Opening Mass for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia

[Music] [Music] good you [Music] foreign okay me so foreign do do [Music] do the smoking ceremonies and today we're still doing for the same reason to cleanse the bad spirits away from the areas where we're doing work uh welcome to countries and today on a special plenary council day we're going to try and drive the bad spirits away so a good day can be endured by all and i'll start the process thank you as part of the smoking ceremony we invite you all to come and walk through the smoke wash yourself with the smoke don't be afraid it is part of an old ceremony and tradition that my people have kept not only in the past but today and the words that we use is sure come good spirit and be with us this day uh so [Music] this is [Music] resistances [Music] boys [Music] so [Music] [Music] so much yonko thank you did you do players and tapping stick players on behalf of the people at the south west of western australia i would like to welcome you to this ancient land whose heritage traditions customs and language is still practiced today now i'm going to welcome you in the language of the noongar people why jack baladong british greetings the aboriginal custodian welcomes you all here to the land of the people of many breasts this is crow and cockatoo dreaming land whose families and ancestors tread the grounds leaving footprints upon the land where their spirit lingers on surrounding us through stories as we listen look learn talk and later on we will celebrate you all called nature some of you have come from the great sea over the sea and i warmly welcome you all to noongar country i leave the chirology the message tick of peace [Music] here place [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] hey [Music] money [Music] is [Music] in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit peace be with you as we prepare to celebrate this solemn eucharist which inaugurates the fifth plenary council of the catholic church in australia i welcome all of you who have gathered here in saint mary's cathedral in perth and all of you who are sharing in this celebration remotely using various forms of technology whether you are joining us from anywhere across the country or from other places around the world i pray that this celebration will be a source of hope for all of us as the people of god in australia takes another important step in our journey of discernment as we seek to understand just what it is that god is asking of us in australia at this time in a particular way i welcome all the members of the plenary council both here in the cathedral and those around the country and all those others who in various ways will assist us over these coming days we are together embarking on a journey really continuing a journey not unlike that of abraham who was called to step into a future which he could not control and which he did not fully understand we pray that on this journey we will like the disciples on the road to emmaus be joined by jesus who will open the scriptures for us and cause our hearts to burn within us right across australia and from many corners of the world have accompanied us so far on this journey and we know that we continue to be carried by their support and by their prayers gathered in this cathedral of the immaculate conception of our lady we also know that mary the mother of the church and help of christians is with us in prayer let us join our prayers this morning today to those of mary and of our brothers and sisters as we now begin this solemn celebration by acknowledging our sins and preparing in this way to celebrate these sacred mysteries which are at the very heart of our faith and together we pray i confess to almighty god and to you my brothers and sisters that i have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words in what i have done and in what i have failed to do through my fault through my fault through my most grievous fault therefore i ask blessed mary ever virgin all the angels my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the lord our god may almighty god have mercy on us forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life amen [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] we praise you we bless you we adore you we glorify you we give you thanks for your great glory lord god heavenly kingdom [Music] is [Music] lord jesus christ only lord god lamb of [Music] god sins of the world have mercy on us [Music] you are seated at the right hand of the father have mercy on us [Music] [Music] jesus christ with the holy spirit in the glory of god the father is [Music] ah [Music] let us pray o lord ruler and guardian of your church pour out we pray upon your servants a spirit of truth understanding and peace that they may strive with all their heart to know what is pleasing to you and then pursue it with all their strengths through our lord jesus christ your son who lives and reigns with you in of deuteronomy moses said to the people obey the voice of the lord your god keeping those commandments and laws of his as is written in the book of this law and you shall return to the lord your god with all your heart and soul for this law that i enjoin on you today is not beyond your strength or beyond your reach it is not in heaven so that you need to wonder who will go up to heaven for us and bring it down to us so that we may hear it and keep it nor is it beyond the seas so that you need to wonder who will cross the seas for us and bring it back to us so that we may hear it and keep it no the word is very near to you it is in your mouth and in your heart for your observance the word of the lord [Music] lord you have the words of everlasting [Music] do life have the words [Music] the lord of the lord is perfect [Music] the rule of the lord is to be trusted it gives wisdom to the sins [Music] the [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] the and all of them just [Music] they are more to be desired than gold than the purest of gold [Music] [Music] my [Music] a reading from the letter of saint paul to the philippians if your life in christ means anything to you if love can persuade at all or the spirit that we have in common or any tenderness and sympathy then be united in your convictions and united in your love with a common purpose and a common mind that is the one thing which would make me completely happy there must be no competition among you no conceit but everybody is to be self-effacing always consider the other person to be better than yourself so that nobody thinks of his own interests first but everybody thinks of other people's interests