Eight months after fires tore through parts of Victoria, locals gathered in Caveat for an outdoor Mass at the site where the Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Church once stood. Source: Melbourne Catholic.
All that remains of the church, in north-central Victoria, are the original bell tower, a large crucifix and the Marian grotto.
Sunday was the first time parishioners had been able to gather at the site since the January fire that ravaged the 75-year-old weatherboard church.
“Looking around, it reminds me of when people would gather to listen to Jesus on the hilltop or on the plain, sitting on the grass or whatever they could find to sit on,” said Fr Jose Mathews, parish priest of Yea–Alexandra, which includes Caveat.
“I remember and I acknowledge and feel one with you in your grief, in your devastation, in your sorrow, in your loss, in your frustrations, in your anger, in whatever you are going through,” he said.
“This cross,” Fr Mathews said as he pointed to the remaining crucifix, “reminds us that in these devastations, the cross is standing tall, and Jesus is stretching out his hands, wanting to embrace us.”.
Reflecting on the readings of the day, Fr Mathews recounted the ways of the early Christian community who would gather in each other’s homes for Mass, not unlike the early days of his parish.
“We understand there was not any structure, and people gathered in people’s homes or wherever they could find,” he said. “They were one in mind and heart, and that was the most important thing: one in mind and heart. And they shared everything in common.
“Wherever there was a need, they reached out, forgetting their own needs or aspirations. They saw the needs of the other first and reached out in generosity and love.”
While the parish discerns what will come next, Fr Mathews said that the site at Caveat will remain a place of pilgrimage open for all to visit.
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‘Standing tall’: community gathers at fire-torn church (Melbourne Catholic)
