The recommendations from the recent Archdiocesan Synod and the consequent Parish Stewardship Day have helped us set priorities in our pastoral ministry.
Our energy is drawn into formulating plans and actions in the parish enlightened by these recommendations.

While it is good to give our whole attention to this, we also need to be reminded as to who we are. The Stewardship Day recommendation has highlighted the difference between a do-gooder and a disciple eloquently.
“A do-gooder is driven; a disciple is drawn”. We need to have the spiritual eyes to see our role in building the kingdom of God in this world.

That is why we enlist the ICPE Mission to accompany us in our spiritual renewal this year. During the third week of June, there will be a “Parish Mission Week” with the theme: “AWAKEN”. The ICPE mission team will organise three evening sessions drawing on our Christian identity and our role in the mission of Christ in the world. With the same focus, the ICPE missionaries will also visit our three Parish Schools and selected rest homes within our parish.

During this week the ICPE Mission will also help us to reach out to those in our parish who are on the ‘peripheries”, that they too may have a spiritual renewal in Christ. This will also give us an opportunity to understand who are the disadvantaged in our communities, where they are, how and why they find themselves there. This will eventually help us create an “infrastructure of pastoral care” for them.

How can you take part?

• Come and attend the three evening seminars lead by the ICPE team on 20, 21, 22 June. These will be held at St Anne’s Hall, Newtown.
• Please let the Parish Office know of anyone in your community who might appreciate a house visit.
• Help us to accompany the ICPE team on the house visitations and/or help with transport.
• Help provide lunch and dinner for the ICPE team during the Parish Mission week.
• If you can help, please contact the Parish office.
• Watch this space for more information

Catholic Parish of Wellington South

Response to parish plan survey 2018

Parishioners were surveyed as part of the parish planning process. 73 parishioners responded to the survey monkey, 4 sent in e mails, 1 put in a handwritten submission. 90% thought the plan was either ‘somewhat realistic’ or ‘very realistic’. In summary – there was overwhelming support for the plan to progress.

The responses and comments were grouped into ‘themes’. This note summarises those themes (and includes those who thought the plan was not realistic). These in turn have been included within the redraft of the plan which is now with the Parish Council.

Major themes

The major themes to emerge can be grouped under the heading ‘connecting school and parish’, ‘cultural and ethnic diversity’, ‘biculturalism/Maori’ and ‘Catholic Social Teaching’.

Secondary themes

The next major themes were ‘Mass times’, ‘property’ and ‘collaborative ministry – lay/ordained’.

Other themes

The following broadly outlines the other themes to emerge:

‘Who is responsible for what?’; St Bernard’s rosters – too few people’; ‘developing prayer and contemplative life’; ‘aging parishioner demographic – energy to do anything?’; ‘building community – might be building a stronger community or belonging to a community’; ‘move the plan beyond one year’; ‘change “peripheries” to responding to need’; ‘change faith formation to faith and spiritual formation’; ‘youth, young people and families’.

The effort parishioners went to make a response is very much appreciated by the Parish Council and the Parish Finance Committee. Please be assured that ‘nothing has been lost’.

One of the recommendations from last year’s Synod was that the “Archdiocese deepens its understanding of Te Ao Māori and embraces biculturalism as an integral part of all its activities and decisions.”
As a Parish, we are seeking to do this by improving the use of Te Reo in our Masses. This article by Msgr Gerard Burns will give us a better understanding of the reasons why we use Te Reo Māori in our liturgies.

The Use Of Te Reo In The Mass 

by Msgr Gerard Burns

New Zealand society is changing in ways we don’t always notice when we are amidst them. I recently heard a Kiwi who had lived in England for 10 years saying she needed a dictionary now if she read a New Zealand newspaper. Why? Because there were so many Māori words that had entered the vocabulary no longer being translated.

What are some examples of these words? Tangi, kaumātua, mokopuna, hui, rangatira, kai, whānau, mahi, wharenui, etc. Attitudes are changing and language knowledge is changing.

Our own observations tell us New Zealand is becoming more ethnically diverse. The last 30 years have also seen a fuller development of what was begun with the Treaty of Waitangi. New Zealand’s system of government was established on a recognition of the Māori as the first peoples of the country.

Although the Treaty was ignored for more than 100 years by parliaments, government departments and judiciary its consequences have gradually been unfolding. Part of this has been the recognition of te reo Māori as an official language of New Zealand.

So the new official publication of the revised English translation of the Mass contains the Mass prayers in Māori and English. Priests are encouraged to make use of both. All this is different from the 1980s when there was an uproar over a telephone operator greeting callers with a simple ‘Kia ora’.

‘Kia ora’ is also a beautiful phrase. I like to translate it as ‘May you have life’, a wonderful thing to wish anyone. Using the Māori translations of Mass prayers acknowledges the first language of this land, recognises those with Māori whakapapa, and signals a respect for other languages than the dominant English.

It also picks up the encouragement of our country’s bishops over the last 30 years. The anthropological studies of Fr Gerald Arbuckle SM in the 1970s (such as The Church in a Multicultural Society, 1976) showed the need for recognition of Maori especially and of new migrants. The Bishops’ statement for the 150th anniversary of the Treaty, ‘1990 A Commemoration Year – He Tau Whakamaharatanga mō Aotearoa’ outlines their response.

