MAY - JUN 2021 ISSUE PUBLISHER: Bishop Steve Lowe Diocese of Hamilton, New Zealand EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Brigid Conroy EDITOR: Samuel Harris ART DIRECTOR: Hayden Graham ADVERTISING AND SPONSORSHIP: Brigid Conroy CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Lucie Lowell Ogden John Dickson Susan Van Zyl Danielle Mourits
Inside This Issue 03
LETTER FROM BISHOP STEVE
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK AND BASKET OF STORIES
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SAINTS AND SOLEMNITIES
FEATURES 07 PROFILE
Mike Torckler
09 EDITORIAL
23 OBITUARY Fr. Frank O’Regan
ARTS AND CULTURE 25
WE SHOULD ALL PLAY THE
Our Hearts Find Love in the Grace of God
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PHOTO ESSAY
27 #CATHOLICWORDS
March For Life
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FEATURE ARTICLE
BACK COVER: Shana Graham
Belonging, Believing
and Becoming
POSTAL ADDRESS: PO Box 4353 Hamilton East 3247
NEWS
PHOTOGRAPHER: Cheryl Surrey
PHONE: 07 856 6989
EMAIL: kete@cdh.org.nz Any web links provided in this magazine are not intended to be a blanket endorsement of everything on those sites.
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NEW CHANEL CENTRE STAFF
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NET HAMILTON 2021
Meet the Team
UKE
Ngā Kupu Ā-kaupapa Katorika
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FILM AND BOOK
Reviews
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KIDS PAGE
The prayer that we call the Hail Mary leads us into the depths of the mystery of God and the mystery of who we are called to be as disciples.
an affirmation of the call to each of us to allow Christ to take flesh in us, to live in him as he lives in us. By our baptism each of us share in the life of Christ.
Each time we pray it we begin by repeating the words the angel Gabriel (a name which means “God is my strength”) spoke to Mary at the Annunciation - Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. These words are an affirmation of the graces that were given to Mary for her to conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit and bear him who is her son and the Son of God. Mary is the one who gives life to him who is Life-Giver. The Annunciation is also
The prayer then moves to the words Elizabeth spoke to Mary at the Visitation: Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus. Again these words are an affirmation of he whom Mary carried in her womb. But the Visitation is also an affirmation of the call to each of us to share in the mission of Jesus, to be bearers of the Christ to all whom we encounter. By our baptism each of us share in the mission of Christ.
We then ask Mary to pray for us: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Once again we affirm that Mary’s son is true God and true man. For our non-Catholic Christian brothers and sisters our seeking of Mary’s intercession can be a challenge for St Paul wrote to Timothy, there is only one mediator between God and humanity, himself a man, Christ Jesus, who sacrificed himself as a ransom for them all (1 Tim 2:5-6). Our Catholic understanding is that as we share in Christ’s life and mission so we also share in his mediatorship. So we pray for each other and we ask others to pray for us. And this is what
the saints do. Our sharing in the life and mission and mediatorship with Jesus do not end with Jesus. Mary and all the other saints want what Christ wants, our salvation, so at the end of our earthly journey we might be together as one living in the fullness of Christ. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews reminds us, With so many witnesses in a great cloud on every side of us, we too, then, should throw off everything that hinders us, especially the sin that clings so easily, and keep running steadily in the race we have started. Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection:
for the sake of the joy which was still in the future, he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on has taken his place at the right of God’s throne. Think of the way he stood such opposition from sinners and then you will not give up for want of courage (Heb 12:1-3).
BY OUR BAPTISM EACH OF US SHARE IN THE MEDIATORSHIP OF CHRIST IN THIS LIFE AND IN THE LIFE TO COME.
she inspire us in our following of her Son, so we might more fully live his life, mission and mediatorship until we come to the fullness of all he has won for us. She stands before us as an example of how we might live our diocesan vision statement. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Mary stands before us as the model of Christian discipleship in so many ways. Given to us as our mother by Jesus as he hung on the cross may @CATHOLICDIOCESEOFHAMILTON | CDH.ORG.NZ
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QUIZ
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
Questions set by the Sacred Heart Girls’ College Year 13 Photography class and Mrs Stuart.
Kete Kōrero continues to evolve as we try new things. Lots of photos in this issue, as we want to include plenty of “faces and places’’ from around the diocese. If a group in your parish runs an event or get-together, please send our team some photos and a write-up. We aim to load current events up on to our blog (www.ketekorero.cdh.nz) in good time, and events closer to publication date might find their way into the news section in the printed pages too. Photos need to be of good quality (your basic smartphone should be fine) and sent as separate email attachments as .jpeg or .png files (not inside a Word document).
1. The earliest extant examples of Christian art are graffiti found on underground tombs in Rome known as what? 2. Name the famous Italian smiling lady and her French home which is currently being renovated due to Covid-19 restrictions. 3. Traditional art featuring stylised turtles and hibiscus flowers would come from what part of the world? 4. What are the three primary colours, and what colour do you get if you mix them together? 5. What is the term for the patterns painted on marae rafters? 6. Which pigment was the most expensive pigment for many years and so became the characteristic hue used in depictions of Our Lady? 7. What is the rule of thirds? 8. Name the visual arts subjects you can take at Sacred Heart in Year 13. 9. Who is the famous New Zealand conceptual artist whose last name is also a fruit? 10. Who is the famous New Zealand painter whose work, such as the painting entitled “I Am”, often included Christian symbols, motifs and texts?
In this issue we launch an Arts and Culture section. Catholics love to tell stories, to attempt to capture in different artistic forms the deep truths of our religion. Stories of who and what we are as human beings and as sons and daughters of our loving God. We love film, poetry, music, sculpture, architecture, fiction, paintings. In this new section we aim to “hit the streets” as Pope Francis encourages in his message for the 2021 World Communications Day, quoting Blessed Manuel Lozano Garrido: “Open your eyes with wonder to what you see, let your hands touch the freshness and vitality of things, so that when others read what you write, they too can touch first-hand the vibrant miracle of life”. If you would like to write a review of something you’ve seen or heard recently - classic or contemporary - get in touch and we can discuss it. (If spelling or grammar isn’t your strong point, don’t worry, we are here to help.) As you can see, the section will include both shorter and longer articles and reviews of film, music and books. We also have a column for word nerds: exploring the background of some common Catholic words and a chance to delve into te reo Māori and learn some new kupu.
Answers for this quiz can be found on page 26. This publication is externally funded by wonderful sponsors, and we are always looking for new ones so that we can get this publication out to more people and include more great content. Get in touch with me if you would be interested in supporting our mahi! Brigid Conroy Editor-in-Chief 05
BASKET OF STORIES Last time we asked people to share with us what it means to be a disciple and friend of Jesus. This question can open up rich and deep conversations: why not chat about it around the dinner table with your family, or ask a friend or workmate the same question, and see where it takes you? Here are a couple of stories.
