Kete Kōrero Mar - May 2023

Kete Kōrero

MAR - MAY 2023

PUBLISHER: Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, New Zealand

EDITORIAL TEAM: Alex Bailey

Samuel Harris Emma Trippier

DESIGN: Hayden Graham morethanjust.co.nz

WEBSITE: ketekorero.cdh.nz

EMAIL: kete@cdh.org.nz samuelh@cdh.org.nz

PHONE: 07 856 6989

POSTAL ADDRESS: PO Box 4353 Hamilton East 3247

ISSN 2357-2221

COVER: PIETÀ| PHOTOGRAPH BY GRANT WHITTY

BACK COVER: PHOTOGRAPH BY JOSH APPLEGATE

CONTENT PAGE: PHOTOGRAPH BY RACHEL MOORE

QUOTES

CANON LAW

UPCOMING EVENTS RETREATS

INTERFAITH RELATIONS COMMITTEE MEETING / BEATE MATTHIES

SAINTS & SOLEMNITIES

REFUGEE APPEAL POETRY & PRAYER KIDS’ PAGE

1. What is the origin of the word “Lent”?

2. Why does the date for Easter change?

a) Because of leap years

b) Because it’s linked with the cycles of the moon

c) Because the Liturgy of the Word cycle changes each year

3. What is the part of the body which has a colloquial name derived from a Biblical character?

4. What is the flat metal container called that is used to carry communion to the sick?

5. What is glossolalia otherwise known as?

6. When Pope John Paul II came to New Zealand in 1986, how many people attended the Mass at Athletic Park?

6. Around 25,000

5. Speaking in tongues.

4. A pyx.

3. The laryngeal prominence is commonly known as the Adam’s apple, after the first human - the legend being that a piece of the forbidden fruit (commonly described as being an apple) became stuck in Adam’s throat.

2. b) Because it’s linked with the cycles of the moon. Easter is observed on the Sunday after the first full moon that occurs on or after the (northern) spring equinox, March 21.

1. It comes from older English words meaning “springtime.”

A Church that goes out to the last, the lost, and the least

BY MARILYN RODRIGUES

More parishes are shifting their focus to evangelising outside the church doors and it’s the hardest – but most rewarding and necessary – thing for them to do, says Fr James Mallon.

The Canadian founder of the Divine Renovation Ministry returned to the Archdiocese of Sydney recently for the country’s first conference of the same name.

The 2023 Divine Renovation Australasia Conference was hosted and supported by the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation to help foster the passion for renewal in parishes envisioned by Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP’s mission plan Go Make Disciples.

Father Mallon is also the author of the best-selling books Divine Renovation: From A Maintenance To A Missional Parish; Divine Renovation Guidebook; and Beyond the Parish, which all seek to guide and resource parishes wanting to cultivate vibrant and dynamic faith communities centred on missionary discipleship.

He also co-authored Unlocking Your Parish with Ron Huntley which examines Alpha as a powerful tool for evangelisation and discipleship.

He says the world today is experiencing a new apostolic age and the Church is rediscovering its primary purpose of mission.

“The word apostolicos comes from apostolay in Greek, which means ‘to send’ and the Latin translation of that word is ‘missionary’, so to be an apostolic Church means to be a missionary Church, which means to be sent,” Fr Mallon told The Catholic Weekly in a recent online interview.

“That means to go out from ourselves, not stay in ourselves. Pope Francis says when we stay in ourselves we become a sick Church, a self-referential Church, in itself, of itself and for itself. Going out on mission means going out to evangelise and going out to serve the poor. We’re called to make disciples but we’re also called to clothe the naked and visit the prisoners.

As someone once said, we go out to the last, the lost and the least.”

“The giftedness that resides in any given parish among the laity animates the baptised laity for [this] mission. In contrast, parishes that make their primary purpose caring for the sheep never go fishing because even if they want to they never have time left”, Fr Mallon said.

“Parishes who put mission first also do a good job of looking after the sheep because if you’re missionary you’re raising up other believers, and the gifts for caring are not just with the ordained, they’re within the baptised.”

