Paraliturgy for the Conclusion of ‘Contemplate – Launch Out’

Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne,
on Sunday, 30th May, 2004, at 2.30pm

Introduction

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Welcome to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral on this great Feast of Pentecost, when we remember the marvel of God sending his Holy Spirit into human hearts and lives to proclaim the wonders of one Lord, one Faith and one Baptism.

For two years we have reflected on the Holy Father’s programme for the New Millennium and now we seek to put that fruit into action.

I am deeply grateful to Bishop Prowse, to Mrs. Lenyce Willason, to all of you who have come today, and to those in Catholic groups and organisations who will show after this ceremony the many fruits of the Spirit.

May this be a moment when God will touch us and extend his power in our lives and in our city.

Homily

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

The great feast of Pentecost is a particular moment of transformation. For the apostles it meant that twelve fearful men became courageous witnesses to Jesus Christ. Can we ever imagine three thousand being baptised in one day? Courageous men, proclaiming Jesus in a hostile society.

What Jesus promised to the apostles; that they would be given power from on high to proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, made them witnesses to his resurrection, to the power of Jesus in Melbourne in 2004. That is why I wanted us to reflect on the Pope’s challenge, to focus on Christ, to seek holiness as the basis of our launching out into the deep.

We all know that the Holy Spirit is the love of God the Father and the Son poured into our hearts to transform us. We are given not merely the Good News of God’s truth, nourished by the liturgy and by prayer.

The Holy Spirit is an empowering and strengthening force that means we cannot keep this Good News to ourselves. Believers are propelled by the Holy Spirit to proclaim Christ to all, regardless of the effect that this may have on their futures.

The challenge we have today is to leave aside our inhibitions and to allow Christ to take us over. He will promise an abiding peace, but also that we will be instruments of the great remaking of our society. Whether in the challenges we face; in doctrine, in family, in society, we followers of Jesus have to be recognised by our oneness with him and each other and by our readiness, unashamedly, to proclaim him.

The same Holy Spirit that appeared at Pentecost to the apostles sends us out today. He says, “You are the living Gospel. (Preface of the Apostles) Go and be my witnesses now.” Our secular culture here in Melbourne seeks to make the Church irrelevant, to sacrifice family life to human expediency, to deny the reality of the Scriptures, the possibility of absolute truth.

Yet the words of Jesus which Pope John Paul made the watchword of his pontificate, “Do not be afraid”, are the encouragement and the guarantee of what he is giving to us. We have to find new and exciting ways of making the living presence of Jesus - alive in the Catholic Church - compelling to our age.

The recent occurrence of Mel Gibson’s film on the passion of Christ shows how it pays to advertise the faith that we have, even in the most graphic terms.

I want to thank all those in the Archdiocese, who have reflected with me on the Pope’s Encyclical, “Novo Millennio Ineunte”, over the last two years. We want to continually implement its vision of Christ. Holiness and the challenge of the mission that we must undertake are absolutely vital if we are to be true followers of Christ.

Thanks to Bishop Prowse, Lenyce Willason, and others extensive material to help us to reflect on the Encyclical has been made available to us. It presents a very clear vision. Jesus Christ must be the centre of our life and evangelisation today. In an ongoing way we have to contemplate his face first before we throw the nets of our immense pastoral resources into the deep waters of our culture. But cast out into the deep we must.

I state quite confidently that any work in the Church, in parishes, in spreading the Word, must always come to the Eucharist, celebrated with prayer, reverence and beauty, as the source and foundation of all that we do. Heightened prayer life is not an escape into another world. Indeed, it is allowing Christ to work with us far more powerfully in spreading his Word and in touching the lives of others.

The cry of the disciples, which the Holy Father has proposed to young people, “We want to see Jesus”, becomes as attractive as ever in the search for truth and authenticity in our world.

You are aware that I have established a Committee for Mission to report to me on finding new and creative ways and practical suggestions for evangelisation in the New Millennium in Melbourne.

By evangelisation, I mean making the Gospel, its truth, its encounter with Jesus, its capacity to change lives and to inspire living in our hearts and more widely in the hearts of people in our society to whom we reach out.

Whatever the Committee suggests to me these general pastoral initiatives must surely be included.

1. There must be a more focused education for future leaders of evangelisation in the Archdiocese. This includes bishops, priests, religious and especially laity.
2. The diocesan agencies and groups must be more missionary focussed in all they do and must cooperate with me on new methods to evangelise.
3. I wish to recognise what is being done in so many places already and we must learn from each other how this is done, so that the effects can be felt even further afield. I urge you to remember what is happening in your parish, agency, group or in the new ecclesial groups and deaneries.
4. I know we will need to establish structures to provide these resources and to enable the helpful suggestions of the Committee for Mission and from others to be enfleshed and to be inspiring and practical in people’s lives.

Dear friends, I am very encouraged by your presence here and by the magnificent challenge and example which Pope John Paul has given us.

My own meeting with him crystallised in my mind the constant vision that Pope John Paul has had for the whole Church and the goal of his apostolic journeys in the world, which is the same for my apostolic journeys to parishes and communities. It is that Jesus walks with us and we walk together with him. As the Holy Father exhorts, “Let us go forward in hope.” (NMI 58)

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.