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Fr Ephrem is offering Mass every day from the prayer room in the presbytery at the following times Mon, Tues, Weds, Fri, Sat 9.30am Thurs 7pm Sunday 10.30am To join him live go to his Facebook page (Ephrem Tigga) If you would like Fr to offer Mass for yourself or a loved one, please contact the office by either phone or email Masses available on Television: Free to air telecast Shine TV Freeview channel 25 (please note change of time) Sundays – 2pm https://www.wn.catholic.org.nz/adw_community/resources-for-an-unusual-time/ Holy Trinity Parish Vision We are a prayerful and diverse Catholic community in the Eastern suburbs of Wellington, drawing strength from one another to grow and become fully alive as missionary disciples. Acts 2, 14. 22-33; 1 Pet 1, 17-21; Lk 24, 13-35 It is wonderful to walk with Jesus on the way to Emmaus (MASS). Dear sisters and brothers, “what a privilege for the two disciples on the road to Emmaus to meet Jesus, to listen to him explaining the Scriptures, to share in the Eucharist with Jesus.” It certainly was a wonderful privilege. I say we would love to have been with those two disciples, part of that experience on the road to Emmaus. But, in truth, every time we celebrate the Eucharist here we meet Jesus in the same way. Jesus explained the Scriptures to the two disciples; “he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27) and we also listen to the Scriptures. Then Jesus “took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them” (Luke 24:30) and we partake of the Body of Jesus in the Eucharist. Let me tell you, it was Jesus who directed the encounter on the road to Emmaus, firstly explaining the Scriptures and then breaking bread with the disciples. The chief celebrant was Jesus. He had the leading role in the encounter. It was he who decided that firstly the Scriptures should be explained and secondly that there would be a Eucharistic meal. Every time we celebrate the sacraments it is Jesus who is the chief celebrant. Jesus is the chief celebrant of that Mass and every Mass. Jesus’ offering of himself on the cross is the same offering now made by the priest during the sacrifice of the Mass when that one sacrifice on Calvary is extended through time to us now. (Vatican II Sacrosanctum Concilium §7) Not only at Mass but in every sacrament Jesus is the one leading us in our celebration. Jesus is the chief celebrant of every sacrament. (Vatican II Sacrosanctum Concilium §7) We would love to have been with those two disciples on the road, love to have been part of that experience on the road to Emmaus. When you come to Mass you meet Jesus just like those two disciples. (Luke 24:27) Jesus fed the two disciples on the road with a correct interpretation of Scripture and then fed them with his Body and Blood. We have the same experience during every Mass. Jesus is present with us not only in his Flesh and Blood in the Eucharist but also when we listen to the Word of God in the Scripture readings. we are nourished in two ways from one table at Mass, the table of God’s word and the table of the Eucharist, …the Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord's Body. She never ceases to present to the faithful the bread of life, taken from the one table of God's Word and Christ's Body. (Catechism of the Catholic Church §103; Vatican II Dei Verbum §21) We have two candles lighting during Mass symbolizing these two ways in which Christ is present to us in the “one table of God's Word and Christ's Body.” Therefore, as the Scripture readings are proclaimed we want to give them our full attention because we are being fed by God. In fact, it is Jesus himself who is talking to us as the Scriptures are proclaimed to us, He is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church. (Vatican II Sacrosanctum Concilium §7) What an awesome responsibility on those who proclaim the Word of God to us. Jesus chided the two disciples, “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” (Luke 24:25) I think Jesus would say the same to us if we too were slow of heart to believe that he speaks to us in his Word at Mass. When we hear the Word of God not only do we hear it with our ears and understand it with our minds but the Holy Spirit works within us to allow the Word of God to heal and renew us just as the Word healed and renewed the two disciples on the road to Emmaus burning their hearts, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?” (Luke 24:32) The disciples did not realize at the time that their hearts were burning within them, it was only later they realized this. Without they realizing it the Holy Spirit had been working on their hearts, changing their hearts and renewing them. The Holy Spirit works on us too when the Word of God is proclaimed every time we gather in Church. We would love to have been with those two disciples on the road, love to have been part of that experience on the road to Emmaus. But every time we come here to celebrate Mass our hearts burn within us even if like the two disciples we don’t realize it. When Jesus was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight. (Luke 24:30-31) It is strange that Jesus vanished immediately but surely Jesus wanted them to understand that he is present with the Church every time it celebrates as they did on that road to Emmaus. During the Last Supper Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19) Jesus did the same four things with the bread on the road to Emmaus as he did at the Last Supper; he took it, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. Jesus himself taught them on the road to Emmaus that when they do this in remembrance of him he really is with them and their hearts burn within. From now on every time they do this in remembrance of Jesus he will be with them just as he was with them on the road to