But most Catholic parishes are like fishing boats tied up in the harbour. We paint them and maintain the engine and we have card socials and coffee socials and bingo in them – we don’t go out, we stay in the shelter of our harbours because of fear, indifference, anxiety, uncertainty – and we don’t actually obey the commandment of Jesus in a very real way.”

Director of the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation, Daniel Ang, affirmed the call for parishes to take the outreach to the unchurched, “the lost” and “least” seriously.

“There is no trade-off between growing the faith of our people we have and the call to evangelisation to those we don’t – our faith grows through mission, by being sent,” he said.

“Like the first apostles in the Upper Room, we may be scared, unsure, not fully formed, but in the Spirit of Christ we find the courage to embark on mission like those apostles of the Book of Acts who changed the world and the Church through their courage.”

While obeying Christ’s call to “go make disciples” should be good enough reason to strive to do so, Fr Mallon points out that it’s also necessary for the survival of parishes.

“THE OCEAN IS TEEMING WITH FISH, AND JESUS HAS ALREADY SAID PUT OUT INTO DEEP WATER AND LET DOWN YOUR NETS FOR A CATCH...

THERE IS NO TRADE-OFF BETWEEN GROWING THE FAITH OF OUR PEOPLE WE HAVE AND THE CALL TO EVANGELISATION TO THOSE WE DON’T.

“If we don’t move to a missionary footing there’s not going to be a Church, because the Christendom model of Christian faith being passed via traditional means of family, school, and parish is all gone,” he said.

“The spiritual osmosis process that used to happen stopped working because the world around us has changed and so if we rely on that methodology all we’re going to get each year is smaller and older.”

Having advised parishes and dioceses around the world, the Canadian priest says he is seeing the most growth in the UK where the Divine Renovation Ministry is working closely with around 14 per cent of all Catholic parishes.

“There are amazing stories in Canada and the US as well, and parishes in Australia which are very supportive as is the whole Archdiocese of Sydney,” he added.

“One of the most powerful stories is of a small parish outside of Christchurch in New Zealand. It had a church attendance of 500 people each weekend and last Easter they baptised 13 adults who came to the church through Alpha. It’s incredible that this fruit is being produced in even a small rural parish.”

Key to parish renewal is leadership from the pastor who has the support of his bishop.

“If you don’t have a leader who’s got the fire in his bones it’s never going to happen because even with that and also being willing to stay the course it’s hard. It’s one of the most difficult things you can do in your life, it’s not quick, it takes time.”

“Not everyone will go with you; there’ll always be a segment of people who absolutely refuse. But the aim is to take most people with you.

“Every time you clarify, you attract and repel, people say, ‘Oh my goodness I don’t want to be a part

of that’, but other people say ‘Wow I want to be a part of that’.”

Fr Mallon said his current pastoral role, spearheading an amalgamation of five struggling communities in Nova Scotia, has put him back in touch with the reality of getting parish renewal efforts off the ground.

The “cares of the sheep” can choke efforts at renewal, he said.

“It’s the pull of maintenance, and I don’t mean maintaining buildings. Most of our parishes are very inward-focused and there’s a gravitational pull towards the centre, whereas mission is about turning outwards,” he explained.

“Even for me who is pretty motivated and passionate, I still need to fight to give even 10 per cent of my energy towards the most important things.

“Sometimes it’s the cares of the sheep, the demands of maintenance that strangle the impulse for renewal out of you. I speak to priests all the time and they’re getting crushed by the burden of everything they need to do. It’s tough.

“But imagine for a second if we could see many parishes mobilise like this; this is our dream at Divine Renovation Ministry. We’ll know we’re successful when we’re lost in the crowd, when people no longer talk about us. That’s our goal, and that’s beginning to happen.”

Parish priest of Penshurst and Peakhurst and director of the Arete Centre for Missionary Leadership Fr Chris Ryan MGL said that as Fr Mallon is an expert in the area of parish renewal it was “very exciting” to be welcoming him to Sydney for the conference.

