By Rachel Curry
A Swan View man who founded a charity in dedication to Our Lady has taken his devotion one step further by making private vows to live in her service.
Trevor Knuckey made the vows during a Mass celebrated by Emeritus Archbishop Barry Hickey at the Schoenstatt Shrine in Mount Richon on Monday, 15 August – the Feast of the Assumption.
Private vows are deliberate and free promises made to God, which are not associated with a diocese or religious order.
During the Mass, Mr Knuckey promised to give his life to the service of Our Lady; strive to raise the standing of Mother Church; undertake regular prayer, Reconciliation and Eucharist; serve the marginalised, especially indigenous Australian peoples and serve the charity he founded for Our Lady, the Medjugorje Centre.
Mr Knuckey said he recognised that the vows were a “total commitment” for the rest of his life, but it was one he was glad to make.
“I’m very happy to help people. I know that’s why we’re here; we’re meant to be helping one another. There’s nothing better you can do than bringing someone to God,” he said.
Mr Knuckey’s dedication to Our Lady can be traced back to a profound spiritual experience he had in Medjogorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1990.
The village has become a popular site for Catholic pilgrimage since 1981, due to reports of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Mr Knuckey was so affected by his experience in Medjugorje that in 2010 he founded a charity called the Medjugorje Centre, which runs various engagement programs for students at Moorditj Noongar Community College in Middle Swan.
By making private vows, which he did in front of his wife Alva and about 15 supporters, he said he was fulfilling the prophecy that was set out for him 26 years ago.
Speaking during his homily, Emeritus Archbishop Hickey explained that the Feast of the Assumption was a reminder of the faith that is required of us as Catholics.
“The Feast of Our Lady’s Assumption is a feast that encapsulates the belief of the Church from their earliest times that Mary, after she went to sleep, was received into Heaven, both body and soul,” he said.
“It is not something for which we have evidence. We don’t have evidence for Jesus’ resurrection and ascension either. It is a matter of faith, and a very simple matter of faith too, that Jesus died and then the absolute transformation occurred with His resurrection to be seated at the right hand of the Father.
“And that was a sign to all of us, that if we are faithful to Jesus, that will also be our final journey as well – that we will die, but that we will rise again because Jesus rose and ascend with Him to our heavenly reward.”
For more information about the Medjugorje Centre, visit www.medjugorjecentre.org.au or email medjugorjecentre@hotmail.com.