Reaching out Archives - Society of Mary

Groups strengthen faith during St Mary of the Angels diaspora

St Mary of the Angels Young Adults — Young adult leaders at St Mary of the Angels

Numbers attending Mass St Mary of the Angels have dropped slightly while the church is closed for earthquake strengthening, yet the parish continues to reach out.

With Sunday Mass now celebrated at four venues, the parish is making an effort to engage with students.

Located in the heart of central Wellington, St Mary of the Angels’ parish is a spiritual home to five university hostels and numerous student flats.

Known for its student-friendly liturgy, particularly at the 5:00pm Sunday Mass, this Mass continues albeit on the other side of the city.

“Moving across town puts additional pressure on students; it’s a bit harder to get there,” says Parish Priest, Fr Barry Scannell.

“Like us, the students are looking forward to coming back home to St Mary St Mary of the Angels at Easter next year”.

While primarily a liturgical and devotional centre, St Mary of the Angels also has three groups that appeal to students.

Theology on Tap

Theology on Tap is a monthly event hosted by the St Mary of the Angels’ young adults group. A familiar format to those used by other theology on tap groups, meetings are held in a nearby pub.

Theology on Tap at St Mary of the Angels has been going for about 5 years.

“It’s a chance to meet other and learn about our Catholic faith”, says regular attender, Jane Ellis.

She enjoys the variety of speakers; local Catholic politicians, pro-life leaders and Catholic educators.

The most recent speaker was Mons Gerard Burns, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Wellington, Vicar for Māori and executive board member of Caritas Internationalis.

Monday Night Group

Vicky Wall is a member of another group for young adults, “The Monday Night” group.

She says the group meets weekly to read and discuss a document relevant and important to how we live.

Calling it a springboard to interact, share and pray with our friends, the group has just finished focussing on “Amoris Letitia”.

“The biggest challenge using Amoris Letitia has been that none of us are married.

“The group got by using examples of our own childhood families”, said Vicky Wall.

Having completed Amoris Letitia the group is now thinking of what they would like to read next.

SMYAC’s

SMAYAC’s is another youth group in the St Mary of the Angels’ parish.

It meets on the first and third Thursday of each month.

On the first Thursday the focus is spending some quiet time with God and resting in his presence in the Blessed Sacrament.

Each of the group takes turns to organise the time which varies from silence, reflecting, praying and sometimes even Taize singing.

The third Thursday’s meetings are spent reflecting on the upcoming Sunday’s gospel.

As an aid to their reflection the group uses Lectio Divina to meditate, pray and commune with God through His Word. Sharing, a hymn and a time dedicated to prayers of intercession are all important components to the SMYAC meeting.

Image: Facebook

Hospitalised, Br Ed Jones continues to reach out

On the 60th anniversary of his religious profession, Tuesday, Br Ed Jones, renewed his Marist vows in the Marist Newtown community chapel.

Surrounded by Marists, the occasion was prayerful and also gave those who had lived and worked with Ed the opportunity to share.

Dinner, conviviality and more stories followed.

February 2015 Ed entered the hospital wing of Te Hopai however illness has not kept him down, and always up for a chat, he quickly became liked by the Te Hopai staff.

Periodically, rooms at Te Hopai are vacated, and at the initiative of the staff, Br Ed is asked to bless these rooms before their being returned to use.

Blessing rooms however is only one ‘string to his bow’ and, for example, among his other outreaches from hospital, Ed, through his contacts, arranged for the safe hospitalisation of a Catholic woman in Pakistan and is currently working to help a couple get married in the Church.

Ad multos annos.

Unforgettable sung sermon

Fr Joe Savesi SM responsible for a sun sermon at St Mary of the Angels — Fr Joe Savesi SM

Fr Joe Savesi is no stranger to telling a joke to help illustrate a point, but a sung sermon!

Yes, the central city curate at St Mary of the Angels, last Sunday, sang part of his homily!