“At St Declan’s we’ve learnt so much from his wisdom and insight and are delighted to host the conference for that reason.

“The renewal of the Church comes through the parish so it depends on parishes to be energised and evangelising communities,” he said.

Originally published at catholicweekly.com.au

Reprinted with kind permission.

To Forgive

BY FR JOHN O’CONNOR

We all struggle to forgive those who have hurt us, and those who have hurt those we love.

Sometimes the hurt is recent, but we can also carry resentment and hate for years and even for decades.

My lack of forgiveness rarely affects the one who has caused my pain, but it has a huge negative effect on me emotionally, physically, psychologically and therefore spiritually.

Often it is my awareness of how I am persecuting and punishing myself when I fail to forgive that shakes me awake to my need to forgive and my desire to forgive.

Perhaps a reason we struggle to forgive is that we misunderstand what Jesus means by forgiveness. We make the mistake of thinking that forgiveness is a feeling. It is not. Forgiveness is a decision of the will.

A decision begins the process of forgiveness and healing. The feeling of forgiveness will follow.

To emphasise this again: forgiveness is a decision, the feeling will unfold over time.

Sometimes the one we struggle to forgive has been dead for many years and we might think we have missed our chance to forgive. It is important to know that because forgiveness is our decision, and we have the power to make that decision, a conversation with the person who hurt us, while sometimes helpful, is not always necessary.

All we need to do is to realise that we no longer want to carry the burden of resentment or hate, and then make the decision to forgive.

Many years ago I learnt from Ignatius of Loyola to pray with my deepest desire.

To paraphrase Ignatius’ teaching and relate it to forgiveness: if you are struggling to forgive, then pray for the desire to forgive.

If you can’t yet pray for the desire to forgive, then pray for the desire for the desire to forgive.

If you can’t do this, then pray for the desire for the desire for the desire to forgive.

You are probably smiling now as I am. This humour when facing our need to forgive is very helpful. The humour shifts our focus from our own inability to forgive to the willingness of God to give us the gift of forgiveness. It is God who enables us to find freedom through forgiveness of those who have hurt us.

The wonderful reality is that when we pray this

prayer for the desire for the desire,… at some point in the prayer we can pray whole-heartedly.

We may not want to pray for the desire to forgive because perhaps we think the other does not deserve our forgiveness. But we might be able to pray for the desire for the desire.

We forget that forgiveness is not a human achievement. The ability to forgive others is the gift of God who has already forgiven us.

When we find the words that we can wholeheartedly pray (even with conditions to begin with) the Holy Spirit will not miss the opportunity to begin the healing.

A prayer from AA – 4th Step (with the instruction “Do it every day for two weeks and you will find you have come to mean it and to want it for them, and you will realise that where you used to feel bitterness and resentment and hatred, you now feel compassionate understanding and love.”)

Dear Jesus,

Please help me to be free of anger and to see that the world and its people have dominated me.

Show me that the wrong-doing of others, fancied or real, has the power to actually kill me.

Help me to master my resentments by understanding that the people who wrong me were perhaps spiritually sick.

Please help me show those I resent the same tolerance, pity and patience that I would cheerfully grant a sick friend.

Help me to see that this is a sick person.

Dear Jesus, please show me how I can be helpful to them and save me from being angry.

Lord, help me to avoid retaliation or argument. I know I can’t be helpful to all people, but at least show me how to take a kindly and tolerant view of each and every one.

Thy will be done.

Originally published at foodforfaith.org.nz and reprinted here with kind permission.

This Lent, seek out confession the way Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati did

By Cerith Gardiner

This popular Italian saint’s passion for confession led to one extraordinary confession in particular.

Some saints really leave an impression on you. Maybe it’s their incredible sacrifices, devotion, or bravery; or maybe there’s just something relatable about them that you would love to emulate.

