Warm greetings and blessings from the Parish House.

It is with great pleasure that I write to you on this first week of my new appointment.  As some of you may know, I am originally from Vietnam.  I arrived in Australia in 2007 and joined the Seminary of Corpus Christi in 2008.  After completing my seminary training, I was ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Melbourne by Archbishop Denis J. Hart in 2014.  I was then appointed Assistant Priest of the Parishes of Keysborough and Noble Park.  After 2 ½ years of serving in these communities, I was appointed Assistant Priest of the two Parishes of Camberwell and Deepdene & Balwyn for 19 months.  In early 2019, I was appointed Parish Priest of St Bernard’s Parish in Belmont and ministered to that community for the last 6 years.  Now, here I am, returning to a larger parish family of the newly formed Our Lady of Pentecost.

It would be remiss of me to write my first blog without first acknowledging and expressing my gratitude to my predecessor, Rev Dr Brendan Reed, who has left a great legacy for this parish; a community that is strong in faith and is filled with much hope and joy.  I am aware that the parish is one that has many talented staff members, who are well-equipped with pastoral, administrative and financial skill sets.

This parish is also very blessed with many dedicated parishioners who are involved in our parish life through many ministries.  I appreciate and acknowledge that numerous members of our community offer their expertise so willingly and have taken on roles of leadership in the various committees within our parish.

It is also very comforting to know that we have such a great cohort of supportive priests who are very generous with their time and commitment in providing their services to our community; Archbishop Dennis Hart, Fr Frank O’Loughlin and Fr Steve Tynan MGL.  I am also looking forward to sharing my ministry with our very gentle, kind and hard-working Assistant Priest, Fr Hoang Dinh.  He generously cooked a very nice pasta dish to welcome me on my first night in our parish.

It is with much excitement that I begin my ministry here with you, as we begin our journey in a unified parish under the name of ‘Our Lady of Pentecost’.

When I think about the name of Our Lady of Pentecost, the following comes to mind.

As we all know, after the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, the disciples gathered together.  However, they locked themselves behind closed doors in fear of the Jews (Jn 20:19).

I suspect, Mary was also with them, but I just wonder whether Mary was also in fear?  Is that why she was also behind the locked door?  I dare not think so.

As a mother, who had gone through all the ups and downs, all the peaks and troughs, all the joyful and sorrowful moments that her son endured, she had formed a will that was so strong, it now allowed her to overcome any challenges or threats that were to come her way.  From the moment she gave birth in a stable, to the anxiety felt when she thought her son was lost on their way back from Jerusalem, to the agonising path to Calvary and then, the final excruciating moment watching her son die, Mary’s will and faith as a mother and disciple of God was unwavering.  As a woman and as a mother, with all the experiences she shared with her son, she had enough courage to overcome any fear.  So, I think that she was not there in that room out of fear, but rather because she wanted to be there; she wanted to closely accompany her own son’s disciples, who were technically her own sons and daughters.

As we celebrate the inaugural beginning of Our Lady of Pentecost, we ask our Lady to continue to accompany us, as she did the first disciples so that we too, being given the rich gifts of the Holy Spirit, will help each other to strengthen our faith and ‘break open our closed doors’ and reach out and continue to show the love, goodness and mercy of our God.

I am also pleased to inform you, that our parish staff have worked with Heartburst, a local digital agency, to design a new logo for our parish, and I’m excited to share this with you.  The logo is rich in symbolism, beginning with a delicate outline of Mary, surrounded by five gentle flame drops.

Our Lady of Pentecost represents the emergence of something new, inspired by the Spirit.  The term ’Pente’ comes from the Greek word meaning ‘five’.  There is synergy with our ‘five’ worshipping communities of Our Lady of Victories, Camberwell, Our Lady of Good Counsel, Deepdene, All Hallows, Balwyn, Our Holy Redeemer, Surrey Hills and Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Wattle Park.  Together, they form a new Pente-cost.  There is a sense of continuity yet a call to a new mission and a new direction being led by the Spirit.

I look forward to getting to know you as we journey in life and faith together.

With many blessings,

Fr Sang Ho

Published: 8 November 2024