Father Antony Jones Celebrates his Golden Jubilee of Priesthood and retires from active ministry in a special Mass celebrated by Bishop Peter on 11th September 2016 at Our Lady Star of the Sea, Llandudno
Father Antony Jones, parish priest of Llandudno, North Wales celebrated his 50th Anniversary of Priesthood on 11 September 2016 at a special Mass celebrated by Bishop Peter, the Bishop of Wrexham, along with hundreds of parishioners from around North Wales and beyond.
Fr Antony was born at Holywell and baptised, confirmed and ordained at St Winefride’s Church there. He studied for the priesthood at the Gregorian University of Rome from 1960 to 1967.
Following ordination on the 11th September 1966 by Bishop Petit, Father Antony served as parish priest in many of the parishes throughout North Wales, with the exception of a five year period beginning 1972 when he was seconded to the Catholic Missionary Society based in London and giving parish missions across the UK. He served as curate in Mold, Llanelli, and Connah’s Quay before joining the Catholic Missionary Society and on his return to the diocese, he was parish priest of Ruabon, Pwllheli and Llandudno.
Over the past eighteen and a half years, Father Antony has been the parish priest of Our Lady Star of the Sea, Llandudno, but In recent years, has suffered from poor health resulting in him making the painful decision to retire from active ministry, following the Jubilee celebration.
During his final address to parishioners Fr Antony said “As Second Vatican Council reminds us, the local parish is the Catholic Church in microcosm, in miniature. I have loved the Church since I was a youngster and I love her still, even more so. You are that microcosm of the Catholic Church which was put into my pastoral care over eighteen years ago, the object of my love and care ever since. This Parish Family has given great joy to me and it has been a delight to administer the Sacraments to you.”
Fr Antony will retire in Llandudno and will remain a parishioner of the parish of Our Lady Star of the Sea.
Fr Antony was born at Holywell and baptised, confirmed and ordained at St Winefride’s Church there. He studied for the priesthood at the Gregorian University of Rome from 1960 to 1967.
Following ordination on the 11th September 1966 by Bishop Petit, Father Antony served as parish priest in many of the parishes throughout North Wales, with the exception of a five year period beginning 1972 when he was seconded to the Catholic Missionary Society based in London and giving parish missions across the UK. He served as curate in Mold, Llanelli, and Connah’s Quay before joining the Catholic Missionary Society and on his return to the diocese, he was parish priest of Ruabon, Pwllheli and Llandudno.
Over the past eighteen and a half years, Father Antony has been the parish priest of Our Lady Star of the Sea, Llandudno, but In recent years, has suffered from poor health resulting in him making the painful decision to retire from active ministry, following the Jubilee celebration.
During his final address to parishioners Fr Antony said “As Second Vatican Council reminds us, the local parish is the Catholic Church in microcosm, in miniature. I have loved the Church since I was a youngster and I love her still, even more so. You are that microcosm of the Catholic Church which was put into my pastoral care over eighteen years ago, the object of my love and care ever since. This Parish Family has given great joy to me and it has been a delight to administer the Sacraments to you.”
Fr Antony will retire in Llandudno and will remain a parishioner of the parish of Our Lady Star of the Sea.
(See below, a letter from Fr Antony to his parishoners)
Dear Parishioner,
A Fond Farewell 11 Sept 2016
While I still have the privilege of addressing you as my “Dear Parishioners”, there are still one or two things I want and need to say to you.
I have been in Llandudno for the greatest part of my life, longer here than I spent at home, longer than at College at Rome, longer than my time in the Catholic Missionary Society, longer than in any of the other parishes of which I was PP, here for eighteen years and eight months. And I am very glad that, resembling Jeremy Corbyn in this respect, “I’m not going anywhere”, just down the road. But even so, it’s time to say “Good-bye” – goodbye to you as my parishioners.
As the Second Vatican Council reminds us, the local parish is the Catholic Church in microcosm, in miniature. I have loved the Church since I was a youngster and I love her still, even more so. You are that microcosm of the Catholic Church which was put into my pastoral care eighteen years ago, the object of my love and care ever since.
I held the Priesthood in utter reverence when I was young and never really believed that I would ever make it, recognising myself unworthy of it, even incapable of it. My own Anglican uncle, a Church Warden for most of his adult life confirmed my opinion when he said to me, and I have never forgotten it, “You will never make a priest” (yet when he was on his deathbed many years later, I was the only minister who visited him and at his own request I gave him Absolution and the Last Sacrament of the Catholic Church. He began to sing – yes, on his deathbed – “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad”. He died contented and happy).
I hold the priesthood in equal reverence today as I did when I was a boy and, though you may not believe it, after fifty years of priesthood I still have to pinch myself to believe that I am indeed a Catholic Priest. I understand now my boyhood sense of unworthiness – no one but no one is worthy of it; it is entirely the grace of God. I fully understand the pressures on and opportunities open to young men today as well as the sacrifices the priesthood would demand of them, but I cannot understand why today the Catholic Priesthood is not even considered by them as an option. God’s grace is still around, He is still calling.
Some years ago, Bishop Edwin surprisingly invited me to be a Canon of the Diocese. I turned it down, not just because I knew that being a Canon was just not me, but because I did not want to exchange the title “Father” for the title “Canon”.
The parish priest is supposed to be the spiritual father of his parish family. I have tried to be so, but am uncomfortably aware that I have not achieved this to any great degree, that I have failed in umpteen different ways; but what I can honestly say is that I have tried and I have enjoyed trying. Whether I have given joy to the Parish I do not know, what I do know is that this Parish Family has given great joy to me. It has been a delight to administer the Sacraments to you: to baptise the children and give them their First Holy Communion; to send the penitent from the Confessional walking on air; to enter the joy of newly-weds as we celebrated the Sacrament of Matrimony; to be privileged to visit the sick with the Sacraments and to relieve the anguish of the dying with the great Sacrament of the Sick. It has been a daily joy to celebrate the Eucharist with you; to preach the Gospel to you; to teach the Faith to you; to reach out and bring others into the wonderful Church to which we belong.
It was a great joy to me to visit the School on a weekly basis, saying School and Class Masses, hearing the children’s confessions and attending their Christmas concerts and the like. The school Mass was a particular joy to me; I used to throw myself so vigorously into its celebration that, even when I was thoroughly fit, I was literally shattered after it! My recent inability to continue this has been a real sadness.
It has been wonderful having the Loreto convent within the Parish. How many holy nuns (and not so saintly ones as well!) have I come to know and love over these past eighteen years. It was a special pleasure to go to the convent and celebrate their Mass and sometimes to stay on and share their meal. I have always been conscious that the Convent has been a powerhouse of prayer for the Parish and for me. And I know for certain that there will be very many Sisters up there still praying their heavenly socks off for you and me in equal measure.
So I say Thank You to each and every one of you in my Parish Family. You all know individually what you have done for me and you know that, without naming you personally and individually, I am thinking of you personally and individually, remembering your kindnesses and continuing to keep you in my prayers.
As well as the assistant priests, Fr Hagos, Fr Andrew, Fr Gordon and especially Fr Abraham there is, of course, one person whom I must name individually and you all know who she is! Sr Jennifer has been a tower of strength to me from my first years in the parish until this very day. When I have been ill, she has taken me backwards and forwards to Glan Clwyd; when I was hospitalised she came to visit me there every day. When I was well and operational in the Parish, she assisted me with her vast knowledge of the families of the Parish which reaches back to the days when she was head teacher of the school. She has been assiduous in her care for Sacristy and Altar Servers, providing the Parish with the best altar staff in the whole of Wales, all three Cathedrals included! She has never failed to rebuke me (in the kindliest of fashions, of course) when she thought my plans were too hastily formed and gave me her sound advice, whether I asked for it or not! Bishop Edwin once said that she was worth her weight in gold and I can only agree with him wholeheartedly. And finally, I am moving into a flat created out of the house she so generously donated to the Diocese.
Like you, I am excited at the prospect of Fr Moses coming and of the future of the Parish in his care, a Parish where we already have a wonderful experience of what the word Catholic means, with so many people joining us from overseas. Now we have a Parish Priest from Nigeria. He, like these other parishioners, will bring with him all the added richness of his own culture, further enriching our Parish which has been so enhanced in this way already. We welcome him with open arms. Our Lady, Star of the Sea, has every reason and every opportunity now to continue its journey from strength to strength, onwards and upwards.
So I say Goodbye as your Parish Priest and Hello as your fellow parishioner of this wonderful Parish Family of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, Llandudno.
'May we all come to know Christ more clearly, love Him more dearly and follow him more nearly.'
And may God bless you all,
Fr Antony
A Fond Farewell 11 Sept 2016
While I still have the privilege of addressing you as my “Dear Parishioners”, there are still one or two things I want and need to say to you.
I have been in Llandudno for the greatest part of my life, longer here than I spent at home, longer than at College at Rome, longer than my time in the Catholic Missionary Society, longer than in any of the other parishes of which I was PP, here for eighteen years and eight months. And I am very glad that, resembling Jeremy Corbyn in this respect, “I’m not going anywhere”, just down the road. But even so, it’s time to say “Good-bye” – goodbye to you as my parishioners.
As the Second Vatican Council reminds us, the local parish is the Catholic Church in microcosm, in miniature. I have loved the Church since I was a youngster and I love her still, even more so. You are that microcosm of the Catholic Church which was put into my pastoral care eighteen years ago, the object of my love and care ever since.