For me, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati is that saint. He models everything I would want my own children to have: an excitement for life, a desire to help others, a devotion to family — both on earth and in heaven — all while being a bit of a prankster.

Yet there’s something about the charismatic Italian that not many people might know: he loved to go to confession. In fact, he had a need to confess. And in the wonderful book Finding Frassati and Following His Path to Holiness by Christine M. Wohar, we hear a little more about his confessional habits.

According to Wohar, Frassati would often go to confession on a daily basis. But on one occasion he didn’t quite make it to the confessional.

Wohar shares a particular incident that Fr Righini had told her while working on her book. Apparently while the priest was on his way to Mass at the basilica, La Consolata (in Turin), Pier Giorgio bumped into him at around 11 a.m.

The devout young man asked the priest if he “could have the pleasure of going to confession,” Fr Righini shared. Caught off guard but wanting to help Pier Giorgio, the priest looked to see if there was a church in the vicinity. In the true practical style of the young Frassati, he said “That’s not necessary, I’ll confess here on the street.”

The priest then shared how Frassati took off his hat, made the Sign of the Cross and began to confess. While Fr Righini was distracted by the busy street, Frassati was oblivious to what was going on around him as he confessed, and “afterward, went on his way satisfied and happy.”

How beautiful it is to see that confessing his sins led to such satisfaction and happiness. His sister, Luciana Frassati, can give us some insight as to why her brother felt such peace after going to confession. In her book, Mio Fratello Pier Giorgio, she states:

“[Pier Giorgio] wanted to approach God more frequently to purify his soul, and he sought help from his confessor’s advice so that he could live the Christian life more deeply. Possessing the Lord’s peace, it was easier for him to suffer, to make sacrifices, to deal with the daily silence in our house and the harsh tests of charity outside the home.”

It is that very notion of “possessing the Lord’s peace” during this upcoming Lenten period that we should strive to achieve. To feel God by our side, lending support, as we make sacrifices in his name.

From a practical point of view, we aren’t likely to experience a spontaneous sidewalk confession. But there’s nothing stopping us from visiting our local parish to seek forgiveness and divine assistance with the same fervour as Pier Giorgio - it will also help us step out into the world lighter in spirit.

Originally published at aleteia.org and reprinted here with kind permission.

Don’t Waste Your Suffering

By the Sisters of Life

Lent greets us with the exhortation: “Repent and believe in the Gospel!” and, with a smudge of ashes, a necessary reminder of the passing emptiness of all that is not of God. The added prayers, fasting, and almsgiving are a call to conversion, to clearing the paths of our heart that we may embrace reality more truly. Lent is a time of purification and a time of renewed memory – not just of our sins and shortcomings, but of remembering God’s answer to our desperate need: his Son, Jesus Christ. In coming to redeem us, the Lord chose to become one with us in every way, flesh and blood, one who suffers with and for us. Suffering is the inevitable result of sin –original, social, and personal. In abolishing the reign of sin, the Lord chose to take suffering up as a weapon of love and obedience– defeating sin and death through his Cross. In Christ and in Christ alone, suffering no longer has the last word, but love does.

And yet, how we still suffer! We suffer even the fear of suffering and try to avoid it at almost any cost. And it finds us anyway. Each of us carries a cross – almost always unexpected and seemingly too much. Whatever its cause, suffering is an evil – a lack of the good that ought to be. The good news is that now this evil does not have the last word. In Christ, suffering finds its meaning. Each of us is made to become a gift, and our sufferings, too, can become a gift of love, transformed

into a source of life-giving redemption for ourselves and others. In the deepest depths of our pain, our failures and sorrows, the risen Jesus desires to love us with great intimacy, broken heart to broken Heart. United with him, he pours mercy and healing from his wounds through ours, out onto a thirsty world.

One of the most powerful sources of untapped energy in the world is found in suffering. Cardinal O’Connor used to exhort: “Do not waste your suffering!” Each silent offering of pain, vulnerability, abandonment releases a powerful dose of merciful and healing love into the world, converting hearts, giving strength, drawing people back to God and each other.