PEACE BE WITH YOU My journey with the Lord is challenging. Some days I am like a yo-yo. I used to often attend church and home groups. The persistent desire to understand God’s words is strong, and my longing and thirst to love the Scripture strengthened about three years ago. I tried watching YouTube videos and listening to inspirational speakers but they did not satisfy my appetite for God’s food, the living word. Last December a friend I have known for over twenty years said to me, “Lucie, I will be able to help you to enjoy Christ’s love.” This is where my exciting Christian faith started. My friend told me, “Jesus is your intimate friend, talk to him, laugh and joke with him, ask him questions like, ‘What do you want me to do today? or, ‘What are you telling me today?’ and praise and thank him every day.” With my friend’s help, I was able to take away what felt like a veil from my face, and the Lord’s glory and brightness has been shining on my face every day now. The phrase “Peace be with you” has been on my mind these past few weeks. Every day I am enjoying the beautiful gifts the Lord has given me - perfect love and peace. I have to remind myself to be God’s disciple, that it is God’s work I am doing, not for my own ego but for God’s glory. Lucie Lowell Ogden - St Patrick’s Parish, Taupo
IN A WORD, PILGRIMAGE! It’s a road we keep making by walking - and we walk “yoked” (Matthew 11:29) closely to our Lord Jesus Christ, talking and listening and singing, and sometimes weeping. We also walk with a “band of brothers and sisters” - all those who declare a faith in Christ as saviour and who serve the coming king. We walk in the footsteps of our tipuna (parents and ancestors), including “a great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1), and in the steps of martyrs and reformers and sharers of the holy scriptures. We walk best if family and friends are engaged with and encouraging of our pilgrimage. We stop regularly, as we move through life, to rest, take stock, enjoy the view, lay down our burdens, take bread and wine. We walk longing for, looking for and working to hasten in the soon coming kingdom (sobered by Jesus’ words recorded in Luke 2), calling others - Come! When we stumble or fall, Jesus bids us, “Arise, come to me!” What joy! John Dickson - St Mary’s Parish, Ōpōtiki
DO YOU HAVE A STORY? Share it with your diocesan family on this page. Pope Francis, speaking in his exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of The Gospel) about our call to evangelise the world, has emphasised the importance of “the art of accompaniment”: of being a companion who listens, encourages and leads with compassion and care. For the next issue, tell us about how you have been companioned in your walk of faith. Who - perhaps an individual or a group - led you deeper, and how did they do it? Email kete@cdh.org.nz with “Basket of stories” in the subject line, by June 30. 150 - 200 words is a good length. @CATHOLICDIOCESEOFHAMILTON | CDH.ORG.NZ
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PROFILE
MIKE TORCKLER I’m a civil designer. I model the roads you drive on, and the water pipes under them - stormwater, wastewater. I size it all up, do all the calculations, then model it to make sure it’ll all fit where it needs to go, then send that to the contractors. I got into this in my late twenties after spending some time as a professional cyclist. I did a bit of triathlon at high school and road cycling was my strength so I went with that and joined a New Zealand development team based in France. I spent two years riding for that team in stints of three or four months at a time, returning to New Plymouth in the off-times and picking up other work. Then I got a ride in Pamplona, Spain, through a guy I met in Wellington, and spent two years there. I also lived and raced in Malaysia, Canada and California. I loved it, loved the cycling and the time off and the travel. It’s similar to going to uni after school - it’s eye-opening, your horizons expand. The highlights were living in France and Spain. In France eight or ten of us guys lived and raced together. The riding there was pretty amazing, and also we just spent a lot of time in the rivers that ran through the town we were in: swimming, building dams, fishing. Probably one of my most fun years was the year I managed to get a couple of Kiwi guys on to the team in Spain, including my brotherin-law Josh. He has a lot of stories from that year that I just 07
SAMUEL HARRIS
don’t remember now, as a result of a serious crash I had a few years later, but I do remember doing a lot of walking around the town - there’s so much history there, castles and so on, and we had time to burn. I never ran with the bulls though - I just watched; I saw too many people get clobbered in that to risk doing it myself. As far as race highlights go, my best achievement on a big stage was probably winning King of the Mountain in the Tour of Utah in 2013. As a 60-kilo ex-runner, hill climbing was my strength. It got to a point, around 2014/15, where new cycling contracts weren’t forthcoming - at the level I was at, you’d go from one contract to the next as new teams were formed then folded - and it was a bit daunting. I thought it was the end of the world in a way - I had bills to pay, and you can only live with your in-laws for so long, eh - but I had a rough idea of what sort of work I wanted to do, so I got in touch with a friend who was in the engineering field, and he lined me up with a cadetship doing civil draughting, and I’m still at the same place. It was part-time to begin with, which was good. I had a big crash in 2012 which
knocked me around, and although the physical injuries were pretty much healed up three years later, the effects of the concussion took a long time to recover from. So easing back into work life was good, and I took a bit of time off to do some racing as well. Cycling for me now is a lot of fun - I enjoy the racing now a lot more than I did. I used to enjoy training more, and the racing was tough. Now I don’t do much training, and the racing is more enjoyable because the real drive to make something of it isn’t there - it doesn’t matter now, I race then go back to work on the Monday, so who cares? At the moment, with Covid, a lot of the country’s best riders are back home, so we get to race against them all the time, and it’s great fun trying to beat them as much as possible on as little training as possible. I enjoy the thrill and challenge of that, and the racecraft - the strategising beforehand, the tactics during the race, and the debrief after. My wife Rowan has a sporting background too, as a competitive runner, and she loves the racecraft too, possibly even more than me: she gets pretty firey! We got married in 2014 and moved to the US a couple of months after that. I was received into the Church just before we were married, which was great timing. I grew up Christian, and lived it my whole life - I used to Skype into my church’s Sunday Service from France and Spain each week while I was overseas. I started investigating the Catholic faith when I met Rowan. She gave me some talks to listen to, and things to read. It all struck me pretty hard but I was stubborn. “Fine for you: you can keep that. But it’s not for me.” God worked away at me and eventually it became pretty clear to me that joining the Church was what I needed to do. I can remember a specific moment in the back of a van with a bunch of guys on the way to a race in California. I was listening to a talk on headphones and it hit me really hard: God was saying pretty clearly to stop mucking around and listen to what he was telling me. I connected up with Opus Dei in Hamilton and they gave me a big injection of catechesis and formation over a few months.
