By Fr. Bernie Graham, SDB

Melbourne, Australia, May24 - A wonderful ‘four-pronged’ celebration was held at Clifton Hill, Melbourne on Sunday 24 May.

Firstly it was the Feast of Pentecost, the feast of the Holy Spirit. Secondly it was the Feast of Mary Help of Christians, patroness of Australia, the Salesian Congregation and of the Australia-Pacific (AUL) Province. Thirdly it was the celebration of the annual Feast of the Parish of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, the Parish in which the celebration took place. And finally it was the occasion of the Final Profession of Clerics Abilio Guterres and Lourenco Soares.

These two clerics are from Timor-Leste and belong to the Indonesia-Timor province (ITM) and are currently studying their first year of Theology in Melbourne. They completed their novitiate in Timor-Leste and made their first profession in 2008, after which they studied Philosophy and undertook Tirocinium in Timor-Leste before coming to Melbourne to complete their studies.

Fr Virgilio Da Silva, Provincial of ITM, who had also been their novice master, travelled from Timor-Leste to receive the perpetual vows of these two young Salesians and Fr Greg Chambers, Provincial of AUL was the main celebrant of the Eucharist. The witnesses to the Profession were Fr Phil Gleeson (Rector) and Fr Frank Moloney (Vice Rector) of the Don Bosco House Formation community.

Fittingly the celebration took place on the Feast of Pentecost, the feast of ‘Tongues’ because the singing was led by three different choirs – Samoan, Vietnamese and Timorese all adding to the wonderful multicultural, multilingual nature of the parish and community.