Year in Review 2025 Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst 41 Season of Creation Walking Together in Hope On 5 September, representatives of the Diocese gathered at Huntly Streamside Reserve for its annual Season of Creation Mass, giving thanks for God’s gift of creation and renewing our shared responsibility to care for our common home. Celebrated outdoors among spring wattles and native grasses, the liturgy embodied a synodal Church — one that listens, gathers and walks together in faith, attentive to place, people and the cry of the earth. The celebration began with a Welcome to Country by Troy Firebrace, honouring the enduring relationship of the Dja Dja Wurrung people with Djandak, the land and waterways on which the Diocese now lives and prays. Presided over by Fr Joe Taylor EV, with Fr Boniface Kamulegeya and Fr Rom Hayes concelebrating, the Mass called the Diocese to deeper ecological conversion. In his homily, Fr Joe reflected on creation as gift rather than possession, inviting all to live their baptismal calling through reverence, restraint and care — a faith expressed not only in belief, but in how we live together in the world God has entrusted to us. In a spirit of shared mission, parishes and schools were equipped with practical signs of hope. Each community received a plant to nurture locally, symbolising the patient work of cultivating hope together. Communities were also entrusted with a Turn Debt into Hope candle, inviting participation in a diocesan relay in solidarity with Caritas Australia’s call for debt justice, linking care for creation with care for the poor. Now an established tradition, the Season of Creation Mass continues to form the Diocese in prayerful action, reminding us that caring for our common home is integral to our life as Church and to our synodal journey of listening, participation and mission. The celebration was made possible through the leadership of the Care for Creation Team, with the support of clergy, parishioners, schools and volunteers who gathered to pray together under God’s sky. Sandhurst Care foe Creation Team Kerry Stone, Numurkah; Lyn Breen, Cathedral Cluster; Marie Bonne, St Kilian’s; Dr Chris Cotter, Chancery; Geoff Gowdie, Chancery; Katrina Strong, Chancery; Rev. Boniface Kamulegeya PP, White Hills.
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