Homilies and Addresses 2007
Mass for the installation of Fr Anthony Quang as Parish Priest of North Brunswick

Celebrated By Archbishop Denis Hart
at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
on Saturday, 21st April, 2007 at 7.00pm

Introduction

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In this time of Easter we remember the Lord who is our Saviour and God, as I join you for the installation of Father Anthony Quang as Parish Priest of North Brunswick.

After presentation by his Provincial, Father Frank Moloney, I now have appointed him Parish Priest and this ceremony illustrates the powerful relationship between priest and people.  As we celebrate it we know that Jesus has given us a good priest to be with us and guide us in our spiritual life.

I now ask that Father Quang’s letter of appointment be read.

Homily

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Father Anthony Quang has shared in the great gifts of the Salesian Order.  He has been zealous in his work among the Vietnamese community and in his outreach to many people – young and old – as parishioners.  I am grateful for his help in East Melbourne for many years and now at the presentation of his Provincial he comes to be pastor here in Saint Margaret Mary’s.  I know he will serve you with generosity and deepen the faith that we all share together.

In this special parish, which I entrust to the care of Father Quang, 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 Quang has assisted at weekends in East Melbourne for many years.  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 Margaret Mary’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 Quang 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 Quang 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 Quang 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 Quang 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 Quang does is for your welfare.  In visiting the sick, in leading you in love of God and strength, Father Quang 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 Margaret Mary’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 Quang on this most important night.

Father Quang 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.