7th may 2017

The fourth Sunday of Easter is known as Good Shepherd Sunday.  Our responsorial Psalm today is no other than the famous Psalm 23, The Good Shepherd Psalm: “The Lord is my Shepherd.” As a prayer of trust and confidence in God it has no equal, yet it was written many centuries before the coming of Christ who called himself the Good Shepherd. Do we believe what he says? Is it not almost too good to be true?  Incidentally, too, it is a special Sunday in the Catholic Church dedicated to the prayer for vocations. Today we are asked to pray for vocation to the priesthood and religious life. But each Christian has a more fundamental vocation – to be loving and caring person. To be Christ-like in the way he or she deals with other people.                                                                                                    
Fr Gregory
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.

 25th Jubilee Mass for Fr Gregory – Tues 16th May 10am at St Patrick’s Church
 
Fr Gregory will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of his ordination
 on Tuesday 16th May. All parishioners are invited to join him for Mass at 10am at St Patrick’s and stay for a cup of tea afterwards.
Please note: this will be the only Mass in the Parish on this day
 For those unable to attend, there will a special morning tea after 10am Sunday Mass on the 21st May at St Patrick’s Church.
Please bring a plate of food to share.

If you would like to contribute to Fr Gregory’s 25th  Jubilee gift,  place it in an envelope and in the collection basket with “Fr Gregory” on it.   

All parishioners are invited to a Synod workshop with Cardinal John,
to take place for the North Island parishes of the Archdiocese
 at Bishop Viard College from 1.30pm-4.30pm on Saturday 27 May.

Fr Mario will be leaving and returning permanently to the Philippines.
 We will be having a farewell cup of tea for him after the 10am Mass on the 14th May at St Patrick’s Church.  Please come and join him and bring a plate of food to share. If you would like to contribute to a farewell gift, place in an envelope in the collection basket marked “Fr Mario”.

Liturgy of the Word with Communion.  In the near future, we will be introducing Liturgies of the Word with Communion on Mondays in our Parish. To this end we are looking for leaders to be on a roster to take these Liturgies. If you are available on a Monday morning and would be capable of leading a liturgy please contact Fr Ephrem 388 6953 or fretigga@gmail.com so training sessions and commissioning can be organised.

Right of Blessing for Expectant Parents and the Child in the Womb
There wil be a Mass and blessing for all expectant parents and their child in the womb at St Patrick’s Church Kilbirnie Saturday 13th May at 11am.
There will be no confession at St Patrick’s on this day.

RCIA Team
A team from Holy Trinity Parish is again preparing to run the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) for the Eastern suburbs.
The RCIA is the process for welcoming new adult members into the Catholic Church.  It begins in May/June with a number of Inquiry sessions for those interested in Catholicism.
The process involves the whole Church community in one way of another.  What can you do?
•           First, you can pray for the success of the RCIA.
•           Second, you can tell people you know who may be interested in becoming Catholics about        the Inquiry sessions
•           Third, for further information, watch this space or contact the parish office.

102 people attended the parish property forums, plus 33 written submissions were received;
a wide variety of views were expressed
Just a reminder that a summary of submissions to the property committee is available at www.holytrinity.parish.nz/property.html. There are some printed copies available at the back of the churches. The property committee is co-chaired by Dave Monastra 0274477280 and Kim von Lanthen 0222426288 and is developing its recommendations to the parish

ALPHA PARENTING CHILDREN COURSE The course went well last year so we are offering it again.  It is a series of five videos on building strong relationships, meeting our kid’s needs, setting boundaries, teaching healthy relationships and long term aims.  The course is over five weeks.  Each week it starts with afternoon tea and a video, which are followed by short discussion.
No matter where you are at with your kids it is a helpful, practical course.  Hope you can join us.  The first session will be in the Gascoigne Room at 3.15pm on Tuesday 16 May.  There is no charge.  Bring your children along as both play and homework supervision is provided.  For more details, see the following video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY8thZ_W2gY or text Kim on 0222426288 or Ruth on 0276700365

Calling all church musicians. Come to an archdiocesan workshop on music in the liturgy - a chance to pool ideas about how best to tap into this rich resource to better celebrate the joy of liturgy. There is also the possibility of forming a network of musicians throughout the diocese to share ideas, issues and resources. Thursday 25 May in the Catholic Centre board room, second floor. Cup of tea at 6.45pm with the workshop starting at 7 and finishing around 8.30. Important to RSVP to a.williams@wn.catholic.org.nz

Volunteers required by Mary Potter Hospice for their annual street collection on Friday or Saturday 19 and 20 May 2017. If you are able to give 1 or 2 hours to help this most worthy cause in Miramar/Kilbirnie please contact Ray Whelan on 3883667 or email ray.whelan@xtra.co.nz.

