The 2018 Parish Fete - Sunday 11 November, 2018

Images: Frank Bugeja

Father Mark's Last Weekend At Saint Anthony's
March 10-11, 2018

Images: Frank Bugeja

On the weekend of 10-11 March, it was announced to parishioners that the Bishop of Wollongong, the Most Reverend Brian Mascord, had appointed Father Mark as the new Chaplain Priest at the University of Wollongong and also to minister in the Lumen Christi Pastoral Region in Wollongong (effective from the weekend of 17-18 March 2018).

Father Mark: The time has come for me to head off to another part of Our Lord’s vineyard. Jesus himself has told us that “the harvest is rich but the labourers are few so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.”

These words have been apparent to me ever since I arrived here in the parish. They are even more pressing when I consider that the University of Wollongong has over 31,000 students who need the care of a Chaplain.

Notwithstanding this pressing need, my heart is heavy about leaving St Anthony’s because I have come to love the people and the area as a whole. It has been an intense and powerful experience. Your friendly faces and genuine goodness have touched me deeply. Your faith, prayer and commitment to Christ is real and a witness to the power of grace. I thank God and you for the welcome that you have extended to me.

Unfortunately I am only one man and a frail human being. I leave the parish knowing that there is still so much work to be done. I thank God for the outpouring of grace which I have witnessed. I hold you and this parish as a whole with fondness. Please welcome your new priest as your spiritual father and brother that he may feel the same welcome which I have felt myself. May God continue to bless you.