May 25th, Feast of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

A way of developing an understanding of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is to learn from the proclamation by Paul VI during Vatican II of Mary as the Mother of the Church. It means that we, the Church, who are graced and redeemed, see in her the fulness of grace and redemption. We mirror her in the living out of our spirituality. But, the point is that she first mirrored Jesus so that we see the best of ourselves in her and we know that this is the pattern of spirituality of Jesus himself, the patterns and ways of his heart.

There is a real joy in celebrating the life of Con Jordan today. He was such a good man. Of course we are a bit disappointed he couldn’t wait for another week to celebrate his 100^th birthday but then you know him and how much he hated any fuss!!! He has been “ready to go” as he has said for some time now and couldn’t work out why he was still here!!

As you know....there is a file kept on every priest and religious and reports go way back 90 years ago when he first arrived at Douglas Park as an Apostolic School student. There is a beautiful letter there he wrote to the provincial at the end of his time saying that how grateful he was for accepting him into Douglas Park even when his parents were very poor and were unable to pay anything. In asking to be accepted into the Novitiate he thought his mother could provide most of the clothing “but not the blacks”.

Every year there were annual reports on his progress through the seminary years and these are just a few of the very consistent comments throughout those reports:

-        “well balanced type with abounding good will.”

-        “he has general all round perception and common sense above his years”

-        “cheerful and bright character; has good judgement and imagination and good initiative”

-        “he should prove a very valuable man”

However, there is one report which is quite out of character written by Darcy Morris. He must have got on the wrong side of Darcy the day the report was written (or Darcy got out on the wrong side of the bed!). This is what it says:

-        “He has not very bright intellect and memory and in inclined to laziness, self gratification and self respect, with the result that he often careless in some respects, such as deportment, perseverance in study and attention to his confreres...He should make a very good priest.”!!!

Only Darcy and Con would know what that was all about.

As you know Con remembered his years as a teacher in our schools with great affection. He particularly loved his time at Downlands College. When I was there as Principal he was always spoken about most affectionately at past students gatherings. I was at Downlands only yesterday and one of his past students, Phil Fitzgerald, who is also here today was telling me that his nickname during his time was ‘Drake’. At that time his hearing was failing and he spoke in that high pitched monotone we all became used to and the kids pick up on those things and thought he sounded like a duck. When it was raining the kids would run past and say “Morning Father, great weather for ducks!!” thinking of course he didn’t know his name.

He showed great promise as a teacher and it was a bit unusual for the time he studied for a BA. He got his Teaching Certificate and also a Bachelor of Education. It was a great sadness for him when he was asked to leave Downlands and run a “crash course” in teacher training at the seminary at Croydon to prepare young priests and seminarians for teaching.

The onset of deafness became quite a challenge towards the end of his time in schools. There was little could be done for him. It was even contemplated sending him to the US to try to do something for him but the nerve damage was too great. In 1978 he wrote a letter to the Provincial about this: “My deafness does not worry me that much except in so far as it is a trial for my confreres more than for me. Providence has always been kind to me and I have no reason to think my deafness is anything other than God’s way of helping me to be faithful to the end.

Because of the deafness - He spent the 27 years of his life as Mission Procurator where he was able to work alone a lot of the time chasing up pieces of machinery, organising monies to be transferred to remote missions and so on. He was tireless in his efforts for the men and women in remote communities and this was truly appreciated by them.

During these years he also worked at the Catholic Inquiry Centre in Maroubra and when he finished there the Director of the Centre wrote to the Provincial:

“I write this letter to express something of the immense debt of gratitude to Con for his truly selfless years of work for us and to ask you to pass on to your community the very special esteem in which all of us here at the Centre hold him.

Of all who might read it, Con would be the least comfortable with this small tribute, but it would be made all the same: he has a real personal concern for everybody he writes to which makes their cares and their worries become his burden. He is held in unqualified admiration by the staff here. They have a deeply felt personal affection for him.”

In the last years he was plagued terribly by scruples and many tried to allay his fears about many things. This could well have been because of the isolation that his deafness brought to him and the many hours left with his own thoughts.

Through his life Con was a wonderful religious. A man of great kindness. A selfless man. A man attentive to the needs of others. He lived his life for others. A man of deep prayerfulness. A man who allowed the life of God to grow within him throughout his 100 years of life. We thank God for his life amongst us and know that he is resting well with the one who loved him and whom he loved deeply.

Eulogy, John Mulrooney MSC, Provincial Superior

Fr Frank Quirk MSC died on the morning of May 22nd at St Joseph's Home, Kensington, NSW.  He was 95.

There will be a host of stories being told in the coming days.  Frank Quirk was a character, often larger than life.

