Our Parish has suffered many blows this year and now we face one more with the departure of Fr Jiss to Young next week. It is never easy to lose a priest you admire and respect but we congratulate him on his significant promotion to parish priest of the Young Mission, covering St Mary’s in Young, St Joseph’s in Grenfell and St Patrick’s in Boorowa.
Anyone who has attended Fr Jiss’s Masses knows just how “beautiful” they are; his celebration of the Eucharistic Prayer and Consecration are so prayerful and pious that they are a sincere gift to us all. And I use the term “beautiful” deliberately as Fr Jiss has also taught me the power of his favourite adjective!
Fr Jiss has been our mentor and leader in all thing young and sporty. He has reached out to the younger adults of the Parish through the Young Café and his reach went even further with his introduction of a volleyball competition which drew in a lot of new people to the parish as well as drawing our parishioners closer to one another. Fr Jiss knows and promotes the power of fellowship to bring people closer to Christ.
We also admire the way he reached out to many smaller groups in our parish who really appreciated his introduction of the Holy Hour of Power on First Fridays, the Rosary novenas in May and October and the Zoom liturgy of the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
Fr Jiss’s optimism is another personal gift we will sorely miss. He is such a positive person, always encouraging us to see God’s hand at work and to see the good in any situation. Many parishioners have benefited from his gentleness of heart and quiet wisdom.
His work is cut out for him in his new appointment with the catholic services available to country people being steadily reduced by the dwindling number of priests and religious and he will have to do a lot of travelling. But we know that he will approach the task with characteristic energy and enthusiasm. Young will be “beautiful”!
Holy Spirit Parish thanks you, Fr Jiss, for all the gifts you have given us and will miss your Masses, your liturgies, your friendship and your happy smile. We wish you every success in Young and we hope that your new appointment brings you happiness and contentment.
Good luck and farewell from us all,
Alison Weeks
Chair
Parish Pastoral Council
