LATE FATHER KINKEAD: MONTH'S MIND AT TAIHAPE

New Zealand Tablet, 27 February 1919, Page 33

LATE FATHER KINKEAD: MONTH'S MIND AT TAIHAPE

On Wednesday, February 5, the Month’s Mind for Father Kinkead was impressively solemnised at St. Mary’s Church, Taihape. At 9 o’clock a Solemn Requiem Mass was sung, Father O’Connell, S.M., of Wanganui, being celebrant; Father Bowe,, of Danne-* virke, deacon ; and Rev. Matthew Doolaghty, of Opunake, subdeacon. Father Cashman, of Marton, was master of ceremonies. The Mass was sung by brother priests of Father Kinkead, who came from all parts of the Wellington archdiocese to pay this emu tribute to" the memory of a noble, energetic, and pious priest. In the choir and sanctuary were Fathers O’Connell, S.M. (Wanganui), McManus (Palmerston North), Quealy (Petone), Bowe (Dannevirke), Duffy (Patea), Cashman (Marton), Guinane (Ohakune), Harnett (Patea), Forrestal (Foxton), Cahill (Waipawa), Doolaghty (Opunake), Campbell (Wellington), Phelan (Masterton), Smyth, S.M. (Wellington), McLoughlan (Takapau), O'Dwyer (Feilding), and Minogue (Taihape). From the text. “I have appointed you that you should go, and that you should bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain” (John xv. 1G), Father Harnett. of Patea, delivered to a large congregation of the late Father Kinkead’s sorrowing parishioners the following panegyric: On a. very solemn occasion, delivering His last discourse before His crucifixion to His disciples, our Redeemer, in these words, gave to His chosen ones their apostolic mission. He commanded them to leave their homes and home associations ; to travel over the known world preaching His Gospel to every creature; and effect results that “.should remain” unto life everlasting. “You should go, and you should bring forth fruit; and your fruit should remain.” That command was not addressed solelv to the chosen ones present in that supper-room, but to all who, by vocation to the priesthood, are called upon to leave their homes and spread His Gospel even to the utmost bounds of the earth. Every priest laboring away from his native laud has responded to that command, “I have appointed you that you should go, and you should bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain.” The sons of St. Patrick are no exception, and the man for whose eternal rest we this day pray was one of the brightest gems in the Irish priesthood abroad. Some sixteen years ago, Thomas Kinkead, choosing a state in life, found himself called to the priesthood, and his conscience indicating to him the will of God, whispered “I have appointed yon that you should go.” Accordingly, in preparation, he entered St. Patrick’s College, Thurles, and spent seven yea*'?, acquiring the knowledge and developing the virtues necessary for the discharge of the priestly duties. It was during this time that he formed the habits of life and cultivated those charming traits of character which afterwards made him beloved alike of priest and laity. These seven years passed quickly away, and then bis superiors declared him a worthy qualified candidate for the priesthood. On June, 1910, he was duly ordained a priest forever, according to the Order of Melchisedech. How, more than ever before, did he realise the command: “I have appointed you that you

