The young people of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish in Alice Springs received a dynamic boost to their faith recently when Fr Rob Galea and his band rolled into town for a shared experience of high energy musical praise and worship.
Fr Rob, who was born and raised in Malta, is a priest of the Diocese of Bendigo, and is well known and loved for his ministry of reaching out to young people through music and song writing. His visit to Alice Springs was part of a wider tour of the Top End, taking in Darwin and the Tiwi Islands.
Alice Springs Parish Priest, Fr Asaeli Raass SVD says Fr Rob’s visit made a big impact on the local community, especially the indigenous youth.
“It was really great,” says Fr Raass. “For the kids here to see a performance like that, of such high calibre, celebrating faith, using his voice to evangelise – they loved it.”
During his time in Alice Springs, Fr Rob held a praise and worship evening at the Parish as well as a performance at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College.
Fr Raass says the youth of the parish accompanied Fr Rob’s performance with a skit they had produced about their lives.
“It was about the realities they are facing here, the social justice issues like racism, alcohol abuse, drugs, the ice problem, and it ended with them giving everything to the Lord in prayer and trying to change their lives,” he says.
“It was very confrontational, but very well done.”
Fr Raass says that many of the young people who took part in Fr Rob’s praise and worship experience had “a bit of a conversion experience”.
“It was really meaningful for them, that he had come out here to see them and share his message of faith, especially for the indigenous kids,” he says.
“Music is such an important thing for the indigenous community, so it really seemed to connect with them. It was really good.”
Fr Rob says he gained “so much joy” sharing the Good News across the Northern Territory.
“It is always such an incredible experience to serve the people of Alice Springs. I love their welcoming culture and I can see a great thirst for God and heart for service within the Catholic community,” he says.