instead the word of the lord [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] when the spirit of truth comes he will teach you all truth and bring to your mind all i have told you [Music] the lord be with you a reading from the holy gospel according to john jesus said to his disciples if anyone loves me he will keep my word and my father will love him and we shall come to him and make our home with him those who do not love me do not keep my words and my word is not my own it is the word of the one who sent me i have said these things to you while still with you but the advocate the holy spirit whom the father will send in my name will teach you everything and remind you of all i have said to you peace i bequeath to you my own peace i give you a peace the world cannot give this is my gift to you do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid you heard me say i am going away and shall return if you loved me you would have been glad to know that i am going to the father for the father is greater than i i have told you this now before it happens so that when it does happen you may believe the gospel of the lord [Music] ah [Applause] [Music] [Applause] when the spirit of truth comes he will teach all truth and bring to your mind all i have told [Music] on the 21st of november in 1964 the dogmatic constitution on the church known to most of us as lumen gentium was officially promulgated as one of only two dogmatic constitutions which were the fruit of the second vatican council 57 years later the council as pope francis reminds us so often remains a fundamental touchstone for our understanding of the life and mission of the church in our contemporary world it represents indeed a particularly eloquent sign of the lord's ongoing fidelity to his promise that the holy spirit who is sent to us by the father will as today's gospel puts it be with us teaching us everything and reminding us of all that jesus has said to us we can be confident that the lord remains faithful to this promise and so as we now seek to discern just what it is that god is asking of us in australia at this time our hearts do not need to be troubled or afraid the lord is always faithful the second vatican council was the church's response to a fundamental question which both the world in which we live and the church herself posed to her church of christ what do you say of yourself who do you understand yourself to be we put the same question to ourselves today as we solemnly inaugurate the fifth plenary council of the church here in australia we do so with courage with humility and with hope as the words of jesus ring out again for us today peace i bequeath to you my own peace i give to you in the midst of the raging winds and crashing waves which sometimes threaten to overwhelm us we hear again the words of jesus to his first disciples take courage i am with you there is no need to be afraid the nature and mission of the lord's church is at the center of the teaching of lumen gentian the document draws powerfully on the scriptures on the rich tradition of the early theological and pastoral giants of the church and on the guidance of the holy spirit across the many centuries of the church's journey we are the council tells us the people of god on pilgrimage towards our heavenly homeland called to walk together in faith with courage and with hope our response to this call will determine the extent to which we become in practice what lumen gentium tells us we are in principle a kind of sacrament that is a sign and an instrument of communion with god and of unity among all people this is the challenge which lies ahead of us for surely god is asking us in australia at this time to rediscover and live more faithfully our vocation to be a pilgrim people brothers and sisters in a community of disciples we are on the way but we're not there yet we must of course do all we can to live in fidelity to this extraordinary vocation but ultimately it will only be possible with the grace of god lumen jensen reminds us that it is only in christ that the church is and can be a sacrament of communion and unity it is only with our eyes fixed on christ that we can hope to be heading in the right direction it is only when we are walking faithfully in his footsteps as our good shepherd that we can be confident that we will not go astray as disciples we know that we must follow the master but we do not do so from a distance the lord is closer to us than we are to ourselves how often does paul remind us that we are the body of christ that he is the head of the body which is his church that the communion between christ and his church is as intimate as the relationship between a husband and wife that the bread we break and the cup we bless are a sharing in the body and blood of christ and that because there is one bread we are one body because we all partake of this one bread this then is who we are the pilgrim people the sheepfold of the lord the sacrament of communion the body of christ reborn as members of christ through baptism and united with him through the eucharist we are drawn unfailingly into the divine life of the trinity today jesus assures us that if we keep his word his father will love us and he and the father will come to us and make their home with us and then drawn into the mysterious life of god the spirit too is with us to teach us and to remind us of all that jesus has shared with us so as lumengencium tells us borrowing some words from satan we are a people brought into unity from the unity of the father the son and the holy spirit we are indeed as individuals and as a community of faith made in the image and likeness of god as this week we consider our life together our pastoral care and our outreach in education health and aged care our social services our structures and our governance and many other things besides the lord is inviting us to reflect deeply and courageously on how we can better as individuals and as communities of faith be this living and life-giving image of god who in christ is always seeking to be present and active in our world he seeks to do so in and through us pope saint john paul ii once wrote that our response to all the challenges and opportunities we face as the church in our mission today would be hopelessly inadequate if we had not first contemplated the face of christ much of the work ahead will need therefore to be done on our knees metaphorically if not literally for how can we be a missionary and evangelizing church if we are not listening to the lord jesus who says to us as he said to his first disciples as the father sent me so i now send you how can we be an inclusive