More than 600 members of Melbourne’s Myanmar Catholic Community gathered on Sunday 26 July for a special ‘Parents’ Day’ Mass and celebration at MacKillop College in Werribee.
In Myanmar, the day is marked widely and brings together the usually separate Mother’s and Father’s Day celebrations. Sunday’s event also marked the first time that the Burmese diaspora had gathered for the event in Melbourne.
Local Burmese man Peter, a parishioner of St Peter Apostle in Hoppers Crossing, said Sunday’s Mass with Archbishop Peter A Comensoli was ‘very special’.
‘Even though we come from the same country, we all come from different background[s], different area[s],’ said Peter. ‘We [are] spread around and this is the only way we can all gather together.’
He said it was especially meaningful for the younger generations to gather and meet others who share their culture. ‘At least they know where their community is. This is like a family.’
Speaking to the 600-strong congregation, Archbishop Comensoli acknowledged the generations of Burmese who now call Australia home. ‘You carry the story of Myanmar with you—memories, both of pain and joy,’ he said. ‘You are called to bring out into your lives, here and now, that which is good to carry forward.’
Because of their discerning hope, their daughter, Mary, would be chosen as the means for God to fulfill his promise in Jesus.
Parents’ Day coincides with the feast day of Sts Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus and parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
‘They were ordinary people, witnessing to their wisdom and discernment by living a faithful marriage and raising their daughter in a godly manner,’ said the Archbishop in his homily. ‘Joachim and Anne lived in hope of the promise of God to send his people the Messiah. Because of their discerning hope, their daughter, Mary, would be chosen as the means for God to fulfill his promise in Jesus.’
Sunday’s gathering included a large group of young people, many of whom are part of a local Myanmar youth group, MCCM Youth.
I feel very grateful … I can see all our community united in one place.
Youth leader Mary said she felt grateful to have attended the celebration and had the opportunity to meet the Archbishop. She attended the event with her sister and aunty, who arrived in Australia some 30 years ago.
‘I feel very grateful … I can see all our community united in one place,’ said Mary. ‘We’re sharing our faith together, and our tradition of honouring our parents.’
‘Today, I can see all the young people, some that I have never seen are here as well. They are very delighted to be joined together with our bishop,’ she said. ‘It makes me so happy.’
Having attended last year’s Australian Catholic Youth Festival with other youth leaders from the community, Mary is hopeful that the youth group will continue to grow in number. ‘They get more closer to God, and also they can share their faith to their family [and] their friends. Before they were strangers; now [we] are friends.’
‘May the Myanmar Catholic Community of Melbourne be united in Christ,’ Archbishop Comensoli said to those gathered.
‘You are also called by God to listen to the Holy Spirit speaking now, who will show us new ways of living out our Christian call, an opportunity for prayer or help or service. It is by drawing from both old and new—from teachable memory and creative initiative, from tradition and grace—that we will find our way to God, through Jesus, his Son.’