“Suffering passes, having suffered never passes.” If lived with reliance on Christ and supported by others, “having suffered” is one of the surest ways to human understanding and empathy. Suffering is but a prelude to healing, wholeness, and strength. Passing through the inevitable fires of sufferings, one can almost wish to suffer again, if only for the blessings, graces, and growth in character, the capacity for love and wisdom which accompany suffering when lived with Christ.

Reprinted with kind permission from IMPRINT magazine: www.sistersoflife.org/resources

What happens when we die?

By Sr Fidelity Grace, SV and Sr Marie Veritas, SV

“Death is the most important act of earthly existence. All life is made to explode, to go farther, to merge with life, with God.”

- Robert Cardinal Sarah

MEETING GOD

In his infinite mercy, Jesus turned death upside down and made it the path to life. At the very moment of death - when our souls separate from our bodies - we will each receive our particular, unique judgement from God. Our whole life is a preparation for this moment. Now, we will not be arbitrarily assigned a passing or failing grade by a harsh master; we will receive from our merciful savior himself the destiny we choose. And we will not stand before Christ with our report cards and résumés and trophies in tow. As St John of the Cross put it simply: “In the evening of life, we will be judged on our love.”

Jesus the gentleman: Philosopher Edward Feser describes judgement as being like wet clay in a furnace: a moment that locks into place our basic posture - either toward God, or not. Even though he constantly works at every turn for our good, and always gives each soul enough grace for salvation, Jesus is a gentleman. In his mercy and justice, he will not force heaven upon us if we don’t want it. How we’ve let ourselves be formed in love, and what or whom we seek at the moment of our death, will be, in itself, our judgement.

Immediately after death, the soul goes either to

heaven, hell, or purgatory.

HEAVEN

Eternal bliss: Jesus died and rose to make heaven possible for us who were stuck in sin; that’s why he came. To arrive in heaven is to be submerged in the unending embrace and praise of the Infinite Love who made us. It is to have all life’s thirsts quenched, questions answered, and desires fulfilled. For when we see God as he is - Father, Son, and Spirit unveiled - we come to know ourselves as we truly are, as he sees us.

Made for you: While perpetually new and exciting, heaven is ever familiar. There we can authentically say, with a smile as wide as the horizon, “I belong here. I was made for this.” It is a true reunion with God’s earthly family. Free from any trace of rivalry or contention, all those in heaven are saints, transformed by glory to the degree that they loved God on earth.

C.S. Lewis masterfully imagines it:

“Your place in heaven will seem to be made for you, and you alone, because you were made for it … Stitch by stitch as a glove is made for a hand.”

It doesn’t end there: At the end of time, when Christ comes again, the bodies of all the dead will rise (some to eternal life, and some to eternal death), and the entire cosmos will be transformed. But we will not morph into angels or “reincarnate” as new personalities. Instead, our own body and soul will be united again. Those who rise to life will become like

the Risen Christ – still themselves, but glorified and perfected! (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church #9881004.)

Indeed, “we look forward to the resurrection of the dead…” (Nicene Creed). It’s the happiness we’re made for.

love. In our final hour, however, if we refuse to receive his mercy, or refuse to repent of any mortal sins, then we ultimately refuse to live with God. To be damned to hell is to have knowingly said “no” to the arms that were always open to embrace us and the voice that had always called our name.

The reality of hell: Today, the devil is often lumped into the same category as mermaids and fairies - the realm of make-believe. But Scripture and Christian tradition are clear that Satan, an angel created good by God, definitively chose against God and now dwells with his minions in the place of perpetual death known as hell. Christ himself often referred to Gehenna (a garbage dump where fires continually burned) as an image of hell - the destiny of those who ultimately choose against love. “For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me... what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me ... truly I say to you, I do not know you” (Mt 25: 42-45; Mt 25:12).

“Our aim must be the infinite and not the finite ... We have always been expected in Heaven.”

