Refreshment
The season of Lent has arrived, and Christians everywhere can prepare for a glorious Easter celebration. When we look at the weeks of Lent as the “pause that refreshes us” we can find positive ways to invite a new infilling of the Holy Spirit into our hearts and souls. Just adding a few extra minutes of prayer time to our daily routines is one way to come closer to the Lord. Of course, making a firm decision to take the money we might use for a package of cigarettes or a lavish dinner out and offering it to a charity, is also a special recognition of Lent. But personal sacrifice is nothing without a determined effort to grow in faith during this time. Jesus said from the Cross: “Father, into Thy hands I commend my Spirit.” Those words can be helpful to us whenever we are faced with a serious illness or we are experiencing unexpected turmoil and struggle. We are human, and we know that life here on earth will never be perfect. If we repeat that phrase of Jesus often, we will find comfort knowing that God the Father is watching over us, and His Son died for us. We never have to feel that we are on this journey alone. You know that expression: “Let go and let God”. It is easier said than done. Many of us want to be in complete control, and efficiently run our lives our own way. But God’s will is not always the same as our will, and so we, who are strong willed, as I have learned, must be prepared every day to say: “Lord, Thy will be done.” Let us enjoy a fruitful Lenten time by trusting in the great love that we know in our hearts is available, and anticipate Easter 2017 will bring us renewed hope in our Saviour’s love for us. Confession Reprinted from the Manawatu Standard I've just had an operation. It was fine, but I did need a general anaesthetic. This prompted me to do something I had not done for a while, which was to go to confession. This was something I used to do fairly regularly but I fell off the wagon a while ago. I have plenty of excuses for this. None of them very good. When I did make more of an effort to go, I never really told many about it because, in this cynical age, people tend to look upon it as an act of hypocrisy. Sin all you want and salve your conscience with some meaningless absolution. But as any adult who has undergone the process after preparing for it properly can tell you, there's nothing easy about it. You start off by privately examining your conscience and think about all the bad things you have done since you last went. There are a few different methods for this. My preference is to first go through the Ten Commandments and the Seven Deadly Sins of pride, greed, anger, sloth, envy, lust and gluttony. I then ruminate more generally on all the times I've been a bad husband, father, son, brother, friend co-worker or employee. And no matter how much of an effort you've made to be a good person, you'll be surprised at how often you've screwed up in your dealings with other people. When you are clear in your mind about this, you actually make your confession. In the movies, churches are usually shown as still having confessional boxes where priest and penitent are divided by a latticed partition. But despite having attended a number of different parishes since making my first confession at age seven, I have never seen one of these boxes. Instead, confession usually takes place in the room with the priest sitting in a chair and you sitting opposite him. As far as I can tell, this has become the norm as a result of reforms of Catholic practices that took place in the 1960s. The thinking was probably to make the rite more informal and relaxed so that penitents would be less intimidated. But if your parents raised you to be careful to look people in the eyes when you were talking to them, I think it probably makes things harder. That's because giving voice to all your failings in front of a witness is actually quite excruciating. If you approach it properly, confession actually resembles a trial where you are both defendant and prosecuting counsel. By listing your sins, you simultaneously accuse yourself and plead guilty to the accusation. It's not the priest who judges you, you are judging yourself. It is an emotionally draining experience, especially since you are supposed to go into some specificity. You're not supposed to skip over things with vague generalities. Nothing less than a sincere and honest effort to give a complete account of your more serious shortcomings is required for the process to be effective. As an aside, the only reason this works is because the priest is sworn to the utmost secrecy regarding what you tell him. Clerics are not trusted like they used to be – which is the inevitable outcome of the sexual abuse scandal. Nevertheless, I truly believe that the priests I have met in my life would suffer execution rather than betray the confidence of a penitent. Once the process of listing your sins has been completed, the priest gives you some counsel and then an "act of penance" to undertake to atone for your wrongdoing. You then make a statement of your contrition and the priest absolves you. This is where some people will have trouble. If you don't believe in God, or don't believe that God would employ a mortal being as the agent of his forgiveness, then this step probably seems ridiculous. Nobody disputes that the claims of Christianity in general or Catholicism in particular are shocking and stupendous. That's where faith comes in. But whether the effect is supernatural or simply psychological, making a full and frank confession creates a powerful emotional effect. As you are forced to confront the unpleasant elements of your nature and the bad decisions you have made, you find that all the pride and arrogance is knocked out of you (for the time being at least). In the cold light of your own errors and mistakes, you see how foolish it is to presume to judge other people. At the same time, there is relief about the fact that you now have a fresh start. In other words, it induces a state of humility. And there's nothing exclusively religious about that, of course. We all let ourselves and others down and we all have the opportunity to try to be better tomorrow. Sunday Gospels Sunday 5th March 1st Sunday of Lent - Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus went out into the desert. He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. The devil tried to tempt him with all sorts of silly suggestions. Jesus stood firm on what he knew to be the truth. He was polite with the devil but swept his crazy notions aside. Even under the stress of massive fasting as a human, Jesus kept his head. When the pressure was on he did not waiver from discerning right from wrong. Are we strong enough in our faith that we do the same when we are tested? Sunday 12th March 2nd Sunday of Lent - Matthew 17:1-9 Peter, James and John were awestruck as they watched Jesus a human transform to Jesus the divine. Then they heard the voice of God. It was so terrific they were bewildered. Do we ever see God appearing? Some of us do but it is not the daily life for most of us. Because of the faith of Peter, James and John they saw more than they expected. It may be that in prayer you also will get to see more than you are expected. There is no set formula for prayer. Be yourself in how you seek and connect with God. Have an open mind as to what happens next. Sunday 19th March 3rd Sunday of Lent – John 4:5-42 Jesus was prepared to talk to all that came to him. A woman at the well challenged this generosity. He wanted her to know God, he talked about her receiving the living water of God. Water washes away the dirt and waste. The living water cleans us of all that is holding us back. Water sustains life. The living water gives us life. Like the woman at the well we may not fully understand all that this imagery is trying to convey but we know we would like to share in this unique water. Sunday 26th March 4th Sunday of Lent – John 9:1-41 When Jesus healed the blind man Jesus was shunned and pushed away. The same happened to Jesus when innocent he was put to death on the Cross. Simple acts of Christianity we make can be misunderstood, even condemned. But, if we want to follow Jesus we must stay faithful to what is good and right. In doing so we need to be ready to take the flack that might come our way. We need to stand firm. In doing so those that torment face the contrast between what is right and what is wrong, the beginnings of an understanding of faith and worship. Introducing Andrew Dear Parishioners I’m privileged to be asked to lead the Parish Council of Holy Trinity. I’ve been a part of the St Anthony’s faith community since 2010, and I’m also a keen member of the singing group in that church! It is great to be part of a wider faith community that has such a clear and inclusive vision. I’m aware that I’m not as knowledgeable about some of the history and past issues of the Parish, but feel safe in the knowledge that we have a very skilled and experienced council group. I’ve previously lived in Christchurch and Auckland and had my own businesses there. I have been involved at governance level in organisations since 2002 and I’m on the board of tertiary education organisations such as Skills Active Aotearoa and Professional IQ College. My home town is Nelson and I remember fondly my days at St Joseph’s primary school and the sisters and Marist fathers of the Parish. I completed five years study at St Patrick’s Silverstream and four years at St Mary’s Greenmeadows and studied business first at Auckland University and my Masters at Canterbury University. Currently I’m in the role of Learning and Development Manager for the Institute of Financial Advisers. I hope my personal spirituality, governance and management experience and skills will help guide, along with the Holy Spirit, the work of the Council this year. Please feel free to call me to discuss Parish matters on 021 684 355 I look forward to meeting many of you at our combined Parish mass at Holy Cross School on Sunday March 12. Regards, Andrew Gunn
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A date for your diary A group of dedicated local women have spent part of their summer in the kitchen making preserves. It can be pretty hot in the kitchen at this time of the year but the end product is always rewarding. Summer fruit and berries are coming on and this is the perfect time to transform them into delicious jams, relishes and sauces. The St Anthony’s School and Parish Bazaar is aiming for 520 jars of preserves this year along with a few surprises. These products are in hot demand and there are many loyal customers who will be excited to know that their favourite preserves will be back in only a matter of weeks. Preserves coordinator Anne Ashby says she has a great team that have been going flat out on both traditional and exotic recipes. She says you can’t beat old favourites like raspberry jam and tomato relish but it’s amazing what you can do with something like zucchini. “Our most prolific preserver on the team is Hazel Kingston. Hazel has been preserving for St Anthony’s Bazaars for many years. There is no recipe she hasn’t got or can’t get her hands on. Preserving is a wonderfully creative activity. It’s like capturing summer in a jar.” St Anthony’s Seatoun, holds its Bazaar every two years as both a fundraiser and a way of building community. Mark it on your calendar for Saturday 18 February from 11am to 3pm. In addition to preserves there will also be our wonderful and creative cakes and crafts stalls. Not to mention raffles, food, toys, clothing, white elephant and lots of entertainment. Where’s the property committee at? As you may be aware, the Finance Committee established a property committee to review all the buildings and property in the Holy Trinity Parish and to make recommendations on the best configuration to meet the future needs of the Parish. A revitalized set of buildings that better meet the parish needs with reduced maintenance costs, is the property sub-committee’s vision for the parish. This also supports the Holy Trinity Parish vision agreed last year. The sub-committee’s concepts follow for your feedback. As the committee has gone about talking to the parish about its needs, overriding elements appear to be for our buildings to support integration of our school families into the church and advance the mission of the church in the eastern suburbs, while still meeting sacramental needs and supporting older congregations. At the same time, we have to be realistic about how much property we can afford to maintain. We need to rationalize the buildings we maintain, and bring our remaining buildings up to a good standard or replace them with new structures. We have a unique opportunity to reconfigure our buildings to meet the parish’s future needs and help it grow. The provisional concepts are: St Patrick’s, Kilbirnie:
Holy Cross, Miramar: We have received a review of the Holy Cross Church from a second engineer. The report reveals that some parts of the structure are stronger than initially appraised, although one feature remains at 22% of code. On the positive side, the revised report probably means that the costs of strengthening have reduced from around $1M to something in the range of $300,000 to $500,000. To this we have to add the cost of deferred maintenance such as the roof replacement. The sub-committee is considering two options at Holy Cross:
The second option, would enable a smaller multipurpose sacramental, learning and social centre closely linked to the Holy Cross School. The emphasis could be on encouraging and supporting our youth and community groups within the Parish. If the Holy Cross Church site was sold this could be done so that the site continues to be used for general church or social good purposes, including retirement living. Subject to the results of feedback, before final recommendations are made we will develop more detailed plans and funding options. The needs of our priests We also need to plan for the long-term needs of our priests, which means providing space for our Capuchin community. This is partly dependent on what happens with Holy Cross Miramar. If we remain on the current Miramar site, we will probably look to upgrade the presbytery. Alternatively, the Seatoun presbytery building can be used. It is a better size and shape for their future needs. The Committee sees benefit in the parish office integrating with one of our school offices for better operation and liaison. Further liaison with the parish secretary is planned. Good Shepherd Hall and St Anthony’s We have to be realistic about how much property we can afford to maintain. The Committee is keen to consider how the Good Shepherd community could support growth of the Holy Cross community as the building programme at Miramar commences. Our Samoan community is very important to us and there will be opportunity to have their cultural needs reflected in the design of any new/upgraded buildings in Miramar. The sub-committee is considering the future of the Good Shepherd site or utilizing it for social housing, to support refugee families coming into the eastern suburbs or possibly for a Mercy Villa style community, similar to that in Upper Hutt, for older parishioners wishing to downsize and live in a faith community. Again, these options will be properly costed before a decision is made. Other ideas being considered are:
Next steps The committee will make its final recommendations to the parish later this year. The committee does not wish to recommend anything that is not on balance in the best interests of the parish as a whole. Your feedback is important, discussion forums will be announced in the weekly newsletter. You can email your personal thoughts to holytrinity.wgtn@xtra.co.nz or written submissions can be made to the parish office. Please make your feedback before 28 February. FAREWELL GOOD FRIEND Fr Jim Sorohan, former parish priest at St Anthony’s, passed away in December last year in Ireland. He is remembered for his deep faith and quiet encouragement of parishioners. From St Anthony’s he went to Nelson and then home. He is pictured here (left) with fellow priests in Ireland, mid-speech, no doubt providing a word or two of encouragement. Making straight paths
By Kim von Lanthen Jesse Trees have been going up in our churches. The symbols being added to them each week mark significant parts of the universal church experience as we prepare for Christmas. If there was a Jesse Tree for our new parish, what symbols would we be putting on it? We occupy the Motu Kairangi peninsula, maybe we would want a symbol to mark the heritage we have inherited from the early Maori people. We are all immigrants of one to four generations back, perhaps we would mark our ancestral homes which once would have been European but now would more likely be Pacific or Asian. It would be nice to have hanging on the parish’s Jesse Tree a symbol to mark the first priest coming to Wellington, Fr O'Reilly. Fr O’Reilly was a Capuchin and was greatly respected across all settler denominations. As more contemporary symbols we could have photos of our families. Family life has its ups and downs, but all are signs of the great hope for the future. We could have symbols of our schools which set out against the tide, to provide nurturing Christian education. And, we might have symbols for the refugees welcomed over the year, the sick and lonely visited, the reconciliations made. All of these symbols would be signs of the efforts we have made as a new parish to lay the path to Christmas straight. Going, one step further what is it that we have as symbols on our own Jesse Tree at home? What about pictures of babies born into our families over the year? Treasures from the holidays we’ve had as a family, bringing us closer together? Signs of troubles solved and hurts healed? Maybe your tree this year will be a sign of the path you have made straight for Christ coming to your family this Christmas. Christmas Novena, 15 – 23rd December, St Patrick’s Church 7.30pm. What’s a novena? It’s a way of praying together. By praying over consecutive nights in the lead up to Christmas, we know we will be ready for it! A remarkable season By Joan Levy We have arrived at the season of anticipation. Though the pace of life picks up with shopping, baking, decorating and all that Christmas requires of us, we should make an effort to find periodic prayer pauses; Advent deserves to be enjoyed! Advent is a time to give our souls a cleansing. Just like Jesus went off to pray in the desert, we ought to seek some quiet moments to reflect on the need of our souls to be purified, so that at Christmas, we can begin anew, singing loudly those familiar hymns that reflect the wonder of our Saviour’s birth. There are many occasions for lending a hand to a neighbour, volunteering at a food bank, or selling raffle tickets, and every gift of our time makes God smile, because we are sharing our talents and time with others. My wish is that you be given an unexpected gift of love this Christmas. Whether it is a handshake of forgiveness from a relative, a very big hug from a child, or a passage from scripture that brought you comfort for your lonely heart, let your gratitude to Jesus shine out for everyone to see. Alpha programme popular By John Rogers We all get into the same situation. We have lots of good intentions about making our lives simpler and more focused on what’s important. But, we all get stuck with the same problem. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time and inspiration to make the break from old routines and start over. Perhaps the Alpha courses have been an exception. This year 95 people across the parish have attended these impoartant courses. We started at St Anthony’s, then went to St Patrick’s and have just finished at Holy Cross. The Alpha parenting course looks at the needs kids have and how we respond with love by setting sensible boundaries, teaching good relationships and passing on what matters. It talks about the five languages of love which was a new concept to most of the people on the course but really beneficial. For the people taking the course they felt as challenged as those on it! The Alpha faith course is a really terrific refresher course on the fundamentals of what we believe and how these beliefs equip us to be loving people in our families and community. Each of the courses included an away day at the Home of Compassion in Island Bay. The Home of Compassion is a neat place where it is easy to be prayerful. At the end of the Holy Cross faith course we talked about what made it a success. It seems that part of the success has been the good atmosphere for people to be able to share and discuss their thoughts. The time has come to start planning for next year’s courses and decide on what we can do to keep Alpha participants together, if that's what they want. We will be inviting participants to a meeting in February to get their ideas, and in the meantime if you have ideas on how we could do things better I’d love to hear from you. My hope for 2017 By Dave Monastra I enjoy being a parishioner of Holy Trinity Parish. There is great wisdom and faith in our older people. As a Eucharistic minister visiting the sick I’ve become aware of how lonely and isolated some are, and the delight we can bring into people’s lives by visiting and bringing them Our precious Lord. It’s wonderful to be part of a parish where there are leaders like Julie Marshall. Julie goes out of her way to care for our parishioners that have need of support, Julie and her helpers make the Thursday Group a real celebration for our older people. Through my work I get involved in our schools. I regularly see the staff in our schools going the extra mile to provide caring, nurturing support to their students. There is a wonderful concern for the individual needs of the students and interest in passing the faith on to them in a real and meaningful way. I’ve been thinking whether we could be more focused on being there for people in between these two age groups. My hope for 2017 is that we can find ways to help these people and that our celebrations are more life giving for them. What can we do that will support people starting out, to see their path for the future? What is it that we do that will help them to deal with the stresses of work and family, that means they can stay true to their path and get the most out of life? As the Holy Trinity Parish rolls into another year, tell us what’s on your mind, share your hopes for the future, surprise us with something new that we didn’t know before. All articles for the parish magazine should be sent to: holytrinity.wgtn@xtra.co.nz To everyone that has provided articles, helped with production and got the magazine distributed as well as all our readers thanks and Merry Christmas . The parish celebrated St Francis day in style. Mass was followed by butter chicken and naan bread, courtesy of Fr Gregory. A great way to mark the life of an extraordinary man that is lived out every day in our parish in the dedication and generosity of our priests. Saints matter 1 November is All Saints Day. The saints lives were as complicated as ours but they held true to what matters. They show us the way. You have probably heard the quote 'Pray, Hope and Don't Worry' before! This was Saint Padre Pio's favourite motto. St Pio (1887-1968) is one of the most popular and amazing saints of recent times. He had many extraordinary gifts. People travelled from afar to attend his Masses and have Reconciliation with him in his parish at San Giovanni Rotondo. A very holy priest, who loved hearing confessions, St Pio was renowned for the gift of looking into people’s souls and deciphering if they were telling the truth; sometimes he refused absolution if the person neglected to mention certain sins. Despite this, there were lines of people trailing for hundreds of metres outside the church doors, waiting to attend confession with him, and to hear Mass. One day during confession, St Pio experienced extreme pain in his hands and feet. Round wounds appeared; they bled and smelled of roses. Although they constantly wept, they never became infected, and the doctors who examined him were amazed at the perfectly round shape of the wounds. The Church, after an investigation, concluded that St. Pio had the stigmata. St Pio was able to see guardian angels, and he spoke with Jesus and the Virgin Mary. He was also constantly tormented by the Devil, and visited by souls from Purgatory. He was reported to have been seen levitating during a moment of ecstatic prayer; and he also had the unusual gift of bilocation, being in two places at once. Thus he was celebrating Mass in one place, and at the same time he was seen at the bedside of one of his dying or ill spiritual children. A very holy and prayerful man, St Pio's Masses were often more than two hours long. He understood the beauty and truth behind Mass, and those who attended felt truly blessed. Eucharist, it’s what we do If we strip all the distractions away what do we find? Maybe the distractions are a comfort to us. Maybe we don’t want to know what life is like without them. But, for the adventurous love is what we find. One parishioner was heard to comment that maybe church is too complicated. Maybe faith can be more simple than what we make it. Jews are called to prayer three times a day, Muslims are called five times. As Christians we are simply called to continuous prayer. This is Jesus inviting us to an on-going relationship with him. He is with us in our work. He is with us when we are with family and friends. He is with us in our quiet times. He is at our shoulder throughout the day. His message is unchanging…I love you, yes you. All too hard? Try the Eucharist. Unlike other places the Eucharist is freely available to us without incrimination. Unlike other places the Eucharist is available to us every day. On Sunday in our parish it is available at eight different times. The Eucharist is available to us so that we can eat Christ, put him in our mouths, swallow him and become gradually more like him. We can become part of his love. He is not just at our shoulder, he is becoming part of us in our thinking, feelings and actions. We are what we eat. Perhaps our faith is that simple. Jesus is with us all the time, slowly we are getting closer to his image…love. What is purgatory? All who die in God’s grace, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven (CC1030). We undergo this purification in Purgatory. Is Purgatory even mentioned in the Bible? Yup. Here are some scripture passages, some of which speak for themselves: "But nothing unclean shall enter [heaven]" (Rev. 21:27) In the Old Testament, just before the coming of Christ, the Jews were documented to atone for the sins of the dead, that they may rest in peace. Here we have a passage from II Maccabees 12:39-46, where Judas Maccabeus and his troops pray for the souls of their fallen comrades, who were suspected to have committed idolatry: they “turned to prayer beseeching that the sin which had been committed might be wholly blotted out… He also took up a collection... and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably… Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.” So, for Jesus and his contemporaries, it was common practice to pray for the souls of the departed. In Matthew 5:24-25, Jesus uses a parable about Purgatory. ”Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; truly I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny” (Matthew 5:25-26). Corinthians 3:11-15 discusses specifically what happens to those after death who have committed bad 'works', and remember the fire in the passage is a purifying fire: “For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble—each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” So, how do we cope with these realities. Do you have a view? Your perspectives are very welcome. Share them to holytrinity.wgtn@xtra.co.nz so that they can be published. THIS MONTH'S SUNDAY READINGS (press play to view the video) There are quite a few controversial opinions about Halloween. Many Christians are firmly against the holiday and believe it to be evil, and many others don't mind it at all. Is it an evil holiday or does it make a contribution? There is definitely a bit of truth in saying that Halloween originated from a pagan feast. In pre-Christian Europe, the Celts celebrated the festival of Samhain, who was considered the god of death. The feast began on the eve of November 1st, which was considered to be the first day