You just get on with your job, deliver your best work, be a good person, chat to the people who you know you can talk to about religious stuff, and see what might pop up. Last year during lockdown we all worked from home, and would touch base on video call each day, and we took turns coming up with an activity to do. I enjoy hunting, and when my turn came round it was close to the roar - mating season for deer. I’m used to imitating the stag’s roar so I got everybody to make animal mating calls and everybody else had to guess what they were. It was great fun, and in a wider work video call - about a hundred people - somebody brought it up, which led to one of the bosses doing his best mating call, which went down well. At the end-of-year function one of the awards was a “Wildcard Award” which I won: the prize was a small trophy and getting the boardroom named after me for the year, with a couple of nice pictures of me on the wall! I’ve been lucky to get good work after my cycling ended - I really feel like God’s had his hand over Rowan and me and our kids, providing a path for us - but there’s certainly an element of looking back and thinking if I’d done this or that we’d be better off financially and careerwise. But I’d still do much the same again - it was heaps of fun and something I’ll probably never get to do again. To live in France, Spain, Malaysia, Canada and California for six years, it was a real adventure. I’d say to anyone in a similar spot to where I was, young, with some sporting talent, to definitely go for it.
I’m naturally a bit of an introvert, so when it comes to sharing my faith with people I’m not in the office blasting trumpets or condemning people or whatever. Connecting with people one-to-one is usually easier and more natural. @CATHOLICDIOCESEOFHAMILTON | CDH.ORG.NZ
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EDITORIAL
OUR HEARTS FIND LOVE IN THE GRACE OF GOD THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS ARE INVITATIONS TO US AVERAGE CATHOLIC PEOPLE TO STEP INTO THE LIFE AND LIGHT OF GOD’S GRACE, WHICH IS SIMPLY, AS PHILOSOPHER PETER KREEFT PUTS IT, “ANOTHER NAME FOR LOVE, UNDESERVED LOVE”. In the concrete realities of the sacrament rituals, the words, actions and physical elements which we experience in real and direct ways, we can trust that here, right now, God is acting in our lives. This is a great comfort to those of us - many of us - who tend to live either in the past in regrets or hurt, or in the future in fear or dreaminess, 09
EDITORIAL
because the sacraments remind us gently (but firmly) to live in the present. Right here, right now, in scented oil, bread and wine, candles, music and ancient gestures and words, Christ “communicates his Spirit and the grace of God” - undeserved love - to us in our need and in our joy, and we then “bear the fruits of the new life of the Spirit” (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 146). Sacraments require faith, and their potential fruits do depend on our own disposition, on where exactly our heart and our head are, and they ask for a bit of imagination and a willingness to be humble, but more than that they simply ask us to turn up. This is one of the great comforts of our faith: the Mass is the Mass, confession is confession, and they do what they do and are what they are even if we aren’t quite 100% into it. Even in those times when we turn up to Sunday Mass tired and frazzled, perhaps dragging reluctant kids, maybe weighed down by the fight we had with our spouse in the car on the way, or by financial or employment worries, or by a nagging doubt about this or that aspect of faith, but still wanting - or at least wanting to want - to be there to worship; even if we turn up to the confessional with a frown, unsure if we’re there simply out of a resentful fear that we must go “or else” rather than with a heartfelt and articulate repentance, but wanting to be there to be forgiven, to make things right; even if we feel like the worst Catholic ever, Christ meets us there in the sacraments - as he meets us in many different ways in our daily lives, but there in a distinct way. He sees us, he knows us, he loves us and he wants to draw us deeper into life.
The well-known phrase describing the Eucharist is that this sacrament is “the source and summit” (or fount and apex, as Vatican II document Lumen Gentium puts it) of our Christian life. With it as firm ground under our feet we see God, and the world and our lives, clearly, as if we were on a mountaintop on a clear spring day, and from it we drink the living water which gives us fullness of life. We are an Easter people, and every Sunday is a “little Easter” when we again say yes to Christ’s offer of friendship and mercy and to his challenge of ongoing conversion. We dip our fingers into the holy water stoup as we enter the building, in re-affirmation of our baptism, and we say “Amen” - or “I agree” - to this offer and challenge as we approach the altar to receive the Eucharist. We are average Catholics, and God knows this, and he still wants us to come - so that we can be changed into saints! We sit in the pews with our average neighbours and share the Eucharistic feast and encourage each other to continue in the adventure of faith, rising together to acclaim it and to pray for each other and for the world, and then we go out and live it. The Sacrament of Penance goes by several names but they have a common theme: this sacrament is one of healing and mercy. Anyone who has made regular confession a habit will be able to tell you of the effect it has in their lives to slowly, gradually, change bad habits and foster good ones. Everyone has their own particular sins, and we can get discouraged when we seem to be “always saying the same thing in the confessional”, but returning to this sacrament again and again in spite of that feeling is always a good thing. Again, this is the great gift of the sacraments - they don’t rely on our feelings in order for Christ to do his work in us. I have walked out of the confessional feeling the same as I went in - discouraged, burdened, angry - yet I know with certainty that I am forgiven, that my feelings then are in fact irrelevant. I have also walked out crying healing tears, feeling a load lifted off my shoulders, my heart full of a sense of undeserved mercy and light, and this is a grace in itself but I was as much absolved those other, unemotional, times as I was those times full of feeling. Make a good examination of conscience - asking yourself honestly about the areas in your life where you hold part of your heart back from Christ - and just turn up. If it’s been a while since you went to the Sacrament of Penance, tell the priest that, and he’ll lead you through it. Look for the advertised confession times in
your parish or another one, or make an appointment with your priest, and just turn up. Don’t be embarrassed: the priest has heard it all - and worse! - before. He is a sinner too, and goes to confession himself. Don’t worry that next time he sees you at Mass he’ll remember every detail of the sins you told him, and think badly of you. He won’t. Rather, he’ll only - if he remembers at all, and I’ve heard priests speak about how they simply don’t remember at all the details heard in confession - be impressed and encouraged by your desire to grow in faith. Pope Francis has urged Catholics to ask ourselves, “When was the last time I went to confession?” In March he asked for prayers that the Sacrament of Reconciliation would be approached “with renewed depth, to taste the forgiveness and infinite mercy of God.” He went on to say, “When I go to confession, it is in order to be healed, to heal my soul. To leave with greater spiritual health. To pass from misery to mercy. The center of confession is not the sins we declare, but the divine love we receive, of which we are always in need. Remember this: in the heart of God, we come before our mistakes.” The Sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation: as we move from Eastertide into Ordinary Time, let’s ask God for a renewed appreciation of these gifts, let’s seek out some good reading material to deepen our understanding of the Church’s teaching on the sacraments, and let’s do something concrete and active to participate with renewed hearts. And let’s listen to our own Ven. Suzanne Aubert:
“THERE IS IN THE SACRAMENTS A WORLD OF THINGS OF WHICH HUMAN INTELLIGENCE CAN ONLY CATCH A GLIMPSE, BUT THE HUMBLE MIND FINDS IN THEM KNOWLEDGE, THE SOUL FINDS THERE STRENGTH, THE HEART FINDS LOVE.” Mother Mary Joseph, Suzanne Aubert, pray for us!
