VERY REV, DEAN McKENNA, NEW PLYMOUTH

New Zealand Tablet, 29 June 1911, Page 1211

VERY REV, DEAN McKENNA, NEW PLYMOUTH

,•— — ft, • h CELEBRATION OF HIS SILVER JUBILEE h The jubilee of the Very Rev. Dean McKenna was celebrated at St. Joseph's Church, New;f Plymouth, on June 20. Fourteen with the Vicar-General of the archdiocese, assembled to;; do honor to the jubilarian (says the Tarunaki Daily News). During .the day Dean McKenna received a number of congratulatory telegrams from the clergy in all parts of New Zealand. ...,. ii . ,} • •- Solemn High Mass;'was: celebrated at 7.30 a.m. by the Very Rev. Father Power, of Hawera, Rev. Father MacManus (Inglewood) being deacon. Rev. Father Duffy (Patea) subdeacbn,\|Rev. Father Harnett master of ceremonies. There were present in the santuary: The Very Rev. Father O'Shea, V.G., Very Revs. Dean ''.McKenna- and Father Treacy£ (Stratford),, also Fathers Whelan, O'Dwyer, Haire, Menard, and Bergin. Concone's Mass for two voices was beautifully sung by a choir trained by the nuns, with Miss Ratford at the organ. The occasional sermon, based on the text, ' Whom He predestinated, them He also called' (Rom. viii., 30), . was preached , by the Very Rev. Father Power, who spoke as follows: ";r , {i «f S¥: >:' Sf ll -'-•-:'.--' |.On a gently sloping hillside that looks toward the morning sun a sower is joyously sowing seed, and a skylark piercing the blue sky above him | is pouring forth to heaven his: liquid notes. |i.; In one corner of the new-ploughed field an angel voice is heard :f l Scatter now thy seed, 0 happy sower! in rich profusion, but tread not upon this sacred spot; sing out, sweet bird! thy most melodious notes, and then.; come down to take thy toll of corn,, but-this ont patch thou must not raid, for He to Whom thou singest hath chosen it for Himself.' A bank of clouds rides swiftly through the sky; above the cornfield patch one vaporous drift grows faint and quits the race and stumbles earthward. The angel beholding it flies to meet, and, piercing it with shaft on. shaft: of goldenlight, he weaves with rainbow hues its graceful skirts; these, trailing, touch the chosen, earth, and virtue flows to give new life to the buried seeds whose green blades will soon pierce the breaking sod and burst into ears of rich and golden wheat.;' Hard by, a crowd of little boys, play gaily on the green. The 'angel of the cornfield takes one apart and sweetly whispers in his -ear: ' The patch was chosen, child, by God ; the grains were culled by Him from Him the rainbow drift had its sweet call, and thou must consecrate the Bread.' Something—l know not what—pierces at once the heart of the boy, marking him sweetly from his fellows and sealing in him a grace of innocence no harm can henceforth taint. The rich and golden ears at length are gathered, the wheat is ground, the flour is fashioned into white unleavened bread, and the boy anointed with the waves of a wondrous grace, bends in awe above it. And as he bends he grows mightier than a king, and the spell he casts around is such as no mere earth king could create. At the word he whispers, the lowly roof that shelters him grows grander than a palace, the simple altar where he stands is "glorified with heavenly radiance. Once, again a trailing cloud of glory descends, upon the earth, interwoven now with troops of smiling angels; many a rough face around is dyed, in some new flame, and many a soul hitherto cold is wrapt in sweet seraphic ardor, adoring and burning, and ; tb sweeter notes than sweetest skylark sings making melody in his heart before the wheat grains now become Christ's living Body. That was five-and-twenty years ago, and lie boy enveloped in the grace of his high' calling then saying his first Mass and realising the twofold mystery of vocation, in -nature and in grace, is the beloved priest in whose joy you share to-day. And you, dear brethren, are rightful and grateful sharers in that joy, for his relation to the natural body of Christ, which is the Blessed Sacrament, and which has brought him every day of the past twenty-five years to the attar, only accentuates and makes more sacred his relation, and his obligations to you, Christ's mvstie bod v.— a relation which he has so faithfully remembered, and obligations which he has so carefully carried out in your midst for twenty-two of his twenty-five years of priesthood. He stands, it is true, on a. high mountain apart, bur while he is there surrounded with" the warm splendor of Thabor, more fortunate than the apostles, he is not forbidden to make known the vision that Faith makes manifest to him ; but coming down from the mountain he is inspired rather to turn its rays upon you, that von. too, may be enlightened and fired with divine 10ve.., With what devotion he has followed that inspiration and with what success 1 is : well known to you, and is evidenced by the lame numbers that so frequently come to the Holy Table in this Church. And .he has been for years soing out. from tin's holy sanctuary ; and. taking the White Host.to fill the needs of poor people, sick and dying, beyond the white cliffs of Mokau and beyond the quagmires that cut off Whangamomona and the eastern districts from the larger centres of population. At his appearance, weary, bespattered and begrimed with travel, wild despair has given place to peace and grace in - r many a ; home, and did you but marvel at the golden hope that shone .on the faces of . many rwho mourned for their dead, they would answer: "' The priest was here; the priest