of the year. The Celts believed that the souls of the deceased would return to their respective households and linger there until the end of the festival. Stories about Druids knocking on people's doors asking for people to sacrifice via a "trick or treat" are reported by Julius Caesar in his book about the conquest of Gaul. The idea behind trick-or-treat comes from the legend that a soul who died in a state of sin returned to the earth as an animal, and could only be freed if there was a human sacrifice. It is also believed that Celts wore scary costumes, to hide from evil spirits and to signify the release of the souls from their animal forms. When the Catholic feast of All Souls was inaugurated on November 1st in the eighth century, the idea was that the veil separating heaven, purgatory, hell and earth becomes thinner, and that the souls in purgatory and demons from hell can be more readily seen. The feast of All Souls partners with the feast of All Saints. Recent horror films and the rise of Wiccanism and Satanism give Halloween a bad reputation. We need to understand the reality of evil and protect ourselves from it, say our prayers, and tie Halloween in to the vigil of All Saints as was intended. ALPHA COMES TO MIRAMAR - NO QUESTION ABOUT OUR FAITH IS A SILLY QUESTION. ALL QUESTIONS HELP US TO BUILD A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING. ALPHA IS A GREAT PLACE TO LEARN ABOUT OUR FAITH. After successful Alpha programmes at St Anthony’s and St Patrick’s earlier this year, Alpha starts at Holy Cross at 7.30pm on Tuesday 18 October. The programme is being run by Dave Monastra and a band of helpers. Please call or txt Dave on 027 4477280 to enrol. FROM GARDEN TO TABLE The garden to table programme at Holy Cross School means everybody gets to learn how food is grown. It is also a chance to learn to cook. In a "Mystery Box" challenge last week Holy Cross chefs combined pizza dough and bits from the garden. The result was yum. Awesome efforts Rooms 3 and 6! ST OLGA St Olga fits right in there with the subject of Halloween, because some of her actions before she converted to Christianity were rather ... scary. She was born around 890 and married Prince Igor, who became ruler of Kievan Rus. When her husband was killed Olga became regent, and had support of the Kievan Rus army. The tribe that killed her husband wished Olga to marry their prince. They sent ambassadors to negotiate, but Olga had them buried alive. Next, Olga requested that the tribe send her better suitors, and when they arrived she locked them in a bathhouse and set them on fire. Then she allegedly killed 5,000 at a feast held in her honour when she visited the tribe to complete her husband's mission of collecting their tithes. One of the cities still refused to pay their taxes, instead offering goods such as fur and honey. Olga instead requested three sparrows and three pigeons from each household. Olga gave to each soldier in her army a pigeon or a sparrow, and ordered them to attach by thread to each bird a piece of flammable sulfur bound. When night fell, Olga bade her soldiers release the pigeons and the sparrows. So the birds flew to their nests, the pigeons to the cotes, and the sparrows under the eaves. The dove-cotes, the coops, the porches, and the haymows were set on fire. There was not a house that was not consumed, and it was impossible to extinguish the flames, because all the houses caught on fire at once. The people fled from the city, and Olga ordered her soldiers to catch them. Thus she took the city and destroyed it. So why is Olga a Saint? Well, Kievan Rus was initially a pagan society, but Olga changed that and was baptised somewhere between 945 and 957. She then kept a Catholic priest beside her at all times. So in spite of her un-Christian actions prior to her conversion, Olga was canonised because on conversion she strived to forge a Christian nation, showing that no matter how harsh our past we can change. Her message is that we should not let the past compromise our future. THIS MONTH'S SUNDAY READINGS (press play to view the video)PEACEPeople have been known to say “Fr Sanele, where does he get his balance, how is it he shows such peace?”. Driving up the avenue of trees to the Kopua Monastery it is easy to understand. The trees open out to a collection of buildings sitting in a quiet rural landscape. A warm welcome awaits guests. It was here that Fr Sanele spent 13 years in the early part of his ministry. The monastery bell strikes through the day in the stillness, a call to prayer. Monks, residents and guests gather. Prayer is gentle, there is no rush. The people gathered through the rhythms of ancient worship are finding their own connections with a God that loves them. Fr Nicolas relaxing in the sun at the monastery remembers the wise words of his mother “if you pray you will be happy, if you don’t pray you will get lost in the world”. The monastery is a place of deep prayer. It is a place of radical prayer. That is not to say it is a place of crazy prayer but a place of purity in prayer. Fr Nicholas says it is so easy to find distraction “they come to us from all directions”. Where do we go to find time to detach, to let go of everything but our relationship with God? How do we still ourselves long enough to listen to the outpouring of love God has for us? Ultimately, it is a journey that we are all on. Our hope is that we will detach from what is not important, we will listen, we will find peace and happiness. As Christians we are called to love our neighbor and help others, especially the poor as often mentioned in the bible, "He who despises his neighbor sins, but happy is he who is gracious to the poor." [Proverbs 14:21]. So who exactly is the poor? Our neighbor? Someone once asked Jesus the same question [Luke 10:25-37]. Even today poverty is considered hard to define. There is no official ‘poverty line’ in New Zealand as there is in many other countries and there is no formal agreement about exactly how to measure poverty. There is a general consensus that a level of income set less than 60% of median household disposable income (after housing costs) is 'reasonable' measure, but even then the topic is debated heavily. It's important to note I think that those we consider 'in poverty' need not even be restricted to those short on goods. Those in hospital, those who are alone, in any kind of need are all good candidates. It was Mother Teresa, who knew intimately about poverty, that put forth "the biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted." Jesus' observation "The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want," strikes us as more than a duty but an opportunity. A chance to participate in the work of the Lord who created all things, to show His - and our - love to others. There is no need to fly around the world to find those in need (not that I would discourage you!), the Lord has a plan for each of us wherever you are right now. September is here already! Winter draws to a close and spring officially starts on the 23rd Sept. What does that mean for us? What might that mean for people of faith in this day and age? Historically the start of spring was marked by a myriad of festivals and traditions. Pagans have celebrated spring as a time of renewal and fertility, rejoicing in the promise of warmer and longer days for thousands of years before even our Lord was born. Easter is in many ways the Church’s continuation and re-appropriation of something we've celebrated for eons. Even the word 'Easter' is attributed to pagan goddesses from more ancient cultures than you can shake a stick at, not to mention symbols like the hare and the egg. Really the Church borrowing and appropriating the symbols and traditions of other cultures should be quite familiar to all of us. It was St Ambrose who said "When in Rome, live as the Romans do; when elsewhere, live as they live elsewhere," and indeed in much of her history the Church has been happy to accept the cultures of the people who've joined her in her mission, refocusing traditions, celebrations and practices toward the Lord where required. The prime example here might be the cross itself. It wasn't always the trademark symbol of Christianity that everyone knows today. Rather it too used to be a symbol connected to many pagan traditions. The pagan philosopher Celsus snidely remarked in the 2nd century "Are these distinctive happenings unique to the Christians-and if so, how are they unique?" in reference to the early Church and how her teachings on the life of Jesus were not unusual in the world. Celsus however did not realise what the Church had, and still has - the light and the truth of the world - and today however all of these things from so many different origins have been firmly repurposed towards Our Lord Jesus. THIS MONTH'S GOSPEL READINGSWELCOME BACK! Fr Mario was greeted with applause as he returned to St Patrick’s church vigil mass after eight years away in Auckland. He said he was delighted to be back in “windy Wellington” [windy?..as if]. Speaking at the vigil he mentioned how he is looking forward to praying with us, celebrating with us, journeying with us. Father believes we must listen to God with both our ears and our heart. When we really love someone we don’t notice as time goes by, we are so caught that time is of no importance. Fr Mario invites us in our celebrations not to worry about the time but to give our total presence. We bring our whole selves so that we can be nourished by God in every aspect of our lives. With seven brothers and seven sisters, he is from a big, faith filled family. His family is all over the world including brothers in the States and one in Rome. Being the Wellington brother once more, he is looking forward to working with old friends in the St Patrick’s community and meeting new friends at Holy Cross and St Anthony’s. “It’s still the same parish, just bigger”. Fr Mario is very aware that merging parishes is not an easy task. “Some things stay the same, some things change. We have to remember that we are journeying together, to God”. Fr Mario sees a great future for the parish as we unite together in community. “It will take time. Everyone needs to be open not only to changes but also the possibilities they bring”. “We have to see the potential. And, I ask myself what is my part in all this? It is to minister to my brothers and sisters. The potential will bring unity, there will be variations but there will be harmony”. ... At the same time as welcoming back Fr Mario we say welcome back to Fr Gregory. Fr Gregory has been away for three months with family back in India. On arriving home, he was overwhelmed by the welcome he received from his family and their neighbours. Seeing everyone’s faces, being there amongst everyone was momentous. But, what was joy very quickly turned to sadness. His nephew was tragically run over by a truck. Everyone was in deep shock. Life can be so very fragile. The rest of Father’s time was filled with planned celebrations. The celebrations were great occasions but his nephew’s death was with them. Over one thousand people gathered for father’s jubilee, which started with a wonderful breakfast and continued with Mass and lunch. A nephew was ordained, two nieces married and another two nieces took their final vows as religious sisters. Journeying bask to New Zealand Fr Gregory visted Kolkata for the first time. “It was very hot and I was missing everyone, so it was great to go but it is great to come back”. Asked what he is most looking forward to on his return he says it is the new parish council bringing new energy to the parish. “we have had a parish council to bring us together, now we are to have a new council to take us forward”. Who are the Capuchins? The Capuchin Fraternity of Aotearoa New Zealand was founded in 1958 at the invitation of the late Cardinal McKeefry. Two friars, Br. Matthias Murphy OFM Cap. and Br. Agathangelus Herlihy OFM Cap. came to New Zealand and took up residence in Wellington. Br. Matthias was appointed chaplain to Victoria University, and Br. Agathangelus appointed Parish Priest of Northland-Kelburn Parish. The Capuchin Friars celebrated the 50 Jubilee of its New Zealand foundation in August 2005. However, there had been an earlier Capuchin presence in the person of Father Jeremiah O’Reily OFM. Cap., the first resident Catholic priest in Wellington who arrived on 31 January 1843, and died in July 21 1888. He is buried in Mount Street Cemetery in Wellington. In 1993 the Wellington Archdiocese celebrated the 150th anniversary of the coming of Fr. Jeremiah O’Reily to Wellington as the first resident priest, and also commemorated the first Catholic Church built in Wellington in 1843 by Fr. Jeremiah O’Reily. Many friars from Ireland, The Philippines, Indonesia and India provinces have ministered in New Zealand over that time. Many of the friars returned to their respective provinces to continue their ministries there. Three Irish friars died while ministering in New Zealand and are buried here; two terminally ill Irish friars returned to Ireland where they died and are buried. The Capuchin Friars are the youngest branch of the first Order of St. Francis, going back to 1525, when some Friars Minor in the Marches wanted to live a stricter life of prayer and poverty to be closer to the original intentions of St. Francis. Thanks to the support of the Papal Court the new branch received early recognition and grew fast, first in Italy, and since 1574 all over Europe. Simplicity, closeness to the people, a fraternal spirit in their houses and their apostolate are visible signs that mark their lifestyle, with emphasis on penance and prayer as expressed in the life of the first Capuchins. There are several Capuchin Secular Franciscan Order fraternities throughout New Zealand. The Secular Franciscan Order for lay people is an independent organisation encompassing the whole Franciscan spectrum. Franciscans, Conventuals, Capuchins and the friars provide spiritual assistance to these fraternities. IMMACULATE August is the month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. If the Sacred Heart of Jesus represents Christ's love for mankind, Our Lady's Immaculate Heart represents her desire to bring all people to her Son. There is simply no better example of the Christian life than that offered by Mary. Truly it is fitting that we come to Christ through Mary, as Christ came to us through her. Not worshiping Mary nor placing her above Christ, but understanding that our mother, given to the Church [John 19:26] will faithfully and lovingly lead us to Him. Who could doubt this when her last recorded words in the bible were "Do whatever He tells you," [John 2:5]. Consider for a moment, she was present at the crucifixion of Our Lord, as her own Son gave up His life for us, and still these are the last words we hear from her. About Matthew 12:49-50 where Christ is recorded as saying "This is my mother and these are my brothers; and whoever does the will of my Father who sent me, that person is a brother to me and a sister and a mother" St. Augustine points out "Didn't the Virgin Mary do the will of the Father? [..] she believed by faith, she conceived by faith, she was chosen to be the one from whom salvation [..] would be born for us [..] Of course, holy Mary did the will of the Father. And therefore it means more for Mary to have been a disciple of Christ than to have been the mother of Christ. It means more for her, an altogether greater blessing, to have been Christ's disciple than to have been Christ's mother." We know then that Our Lady wills us to her Son above all else and that her greatest blessing was in being a most excellent disciple of her Son. But what of devotion to Our Lady? What of her Immaculate Heart? Here we can draw from the wisdom of St. Louis de Montfort in True Devotion to Mary (which should most definitely be read by all) "He has glorified His Independence and His Majesty, in depending on that sweet Virgin, in His Conception, in His Birth, in His Presentation in the Temple, in His Hidden Life of thirty years, and even in His Death, where she was to be present, in order that He might make with her but one same sacrifice, and be immolated to the Eternal Father by her consent; just as Isaac of old was offered by Abraham’s consent to the Will of God [..] Jesus Christ gave more glory to God the Father by submission to His Mother during those thirty years than He would have given Him in converting the whole world by the working of the most stupendous miracles." It sounds like quite the claim but consider, Our Lord surely desires nothing greater than pleasing the Father, than bringing glory to God and saving His people. Indeed He would surely do nothing that did not please the Father and bring more people to Him. Yet, Christ spent thirty years subject to His Mother. St John V Reading of St's life one is reminded of Matthew 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you," or perhaps Luke 11:8 "But I tell you this - though he won't do it for friendship's sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence." Certainly St. John Vianney strikes me as a man who doesn't give up easily! Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney was born in Dardilly France on the 8th of May 1786 in to a very devout Catholic family. Soon after in 1790 the anticlerical terror phase of the French Revolution forced priests to work in secrecy or face execution. Often his family had to travel to distant farms to attend Masses celebrated by priests on the run. Naturally Vianney began to look upon these priests as heroes who risked their lives each day to live and teach their faith. His First Communion catechism was taught to him by two nuns whose communities had been dissolved during the Revolution. The Mass at which he recieved his First Communion had one particularly unusual feature; every window was boarded up that the light of the candles could not be seen from the outside. You might think that things started to look up when the Catholic Church was finally re-established in France in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong, as this saw Vianney promptly drafted in to the army. Normally he would have been protected as he had been studying as an ecclesiastical student (exempt from military service) but Napoleon had withdrawn the exemption in some dioceses as he required more soldiers. Two days in to his service John fell ill and required hospitalization. His unit went on without him and he stopped in at a church where he met a young man who volunteered to return him to his unit. Instead the man led him deep into the mountains where military deserters met. John remained in the area, occasionally hiding from gendarmes searching for deserters, until military deserters were granted amnesty 1810. Now free John returned to Écully and resumed his ecclesiastic studies. Five short years later he joined his heroes as a priest on August 12th 1815. How bazaar! Every two years the St Anthony’s community gets together to hold a bazaar. The bazaar does two things.
