Mooroopna’s Mason Crosier recently accompanied Monsignor Peter Jeffrey and Monsignor Frank Marriott on an expedition to New Zealand and Fiji where he witnessed the enduring legacy of these senior Sandhurst priests in the communities they once served.
Monsignor Frank Marriott helped establish TEAMS of Our Lady in Auckland in the 1990s. Monsignor Peter Jeffrey was the Rector at Holy Cross Seminary in Auckland from 2012-2014, and the Pacific Regional Seminary in Suva, Fiji, from 1990 to 1993, following seven years as a teaching staff member.
Joining the trio on the tour was Fr Paul Sireh, a Melbourne-based Carmelite Priest originally from Nauru, Manus Island.
For Mason, a young man discerning his vocation, travelling with the two Monsignors, each with over sixty years of priesthood behind them, was an enriching experience. As the two Monsignors caught up with old friends throughout their travels, Mason became privy to the positive personal influence of these men on others.
Mason said he was especially moved to visit the Pacific Regional Seminary in Suva, Fiji with Monsignor Peter – and realise the parish priest of his childhood in Mooroopna – had a formative influence on many young men like him over his lifetime. “Many of the clergy we met were former students of Monsignor Peter,” said Mason.
“Monsignor Peter hadn’t visited the seminary in Suva since he left over forty years ago, so he was very emotional to be back there,” said Mason. “A lot has changed, but the memories came flooding back for him; it was beautiful to see.”
One of Monsignor Peter’s former students, Fr Simon Mani M.S.C., the former Rector of the Pacific Seminary, stayed in Suva to spend time with the Australian visitors, even though his ordination and installation as the Bishop of Kiribati was only a week away.
The Archbishop of Fiji, Peter Loy Chong DD, also a former student of Monsignor Peter, was thrilled to catch up with his former Rector and Australian friends, inviting all to participate in Mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral of Suva. The visiting priests concelebrated with the Archbishop and Mason was thrilled to altar serve.
“It was an incredible experience,” said Mason. The Cathedral was packed, the music was extraordinary, everyone participated wholeheartedly in the singing; and they just about lifted the roof off the Cathedral!”
A key takeaway for Mason was the joy of the Fijian people. “Pacific people do joy and celebration very well,” said Mason. “It’s amazing how happy Fijian people are with the little they have. They value their faith and family above everything else.
A highlight of the visit was a Seminary Community Mass celebrated by Monsignor Peter at the Seminary Chapel. “It was very emotional for him, and us,” said Mason. “Monsignor Peter was the Rector when the Chapel was designed and built. In his Homily he spoke about the process of designing and building the Chapel and how the architect, who was originally Buddhist, converted to Catholicism after learning more about our faith during that process.”
Mason said the visit was incredibly poignant; “Monsignor tapped the altar of the Seminary Chapel with such fondness, his time at the seminary in Suva must have been so special to him.”
For Mason, the journey was also an opportunity to cement his own friendships. In 2019, as a student at Notre Dame College, he participated in a five-week cultural immersion program in Fiji where he made a new friend, Sete. Serendipitously, Sete is now one of 130 seminarians at the Pacific Regional Seminary from fourteen Pacific nations, including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, New Caledonia and Kiribati.
It's hard not to imagine Mason and Sete crossing paths again in their lifetime. Who knows what new horizons lie ahead of them, and how they will influence generations after them – God willing.
To the two Monsignors, the travel across the Pacific brought their stories full circle; for Fr Paul, a visit to cultures that share similarities with his own; and for Mason, new horizons, blending the wisdom of the past with the promise of the future.
