WelCom September 2018: No room at the inn. Those words are carved deep in our Christian sensibility. Over the centuries, we have imagined a heartless landlord turning away a woman in labour, and her anxious husband; but the reality was probably a bit different. It was census time, and Bethlehem would have been crowded. Inns were […]
WelCom September 2018: The Catholic practice of ‘going on retreat’ is as old as Christianity itself. Jesus’ forty days in the desert after his baptism by John has inspired many over the ages. Today retreats for lay people usually involve a day, a weekend or longer away from home and familiar routines. Usually under the direction […]
WelCom September 2018: Dr John Kleinsman, Director, The New Zealand Catholic Bioethics Centre In March 2018, the Justice Committee announced more than 35,000 unique submissions were received on David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill; unprecedented for a Select Committee in the history of our parliament. The Committee will report its findings to parliament in March 2019. […]
WelCom September 2018: Opinion Fr James Lyons In the ongoing debate surrounding our Parliament’s End of Life Choice Bill, there is a rising tide of rhetoric that threatens to swamp the deeper issues regarding the Bill’s purpose and motivation. The purpose of the Bill is to enable a person with ‘terminal illness or a grievous and […]
WelCom September 2018: WelCom’s ‘Catholic Thinking’ articles are about theology, mortality, ethics and faith heritage by lecturers from Good Shepherd College – Te Hēpara Pei and The Catholic Institute of Aotearoa New Zealand – Te Pūtahi Katorika ki Aotearoa. This month, Lyn Smith, Head of Religious Education and the National Centre for Religious Studies, TCI, Auckland, […]
WelCom September 2018: Fr James Lyons Announcing the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis wrote that Mercy will always be greater than any sin, and no one can place limits on the love of God who is always ready to forgive. [Misericordiae Vultus. 2013, par3]. It is in the context of this ‘Year’, which began with the […]
WelCom September 2018: The Gospel of MARK 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Te Rongo Pai nā Maaka 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 1 The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered round him, 2 and they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with unclean hands, that is, without washing them. 3 For the […]
WelCom September 2018: In 2015 Pope Francis declared September 1 as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. According to Pope Francis, ‘The annual World Day of prayer for the Care of Creation offers to individual believers and to the community a precious opportunity to renew our personal participation in this vocation as […]
WelCom September 2018: Wellington Catholic Primary Schools shared a Cultural Celebration day at Holy Cross School, Miramar, on Thursday 16 August. Visiting schools included St Francis de Sales, Island Bay; St Patrick’s, Kilbirnie; St Anne’s, Newtown; St Anthony’s, Seatoun; and Sacred Heart Cathedral School, Thorndon. Manuhiri gathered to be welcomed with a pōwhiri calling them across […]
WelCom September 2018: Sue Jury, Principal When students St Claudine Thevenet School, Wainuiomata, were asked to support the Mihi Whakatau for the Catholic Schools Convention in July they said it was a great honour to do so. It emphasises two things we hold very highly – our Catholic faith and celebrating and sharing our Māori culture. […]