The Catholic Weekly 10 May 2020

8 10, May, 2020 F rom the archbishop catholicweekly.com.au The shepherd’s love Christ cares for his sheep always. And he gives us shepherds to guide and protect the flock O nly six days after the British First Fleet arrived in 1788, La Pérouse’s French expedition laid anchor in Botany Bay. The Francis- can chaplain and naturalist, Claude-François Receveur, was dying from injuries sus- tained in Samoa. The chap- lain of the other French ves- sel, the Abbé Jean-André Mongez, performed the ob- sequies. In subsequent years chap- lains of passing French, Span- History: a chalice used by Archpriest John Therry in his 44 years of ministry – commencing in 1820 – throughout the Colony of New SouthWales. PHOTO: GIOVANNI PORTELLI The fourth century statue of the Good Shepherd from the Domitilla Catacombs. ish or Portuguese ships some- times celebrated Mass for the Catholic convicts, marines and settlers, though there was no Catholic church or altar. Following the 1798 Irish uprising, three priests arrived as political prisoners and there were some secret Mass- es. In 1803 Governor King brought this out into the open by licensing Fr James Dixon to offer Mass in Sydney, Parra- matta andWindsor. But when the Irish rebelled again, Mass was driven un- derground and eventually the last convict priest returned to Ireland. In 1817 Fr Jeremiah O’Flynn arrived, undertook a brief ministry amongst the now-6,000 Catholic faithful, and was quickly deported. Thus for the first 32 years of settlement, the Catholic faith- ful had to struggle on, mostly without priest or Mass, pray- ing the Rosary and teaching catechism to their children. But they were hungry for spiritual leadership, preach- ing and sacraments, and re- peatedly petitioned Church and Crown to send an official chaplain. On this day, 200 years ago, that aspiration was at last ful- filled. Fathers John Joseph Therry and Philip Conolly ar- rived fromCork on the Janus . From then onwards Catholic priests, Masses and churches were a regular part of Austra- lian life. Conolly was a man ‘of no small ability and attain- ments, witty and full of dry hu- mour’, ‘of exemplary religious andmoral habits’. After a year’s duty here, he moved to Hobart Town where he laboured for 14 years among ‘a wicked and perverse generation’, making quarterly rounds on horseback to Laun- ceston, George Town and oth- er settlements. FrTherry proved to be ‘popular, energetic and rest- less’, ‘articulate and thorough’, ‘a very high-profile, rather flamboyant public figure’ and ‘a far-seeing pastor’. He was always in debt and usually in contest with civil and ecclesiastical authorities. He described his 44 year-long ministry in Australia as ‘one of incessant labour very often ac- companied by painful anxiety’. Yet he it was that obtained this ‘Hyde Park’ site and built the first St Mary’s, andmany other churches and schools elsewhere. He travelled unceasingly around the country, visiting prisons, hospitals and farms, providing sacraments, coun- selling and teaching. He was a special friend to convicts and Aborigines, Catholic or not. He could live on the smell of an oily rag and give his last penny to the poor. This hero of the Australian Catholic priest- hood is buried in our crypt and I’ll use his chalice today. Some of you will know the fourth century statue of the Good Shepherd from the Domitilla Catacombs, now in the VaticanMuseum. A clean-shaven young shepherd carries a sheep on his shoulders. It’s a deliberate- ly ambiguous work, as were many in the persecuted ear- ly Church. If an official came demanding an explanation, you could say: “It’s just a lovely pastoral scene.” But Christians knewwhat it was about. They sang “The Lord’s my shepherd”, a psalm written by David, the shep- herd-boy made king (Ps 22(23)). They knew Jesus’ words in John “I am the Good Shepherd” (Jn 10:14). They re- told His parable of a shepherd who spares no effort to save a lost sheep “and when he finds it, joyfully lays it on his shoul- ders” (Lk 15:3-5). This is the Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP