Funeral of Fr Dominic McKenna

Fr Dominic McKenna

St Teresa of the Child Jesus in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire is a spacious church, but even so it was packed for the funeral of Fr Dominic McKenna on Thursday 26th October. The adjacent hall was pressed into service for overflow mourners who followed the service on CCTV. Others stood outside the church to pay their respects to this popular priest of Westminster Diocese.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols presided. He welcomed representatives of the Romanian Orthodox Church, local clergy and representatives of other faiths, as well as members of Fr Dominic's family who had travelled from Ireland. The cardinal mentioned that others were following the service on livestream, from as far away as South Africa, where at Addo in the Eastern Cape the Sisters of Mercy remembered Fr Dominic's visit to them and his support for their Place of Mercy and Hope.

Canon Shaun Lennard preached, highlighting the symbols of the funeral and linking them to the words of the ordination service, where the new priest is handed the Book of the Gospels and enjoined, 'Believe what you read. Teach what you believe. Practise what you teach.' He told the congregation how Fr Dominic had striven to live up to those words, and recalled especially his work with the homeless in Camden, and the establishment of the food bank in Borehamwood which enabled people from across the community to reach out and help others.

Canon Lennard said that the night before Fr Dominic died, he and another priest had visited him in hospital. They had taken the Blessed Sacrament with them, so that although he was nil by mouth, he could still hold the Eucharist in his hands as they prayed with him. Fr Dominic struggled to try and open the pyx. With permission from the nurse they gave him a fraction of the host. To their surprise a little later he tried to open the pyx again and they realised that even now, in extreme illness, he wanted to share the Bread of Life with them.

Family members were pallbearers and as they carried the coffin out the congregation sang a version of St Patrick's Breastplate, 'Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart.' As is customary the 40 or so concelebrating clergy sang the Salve Regina at the hearse before this much-loved priest was taken away for committal.

LINkS

Watch the funeral Mass here: www.churchservices.tv/borehamwood/archive/recordings/SsCacRM1UQvVLqb

Fr Dominic McKenna RIP: www.indcatholicnews.com/news/48160

Catholic Parishes of Borehamwood: https://catholicparishesofborehamwood.org/