Voyaging on to the new Catholic Parish of Wellington South
Our new Parish will be named the Catholic Parish of Wellington South, however, we are praying for the Cause of Suzanne Aubert and that we will become the Parish of the Blessed Suzanne Aubert.
Here is an update on Suzanne Aubert’s path to sainthood:

Suzanne Aubert takes another step towards sainthood
The Theologians examining Suzanne Aubert’s cause have accepted the writings, spirituality and goodness of Suzanne Aubert.  In 1997 the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference agreed to support the first part of the formal process, called the “Introduction of the Cause of Suzanne Aubert”.  Then a historical consultation (Posito) was completed and presented for theological consultation by a panel of theologians. The panel of theologians in the Congregation of Saints have examined the Posito and judged that the case has merit.  They will now send their recommendation to the Bishops and Cardinals who work in the Congregation of Saints. If they approve the recommendation a Decree of Heroic Virtues is sent to Pope Francis for his final judgment. A decree on the heroic nature of Suzanne Aubert’s virtues will be issued and she will be given the title of Venerable.  These steps could be completed by early next year.

The next step in the process is the approval of a posthumous miracle, which would lead to Suzanne Aubert’s Beatification.  A person who is beatified is given the title “Blessed”.  After beatification the Church looks for a second posthumous miracle before proceeding to canonisation.
The consent of the Holy Father to the decision of the Congregation results in a Decree of a Miracle.
Canonisation would then be possible.

[With grateful thanks to CathNews NZ & Pacific – www.cathnews.co.nz]
Find out more at www.suzanneaubert.co.nz or from our Wellington South Suzanne Aubert Coordinators: Nina Cuccurullo, Francis & Jenny Fanning and Steve Ready.

Visit www.wellingtonsouthcatholic.org for more information on our Charting the Course Discernment.
Visit our Facebook page at “Charting the Course – The Catholic Parish of Wellington South”

Two weeks on from farewelling our discernment teams, the wisdom held in your prayers, reflections and ideas is being carried with us to our new Parish of Wellington South.

A small team involved in guiding our Charting the Course discernment met last Sunday and considered:
• What important advice does our discernment give for future leaders of our new Parish?
• What might that future leadership look like?
• And what are the next steps to take us forward? What’s next?
• Material from the discernment will be organised so it is available into the future.
• The discernment teams will gather and share experiences from the nine weeks with the Transition Team.
• The Transition Team, reflecting on our discernment, will prepare an implementation plan for Cardinal John by the Feast of Christ the King, and will work toward the establishment of new Parish leadership teams by the end of the year.
• There will be more opportunities for our Church communities to come together and get to know each other, and planning will begin for our inaugural Parish Mass on Sunday 6 March 2016.

Please continue to pray for our new Parish of Wellington South. And now is the time to begin to reflect on the contribution you can make in our new Parish.

At each Mass in the Wellington South Pastoral Area on Sunday 27 September , the feedback and reflections from the discernment process of the past nine weeks were presented.

At St Francis de Sales the documents were taken as part of the offertory procession to be at the altar during Mass.

At the end of Mass, members of the discernment team presented the communities discernment to Fr. David as a representative of the Transition Team.

Fr. David thanked the Team for their work over the previous nine weeks and assured them and the community, that he would pass on the careful considerations presented.

Fr. David gave Discernment Team members a special Blessing.

Parishioners are encouraged to continue to pray for those charged with the task of making the decisions and putting forward the plans for our New Parish

Charting the Course Discernment – Farewell and Handing Over

This weekend we farewell our discernment teams and hand the discernment of the Church communities of St Anne’s, St Bernard’s, St Francis de Sales, and St Joseph’s to the Transition Team.
Your prayers, reflections, and ideas will shape the decisions and plans the Transition Team makes for our new Parish of Wellington South.
As with our discernment process, these decisions and plans will stem from and support Our Vision:

We are a community of joyful disciples, growing together and sharing Christ’s message.

This discernment process ends today but we are only beginning the journey to our new Parish. Although we may not all agree with all the decisions that must be made, we know and trust that the Transition Team will consider the discernment of our communities with open hearts. The Team will keep you updated. Please keep the Transition Team and the changes that must come in your prayers.

The Transition Team is made up of the Pastoral Leadership Team, School Principals, plus representatives from each parish: Fr David Dowling, Mons Gerard Burns, Fr Dennis Nacorda, Lesley Hooper, Shane Connolly, Tauloa Fa’atau, Malia Vito-Tupai, Derek Smith, Deirdre Hanlon, Paul Elenio, John Whiting, Kevin Lampen-Smith, Maria Noonan, Steve Douglas, Doreen O’Sullivan, Joan Woods.

Charting the Course Discernment: What happens next?

