It was the end of an era this morning at Mylnhurst – as we bade a very fond thank you and farewell to Father John Cooke, our parish priest from St William of York Church on Ecclesall Road.
Fr John has – quite incredibly, given his amazingly youthful looks! – reached the age of 75, at which clergy are permitted to retire from full-time parish ministry.
And so, after 11 years with his church and with us, and 25 years as an ordained Catholic priest, he is to leave St William’s around Easter time.
Ahead of our Health and Wellbeing Week, and our visit from Olympic gold medallist Anna Hopkin, Fr John delivered a lovely sermon to the children about the importance of inspiration – not only by having dedicated role models to look up to, but also by aiming to be an everyday inspiration to those around us through kind words and deeds.
“I just wanted to say thank you – to you,” he told the children at what will likely be his final Mass at Mylnhurst.
“Thank you to the school, to everyone here now and to all who have gone before us, and I wish you well. Keep up the good work – keep being an inspiration.”
We look forward to discovering in due course who will be appointed by the Bishop as our school’s new parish priest.