Mass for the Golden Jubilee of Saint Anthony's Parish, Noble Park

Celebrated By Archbishop Denis Hart
at Saint Anthony's Parish, Noble Park,
on Tuesday, 13th June, 2006, at 7.30pm

Introduction

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am delighted to be with Father Feeney and Father Smith and with each of you, as you celebrate the 50th anniversary of your parish in this holy, sacred place, set apart for the worship of God, and blessed by the intercession of Saint Anthony, your Patron.

Thankful for God's goodness, we remember our sins and reach out for the light that only he can give.

Homily

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

It was Saint Anthony who said, "The person filled with the Holy Spirit speaks in the various languages, which are different ways of witnessing to Christ, such as humility, poverty, patience and obedience; we speak in those languages when we reveal in ourselves these virtues to others. Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak."

The fifty year old history of Saint Anthony's Parish is a highly significant part of a wonderful history of Catholicism in Noble Park reaching back to the first three Catholic families in 1911.

Since 1918 Mass has been celebrated here with priests coming from Dandenong; Father Francis Merner, Father Sylvester Keane, Father Timothy O'Sullivan, all worked with great dedication and united with the people.

From 1950 and the arrival of Father Thomas Elliott, the work to prepare to become a parish continued and it was in 1952 that Father Elliott celebrated the first Mass at midnight on Christmas Eve in that year in the second church/school in Leonard Avenue.

From 1955 the Brigidine Sisters have been involved in the parish school and it was on Australia Day 1956 that Saint Anthony's became a parish with Father Leo Tellefson the first parish priest.

Stories of Father Tellefson abound, told with panache and energy of his sense of humour, his various doings and his fondly naming the parishioners of Noble Park 'the Nobles' because of your faith, hard work and generosity.

The third church came in 1961. It was in 1969 that Father Paul Maher arrived and three years later in 1972 the building of a new presbytery in Buckley Street followed with the blessing of Saint Anthony's Church No. 4 on 13th November 1977, at which I was delighted to be present in another capacity with Archbishop Little.

The story of priests and people working together, of great diversity and energy has continued from Father Maher to Father Kean and now to Father Tony Feeney. Father Kean continued the formation of people in faith and ministry and it was from his time that a number of gifted pastoral associates have worked in the parish, noting the re-engagement with the Brigidine Sisters with Sister Clare Griffin appointed pastoral associate in 1994.

Over the fifty years Noble Park has welcomed people from many nationalities to make Saint Anthony's their parish and to contribute to your richness in faith, hope and love. Pope Benedict wrote to us in January, "God is love. The person who remains in love remains in God, as God remains in him." And "We have come to know that God has loved us first."

This is the centre of our focus as the awareness of God's saving activity in our lives, as we join to thank him for all that he has continued to do.

Your capacity for participation of so many people, so much searching and hard work and yet a community full of faith and love, which has faced the challenges of the years and which is presenting its own inspiration and service to the wider community.

During the parish jubilee year much construction is being undertaken. Refurbishment of the school, construction of a new house for priests, provision of the new parish centre, upgrading of facets of the big hall; these continue because Saint Anthony's continues to be a first port of call for many new arrivals, most recently refugees from the Horn of Africa (Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea). What richness of God's love. What generosity of service.

As we look back on fifty years we can proudly and lovingly recall how much has been done. Saint Anthony himself wrote these words of the present and the future, which are in your hands: "We should speak as the Holy Spirit gives us the gift of speech. Our humble and sincere request to the Spirit for ourselves should be that we may bring the day of Pentecost to fulfilment, allowing him to infuse us with his grace.

May we be filled with a keen sense of sorrow, with fiery tongues for confessing the faith, so that our deserved reward may be to stand in the blazing splendour of the saints and to look upon the Triune God." (Saint Anthony of Padua)

As we entrust the future of Saint Anthony's to you, dear friends, always remember that God it is whom we must worship and adore. It was for God and to save people that Saint Anthony lived. It is for God and to embrace the people of our time that Saint Anthony's parish witnesses to the light and hope which Jesus Christ and his followers can offer to the world of 2006.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.