Maryborough and the Harbour

I’m in my last week of my tenure at Hervey Bay. Though the place is like a holiday destination, I will most remember the generosity and hospitality of my hosts. Bern and Sharon have been incredible in taking care of details that make me feel so welcome and Kerry is unparalleled in the way he sets the tone for my visit and for the work of the school. He is a very dedicated disciple of Ignatius. He would like the Jesuits to take over the parish in Hervey Bay when Fr. Joseph’s tenure comes to an end. I hope the school realizes how much strength it has and I hope they step forward to capitalize on its potential.

Last week’s liturgies were a contrast in style. I held a liturgy for grades one through six and we had lots of singing, movement, and a nice relaxed style. In the evening, we had a liturgy presided over by a retired priest who now works supply. While he tried his best, he ended up with the following theme for a group of secondary schoolers who willingly came to a monthly liturgy: authority must be respected. I cringed when I heard his message. While it is true, one can tailor the message a bit better for the youth whose task it is at this age is to push away from authority so they can appropriate their values for themselves. Oh, well. At least I connected with some of the youth during the party afterwards. The same preside at Mass on Sunday gave a decent homily, but mostly spoke without a microphone and did not acknowledge any of the mothers on their day. He did well though, but the newly ordained concelebrating priest was intrusive with his loud tone and sudden movements.

This is a day off of work for me – a third long weekend in a row. The weather was a little disappointing because it was about 76 degrees with a few intermittent morning showers. I took a ride to Maryborough, home of the author of Mary Poppins, and later I had a coffee down at the quaint Urangan boat harbor. I drove through the roads of Hervey Bay’s towns, viewed many of the sugar cane plantations and stopped into a bookstore, toy store, and visited the local university. I like to stop into libraries because it reveals so much about what a town values. You can tell that this town focuses on helping its citizens gain basic office and computing skills to make them ready for the workforce. It is a worthy endeavor.

This week I have dinners planned at a faculty or staff member’s house. They are some nifty restaurants where I live and a great fish and chips shop at the doorstep of my apartment. I head back from my experiment on the weekend. Sharon will drive me to Brisbane where I will stay with the Jesuit community in Twowong. I will miss the folks here when I leave. They give me lots of reasons to pray for them. I feel like St. Paul who must leave his church communities after he built them up.