St Agnes’ Catholic Parish ‘Christ the King’ celebration held on Sunday 24 November at St Joseph’s Regional College Port Macquarie exceeded all expectations with around 650 people attending the event.

Fr Paul Gooley, Parish Priest of St Agnes’ Catholic Parish, said the parish had chosen the Solemnity of Christ the King for its community celebration because it marks the last Sunday of the Church’s liturgical year and is a joyous celebration of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

“It has been quite a while since the Parish has held an event of this type and so when we were looking for a suitable date to bring our community together in recognition of our parish value, ‘United as one body’, the feast of Christ the King was ideal because it is in Jesus Christ that we find our hope and strength,” says Fr Paul.

“It was wonderful to see so many people from such a wide range of ages and cultural backgrounds gather to celebrate the unity and diversity of our Parish,” he added.

The day began with an Acknowledgement of Country, Welcome by Tanya Daley Principal of SJRC, followed by Mass concelebrated by the three priests of the Parish – Fr Paul Gooley (Parish Priest), Fr Prodencio Bognay and Fr Alejo Despacio Jr (Assistant Priests) – and music provided by a combined choir and band made up of musicians and singers from across the parish.

During his homily Fr Paul spoke of the beginnings of St Agnes’ Catholic Parish and of the influence one person can have on the world, quoting James C Hefley’s ‘One Solitary Life’.

“All of us, every single one of us, here has been affected by that one solitary life – the life of Jesus Christ,” said Fr Paul.

“On this ‘Feast of Christ the King’ let us thank God for all the blessings that have been given to our parish over the last 136 years and let us ask God that he continues to bless our parish into the future.”

Following Mass there was food (coffee, cakes, donuts, Indian, Filipino, paella, barbecue, cold drinks, fruit salad) and entertainment, including the St Agnes’ Parish Schools Drumline and musical performances by students from the parish schools. There were also activities for the kids – a jumping castle, sand art and face painting.  The event concluded with cultural dance performances by the local Indian and Filipino communities in the hall.

Thank you to everyone across the community of St Agnes who supported the event, especially:

• The Parish Pastoral Council and the organising committee (Vanessa Denham, Zac Parnell, Debbie Ward, Tony Worner, Matthew Bushe, Daniel Barakat, Neethu Augustine and Marina Salinas)
• The Parish schools – St Joseph’s Regional, MacKillop and Newman Senior Technical Colleges, St Joseph’s, St Peter’s and St Agnes’ Primary schools
• A special shout out to the St Joseph’s Regional College community, led by Tanya Daley (Principal) and Matt Bushe (AP Mission), for hosting the event.
• The Catholic Men’s Club, our Indian and Filipino communities, St Vincent de Paul, the Hill Street Store, the Bread and Pastry Basket, the Living Green Indoor Plant Hire and Woolworths.
• St Agnes’ Care and Lifestyle and the Pastoral and Spiritual Care Team who brought along residents from our five residential aged care services.
• And the many volunteers who assisted in any way on the day.

The event has been hailed a success with the feedback from those attending overwhelmingly positive.

See the photo gallery below.