September 2014 Pastoral Mike Noonan A recurrent question I have heard in parishes and pastoral areas in the Archdiocese since arriving here a little over a year ago is ‘Where are our Youth?’ It is often asked in a challenging tone, appearing to imply the barque of St Peter must be sinking in Wellington harbour […]
September 2014 Pastoral Mark Richards I have been invited to offer an insight each month for Wel-Com on something I see in the pastoral life of the local Church. That is, how we minister, live our faith, pray and worship. It is a wide brief and a hard one to tie down. It has been […]
September 2014 Feature Judy Dixon In our communities we have an urgent need for volunteers to support newly-released prisoners using ordinary, everyday skills. Through Prison Fellowship New Zealand (PFNZ) we make a personal appeal to you to help. PFNZ is a professionally-led, national Christian community agency made possible by volunteers. The organisation builds on programmes […]
September 2014 News Mieke Davies St Mary’s youth group in Blenheim has been sponsoring Joseph in Emali, Kenya, for about 12 years. After I visited there in 2012, our group wanted to do something significant for his family. We started raising $9000 needed to build them a well. My brother Karl viewed the well’s […]
August 2014 News Annette Scullion The ministry that chaplains carry in our communities, particularly those of the military, was honoured at services at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Wellington and at St Mary’s Church, Foxton, last month to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of World War One. Archbishop John Dew of Wellington Archdiocese and Bishop of […]
August 2014 National Vocations Awareness Week3–10 August 2014 National Vocations Awareness week is an annual event, set aside by the Bishops of New Zealand Catholic dioceses, dedicated to promoting all forms of vocation in the Church. The week earmarks time for parishes and schools to consider their role in promoting vocation through prayer and education. […]
August 2014 News Gerard McKee The four parishes of the Southern Hutt Valley have embraced Archbishop John’s call to become ‘One Parish – Four Churches’. Over 200 parishioners from four parishes – Sacred Heart, Petone, San Antonio, Eastbourne, Our Lady of the Rosary, Waiwhetu and St Patrick’s, Wainuiomata – came together to reflect and to […]
August 2014 Perspectives Archbishop John Dew I had a conversation recently with someone who was commenting on the gift we have in our Lay Pastoral Leaders. The part of the conversation I thought the most important was the comment that the lay pastoral leader’s role is a response to a calling. This person went on […]
August 2014 Election 2014 Susan Wilson For democracy to work, people need to be involved. At the very least this means people need to vote at general elections. Did you vote in the 2011 elections? If you are over 65, the answer is probably ‘yes!’ because 94.4 percent of people in your age group […]
August 2014 Reflection Kieran Fenn fms It is easy to imagine Mary as a young woman, soon to be married to Joseph, dreaming of a loving marriage, a family, a home in the village among the people she knew. She would lead a quiet life far from the gaze of the Roman occupation. She would […]