“Telling a joke, now singing the sermon are both ways of making sure people remember the point”, said a parishioner after the 9am Mass.

“They catch people’s attention and underline his main points”, she said.

The gospel, Luke 18: 9-14 of two men in the temple, one a Pharisee thanking God he is not like others, concludes “…for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, …”

Much to the congregation’s delight, Fr Savesi helped explain the parable by singing a verse from the Mac Davis song, “O Lord it’s hard to be humble.”

Sources:

Rector regrets old boy’s violence but urges community to support him

Violence condemned at St Patrick's College Silverstream — St Patrick’s College Silverstream Rector, Mr Gerard Tully

Rector of St Patrick’s College Silverstream, Mr Gerard Tully says there is no room for violence at the college.

Mr Tully was speaking to the school community about the assault of four people by a former St Patrick’s College Silverstream student and Wellington representative rugby player, Losi Filipo.

He said he hoped “all who have been affected by the violent incident of October last year – particularly the victims and their families – will recover from their trauma and be able to confidently enjoy life again.”

Filipo was a student at the school when the violence took place.

However in a twist, Tully encouraged the school community to support the young man.

“We do not wash our hands of him, but stand beside him as he seeks to address the harm done and rebuild his life on his journey to become a ‘compassionate, just and successful citizen’ of New Zealand,” Tully wrote in a newsletter.

“As a Catholic and Marist school, and in this Year of Mercy, we remain passionately committed to the Gospels and values/virtues/gifts that flow from them, such as honesty, forgiveness, hope and redemption.”

Source: DomPost

Trust, respect, openness and the Marist Mission Ranong

Trust and Marist Mission Ranong — Fr John Jolliffe working with Burmese students at the Marist Mission Ranong

“I enjoyed being Marist in the pastoral and mission-minded team of Marist confreres” writes Fr John Jolliffe SM.

John is commenting about his recent 4 week experience of Marist Mission in Ranong, a Southern Thailand fishing village.

After many years of pastoral ministry in New Zealand John Jolliffe is currently on a period of renewal and part of that time he spent with the Marist Mission in Ranong; a fishing village on the border of Thailand and Myanmar.

The Marist Mission in Ranong works among the Burmese seeking refuge in Thailand and provides

education as a key to development out of poverty and into leadership
care for HIV patients by personal home visitation, medical education, and
by practical assistance in dealing with agencies and government.

Having worked for 18 years in the local churches of the Tokelau Islands, Western Samoa and American Samoa, John approached the Ranong mission with some experience of what it means to work in a culture which is not his own.

However, while feeling very much at home again in this mission environment, in an article on the Marist Asia Foundation website, John Jolliffe quickly recognises the mission differences and acknowledges the range of cultures, difficult-to-learn languages, new relationships and the general demands of coping with life in Thai society.

What follows is some of what John Jolliffe wrote. His full piece is on the Marist Asia Foundation website.

Marist Mission

The true Marist heart of Marist Asia Foundation is clearly evident, given and received. The fact that the Burmese refugees we work among are mainly Buddhist, with a few Muslims and only a handful of Christians, adds a unique and respectful dimension to that interesting experience.

Education

Another special joy for me was how the On-Line University students were so happy to trust us and our responses.

To be trusted to listen alongside these migrants as they struggled to clarify their own thoughts and their hearts’ deep desires with such openness, honesty and passion is a specially privileged Marist memory I will prayerfully reflect on further.

I realized that, even there in the context of coping with difficult Burmese and Thai languages, I have much to learn again even in English!

Health

Visiting with Fr Gil Casio and his health team some HIV families in their poor lodgings, listening as they willingly shared their personal stories in eager and much appreciated dialogue (I knew only the visible emotions in their nonverbal communication), also exposed me to a variety of human struggles and caring interactions important for ongoing reflection and prayer.

Source: Marist Asia Foundation