A WORD OF SINCERE THANKS:

I am writing this before the event, but I know how much effort has gone into preparing for the celebration of my Investiture on Friday evening. I am sure that, by the time you read this, we will be looking back on a wonderful evening, which, will have cemented that sense of our communion with one another in the Lord.  As I thank those of you who conceived the idea and organised it, I want you to know that I am deeply touched by your thoughtfulness in wishing to affirm and encourage me and the Redemptorist Community at this particular time. I would like to stress the role of the Redemptorist Community. My whole life has been associated with the Redemptorists and the Congregation has provided me with a rich variety of opportunities to minister in the life of the Church. These past eleven years have been possible, only because of the support of all my confrères, albeit that so many of them have been struggling with the health problems that accompany the aging process.  We will continue to do all we can to continue to serve you in the months and years ahead and they join me in thanking you for your many expressions of love and affection, which sustain and encourage us from day to day.

I would also like to thank Bishop Tom Neylon for being Principal Celebrant and for standing in for Archbishop Malcolm McMahon who unfortunately had to cancel, and to all the clergy who joined us for the Mass, including our own Bishop Ralph Heskett and the Provincial, Fr Richard Reid, as well as the Dean, Fr Joe Kendall and my predecessor at St Mary’s, Fr Pat O’Brien.  Let’s now head into the future full of hope that the Lord will continue to bless our efforts to be the Church, he wants us to be a Church that is welcoming and available and reaching out to evangelise a badly wounded world.

We always end our Redemptorist celebrations with the greeting: AD MULTOS ANNOS (to many more years!). THANK YOU