Decisions and Planning for the new Catholic Parish of Wellington South
We are almost at the end of our Discernment Process. We pause for Confirmation in our Pastoral Area this Sunday. Next weekend we farewell our discernment teams and entrust all our fears, hopes, ideas, and prayers to the Transition Team to begin shaping the Plan for the new Parish. Some decisions and parts of the Plan will be presented to Cardinal John by the Feast of Christ the King. Other parts will take longer to develop.
Our Discernment has been a time of reflecting, praying, naming and listening to God, as we consider how we will live our vision in our new Parish. It has not been a time of consultation or debate.
If you have missed parts of the process, you can read more on our website: wellingtonsouthcatholic.org
Please continue to pray and reflect on the actions we can take to grow together and share Christ’s message as joyful disciples. You can use the contact form on our website, or post your reflections in the boxes in our Churches until Sunday 27 September.

Timeline for the New Parish of Wellington South

2015
  ♦  28th Feb: VISION –  “We are a community of joyful disciples growing together and sharing Christ’s message”
♦  24th May: NAME  – Catholic Parish of Wellington South to be renamed the Parish Pentecost of the Blessed Suzanne Aubert at the time of her beatification
♦   Aug/Sep:  CHARTING THE COURSE:  Four church communities discern how we will live our Vision

—-> 22nd Nov:  Christ the King –  INITIAL DECISIONS –  We complete some decisions about pastoral, sacramental and administrative care
—-> TRANSITION TEAM CONTINUES TO WORK ON A PLAN FOR THE NEW PARISH

2016
1st Feb NEW PARISH –  We set sail as one Parish. This is not the end of our voyage, but we will be well on our way

Reflecting on this week’s Scriptures

Over the past few months we have been confronted by images and stories of men, women and children fleeing war torn lands across Europe, by land and sea. Desperation, destruction and fear mean like Isaiah, they set their face like flint and embark on a journey of high risk to secure the hope of finding a place of freedom and safety for their families. Despite all, they trust that their God will be with them and that their plight will be recognised by others and not condemned.
In turn we have watched this drama unfold on our screens. Throughout the world, borders are closed, there is a huge loss of life and many refugees live in camps with inhuman conditions. James could be writing to us, challenging both our personal and societal complacency in front of our brothers and sisters who are in need of food, shelter and a place of safety. He reminds us, as does Pope Francis and Cardinal John, that we are called to live our faith through our actions, to open our hearts. What is heart-warming is to see individuals, families, towns and countries stand up to their governments and say this is not about politics, it is about our brothers and sisters who are suffering, we must act, open our hearts and homes to welcome them.
In the Discernment Process many of us have revealed what is important to us about our church communities and how these are places and people who help us belong to God and one another. The changes that are happening in our church communities and in our world invite us to respond to Jesus’ question “Who do you say I am?” in a new way. As Peter discovered, Jesus is not interested in us being safe and comfortable. He asks us to take up our cross and follow Him. This means learning ways “to enter into solidarity with those who suffer” (Henri Nouwen). It means going to the places within ourselves and in our world so we learn the compassion we need to be alongside the weak, vulnerable and broken. These encounters will begin to transform our hearts. It is not because life is no longer a struggle but, with our eyes and hearts opened up, we discover how good God is to us and how he loves us in the messiness of our lives. Then we begin to rejoice in our world with our brothers and sisters and want to share Christ’s message with all we meet.
– Maria Noonan

Charting the Course Discernment – Week 8:
“We are Joyful Disciples SHARING CHRIST’S MESSAGE”

As we near the end of our Discernment Process for our new Parish of Wellington South, we focus on the ACTION words of our vision – last week we reflected on Growing Together, this week we discern how as joyful disciples we will Share Christ’s Message.
A few weeks ago we focused on the Communities that exist from the South Coast to the Inner Harbour. As we look out beyond our own Church communities to the wider community:
 What is one thing that our new Parish could do to SHARE CHRIST’S MESSAGE?
 What is one thing that could stop this happening?
As well as contributing today at Mass, you can send us feedback by posting it in boxes in the churches, or using the contact form at wellingtonsouthcatholic.org.

This is the start—What’s next?

We have a vision and a name for our new Parish. No other decisions have been made.
Our Discernment has been a time of reflecting, praying, naming, and listening to God as we consider how we will live our vision in our new Parish.
In the last weekend of September, we will farewell our discernment teams and entrust all our fears, hopes, ideas, prayers, and feedback to the Transition Team to begin shaping the Plan for the new Parish. Some decisions and parts of the Plan will be presented to Cardinal John by the Feast of Christ the King. Other parts will take longer to develop. We will keep you updated.

