Mass for the National Communities

Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne,
on Sunday, 9th October, 2005, at 3.00pm

Introduction

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am delighted to be present with you as we offer this National Communities’ Mass at the conclusion of the Year of the Eucharist.

Whenever we gather we are reminded that we are one, holy, catholic and apostolic church and our union exists because of Jesus Christ and in the mission, which we, with our national chaplains, accept from him to go and teach all nations the knowledge, the love and the service, which Jesus provides as our inspiration.

Let us call to mind our sins and ask the Lord for pardon, light and strength.

Homily

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

At the outset may I pay tribute to the Chaplains of the various nationalities, to all who have organised this Mass, and to each and every one of you.

Over many years older migrants have given place to newer nations more recently arrived in Australia. Our commitment in the Archdiocese of Melbourne is to work harmoniously with our multinational community in our common faith in God our Father and in Jesus Christ. We are indeed one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

I am in communion with the Holy Father, as we all are. Similarly, I am in communion with Bishop Deakin and the other Bishops of the Church and particularly with those who are of Ukrainian, Maronite and Melkite Rite, who have their own Bishop. For everyone else, I am your Bishop and I am the leader of you in the Catholic Church.

From your own countries, to which you remain attached in love and faith, you bring a tremendous richness of love of Jesus Christ, of culture and tradition to this new land, where together we form the Church of Melbourne, a significant part of the Catholic Church. That is why my care for you through Migrant Chaplains that I have appointed, who will function according to my policy, is of great importance. I pay tribute to the often lonely and selfless work done by Chaplains, both now and in the past and I honour and thank God for all that they continue to achieve in uniting us to Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

The Gospel today challenges us to face the whole question of our involvement as brothers and sisters invited in the wonder of the Lord to share at the banquet of the Eucharist, the foretaste and promise of eternal life.

On 7 th October last year Pope John Paul gave us the Year of the Eucharist, which will conclude at the end of the Synod of Bishops on 22 nd October. Jesus Christ is our Lord and Saviour and we are challenged to celebrate the Eucharist with reverence, to come before him and to make our churches places of silence and adoration and then be sent out on the mission that he gives to each one of us. The Mass today challenges us as to whether we are merely holders of a baptismal certificate or whether we are converted and live as one of the baptised.

A few years ago an Anglican Minister edited a conservative paper and he chose to print Vachel Lindsay’s poem, “General William Booth Enters Heaven”. As you would know William Booth who died in 1912 founded the Salvation Army in 1865 and made it his priority to seek out the lowest of the low and to rescue them as people who had been abandoned and make them an Army of servants for the Lord.

Appropriately, Lindsay’s poem celebrated Booth’s life and life’s work in its portrayal of his heavenly arrival. It is as the British Weekly once pointed out, “A lurid and sensational description of the tumultuous welcome which Booth received from criminals, fornicators, drunkards and prostitutes, who had been served and saved through the efforts of Booth’s Army.” As you can imagine, the Editor nearly lost his job, but the British Weekly quipped, “One of these days they will get the surprise of their lives.”

In what little I know of our migrant communities in Melbourne I think there is much to be proud for. I know how hard you have all worked, I esteem your obvious faith and I leave with you the challenge to continue that magnificent work in the faith of Christ. In the words of the Gospel Acclamation, “May the Father of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, enlighten the eyes of our heart, that we might see how great is the hope to which we are called.” We are reminded that it is the power of God that exists above all. Our encounter with Christ in the Eucharist, our adoration of him, is worthless unless we take the mission he gives us to go and teach all nations, to be instruments in our own family and community of the oneness with Jesus Christ, which I, as your bishop, share with you in a way that goes beyond your individual communities into the great family of the Catholic Church.

You and I together are sent out to those who are poor and underprivileged. I am proud of Australia’s involvement in the rescue of East Timor, of all that we do for those who are poor, and of the simple, unsung care that you as brothers and sisters show to members of your own communities.

The challenge that we take up and carry into the future is first that because we are one in baptism and in faith and in acknowledgement of the Lord; bishop, priests and people together, then we acknowledge him as our help and guide, we ask him to make his love the foundation of our lives and we take the challenge of expressing our love for him in our eagerness to walk with those who need us.

This implies a giving of time, a patience, a readiness to search out and save what is lost. This is indeed, as the psalm puts it, living in the house of the Lord all the days of our life. May the Lord bless you as you continue his work and his care and as we, together as a united family in Melbourne, are his people, the flock he has died to save.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.