- Blessed Carlo Acutis

Like a fish out of water: A fish out of water isn’t merely uncomfortable; it is cut off from its very life-source. Likewise, hell is complete separation from the love of God. Hell’s greatest pain is isolation from the Creator and all other creatures — from the communion for which we were made. It is a place devoid of truth, goodness, and beauty; a realm of chaos and unspeakable agony. St Ignatius of Loyola once said, “Imagine the worst you can, and then say, ‘All this is nothing compared to hell.’” It is an everlasting abode of darkness, death, and fire.

The choice against God: God desires no one’s eternal unhappiness, let alone a person’s destruction or non-existence. He desires our free return to his

Preparation for heaven: Now, if the door of a heart is open even a sliver to God, God’s mercy will welcome him. Even deathbed converts, like the good thief on Calvary, have a place in paradise. But for one still attached to less serious sins at the time of death, the dazzling brilliance of heaven would be unbearable. The God who is Mercy thus gives us an intermediate state of preparation for heaven. Purgatory is not a punishment. Like the fire that refines silver or the surgery that fixes a heart problem, purgatory cleanses souls of everything that is not of God. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI explains, “Before [Christ’s] gaze all falsehood melts away. This encounter with him, as it burns us, transforms and frees us, allowing us to become truly ourselves” (Spe Salvi, #47).

Bittersweet longing: A soul’s greatest longing is to be with God in heaven. St Catherine of Genoa tells us that the souls in purgatory suffer deeply from the awareness that “... they have deliberately gone against his great goodness.” The more they are attached to sin, the more it will hurt to remove it. However, as each impediment to love is burned away, the joy of the souls in purgatory increases. Everyone who goes to purgatory eventually goes to heaven.

“If it were but known how great is the power of the good souls in purgatory with the heart of God, and if we knew all the graces we can obtain through their intercession, they would not be so much forgotten.” - St

John Vianney

“Let us empty purgatory with our prayers.” -St Padre Pio

Reprinted with kind permission from IMPRINT magazine, Fall 2020: www.sistersoflife.org/resources

QUOTES

Bad times, hard times, this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We make our times: such as we are, such are the times. - St

Augustine

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. - Seen on twitter.com

A friend told me a story about an older woman in his nursing home who only bought a single overripe banana each day at the local shop. When asked about it, she replied, “You think I have time for green bananas?” - Seen on twitter.com

Do not accept anything as truth that lacks love and do not accept anything as love which lacks truth. One without the other is a destructive lie. -

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

When you are insulted by someone or humiliated, guard against angry thoughts, lest they arouse a feeling of irritation, and so cut you off from love and place you in the realm of hatred. - St

Maximos the Confessor

Let’s be frank. The notion [applied in new euthanasia laws] that some people - the severely mentally ill, the cognitively impaired - are “useless eaters,” “better off dead,” “lebensunswertes leben,” is back - with a vengeance. It’s dressed in the language of “compassion” and “choice.” We must resist it - fiercely. -

Prof. Robert P. George

We should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection, through whom we are saved and delivered. - Entrance antiphon, Maundy Thursday, cf. Galatians 6:14

I am the true vine and you are the branches, says the Lord. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, bears fruit in plenty, alleluia. - Communion antiphon, Fifth Sunday of Easter, cf. John 15:1, 5

CANON LAW

Canon Law is the set of regulations and rules that govern much of the Church’s business; like secular law, it is applied by experts; like secular law, we can sometimes think it’s only for experts, or is impenetrable, or is useless for our day-to-day lives. Here’s one small piece though, Canon 212, which speaks directly to us laypeople: about making our voice heard to our leadership, to our priests and bishops.

We have the right and even the responsibility to express our views to the hierarchy (taking into consideration “the knowledge, competence and prestige which [we] possess - i.e. being sure we know what we’re talking about).

A Catholic could write to their priest, bishop, or the papal nuncio (the pope’s ambassador, residing in Wellington), expressing their thoughts “on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful.” The Church counsels us, as we do so, to be aware of “the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence towards … pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.”