participatory and cynical church if we do not reflect deeply on the hospitality of god made known in christ who draws so many people into the mission of preaching healing and teaching how can we be a prayerful and eucharistic church if we do not journey with jesus into the hills to pray or if we forget that when he asks us to celebrate the eucharist in remembrance of me he's also asking us to become the eucharist giving ourselves a way for others as he did how can we be a humble healing and merciful church if we have not tasted the bitter gall of our failings and sins and then purified by the lord begin to reflect jesus the face of the father's mercy healing and compassion how can we be a joyful hope-filled servant church if we do not contemplate jesus down on his knees washing the feet of his disciples how can we be a church open to conversion renewal and reform if we fail to let the cry of jesus repent and believe in the good news pierce our hearts as we solemnly inaugurate the first assembly of the plenary council today i want to be so bold as to say therefore that perhaps the most important thing god is asking of us at this time is to return the church to christ and return christ to the church what has always been true in theory and in principle urgently needs to become true in the day-to-day experience of everyone who encounters us we must become even more than we are already a community of true disciples we must become a living icon of christ who humbled himself taking the form of a servant we must learn from the one who is meek and humble of heart we are being sent by him just as he was sent by the father if we remain in him as branches remain part of the vine we will bear much fruit maranatha come lord jesus vanessa spirituals come holy spirit i invite you all now to stand as together we proclaim our faith i believe in one god father a heaven and earth all things visible and invisible i believe in one lord jesus christ the only son of god god from god light from not life consubstantial with the father through him all things were mine for us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven and by the holy spirit was incarnate of the virgin mary and became man for our sake he was crucified under pontius pilate he suffered death and was buried and rose again on the third day in accordance with the scriptures he ascended into heaven and is sick at the right hand of the father he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his name will have no end i believe in the holy spirit the lord the giver of life who proceeds from the father and the son who with the father and the son is adored and glorified i confess one baptism for the forgiveness and i look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come amen the spirit brings new life to the church let us be open to the prompting of the spirit as we pray for our needs and those of the church in australia as we begin the first assembly of the plenary council that the holy spirit may inflame the hearts and minds of all so that we may experience a new pentecost in this great south land of the holy spirit lord hear us for the plenary council members who are assembling around australia for the first assembly but their hearts and minds are opened to receive the holy spirit in all their conversations and prayer lord hear us for our nation but this journey of discernment and listening of the plenary council becomes a source of wisdom and courage as we move into the future lord hear us for those who are suffering that they will know the compassion and kindness of jesus by the outreach of all christians lord hear us for all those who have gone before us may their lived example as followers of jesus christ be an ever-present memory that fires our own commitment to the gospel message lord hear us come holy spirit fill us with your loving presence make us strong and constant followers of jesus with a desire to live and proclaim the gospel message through christ our lord [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] spirituals [Music] is [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] but in the darkness of the world [Music] forever [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] and cleanse me from all my sins [Music] thank you very much light in your eyes and boldly carry it out through christ our lord army the lord be with you lift up your hearts let us give thanks to the lord our god it is truly right and just our duty and our salvation always and everywhere to give you thanks lord holy father almighty and eternal god for you bestow gifts suited to every season and guide the governing of your church in wonderful ways by the power of the holy spirit you come unfailingly to her aid so that with a heart always subject to you she may never fail to seek your help in time of trouble nor cease give you thanks in time of joy through christ our lord and so in company with the choirs of angels we praise you as with joy we proclaim [Music] oh to you therefore most merciful father we make humble prayer and petition through jesus christ your son our lord that you accept and bless these gifts these offerings these holy and unblemished sacrifices which we offer you firstly for your holy catholic church be pleased to grant her peace to guard unite and govern her throughout the whole world together with your servant francis our pope me your unworthy servant and all those who holding to the truth hand on the catholic and apostolic faith remember lord your servants and all gathered here these faith and devotion are known to you for them we offer you the sacrifice of praise and all who are dear to them for the redemption of their souls in hope of health and well-being and paying their homage to you the eternal god especially the glorious ever virgin mary mother of our god and lord jesus christ and blessed joseph her spouse your blessed apostles and martyrs peter and paul andrew and all your saints we ask that through their merits and prayers in all things we may be defended by the your perfecting hell therefore lord we pray graciously accept this oblation of our service that of your whole family order our days in your peace and command that we be delivered from eternal damnation encountered among the flock of those you have chosen be pleased oh god we pray to bless acknowledge and to prove this offering in every respect make it spiritual and acceptable so that it may become for us the body and blood of your most beloved son our lord jesus christ and the day before he was to suffer he took bread in his holy and venerable hands with eyes raised to heaven to you o god his almighty father giving you thanks he said the