By Emilie Ng
JOYCE Klemick has spent the past 40 years paying tribute to the “forerunners” of her parish community who “need to be thanked” for passing on the Catholic faith.
The Jubilee parishioner has been co-ordinating a monthly Mass and morning tea for elderly and sick members of Sacred Heart Church, Rosalie, since 1975.
Ms Klemick and a dedicated team of parishioners took up the project, officially known as the Jubilee Rosalie Sacred Heart First Friday Golden Oldies, following a suggestion from former parish priest Fr Tom Elich.
“Fr Elich suggested a Mass for the shut-ins and the infirmed, even if they came once a month,” she said.
Ms Klemick said the project was a “tribute to the parish seniors” who taught the younger parishioners to “love God, our neighbour and ourselves”.
“They were the forerunners of our faith.
“One of them was my mentor; she was so generous and caring, and I wanted to be like her.”
Ms Klemick said the senior members of the community “needed to be thanked”.
“They needed to be recognised, not put into the corner and shelved,” she said.
“As far as I’m concerned I do rather like old people and I always felt they had a need.
“And I think it’s very important as a Church community too that we can always pray together and play together.”
Parishioner Anne Hampson has helped her elderly parishioners make the monthly Mass for the past 26 years, driving them from their homes to the Rosalie church.
“A lot of the oldies we used to bring, they’ve gone to God now,” Mrs Hampson said.
“But you’d go and pick them up and they’d be dressed up in their best, waiting.
“These days the elderly can feel ostracised and undervalued.
“That’s our mission, to gather them together.”
The ministry to the sick and elderly celebrated 40 years on September 4.
Parish priest Fr Peter Brannelly said the monthly Masses ensured “no one gets left behind”.
“It’s so easy (for that to happen) especially as we get older and more shut off from community and those links disappear; this is one way we can be sure they’re not forgotten,” he said.
“And also as Catholics, celebrating the Eucharist and God’s healing is central to the life of our community.”
The parish has also extended the invitation to non-Catholics who live within the bounds of the Jubilee parish, which has six communities in Brisbane’s inner north-west.
“It doesn’t just cater for those in the streets surrounding the church; it caters for those within the broader community, the parish community,” Fr Brannelly said.
“It’s a great statement of faith.
“It’s more than just bricks and mortar, it’s people, people giving of themselves as a witness of their faith.”
The Jubilee parish will celebrate 100 years since the foundation stone was laid in 2017.
