Palmerston's New Church

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 46, 2 December 1925, Page 29

Palmerston's New Church

SOLEMN DDES AND OPENING.

Sunday, November 21), was a gala day in the parish of I'almerston. The beautiful new church, erected by the pastor, Father Kavanagh and his generous Hock, has for some time been complete and only awaited the official opening to become henceforth the spiritual centre of all the Catholic homes of the district. During the preceding week the weather conditions were anything but promising, but the saints were praying for Palmerston, and Sunday morning dawned bright and cloudless, with the sun smiling a benediction on the white walls of the beautiful little temple which now stands above the town. Many visitors journeyed from Dunedin for the ceremony, and all were delighted by the success of the function ami by the appearance of the church, which is a little gem, and a credit to priest and people, and to the architect and the builder. At eleven o'clock Pontifical High Mass was celebrated by his Lordship Dr. Whyte. On the altar were: Deacon. Rev. Dr. O'Neill: subdeacon. Rev. Mr. Gavin; assistant priest! Rev. W. Monaghnn; M.C.. Rev. A. Fenelon ; deacons at the Throne, Revs. Messrs. Evans and Rohan. The occasional sermon was preached by Rev. C. Collins, ALA.. Mosgiel College. Taking for his text: "My house is a house of Prayer" (Matt. 21-13), Father Collins said: The opening and blessing of a new fchurch. is for the people of this parish an occasion of great solemnity. Over fifty years ago the old Church of St. Michael's here in Palmerston was solemnly blessed and opened. For all those years that church has provided for the spiritual wants of this district. And for many of you listening to me to-day the sight of the old building calls up distant and beloved memories. There you were baptised, there you made your first confession and Holy Communion, and received Confirmation. Later on, before the old altar, you were joined in the bonds of Matrimony, and in your turn brought along your own children to the fountains of Baptism. Sad memories there are too, for when the angel of death came to claim your loved ones, it was from that

church you followed them to their last resting place, As the years rolled on from the time of the opening, old faces disappeared and new ones took their places, until to-day we have another, a younger generation. Now, if the Catholic Church ' possesses one striking characteristic outside her four great marks, it is that of Progress. She herself began with but a handful of men—twelve apostles and a few disciples. These first missionaries hearkened to the command of their Divine Master to go forth and teach all nations. Their efforts were crowned with such glorious. success that to-day her dominion is world-wide. From the small seed she has grown into the large, outspreading tree, in whose branches the birds of the air. that is the nations of the earth, find shelter. Nowhere do we see this characteristic of progress more striking than in her buildings. Her first conventicle's • i r .- __ _

were rooms, such as the supper-room in Jerusalem, provided in the houses of the , first Christians. Then came the times of persecution, when her churches were the hidden catacombs, hollowed out from below the earth's surface. Peace came at last, and with it began to appear more pretentious buildings; each generation erecting more costly and more magnificent churches to the glory of God. So, here too, in your own little parish progress has been going on. The old church had fulfilled its work, ami priest and people, recognising that a more commodious and imposing temple was fitting to the district and to the glory' of God, have erected this beautiful structure in which we are gathered together to-day. Since the creation of man, his heart has ever yearned for union with his Creator. His one strenuous effort since the time of Adam has been to bridge over the distance between the material and the spiritual—between the human and the divine. This has been the end of all religion— to worship, to "love, to serve — to bring God within the grasp of human faculty and to stimulate human faculty to action. With this effort: of man God has ever been in sympathy. To help us do this, God has wrought the Incarnation, and Jesus Christ is the great revelation of God and the great force that draws us to Him. To effect this purpose then— keep fast and close to the Creator through Our Lord Jesus Christ, man, among his other works, builds churches ; and for this reason, that a Catholic church is the scene of the presence of Christ. When Our Lord was on earth, it is true, He asked lor neither roof nor walls. But since He has gone to His heavenly Kingdom, circumstances have changed. The Holy Gospels, the Seven Sacraments, especially the Eucharistic Sacrament and Sacrifice—these can be administered fittingly only in a church. If need be, we know, they can be administered in any place. But the Catholic Church wishes to carry out her mission to her members in the light of publicity and so, »to proclaim ,her powers, to feed her people, to draw tlienv closer to their God, she builds her churches.

