Sharing the gift of music
Local
Music is proving to be an opportunity for young rural Catholics to grow their spiritual connection with God.
“Through the gift of music, we are able to express our passionate faith and share it with our community,” said Laura Cesario, a member of the St Paul’s Youth Group in Mt Gambier.
The youth group was established in 2015 after the van Eyk family moved to the region. Since then it has been providing music for the Mt Gambier parish youth Mass held monthly at St Paul’s.
With members aged from 12 to 19, Laura said the music group had encouraged a sense of unity amongst the young members of the parish community, through both the sharing of faith and the teamwork involved in overcoming challenges and advancing as young musicians.
Rosie van Eyk, a Year 12 student who is actively involved in the church community, was placed in charge of the youth Mass music group in August 2019. This coincided with the youth Mass moving to Saturday night. Her two brothers Vincent and Reuben are also members of the music group.
With the suspension of Masses due to COVID-19, Rosie said the St Paul’s group explored new opportunities to perform online, including participating on June 16 in the Threshold@Home live stream music program established by the Catholic Office for Youth and Young Adults. The program is an ongoing series featuring various young musicians from the Archdiocese of Adelaide.
“This was a well needed challenge for our music group and we thoroughly enjoyed connecting with other members of our Catholic family despite the difficult times,” said Rosie.
“From the perspective of a young Catholic in rural South Australia, being involved in a youth music group has allowed for a drastic growth in spiritual connection with God.
“We are so blessed to be given these opportunities and are most excited to continue our ministry as young Catholics in this modern world.”
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