Feast of the Assumption
Thirtieth Anniversary of Redemptoris Mater Seminary

Homily

By the Most Rev Bishop Don Sproxton
Auxiliary Bishop of Perth

St Mary’s Cathedral, Perth
Thursday 15 August, 2024

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Each year since 1994, the priests and seminarians from Redemptoris Mater Seminary celebrate the formal establishment of the Archdiocesan missionary seminary. They invite the many benefactors to join in the celebration of the Eucharist in which the Lord is given praise and thanks for the blessings that continue to flow.

It is with great joy that we gather this evening in the Cathedral to celebrate thirty years since the inauguration of Redemptoris Mater Seminary. And once again we thank the Lord for the blessings of encouragement and generosity that have been experienced through the commitment of so many people to this remarkable initiative.

The year 1994 was extraordinary. St Charles Seminary was reopened earlier in the year, then Redemptoris Mater on the 15 August. Their opening was not without risks. There were the questions of staffing at St Charles; the course to be provided at both seminaries; and the financial implications for the Archdiocese.

The Lord has a way of letting us know the way forward.

Notre Dame University decided to bring forward the founding of the Schools of Philosophy and Theology by about ten years. A rector was found for St Charles. And the financial support for the seminaries was resolved with the help of benefactors, and in the case of Redemptoris Mater, a reliance on providence. The hearts of so many people were stirred by the Spirit and generous financial support and donations in kind always seemed to come at the right moment.

The fruits of this providence are the 44 priests and three deacons, and we should include the men who came to the seminary to discern deeply if priesthood was their true calling from God. Every one of them have received something in the formation that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives, in whatever vocation they follow.

I was speaking with one of the priests recently. He said that he came to Perth willingly, in the spirit of going on mission to receive whatever the Lord had waiting for him.

Would he eventually be ordained? He did not know.

Would he meet the Lord in the experience of seminary formation? He believed that he would most certainly.

This, he said, is why he desires to go wherever the Lord calls him.

Those annual celebrations on the anniversary of the founding of Redemptoris Mater would have reminded him of the pilgrimage that Mary, the Mother of the Lord, made from her birth to her passing into heaven. The feast of the Assumption is important to each of us, as well.

We are reminded that Mary, having completed her earthly journey was assumed body and soul into heaven, where she would gaze on her Son Jesus seated with the Father, as Pope Pius XII wrote, when declaring the doctrine of the Assumption as a divinely revealed truth.

The teaching is a divinely revealed truth because it has been believed and celebrated for over a thousand years. Over this long time, the Assumption was gradually recognised and celebrated by the people of the Church and the great teachers of the faith. They noticed the harmony of the teaching with the scriptures and many other truths of the faith, such as Christ’s resurrection and our own.

Also, unlike the Ascension of Christ to heaven where he was able to ascend with his own power, Mary’s Assumption was something done for her. It was the final grace, a blessing and a privilege, in recognition of her impeccable faithfulness and union of life with the Lord.

This is why the Assumption has meaning for us. The Lord supplies what we need, especially when we are lacking strength, understanding, courage and faith. He does things in and for us. We only need to be open and remain open to his Spirit.

It was a blessing for me to hear about that openness in my brother priest to be available to do and go where the Lord might ask him. It was good for me to hear, and I am sure good for us all to hear. This openness to the will of God is the road to happiness: the answer to the deepest desire in our hearts for happiness, and to the restlessness in our lives until we have it.

Redemptoris Mater is known and respected for living in the providence of God. This spirit enables the priests and deacons to minister with freedom in whichever mission is proposed to them: whether it be in their home here in the Archdiocese of Perth or in another local church. The seminary has provided the Archdiocese with the ability to send priests to those places for the new evangelisation, as Archbishop Hickey emphasised on that day of the foundation.

So it is that we give thanks to the Lord for his faithfulness to us since the decision was made to create this missionary seminary in the Archdiocese. It required courage and trust, but with the help of God, it has produced many fruits for our church and those churches in other places.

Let us never forget to bless the Lord, for he has done marvellous things for us.