@CATHOLICDIOCESEOFHAMILTON | CDH.ORG.NZ
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PHOTO ESSAY
MARCH FOR LIFE
HAMILTON 2021
OVER FIVE HUNDRED PEOPLE GOT TOGETHER ON MARCH 14 IN A JOYFUL GATHERING TO CELEBRATE LIFE, TO REMEMBER THE THOUSANDS OF LIVES LOST TO ABORTION EACH YEAR IN AOTEAROA AND RAISE PUBLIC AWARENESS. The day began at Memorial Park with family-friendly festivities including live music, face painting, candy floss, and a sausage sizzle. There was also a line of stallholders from different organisations which offer support to women and families facing unplanned pregnancies. Then we all peacefully and joyfully marched across Claudelands Bridge into the centre of Hamilton where we gathered at Victoria on the River to hear from speakers who boldly shared the truth about our nation’s lack of care for our women who are hapū with the next generation. The Waikato March for Life organising committee would like to thank all who came to be a voice for the voiceless.
Families gathered at the festival ready to march with their signs. 11
PHOTOS BY CHERYL SURREY | WWW.ALLTHEDAISIES.COM
Men, women, children of all ages and stages marched across the Waikato river.
The young lead the march into Victoria on the River in central Hamilton where the rally was held. @CATHOLICDIOCESEOFHAMILTON | CDH.ORG.NZ
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Kathryn Marelich, Voice for Life Waikato branch president, informs the crowd that 12 948 babies were lost to abortion in 2019 alone.
Former MP Agnes Loheni thanks and encourages the crowd for their courage.
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The Waikato March for Life Committee would especially like to thank our stallholders: Catholic Family Support Services Gianna’s Choice (Family Life International) House of Grace LifeChoice Pro-love Voice for Life Thank you also to our sponsors: Catholic Diocese of Hamilton Voice for Life Waikato branch Private sponsors
@CATHOLICDIOCESEOFHAMILTON | CDH.ORG.NZ
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FEATURE ARTICLE
BELONGING, BELIEVING AND BECOMING BY SUZAN VAN ZYL Aquinas College began our “Belong, Believe, Become” journey in 2019 when we were invited to attend the Oceania Equipping School as the New Zealand representatives. The vision of the Equipping School is to inspire and equip Catholic schools to become centres of evangelisation with new ardour, expressions, connections, and experiences to develop a sense of belonging, believing and becoming. The school is operated by Catholic Schools Youth Ministry International (CSYMI), in Canberra. Mrs Monique Harris (the then Leader of Learning - RE), Laura Smith (then deputy head girl - Special Character) and I attended. The Great Commissioning in Matthew 28:19 calls us to “Go and make disciples of all nations”. This resonates with our college as we seek to accompany our students on their journey of faith and to develop an intentional discipleship pathway providing spiritual nourishment and empowering students to be witnesses and to share their testimony with others, while also strengthening our connections to our parish communities. Pope Francis has spoken about now as a time of a new Pentecost for our youth, as many have been “sacramentalised but not evangelised” (Fr. Ken Barker). We are being called to reach out to our youth and to invite them back through reigniting in them the fire of the Holy Spirit. We must call on the Holy Spirit to move and speak in new ways to our youth and the Equipping School was a living example of this. It operates under the premise of three youth ministry goals: to foster the total personal and spiritual growth of each young person; to draw young people into responsible participation in the life and mission of the Catholic faith community; and to empower young people to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in today’s
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SUSAN VAN ZYL
world. (These goals are laid out in the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s document Anointed and Sent.) These three goals are also outlined in the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference’s Tu Kahikatea – Standing Tall (2006) and 2014’s The Catholic Education of SchoolAge Children also reiterates that facilitating an encounter with Christ is essential to the function of a Catholic school. Another fruit of our visit to Canberra was securing a mission team to visit our college and diocese in November 2019. We saw great potential in a youth ministry pathway and wanted to pursue our involvement to build capacity and establish a sustainable model for peer-to-peer ministry. The team ran our Year 10 retreats and students opted into a newly constructed Year 11 Discipleship Class for 2020. This class was very successful with opportunities to reflect on their living relationship with Christ while still completing an academic NCEA course. These students refined their testimonies to present on retreats, learned how to run small groups and practised drama to share ideas on our Year Seven Retreats.
CAPRICE BASILE SHARES HER TESTIMONY
In 2020, we sent another member of our Religious Education faculty to attend the Equipping School. We have also been blessed with regular visits from our NET Team, who have accompanied this class in this process, and these students became our Youth Ministry Team in 2021. Recently, we organised a Youth Night which focused on connecting these students back into the parish. We have taken the “Belong, Believe and Become” philosophy to develop what we call a “graduate profile”, which encapsulates the essence of what we desire our Year 13 students to leave Aquinas College with. The profile – Te Tauira Torowhānui - consists of aspirational outcomes and progressions for holistic education, encompassing the key ideas of: Belonging (whanaungatanga) to a faith community; Believing (whakapono) with reason; and Becoming (whakawhanake) through actions. At the end of 2020 we had sixty students apply to be in our discipleship class and we were able to offer 32 students a place. This was to ensure that the quality of the programme was maintained during its infancy. This class has just finished focusing on evangelisation as a key belief of Catholicism. NET will commence working alongside them in the new term, and here they will have opportunities to grow in their prayer life and begin to learn retreat skills. This year we have established a Year 12 Youth Ministry Team of students, who were largely part of the discipleship class in 2020. These students took a lead role in the prayer aspect of a recent retreat by giving their testimony, running activities and leading different kinds of input, reflecting on their own living relationship with Christ. These students are growing in their confidence to share their faith with others and are authentically engaging in peer-to-peer ministry. The team’s focus in term two is to run a youth night at our local parish for our young people to connect with one another and with Christ. These ideas of “Belong, Believe, Become” are key to the youth ministry premise and provide an ongoing invitation to explore the kerygma and encourage a conversion of heart through community, seeking to understand and exploring faith in action. We believe these are key for
being a witness for others, for the mission of the Church and for the future of Catholic education. Here are some comments from members of last year’s class: “My experience with the class has been nothing but positive this year. It has been an incredible way to further explore my faith with the resources and guidance needed. I have enjoyed all the hands-on learning, especially the NET Team retreats and learning how to lead retreats. I have loved exploring my faith in a safe and welcoming environment.” Riley Elliott-Lowe “I love being in the discipleship class because everyone accepts you. This was an opt-in class and that means people want to be there. I am looking forward to running the year 7 retreats in Term 4.” Caprice Basile “At the start of the year, I was unsure about my relationship with God. Joining the discipleship class meant that throughout the year I strengthened my faith in ways I could never have imagined. I attended reconciliation, Mass and my first ever adoration! I was able to learn more in-depth ways to experience God and how to connect further with him through prayer, scripture and Mass.” Josh Pinto Susan Van Zyl is Deputy Principal (Special Character) at Aquinas College, Tauranga. This article, in a different form, was first published in New Zealand Catholic Education Office’s newsletter Lighting New Fires in November 2020. Photos supplied by Aquinas College.
