The Archdiocese of Brisbane yesterday celebrated the Feasts of St Peter and Paul with Archbishop Mark Coleridge ordaining three men to the priesthood.
It was a joyous occasion for the Mother Church of Brisbane which only 24 hours prior had celebrated a Mass in honour of the Cathedral’s sesquicentenary and 150 years of priestly ordinations.
All three ordinands – Fr Isaac Falzon, Fr Minje Kim and Fr Gerard Lai – completed their formation at Holy Spirit Seminary at Banyo but enjoyed pastoral placements in many parishes, most recently with Maroochydore, Bracken Ridge and Cleveland.
Busloads of supporters made the trip into the CBD to witness the occasion, and hundreds watched via a livestream, including some from overseas in Fr Kim’s native Korea.
At the commencement of the Rite of Ordination the candidates were presented and commended to the Archbishop by the Seminary Rector Fr Neil Muir.
In the homily that followed, Archbishop Coleridge looked both forward and back – to the apostolic zeal of Peter and Paul, and to a model of future parish that will always require priests but may be shaped very differently to now.
“If the Church belongs to God then we can be less anxious about where we are as a Church; where we need to be and how we might get there,” Archbishop Coleridge said.
“The priesthood is Christ’s gift and it is essential – you can’t have the Catholic Church without it, but it’s taken many forms through the ages and its forms will continue to change, as they have in my own lifetime.”
In a word of thanks delivered at the end of Mass, Fr Minje Kim spoke on behalf of the three priests, acknowledging the support of so many who had helped them on their vocational journey.
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Celebration as the Cathedral witnesses 3 new priests ordained (Brisbane Archdiocese)
