FIVE decades of faith, memories and history were remembered by Aspley parishioners recently when Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge visited for the church’s golden jubilee.
Parishioners from the war memorial Church of Our Lady and St Dympna celebrated the anniversary with Archbishop Coleridge, and after Mass he blessed the Golden Jubilee Prayer Garden.
Archbishop Coleridge and parish priest Fr Biju Thomas unveiled the garden – described by parishioners as a place of peace, and a symbol of the community’s gratitude and dedication.
This anniversary also coincided with Archbishop Coleridge’s own 50-year celebration, with the golden jubilee of ordination on May 18.
Archbishop Coleridge touched upon his own jubilee in reflecting on the journey of Our Lady and St Dympna’s Church.
“This church was dedicated in the year I was ordained, so we’re both marking 50 years,” he said.
“It’s looking in better shape than I am.
“The priesthood is not just a job … just as this church is much more than a building.
“We’re not just celebrating a building, bricks and mortar.
“It is a spiritual space where God chooses to take flesh, in a most mysterious and wonderful way.
“Because He’s not once upon a time, the Good Shepherd is here and now or nowhere and never.
“Here, down through 50 years, the sheep have found the shepherd and they have listened to His voice as He leads them to a good pasture.
“So out of the lonely world, people have come for 50 years, and here they have found a family, or to speak to the pastoral image, they have found the flock.
Archbishop Coleridge described how people, like sheep, were naturally shepherded groups.
“If we don’t find our way to the right shepherd, the Good Shepherd, we die,” he said.
“So here people have come and they have found the Good Shepherd.
“In that sense, they have found life.”
The Aspley celebration is one of many milestones for the Brisbane archdiocese this year.
Alongside Archbishop Coleridge’s golden jubilee, the archdiocese celebrates 150 years of the Cathedral of St Stephen.
Throughout the year the Church has recognised the Cathedral’s place in the heart of Brisbane’s CBD.
Visit www.cathedralofststephen.org.au for more events in the cathedral.
