THE LATE FATHER McMENAMIN

New Zealand Tablet, 4 July 1918, Page 10

THE LATE FATHER McMENAMIN

;.;,;;To commemorate the 'first anniversary '-of the lamented death of Father McMenamin - a solemn- Requiem Mass was celebrated at the-Church of the Sacred Heart,-Petone, on Thursday, June 13, at 9.30 am. " £: ' ™ 6r - Kimbell > Newtown; was' the celebrant of the Mass, Father Campbell deacon, Father Phelan subdeacon, and Father O'Connor master of - •ceremonies. His Grace Archbishop O'Shea presided, there were also present in the sanctuary : Right Rev Mgr, McKenna, Very Rev. Deans Holley, Power, and Lane, Fathers H. J. McDonnell (St. Patrick's Colf|', Tll McKenna (Pahiatua), J. Maillard )S l X) < humane (Upper Hutt), M. Cashman (Mastertoii) L. F. Digiian (Thorndon), J. Vibeaud (Otaki), D. Cronm (Carterton), M. Devoy (Newtown), and-M. Fitzgibbon (Lower Hutt). , From the text: "Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord, or who shall stand in His holy place? (Ps. xxii., 3) Dean Power (Hawera) delivered the following discourse:—"Whoever," writes' Pope lius X., "is graced with the priestly office is vested *S?J l i f ° r himself alone > but for others also." And St. Paul writes: "Every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in the things that appertain to God, that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins ; who can have compassion upon them that are ignorant and that err, because he himself is also compassed with infirmity. And therefore he ought, as for the people so also for himself, to offer for sins. ' Not only then is the priest God's ambassador to man, but also mark's representative before the throne of God. Essentially a mediator of intercession, the chief duty of his vocation and mission is to represent before God the religious interests of humanity, and with this end to offer to the Almighty the only divine sacrifice that.is available. "Receive the power to offer sacrifice and to celebrate Masses as well for the living as for the dead in the name of the Lord ' are the words by which priests are ordained Somebody calls the priest "Vicariu* cliaritatis Wrist*, "Vicar of the charity of Christ": but since the charity of Christ was manifested in the oblation of Himself for the sins of men, the vicar of that charity must fulfil his office by renewing that same oblation, by offering in his turn for poor sinners "the blood which speaketh better than that of Abel " Holding the Host and the Chalice in his hands he controls the treasury of that sin-washing blood and pouring out its riches on humanity he "performs the nrst great work of his priesthood. The priest is, again, the heir of the mission of Christ: "As My Father hath sent Me, so do I also send you." He was sent to sanctify His flock; for that flock, He says, He sanctified Himself, and at a supreme moment in His earthly life He prayed to His father to sanctify it more and more. Therefore the best care of the priest must be to sanctify the peopleto give a new flame to the divine fire 'in the ' hearts ot the pious that-they may ever aspire to higher ways • to revive the faith that slumbers in the hearts of the lukewarm, lest" God should begin to vomit them out of His mouth : and to melt the ice in the hearts of the impious and snatch them from the everlasing pit And since Christ did this work of sanctification by His sublime teaching and His ministry of reconciliation, the heir of His mission must be a teacher of wisdom and a physician of souls. His preaching must sanctify— Sanctify them in truth,"— and his absolving must extract the deadly poison from the gaping wounds of sin. And now lest this duty, failing, to press urgently,' should gradually escape the memory of the priest, the Canon Law-intervenes,--defines a parish, creates a flock for him who rules, it, and thus adds the office of-pastor to that of priest, setting up thereby a new relation- that, shall > have; eternal consequences. ■ Byforce of this the priest's mission and labors are con- : centrated, and must be governed henceforth ;by the

rule of 1 charity. He must now be devoted first and above all-to: his own parish;; and , towards ■' his parish- ': ioners he must exercise the [-greatest care, at ! the i risk 0t being proved vworse than the infidel, and at the peril of being disowned .by Him Who is the Shepherd and Pastor.: of souls. * 'r ..• 1 :' • ; Behold i then in ~- brief the ;: powers '':of the priest which no • man- else enjoys: He consecrates the - Sacrament .. ol the ?, altar he preaches with v the authority of Uhrist y he absolves from sins • he '/rulesi the flock—a word, he shares the threefold office of his Divine Christ He is Priest, Prophet, ' Kin: he is another When I bear air this in mind I do not wonder any more at the extraordinary words of St. Francis ot Assisi: "Respect and honor the priests of God, tor they are raised to a dignity above all men. They are the spiritual fathers of the Christian people, the» spirit and life of the world. As for me, if I were to meet on the road a priest and an angel I would at once go forward to the priest to kiss his hand, and I would say to the angel, Wait, O angel, for the hands of the priest touch the Word of God:" I am filled with wonder and with awe when I contemplate Elijah on Mount Carmel confronting the haughty Achab and the wicked priests of Baal and when I behold the miracle that seals the testimony of the true prophet of God. The false prophets have called in vain upon Baal to send down fire upon their altar: and then Elijah ascends his altar- erected to the true God, the victim is placed upon it, the people stand around in silence and speechless with awe while the prophet alone prays; and forthwith fire from heaven descends upon the victim in token that the sacrifice was acceptable to the Almighty. But when the Catholic priest stands alone upon his altar it? is not fire or other symbol that he brings down, but the very God Himself. If the dignity of Elijah was great, how much greater is not that of the priest? What awful dignity! What marvellous power I What tremendous responsibility ! Ah, who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord, or who shall stand m His holy place? Who shall stand upon the holy altar and renew the sacrifice that must ascend for evermore from the rising to the setting sun? Who shall mount the pulpit and make known to the people the message caught from the mouth of God Who shall sit upon the perilous judgment seat of Christ, treat with sinners, and decide terms of pardon with him whose sins were only against his God? "The hauds that consecrate ought to be purer than the solar light," the lips that preach ought to be refined with the burning coal of the Seraphim, and the judge dispensing mercy ought to be in the discharge of his office conformed to the image of his Divine Master. Ah, what poor boy would aspire to those dizzy heights whose responsibilities are so tremendous, and the fall from which must be ruin indeed ? But the call of God and the promptings of Divine grace are in a sense imperious, and the Church has always found youths gallant enough to risk their lives, for God that they may find them in eternity. Such a one was he for whose dear soul we gathered here to-day. To him may be applied the words of Isaias in which he portrays the fellowworkers of Christ. God hath called him. from the womb, and hidden him in his quiver from the worldliness of the age, to be a servant who would raise up the fallen and convert the dregs ; to be a burning and a shining light to -these farthest islands of the sea. Graven in the hands of God, he knew how to protect his people from spiritual hunger and thirst and from the sunstroke of paralysing passion. "He knew how to fill the. desert and the desolate places and the land of destruction with fervent worshippers to sing in . gladness their hymn of praise to God. In a word he made his work fruitful in your midst, -because it v is m the holy' and strong; spirit of God that work was done. y ';(>■• .'"•. •'. ■ . •■*.?;'. .-..:. •••-'-.• • , '. ;•;-■■ ; ,\j '.'.-.■ ;-rf ; .v. •■But his life had another lesson and another * gift ; which ( should be treasured for many a day in : the

inmost heart of his - country. -,; He - was , a patriot-priest, - that ; richest > gift of God to the fatherland. Father ; McMenamin \ looked upon his fatherland through ■'. the ' ©yes. of,". a . priest—l r . will •'•• say through; the eyes of „a \ Catholic,and his .heart became enraptured ; with the beauty of high: and exalted patriotism., 'He found no inharmonious jarring between the '■. blending voices ;of his little.country and the great universal Church that were ever calling - him. The tender cords that bound his ; heart to God entwined themselves around v his mother earth, on. whose rich bosom his body , grew; the ears that were so swift to hear the whispering voice of religion . were attuned to catch the music that so grandly surges on his native shore; the arms that so often stretched themselves up to God in supplication for himself and you were fondly lifted to these hills that clustered round his birth; and his one undivided, indivisible soul was ever a faithful sentinel of religion and patriotism, offspring of one and the same God. Patriotism is no mere political sentiment it is part of the divine virtue of charity, which clearly defines the rule of lovingfirst our God, next our fatherland, and then our family. Beholding in the varied beauty of his native land as it were the fringe of the garment of God, that must be touched only in love if virtue is to flow from it, Father McMenamin was inspired himself, and labored to inspire those under Lis charge with high ideals of patriotism, and because of this he merited the grace of laying down his life while performing towards one of his boys a most sacred duty of his high and holy calling. Will these boys ever forget him ? Will the people of this country ever forget him ? Will you, his devoted flock,, ever forget him ? No, unless all alike become belepered with slime of foul ingratitude. Lift up, then, „your hearts in prayer for him to-day, and every day of your lives. He may still need those prayers. His dignity and his opportunities were great, but his responsibilities were tremendous too, even the angels veil their faces before the great High Priest. But, I beg of you, be ever careful "to remember this: Your best prayer to God for him will be the leading of the holy lives to which he exhorted you by his words and his example. Without this all else is vain. Show your love for him "not in word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth." And you, working men of Petone, whom he held so faithfully in his heart, walk in his footsteps, consecrate yourselves to Christ in the measure of your opportunities as he did in the measure of His. Bondage to Christ will not 'increase your servitude, but make you free men indeed. The music of the world is the heavy sound of footsore men ; but that which breathes its spirit through religion has its inspiration from the Holy Grail whose quest gives solace to the clean of heart. We have come, thank God, to the end of sixteenth century civilisation, and we see the poison of its chief fruit in its artificial division of men, putting the idle rich on one side, and over against these the toiling masses of the poor whose sweat and tears preserve the smiling beauty of the land. Too long has that civilisation lasted too long that, fictitious, false division. We rejoice to see their death throes; and in the dawning of a better hope we,recall your gaze to the Holy Catholic Church which has set the Workman of Nazareth upon its altars, and has consecrated for the toilers the charter of his freedom. Hold fast by Holy Church if you would hold fast by freedom; love her Holy Mass; refresh your souls in her life-giving Sacraments; and be swift .to hear the exalted doctrines of which she is the herald, and which will lead you at the end of toil to rest and .refreshment within the eternal gates. -•, .. - . ,-,: It was a grand, inspiration to vow a church in memory of your beloved pastor. Let its graceful proportions bear faithful relation to his worth, and valor ■? : and let : men of every /social grade unite in a common effort to thus keep green the memory of a great gift 7 from : God a patriot-priest. Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord, and let perpetual.light shine;upon him - and may he rest in peace. V ; .. / ;■■ ''

; 'There/ was } a crowded ' congregation;// who listened 1 with rapt attention to Dean Power s discourse. ' Mrs. McMenamin, mother;_.: William McMenamin, brother (Feilding); = ; Mrs. Dunphy (Ashhurst), ; Mrs. Dunne. (Par aparaumu),;; sisters, .< occupied, front ." seats: in the church. . ; The representative/ gathering of ', priests and people who filled the, church was a clear proof that the memory./of Father McMenamin's, noble life and heroic death is still green in < their minds. Father McMenamin will long ', be remembered also by .'thousands of New Zealand's sons and daughters who have suffered by the war. Many a mother will bless hia memory for his kindnesses to her boy. •. ///'/