder now if all the themes raised for the 2020 Plena- ry will have any relevance post-Coronavirus? We will be forced to re-evaluate how we participate in the Church both as priests and people.” Father Marcus Goulding can be reached via the ACCC website or his Facebook page. Email: [email protected] . au or marcus.goulding@cam. org.au ... we are inviting all priests, ACCC members and beyond, to commit themselves to one hour ... before the tabernacles of their own closed churches or chapels, in prayer and adoration.” Fr Marcus Goulding NEWS