I held the Priesthood in utter reverence when I was young and never really believed that I would ever make it, recognising myself unworthy of it, even incapable of it. My own Anglican uncle, a Church Warden for most of his adult life confirmed my opinion when he said to me, and I have never forgotten it, “You will never make a priest” (yet when he was on his deathbed many years later, I was the only minister who visited him and at his own request I gave him Absolution and the Last Sacrament of the Catholic Church. He began to sing – yes, on his deathbed – “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad”. He died contented and happy).
I hold the priesthood in equal reverence today as I did when I was a boy and, though you may not believe it, after fifty years of priesthood I still have to pinch myself to believe that I am indeed a Catholic Priest. I understand now my boyhood sense of unworthiness – no one but no one is worthy of it; it is entirely the grace of God. I fully understand the pressures on and opportunities open to young men today as well as the sacrifices the priesthood would demand of them, but I cannot understand why today the Catholic Priesthood is not even considered by them as an option. God’s grace is still around, He is still calling.
Some years ago, Bishop Edwin surprisingly invited me to be a Canon of the Diocese. I turned it down, not just because I knew that being a Canon was just not me, but because I did not want to exchange the title “Father” for the title “Canon”.
The parish priest is supposed to be the spiritual father of his parish family. I have tried to be so, but am uncomfortably aware that I have not achieved this to any great degree, that I have failed in umpteen different ways; but what I can honestly say is that I have tried and I have enjoyed trying. Whether I have given joy to the Parish I do not know, what I do know is that this Parish Family has given great joy to me. It has been a delight to administer the Sacraments to you: to baptise the children and give them their First Holy Communion; to send the penitent from the Confessional walking on air; to enter the joy of newly-weds as we celebrated the Sacrament of Matrimony; to be privileged to visit the sick with the Sacraments and to relieve the anguish of the dying with the great Sacrament of the Sick. It has been a daily joy to celebrate the Eucharist with you; to preach the Gospel to you; to teach the Faith to you; to reach out and bring others into the wonderful Church to which we belong.
It was a great joy to me to visit the School on a weekly basis, saying School and Class Masses, hearing the children’s confessions and attending their Christmas concerts and the like. The school Mass was a particular joy to me; I used to throw myself so vigorously into its celebration that, even when I was thoroughly fit, I was literally shattered after it! My recent inability to continue this has been a real sadness.
It has been wonderful having the Loreto convent within the Parish. How many holy nuns (and not so saintly ones as well!) have I come to know and love over these past eighteen years. It was a special pleasure to go to the convent and celebrate their Mass and sometimes to stay on and share their meal. I have always been conscious that the Convent has been a powerhouse of prayer for the Parish and for me. And I know for certain that there will be very many Sisters up there still praying their heavenly socks off for you and me in equal measure.
So I say Thank You to each and every one of you in my Parish Family. You all know individually what you have done for me and you know that, without naming you personally and individually, I am thinking of you personally and individually, remembering your kindnesses and continuing to keep you in my prayers.
As well as the assistant priests, Fr Hagos, Fr Andrew, Fr Gordon and especially Fr Abraham there is, of course, one person whom I must name individually and you all know who she is! Sr Jennifer has been a tower of strength to me from my first years in the parish until this very day. When I have been ill, she has taken me backwards and forwards to Glan Clwyd; when I was hospitalised she came to visit me there every day. When I was well and operational in the Parish, she assisted me with her vast knowledge of the families of the Parish which reaches back to the days when she was head teacher of the school. She has been assiduous in her care for Sacristy and Altar Servers, providing the Parish with the best altar staff in the whole of Wales, all three Cathedrals included! She has never failed to rebuke me (in the kindliest of fashions, of course) when she thought my plans were too hastily formed and gave me her sound advice, whether I asked for it or not! Bishop Edwin once said that she was worth her weight in gold and I can only agree with him wholeheartedly. And finally, I am moving into a flat created out of the house she so generously donated to the Diocese.
Like you, I am excited at the prospect of Fr Moses coming and of the future of the Parish in his care, a Parish where we already have a wonderful experience of what the word Catholic means, with so many people joining us from overseas. Now we have a Parish Priest from Nigeria. He, like these other parishioners, will bring with him all the added richness of his own culture, further enriching our Parish which has been so enhanced in this way already. We welcome him with open arms. Our Lady, Star of the Sea, has every reason and every opportunity now to continue its journey from strength to strength, onwards and upwards.
So I say Goodbye as your Parish Priest and Hello as your fellow parishioner of this wonderful Parish Family of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, Llandudno.
'May we all come to know Christ more clearly, love Him more dearly and follow him more nearly.'
And may God bless you all,
Fr Antony
