While parishioners haven’t been able to gather at Mass, some Jesuit parishes in Australia have been keeping people connected in digital spaces, not just in sharing prayers and reflections, but also in engaging the younger members of the community in fun-filled activities.

The Jesuit community at St Ignatius Parish in Norwood, South Australia, was given a toy chicken to spread Easter joy in the community. The anonymous benefactor left a note, saying: “I am a little Easter Chick, chirping on my way. You may ask, ‘What are you doing on such a lovely day?’ I say don’t hinder me I pray, I’m here to spread Easter joy because it’s Easter day!”

Children from the parish were invited to draw pictures of the chicken and put forward suggestions for the name. Suggestions included “Bird of Pray”, “Lay-ola”, and “Superchook”, but the name “Eggnatius” won out.

“Eggnatius” now has its own special prayer place at Manresa community. Parishioners have been invited to share photos of their own prayer spaces.

Meanwhile, St Ignatius Parish in Toowong has started a “Colour Club” with activities for children. Eleven children took part in online activities on Palm Sunday, which included making a cross from a palm leaf and talking about the Stations of the Cross.

Some family activities were suggested for Good Friday including baking hot cross buns. A video showed the children how to draw Da Vinci’s Last Supper and the session finished with the Lent Song sung to the tune of Frère Jacques.

St Ignatius Norwood went live with a 15-minute guided examen on 23 April. The examen is a prayer that helps us identify God’s presence in our daily life, i.e. deep conversation with a friend, a walk in the park, a kind word from a friend or an insight from a book.

First Spiritual Exercises

Jesuit Mission and the First Spiritual Exercises Team at the Australian Jesuit Province are working together on a series of First Spiritual Exercises prayers spread over the next few months. On Good Friday, they launched with the Gift of Patience prayer, as we patiently wait to return to our normal lives. This was followed by the Gift of Protection prayer to help us find comfort and strength in knowing that we are safe in God’s warm embrace, and to remember those who are in most vulnerable situations and in need of protection. Start praying the First Spiritual Exercises by clicking here. Each guided prayer takes only about 15 minutes. A new prayer is uploaded every week.

Support from North Sydney Parish

North Sydney Parish provided a donation of $33,000 from the charities trust, which is funded from planned giving, as well as support in the form of food and cash directly from parishioners to The Ignite Food Store, a partnership between Jesuit Social Services Australia and Holy Family Parish that provides low cost and healthy fresh food to low income families, besides quality recycled clothing and other affordable household items.

The parish also provided another $33,000 assistance to Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) at Westmead to help them continue to support vulnerable refugee and asylum seekers, and $33,000 to the Cardoner Project to support their work with the marginalised and youth during the Covid-19 disruption. The Cardoner Project Community Cantina, which is currently closed, is being used as a “collection point” for food drops to support the JRS food appeal.

“Aloys in Service”

While traditional service programmes have been put on hold during the lockdowns, St Aloysius’ College is launching a new “Faith-in-Service” programme to keep the spirit of service alive for students.

“Aloys in Service” is a way for students to complete their “Faith-in-Service” programmes from home. Some suggested activities they can do in the service of their family include: general cleaning (inside and outside the house); mowing the lawn, raking leaves, weeding and pruning gardens; calling grandparents or other family members for a chat; assisting younger siblings with their learning, such as listening to them read or completing an activity with them; learning or doing the ironing; cooking a meal (Masterchef style!); helping with the washing; and filing all family photos into a folder on the home computer or on a memory stick.Though we currently find ourselves in situations outside the norm, which can be difficult and stressful, Fr Ross Jones SJ reminds us of St Ignatius’ freedom for ministry. While the Constitutions for the Jesuits are very clear, comprehensive and unambiguous, he says, St Ignatius allowed accommodation for local and evolving adaptation, with phrases such as, “however, let the local superior adapt this to times, places and circumstances”.

“These present times have us in a new culture, in a novel orientation and engagement with our world,” says Fr Jones. “Now new contexts call for new expressions of service.” [Compiled from Australian Jesuit News]

For an updated list of Covid-19 prayer and ministry resources from the Australian Jesuit Province, click here.