‘Grace changes us’: Archbishop’s Dinner marks 25 years with strong support for seminarians

‘Grace changes us’, Dr Andy Mullins reminded the 450 guests who gathered at this year’s Archbishop’s Dinner to raise funds and show their support for seminarians as they prepare to dedicate their lives to sustaining the faithful in the life of grace.

Hosted by the Knights of the Southern Cross Victoria (KSCV) at Moonee Valley Racecourse on Friday 29 August, the evening raised $80,000 to support the education of seminarians at Corpus Christi College and those preparing to serve as chaplains in the Australian Defence Force.

The dinner, a flagship event of the Knights’ Priests Support and Education Fund (KSC PSEF), marked its 25th year with a night of fellowship, faith and fundraising. Since its inception in 1999, the dinner has raised more than $1.7 million for the formation of future priests.

Signs of hope

At the beginning of the evening, Archbishop Peter A Comensoli welcomed guests and said grace, taking the opportunity to share some words of encouragement.

There are great challenges ahead, but there are … great graces ahead as well ... the tide is turning.

He spoke first of his recent meeting with Pope Leo XIV, urging the assembled guests to ‘pray for our Holy Father. There are great challenges ahead, but there are … great graces ahead as well.’

The Archbishop also pointed to ‘a turning of the tide’ in faith and vocations. ‘Last year, eight seminarians started; this year, five. It’s looking like we might have about six for the year ahead,’ he said. ‘They’re healthy numbers that we haven’t had coming into our seminaries for quite some time.’

He also highlighted the record number of new Catholics received at Easter this year, as well as the upcoming Australian Catholic Youth Festival to be held in Melbourne later this year, expected to attract more than 5,000 young people.

In lots of little ways, he said, ‘the tide is turning.’

Scholarships and ordinations

As in past years, the Knights awarded travel scholarships to two seminarians to assist them in their formation. With the current political instability in the Holy Lands, the traditional Holy Land Scholarships have been broadened to become the Corpus Christi College Holy Places Scholarships, awarded this year to Andrew Tran and Luke Kennedy.

Please pray for more priests to join us on this adventure.

Accepting on behalf of them both, Mr Kennedy expressed their appreciation, saying, ‘You know, the journey towards the priesthood has been an absolute adventure, and it’s been signposted by all of these moments that are not our own doing, but from the contributions of friends and family and the community … This is another signpost. So thank you so much. Please, please pray for us. Please pray for more priests to join us on this adventure.’

Rector of Corpus Christi College Fr Cameron Forbes also led four members of the college community in a panel conversation, with Deacons Ian Vergel, Tuong Ngyuen and Josh McDermid—who will all be ordained on 20 September—and Fr John Vesper, who was ordained on 27 June by Pope Leo XIV as part of the Jubilee of Priests, sharing insights into their vocational journeys.

The mission of priests

The theme of supporting our future priests was also picked up by guest speaker Dr Andy Mullins, who is the former principal of Redfield and Wollemi colleges in Sydney, a lecturer in character formation at Notre Dame College, a board member of PARED Victoria Schools, author of the books Parenting for Character and Parenting for Faith, and director of the Drummond Study Centre in Carlton. He spoke passionately about the importance of priests and the role of the wider Catholic community in supporting them.

‘The transmission of faith in our Church is very much in the hands of the priests,’ he said. ‘The great gift that the priest has is that he introduces us to the life of grace, and he sustains that grace in our souls through the sacraments.’

Dr Mullins drew on stories from his years as a school leader and teacher, including the stories of two boys, both named Daniel, who had been examples to him of the power of grace and the witness of faith.

The great gift that the priest has is that he introduces us to the life of grace, and he sustains that grace in our souls through the sacraments ... Grace changes us.

The first boy was Daniel McCaughan, whose father suggested to him at age seven not that he ‘pray every day to discover what God wants of you in life, that you find your mission in life’. This Daniel later experienced, at age 12, an ‘overwhelming sense of peace and joy’ that he was meant to be a priest and never doubted it since. He went on to complete some of his seminary years in Rome, where he was chosen to carry Pope Francis’ ring at the papal inauguration and to sing the responsorial psalm at the Mass. He was, Dr Mullins noted, ‘a local boy made good—all because his dad said those words to him when he was seven years of age.’

The second Daniel Dr Mullins spoke about was only ten years old when was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, becoming, sadly, the first student at Redfield College to pass away. He had been a very normal kid, Dr Mullins explained—‘he’d go around kung-fu-ing people in the playground’—but in the final weeks of his illness, he developed a strong identification with Christ in his passion, telling his father, ‘Dad, I can’t dream about anything except our Lord on the cross.’

‘Grace changes us,’ Dr Mullins said.

The importance of the sacraments

Underscoring the priestly mission to bring God’s grace to the faithful and the importance of the sacrament of Reconciliation, Dr Mullins told the story of a friend whose young son urged him to go to confession after overhearing a heated phone conversation in which his father had used ‘all the words in the Oxford Dictionary’.

The seminarians and the clergy in this room, they run the spiritual support network for Catholics. We have to use it.

Later, at Mass, the boy fixed his dad with a serious look and said, ‘Daddy, you’re going to confession’, to which the father replied ‘Do you think I need to?’ The little boy nodded his head vigorously, saying, ‘I’ll go with you if it helps.’

‘This is big,’ Dr Mullins said. ‘Because when we humble ourselves, not only do we benefit, but I’m sure it must do a wealth of good for the priest behind the partition. The seminarians and the clergy in this room, they run the spiritual support network for Catholics. We have to use it. It’s no good having a Rolls Royce and leaving it in the garage … We have to use the support network.’

A call to joy

For Dr Mullins, the presence of priests at the final moments of life brings home the gift they offer. He movingly recalled the death of his father, who sat up to receive the anointing of the sick before passing away, and the way that tears mingled with laughter as his family came to terms with their loss.

‘This is our faith. Isn’t it crazy that literally 10 seconds after your dad’s died, you’re laughing, because we realise that the full stop doesn’t come in this life, that we go to something better; we go to God. And without a priest, without the last sacraments, we’re in a mess.’

We’ve got a job to do, and obviously the priests are in the front line, but they’re giving us the spiritual equipment so that we can then evangelise in our own places.

He urged families to ‘teach your kids [to] get the priest’, and encouraged priests to be joyful servants and witnesses, ‘because we’ve got the Good News, big time. We’ve got the new life.’

Quoting the Acts of the Apostles, he reminded guests of the way that the apostles, having been released from gaol by angels, were instructed to return to their mission: ‘Go back into the temple, and tell people about this new life you have been given.’

‘That’s our baptism. That’s what we’ve been given. St Paul says we are ambassadors. We’ve got a job to do, and obviously the priests are in the front line, but they’re giving us the spiritual equipment so that we can then evangelise in our own places. Let’s pray a lot for these young guys. Let’s pray that they be very joyful, unstinting priests. And that’s what will change Australia more than anything.’

A successful night

The evening included a silent auction, raffle and main auction, with items ranging from artworks and hampers to fine dining and unique experiences. Archbishop Comensoli himself offered a dinner for six to be auctioned as part of the fundraising effort.

At the close of the evening, KSC PSEF Chairman Carmine Miranda and KSCV State Chairman Glenn Morris presented Archbishop Comensoli with a cheque for $80,000 to be distributed to support seminarians in their studies.