Now anions all the means by which frail man endeavors to read) his Creator there is none more efficacious than that of prayer. And this is the reason why a Catholic church should he above all else, what Our Divine Lord called it, "a house of prayer." No matter what a building may contain within its , four walls, or what it may do for those congregated there—unless it helps to lift their hearts to God. it cannot be truly called a. church. And we Catholics know that in no spot on earth is true spiritual prayer made more easily and more hahituallv than in a church where the whole Christian faith is fully believed and practised. * We sometimes think of prayer as simply supplication— Almighty God to grant "s something either spiritual or temporal. But prayer moans more than this; it covers adoration, love, praise, thanksgiving, and ■ sorrow for sin—for in all these man lifts his

heart to heaven. In this sense it is not v-iiniuuiu w uiiuuisLHiui now great, now august, how Divine a thing is Christian prayer. To this, the noblest exercise of the human soul wo assign a. house, a. home, when we dedicate a, new church; for here shall all those acts of love, of adoration, of praise, of thanksgiving, of repentance bo offered up to the Most High. Here too there will be prayer in common, a. public recognition 'of the Living God, when "each shows his faith to every other, and each, calls upon each to show his faith in turn." And this mutual example, this unison in prayer, will tend to increase and augment the faith and devotion of one another. Now this would be true if our churches were no more than halls in which Ave met for common prayer, for, as Our Lord says: "Where two or three are gathered together in My name there am I in the midst of them." But our churches are more than this. In the first place it is there that the word of God is dispensed to us; that His infallible teaching is given us. From the lips of God's minister we hear explained those divine 1 ruths and dogmas that, constitute the faith of Christianity. Secondly, it is in our churches that Christ Himself, through the ministry of His priests, releases His grace through those seven divine channels that make up the great sacramental system. Consider for a few moments how closely will this new church be bound up with your lives and the lives of your children. Your newly born infant, whose soul as yet bears the strain of original sin, its heritage from our first parents, will be carried to these sacred precincts. Here tin. purifying waters of baptism, applied in the name of the Holy Trinity, will wash away that slain; that infant soul will be clothed in the shining' garment of sanctifying grace, and the little one will be sent out into the, world with the injunction to .bear that garment unstained before the judgment seat of (Air Lord Jesus Christ that he may have life everlasting. As the years go on, if those little feet happen to stray from the paths that God has marked out for them, they are once more set right in the tribunal of penance, where the merits of Christ's Precious Blood are again applied. to the soul and all sins are wiped away by the words of absolution. More even than this .is necessary, for that child's soul, just as its body, stands in need of nourishment to, sustain it on its journey through life. Then it is that the great spiritual food is given which is nothing less than the Body and Blood of Christ administered in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. On no day, perhaps, will your parents' heart rejoice more than when you see your little child,.in. all its innocence, approach these altar Ails to receive his Lord for the first time on the day of his .first Holy Communion. A day will come also when that same child will kneel in this sanctuary at the feet of the Bishop to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation ; when, through the imposition of hands, the Holy Ghost will come'down upon him to make him a soldier of Christ. In the natural course of events, excepting the chosen few who may be called to a higher life in religion or the priesthood, it will be before

