Melbourne Prays: Online Mission
Looking for a creative way to bring people together for daily prayer, two priests in Melbourne went online to bring young university students together and provide a way of punctuating their school day with prayer. The two, Fr Nicholas Pearce (Assistant Vocations Director and Parish Priest at Holy Family Mount Waverley) and Fr Marcus Goulding (Assistant Priest at St Anthony’s Parish South Melton) started MelbournePrays.
MelbournePrays is an online community that brings together young people for daily prayer opportunities using Youtube and Facebook. It also includes a weekly podcast. Each day, you are invited to join in prayer with others for your own needs and the needs of the world at this time.
The MelbournePrays initiative is a reminder that people are not alone. While Churches have been closed, it is a wonderful opportunity to be able to still pray with people. It’s also been a timely reminder of how important it is for people to know they are not alone, that although churches have been closed, parishes are still praying with and for their people.
Two seminarians from Corpus Christi College (regional seminary) in Carlton have also joined Fr Pearce at Mount Waverley and joined in the online prayer.
The daily MelbournePrays schedule now includes:
- Morning Prayer (7:30am),
- the Rosary and Angelus (midday), and
- a Divine Mercy chaplet (3pm).
On Sundays, the team hosts a live podcast called, “Sunday Night Live”, where Fr Pearce is joined by Melbourne local Brendan Elliston. During the one-hour episode, the two catch up on the week’s events and chat about life with coronavirus. They are then joined in the second half hour by a local guest speaker who offers their insights on a range of topics from vocations, youth ministry, parish life and prayer. Guests have included Archbishop Peter Comensoli, musician Genevieve Bryant and Fr Michael Buck, currently studying in Rome.
More than just a conversation, the podcast offers an opportunity for young Catholics to connect online and grow in faith and support for each other - something that would have ordinarily been done in person. Following the live podcast, there is a Zoom catch up which allows those listening live to engage further with the topics discussed and to catch up with others tuning in.
MelbournePrays and, by extension, its “Sunday Night Live” podcast, has taken the Church’s mission to nurture and sustain faith and community online. As host, Brendan Elliston says, “Before lockdown, there were plenty of opportunities to catch up: Holy Hour, Theology @ the Pub, and more. I’m glad that through Sunday Night Live we have been able, in our own little way, to keep this conversation going and do something small to contribute to the Catholic community in Melbourne.”
Follow the links bellow to connect with MelbournePrays.
MelbournePrays at Youtube
MelbournePrays "Sunday Night Live" Podcast
MelbournePrays at Facebook