First and most importantly it is a community event. The teams from different stalls get to know each other and take satisfaction from working together and achieving a great result. The entire day it is an opportunity for not only the parish and parish school but also the wider community to get together and enjoy what’s on offer and each other’s company. Second it is a fund raiser. TP Serepisos, coordinator of the coming bazaar, say’s “I love how the Bazaar gets us together. The funds we raise will go towards further strengthening our community. The shape of the proposal is still being worked on, so watch this space”. TP led the 2015 Bazaar and despite a nasty southerly, the event brought the community together and raised useful development funds. “The next bazaar is on Saturday 18 February next year and it’s going to be a beautiful day” she adds. Chair of the Holy Trinity parish finance committee Nick Crang is a keen advocate of bazaars. “What better way to raise funds than doing something that brings all age groups together. At the last bazaar I worked with the food stalls and couldn’t believe how quickly the food sold out, and all the joy and delight of young and old”. Much of the event organisation and logistics starts early so on the day everyone can relax and enjoy the event. TP explains that “we’ve been surveying everyone to see what they would like to get involved in. From people’s responses we will put the teams together. At this stage we are thinking that the teams will include: crafts, cakes, preserves, books, white elephant, food, auctions, raffles, toys, clothing and entertainment. There is always room for new ideas.” The theme for the 2017 bazaar is LOVE. What better theme to confirm what we are all about and to start a torrid of crazy ideas on how we might publicise the event and decorate on the day. St Anthony’s school principal Jennifer Ioannou suggests we “keep watching this space and start thinking ‘love is in the air’!!”. If you would like to donate items or sponsor events contact TP by emailing stantsbazaar@gmail.com. Culture wars by Lucy Gijsbers In many of the culture war battles of today lives are literally at stake, and abortion is surely one of the most hotly debated ethical issues. As Christians we often forget that the abortion debate is not simply an argument. Recall the words of St Peter "...in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect" [1 Peter 3:15]. Really, abortion is probably the simplest social issue to debate, even with atheists, because the case against abortion is one of human rights. Everyone understands injustice. Life begins at conception; you can check out anything from the Encyclopedia Britannica [15th ed. pg 968], Life Before Birth [2nd ed. pg 31] and there are enough books on Embryology to sink a proverbial battleship with quotes. Surely then, any consistent philosophy of human rights must have those rights beginning when the human being begins, not at some arbitrarily selected time afterwards. The first priority of any government is to protect the most vulnerable, those that cannot speak in their own defense, and to enforce human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has something to say about the right to life. We know then when a human life starts and we certainly know that an unborn child grows in to a human, not a fish, bird or cat. Often we worry that since we're Christians speaking about pro-life we'll be ignored in our secular and multicultural society. But really in a multicultural society with so many differing views on everything, it seems ever more important for the government to ensure that everyone is protected and given a chance. To experience life, fall in love, grow in faith and pay taxes, just like the rest of us. JOIN THE movement Prolife is a movement of young people committed to building a culture of life in New Zealand. They have groups based on university campuses throughout New Zealand and also run a number of other activities focused on building the movement and challenging the status quo on abortion in New Zealand. Take a look at www.prolife.org.nz Parenting course by Lisa Halliwell When I was asked if I’d mind leading the Parenting Course I thought it would be a good way to give back. The bonus was that I also got a lot from the course myself. The course is made up of five evenings. Each evening is based around watching two videos and discussing them. The course covers:
When we got together earlier this term in one of the classrooms at St Anthony’s School I’m not sure any of us knew exactly what to expect. Helped by some great dessert courtesy of Hazel Kingston, Robyn Monastra and Deirdra von Lanthen, we couldn’t possibly go wrong. The material covers the five languages of love and goes on to talk about how we empower our kids so that through their early experiences, including failure, they grow into confident adults. I highly recommend the course to all parents. Parenting is the most important job we will ever do. Kids don’t come with an instruction manual. By doing this course there is the opportunity to reflect on the things that are going well and the things that we want to build on. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel by Alaister Straka Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is, quite obviously, patroness of the Carmelite Order. Mt. Carmel rises 1742 feet above sea level on the Mediterranean coast of Israel overlooking the modern-day city of Haifa, not far from where Christ grew up. The holiness of this mountain has endured to the present day, and it is revered as a holy mountain by Christians, Jews, and Muslims. The word “Carmel” in Hebrew means, “Garden, a beautiful hill, a choice orchard, a high cultivated ground”. Carmel (Karmel, Greek) more precisely means “Garden of God” (from Karmel, is derived kerem – garden; and ‘el – the Divine name, meaning “the vineyard or garden of God”). Its beauty is remarked on quite a few times in the Bible, have a read of Song 7:5, Is 35:2 and Jer 50:19. It was to Mt. Carmel that Elijah went to pray (1 Kings 18:42) and here that he gathered the people of Israel that the Lord might free them from idolatry: “Now ... gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Ba’al and the four hundred prophets of Ashe’rah ... So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel, and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel ... Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and the said, “The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God” (1 Kings 18:19 ff). Although the Carmelites have long claimed that their order extends back to Elijah, officially the order was approved by Pope Honorius III in 1226. Not long after, according to the traditions of the Carmelite order, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Carmelite St Simon Stock on July 16 1251 (now the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel). The order was enduring difficulties and St Simon prayed fervently to Our Lady for help, “Flower of Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven, Mother of the Son of God. Amiable Mother, ever Virgin, give to thy children of Carmel the privilege of thy protection, star of the Sea.” At this prayer, Our Lady appeared to him, holding the Brown Scapular in her hands, saying to him, “This will be the sign of the privilege that I have obtained for thee and for the children of Carmel; whoever dies clothed with this habit will be preserved from the eternal flames.” The specific practices associated with the Brown Scapular are: 1) to wear the Scapular after enrollment by a priest (following a specific form); 2) Observe chastity according to one’s state in life; and 3) Recite the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary or five decades of the Rosary daily. Prayer challenge This month's prayer challenge was proposed by www.voiceofthefamily.com and ties in nicely with the practices associated with the Brown Scapular, namely, the daily Rosary. In Iucunda Semper Expectatione Pope Leo XIII urged that given “the disastrous condition of the Church and of Society” and “the extreme necessity for signal aid from God” it is “manifest” that “aid should be sought through the intercession of His Mother, and by the express means of the Rosary, which Christians have ever found to be of marvelous avail." We therefore invite and challenge you to pray the Holy Rosary with us for the following intentions, whether monthly, weekly or (best of all) daily. For the Pope: that he faithfully hand on the “deposit of the faith”. For cardinals: that they courageously fulfill their responsibilities as advisers of the pope, give heroic witness to the Catholic faith and follow the inspirations of the Holy Spirit in the next conclave. For bishops, and for the priests, deacons and those of other orders, who assist them in their ministry: that they may courageously teach the Catholic faith in all its integrity, offer true worship to Almighty God, and govern the Church according to God’s holy will. For persecuted Catholics: that all who suffer persecution for the Catholic faith may, through the mercy of God, be delivered from all those who assail them. For the family: that all families throughout the world, especially their most vulnerable members, may be protected from all assaults, spiritual or temporal. ______________________________________REST IN PEACE Anne Clunies-Ross past away recently. Starting in Blenhiem, her mother died when she was young. Attending St Mary’s College she became a Catholic. Health issues prevented her from joining a religious order. She was a most generous member of our parish family and was sacristan at St Patrick’s Church for eight years. May she rest in peace. St Catherine’s does it again by Sr Stephanie Kitching Last month St Catherine’s College took its fourth consecutive O’Shea Shield win. The girls performed well in all categories. When the competition came to an end and the results were tallied it would be an understatement to say that the girls were elated. St Catherine's, second to smallest roll out of 17 colleges from across the Archdiocese of Wellington and the Diocese of Palmerston North punched well above its weight. In my long involvement in the college I am convinced that it is our small size that makes the difference. Our staff are able to pay each student personal attention. As each girl’s needs are different no one day at the College is the same! In fact if I had