JUDE FARRELL AT TE PUNA @CATHOLICDIOCESEOFHAMILTON | CDH.ORG.NZ
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NEWS
L-R: DANIELLE MOURITS, CONOR CROKE, MARIAN GREENE
NEW CHANEL CENTRE STAFF
Conor enjoys historical movies, documentaries, books, trail running and mountain biking, and likes “to finish the weekend with Country Calendar”. He says that he is “a tragic rugby fan. Nowadays conversation has grown round the Chiefs, Mooloos and Putaruru, but I can still be heard talking about Irish and Munster success over the All Blacks.”
CONOR CROKE,
Conor is qualified in horticulture, but over the years has transitioned into the property/facility management space, previously being responsible for maintaining property and assets for the Australian Department of Defence, Queensland Rail, and the City of Sydney.
Conor is originally from a town called Portlaoise in the centre of Ireland. He moved to Australia almost 12 years ago, for a one-year working holiday, but the sunshine and meeting Malesa, his “beautiful South Waikato wife”, enticed him to remain for another eleven years. After living in Emerald, Mackay, Sydney, Wollongong, Bundaberg and completing an outback adventure covering 15,000km, they made the decision two years ago to move “home” to Tirau.
He says, “Having spent many years in these commercially driven environments, I began to seek out a role not only measured by ‘the dollar line’ but one that could also benefit the people (the core to any organisation). Within days of discussing this with my wife, we stumbled upon an advert for this role and we believed it was something I had to apply for - and here I am.”
PARISH PROPERTY SUPPORT MANAGER
Conor and Malesa have four children, all under 8. The older two attend a local Catholic primary school, the third is in preschool and there’s a 6-month-old at home. 17
He says that he’s keen to bring to this role the skills he’s learnt along the way and to help the diocese continue to provide as best we can for our people. “For me it’s less about telling people how we do things and more about
bringing parishes on a journey, so together we ensure we provide the best and safest facilities to our people.” Conor’s looking forward to meeting the priests and people of the diocese and assisting where possible, helping the diocese and parishes in feeling confident with the property-based decisions that need to be made, assisting priests and parishes by “giving them comfort in the ‘bricks and mortar’ decisions and in turn allowing them more time on our core values and with our people”. “A typical Irish Catholic family,” is how Conor describes his upbringing. “I was an altar server and my schooling was through both Christian Brothers and Patrician Brothers. My mother always said, and still says, ‘Don’t underestimate the power of a prayer,’ and I have carried that with me always. As a family, we do our best to continue our parents’ mission and bring our kids up with our Catholic faith to the fore. I have always found comfort taking prayer time alone in an empty church. It helps me with clarity, anxieties, perspectives and gives the opportunity to hit the pause button, especially when our day-to-day life can engulf us.” Asked how the people of the diocese could support him in this role, he says, “If you see me around, say hello, put a face to the name, and feel free to share a hidden talent or skill set you might have that may assist me - and don’t be afraid to ask questions.”
MARIAN GREENE,
MANAGER OF THE CATHOLIC DEVELOPMENT FUND Marian is originally from County Antrim, Ireland, her family emigrating to New Zealand when she was ten. They settled in Cambridge and Marian lived there until she moved to Hamilton in 1989. She describes her household as “two awesome daughters, two dogs and one husband!” She’s an avid sports fan. Her sport of choice is netball but she also enjoys football, tennis, cricket and athletics “with a bit of golf and rugby thrown in to keep my husband happy!” She has spent the last thirty years working in private law practices specialising in property and commercial law. Marian says she was contemplating a job change when she saw the position advertised in the parish newsletter.
“I thought it would be a great opportunity to use my skills in a different way and to engage in a more ‘service type’ role. I have always enjoyed being part of and giving back to my community and in the past this has been largely in the form of voluntary coaching and board positions.” Marian says that “this role being with the Catholic Church is the icing on the cake. I was born and raised in the Catholic faith and have spent my life surrounded by a huge extended family to whom faith is important. My personal philosophy towards my own faith is that Jesus is my friend, a friend who is always close by, walking beside me, and who is the reason for everything that happens in my life. Therefore, he accepts me every day just the way I am, which to me means that I can talk to him any time - and not necessarily in a ‘formal’ sense. Thanking my God for the little things, like the traffic lights turning green just when I need them to, or a loved one returning safely from a journey, helps me to stay close to him throughout my daily life.” Marian values authenticity, humility and honour, saying that “actions speak louder than words” in the Christian life. “Paul encourages us in his letter to the Philippians to ‘do nothing selfishly but to always consider others more than ourselves’. Living out your faith means being a friend who strives for humility and love over selfishness”. One way of putting faith into action, Marian says, might be to consider opening an account with the Catholic Development Fund (CDF) and in doing so be a part of CDF’s work of financially supporting the diocese’s range of activities and services. CDF has always contributed to the pastoral activities of the diocese. Money invested in the fund is used in a variety of ways such as loan funding to allow churches and schools to be built, and funding for diocesan-wide apostolates and ministries including the seminary, clergy training, youth ministries and prison, hospital and tertiary chaplaincies. Marian talks about her passion for helping people to achieve their financial goals and about how she derives genuine pleasure from being able to support them on their journey. “The CDF clients are always such a pleasure to deal with and I love that we are part of a greater team working together and supporting each other. I am hoping to bring energy as well as fresh eyes to this role and so @CATHOLICDIOCESEOFHAMILTON | CDH.ORG.NZ
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far I am thriving on the opportunity to promote the CDF to parishes and schools within our diocese. I am also thoroughly enjoying the compliance and drafting work that my role entails as they allow me to use my legal skills to help others.” She aims initially “to raise awareness of the CDF and its products to enable more people to be able to take the opportunity to support the work of the diocese.” The CDF offers four different types of accounts: funeral savings, educational savings, standard deposit and Board of Trustees investment. This range means there is something for everyone and their needs. CDF accounts are fees free and you earn money on your deposits. Marian says, “I would love to encourage as many people as possible to deposit their funds with us so that we can work together for the greater good of our diocese. If you already have a CDF account, we thank you for your support and ask that you please tell your family and friends about us - your endorsement is the best possible advertisement and support we can ever have.”