The Bishops remind us of our heritage from the original Catholic mission to Aotearoa. Bishop Pompallier and his early companions came to work among Maori. Pompallier also made a significant contribution at Waitangi when the Treaty was signed. To use Maori language, songs and symbols appropriately in liturgy is to pick up that heritage.

These matters can spark questions. One senior parishioner used to chide me when I did the final blessing of the Mass in Māori. She said: ‘Why are you doing that when we don’t have any Māori in our congregation?’ My response was twofold: ‘How do you know? We don’t necessarily know everyone’s lineage here! Besides, as Māori is an official language in the country we can use it in public.’

Of course this is not to exclude other languages or cultures. The recognition and participation of all is important, not just in terms of language and song but also through participation in the ministries and life of the parish generally.

This is not always easy but there are several examples of good practice around the Archdiocese that can help us in the process.

Daily reflections on the Way of the Cross through the life of Suzanne Aubert, written by Bridget Taumoepeau and featuring the stained glass windows of John Drawbridge as photographed by Nina Cuccurullo.

You can download a complete set of these reflections from this link.  

You are also always welcome to visit The Chapel of Our Lady of Compassion in Island Bay for your own time of prayer and reflection.
The Chapel is open on Monday to Saturday from 10:00am to 3:00pm
and on Sunday from 12:00pm to 3:00pm
(please phone 04 383 7769 for our opening hours on public holidays).

Our thanks to all those who joined together and contributed to a make a successful and fun day.
Special thanks to Fr. David and Fr. Dennis for the three Parish Masses and the Sisters and staff for their hospitality.
Many thanks also to the teams of people involved in the planning and coordination of the day.
A job well done and very much appreciated.

Thanks to Deirdre Hanlon for the photos.

The Parish Plan has been developed out of an extensive consultation process open to all parishioners. This has included the amalgamation of our parish into one, and more recently the 2017 Synod process and the Stewardship Day held in November 2017.

Seven goals have been formulated, each has a number of actions with a time-line over the next two years. These may be developed, changed and added to as we progress.  You will find The Parish Plan displayed on a poster at the back of the church, and HERE

There is another opportunity for parishioners to contribute and comment by taking part in the SURVEY and consider the questions asked.

(Click graphic to open link to the pdf)

Your Voice Counts: Submissions Now Open for ‘End of Life Choice Bill’

The Justice Select Committee is now asking for public submissions on David Seymour’s ‘End of Life Choice Bill’. The bill seeks to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide (called ‘assisted dying’ in the bill) for people with a terminal illness or a “grievous and irremediable” medical condition.
Many of you will have made a submission to the Health Select Committee inquiry about ‘Ending Life in New Zealand’. Because of the overwhelming number of submissions against euthanasia, parliament took notice and your voice made a difference. However, the Justice Select Committee inquiry is different because it is specifically about the bill. A submission is your chance to have your say on the bill.
Your voice counted then. We ask if you can do it again. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Important: Please state in your submission whether you would like to make an oral submission. This is when you appear before the Committee either in person or over the phone. We encourage you to make one because it is an extra opportunity to add more information and it is important that the Committee hears from people.

1. HOW:
If you do not want your name & contact details to be made public, provide them on a separate page for written submissions, or separate from the file you upload if emailing or using online form.

Web
• Go to notoassistedsuicide.nz for a quick link to submit.
• Follow the instructions.
• You can enter text directly or upload a document in pdf or doc format.

Email
• Send an email to ju@parliament.govt.nz.
• Put “End of Life Choice Bill Submission” in the subject line.
• Include your name, address, telephone number.
• Attach your submission in pdf or doc format.

Letter
In a covering letter, starting at the top of the page, write:
• ‘Submission on End of Life Choice Bill.’
• ‘To the Justice Select Committee.’
• ‘This submission is from [your name] and/or [your organisation].’
• Contact details: email address, contact address, telephone number.
On a separate piece of paper, write your submission.
Enclose 2 copies of your submission and send it to:
Committee Secretariat
Justice Committee
Parliament Buildings
Wellington

2. WHAT:
In your submission:
1. State your position clearly (e.g. “I oppose the End of Life Choice Bill…”).
2. State why you are opposed and what main point (or points) you are concerned about.
3. Finish by making your recommendation (e.g. “I recommend that the Committee rejects the Bill…”).

Key issues relating to David Seymour’s Bill: [Please write using your own words.]
• You don’t have to be dying to qualify: this Bill includes people with chronic conditions and mental health conditions.
• There is no need for doctors to be involved: euthanasia and assisted suicide contravene medical ethics and are not medical treatment. The legal process outlined in this Bill does not require medical knowledge or skills.
• This Bill will not protect large numbers of vulnerable people from the suggestion that they are better off dead because they are a burden.
• The Bill does not provide adequate protection for vulnerable people against coercion.
• “Legal safeguards” do not protect in the real world: elder abuse and domestic violence continue to rise in New Zealand despite our laws.

3. WHEN – Submissions are now open!

Submissions must be received before 20 February 2018.
All submissions are made public on the Parliament website.

Your Voice. Make It Heard. Make It Count.