As our diocese looks for a new shepherd, a Catholic could write to the nuncio, Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa, with their thoughts on what qualities would be best for this appointment; any other needs in our diocese or nation, or ideas for our mission, could be included.

“The Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires.”

His Excellency Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa

nuntius@nunciature.nz

PO Box 22 004

Khandallah 6441

Wellington, New Zealand

By Kirsty Muir, Diocesan Events Co-ordinator

Focus on the family - we hear it, but life gets so busy running around after our kids! Here is a dedicated weekend, to reset, have loads of fun, spend time with family and friends, listen to guest speakers, and, most importantly, spend time with Christ - who is the heart and centre of our families.

The Sunday of our weekend, the Second Sunday of Easter, may also be known to some as Divine Mercy Sunday. Whilst we are still in the Easter Octave, we have used the Divine Mercy as inspiration for a theme for the weekend: it can’t get much better than being reminded that God loves us no matter how great our sin - his mercy will always be greater. The ABCs of Divine Mercy are as follows, something we can start off with in our own families.

Ask for his mercy. God wants us to approach him in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins and asking him to pour his mercy out upon us and upon the whole world.

Be merciful to others. God wants us to receive his mercy and let it flow through us to others. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as he does to us.

Completely trust in Jesus. God wants us to know that the graces of his mercy are dependent upon our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will receive.

Our guest speakers, Megan and Nahum Kozak, will inspire and guide you through a weekend where you get to reconnect with yourself, your spouse, your kids, and God. Megan and Nahum are couples therapists, both trained in the Gottman Method and co-founders of Lighthouse Relationships Psychology & Counselling practice in Brisbane, Australia.

During this weekend Megan and Nahum will be drawing on their faith, personal experience, and professional practice – as well as a little bit

of relationship and family research - to talk about building a strong relationship with yourself, others, and with God. They can’t wait to share their wisdom and have some fun at this Divine Mercy Weekend.

From a bonfire on the beach Friday night to our final lunch together on Sunday, we will be eating together, praying together, listening together, and having fun together, making memories that our children will cherish forever.

During our keynote speaker sessions the children will be well looked after. We have trained creche carers for our wee ones, catechists for our primary school-aged children, who will have their own mini Divine Mercy sessions, and the NET team for our teenagers.

There will also be a special dads-only session with Nahum for breakfast, and a mums-only session with Megan, with wine and cheese.

Whether this is your first time or you have never missed a weekend, this weekend is for your family.

For more info we have an event set up on our Catholic Diocese of Hamilton Facebook page or the diocesan webpage under “Events.”

UPCOMING EVENTS

Chrism Mass

April 4, 6pm, Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Hamilton

Family Weekend

April 15-16, 2023

Set Free

Year 10-13 April 18-20

Heaven Come

Young Adults (ages 18-35)

April 21-23

RETREATS

A silent directed retreat consists of individual spiritual direction each day (roughly 20 to 30 mins). Retreatants will be directed by either Fr Richard Shortall, Fr Aidan Mulholland, or Fr John Jolliffe SM.

The remainder of the day is at your disposal for prayer/spiritual reading/Adoration/relaxation/leisure.

The retreats are fully catered and include accommodation - each retreatant will have their own room. Retreats take place at either the Cluny Retreat Centre in Tauranga or the Tyburn Monastery in Ngakuru (close to Rotorua).

Cost - $110 fee weekend/$220 weekday - payable by Credit Card. If the fee is unaffordable please use the discount codes FULL or HALF to receive a discount on the fee. Places are limited to five participants per retreat.

“The retreat was just what I needed to give my prayer life a rev-up! The opportunity for spiritual direction was incredibly helpful for me to dig deeper into what the Lord is saying through prayer and my life.” - past retreatant in 2022.

