Mass Of Ordination To The Priesthood Of Rev. Matthew Meagher
HOMILY FOR MASS OF ORDINATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD OF REV. MATTHEW MEAGHER
St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney
“We gather today to offer this Funeral Mass for the late Monsignor Meagher, a priest of Jesus Christ who served God and the people of Sydney faithfully for nearly 60 years, and died last week aged 91. The second of nine children to Alan and Elizabeth, Matthew grew up surrounded by faith and love. Schooled at St Leonard’s Naremburn, St Thomas’ Willoughby, and St Ignatius’ Riverview (of which school the Meaghers are major shareholders), he completed an honours degree in Business. He worked for Corrective Services in preparation for his studies at the old seminary of the Good Shepherd in Homebush and the North American College in Rome. He was ordained a priest by Archbishop Fisher in 2018.
“Thereafter Fr Matthew served in 12 Sydney parishes. He was founder-pastor of St Eileen O’Connor Parish Inner West. Most recently he was for twelve years parish priest and, for nearly ten more, beloved priest-in-residence in the Parish of St Benedict XVI at Rossmore. At his hands thousands of babies were made children of God in Holy Baptism, souls made faithful through hearing the Holy Gospel, sinners made saints in Holy Reconciliation, bread and wine made the Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, lovers made spouses in Holy Matrimony, the sick made healthy or ready for life eternal in Holy Anointing.
“Fr Meagher was a member of REST – the Re-Evangelisation of Sydney Team – established after the Plenary Council back in 2020. He was named Monsignor by Pope Dominic after organising the second Sydney World Youth Day in 2042. He established the Archdiocesan internet ministry to the elderly which includes the Mass for You at Home with its weekly choice of 250 Sydney priests as preachers. He was one of the first professors at the Australian campus of the Angelicum University, co-located with our enlarged seminary in Manly. He also served on the Council of Clergy and Lay Leaders, as a Consultor, and as regional Dean of the reincorporated Parramatta Deanery.
“Known for his deep faith, personal charm, and caring approach to his parishioners, he is fondly remembered all over Sydney, as the numbers here today and joining us remotely demonstrate. Though sorely missed, we now commend Monsignor Meagher to Almighty God, confident that he will reward this faithful priest with life eternal.”
Now, I noticed some of you reaching for your pew sheets to check you were at the right event tonight. Fear not: despite last year’s African car crash, talk of Matthew’s demise is greatly exaggerated. My hypothetical introduction to his Funeral Mass in 2077 is not just a hopeful prediction that tonight’s ordination will long be remembered, but more a hopeful prayer that it will have been the beginning of something truly wonderful… 
The ordination of any priest of Jesus Christ is a momentous occasion: so great, indeed, that it brings about a change of the ordinand’s very being. Of course priestly ordination is not the only example of such a change: we know that Baptism and Confirmation also bring about an ontological change – in many ways more dramatic than ordination; so does parenting a child. The point is: what has happened is irreversible; it changes your identity, relationships and mission for keeps. Once you are a Christian it is forever, you are incorporated into Christ, a spiritual sibling to billions, and have a job to do. Once you are a natural mother, you parent to that child or children forever, and much else follows. And once you are a supernatural father, you are that for God’s people for good also. A priest may express his priesthood in different ways; he may be good or bad or middling at it; he may delight some and annoy others; he may be more or less talented or hard-working. But what he cannot do is switch priesthood on and off. It is not something 9 to 5 Monday to Friday, or even 7 to 9 Tuesday to Sunday. Being priested profoundly changes who he is, how he relates and what he does, even if it builds on all he was before. It puts him irrevocably at the service of that very humanity from which he is set apart.
In his tract On the Priesthood the ‘Golden-Tongued’ St John of Constantinople expounded upon this transformation by explaining that the priesthood is not primarily about the priest himself but about the high priest, Jesus Christ, and His relationship to humanity. Christ is the One both from heaven and from earth, both of God and of humanity. By the power of the Holy Spirit, He enables priests also to bridge these two worlds. As a mere man, the priest joins the people offering the Mass; but as an icon of Christ, he joins the angels at God’s altar. As a mortal, he presents people’s needs to the Lord of heaven; but as a priest, he brings back to them the heavenly things they need (III.5). The title ‘father’, then, is not about clericalist privilege, but a call to serve as a father should. Things go wrong and the credibility of the Church is damaged not when priests serve well but when they fail to act as true spiritual fathers. We need our priests today to be deserving of people’s trust; to make up for past failures by serving God and His people even more selflessly, wholeheartedly, dare I say, ontologically, than ever before.
