st john the baptist catholic church closes after 101 years

ST JOHN THE BAPTIST CATHOLIC CHURCH CLOSES AFTER 101 YEARSEND OF AN ERA: Father Peter Hudson and Margaret Lingham with the Rupanyup Catholic Parishcommunity. St John the Baptist Church of Rupanyup has closed after 101 years.RUPANYUP’S St John the Baptist Catholic Church has closed after 101 years. Father Peter Hudson said thechurch had fallen into disrepair. “We are not able to repair the church to the satisfaction of occupationalhealth and safety,” he said. He said the church had not been used for the past two or three years, but aservice to officially close it was held on April 21. “The community has been having a monthly Mass in thehome of a church member,” he said.Residents also attend services in Minyip, Banyena, Murtoa and Horsham. Fr Hudson said Bishop Paul Birdled the service to close the church. “About 60 people attended and it was a very emotional ceremony,” hesaid. “It was a celebration for people to recall events that had happened inside the church, such asbaptisms, marriages, funerals and other occasions when people gathered to celebrate their faith. “Theceremony was also to remove sacred objects from the church.“The community now has cherished memories of the church and gratitude for the way they were able tocome together.” At the Mass, Bishop Bird remembered those who had gathered in the church. “I countedseventy-seven priests who have served in Rupanyup from the very early days,” he said. “This church hasseen so much of the life of the Rupanyup community. “It has stood here through rain and shine, throughevery season and is a sign of the perseverance of the Catholic community of Rupanyup.”Fr Hudson said despite the church being closed, the community continued to keep its faith alive. “Thecommunity realised some years ago that the church would close. To repair it is beyond any reasonablecost,” he said. “Now the community and the diocese will decide what to do with the church. “It willpossibly be sold – there is still a lot of good timber on the church.”The church celebrated its centenary last year.Bishop Paul Bird’s homily from this Mass can be read below:Article courtesy of the Wimmera Mail-TimesText by Erin McFadden Picture by Samantha Camarri

Homily by Bishop Paul Bird CSsRFinal Mass in St John the Baptist Church, Rupanyup, April 21, 2013During this past week our television screens showed images of explosions near the finish line of the Bostonmarathon. A bomb went off in the crowd. Then there was another explosion. Three people were killed.Many were injured. A beautiful sunny day was turned into a day of tragedy.That was on Monday. On Thursday, there was an interfaith service in Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross.Around 2000 people packed the cathedral to remember the victims of the bombings and to pray forstrength for the whole community that had been stunned by the attack.President Obama was one of those who spoke at the service. He began by quoting a verse of Scripture,from the letter to the Hebrews: “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”His words were words of encouragement to people who had been shocked by the violence that had struckon that day of the race. He recalled that one of the runners had been knocked off his feet by the force ofthe bombs but that he had got up and kept on running. President Obama encouraged everyone to havethat same spirit of resilience in the face of adversity.He said: “We may be momentarily knocked off our feet but we will pick ourselves up. We will keep going.We will finish the race.”There is something of the same message in the Scriptures for our Mass this afternoon.We have a reading from the Book of Revelation. This is a book that was written to encourage the earlyChristians to persevere in their faith. Many were suffering persecution because of their faith in Christ.Some had been driven from their homes. Some had been put in prison. Some had been killed. They hadmany reasons to be downhearted but the writer of the Book of Revelation offered them a message ofencouragement in the trials they were going through. He said that if they persevered in their faith theywould win the palm of victory. God would wipe away all tears from their eyes. Christ would be theirshepherd and would lead them to springs of living water.We can reflect on these messages for our own lives. Each one of us has some times of struggle. We mightbe burdened with sickness. We might suffer a loss that brings great sadness. Today’s closing of the churchhere in Rupanyup might be one of those losses. When we experience such burdens or losses, we mighttend to feel disheartened. Then especially it is good to remember the encouraging message of Scripture.“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”In our Mass this afternoon we remember all those who have persevered in living there faith in this part ofthe world. We remember especially all those who have gathered in this Church of St John the Baptist overmore than a hundred years and we give thanks for the blessings of these years.We give thanks for those who have been baptised in the font here. We give thanks for those who wereconfirmed or made their first communion here. We give thanks for those who were married here. We givethanks for those who were buried from here. We give thanks for those who gathered for Sunday Masshere, week by week, for so many years. We give thanks for the priests who have served here. In thecentenary book “The Living Faith” I counted 77 priests who have served in Rupanyup from the very earlydays. I also noticed the list of six priests and religious who came from Rupanyup and as a Redemptoristmyself I was delighted to see that three of those were Redemptorists.

This church has seen so much of the life of the Catholic community of Rupanyup. It has stood here throughrain and shine, through every season. In its own way, this church is a sign of the perseverance of theCatholic community of Rupanyup in their faith through all those years.The final part of our ceremony this afternoon will be closing the doors of this church and there is surelysadness in this. In a sense we are marking the end of a very long chapter in the life of this Catholiccommunity of Rupanyup. Yet the Catholic Church in Rupanyup is more than this church building. TheChurch is fundamentally the people who make up the Catholic Community. In this sense the Church was inRupanyup quite a few years before this church building. This is recorded in the history “The Living Faith”.There we read that Rupanyup was surveyed in 1873. Then we read: “The Catholic Church at Rupanyupbegan with the arrival of the Murphy family in the same year.”In this sense, the Catholic Church has been in Rupanyup since 1873. For much of that time, this church of StJohn the Baptist has been the place where the Catholic community has gathered and this afternoon wegive thanks for all the blessings that have come through those gatherings in this place. Yet the Catholiccommunity will continue even after the church building is closed and this afternoon we pray for continuedblessings as we continue to live out our Catholic lives.When we come to the final part of our ceremony this afternoon and close the doors of the church, we havethis prayer:Christ, yesterday and today, the beginning and the end,in every age, you have been our help.In your holy name, we close these doors.But then we will add this prayer:We beg you to keep the doors of our hearts wide openthat we may be your dwelling placewherever two or three are gathered in your name.May Christ who has been with us as we have gathered here over the years continue to be with uswherever we are as we gather in his name. May he give each one of us the grace to persevere in living ourfaith. As we look now to the future, may we run with perseverance the race that is set before us.+ Bishop Paul Bird