I stayed in Hobart till Monday; and thought to go to St Joseph's – the city church, run by the Passionist Fathers – for Benediction at noon, and then Mass. It was great to be there, and by a nice parallel good Fr Quinn was the celebrant: for yester-day I'd M.C.'d for him at the Latin Mass, and at lunch afterwards he'd told us some of the "good news" for which he is famous: in the past week or so, he has received five into the Church, as part of his ministry to the sick and dying.
I had forgotten what a blessing this church is: daily, from Monday to Friday, there is Mass at 8 am, then Exposition until Benediction at noon, followed by two lunchtime Masses, at 12:10 pm and 1:10 pm respectively; and Confession is available after both Masses (and also from 5 to 5:45 pm on Fridays).
Unsurprisingly, with this ministry to the good people of Hobart, many come to weekday Mass and avail themselves of confession also. And in how few parishes these days is there ever either Benediction or Exposition? When I was at University in Hobart, I would often catch the bus or walk into town to come to this church for all these blessings. Ite ad Joseph! and God bless the Passionists.
If only every city had such: my own, for example...
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