Melbourne Archdiocesan seminarian, An Le, reflects on his six-month parish pastoral placement in 2020.
The last half of 2020, I was sent out to the Parishes of St. Joseph at Northcote and St. Mary at Thornbury for a placement. My main goal was to learn and grow. One of the most important lessons I learnt and remembered, was the parishioners’ steadfast faith in God.
The people’s faith was expressed by their desire for Mass and prayer. During COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, the celebration of Mass with a congregation was restricted. The Parishes provided live-streams of Sunday Mass and a good number of parishioners tuned in and followed Mass online. Additionally, I had conversations with the parishioners by either phone calls or in person if they walked through the Church grounds, who expressed their desperate longing for the Eucharist. Moreover, despite the COVID-19 related hardships and restrictions, I often saw the people coming to the statue of Mary in the yard of St. Mary’s Church to offer her some flowers and prayers. Their faith taught that God exists, and that God is very much part of human need and desire.
The parishioners’ committed service for the Church manifested their faith in God. Frequently, some of them came to the churches to do gardening and cleaning. The churches were kept tidy and clean during the pandemic. In addition, they made themselves available for the service of the liturgy such as for live-streamed services and to help with music, whenever the restrictions allowed it. They also dedicated their time to the Parishes’ Zoom meetings and to the support of each other during the strict lockdown. The parishioners’ simple and dedicated work was a clear demonstration of faith.
In addition to the service, the people’s faith in God was seen through their generosity. During the tough times, there was no weekend Masses but the parishioners loved the Church and put aside their certain amount of Mass collections. When they had a chance to attend Mass, they brought the weekly accumulated amount for the Church. COVID-19 might have prevented people from attending Mass in person but it could not stop their love for God and their generosity for the Church. Besides, some parishioners showed their generosity for their shepherd and myself. Despite the winter weather and how hard COVID-19 had hit, some parishioners consistently brought their food and drink for us on certain days and times. Here, I learnt the lesson that “sheep look after shepherds” and without sheep, shepherds become wanderers, hardly survive and are not needed.
In summary, the parishioners’ deep faith in God strengthened mine. Their desire for Mass and devotional prayer with Our Lady together with committed service and generosity for the Church, taught me how to live my faith, to listen to the voice of Christ the Good Shepherd and to follow Him, so that I may be found to be another good shepherd among sheep and goats.