150th Anniversary of Our Church
On Saturday 1st November we had a wonderful celebration of Mass, marking the 150th anniversary of the opening of our Church.
I would like to thank all those who made this possible: the sacristans, the servers, the readers, the musicians and singers. The refreshments after Mass were great, and were made possible by the generosity of those parishioners who prepared the hall, contributed food and gave of their time. The archive exhibition was a wonderful reminder of our history and legacy.
Bishop Nicholas Hudson was the main celebrant. And it was good to have Fr Daniel Weatherley and Canon Michael O’Dea, who’ve been assistant priests in the parish, concelebrating with Fr Michael and myself. St Thomas of Canterbury was, as many of you know, Bishop Nicholas’s first appointment after ordination to the priesthood.
In his homily, he shared some of his memories of the people he met and groups he was involved with, such as the RCIA and hospital visiting. As he said: “It’s something about Canterbury, something about this parish; you remember the people. Those words of the hymn ring so true, when we sing, ‘I will hold your people in my heart’. Your priests — all the priests who’ve served you here — really do hold you in their hearts.”
He concluded his homily by saying,
“I have no hesitation to say that I’ve continued to draw very deeply from all the experiences of my first four years of priesthood lived here at St Thomas’s. It was truly formative for me. It made me, you made me, in so many ways, the priest and bishop I am today. I hold the memories of my time here so very dear. Pope Francis liked to say a key part of prayer is ‘grateful remembrance’. Grateful remembrance surely captures the heart of what we’re about today. Remembering with deep gratitude to Almighty God all that we’ve lived in this place, all that we’ve received, and, above all, the people, all the people he gave us to journey with and to help us find our place here in the church. What a privilege it has been, and still is – for the vast majority of you here today – to be and belong to the Body of Christ here in St Thomas’s! And for that we give the deepest of thanks this day!”
This weekend, as we celebrate the solemnity of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, we pray for us — the people who make up the Church.
As we celebrate the dedication of the Lateran Basilica, we pray that You will increase the spirit of grace in Your Church so that Your faithful people may build up the heavenly Jerusalem. Through Christ, we ask that You make us living stones in the temple of Christ’s body and help us to be a community of faith, love, and service.