was here!' How few knew what it cost the priest to s fee there! He knew it not himself; '' he would not waitcount the cost as he rode and rode to tear from the mouth of death its poisoned sting. And if- travelling is now not so prolonged and laborious for the priest in that portion of Taranaki which formed .the 3Dean's parish so short a time ago, if. it has- now so many schools, so many churches, and so many priests, it is not because the population has multiplied fourfold—for it has : not—but because His abiding love for souls and His enthusiastic optimism first' raised these schools and churches A and then secured the blessing of local pastors to gather in the scattered ones. who else would be like sheep without a shepherd. You know again how he has broken for you the bread of God's Word. He has never, been content to merely fulfil the requirements of the diocesan statutes, but in season/and out of season, and with a success of which we are all witnesses, he has preached to you the Christian doctrine. 'T have "heard many fine preachers in my own parish during . the past thirteen years, but three sermons stand out above all others as examples of soundness and beauty and all that a sermon ought to be/ I cannot tell if the one 'on the 'Guardian Angels was more beautiful than the one on 'Purity of Intention, or if that on 'Christian Meekness should not take precedence of them both; but fortunately I am not asked to discriminate, for all three came from the cultivated mind and spiritually fashioned heart of your beloved pastor Again, he has been a faithful sentinel of Holy Church, guarding her interests in the columns of the daily press. Frequent misrepresentations of Catholic doctrines nnd their way through the cable and otherwise into tho papers of North Taranaki, but for close on a quarter ; of a century not one has been allowed to go .unchallenged, and the convincing arguments of the Dean have always brought victory to the. Church. I am- trying his humility, but I know how well grounded that "humility is and how well it can stand the test. If I may add a personal note I shall recall the friendship born in youth and still enduring between Dean McKenna and myself: It was my good ; fortune to be a schoolfellow of his when we were boys arid to have him to look up to as a leader in conduct arid in studies. J hat advantage still is mine; and mine also is the sympathetic encouragement that I have always and ever received from him. And specially gratifying is the thought that we still retain unbroken and undiminished that trust in each other that real friendship -always,! secures. _ It is fitting, then, that I should have been chosen as the interpreter;of the dear delight that- fills your hearts to-day, for I am a sharer in that delight. .-.v.--;.. ■ ■ At the conclusion of the Mass Verv Rev. Father O'Shea addressed the congregation. He said: •i It is with more than ordinary pleasure that!'have come here to-day to associate myself with the clergy arid with you in honoring the Very Rev. Dean McKenna on the occasion of the silver jubilee of his ordination to the, priesthood. Only the very gravest of reasons prevented our illustrious Archbishop from being present to convey in person to the Very , Rev. Dean , - the expression of his esteem and ' congratulation on this auspicious occasion. So he has deputed me his Vicar-General,, to represent him and to-sav how heartily he joins .with all of you in honoring a faithful and holy priest And I myself, at the risk of offending the modesty of the Dean, join most heartily in'all that has been said so eloquently by the Very Rev. preacher in praise of the esteemed and respected jubilarian. It has been my privilege to have known Dean McKenna ever since he came to the country twenty-five years ago. During . that long period he has labored in this province, especially in this city ami parish, with conspicuous abilitv and success Everywhere throughput the district you will ■>find monuments of his zeal and whole-hearted earnestness for .the people committed to his charge, in the shape of churches, schools, and presbyteries, while ins care of their spiritual'interests has been amply manifested in the untiring energy the devoted earnestness, and the whole-hearted devotion'-.which-he has brought tn his work. Years ago his'Grace -the? Archbishop showed what confidence he placed in him when he promoted him to the. charge of this important parish. Then, later on. he appointed him Dean of the whole province of Taranaki, and three or four years ago he gave him a still further mark of the esteem .and high opinion ririlwhich lie held him by calling him to be a member of the Diocesan Council, thus associating him more intimately with him in the government of this great archdiocese. }h And now, when he is celebrating, after all these years, the silver jubliee of his ordination; there is a text of Sacred Scripture which occurs to my mind, and which I think more aptlv arid "fitly conveys- what is in the minds and hearts of all of us today: 'I will raise me up a faithful priest, who will do according to my heart and soul.' ■ Father O'Shea also read the following eulogistic, letter from his Grace the Archbishop:— <-«<=*-->-• • 'My Dear Father MacManus,—l am very sorry that for the reasons stated in a former letter to ..you,' I am unable to be present at: the celebration of ■VerV'Rev Dean Mcßenna's; jubilee., T ask you to lay before him. on that auspicious occasion, the .warmest .expression of my most sincere congratulations, and very" best wishes: for'he deserves higher praise than either you or I can bestow- upon him - His long career of priesthood and strenuous labor in the sacred ministry has been a noble one indeed,: which anv bishop would appreciate" and eulogise. For pietv zeal, ability, prudence, and charity, s he has left a record

