Induction of Father Andrew Camilleri as Parish Priest of Thomastown West, together with his Silver Jubilee of Ordination

Celebrated By Archbishop Denis Hart
at Saint Clare's Church, West Thomastown,
on Friday, 30th June, 2006, at 7.30pm

Introduction

I am delighted to return to Saint Clare’s to install Father Andrew as Parish Priest, to join him and you in celebrating his Silver Jubilee of Ordination, which occurs on 8th August this year, and to encourage you in the faith, which you share so well.

May the Lord bless Father Andrew and each of you as together you walk the way of Jesus Christ.

Today’s feast is that of the first martyrs of the Church of Rome, who witnessed that no one can deceive the true believers of Christ, because nothing can come between us and the love of Christ made known in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

To prepare ourselves for this celebration, let us call to mind our sins.

Homily

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I join Father Andrew Camilleri in thanking God for his twenty-five years as a priest. Father Andrew was ordained as a Salesian Priest in Malta in 1981. He came to Melbourne in 1990 to join family members living here and wishing to undertake parish work. He was incardinated into the Archdiocese of Melbourne in 1994. During that time Father Andrew worked as an Assistant Priest in the parishes of Fawkner and Hadfield before becoming Administrator of Thomastown West last year.

Father Andrew has been a joyful and encouraging priestly presence here in Melbourne and I rejoice at being with him and with so many friends to thank God for his blessings over the past twenty-five years.

Being a priest means to entrust ourselves to the Lord, Jesus Christ, to go where he wants to work that Christ performed in his people. I thank Father Andrew for all that he has done here in Melbourne and elsewhere and I pray that his time as Parish Priest in Saint Clare’s will be rewarding and faith-filled.

I ask for all of you to be caught up into the mystery, which is God’s love shown clearly and demonstrated clearly by prayer, word and deed in the lives of each and every one of you in the parish.

Father Andrew Camilleri has worked in a number of parishes and now he becomes a Parish Priest. We respect his ability to lead and his generosity in coming to be with you. I pray that you will welcome him, support him in the leadership which he must give in all aspects of parish life – worship, teaching, school, management of parish resources, so that Saint Clare’s will be a place of faith and strong Christian living. I hope that his presence among you will be a constant reminder that God in his wonder goes beyond all that we might hope for and that it is him whom we search to see revealed in the transforming of your hearts.

Together with Pope Benedict and his Archbishop, Father Andrew will strive to serve you faithfully and generously. I urge you to welcome him and to remember of course the larger areas of responsibilities which he now has.

I want to reflect particularly on the work of your parish priest. Jesus himself said, ‘I am the gate’. A priest is invited into a mysterious gift of self to Jesus Christ. When Father Andrew received ordination as a deacon and as a priest, his personal and public consecration in celibacy and service of his people assumed a new dimension.

At Easter we celebrate the death and resurrection of the Saviour. Each priest dies to himself, places his words and personality at the Lord’s service as he rises to offer the new life that only the Lord can give to us. Through his celebration of the Eucharist the saving action of Jesus Christ in the cross comes to us. The Eucharist celebrated, adored and brought to the sick is Christ present among us.

A priest is another Christ. The Eucharist is tremendously important because here our human lives are directed to God, who fills them with meaning.

In a few moments Father Andrew will open the tabernacle and adore the Blessed Sacrament. He will be taken to the baptismal font to show that through his ministry new members will be given to God’s Church to be filled with his life. I will take him to the Confessional where he is invited to be the minister of peace and forgiveness in the beautiful Sacrament of Reconciliation. I urge you all to use it well.

We will become before an image of Our Lady and the Saints to remind us that we are brothers and sisters in the family of God’s Church and Father Andrew will renew his promise of obedience made on the day of his ordination. We cannot underestimate the praise of God and the service of people given by one who dedicates his whole life to us and to bringing us to God.

The words of Saint John in his Gospel, “The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep”, (John 10:11) are a reminder that all that Father Andrew does is for your welfare. In visiting the sick, in leading you in love of God and strength, Father Andrew will make present the love and concern for you, which I have as a bishop and a successor of the apostles.

I know he will draw into the service of God and His Church, those who will work in pastoral activities, those who will visit and console their brothers and sisters, those who make Saint Clare’s Parish such a living and vibrant organism. I thank you for all that you do and for the support and welcome, which you give to Father Andrew on this most important night.

Father Andrew is a priest of God to lead us to Him. He is a teacher of the entire faith, which Jesus Christ entrusted to the Church, even those matters which are challenging and difficult to accept.

He is a shepherd and guide of God’s people charged with drawing people to Jesus Christ. He involves them in the work of the apostolate and supports them in the faith of the Church. On your behalf I thank him for accepting this challenge.

May the grace of the Holy Spirit accompany him in the special gift of ministerial priesthood, which he exercises in your midst.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.