DANIELLE MOURITS,
YOUNG ADULTS AND NET TEAM COORDINATOR Danielle is Hamilton Diocese born and bred, and is happy to be home again after five years of mission overseas. Describing what drew her to that work, she says, “I grew up in a parish that really invested in its young people, so from a young age I was introduced to a personal relationship with Jesus and to the call to make this the foundation of my life.” After finishing high school in 2015 she volunteered with NET Ministries Australia for two years, serving in the Melbourne and Sydney archdioceses, and then stayed on for two more years working as a full-time staff member supervising the volunteer missionaries and assisting with their formation. Towards the end of this stint, after a two-week trip to Papua New Guinea, she felt what she describes as “a stirring to experience more tangibly the call to poverty of spirit as a missionary” and decided to move to Malawi, living and serving with the Canossian Daughters of Charity, Servants of the Poor for ten months. She then returned to New Zealand and is studying nursing at Wintec while working this part-time role. She likes to 19
escape to the beach when she has a chance, and is a book-lover (“I am always after a good read, so if you have any suggestions I would welcome them joyfully!”). Danielle says that when it comes to faith expression she’s “a bit like a mixed lolly bag.” After living in community with religious sisters in Malawi, she loves praying the Divine Office, but says, “having also experienced Jesus in the slums and on mountaintops I really just want to seek him wherever he can be found. I have a great love of charismatic prayer. Ultimately the Mass is definitely what grounds me in the faith.” While working in Australia Danielle always had the dream to return to New Zealand to work in youth ministry, saying, “I always desired to give back to the place that gifted me the faith when I was young”. She describes this role working for the Church in her home diocese as “the greatest privilege!” and she has a clear vision: “I don’t want to just play it safe, but want to always be trying new things and taking risks. It’s important when working with young people to seek the face of Christ in each person, no matter where they might be at. I find it amazing how much better you can love someone when you try to do that. My real desire is to see young people and young adults awaken to their potential to renew the Church.” Young people, she says, have responsibilities and gifts that they need to own, and the Church, in its turn, needs “the vibrancy and adventurous nature of young people”. Her response to being asked about what the people of the Diocese of Hamilton could do to support her in the role was this: “Firstly, I would say to pray for the young people of our diocese! I know there is so much grace when someone prays consistently for someone else, and if we hope to reach out to those who aren’t in our pews on a Sunday, praying for them is a really good place to start. Secondly, say hi! I love meeting new people and I’ve been out of New Zealand for a little while, so it’ll be nice to put down some roots here and meet the diocesan whānau.”
APR
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2021
CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF HAMILTON
SEMINARY
HELP OUR FUTURE PRIESTS ON THEIR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
APPEAL 2021 support our seminarians at seminaryappeal.cdh.nz
NET HAMILTON
MEET THE 2021 NET TEAM
L-R: HANNAH, PHOEBE, ERIC, LEMALIE AND CHRISTYNA
BY DANIELLE MOURITS
NET Ministries aims to meet young people where they are, presenting the unchanging Gospel in relevant and fresh ways to engage with young people at any stage of their faith journeys. Essentially, the members of the team are all about sharing their personal experience of Jesus to encourage and challenge young people to discover and experience tangibly this life-changing relationship for themselves. The 2021 NET team have recently arrived in our diocese and are coming to a parish or school near you. After six weeks of training and a few weeks of ministry in Brisbane, Australia, the 2021 Hamilton NET team had an unconventional start to their year, with managed isolation for fourteen days upon arrival to Aotearoa. The team used this time to begin planning and dreaming big for the year ahead, while enjoying taco Tuesdays, movie nights, regular walks around their designated exercise zone and time for prayer. The team is a group of five Kiwis from around the country, hailing from Christchurch, Palmerston North, Wellington and Auckland. Hannah, Sharkie, Eric, Phoebe and Christyna come from diverse backgrounds, jobs and experiences and this year they have hit pause on their other commitments, deciding to volunteer a year of their
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DANIELLE MOURITS
lives to serve the young people of the Hamilton Diocese. They have a shortened stint of six months due to Covid-19 and their schedule, which will see them working all over the diocese, is filling up fast. So far the team has spent a week in Hamilton, exploring the Hamilton Gardens, the zoo, Raglan, and spending some time with the young adult community. The team journeyed on to Murupara to spend a few days with the kids there, leading a holiday program focusing on preparing the young people for their reception of the sacraments later this year. Building on last year, the 2021 team will be based in Rotorua. They will be starting up a youth group in the parish, spending time with the students at John Paul College and wil get involved in the community. The team will generally spend a week in Rotorua and then a week on the road travelling and working. They will spend their days running one-day retreats in the diocese’s five high schools, visiting youth groups and helping to organise and run other events across the diocese such as Regeneration. This group of Jesus loving, adventure seeking, joy-filled young adults seeks to be a living witness to how the love of God can transform our lives, filling us with new purpose
UPCOMING EVENTS MAY 22 - STRATEGIC PASTORAL PLAN LAUNCH
and hope. Their individual stories of how Jesus called them to mission this year are incredible - from hearing God’s invitation clearly through an Instagram post, to making the decision to say yes to serving with NET ministries just five days before initial training began - and it is clear that Jesus has really sought out this team of missionaries for a special purpose this year. It’s always exciting and powerful to see what God can do with the “Yes!” of hearts that seek him and his kingdom. This vibrant team is hard to miss with their joyful spirits and hearty laughter, so if you see them around, be sure to say hi! They love to meet new people (not just teenagers) and it’s a gift to them to feel welcomed as they call this diocese home this year. To stay up to date with what the team is up to you can follow them on Facebook at “Hamilton NET Team” or Instagram: @net.hamilton Are you a youth minister or teacher and are interested in how the NET Team might be able to serve you and your young people? Contact Danielle Mourits, NET Team Coordinator, via email: daniellem@cdh.org.nz
St Joseph’s, Morrinsville | 10 am - 1 pm At Pentecost Bishop Steve is launching the 5-year Diocesan Strategic Pastoral Plan. All are invited from across the diocese for the official release. Lunch is being provided: kindly register by contacting Brigid Conroy via email brigidc@cdh.org.nz or phone 07 856 6989.
JULY 17 - SACRED ORDINATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD OF ISAAC FRANSEN
Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Hamilton Bishop Steve Lowe and the Diocese of Hamilton invite all to partake in this joyful celebration. Begins at 11am. The ordination will also be made available via livestream on the Catholic Diocese of Hamilton YouTube channel.
OCTOBER 3 - BROTHERS AND SISTERS ALL
Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Hamilton Join Bishop Steve in celebrating St Francis of Assisi and his message of fraternity that Pope Francis transmits in his latest encyclical Fratelli Tutti (Brothers and Sisters All). More details to be released - Save the Date!