to describe what I like most about it as a community of young women, I would have to say that it is watching our students develop their potential academically, spiritually, socially and emotionally. They are amazing! To some extent the college community is its own congregation, with each contributing according to their talents. As senior students leave at the end of each year only to be replaced by a new group early the following year, the college is constantly evolving. In positioning for the future we are pleased to be close to opening our new learning and administration block, including eight new classrooms. It is light and airy, nurturing a feeling of possibilities. An important part of the design has been to link it with our other buildings to make movement easy for disabled students and to get good integration across all elements of the school. Please do drive up to the see construction. Our contractors, Naylor Love, have been working industriously to get the block finished for next year when it will replace older prefabs. On its completion we are keen to furnish it with new furniture and latest technology. Our target for furnishings and technology is $120,000. We would be delighted if people from Holy Trinity would like to make a donation to help us reach our target. You can phone the college 939-8988. We have a second Open Day on 16 August. In the 3rd Term this year we will be welcoming students to a beautifully developed new learning environment. Whether we win the O’Shea Shield again, we will just have to wait and see. ANZAC Ceremony by Andrew Greening Anzac Day occurs on 25 April, commemorating all New Zealanders killed in war and also honouring returned servicemen and women. The date itself marks the anniversary of the landing of New Zealand and Australian soldiers – the ANZACs – on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915. We celebrated ANZAC day at St Patrick's with a big Mass, and I don't remember ever seeing the church so full on previous years. Ordination by Fr Ephrem Tigga It was a privilege to celebrate my 14th Ordination anniversary with the St. Anthony Thursday friends. The liturgy was well organised and the singing was wonderful. After the Mass we had fellowship meal chatting away cheerfully and enjoying a cuppa merrily. There was another fantastic celebration with the St Patrick mix n mingle group. After a long ten years of formation into Franciscan Capuchin way of life to be a priest, the much awaited day of my ordination to priesthood arrived. The Ordination priesthood took place on Sunday, 14 April 2002 by Rt. Rev. Bishop Telesphor Bilung, the Bishop of Rourkela Diocese. Immediately after the Ordination I was appointed to teach in the minor seminary for three years. On the fourth year, I was asked to prepare my visa for the mission to New Zealand, it was then under the mission of Ireland. I and Fr. Jerome D’souza set foot on New Zealand soil on 14 January 2006, in Auckland. I served as assistant priest for two years at Holy Cross Paris, Henderson of Auckland diocese. February 2008, I was appointed parish priest of the Immaculate Conception of Mary Parish, Avondale. In September 2012 I was transferred to Wellington. I was born in the countryside. My parents worked in the field sunrise till sunset to support the family of two grandparents, and seven kids (four girls and three boys). So it was a family of 11 people, solely depended on cultivation and the product of animals. I studied in a Catholic primary school and had strong connection with Church and prayer life. My parents too were quite religious, attending Mass regularly. Family life revolved around Mass and family prayer. Although I had asked permission from my parents to enter the priesthood when I was about 12 years old, it took another 14 years to fully realise my vocation. I was accepted as candidate in 1991-92 and had my 1st profession 15 May 1994 after the completion of my Novitiate. Then I obtained a Bachelor of Philosophy, whilst continuing religious formation at the Capuchin formation friary. Thank you to one and all who specially pray for me. As I continue to learn and grow in my priesthood, I wish to say in the words of St. Bonaventure, “you alone are my hope, my joy, my treasure in whom I want my heart to be always rooted." IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BECOMING A CAPUCHIN PRIEST PLEASE CONTACT FR EPHREM Sharing Catholic Schools Dayby Denise Johnson Being three schools of one parish definitely has its benefits. This year’s celebration of Catholic Schools Day was great proof of this. On the day students of the three schools were split up. The juniors where at Holy Cross, middle school at St Anthony’s and senior school at St Patrick’s. This was a different experience for the students as they got to mix with people their own age who they hadn’t meet before. Liturgy is a great way of bringing people together. After strong liturgies in all three schools everyone was able to relax and get to know one another. The schools were buzzing with chatter. I was at St Patrick’s for the day and loved working with the expanded group of senior students. We talked about what the current Year of Mercy meant to us. The parish can be very proud of its students as they came up with touching accounts of why mercy is important. It occurred to us that all three schools started as Mercy schools along with some Marist input. The students made terrific mercy banners that can be used in all three schools through the rest of the year. Sharing and givingby Lucy Gijsbers 'Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.' Deuteronomy 15:10-11 At first glance, sharing and giving seem to be synonymous actions. It is common to read the words of the Lord which recommend us to share clothes and food, and to 'give freely' those same items. Upon reflection, there is a difference. To share is to say; 'Do you need some food/clothes? Have some of mine - I have extra and I'm not using it!' To give: 'Do you need some food/clothes? I can see that you do. Here, have mine. I can get some more later, I can wait.' To share is to give some of what you have so that you both have some, and to give is to relinquish what was yours to another, so that you no longer have it. Immediately this calls to mind the widow in Mark 12.43-44. 'Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.' Meanwhile, the wealthy in the temple ostentatiously gave a small part of what they had in surplus. I've often wondered what happened to the widow. She definitely had a generous soul, and I think she would have been an amazingly peaceful person, trusting in the Lord. How difficult would it be, to give EVERY cent you had and to not know where your next meal would come from? I don't think I could do that; to me it would seem unwise. Obviously I have a long way to go to becoming a saint! The Jews in Jesus' time didn't look after their widows and orphans very well, and we are definitely better today, but could we do more in our society? Do we know where to look and who to help, who to give and share our belongings with? It's very easy to say 'So-and-so has far too much money, they should be donating their money to others and giving to charities!' - but why don't we look at ourselves? If we aren't saving up for anything and if we have surplus, why don't we practice what we preach? One thing that I noticed in particular was the recurring sentiment that if you give generously and cheerfully, you will be rewarded in abundance. Remember this is not necessarily a material reward! Some things that are easy and worthwhile to gift are your time and your talents. Something that is definitely worth sharing is your faith. Gay and part of our community People are often under the impression that the Catholic Church 'hates gays' and those of a different sexual orientation. Well, nothing could be further from the truth, and hopefully this article will help to disband any such misconceptions! Actually, every single person on the planet is a sinner. Everyone. Do Catholics hate sinners? Of course not! We'd hate ourselves too if that were the case. That's just not the Christian way, and it is wrong to hate. And who are we to be the judge of whose sin is greatest? It's not up to anyone on earth to decide that. Is homosexuality and being part of the LGBT community a sin, then? Let's see what the catechism has to say: 'The number of men and women who have deep- seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.' C.C. 2358 So, actually, it is not a sin to have homosexual inclinations. But it is a sin to act on those inclinations, just as it is a sin to indulge in any form of sexual activity outside of marriage. The Church opposes same-sex unions in Genesis 1:25-28, ''God created man in his own image… male and female he created them… and God said, 'Be fruitful and multiply' ", in Genesis 2:24, " a man shall be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." Jesus himself uses these same quotations in Mark 10:6–9 when questioned about marriage. Because God instituted the sacrament of Matrimony the Church and the State have no true authority to redefine or change the nature of marriage. Any attempt to do so is simply a farce, and causes people to live out a lie. Marriage between male and female is not discriminatory to homosexuals. Not allowing the ordination of active homosexuals and those of non-heterosexual inclinations is not unfair either - in the same way that the Church does not allow the ordination of anyone who opposes any kind of official doctrine. The Church does not hate or discriminate against LGBTs . We Catholics and Christians should love and respect them just as we love and respect everybody else. Not to do so is a sin in itself. Opening our arms to refugeesby Annette Bridgman and Brendan Quirk