Emmaus. Every time we celebrate a sacrament it is Christ as Priest who bestows the sacrament upon us. Christ as the Priest of the New Covenant is the chief celebrant of every sacrament, …every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of His Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others (Vatican II Sacrosanctum Concilium §7) Rightly, then, the liturgy is considered as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. (Vatican II Sacrosanctum Concilium §7) This is why only ordained priests can celebrate Mass because they received their priesthood from Christ during their Ordination and their priesthood is a sharing in the one Priesthood of Jesus. Jesus is the One Priest of the New Covenant but during the Last Supper Jesus shared his priesthood with his apostles and they and their successors are the priests of the New Covenant. Every time we celebrate a sacrament it is Christ as Priest who bestows the sacrament upon us. Dear sisters and brothers, every time we celebrate Mass we partake in the walk with Jesus to Emmaus. Yes, “what a privilege for the two disciples and us on the road to Emmaus to meet Jesus, to listen to him explaining the Scriptures to them and us, to share in the Eucharist with Jesus.” Yes, it certainly was a wonderful privilege. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist we meet Jesus in the same way and are nourished from the one table of God’s Word and Christ’s Body. Fr Ephrem Pray Rosary: Month of May: within the cycle of a year, the Church unfolds the whole of the mystery of Christ, from his incarnation and birth until his ascension, the day of Pentecost, and the expectation of blessed hope and of the Lord’s return … In celebrating this annual cycle of Christ’s mysteries, the Church honours with special love Mary, the Blessed Mother of God, who is joined by an inseparable bond to the saving work of her Son. In her the Church holds up and admires the most excellent effect of the redemption and joyfully contemplates, as in a flawless image, that which the Church itself desires and hopes wholly to be (SC 102 & 103). May I call you to reflect our redemption through Rosary with Mother Mary in this holy month of May. A word of encouragement to the parishioners: I greatly appreciate you all for the effort you have made to continue to feed your spiritual hunger by praying together at home as and when time permits, availing spiritual services online and posting your own spiritual exercises online. I encourage you to continue to do so with earnest desire praising and thanking God for His Blessing. Stay Home, Save Life. You care for me, I care for you. I am looking forward to seeing you as soon as we are permitted to assemble. You are all in my prayer. Thank you for calling and checking on me, how I am doing and if I need any help. God is love and He loves us all. Praise be the Lord. May I suggest, daily you could pray before you retire to bed Psalm no 91 (NRSV). Fr Ephrem Let us pray for all those who are unwell especially Nesi Tan, Warren Stevenson, Eddie Wilkins, John Cairns-Cowan and Graeme Adams and for the wonderful people who are caring for the everyday needs of the sick in our Community. We also pray for the members of our Parish families who have died recently and those whose anniversaries occur around this time; Patricia Nelson, Yuan Nguyen, Ted O’Donovan, Ioelu Fili, June Avery, Audrey Wearne, Margaret Peters and Ian Murray. We also remember our leaders and all those involved in providing essential services. Covid 19 - St Vincent de Paul Holy Trinity Parish. Our SVDP members and helpers continue to do weekly check-in / social calls but should you know of any other isolated people who would appreciate a check-in / social phone call or are in need of emergency food or winter bedding support, then we can still include them in our phone list. Take Care & God bless. (Contact: Tina Quidilla SVDP ph 021 159 2412, email: [email protected]). This year, Anzac Day will be like no other. Let’s all #StandAtDawn — apart, but together as one. The Anzac spirit has taught us many things; endurance, courage, ingenuity, good humour and mateship. And in these unprecedented times, it’s important we unite together using all of these qualities. On Anzac Day, 25 April 2020 On Saturday, 25 April 2020 we are asking the country to unite and #StandAtDawn (6am) with your bubble, wear your poppy and listen to our special dawn service. You can stand at dawn in front of the TV, in your courtyard, in your driveway, in your garden or even your balcony. Tune into Radio NZ National (AM & FM frequencies), listen live on the internet or on your phone(download app here) for the official dawn service broadcast commencing at 6am. The morning service includes
For the next 6 weeks Pacific communities around Aotearoa can tune in weekly to Pacific language COVID-19 updates. The updates will be available in English, Cook Islands, Fijian, Kiribati, Niue, Rotuman, Samoan, Tongan, Tokelau and Tuvalu. Available on: ➡️ Wednesday - on the Ministry for Pacific Peoples Facebook page. 8am - English 9am - Cook Islands Maori 10am - Fijian 11am - Kiribati 12pm - Niue 1pm - Rotuman 2pm - Samoan 3pm - Tongan 4pm - Tokelau 5pm - Tuvalu ➡️ Thursday - on Pacific radio stations across the country. ➡️ Friday - broadcast on television at 4pm – 4.30pm on Three. People First NZ COVID-19 helpline We know that things are hard right now for many people with learning disability and their families / whānau. People First New Zealand is working together with Personal Advocacy and Safeguarding Adults Trust and IHC Advocacy to assist people during COVID-19. Do you need some help? Ring the People First New Zealand helpline on 0800 20 60 70. Vocation Sunday - 3rd May In speaking of the Gospel passage that recounts the remarkable experience of Jesus and Peter during a stormy night on the Sea of Galilee (cf. Mt 14:22-33) Pope Francis says, "Every vocation is born of that gaze of love with which the Lord came to meet us, perhaps even at a time when our boat was being battered by the storm. We will succeed in discovering and embracing our vocation once we open our hearts in gratitude and perceive the passage of God in our lives." Good Shepherd Sunday is a special day of prayer for vocations to the priesthood. Please pray for our seminarians Alfred, Matthew, Kinh and Emilio, for Gerson who is preparing to enter the seminary and for all those discerning the call to priesthood. Could someone you know become tomorrow’s priest? Pray for this person. Invite him to consider priesthood. Affirm his gifts and qualities. Encourage him to be open to the possibility of priesthood. Contact Fr David Dowling, Vocations Director: [email protected] or 021 174 4248. Visit www.wellingtonpriests.org Follow us on Facebook: Wellington Priests WHAT NEXT It was affirming to hear our Prime Minister acknowledge and thank us all for supporting the Government’s Lockdown Alert Level 4 and also for supporting each other during NZ’s efforts to prevent the spread of this Covid-19 virus. It says a lot about the Kiwi attitude and approach to life. We know that we’re in this together. We trust that those essential workers and soon, other workers too, will continue to do their best to keep themselves and us safe. We must play our part to do the same for them – “working together” to ensure the health and safety of everyone as we move into Alert Level 3 on Tues 28th. Golden Rules for life at Alert Level 3
To everyone: let us not think only of our interests, our vested interests. Let us welcome this time of trial as an opportunity to prepare for our collective future, a future for all without discarding anyone. Because without an all-embracing vision, there will be no future for anyone. Pope Francis: Homily 2nd Sun of Easter Holy Trinity Finance Committee has met by Zoom to discuss how our finances are going and also how we can continue to keep our buildings secure (at the moment) and safe for all when we get to Alert Levels 2 and 1. There is no change at Level 3 – ALL BUILDINGS REMAIN CLOSED. Be assured we have a plan, guided by expectations from the Government and the Archdiocese. Thank you for your positive responses at this time – keeping in your Bubble, praying, checking in some ways on others and more. Planned Giving Donations: If you usually make your donations via planned giving envelopes, during this lockdown time, if you can, please deposit your offering directly into the parish bank account via internet banking or at your local bank. The Parish account details are: Holy Trinity Parish BNZ Bank account number 02-0536-0185031-000. Use your planned giving number as the reference so the donation can be allocated correctly to you for your Year End tax receipt. If you usually donate without using planned giving envelopes, and if you are still able to make a donation, we encourage you also to do so via internet banking or at your local bank (using the account details above). Once the Churches are able to be safely opened again there will be a secure giving box available for cash contributions. Planned Giving Tax Receipts: Your receipts have been processed. An email copy has been sent to those we have an email address for. Printed receipts will mailed out when possible. Community Support As you’ll have seen in past few weeks’ newsletters there are many agencies available for support and assistance in addition to what we as individuals or families can do. St Vincent de Paul is actively helping within our parish and the wider area as well as contacting many parishioners with weekly check-in / social calls. Should you know of any person or any families who would appreciate a phone call or are in need of assistance please contact: Tina Quidilla SVDP 021 159 2412 [email protected] Tina and the team of fifteen others are doing a wonderful job. A few people have asked about donating to worthy causes. One suggestion of course: St Vincent de Paul: https://www.vinnies-wellington.org.nz/donate OR donations can be made to this specific COVID 19 account : Account - St Vincent de Paul Society Wellington Bank – BNZ Account Number - 02-0576-0017817-00 Reference - COVID19 Particular – e.g. your Surname to link to tax receipt. Email Vinnies ([email protected] ), with your full name and contact details if you want a tax receipt. Some other possibilities: Catholic Social Services: https://wn-catholicsocialservices.org.nz/Donate Wellington City Mission: https://wellingtoncitymission.org.nz/donate-now/ Caritas NZ: https://www.caritas.org.nz/donate Communication Our newsletter is one of the main methods of communication with parishioners. We have discovered that a number of people have not signed up to receive this. Please check with family, friends and others you may know and encourage them to email the parish office [email protected] and ask to be added to the email list. A reminder too, to download the Church App for Holy Trinity Parish from the App store – its free! Essential workers - again this week we thank you all – we couldn’t have got this far without you ! The 50th anniversary of Earth Day was Wed 22nd and May will be the 5th anniversary of Laudato Si, on Care for our Common Home, Pope Francis’ encyclical on climate change. In recent weeks many of us have had time to experience some of the beauty of our environment at home and in our local area made easy by stunning weather. The increased birdsong, so clear without traffic and aeroplane sound is an added bonus. Maybe next time you go for a walk, spend time in your garden or admire some aspect of creation one of the prayers on this site might helpful to meditate on: https://www.faithclimateactionweek.org/prayers-and-climate-blessings/
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