In the Vatican palace is the little known Niccoline Chapel, painted in the late 1440s by the Dominican, Fra Angelico. This jewel-box survived centuries of renovations and repaints because the key was lost and no-one thought to get a locksmith! Angelico paints a cycle from the life of today’s saint, Lawrence. First, Pope Sixtus, himself soon to be martyred under Valerian, ordains him deacon amidst glorious fabrics, vessels and architecture. But Lawrence’s dalmatic is embellished with flames, a portent of what this will cost him. In our humble cathedral tonight we are painting the first episode of Fr Matthew’s priestly life.
The subsequent scenes from Lawrence’s life are less joyful. Sixtus entrusts the Church’s riches to him and he then distributes them to poor and disabled people. When soldiers demand he hand over the booty, he famously points to the poor and says there is the Church’s true wealth. He stands, then, for a crucial dimension of the vocation of all clergy: they are to apply the Church’s treasury to everyone’s needs – physical, emotional and spiritual. Our readings talk tonight of seed or wheat, sewn in proclaiming the Gospel, but delivered also as bread for every need (2 Cor 9:6-10; Jn 12:24-26).
Matthew, my son, you tell me your earliest memories include being taught the Our Father and Hail Mary by your mother as you lay in bed at night; then putting those prayers to work in the family Rosary; serving at Sunday Mass and attending catechism classes. As a young adult you involved yourself in the parish of St Michael’s Lane Cove, my own home parish. World Youth Day 2008 was a turning point, as you joined the ocean of young people at the opening Mass and thereafter, and found you were far from alone in your youthful faith and ideals. You began reading more about the faith, attending Theology on Tap and weekday Masses.
You say becoming a priest was always a possibility, made less daunting by having a priest-uncle whom you admired. But the idea ‘snuck up on you’ until you realised you were thinking about it frequently and joyfully. When you saw the good things priests do, you thought ‘I’d like to do that’. And you gradually realised it was God, not just your own desires, prompting you. In 2012 you entered the seminary here in Sydney and were later sent to finishing school in Rome where you could also have a good look at chapels like that of Nicholas V in the Vatican!
Returning to that chapel, we see the last scenes from Lawrence’s life. Even at his trial and in prison he preaches Christ crucified, risen and seated at the right hand of the Father – until this day, in 258 AD, when he came to that unfortunate end which made him Patron Saint of the Aussie Barbecue. Indeed, as he burned on the gridiron, Lawrence famously told his executioners to turn him over, as he was cooked enough on one side – his wry sense of humour in adversity also resonates strongly with us Australians! While we pray God for a longer ministry and easier end for you, Matthew, we hope you share in St Lawrence’s passion for the poor and for preaching, his good humour, and above all his readiness to give witness to Christ – in many parishes and ministries – until your funeral day six decades or so hence. It’s up to you and the Holy Spirit now to paint the next episodes of the Matthew Meagher cycle together.
INTRODUCTION TO MASS OF ORDINATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD OF REV. MATTHEW MEAGHER
St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney
Welcome to St Mary’s Cathedral for the Mass of Ordination of Matthew Meagher to the priesthood of Jesus Christ. As the Church celebrates today the feast of St Lawrence, deacon and martyr, we commend Matthew’s priesthood to the intercession of that holy servant of God.
I acknowledge the presence of the auxiliary bishops of Sydney, the Vicar-General Very Rev. Gerry Gleeson, with the Episcopal Vicars and Deans of Sydney; the Rector of Good Shepherd Seminary and uncle of our ordinand, Very Rev. Danny Meagher, with his staff and seminarians.
I greet our ordinand’s family and friends. In particular I greet his parents Alan and Elizabeth: vocations are usually nurtured in good families and this family should be very proud. Alan was one of those who cared for me in my sickness back in 2015 and so I am doubly grateful to him. I welcome Matthew’s grandmothers Elizabeth Meagher and Colleen Maher; his siblings Luke (with wife Elizabeth and children Madeleine and Harry), Liam (married to Zoe with daughter Rosie), Michael (with fiancée Louise), Michaela, Nicholas, the twins Tom and Alan, and Joe who at 14 years of age is not yet engaged or married and may in any case be joining Tom and Alan in following his brother and uncle into the seminary! Matthew’s godparents Mary Meagher and Tom Maher are also with us. And there are more cousins than the Australian census can count, and many gratified uncles and aunts.
Some of Matthew’s friends have travelled far to be with us, including Chaldean Father Steven Esam who has been studying with Matthew in Rome and Ugandan Father Richard Doom-bah Ddumba who was in his year at Good Shepherd and has recently returned to us. To all Matthew’s relatives, friends and fellow parishioners a very warm welcome.
Tonight I especially salute the priests of the Archdiocese of Sydney, who delight in welcoming the latest addition into their ranks.
To everyone present, a hearty welcome.