Picture- Fr Brian Collins celebrates Mass when COVID-19 restrictions meant Mass could only take place outside.
From the stories I heard, it was from this medley of faces that emerged a humble Catholic community, which started worshipping in the school hall. Then, their first church was built, which has now transformed into “The Little Chapel” as a bigger church was built five years ago. Indeed, the erection of the newer Church has brought the community even more together and is considered a significant event in the life of this parish.
Another significant event in the life of this community is the presence of their current pastor Fr Brian Collins, who has been serving them for about 22 years.
However, Fr Brian did not journey on his own; alongside him are the staff members of the parish. Some of them were there before his appointment to the Resurrection Parish.
Apart from the staff, we have regular volunteers who help in the office as well. The volunteers reflect the various cultures that make up the community.
Pictures: Jean-Sebastien Gery.
By Jean-Sebastien Gery
The Resurrection Parish is found at Keysborough, a south eastern Melburnian suburb.
This part of the metropolis is well-known for its vast diversity of immigrants; from Islanders to Italian, Vietnamese to Indian, Sri Lankans to Mauritians, Indonesian to Malaysian, you name it! They all bring with them their languages and traditions, shaping the face of Keysborough.
Pictured above is a parishioner preparing the prayer focus for the altar.
Pictured below is Fr Brian Collins in front of the finished prayer focus at the altar.
The volunteers assist the staff in the preparation of the Sacraments for children. They help organise funerals and accompany grieving families. They manage the Catholic agency St Vincent de Paul.
There is an agency initiated by the parish, which is the Keysborough Learning Centre. It is a non-profit-organisation aiming to help immigrants integrate into this society. While engaging with this entity, I found that their level of professionalism was exemplary.
The parish is hugely helped by the volunteers, and quite often the parish would be benefited from the help of apprentices too (assistant priests, deacons, or seminarians). Of course, it was beneficial for both the community, the staff, and the trainees. Lo and behold, I was sent to this parish!
There are so many areas that were made known to me in which I had had no recognition of their significance in life, nor perceived their intrinsic meaning to my vocation. For instance, areas such as participating and journeying with the people in the simplest of things such as offering a smile. There were also the significant decisions of their life such as; “Shall I marry her?”, “Shall I forgive him again?”, or “which readings do we put in the funeral booklet?”
I was affirmed in my vocation when I experienced the love of the community. I felt that the community loved me before I was able to prove my love for them. This unreasonable love had always invited me to be in communion with them as they invited me into their house and their heart. I humbly accepted the invitations. From my ‘yes’ to their love, flows the real goodness and beauty of communion. Partaking in this communal experience through the eyes of faith, calls me to take the community as ‘my partner’ and ‘my helper’, the one who would keep me from loneliness; for it is not good that man should be alone.
My pastoral placement could be summarized in 5 words: I believed I found love.