Reflecting on this week’s Scriptures

Last weekend I was in Central Otago, where the grass was brown, flattened, the landscape lifeless, and the weather cold and damp.  We bundled up, defending ourselves from the dreariness of winter, until we saw the first daffodils emerging in my sister’s garden.  We opened up, remembering the magical transformation spring brings, with its delicate greens, blossom filled trees and abundance of daffodils, tulips and crocuses.

Isaiah’s words today bring that same sense of hope he reminds us that God comes, in the midst of our fears, to save us, to heal us and to transform our barren landscapes into fertile gardens.

What is extraordinary is God’s ongoing call to each one of us, both as individuals and community, to hear his words “Ephphatha” and be opened.  In the gospel today we see the man who was deaf and mute not only being able to hear and to speak clearly, but so full of the joy of what has happened that he can’t stop talking about. Both he and his friends who brought him to Jesus are bursting over.

At present we are being invited to be open to grow together as “joyful disciples”.  Where do we find that joy especially in the midst of so much challenge in both our church communities, our country and our world?  In all the readings, including the Psalm, we are reminded that we will discover the joy of that discipleship with those who are on the margins.  Jesus invites us, in our families and in our communities to open our hearts, to see the hard reality of our human existence but not to become imprisoned, to suffer with those who suffer, but not hold on to suffering.  Through that journey we will discover the deep hope that transforms the deserts in our lives into gardens and the deep peace God promised to those who love him.
-Maria Noonan

Charting the Course Discernment – Week 7: “What could we do so that we Grow Together?”
In these last two weeks of our Discernment Process, we focus on the ACTION words of the vision – Growing Together and Spreading Christ’s Message.

Today we reflect back on the HOPES we named for our new Parish that were about growth—hopes that our Parish will be a Community that will enable, encourage, nourish, and sustain our Growing together.

Today we go deeper and reflect on HOW we may Grow Together – what will we DO that will ensure that we are a community that is GROWING together?
Growing together can mean a number of things:
• Growing together – growing towards each other, becoming closer to each other
• Growing together – as individual disciples we can all grow because of our supporting and nurturing community
• Growing together – growing in numbers

What you tell us in the next two weeks, along with all your feedback, will be given to the Transition Team, so that they may shape the Plan that leads us forward to our new Parish. As well as contributing at Mass, you can send us feedback by posting it in boxes in the churches, or using the contact form on the website wellingtonsouthcatholic.org.

Reflecting on this week’s Scriptures

In our first reading, Moses conveys a great sense of pride and delight about the wisdom and discernment of the people of Israel, when they follow the law and customs which formed the framework of their community. A similar sense of delight and pride, in the different church communities, is evident in the feedback about what is important to us, what we are afraid of losing, and what we hope to see in our new parish. It is also present in the ways we celebrate our liturgies, the different customs we adopt, the cultural traditions we include and how we use our church buildings. All these things help give us a sense of who we are and a framework for our faith community.
Jesus, in Mark’s gospel, challenges us to go beyond these external expressions of our religion. If we are to respond to the call to live “pure, unspoilt religion, in the eyes of God”, each of us individually and in our communities need to examine our hearts and acknowledge what negative motives shape our attitudes and our actions. When we can discern and face the darkness within, and allow God’s spirit to transform us, our actions will become an expression of the conversion of our hearts to God and to God’s ways. Then we may, as parishioners of Wellington South reach out as “joyful disciples” and come “to the help of orphans and widows when they need it” and keep ourselves “uncontaminated
by the world”. Reaching out to those in need transforms us and when we allow that “wonderful ‘chemistry’ of the Gospel” to happen within us we will discover, as Donagh O’Shea puts it, “the kind of ‘chemistry’ that can turn bad stuff into  good, curses into blessings, suffering into prayer.”

Charting the Course Discernment – Week 6:  Checking our Bearings
Over the last five weeks most of us have given of our hearts, sharing our fears and our hopes most generously. We thank you for that.

Some of the feedback has shown that some of us are left feeling that the leadership is stalling in getting on with the real business of decision making—sorting out Mass times, office space, finances, and the practical things that our Community runs on.

Some are hurting—some frustrated that our feelings are not being acknowledged.

Some merely bored by the entire thing. Some feel angry that we are even facing this change.

This process is not to discern if we will change. It will happen.

This process of sharing, praying, and reflecting is about all of us being the architects of WHAT our new parish will be, HOW we will participate, HOW our four church communities will stand in solidarity with one another.

This Charting the Course Discernment is an invitation to be open to HEAR God calling us—to raise our voices in prayer and trust. So that in a few weeks time our voice, together with the Holy Spirit, will be there when the Transition Team makes the decisions about those practical things and writes the new parish plan to take us forward.

Today we invite you to do nothing more than to join with one another in gratitude as we hold all we have and all we hope for in prayer, so that unlike the Pharisees in today’s  Gospel we focus on the God-given things.

The Team put together this word cloud generated by using all the feedback contributions from Parishioners