On 8th September we celebrated the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the anniversary of the death of Fr. Francis Mary of the Cross Jordan.
It was also a memorable day for our parish as we unveiled our beautiful statue of Fr. Francis. We were blessed to be joined by Fr. Tadeusz, Fr. Boguslaw, Fr. Robert and many parishioners from their parishes of Gosford and Pymble.
The service commenced with the blessing of our statue and the praying of the Fr. Francis Litany. Mass was then concelebrated by the five Salvatorian priests with Fr. Bronek’s homily giving us a deeper insight into Fr. Francis’s life and his deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He told us that Fr. Francis had a statue of Mary of Lourdes in his office and each day, he would place a piece of paper in her clasped hands with his prayers and gratitude to the Mother of our Saviour – a practice we could imitate.
After Mass we moved into a beautifully prepared Parish Centre to share a meal with our visitors and also to get an insight into their lives and hopes as parishioners of other Salvatorian parishes. It is not often that we get an opportunity to do this – a truly enjoyable experience and we thank our wonderful parish staff for all their hard work.
Fr. George commented at the end of the Mass that Fr. Francis would never have dreamt of having his presence felt in Australia – but his presence was felt on that day as over 200 people gathered around his statue – priests, lay Salvatorians, children from our schools and parishioners. Our celebration truly illustrated Fr. Francis’s vision for a Salvatorian community which was inclusive of lay people playing their part and we are privileged to have this opportunity.
Thank you to Fr. George, Fr. Bronek and Maureen Suggitt for all their work in getting our statue of Fr. Francis to his new home. He will be a powerful source of inspiration and guidance as we continue to pray to him for his intercession in all our needs and for his Beatification. We are blessed to be a Salvatorian Parish.