Annual Mass for Migrants & Refugees

Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
on Sunday, 14th October 2001, at 3.30pm

Introduction

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

Eighty-four years ago yesterday, we celebrated the appearance of Our Lady at Fatima to the three children calling us to pray the Rosary, be converted and do penance.

These messages are as relevant for us today because they are the means given us by Our Lady to draw us close to Christ, to contemplate his face, and then courageously to return to our world of family and work. As we call to mind our sins let us ask the Lord for pardon, light and strength.

Homily

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today, as I celebrate with this Mass I encourage you with the words St. Paul wrote to the people of Ephesus "you are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are a part of God's household" Ephesians 2:19. I rejoice in the coming of many people to Australia which has made our country so rich and gifted and has enabled so to find home in a land of peace.

Australia is variously described as one of the most free and tolerant societies in the world, but also one of the most secular. In writing to us in the Church, at the beginning of this year, the Holy Father urged us to refocus our attention on Jesus Christ. To this I may add that we need to relive the message of Fatima where Our Lady invited us eighty-four years ago to do just what the Holy Father is wanting us to do now, "to contemplate the face of Christ". When we recite the Rosary with much love as you have just done, with Mary leading us, we come face to face with Jesus in the mysteries, which have saved us and have given us life.

The Holy Father likewise invites us to be faithful to the Sunday Eucharist, to regular use of individual Reconciliation, and to convert our minds and hearts to the love and service of Jesus Christ.

In a beautiful, warm, human way Mary reminds us "I am the hand made of the Lord, be done to me according to your word" and also as she said to the waiters at Cana, "do whatever he tells you".

Our efforts to come face to face with Christ are no way more powerful than if Mary is walking with us. She brought the Saviour to us, she is the Mother of Christ, and she is the Mother of each and every one of us in the Church with whom she shares. A warm encouraging love.

Pope John II says these words:

"At the beginning of the new century our steps must quicken as we travel the highways of the world. Many are the paths on which each one of us must travel, but there is no distance between those who are united in the same communion, which is daily nourished at the table of the Eucharist and the word of life. Every Sunday the risen Christ asks us to meet him once more in the upper room where he appeared to his disciples in order to breathe on them the Holy Spirit and launch the great adventure of proclaiming the Gospel.

You as lay people in the Church know that by your words and deeds and your spirit of faith, Jesus is made present in the lives of people of our city.

With Mary giving you courage and strength do not be afraid to say that you are Catholic, that you pray. Do not be afraid to speak out for the love of Jesus and Mary, which is so central to us".

The Pope also says:

"On this journey we are accompanied by the Blessed Virgin Mary to whom a few months ago I entrusted the third millennium. During this year I have often invoked her as the star of the new evangelisation".

Now I point to Mary once again as the radiant dawn and sure guide for our steps. Once more echoing the words of Jesus himself, I say to her "woman behold your children" (Novo Millenio Ineuente 58).

Today as we come to renew our faith with pride and hope, we do remember our weakness and failure. Mary humbly and generously gave herself to God. Each of us is invited to be generous and faith-filled as we too offer our lives to the God who made us with Mary. Mary will show us the way, she will pray and walk with us, and she will remind us that our religion is our love of God and this touches all our being.

I wish to congratulate you for what your faith and love has brought to this country. An acknowledgment of Mary as a real person, a thankfulness to her for being the Mother of us all, and a wonder that she knows that the Almighty has done great things for her, is inviting each of us to share in what he promises after the trails and difficulties of life.

May we know her constant care, may her prayers support us, and may we go forward in faith and love, for she is our Mother, the Mother of all the redeemed.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.