Your prayers will be heard
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Vietnamese Community Mass
I am sure it is a great joy for you to be able to celebrate this Mass this evening. Firstly, you are celebrating the Mass on the occasion of the Lunar New Year.
The church has been decorated in a most festive manner. In this you are uniting with traditions and practices that are deeply part of the Vietnamese culture, and have been for centuries.
No doubt you remember the experiences of your childhood and the special customs and foods associated with the Lunar New Year. There is a special joy in the air this evening.
Secondly, I know that the arrival of Fr Truc to join the Passionist Community here at St Joseph’s has also been a great joy for you as you are now able to celebrate Mass in your own language, sing your own hymns and have a homily preached in your own language.
The Vietnamese Catholic community, though small, now has the opportunity to gather at the Eucharistic table and celebrate the liturgy in accord with your culture.
I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of the Sisters who have been in Tasmania now for, I think, eight years. Srs Magdalene and Mary from the Congregation of the Lovers of the Holy Cross Quinhon have been a wonderful blessing to us all.
Their joy is infectious. They have brought you together for prayer and fellowship. Their interest in you and support for you, I am sure, has been greatly appreciated.
Sisters, this evening, I thank you for your pastoral care of the Vietnamese community here in Hobart. And I thank you for your generous support of all the activities of the Church in Tasmania. You are an inspiration to us all.
Tonight in our Catholic liturgical calendar we celebrate the sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, and next week we enter the season of Lent.
Each Sunday the Church offers us readings from the Sacred Scripture. This year we are following the Gospel of St Mark. We listen with attention to the Word of God and desire that God speaks to our hearts through his holy word.
The Gospel which we have just read tells the story of one of the miracles of healing which were such a striking feature of the public ministry of the Lord.
It is the healing of a leper. In the time of Jesus leprosy was a most terrible disease. Not only did it lead to the deformity of the body, but due to fear of its contagious nature those with the disease were forced into social isolation.
They were abandoned to suffer and die. One can understand the level of desperation that any leper would have felt.
I have always been struck by the response of the Lord to this poor man who, St Mark tells us, pleaded with Jesus from his knees. From the depths of his desperation and suffering he cried out, “If you want to you can cure me”. He cries out for mercy from a situation that has no human hope.
The response of Jesus was immediate and heart-felt, “Of course I want to, be cured”. “Of course I want to, be cured”. Jesus wanted to come to this poor man’s aid. He did not hesitate.
Meeting with you tonight my mind goes to the story of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin to a small group of Vietnamese Catholics hiding in the jungle at Lavang. It occurred back in 1798.
The people had taken refuge in dense jungle during a time of persecution. Determined to be faithful to their religion they suffered many privations and dangers. Each evening at sunset they gathered to say the Rosary.
One evening a woman and child appeared standing nearby in a mysterious glow of light. It was the Virgin Mary and child.
With the heart of a mother she consoled them as she told them she understood her suffering. She said very simply, “From this day on, prayers said on this spot will be heard – and answered.”
What a wonderful and consoling message, especially for those Catholics whose life was in danger and who endured many privations as they hid in the dense jungle from their oppressors.
“Prayers said on this spot will be heard and answered”.
Lavang has become a shrine that attracts large numbers of pilgrims to this day. The words of the Virgin Mary continue to inspire all who visit. No doubt many heartfelt prayers are offered at the shrine every day.
Just like the leper whose prayer was heard and who received a wonderful miracle, so too the Vietnamese Catholics have come to trust that their prayers will be heard.
Despite the many times when there has been persecution of Catholics still the faith has persisted and grown strong in the hearts of the people.
The Vietnamese Catholics have experienced many hardships and the Church has many martyrs. Many have had to flee their homeland to live in exile and make a new life. However, Vietnamese Catholics know that the Virgin of Lavang watches over them with great maternal love.
Thus, we today continue to live out our faith with a deep consciousness of God’s great love and mercy towards us. As we turn to him, especially invoking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we know our prayers are heard.
Archbishop Julian Porteous.
Sunday, 11 February 2024