should go." The , time had come, when he should leave his home, break away from the family circle, sever the ties of all his youthful associations, and, coming to his missionary field, put the whole belt of the world between himself and, his native land'. He arrived in New Zealand on January 4, 191 aud from that date until the hour of his death on November 17, 1918—seven short years— labored fearlessly to supply the second request of his Apostolic mission—"l have appointed you that you should bear fruit." His first appointment was to a curacy in Feilding, and so successful was his work that in a very short time his superiors promoted him to the charge of Marton. Here his work was surrounded with difficulty/ as the parish had been vacant for some time and its people had to depend on the Feilding priest to attend to their spiritual wants. However, in a very short time his worth was fully appreciated, and the parishioners gave striking evidence of their anxiety to retain him. His promotion to Carterton, no matter how pleasing to his many friends, was a cause of genuine sorrow to the people of Marton, who were gradually becoming more and more attached to their pastor. During hjfs time in Carterton, the great European War burst forth upon the world, and once more conscience whispered the wish of his Master: "I have appointed you that you should go." Taking an appointment on the hospital ship Maheno, his work during the greater part of 1916 was in the danger zone, amongst the wounded and the dying. On his return to New Zealand he was appointed to the parish of Taihape, and you, my dear people, the last among whom he labored, have reason to believe that his work was generously done.' Under his direction you have, in the short space of less than two years, freed this parish of ,£I3OO of debt: your schools have been put into a flourishing condition ; missions have been given in every part of the parish, and during the period of the disastrous epidemic your sick and dying have had the ministrations of a genuine apostle, who served them faithfully and' whole-heartedly, even at the loss of his li.fe. During these terrible and sorrow-awaken-ing weeks of October and November, while this district was a plague-stricken area, you remember how his days and nights were spent. Always ready, always watching, no call was too difficult, no demand too unreasonable, until his young life was sacrificed in the cause of the afflicted. Ah!, yes. Father Kinkead, very generously have you fulfilled the second requisite of your mission : "I have . . . that you should bear fruit." It has been once written, but oft repeated, that "The evil men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones." But, giving their mission to His apostles, Christ declared, "Your fruit should remain," and here He meant not only the good works such, as Apostolic self-denial, faithfulness to duty, and that "charity by which men should know that they were His disciples," but also the good introduced to the world by the spread of His Gospel. The good work done by the apostles is proved by the spread of Christianity. The good work done by our deceased friend during his short missionarv career will find testimony in every parish in this archdiocese in which he labored, and that testimony is strongly confirmed by the grateful voices of the soldiers whom he served in _ their hour of need. Yes, faithful priest,- "you fruit "should remain," not merely for an idle advertisement

here below, but it will be indelibly written by the recording angel in the Book of Life to redound to your eternal glory. In fulfilling his apostolic mission there was one trait in this man’s character more pronounced than any other that marked all his dealings with men. I refer to his constancy. His principles were well established and he never forsook them. Too strong to be moved by the popular sentiment of the passing moment, he never lowered his standard to meet the fickle demands of human respect. Preaching by example, abhorrence of hypocrisy in the opportunist, the time-server, and the shuffler, always open and above board, in every walk of life he combated the underhand dealings and secret diplomacy which a war-weary and chastened world so deeply deplores to-day. No matter what the environments were, his high ideal of his priesthood and his great love of his native laud always determined him to strike boldly in their defence wherever and whenever defence was necessary. His many friends could not but admire this rare, manly characteristic, ever the same in sunshine and in storm, no matter what sacrifice it cost him. So far I have been trying to put before you the high calling of your deceased pastor, and now 1 would like to remind you that “to whom great things are given, of them great things are expected.” Our chief duty here to-day is to offer prayer and sacrifice for the repose of his soul, and give proof of our faith in the Communion of Saints. We know from Holy Writ that “nothing defiled can enter heaven, that God will render to every man according to his works and that some will be saved as if by fire.” Our Holy Mother the Church, interpreting these texts for us, teaches that in the next life there is a place of purgation where many' who die in the grace of God must make atonement for the temporal punishment due to sin and become pure and immaculate before they enter His Kingdom. Accordingly, she sets aside the month of November each year as a time when we should redouble our prayers for the holy souls in Purgatory. She presents these souls, crying out to us in the words of Holy Job: “Have pity on me. Have pity on me at least you my friends, for the hand of the Lord hath touched me.” - I would earnestly exhort you, therefore, my dear people, to pray fervently to God for the repose of the soul of your late pastor. You who have lost your own friends in this epidemic, remember the priest who sacrificed his young life to bring to their death-beds the. consolations of our holy religion, and you, my. dear people, one and all among whom he labored, remember it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins. By fulfilling this obligation in charity, you can hopefully look forward to re-union with him where joy abounds and sorrow enters not. May God grant his soul eternal rest, and may perpetual light shine upon him. The Absolution at the catafalque concluded one of the most impressive ceremonies ever held in Taihape.