It was an exciting time to be ordained – July 1963. Bishop Stewart invited Bishop Thomas to come over from Geraldton to ordain me at Sacred Heart Cathedral. My family appreciated that since my paternal grandfather was the layman who was with the then Monsignor Thomas on the Backhaus Estate.
At the ordination, Bishop Stewart also imposed hands and then discreetly left to travel to Wangaratta to ordain John Ryan and the late Kevin Howarth. Part of the Ordination ceremony for a Diocesan Priest is to pledge obedience to the current Bishop and his successors. So, our Priestly life and Ministry unfolds.
It is providential that John is a Priest of Sandhurst. He grew up in Mildura in the Ballarat Diocese. However, his father’s employment as an Insurance Agent, meant that the family moved to Wangaratta. John has always loved Ned Kelly country.
For John and myself, it was an exciting time to be ordained. “Sacrosanctum Concilium” the Constitution on the Liturgy had been promulgated on 4 December 1963. I remember being quite excited on the last day of that seminary academic year, when Archbishop Guilford Young spoke with his customary vigour to the seminarians, after the Bishop’s Trustees meeting about the Council – particularly about his contribution to “Sacrosanctum Concilium” the document on the Liturgy. When I got back to Sandhurst, I heard that Bishop Stewart got Monsignor DeCampo to pick him up at a back door of the Airport to bypass any journalists who may be looking for a comment on the Council. When he got back to “Genazzano” he said “Nothing has changed”!
The different episcopal responses mirrored the varied reactions of the lay people to documents that came from the Second Vatican Council. It took quite some time before all were in-step journeying on our pilgrim way.
However, all of us can say as we heard in the passage from 2nd Corinthians – “We are only the earthenware jars that hold this treasure,” to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us.
When we listen to the gentle prompting of the Spirit we do not know where we will be led. From the Cathedral Presbytery in McKenzie Street, John found himself on the way to further study in Rome and then to St. Louis, U.S.A. On his return, He was the co-ordinator of the Priests’ Renewal Programme in Canberra. In 1999 he helped establish the Humanita Foundation which aimed to stimulate renewal in the Church’s understanding of human development and sexuality. So many of our confreres have benefitted and grown from participation in these special programmes.
As we heard in today’s Gospel, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many”. John, you can look back on the countless priests who have been challenged to change and grow in their path of discipleship, or as Pope Francis so often says, ‘missionary’ discipleship.
I grew up in a Catholic family in the Cathedral Parish in Bendigo. Sadly, I was knocked back when I applied for the Seminary. The reason was that one of my father’s brothers suffered from epilepsy. It was thought that there was a risk that I might have an epileptic fit during the Consecration in the Eucharistic prayer!
Being ‘knocked back’ I began the enrolment process to do Law at university. I wasn’t very excited about it. Although, as a kid in short pants I went to the Law Courts in Bendigo to hear Frank Galbally represent a man who slaughtered a man with an iron bar outside the old Post Office in Shepparton. Riding my bike home, I recall asking myself, “Was that verdict right or wrong?”
Bishop Stewart’s Priest friend (Harry Jordan MSC) was a Canon Lawyer. Happily, he found a footnote in one of his books which said ‘epilepsy’ could now be controlled. So, the path to Corpus Christi College was now open.
I have worked in four Parishes in Sandhurst – Cohuna, Beechworth, Heathcote and Shepparton, before being asked to go to the Seminary at Clayton I had no idea that this would lead to being Rector of three Seminaries – Melbourne, Fiji and then New Zealand.
Fr John’s book “A Priesthood Imprisoned” highlights our need for on-going conversion. I have had a blessed and joyful life as a Diocesan Priest but still need to move more from the ‘head’ to the ‘heart’!
Fr Rob Galea’s special ministry shows that the journey from heart to the head is much easier than the other way round. Furthermore, as Fr John’s reflection shows, our journey will always be in the direction of greater trusting love in Jesus as Lord of our life (Cf Acts 10,36).