beyond all praise while the material- buildings—in i the shape of school;" presbytery, convent, and; church—which he has, erected in New 7 Plymouth, and in other parts of his district, are monuments adding glory to his name and handing down his memory with honor to posterityM May God grant { him many more years, of usefulness-and 'happiness for the good of his devoted parishioners; the welfare of his fellow-citizens of all classes and denominations, the glory of- our holy religion, and the salvation of souls. i Such is my ardent wish and fervent prayer.' -* : An .address was read by Master McHardy on behalf of the children, who presented a beautiful set of candelabra. Two sets of Mass vestments were presented, one by the Sisters of the Mission throughout New, Zealnad, and, the other from the local convent. A valuable ciborium was presented on behalf of Fathers O'Beirne and McManus by the latter, who, in a very touching address, referred to the kindly qualities of the Dean and to the j fatherly.-- care he had taken of them in the first years of -their priesthood in New Zealand. s Mr. W. T. Jennings, M.P., then presented a magnificent gold monstrance on behalf of the congregation. ; Mr. Jennings said that the dirty that the congregation had K laced upon him of making the presentation to Dean James IcKenna of this monstrance and candelabra was one that he could not do justice to. In regard to the silver jubilee of the Very Rev. Dean James McKenna and his ministrations during the twenty-five years, that labor in Taranaki had borne good fruit. '-; By labor and self-denial he had founded the school in Powderham street, where the, little ones were taught; through his zeal the Catholics were now in possession of a fine church building and presbytery, a convent, and . the Rolland Hall (called after Father Rolland, so weir known in connection with his attachment to the wounded and dying during the last Maori war in Taranaki). When Dean McKenna saw distress he asked not the nation or creed of the sufferer, but did his best to give relief. The diaries of the Dean's twenty-five years' priesthood would. be of great interest. , : They would tell of journeys on foot in all kinds of weather,- of privations of various kinds in the hinterlands of Taranaki in the days when material prosperity was "not so general in the district as it is to-day. On behalf of the congregation of: St. Joseph's, he asked Dean McKenna to accept the offering so freely made. He explained that the Dean would not accept any money offering or anything for himself, but preferred something that would be used in the sacred offices of the Church. The Dean, in a feeling speech, thanked Almighty God for the. graces of the past twenty-five years, -the-Archbishop for the generous encouragement and fatherly affection lie had always lavished upon him, the Vicar-General and the priests present for the honor they had done him;,the Sisters of-the Mission, for their unvarying kindness to him for

twenty-two - years; and to the several generations of children in the" ; parish; and to the parishioners in. general who had-been such a comfort and joy to him during his pastorate. He appealed for prayers, for those who, after fighting the good, fight, had gone from amongst them, land p concluding a touching discourse, he appealed for the prayers of all that, during the coming years, he might, be found faithful to the duties of his high and holy calling. - ,-.- ' Uilti ; The morning celebrations concluded^ with ; singing Of the Te Deum' for the, graces of the past twenty-five years.