Presentation to Father T. McKenna, Pahiatua

New Zealand Tablet, 27 December 1906, Page 12

Presentation to Father T. McKenna, Pahiatua

At the' conclusion of Mass on Sunday at the Catholic church (says the ' Pahiatua kra,' December 10"), the members of the congregation presented the Rev. Father T. McKeniia with ,an illuminated address ami a purse of 100 sovereigns. Mr,. D. Brosnahan said he had much .pleasure in being present on behalf of the members of the church at Woodville to unite with the members of the Palriatua church in making a presentation to Father McKenna, a presentation thai was not being made on account of past services rendered by him to the church. H was a spontaneous one .and was given as a toiken of the* esteem and respect in which Father McKenna is held by members of the church. The tribute that was about to be paid to their pastor was on account of ' the severe illness that he had recently come >. through, and which had filled them with feelings of alarm, and they; had decided to subscribe a purse, which they hoped would not be 'returned in any way to them, but that it would be spent -by" Father McKenna for ltfs personal benefit in the way of recuperating his health.

Quinlan then read the following ad-

Mr. Andrew dress:—

' Dear Rev. Father,— lt is now about fourteen years since you came amongst us. During the whole of that tune you have been in charge of this parish, and for the gicatest part, of the time you have labored amongst us without, assistance. You have seen -the district grow from small beginnings to its present flourishing condition, and it is no small thing to say that the progress of CatholicMy has kept pace with the progress of the district. : The church at Pahiatua has been built and further ' enlarged ; the church at woodville has been enlarged ; a new church has lately been opened at Hamua ; valuable property' has been acquired, and we . have now in our midst a Catholic school taught, by Hie Sisters. We recognise that Ihe progress made is due mainly to your efforts and selfsacrifice, lour late severe illness has naturally caused us to reflect on these matters, and we wish to take tins opportunity to congratulate you on your recovery, to testify publicly our appreciation of your work and to pray that you .may long be spared to labor amongst us. We reco K nise further that the works we have mentioned have entailed pecuniary sacrifice as well as per-

sonal discomfort on your part, and in asking you to' accept the accompanying purse of -sovereigns, we do so, notr so much with any idea of reimbursement), "but -" as a small token of our appreciation of you and to - show that here, as elsewhere, the ties that bind the Catholic • people to - their priests are real, grounded in . love of ' our faith and on our high regard for their sacred calling. Signed on behalf of the Catholics 'of " Pahiatua, Woodviile, and surrounding ■ . districts by T. Quirke (chairman), H. McSherry- (hon. sec), E. Sullivan, D. Brosnahan, Mi Cfalvin, J. IJennessy, A. Quinlan, E. Troy, J. lgoe, W. -Buckley, G. H. Goldfinch, W. McCaflrey, T. Murray, J." Diamond, J. J. Beech. A. McLeod, D. O'Brien, . T. Martin, W. Donoughue, J.. McClean' ' "" "'

Mr. T. Quirke, of Koniui, spoke of the progress of ythe Church in the district, especially during the time Father McKenna had been in charge of the parish. During the 14 years he had 'been with them Father McKenna Tiad sacrificed his o\vn personal comforts for the advancement of his, parish, notably by enlarging the ' church at his own expense and by giving over his comfortable house to the Sisters, and had gone to live in a humble cottage. Mr. Quirke congratulated Father Mckcnna on his complete recovery from" his recent severe illness, which had caused the .parishioners grave anxiety. Mr. Quirke then handed the address and the puLse of sovereigns to Father McKenna. Mr. E. Sullivan endorsed the remarks made b"y Messrs. Brosnahan and .Quirke. . A^ - • Father McKenua, in . returning ■ thanks' for the honor

done him, said he" was never very good at expressing himself on occasions suoh -as the present, and foe had great difficulty in employing words to express his heartfelt thanks to -his congregation for .the kindness, lo\e, and 'devotion they had bestowed upon him. He hud seen the first stone of the first Catholic church built in PaMatua. During that' time he had labored amongst them * for about three years, when he was transferred to Patea, where he remained for -another three years, when he received the appointment of parish _ priest of Pahiatua. \*;hen he returned he found -that the congregation had grown so large that the first church was inadequate for its The first work- lie did, however, was to have a presbytery erected, amd in which 'he lived. He then took steps tohave -a new church built, and it was the one in which they were .then assembled. He then turned his steps in the direction of acquiring "further church property, in which he was successful, and the property acquired would be very useful in time. They- had property valued at about £2000, Referring to the Woodville district, Father jtfcKeima said that when he first went there- Tie found that the church was very small, and he set to work and had it enlarged.- As time went on he found that N the congregation had outgrown the church, and it had to be made still larger to meet requirements. A great deal of -thanks was due to the parishioners and friends who had co-opera-ted witii him in carrying "out the work, "and it was mainly clue to that that- they -had Church property throufciiout the districts, which was very valuable Father McKenna concluded his remarks by again thanking the paris-hionel-s for the high tribute they had paid him: • - r