The diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes has recently announced an online initiative called, Lessons from the Long Paddock that will launch on 6 June, with the aim of taking a deeper look into people’s faith and their lives.
For many people, the experience of Catholic faith and life is challenging. The situation of the Church in Australia today points to a great need to return to the experience of God, to the reality of Christ in the ordinaries of life.
The online spirituality workshop is designed to support adult faith formation and makes use of real life stories from the Wilcannia-Forbes Diocese.
Diocesan Director of Mission Kate Englebrecht said the significance and relevance of the name, The Long Paddock is the corridor through which Australian cattlemen and women drovers move stock from one place to another.
“Long Paddocks make connections, lead from one place to another, make movement possible, save lives and bring hope,” Ms Englebrecht said.
“It dares to ask – what does the experience of the desert outback have to offer our Church in these times?
“How can the vast emptiness of the bush lead us all back to an experience of the Divine? “Faith in the outback has often been more a matter of finding the life and energy from within the experience itself and hope is part of the psyche because it’s had to be,” she said.
Speaking about the econference, Catholic Social Services CEO Father Frank Brennan SJ said that the need to support others to reflect and think again about, ‘who we are’ and ‘what matter to us’ is very clear and urgent.
“You might feel, as I do, that the current climate draws us to draw others to return to the experience of God, to the reality of Christ and to the capacity we all have to find spiritual strength again, not only in our sacramental tradition but in our ordinary lives,” Fr Brennan said.
“I think, as the Church, we need to help all our people to engage in a process of conversion.
“We need to help our people turn back to the spiritual foundations which underpin all we do and rediscover the radical faith and fidelity of Jesus,” he said.
“We can do this, in part, by supporting them to listen anew to the Good News of our stories of faith and by listening to experiences of the Divine in our ordinary lives.”
With two keynote speakers, Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green OSPPE and Fr Frank Brennan SJ, who will discuss Australian and Outback Spirituality, there will also be workshops that will be facilitated by Kate Englebrecht.
For more information, go to www.wf.catholic.org.au or register via the Diocesan Facebook page.