In February, our own Holy Trinity Parish responded wonderfully to the call to action from our parish St Vincent de Paul Society groups. From our parish came nearly 30 volunteers who put their names down to help as and when required, $2,000 cash donated at Masses which equipped a household in our parish area, initial food and toys donated, and tireless efforts of some volunteers to sort and select the household lots at the Wellington centre and to prepare a house the day before the arrival of the family. What a joy it was for the refugee families to be greeted by fresh fruit on the table, food in the cupboards, beds made, and the basic necessities in place to start their new lives in the Eastern Suburbs. The Catholic and Anglican dioceses in New Zealand have warmly committed to supporting all refugees who are welcomed into New Zealand, including the additional quota of 700 refugees over three years from the awful Syrian conflict which will challenge the stocks of love and compassion we have in our hearts. The pressure is really on our parishes to actively support the Red Cross and Catholic Social Services in the first 12 months of settling refugees in our communities. At the end of April 2016 parishes will welcome another 13 refugee families into the Wellington region. The focus this second time is on providing pantry food supplies and setting up the house. So we are coordinating closely with Catholic Social Services to have our team put to good use in establishing a house and collecting pantry food items. We are also gathering extra volunteer names for future intakes. It's fantastic that there is less to do this time round because of the overwhelming generosity from donations in February; we have had a surplus of household goods, cash and commitments for help available in April. Each intake will require a different effort and we are up for the challenge! A small group has been formed from amongst our splendid volunteers in Holy Trinity Parish to coordinate and sustain our urgent parish response every once and a while. The coordinator and contact for our Holy Trinity Parish refugee help group is Annette Bridgman, phone 3889704 or 021 204 5993, email: bridgie@xtra.co.nz Please keep these refugees in your hearts and prayers, that they will feel safe and loved and will see the face of the Lord in the warm and welcoming support of the people of our Holy Trinity Parish. Holy Trinity’s future property needs by Property Sub-Committee Thank you to everyone who has contributed to discerning the future property needs of our parish. Here is a summary of what the parish has been saying. We are fortunate to have such spiritual priests. These three men have devoted themselves to our welfare. Our first priority is to meet their needs. The Capuchins live in community with certain requirements for communal living including sacred space for prayer. Here in Wellington the community is expected to grow, and so there is a requirement for additional living space. It is usual for Diocesan priests to live in their own presbytery. However, there is a need for greater ease of sharing with the Capuchin community. Right since the early days of our parish, the Mercy and Marist communities have been instrumental in serving the Wellington East area. Today we host their colleges which are large congregations in their own right within our wider congregation. We need to be open to allow our facilities to be used for retreats and other activities for these congregations. If our buildings were better suited to retreats, they would be used regularly for this purpose as well as sacraments such as reconciliation. For St Catherine's, who are space constrained, there is a wish to continue to make regular use of the Kilbirnie church as well as something larger for gatherings involving all Catholic schools in the parish. Our three primary schools are growth-orientated and are an important element of our mission as set out in our vision statement. St Patrick's Primary is keen to make increased use of the adjoining hall for extra-curricular activities. They have limited play space and are interested in using the current presbytery area. At Holy Cross there is interest in a feasibility study on bringing the school and church closer together. It is noted that this school is currently under instruction not to use their local church (Holy Cross, Miramar) due to its low seismic rating. St Anthony's are looking to expand their learning space. They would like to move their library, staff room and administration into the presbytery making a whole classroom and many smaller rooms available for more flexible learning. At the heart of our communities are regular gatherings around their many altars. The liturgy committees have indicated that they favour quiet sacred spaces with consideration being given to soundproofing and adequate space for children's liturgy. There is a need for better technology in our buildings for children's liturgy. Above all else, in the buildings in which we gather, there is the need to be welcoming to our younger generations. At the other end of the age spectrum, our buildings need to provide for the physical needs of our older parishioners. We need to reassess the Holy Cross church based on latest seismic knowledge. There are a great many options. The right time to consider these options is when the full set of facts on the current building are in front of us. A key consideration will be those things that will help our younger parishioners to have strong experiences of church. For all our ethnic communities we need to provide spaces that help them to celebrate and grow, supporting them to feel part of the wider community while retaining what is special to them. From a financial point of view the parish is operating in deficit. Some buildings are currently an important source of income, however the cost of maintenance is beyond our current means. Planning should start with the optimum for achieving the parish vision of a prayerful, diverse community drawing strength from one another growing and becoming fully alive as missionary disciples. Priority actions can then be selected. These identified needs form the starting point for options for our buildings and property. The sub-committee will now develop some options to be shared with you for your further feed-back. Life in a boxby Rain Forest, Life Teen Coordinator On Friday the 1st of April at 6pm around 16 teenagers and young adults from Life Teen Holy Trinity, Sister Catherine Jones SMSM and Tania Torea, the leader of the LDS youth, gathered to participate in the Caritas Challenge 2016. Saint Patrick's Primary School veranda was transformed into an informal settlement of cardboard box houses while the Parish Centre became a sweat shop bakery!! The participants slept the night in their box houses and rotated shifts in the sweat shop to maintain constant baking for 24 hours. The baked goods were shared at parish Masses over the weekend and Parishioners donated money to support Caritas' efforts in Cambodia. Along with other sponsorship over $1,700 has been raised so far and we are hoping to top $2000. Online donations can be made on the Caritas website: http://www.caritas.org.nz/ or you can drop in to Life Teen on a Sunday night at Saint Patrick's Church between 5.30 -8.30pm to make a cash donation. Donations close 15th May 2016. We were visited by Saint Michael's youth group in Taita, Cardinal John Dew, and a number of Caritas staff and their families, some parishioners, and families of our teenagers. The support and enthusiasm for this event was amazing!! Thank you all for your support and donations we really appreciate it. Here's some comments from a couple of teen participants: "I had an awesome time, it was heaps of fun working for something more than ourselves, so often we do things for the benefit of ourselves only, so it was a really good feeling to be working for something other then myself and helping people that really need it." - Hannah "It was really fun putting ourselves in other people's shoes and working the long hours that people in poverty do. The cardboard slide was really fun and as a friend of mine said; you can use whatever you have to have fun, it doesn't have to be much!" - Rachel The month of May By Lucy Gijsbers I'm sure that you have heard the common statement that Catholics worship Mary and the Saints. So, do we? Of course not! It is idolatry to worship anyone or anything other than God. The basis of our beliefs occur in the Bible, and here are some of them. Firstly, in the Old Testament, it was the custom in the Kingdom of Israel for the king's mother to have a throne next to her son. (eg. Jeremiah 13:18). 1 Kings 2 12-21 illustrates extremely clearly the relationship between the king and his mother (in this case, Solomon and Bathsheba). The king even bowed down to her. So, she could petition the king on behalf of his subjects, being an 'intercessor'. Mary is the Queen Mother on the spiritual level. Christ fulfilled all that was in the Ark of the Covenant. Aaron's rod symbolised the true priesthood, and Christ became the new high priest. The tablets were referred to as God's Word, and we know the quote 'the word became flesh, and dwelt among us'. This refers to Jesus. Lastly, the jar of manna, a bread of life for the Israelites as they wandered in the desert before finally reaching the promised land. Mary carried, quite literally, the Bread of Life, the Word, and the High Priest inside of her. She is therefore the fulfillment of the Ark itself. Revelation 12 discusses Mary and her 'offspring'. Jesus, the Male Child, was her only son, so the rest of her offspring refers to her spiritual offspring. Jesus entrusted his mother to the Church, represented by John, the only Apostle present at the crucifixion. This was in a practical as well as a spiritual sense. Jesus didn't call Mary 'mother', but 'woman', just like at the wedding at Cana. Where His first miracle was worked through Mary's direct intervention. In Genesis 3:15 God says that the Woman's seed will crush Satan's head. This is the only place in the Bible which mentions a woman's seed. The man is the one with the seed; all genealogies are from father to son. The woman who has a seed must be someone who is able to conceive without the seed of a man. This seed is Christ, who will ultimately crush the devil. The woman, who conceived with the seed of man by the power of the Holy Spirit, is Mary. Do you pray for anyone who asks you to? You are mediating on their behalf between heaven and earth. We are instructed to intercede for one another; thus we ask the Saints and Mary, who intercede for us. Catholics only worship God! We honor Mary and the Saints and ask them to 'pray for us', but to God we say 'have mercy on us'. Perhaps this month your prayer challenge could be to say at least one decade of the rosary a day, if you do not already? Gradually build this up to the full five decades. |
SHARINGIf you have news and views to share please email them to: holytrinity.wgtn@xtra.co.nz Archives
December 2018
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