Dove Wellington invites all women to our meeting from 1.15pm to 3pm on Saturday 20 May at Connolly Hall, Guildford Terrace, Wellington.  This month, Saturday 13 May marks the 100-year anniversary of Our Lady’s apparitions at Fatima.  We are blessed to have Sister Marie Gore as our guest speaker, who will be speaking on these phenomena.     It will be a great time for learning what this is all about.  We look forward to seeing you there.   Please contact Rachel Blackaby for any queries on (04) 389 9938

Vinnies thanks you…
for the support during our recent book fair. We raised over $5,000 which will go towards assisting more neighbours within our Wellington-Area. If you want to learn more about the special works and ways you can get involved with helping people in our community; email community@vinnieswgtn.org.nz.

Next Thursday 11 May the Compassion Soup Kitchen is hosting a Sound Bites Fundraising Concert at St Joseph’s Church, 154 - 156 Brougham Street, Mt Victoria. With St Catherine's College, St Patrick's College and New Zealand School of Music soloist Lucinda Ng performing, this is set to be a wonderful night of music and celebration. Doors open at 6.30pm with refreshments and the concert will start at 7pm. Parking available 42 Elilce Street. The event is door sales only with cash. Tickets cost $20 for waged and $5 for unwaged.'

Joshua Catholic Men’s Fellowship Wellington Come along and join us on Thursday 18th of May 2017 at 7:30pm for fellowship and prayer in CONNOLLY HALL, Guildford Terrace, Thorndon (behind Sacred Heart Cathedral). Speaker: Michael Powell on "Getting free from ungodly influences of our ancestrry"
Want to know more? Ring John Taylor (04) 389-8915 or 021-107-8538 or email: jnjtaylor@paradise.net.nz

Free Relationship Insurance! Marriage Encounter is running an enrichment weekend for all couples that believe their marriage is important. Without constantly working on improving your relationship complacency can creep in and wreak havoc, sometimes destroying the beautiful relationship you currently have. It’s not worth the risk! Book on the Marriage Encounter weekend now and protect your relationship. You insure your house so why not your marriage?  Join us on the next weekend. Weekend Date: 12th – 14th May. To be held at Masters Hall SH2 Pahiatua. Ph. 0800 362 686 for information and to book a place on the weekend.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 28th May – 4th June

 
New Mass rosters for Holy Cross and St Patrick’s have either been emailed or are at the back of the Church.
 

A CARING SPACE An invitation to spend a few hours exploring with God the blessings and burdens of the caregiver’s role.  This time is offered to those who care for a loved one at home. Led by Gill Schaap and Veronica Parton 18th May at The Home of Compassion, Island Bay, Cost: $10 For more details and to register contact Veronica Parton vjpdap@gmail.com or 021 238 6675

The Bach Choir of Wellington proudly a return to the Baroque on Sun May 14, 3:30pm at St Andrews on the Terrace. The concert opens with Vivaldi's Gloria (RV 589), and ends with J.S Bach's Missa (the Kyrie and Gloria from his Mass in B minor). Interspersed are works by members of J.S Bach's extended family: one of his cousins, and his youngest surviving son.  The choir will be accompanied by the Chiesa Ensemble, with Douglas Mews on the organ, and soloists Nicola Holt, Megan Hurnard, Ken Trass and David Morriss.

​Copies of the Synod Participation Booklet have been sent to parishes. It is not possible to provide everyone with a copy, so it is also available on the Archdiocese’s website www.wn.catholic.org.nz (see Synod ’17 section on the homepage).
 
Before you decide upon your response read the section “Using this Document” in the Booklet. You can provide input on all the topics, a few of them or just one of them. Responses can be made by individuals or by groups. The topics in the Booklet are:
 
Go you are sent…to find leaders
Go you are sent…to the peripheries of society
Go you are sent…to deepen our bicultural relationship
Go you are sent…as members of the one Body of Christ (ethnic diversity)
Go you are sent…to your own peripheries (those who may feel unwelcome in the Church)
Go you are sent…to refugees and migrants
Go you are sent…to care for creation
Go you are sent…to fellow Christians
Go you are sent…to accompany one another (young people)
Go you are sent…to support marriage and families.
 
Responses can be submitted by individuals and groups in various ways:
Email: download the Word document “Synod particpation response” on the website of the Archdiocese of Wellington. The link to the file is on the website’s homepage under the Synod ’17 heading. Put in your response and email to synod@wn.catholic.org.nz.
Online: follow the link on the Archdiocese of Wellington website homepage (under Synod ’17) to the questions online.
Postal response: handwrite or type your response into the document “Synod participation response”,  from the Archdiocese’s website (see Email above) or it can be posted to you if you ring Anne Dickinson 04 496 1793.  Post your response to Anne Dickinson, Archdiocese of Wellington, P O Box 1937, WELLINGTON 6140
Verbal response: if there are reasons why you find it difficult to make a written response you are welcome to ring Anne Dickinson 04 496 1793 to see if it is possible to provide a verbal response.