NOVEMBER 5-7 | FAMILY WEEKEND
Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Hamilton Our weekend for families is back for 2021! Families from across the diocese are invited to step away from the challenges of everyday life. Come and experience the freedom, joy and unity of family life re-centred on Christ. More details to be released - Save the Date! Check out more events and retreats at events.cdh.nz
@CATHOLICDIOCESEOFHAMILTON | CDH.ORG.NZ
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NEWS
SAINTS & SOLEMNITIES
OBITUARY
MAY 3 14 16 23 24 30 31
St Philip and James, Apostles St Matthias, Apostle Ascension of the Lord Pentecost Sunday Memorial Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church Holy Trinity The Visitation
JUNE 6 6 11 12 24 29
Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) Marcellin Champagnat Sacred Heart of Jesus Immaculate Heart of Mary Birthday of St John the Baptist St Peter and Paul, Apostles
JULY 3 22
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Rev. Francis (Frank) O’Regan December 3 1933 - April 21 2021 Larger than life, joyfully proclaiming the Word of God.
St Thomas, Apostle St Mary Magdalene
Fr Frank loved being a priest. At his funeral, held on April 27 at the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Bishop Emeritus Denis Browne talked about the life of Fr Frank who engendered great enthusiasm when proclaiming the Gospel, the Word of God. We give thanks to God and for Fr Frank in the way he lived his priestly ministry to the full. “A true priest of God. One whom we loved and one who loved us.” - Bishop Emeritus Denis Browne
ARTS & CULTURE
WE SHOULD ALL PLAY THE UKE BY SAMUEL HARRIS conversation about music both sacred and secular, and to kick it off let’s look at one of music’s humblest but happiest expressions of joy: the sound of the ukulele. The cheerful jangle of the ukulele makes an appearance on many contemporary pop tunes. Vance Joy’s hit “Riptide” and Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” get the foot tapping with their opening chords — that chunky strum, clean and simple. On her song “You and I”, Ingrid Michaelson sings, “Don’t you worry there my honey / We might not have any money / But we’ve got our love to pay the bills” over a sweet ukulele line. The ukulele is ubiquitous on video sharing site YouTube, appearing in hundreds of clips of cover versions of hits past and present. In this happy stamping ground of the amateur, the uke shows off its nature as an instrument that is affordable and accessible to all — just as joy is.
I hope that in this season of Eastertide your heart is joyful and that you are “mak[ing] this day a living hymn of praise” as the Divine Office’s intercessions for Easter Sunday have it. Around the diocese our parishes celebrated, each in their own way, the great Easter liturgies with an embrace of what Pope Benedict XVI called the “right way to give the faith its central form of expression in the liturgy”: a reverent and focused use of music to effect a “lifting up of the human heart” to the “mystery of infinite beauty”. In this arts and culture section we want to include some 25
SAMUEL HARRIS
Singer Julia Nunes’s mash-up of Justin Bieber’s “Baby” and the Supremes’ “Where Did Our Love Go?” and her “Build Me Up Buttercup‘’ are delights from start to finish. Have a look at a duo going by the name of Honoka & Azita playing a Beach Boys medley, blissful smiles on their faces; a deceptively simple version of “I Fought The Law’’ by a venerable bluesman named James Clem; actors Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt crooning a sweet and funny love song. But joy is a thing that is found not just in dancing and laughter but also quieter, in the midst of sadness or suffering: the joy of hope and trust while hurting, of the recognition of the often-difficult experience of being human. “Sad songs can ring extra poignant on a uke because it has an innocence and clarity that can hit you right in the heart,” says Nunes. See Twenty One Pilots’s singer Tyler Joseph taking Elvis’s
“Can’t Help Falling in Love” and a ukulele and upping the tune’s poignancy into something that celebrates love while suggesting the hard work of caritas. Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwo’ole came to prominence outside his homeland in 1993 with the release of a beautiful medley of “Over the Rainbow” and “Wonderful World” (go now and look it up and then come back to this), his voice a mix of strength and tenderness and plaintive longing. “Someday I’ll . . . wake up where the clouds are far behind me / Where trouble melts like lemon drops /. . . What a wonderful world.” Virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro shows that the ukulele can be a site of joyful musicianship for the expert player as well as the novice. His version of the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is something stunning. Much joy can be found in the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain’s similarly skilful versions of classic pop and rock songs, among them “Rock Around the Clock” and “500 Miles”, and their renderings of classical pieces like Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”. Also plinking out the joy is Hamilton’s own Big Muffin Serious Band. If you listen to just one song (or watch one video) of theirs, let it be their glorious version of the Country Calendar theme song; if you want more listen to their take on rocker Eddie Vedder’s “Tonight You Belong To Me” — and then listen to the original from Vedder’s quirky Ukulele Songs, a duet with Cat Power in another poignant love song. “You can’t possibly be angry while you’re strumming the ukulele,” reckons Shimabukuro. “There’s something magical about the instrument that makes people smile and brings people together.” Documentary maker Bill Robertson says, “It’s about the size of a human infant. When you hold it to play, you hold it up close and you’re cradling it to your heart…[It] conveys a certain innocence.” Childlike innocence, joy, an antidote to anger: what more
could you want in an instrument? Writing this article inspired this writer to lift down his ukulele from the cupboard where it languished and dig out another battered ukulele from the garage. That one made its way into my pre-school daughters’ hands where - you guessed it - it began to work its joyful magic. The house rang with many energetically strummed versions of “Twinkle Twinkle”, and as soon as I can find time to get to the music shop my long-unloved uke will be restrung and chords re-learned. In this I’ll be following ukulele player and Beatle George Harrison’s dictum, “Everybody should have and play a uke,” and, pursuing creative endeavours, I’ll be hoping, to paraphrase the psalmist, that my heart will leap with joy and through my beginner’s strum I’ll praise the Lord. A version of this article was originally published in New Zealand Catholic.
QUIZ ANSWERS: 1. The catacombs. 2. The Mona Lisa, the Musee du Louvre in Paris, France. 3. Pasifika. 4. Red, yellow and blue make brown. 5. Kowhaiwhai. 6. Blue. 7. A way of composing an image by splitting the picture into thirds vertically and horizontally in order to draw more attention to a focal point. 8. Photography, design, painting and printmaking. 9. Billy Apple. 10. Colin McCahon. @CATHOLICDIOCESEOFHAMILTON | CDH.ORG.NZ
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#CATHOLICWORDS
NGĀ KUPU Ā-KAUPAPA KATORIKA This new column explores some particular words we use in telling our Christian story: Catholic words / particularibus infimis (jargon/technical terms) / ngā kupu ā-kaupapa (words for a particular project or work). (Prepared in consultation with Hinetapuarau Ioane, of the Chanel Centre, whose te reo Māori advice was invaluable.)
PENTECOST
A transliteration of the Greek word pentekostos, which means “fifty”; its history is linked to the Jewish feast of Shavuot which is celebrated fifty days after Passover. Acts 2 tells of the events several weeks after Christ’s resurrection, during Shavuot, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the first Christians in what has become known as “the birth of the Church”. The te reo Māori phrase used in our New Zealand missal for Pentecost Sunday is te Rātapu o te Hekenga Iho: Rātapu is “Sunday” and Hekenga Iho is “descent” or “outpouring” - ie, the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church.