He was born on April 17thm 1918.  His secondary studies were done at Downlands College and he was professed on February 26th, 1938 - 75 years in vows when he died.

23rd July 1944 was his ordination date.  2014 would have seen him ordained 70 years.

Frank Quirk had a long missionary life, joining a group of young MSC who were assigned to New Britain after World War II to help the German MSC rebuild their mission. He was one of the first to go to Japan for the new Australian MSC mission there, based in Nagoya.  He was to work there for thirty years, but was well known back home when he visited on leave.

At the Provincial Chapter of 1980, he was elected Provincial Superior and re-elected in 1983.  During his time as Provincial, the MSC Foundation in India was made, centred on Bangalore.  As he travelled round the province, with his vigorous, pat-you-on-the-back style, his visits gave rise to many humorous stories.

After his terms as Provincial, he returned to Japan for two more decades.  He then returned to Australia and retired to Kensington.

His life spanned the 1930s and 75 years to the second decade of the 21st century, witnessing the vast changes in the world, in the church and in religious life during that time.

May he rest in peace.

This will be just a short outline of what we were privileged to see and enjoy, but to cover it all would take too many words.

Eighteen Pilgrims led by Fr. John Rate left various parts of Australia on the 15^th of March.

Our first meeting up with each other was at Dubai Airport. We then flew together to Athens where we started our 17 Day Pilgrimage.

We had two nights in Athens where we toured the Acropolis and Areopagus where St. Paul delivered his famous sermon re “The Unknown God”. We explored the Parthenon and the Kallimarmaro Stadium dating back to 330BC. We then journeyed to Corinth where we had Mass on a huge stone in the ruins of the Tempe of Apollo. Over the next days we travelled to Meteora, to Phillippi and Kavala. We then travelled via Kos to Thessaloniki Greece’s second city founded in 315BC. We flew to Kos and then onto Patmos by boat where St John wrote the Book of Revelations. We stayed two nights in Patmos. We toured the capital of Patmos by foot and ascended to the Monastery of St. John the Beloved for the celebration of Mass.   We spent time in the actual Cave of Revelation. We also visited the Convent of Evangelismos (Annunciation).

Patmos.

On the 10^th day we travelled by boat from Patmos to Turkey and stayed at Kusadasi for two nights.

During this time we travelled to Ephesus where St. Paul spent over two years and we toured the Ephesus Museum and the prison of St. Paul. We walked through the marble streets founded in the 10^th century BC. We went to the Temple of Hadrian, the amphitheatre (Act 19:29-31), the Christian Basilica where Our Lady was proclaimed “Mother of God” in 431. We ascended to the House of Mary for Mass - this was very moving and emotional.

We journeyed on to Pergmum and Canakkale, Assos, Alexander Troas and Troy. So much to see and hear about.

Corinth.

On Sunday the 28^th of April we travelled From Canakkale by boat to Anzac Cove. This, for me was overwhelming. We had Mass at the Lone Pine Cemetery and were able to visit the graves of the young Australians buried there. As I have four grandsons of the age these young boys were, it was very emotional for me. I cannot imagine how those parents coped with the loss of their young sons.

We then travelled onto Istanbul. A most amazing place. Some of the places we heard about and visited were the Ottoman Palaces, Byzantine fortresses, Suleiman’s Mosque. The Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar.

Other highlights in Istanbul were the Hippodrome, the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.   We then flew out of Istanbul to Kayseri and onto Cappadocia. We had Mass in a Chapel built into the mountains by the early Christians at Avanos. We had a tour of the “Fairy Chimneys”, Dark Church and the Kaymakli Underground City.

Thursday 2^nd May we departed Turkey on our journey home.

This is a brief out line of our trip. I couldn’t possibly put on paper all the places we visited and the history we absorbed.

Our guides were terrific, their commentaries were so interesting but too much to take in and remember.

The pilgrimage was very well organized and John led us every day in prayer and Eucharist.

For me it was a wonderful experience. I am still coming to grips with what I have seen and what I have learnt. This is just a short outline of what we were privileged to see and enjoy, but to cover it all would take too many words.

Fr Cornelius (Con) Jordan MSC died at St Joseph's Home for the Aged, Kensington, Sydney, on Saturday evening, May 18th.  He was 99, eleven days short of his hundredth birthday.

In February, he celebrated his 80th anniversary of religious profession.  On November 30th next, he would have been 75 years a priest.

Con Jordan spent a great deal of his ministry in MSC education, especially at Downlands College, Toowoomba, both in teaching and in training-up-and-coming teachers.  In more recent times, he worked tirelessly in the MSC Mission Office, but retired because of increasing age.  He had for decades been plagued by hearing problems.  In later times, he also suffered sight problems. It can be said that he was looking forward to his eternal reward.

May he rest in peace.