News April 2014 Cecily McNeill Would the two-and-a-half million visitors to New Zealand each year give such glowing accounts of the country on their return home if they knew that a third of the 600,000 people living in poverty were children? Archbishop John Dew put this question to a large crowd gathered in Parliament grounds […]
Opinion April 2014 Archbishop John Dew ‘Holiness, a message that convinces without the need for words, is the living reflection of the face of Christ’. Pope John Paul II, Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the Beginning of the New Millennium). These words have always appealed to me, challenged me and inspired me to try to be […]
News April 2014 Cecily McNeill The New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services CEO Trevor McGlinchey told the gathering members working at the grassroots of social services say their communities aren’t feeling the impact of New Zealand’s ‘rock star economy’. Instead they are seeing: Families who don’t have enough resources – the queues to get […]
News April 2014 Mgr Gerard Burns who is a member of the Archdiocesan Justice and Peace Commission which orgaanised the picnic, explained the significance of numbers in The Bible. The feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle that appears in all four gospels. It is the inspiration behind this picnic. In the story as […]
News April 2014 A group of hardy souls braved Wellington’s stormy weather on Ash Wednesday for a service opposite the Stock Exchange to focus on the juxtaposition of short-term profits and social values. Before distributing ashes, Mgr Gerard Burns assured listeners that a stock exchange was not intrinsically evil. ‘It can be a way of […]
Opinion April 2014 Cecily McNeill The date of the next general election is set for 20 September and we must all start thinking about who we want to represent us at the highest levels. For many an election is a tedious business and voter apathy abounds. Fuelling this ennui may be a lack of knowledge […]
Scripture April 2014 Kieran Fenn fms Much of content in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary originates in the Old Testament. In this prayer, which Pope Sixtus V approved in 1587, Mary can be perceived in the shadow of the people and institutions of the OT. Abraham’s faith constitutes the beginning of the Old […]
Feature April 2014 Christine Paterson Three Wellington women who have returned from a conference on Liturgy and liturgical music across the Tasman are calling for NZ parishes to join with Australian musicians to draw on the wealth of uplifting music coming from interpretations of the vision of Vatican II. Jane Kelly and Christine Paterson from […]
News April 2014 Suzanne O’Rourke A Catholic-led charitable trust Greenstone Doors has opened in central Lower Hutt offering coordinated counselling and support services for new parents and those who have experienced pregnancy loss. The trust held an opening ceremony to bless the volunteers and their work at its Dudley St premises on 12 March. More […]
Reflection April 2014 Veronica Lawson RSM John 11:1-45 Today’s readings touch into the most profound of human mysteries, the mysteries of life and death. To hold a new born child or to see a sick person restored to health is to experience the wonder of life. On the other hand, the unexpected death of a […]