On Saturday, May 18, 2024, we joyfully celebrated Archbishop Mark Coleridge’s golden jubilee of priestly ordination with a special Mass at the Cathedral of St Stephen in Brisbane. He was surrounded by loved ones as he reflected on his journey in ministry.
In his homily, Archbishop Mark shared that despite the length of his journey as a priest and bishop, Archbishop Mark finds it to be a fresh and exciting experience. He has gained valuable insights later in life about grace, prayer, and humility, even though he carries some regrets that have ultimately shaped him in a positive way. Throughout fifty remarkable years, Archbishop Mark finds comfort in his Episcopal motto, “Sanguis et Aqua,” which represents the powerful transformation of Christ’s crucifixion, turning wounds into springs of life.
Please enjoy the highlights of the Archbishop Mark’s Golden Jubilee Mass here:
Archbishop Mark Coleridge’s Golden Jubilee Mass Highlights Transcript
As I look back across the fifty years of my priestly life I have a sense of surprise, tinged with amazement. Formation for ministry was going to take much longer than I thought. In fact, I’ve come to see that it takes a lifetime. In some ways, it’s only now after fifty years that I feel ready to begin. My five years in parish ministry weren’t easy, but they were crucial. Before turning to academic ministry, the Roman Curia, and then the episcopate. But I’ve been longer here than any other place in my adult life. Brisbane has become my home. My twelve years here have been the richest and most fulfilling of my life.
As priest and Bishop it’s an old road I’ve travelled and I’ve been a long time on the road. Yet in some ways it still seems new. And the sense of excitement which led me to the Seminary may have changed, but it hasn’t died. Later in life I’ve learned certain things which I wish I’d learned earlier. But God doesn’t work to our timetable. I’ve learned the absolute primacy of grace and the folly of living out of a sense of entitlement rather than a sense of gift. I’ve learned that prayer understood primarily as a listening has to be not just one of many activities in our life, but a way of life. Have there been regrets? Yes there have. But looking back the key is what I’ve made of them or what they’ve made of me.
I took as my Episcopal motto, Sanguis et Aqua, blood and water. The great image of John 19 where the cosmic wound of the crucified Christ becomes a cosmic fountain turning all death to life. That has been my experience through the years, the wound has become a fountain, though in ways I never expected when I was ordained priest on this day fifty years ago. Glory be to Him whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory be to Him in the Church and in Christ Jesus from generation to generation, Amen.