these altar rails that your children will stand to declare their mutual love arid take each other for life in the holy Sacrament of Matrimony. So much for your children. . But for you ♦ yourselves what will this church be? It will be for you as the oasis in the desert; a place of refreshment ami rest set aside from the distractions, trials, and turmoil''of the busy and storm-beaten world. It needs but little reflection to account for such a blessing. Giving all due weight to the many reasons we have been considering why a Catholic church is a house of prayer, what, after all, is the supreme gift which our Heavenly Father has granted that makes our churches so sacred and so venerated? Is it not- the presence there of the Blessed Sacrament? A spiritual liter has pointed out that on reflection we could hardly help expecting that in our churches there would be some visible presence of the Godhead. For it would appear that God. has always longed to lift a corner of the veil which hides His glory from mortal eyes. The greatest revelation undoubtedly was when God the Sou came, down to earth and assumed human nature; when the Word was made Flesh; when Jesus Christ walked amongst men, going about doing good. But that sensible Presence of God in the Flesh was not to last always. A day came, Ascension morn, when it ceased for us; when Our Divine Lord arose to heaven from. Mount Olivet and a, cloud took Him out of the sight of the apostles. Still His love was not to be outdone. He would still be with us. '-Having loved His own who were in the world, He would love them unto the end. And so we find Him on the first Holy Thursday night pronouncing those words which still re-echo throughout the world and by which He has left Himself with us in the abiding presence of the Holy Eucharist: -'This is My Body; this .is My Blood: Do this in commemoration of Me." His apostles and their successors have hearkened to His command so that every Catholic church is the scene of the great Eucharistic Sacrifice, a continuance of the Sacrifice of Calvary. Mere in this new church of yours, every morning at this altar, those words of consecration will be ponounced in the Sacrifice of the Mass, helping to fulfil the prophecy of Malachias: "From the rising of the sun. even, to the going down. My name is great among the gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there * offered to My name a clean oblation." And so this sacrifice will go on to the end of time, all the world over; the great act. the great worship, the great gathering together of the oeople of Christ.

The Eu char fist, however, is not only a sacrifice but also a Sacrament, to which the faithful are invited and in which they receive the Body and Blood of Christ as nourishment for their souls. Nor does Our Lord’s love stop even here, for in this Sacrament He abides with us continuously. Here on this altar He will remain during the long day and the silent night, waiting to receive your love and adoration. In Him will you find the Great Consoler. When your souls arc enfeebled by sin; when spiritual fervor .is dead within you and, everything religious has lost its

charm, in Him will you find strength and nourishment; from Him will you receive that enlivening faith and ardent charity which long for nothing but God. In conclusion, I congratulate you, the members of this congregation, on the beautiful and artistic edifice which, out of your generosity, you have raised to the Living God. And 1 appeal to all present to extend their generosity once more to-day to help in the extinction of the debt that still exits. I congratulate also your parish priest, who today sees his hopes and aspirations realised, on the success of his undertaking. Lastly, I congratulate his Lordship, whose heart must rejoice this day on the addition of such a noble structure to the churches of his diocese. One final word. Remember always what your church should mean to you. It is "a. house of prayer." Let it be so for you in very truth. Love your church. 'Attend Holy Mass here as often as it is possible and receive Holy Communion. Pay frequent visits to your Divine Lord, Who is ever waiting to receive you. If you do so, then this opening day will over he a pleasant memory. Then when at last your sojourn here on earth is at an end, and you go to claim the reward of Everlasting Life for faithful service here below, it will be with the consolation that you at least were of the number who truly made of your church, what Our Divine Lord wished, "a house of prayer."

ARCHBISHOP MANNIX The Archbishop of Melbourne has left Irelaird on his homeward journey (says the Catholic Press for November 12). Speaking at a London welcome on Saturday, he said: '•'l have been up and down that part of Ireland south of the sectarian line drawn by Great Britain within -what is called, but is not, the Free State. I can tell British politicians that the Irish question is not settled, and never will be until Ireland's ideals are realised. I went to Ireland a few months ago, having nailed the Republican flag to my mast, and I found that I was welcomed by tens of thousands of Irish men and women. Though a declared Republican, I received the freedom of every city, in Ireland .south of the sectarian border. The report of the Boundary Commission would be found to be a complete disillusionment. Our country has been partitioned by a people who have no more right to draw a line across China. It is untrue that Ireland is prosperous'. It really is facing economic ruin. It is impossible for Republicans to enter Parliament while the oath of allegiance remains. The division of Ireland is the work of wily British politicians. I am confident that Ireland one day will be a republic and undivided."

Right Rev. Dr. Cotter, Bishop of Portsmouth, associated himself with “every word of Div Man nix’s address.”

Few take care to live well, but many to live long, though it is in every man’s power to do the former, but in no- man’s power to do the latter.