Cluny Retreat Centre, Tauranga

Weekend Retreats

April 14-16

Weekday Retreats

May 21-26

Tyburn Monastery, Ngakuru

Weekend Retreats

September 22-24

October 20-22

November 24-26

Weekday Retreats

November 27- December 1

INTERFAITH RELATIONS COMMITTEE MEETING

By Beate Matthies

The New Zealand Catholic Bishops Committee for Interfaith Relations (NZCBCIR) met in Palmerston North March 4-5.

Every diocese in Aotearoa New Zealand has one representative on this committee who is also a member of the local Interfaith Council which is made up of representatives from different religious traditions.

Bishop Michael Dooley of Dunedin liaises with the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference.

“Interreligious dialogue is a necessary condition for peace in the world, and so it is a duty for Christians as well as other religious communities. This dialogue is in first place a conversation about human existence or simply, as the bishops of India have put it, a matter of ‘being open to them, sharing their joys and sorrows’.”Pope Francis, from Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel, 2013.

Picture from left to right: Nick Wilson (Palmerston North), Christopher Longhurst (Wellington), Colin MacLeod (Dunedin), Adele Churchman (Christchurch/Timaru), Beate Matthies (Auckland), Teresa Fernandez (Hamilton) and Bishop Michael Dooley. Absent: Matthew Gardner (Christchurch)

SAINTS & SOLEMNITIES

April

2 Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

6 Holy Thursday

7 Friday of the Passion of the Lord

8 Holy Saturday - Easter Vigil

9 Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord

16 Divine Mercy Sunday

26 St Mark

28 St Peter Chanel, Patron of Oceania

29 St Catherine of Siena

May

1 St Joseph the Worker

2 St Athanasius

3 Sts Philip and James

13 Our Lady of Fatima

20 St Bernadine of Siena

21 Ascension of the Lord

22 St Rita of Cascia

26 St Philip Neri

28 Pentecost Sunday

31 Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

REFUGEE APPEAL

HMS Trust resettles refugees in Hamilton. They are our new Kiwis. Hamilton is their fresh start in life. There is a need for good basic starter items for when they first arrive. We especially need kitchen gear: pots, fry pans, dinner sets, cutlery, utensils, oven dishes, bowls, large boiler/preserving pots, tea towels, glasses, electric jugs, toasters. Also single sheets, flannels, and any good small items that make a house a home. Donations of new small items from KMart or the Warehouse are great also. If you know anyone shifting or downsizing please ask them if they’d like to donate any excess. Items can be dropped off at the Migrant Settlement Centre, 46G Boundary Rd, Claudelands, Hamilton. Please label donations “for refugees.” Please contact Linda Richards ph 0272500018 with any queries. Many thanks. www.hmstrust.org.nz

POETRY & PRAYER

St Patrick’s Breastplate

I bind unto myself today

The strong name of the Trinity: By invocation of the same, The Three in One and One in Three. I bind this day to me for ever, By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation, His baptism in the Jordan river, His death on the Cross for my salvation. His bursting from the spicèd tomb, His riding up the heavenly way, His coming at the day of doom, I bind unto myself today!

I bind unto myself today

The power of God to hold and lead: His eye to watch, his might to stay, His ear to hearken to my need; The wisdom of my God to teach, His hand to guide, his shield to ward; The word of God to give me speech, His heavenly host to be my guard! Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me. Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger. I bind unto myself the name, The strong name of the Trinity: By invocation of the same, The Three in One, and One in Three; Of whom all nature hath creation, Eternal Father, Spirit, Word; Praise to the Lord of my salvationSalvation is of Christ the Lord!

From the Divine Office - ascribed to St Patrick; translation by C.F. Alexander

SAINT PATRICK, BISHOP OF IRELAND | GIOVANNI BATTISTA TIEPOLO

ALLELUIA ASHES CROSS EASTER LAMB PASSOVER RISEN TOMB TRIDUUM

CROSSWORD CROSSWORD

1. The number of stations in the Via Crucis

2. A follower of Christ

3. In Italian, Pasqua

4. He is Risen!

5. Jesus’ death sentence

6. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday

1. Fourteen

2. Christian

3. Easter

4. Resurrection

5. Crucifixion

6. Triduum