About four years ago, I was tasked by my Parish to record a celebration with our late Archbishop, Lawrence Henry. Prior to the Mass, I encountered His Grace as he sat quietly in a room preparing himself for the service. He then joyfully greeted me, as he always did, and enquired about our family. The Bishop also jokingly queried why he had not seen any further letters from me in the media for some time. I merely replied that the issue of human rights had always been close to my heart and that someone has to do it. I will always treasure his few words to me just before Mass as a quiet sign of his appreciation. All he said was – keep it up …. Oct. 2009 The Parish of Grassy Park (Our Lady Queen of Peace, St. Gerard’s and St. Clements) celebrated the feast of St. Gerard recently. The celebration commenced with a Tridium of Masses held at St. Gerard’s on 14 October when Fr. Paul Taylor spoke on the importance of married life. The speaker at the second Mass was Monsignor Andrew Borello who spoke on family life and Fr. Cecil Dowling, CSsR then returned to his family church to celebrate the third Mass on Friday where he addressed parishioners on the life of St. Gerard. The main celebration took place on Sunday, 18 October when Holy Mass was held for the parishioners of all 3 churches at the Grassy Park Civic Centre. His Grace, Archbishop Lawrence Henry was assisted by the Parish Priest, Fr Job Kaleekaparampil, MSFS and his assistant, Fr Babu Joseph, MSFS. The parish’s 6 deacons with 2 visiting deacons and approximately 1000 parishioners formed part of the celebration. During his homily, Archbishop Henry encouraged all to understand, proclaim and love the Gospel. He said we are nothing as we are made from the dust of the earth and should put ourselves in touch with God. His Grace then referred to the Acts of the Apostles and reminded all to acknowledge God in Adoration. He then said we should tell God in an Act of Contrition that we are sorry for our sins. Thanksgiving. We should also thank God for our graces and the crosses we bear in our life. We should also be thankful for our priests and deacons and should continue to pray for them. Supplication. We should ask God to give us what we need in life, particularly the gift of grace. Archbishop Henry further encouraged parishioners to ask Saints Gerard, Clement and our Lady Queen of Peace to continue to intercede for them and to sustain the Parish of Grassy Park. Addressing the children present, His Grace joked that his Mitre was not a party hat and that the staff that he held was to hook people back into the community of the church. He continued the Pope, Priests and Deacons are not the Church. The people, the parish community are the Church. People do not always listen to God’s word and the Bishop, with the help of his clergy, should poke them in the direction of the Church. To make a difference in our Parish community, the laity must be the light of the world and our church as we come to celebrate that we are God’s people. Before the final blessing, Parish Deacon John Sheraton thanked Fr. Job for his contribution in building up the parish of Grassy Park. Fr Job in turn thanked Archbishop Henry for always being available to celebrate with the Parish. His Grace thanked Fr. Job for his contribution as one of the priests serving on his College of Consultors. Archbishop Henry then confirmed that having reached the age of 75 in July, he had tendered his resignation to the Vatican in terms of the Code of Canon Law. The Pope had since requested that he stay on until a decision was reached on his successor. Deacon George Paynter then handed a gift to His Grace on behalf of the Parish as a measure of appreciation for his continued support. Mass was followed by a sumptuous lunch and a very lively entertainment programme by the parish Sunday school learners and Confirmation candidates was enjoyed by all. The church of St. Gerard Majella in Parkwood was Blessed and Opened by Cardinal Owen McCann in 1971 and Dedicated by Archbishop Henry in 2001. Colin Arendse St. Gerard’s Catholic Church Grassy Park Parish 18/10/2009
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 04:41:31 +0000
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