Perth Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton celebrated the funeral Mass of former Osborne Park Priest Fr Michael Gatt, who passed away Thursday 19 May at Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital.
His funeral Mass was celebrated at St Kieran’s Church, Tuart Hill, Tuesday 31 May.
Many of us have received greeting cards from Fr Michael Gatt at Christmas or Easter that extended his thoughts and blessings for us, but which were also a potted history of his vocation and priestly ministry among us in the Archdiocese of Perth.
Fr Gatt arrived in Western Australia in 1971 as a member of the Missionary Society of St Paul and commenced his pastoral work at Swanbourne which was then a small parish between Claremont and Cottesloe.
The Missionary Society of St Paul was founded to bring the Gospel in various ways to people who were searching for the truth and to strengthen the faith of Catholics.
In Australia, the society worked their mission in parishes and used the print medium to great effect. Michael would have learnt the value of sending out a message by the printed word and illustrated by pictures.
It seemed so logical to Michael that he should have discerned his vocation to the priesthood in this Religious Society as he found inspiration in the life of St Paul, who following a ship wreak off the coast of Malta, was washed ashore with the rest of the ship’s crew and survived because of the care of the people of that island.
This explains the choice that Michael himself made for the first reading of the Mass. Paul was the great missionary, as we learn from the Acts of the Apostles, and I expect that Michael was urged to follow Paul in the same calling.
The parish of Victoria Park was offered to the Society and Michael ministered there as Parish Priest, moving from Swanbourne, until he applied to leave the Missionaries of St Paul and sought incardination in our Archdiocese.
This meant that he would come to experience the mission in the Australian rural setting, when he was appointed to Moora.
At Moora, he became involved with the local Australian indigenous families, most of them Catholic and many of their children were enrolled in the Catholic school there.
He came to appreciate the way of life of the farmers and townspeople in the wheatbelt and coastal communities, and the distances that separated them.
He was transferred to Gingin-Chittering, where he was enlisted into the RAAF as chaplain. He ministered effectively among the ranks of the air force for many years, with a missionary spirit.
This service continued even when he was appointed to the parishes of Manning and Osborne Park, which gives us the sense of his love for the ministry of chaplain.
Osborne Park was to be his last parish appointment. It was where he felt at home with the Italian community.
He would often tell me of the numbers of baptisms, weddings and funerals he celebrated and the relationship he formed with so many families of ongoing friendship and trust.
For Michael, it was with enormous regret that he had to decide to retire from parish ministry.
The common thread that ran through Michael’s life was the priesthood and service for the People of God.
The respect that he had for the priesthood came from his understanding that he had been called to participate in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, the One Priest.
The ordained priest is one chosen from among God’s People to be a sign of Christ through the ministerial priesthood, serving the baptised and the people in the world in the name of Christ. Michael’s zeal and availability for the sake of the parishioners he served was based in this belief.
His annual hosting of the Gattline over Christmas exemplifies his zeal and availability.
He made himself available 24/7 over those days that can be very difficult for some. He would spend the time a caller needed to listen and encourage with his experience, especially with his experience of the goodness and mercy of God.
The Resurrection of Christ is at the heart of our hope and Michael cherished this hope personally and was able to announce this to those who were experiencing desolation.
Michael’s ministry of the sacraments, including the Eucharist, has brought untold strength and consolation to so many as they lived the ups and downs of their lives.
It is in this funeral Mass that we ask the loving and merciful Father that Fr Michael finds true and lasting peace as he steps over the threshold into the eternal life. And we his friends and brother priests ask for a growing faith and trust in the love and mercy of God.
Give him eternal rest, O Lord, and may your light shine on him forever. Amen.