It’s not every day that you can go to the horse races and receive the sacraments while you’re there, but for the people of Queensland’s central highlands, that’s a once-a-year possibility at the Twin Hills races.
Fr Ronaldo Rodriguez SVD says it is all part of his faith outreach to people who live in remote areas and don’t always manage to make it to a church.
Twin Hills is 140km north-west of Clermont and the annual race day, rodeo and camp drafting weekend there is one of the biggest annual events on the calendar for the people of the surrounding districts.
The area falls within the cluster of parishes that Fr Ronaldo looks after in Capella, Clermont, Dysart, Middlemount, Mornbah and Tieri in the central-western part of the Rockhampton Diocese.
“Among the highlights of my ministry in the cluster are the conversion and full communion of some adults to the Catholic Christian community and my unique annual reach-out in terms of celebration of the Sacraments at the horse racing event in the bush at Twin Hills,” Fr Ronaldo says.
In an area where the percentage of practising Catholics ranges from 11.5 per cent to 2 per cent, Fr Ronaldo says the races is a great place to meet people and offer the sacraments.
The Peak Downs Catholic Cluster of Parishes takes in a vast area, with coal mining the main employer of people. There is also some beef cattle farming in the areas around Clermont, Capella and Dysart.
There is a significant portion of fly-in, fly-out workers to the mines, which poses both challenges and opportunities for the local community.Fr Ronaldo says the cluster of parishes operates collaboratively, with lay people playing an important role.
“The ministries are cooperatively engaged in by a religious sister, lay leaders, teachers, volunteers and myself, which for me is one of the strengths in the cluster,” he says.
“Our pastoral ministries include adult formation, sacramental programs, RCIA, baptism preparation, liturgy and sacraments, music ministry, Bible sharing, catechism in state schools, pastoral care and outreach to the sick and elderly at nursing homes, hospitals and also to the housebound.”
Fr Ronaldo says the district is facing tough economic and social times on a couple of fronts, with the downturn of the coal industry and a serious drought.
“Accordingly, workers have been made redundant, most families are moving and the church financial resources are dwindling,” he says.
There are also long distances between the churches of the cluster, which make it hard to build a cohesive community.
But, taking the sacraments to the Twin Hills races is one example of Fr Ronaldo’s desire to meet people where they at and invite them into the community of faith.
Fr Ronaldo says plans for the future of this cluster of parishes in western Queensland are “still cooking”, but have started with a “listening engagement” by Bishop Michael McCarthy which will lead up to the Rockhampton Diocesan Pastoral Assembly next year.