St Monica’s Catholic Church celebrated 100 years of the Church with a special Mass celebrated by Parish Administrator, Fr Brian Boyle, and Assistant Priest, Fr Jackson Saunders, on Sunday, May 24, 2026. This coincided with the great Solemnity of Pentecost. Fr Jackson grew up in St Monica’s Parish and went to St Monica’s School.
This is his homily from the occasion.
One of my happiest memories as a child was playing football for St Monica’s. Our team manager brainwashed us with a theme song inspired by the Collingwood Football Club. After each under-12’s victory we would sing, “Good old St Monica’s forever, we know how to play the game!” Maybe it was fortuitous, especially given that this weekend we celebrate “Good old Pendlebury, forever!” as he breaks the AFL games record with 433 games for Collingwood.
The main purpose of our celebration today is to give thanks and praise to God for the history of Catholic worship in Kangaroo Flat. While it’s possible the first Mass could have been celebrated in the Kangaroo Flat area as early as 1852 when Fr Henry Backhaus, the first priest of the Diocese, arrived in Sandhurst, the first recorded Mass in the town was celebrated by Fr Backhaus himself at the International Hotel in Kangaroo Flat on October 11, 1857. The publican, Mr Hiemann, like Fr Backhaus, was a German. Although he was a Lutheran, he made the dining room of his hotel available for the celebration of the Mass.
Fr Backhaus made way for the establishment of a Catholic School in Kangaroo Flat. Records show that a school made of vertical slab walls and a bark roof was built for Fr Backhaus on land he owned. The exact date of its erection is not known. The first teacher was Mrs Wall, with the date 1859/1860. The school was believed to be on the same site as it is today. However, the school building was not used for long as snakes made their homes between the slab walls and bark; meaning St Monica’s was nicknamed the ‘Snake School’ before the construction of the first St Monica’s Church.
With the opening of the Kangaroo Flat railway line in 1863, local Catholics lobbied to build a Church which opened in 1864 on the site of our school. The Church had Mass on Sundays, but was a multi-purpose building at other times, used for school Monday to Friday, and as a hall for dances and other functions on Saturdays. Furniture was moved in and out as required for each function. In 1992, the original Church was demolished under the instruction of the Parish Priest at the time, Fr Don O’Neill, in the cover of darkness, attracting attention in the local press with the headline in the Bendigo Advertiser, ‘Heritage outcry as 1864 Church is demolished.’ Afterwards, the National Trust said that all had been done legally.
The foundation stone for the second St Monica’s Church in Kangaroo Flat, which we worship in this morning, was laid on Sunday, May 16, 1926, by Bishop John McCarthy, the third Bishop of Sandhurst and, after its completion, he blessed and opened our beloved Church six months later on Sunday, November 7. The Church and its fitting cost 4000 pounds, reported in 1976 at the Parish’s 50-year celebrations as the equivalent of $8000. Who knows how much it’d be today?!
A key aspect of the Church’s history includes the ministry of the Mercy Sisters, who arrived at St Monica’s in 1920. Sr M. Clare and Sr M. Magdalen were the pioneers and 58 pupils were enrolled. At this time, two wooden classrooms were built, and student numbers increased. In the decade that followed, the 1930s, an Irishman would famously visit homes in the area each Sunday, asking parishioners for two shillings or whatever they could afford to help support the school. He had no children at the school, but was one of many people in the area who worked tirelessly to support the Parish and School. The Mercy Sisters exercised their ministry in Kangaroo Flat until Sr Nora Connell retired as principal, my primary school principal, at the end of 2002.
The Catholic community of Kangaroo Flat has seen great changes in its history from the time of Fr Backhaus during the goldrush to the present day. Mass was initially celebrated in Latin when this Church was opened in 1926 but has been in English since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. For generations people have knelt here in prayer, heard God’s Word and celebrated the Sacraments. It’s been a beacon of joy in good times and a refuge of hope at times such as the Second World War. We’ve also seen great social changes. Many of you grew up climbing trees, playing football and lots of sport, while many of our youth today play on their phones. We’ve also seen advances in technology, especially artificial intelligence in this time. The invitation to us is to continue the work of the Second Vatican Council by responding to the signs of the times by the light of faith in accordance with the Gospel.
There have also been great changes to the pastoral leadership of St Monica’s Church throughout its history. The Church was cared for by priests from St Kilian’s, initially under Fr Backhaus, right through until 1951 when Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish was divided into three parishes, which we know today; the Cathedral, Golden Square and St Kilian’s. The first Parish Priest of Golden Square was Fr Edward Egan.
While the focus of today is on Catholic worship in Kangaroo Flat, it would be remiss not to acknowledge Golden Square given that funds used from the closure of St Mary’s in 2017 and its subsequent sale allowed for the establishment of our Parish Centre here at St Monica’s. St Mary’s Church was opened in 1972 for $90,000. The original white wooden Church was used as a hall for the Parish, before Fr John Ryan had it knocked down to build a new Presbytery in its place in 1976. We know that the closure of St Mary’s brought sadness, but also great opportunity for us as a Parish with our new facilities. We have a duty to honour our Golden Square parishioners in this place.
The Parish Centre presents to us opportunities to gather for prayer and social outreach. Maybe we can ask ourselves: How can we make this space a multi-purpose building for our parish and wider community, like the original St Monica’s Church of 1864, which also served as a school, for social dances and other functions!?
We ask ourselves this important question as we celebrate the end of the Easter season with the celebration of Pentecost. Our Gospel is taken from St John, which was written after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD. The focus was on observing the Torah, the Law of Moses. The Law was considered the First Fruits of the Exodus and was celebrated seven weeks after the Passover. The beautiful stained-glass window donated by Mr J. D. Clifford at the back of our Church reminds us of Pentecost.
As we celebrate the Eucharist today, we give thanks for the dedicated priests, religious and lay people who have worshipped in this Church for the past 100 years, and planted the seeds for its foundation in the history of Catholic worship in this area since at least 1863.
Let me conclude with a little story … There was once a mother, who refused to permit her little boy to go for a excursion with his classmates. On the day of the excursion, however, she changed her mind and gave him permission. But he sighed and confessed, “It’s too late Mummy! I’ve already prayed for rain today!”… The little boy is a model of great fortitude, one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, along with wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. St Paul, in his Letters to the Galatians chapter 5, speaks about the fruits which come from these gifts of the Holy Spirit including love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Maybe our question to sit with today is: How are we creating ourselves anew in the Holy Spirit, as individuals and as a Parish community, so that we can truly sing, “Good old St Monica’s forever!”