blessing broke the bread and gave it to his disciples saying take this all of you and eat of it for this is my body which will be given up for you in a similar way when supper was ended he took this precious chalice in his holy and venerable hands once more giving you thanks he said the blessing and gave the chalice to his disciples saying take this all of you and drink from it for this is the chalice of my blood the blood of the new and eternal covenant which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins do this in memory of me the mystery of faith [Music] and profess your resurrection [Music] therefore lord as we celebrate the memory of the blessed passion the resurrection from the dead and the glorious ascension into heaven of christ your son our lord we your servants and your holy people offer to your glorious majesty from the gifts that you have given us this pure victim this holy victim this spotless victim the holy bread of eternal life the chalice of everlasting salvation be pleased to look upon these offerings with a serene and kindly countenance and to accept them as once you were pleased to accept the gifts of your servant abel the just the sacrifice of abraham our father in faith and the offering of your high priest melchizedek a holy sacrifice a spotless victim in humble prayer we ask you almighty god command that these gifts be borne by the hands of your holy angel to your altar on high in the sight of your divine majesty so that all of us who through this participation at the altar receive the most holy body and blood of your son may be filled with every grace and heavenly blessing remember also lord your servants who have gone before us with the sign of faith and rest in the sleep of peace grant them o lord we pray and all who sleep in christ a place of refreshment light and peace to us also your servants who those sinners hope in your abundant mercies graciously grant some share and fellowship with your holy apostles and martyrs with john the baptist stephen matthias barnabas and all your saints admit us we beseech you into their company not weighing our merits but granting us your pardon through christ our lord through whom you continue to make all these good things o lord you sanctify them fill them with life bless them and bestow them upon us [Music] through him and with him and in him oh god almighty father in the unity of the holy spirit all glory and honor is yours forever [Music] [Music] ah [Music] at the savior's command formed by divine teaching we dare to say our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil deliver us lord we pray from every evil graciously grant peace in our days that by the help of your mercy we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our savior jesus christ lord jesus christ who said to your apostles peace i leave you my peace i give you look not on our sins but on the faith of your church and graciously grant her peace and unity according to your will who live and reign for ever and ever amen the peace of the lord be with you always um [Music] away the sins of the world [Music] us please behold the lamb of god behold him who takes away the sins of the world blessed are those called to the supper of the lamb lord i am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed may the body the bodies [Music] take that [Music] take and drink this is [Music] made i am [Music] i am the bread that comes from [Music] is [Music] is my blood given up for you i am [Music] like living storms our temple for god's praise this is my body [Music] that darkness cannot hide i am the morning star that never since lift up your face in your mine light will shine this is [Music] and drink take and drink this is [Music] take and eat this is my body given up for you take and drink take and drink is my blood [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] spirit of god [Music] spit it off [Music] of [Music] his heart [Music] is [Music] questions um [Music] to all of you who have been a part of today's celebration thank you please keep praying for us as the week ahead unfolds for the leadership we hope and pray of the holy spirit the lord be with you bow down for the blessing may god the father of light who was plea to enlighten the disciples minds by the outpouring madness by his blessing and make you always abound with the gifts of the same spirit armor may the wondrous flame that appeared above the disciples powerfully cleanse your hearts from every evil and pervade them with its purifying lives and may god who has been pleased to unite many times in the profession of one faith give you perseverance in that same faith and by believing may you journey from hope to clear vision and may the blessing of almighty god the father and the son and the holy spirit come down on you all and remain with you forever go and announce the gospel of the lord thanks be to god could i ask you all to be seated for a moment please sorry dear brothers and sisters the first assembly of the fifth plenary council of australia has begun on behalf of all plenary council members across australia i ask that you pray for us before we leave the cathedral today i would now like to invite the plenary council members with us today to stand and step forward so that everyone can see them and together we will pray the prayer of petition so members of the council please stand this is a prayer that was used before every session of the second vatican council and the president should be prayed at the beginning of a plenary council in doing so we unite ourselves with the universal church and so i ask the members to pray together we stand before you holy spirit conscious of our sinfulness but aware that we gather in your name come to us remain with us and enlighten our hearts give us light and strength to know your will to make it our own and to live it in our lives guide us by your wisdom support us by your power for you our god sharing the glory of father and son you desire justice for all enable us to uphold the rights of others do not allow us to be misled by ignorance or corrupted by fear or favor unite us to yourself in the bond of love all that is true as we gather in your name may we temper justice with love so that all our decisions may be pleasing to you and earn the reward promise to good and faithful servants army please all step now as we [Music] so [Music] [Applause] make us [Music] [Music] in your church [Music] longing for peace [Music] right [Music] [Music] the kids [Music] let us [Music] your church [Music] you

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Length: 111min 2sec (6662 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 02 2021