GRIEVOUS
This word, as in “by my most grievous fault” in the I Confess, has only two syllables: although some people pronounce it with three, there’s no “i” between the “v” and the “o”! Grievous comes from the Latin gravis, meaning heavy or severe, from which we get other English words like gravid, meaning pregnant (or in another sense, full of meaning or a specified quality) and grave, meaning serious. The Latin in the liturgy has “maxima culpa” for “most grievous fault”.The Māori translation of the I Confess uses “nā tōku hē rawa” for “my most grievous fault”: nā tōku hē is “my
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error/fault” and “rawa” is “exceeding” or “especially” or grievous. (Interestingly, “rawa” is also a noun meaning “the basis of a quarrel or dispute”.)
TE ARANGA / RĒNETI
The Māori words for Easter and Lent. Rēneti is a kupu pōriro or loan word, while aranga as a noun, according to maoridictionary.co.nz, means “rising up, arising, setting out, resurrection”.
COMPANIONING
Similar to the idea of “accompaniment” which Pope Francis speaks about, but perhaps emphasising a more active or intentional nuance. To companion a person or group, as an individual Catholic or as a parish or other community, is to walk with them, together on a journey: sharing what we have, inspiring each other, learning from each other and from Christ and his Church. A companion can lead another person into the riches of the faith. A Māori word for this could be “whakahoahoa” which has the sense of going out with the intention to make friends, to sit down with someone, to laugh and cry together, to walk with each other.
GRACE
From the late 12th century, the word grace means, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it, “favour, the free and underserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God”; it is “a participation in the life of God”. The website etymonline.com says it comes from the Old French word grace meaning “pardon, divine grace, mercy; favor, thanks; elegance, virtue” ; from Latin gratia meaning “favor, esteem, regard; pleasing quality, good will, gratitude”; from gratus meaning “pleasing, agreeable”. In the greeting at Mass the word “grace” is translated into te reo Māori as “te mana tapu”, having there something of the sense of sharing in the sacred (tapu) authority, charism, essence, life (mana) of God. In this issue you’ll see the Hail Mary in te reo Māori - there “grace” is translated as “keratia” which has the sense of grace as virtue, the God-given qualities seen in the character of Mary.
FILM AND BOOK
Stowaway
2021, Science Fiction, 1 hr 56 mins R13. Streaming now online. A three-person mission to Mars risks being foiled by the addition of a surprise fourth passenger. With not enough oxygen supply on board and being too far away from Earth to turn back, it seems that they’ll reach a grim outcome: or is there the possibility of a glimmer of hope? Stowaway enters into the conversation around life’s purpose through the eyes of each character, but in particular Zoe Stevenson, played by Anna Kendrick. She says, “This is one of those rare opportunities that could truly give my life meaning beyond anything I could imagine.” Ethical questions around the end of life are raised which are worth discussing, such as what determines the value of a life? How would you feel and what would you do if faced with this version of the “trolley dilemma”? Overall this film is classic science fiction with all the suspense and plenty of unexplained mysteries (and plot holes if one thinks about it too deeply) - all of this part of the appeal of this genre. Recommended. NB Some mild in-context coarse language is used infrequently in the film.
Online With Saints
The Church Year for Children
by Fr Michel Remery. (Catholic Truth Society, 2020)
by Pia Behl and illustrated by Katrina Lange. (Catholic Truth Society, 2020)
A modern take on the traditional “Saints Book for Children” genre, this attractive book is an excellent resource for telling the stories of over 100 of our heroes. Each double-page opening gives a short biography and a contemporary image of a saint alongside a question like “Is my confession really secret?” or ‘Should we be involved in social media?” or “Is prayer a waste of time?” followed by a thoughtful answer which includes context and a challenge to imitate the saint; sitting alongside this is a prayer, an extract from the saint’s writings or another relevant text and a short summary to conclude. My sevenyear-old’s review: “Really great. Lots of interesting saints”; it should be noted that some of the topics are probably more suited for teenagers and younger readers will need a parent’s or caregiver’s guidance. I didn’t make use of the accompanying app so I can’t review that, but the book on its own is highly recommended.
An excellent resource for families wanting to make the rhythms of the Church’s liturgical year part of their family way of life. It follows the year from Advent to Christ the King and lays out interesting facts, prayers, recipes and craft ideas, with attractive illustrations. The northern hemisphere seasonal references are a little jarring, but that’s not really an issue: it’s a chance for secondary discussions about other interesting topics. My nine-yearold’s review: “It’s got something for everything. You can read it and learn about Christmas and Easter and things.” Using this book alongside other books that go deeper would make for a very good approach to teaching your kids about the riches of our faith and how to celebrate them. Highly recommended.
@CATHOLICDIOCESEOFHAMILTON | CDH.ORG.NZ
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SEASON 1 OF ‘KARA TE KEA’ IS OUT NOW!
Wordfind “A pun is the lowest form of humour … unless you thought of it yourself.” - Doug Larson
Some more “Catholic book titles” for your enjoyment.
PENTECOST GRACE GRIEVOUS RECONCILE MERCY SUMMIT FOUNT 29
SACRAMENT COMPANION PILGRIMAGE HIKOI ADVENTURE GIFTS FRUITS
LOVE EASTER RENEW FIRE BIRTH VIRTUE
Mercy and Grace - by Con Feshin Defeating the Goliath In Your Life - by Tim Burr Climbing Calvary - by Harvey Cross What God Tells Us - by Isla View Risen Indeed - by Esther Eaglehunt Going On Retreat - by Alona Gain Preparing for First Holy Communion by Kat E. Keysis Book of Bad Puns - by G. Roan
Pope Francis has spoken of a method to help us pray: the five-finger prayer. You might like to use this when you pray before bed or in the morning as you get ready for your day.
leaders, those in authority: the prime minister, politicians, councillors and leaders of government departments; school principals; the police; the army and so on. They need God’s guidance.
1. The thumb is the closest finger to you. So start praying for those who are closest to you. They are the people easiest to remember. The pope says praying for our dear ones is a “sweet obligation”.
4. The fourth finger is the ring finger: it may surprise you to know that it is our weakest finger. It should remind us to pray for the weakest: the sick or those plagued by problems; those in prison or hospital; those who are lonely, poor or afraid. They need your prayers.
2. The next finger is the index, the pointer. Pray for those who point the way for you: teachers; parents and grandparents; priests and religious; doctors, dentists and other health professionals; coaches, tutors and mentors and so on. They need support and wisdom to show direction to others. Always keep them in your prayers. 3. The third finger is the tallest one. It reminds us of our
5. And finally we have our smallest finger, the littlest of all. Your pinky should remind you to pray for yourself. When you are finished praying for the other four groups, you will be able to see your own needs but in the proper perspective, and also you will be able to pray for your own needs in a better way - and you can pray for courage and love to go into the world and make a difference.
CDH.ORG.NZ
