St. Theresa's Plimmerton - St Theresas Parish Plimmerton
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St. Theresa’s Plimmerton
Newsletter |24 May 2020 – The Ascension of the Lord
www.plimmertoncatholic.org.nz
Father Maurice
Blessings on the Anniversary of your Ordination
50 years
Fr Maurice, we thank you for all you bring to our Parish. In this strangest
of times, we as a Parish, wish you an incredibly happy anniversary and we
look forward to the time when we can celebrate together. Have a
wonderful day with your family.
Dear Friends,
Warmest greetings! As you may know this weekend is a special one for me
as I give our loving God thanks for the blessings and care I have been shown
since my priestly ordination in 1970.
Those years have taken me on a journey I could hardly have imagined on a wet Saturday and Sunday 50 years
ago! From youth ministry and teaching in Australia, to studies in Church History in Rome and later lecturing
there. Time, too, spent in parishes in different countries together with the calling to take part in seminary
formation and spiritual direction. In recent years I have been graced with the opportunity to minister here in
the Archdiocese of Wellington: Kaikoura, the Cathedral, Stoke and now here at St Theresa’s Plimmerton. A
blessing has been the opportunity to work with the Sisters of Compassion to promote the beatification and
canonisation of Venerable Suzanne Aubert whom we hope will be our first New Zealand saint.
I thank God for my loving parents and extended family who have supported me in my vocation; also, the
wonderful and caring people I have journeyed with along the way; you, who continue to be my companions in
so many ways. Your dedication and witness to gospel living have taught me so much. As travelling companions
on life’s journey, you have truly been, and remain, a source of strength, a special grace, given to me by the God
of surprises! Please keep me in your prayers that I may continue to serve as best I may.
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
God bless, Fr Maurice
Today’s Gospel of the Ascension Mt 28:16-20 has been depicted in many famous paintings.
Jesus is painted ascending in a cloud and surrounded by his grounded disciples, still fresh from grief and
confusion at his death, and encouraged by his appearances to them in the locked upper room, or on the road
to Galilee or Emmaus. So many conflicting emotions!
His farewell words to them are a call to “go and make disciples of all nations”.
Some commentators suggest this gospel is a summary of the whole of
Matthew’s writing:
The mission flows from Jesus, the risen Lord
The first and basic command the disciples receive is to
attract and form other disciples.
The mission is universal, to all nations and cultures.
Making disciples includes community formation
By handing on all that Jesus Christ taught and did
In Acts 1, we hear of “two people in white” asking the disciples “Why are you
standing here gazing up into heaven?” I often hear that is a shove to “Get
going!”
Art: Ronald Raab
Ephesians 1:17-23 contains a beautiful, familiar blessing from St Paul.
“May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ give you a spirit of wisdom and insight of what is revealed to bring you
to full knowledge of him.
May Christ enlighten the eyes of your mind
so that you can see what hope his call holds for you…. and how infinitely great is the power he has exercised
for us who believe….”
Pray this blessing for yourself and for our parish this week or as a blessing for someone else…maybe someone
you take Communion to, or at your table as a grace.
Anne Powell, Cenacle Sisters
ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY
St Vincent de Paul Society Plimmerton Conference NEEDS YOU ............
One thing Covid19 has taught us is that we need our younger people to help us to keep things
going in our Church. Our 70-year olds and older are very precious to us and we need to ensure
they are safe.
Can you spare two hours on a Friday morning (every second week or less if we get more
volunteers) to pick up bread from the local supermarkets and deliver it? A great thing to help others and perhaps could
be something you do with a friend.
Can you spare two hours for a couple of days during a week to go on the food parcel roster? This means going down to
the parish centre and packing up a parcel for needy families and delivering it in the Porirua area. The more people we
have on the roster the less days you would be needed for. Ring Carolyn O'Sullivan 04 233 1434 (Food Parcel
Coordinator).
Can you volunteer at the shop in Mungavin Avenue? Ring Vicki Truyens (Shop Manager) 237 5968 for mor information.
Do not hesitate to contact us - Margaret Baker (President) 237 7674 or 0276 551 if you want more information
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” starts May 25
Dear friends
During this week between Ascension and Pentecost Sundays the Christian
churches make a special effort to pray for Christian unity.
The theme for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian unity is “They
showed us unusual kindness” (Acts 28.2), which refers to the reception
given to Paul and companions when they were shipwrecked on the island
of Malta.
There is much to reflect upon in this theme in the light of our experience
of the last few weeks with COVID-19. We have been urged to “Be kind”
and to “Stay united”. The pandemic has been the equivalent of a
shipwreck for many people, and “unusual kindness” is needed as never before.
Over centuries the Christian churches have moved from hostility and aggression towards one another to working
together on the many things we have in common, especially our assistance for those who are most vulnerable. Kindness
can unite us as Christians. We have already seen how it can unite us as Kiwis.
Please take part in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in some way. If gathering is not possible or risky, then use the
Eight Days of Prayer for Christian Unity leaflet which is available on www.catholic.org.nz or your diocesan website.
Everything you do towards Christian unity counts.
John A Cardinal Dew
Archbishop of Wellington
Click on this link https://www.catholic.org.nz/resources/week-of-prayer-for-christian-unity-25-31-may-2020/
to take you to the resource page.
Studying Theology at the University of Otago
The Theology Programme at the University of Otago offers many opportunities for the study of the Bible, the Biblical
Languages, Church History, Ministry, Christian Thought and Pastoral Theology, both on-campus and to many students
across Aotearoa New Zealand through our successful distance study programme. We are committed to serving Christian
communities throughout the country. Semester 2 starts on July 6th and new enrolments are due by June 25th. For
details of papers go to: https://www.otago.ac.nz/theology/study/papers/ and click on Semester 2 papers. Or see the
attached poster. To enrol go to https://www.otago.ac.nz/study/enrolment/
MEALS ON WHEELS are short of volunteers!
Are you able to spend 1 morning every 4 weeks to deliver a warm meal to various older people
in the Paremata/Plimmerton/Whitby area.
It takes approximately 2 hours to get around the district after picking up at the Mobil Service
Station.
For more information please call Louise Shirkey 2399718 or Karen Cope 027 230 0867.”
ONLINE RESOURCES
Cardinal John’s newsletter St. Theresas Catholic Bishop Viard College
School Newsletter NewsletterOUR PARISH – ALERT LEVEL 2
While we would love to get back to Church and celebrating the Mass as a
community when we are permitted to gather in groups larger than ten, the
practicalities associated with that need to be further discussed with our
committees, taking into account the various factors. For example: the cleaning and
sanitising of the church each time it is used (any financial costs and practical details
involved); establishing a trustworthy record of everyone who is at Mass and seating
plan (knowing who is seating near whom etc) in accordance with Ministry of Health
guidelines; we also need to ensure everyone not in your group is at least 1 metre
away from you and of course make sure anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms
does not come to Mass. As you can see, keeping everyone safe is quite an involved
process. For the time being Fr Maurice will continue to celebrate Mass online as
he has been doing.
Please keep in your prayers those who are sick
Vince O’Sullivan, Kath Chambers, John Bremford
RIP
Ned Cook, Father Michael O’Dea, Freda Sanders
(Mary Jones mother)
Anniversaries
Alison O’Leary, Brian McKee, Mattea Vella,
Bernard Rea, Patricia Phelan, Antionius van
Rossum
Prayer intentions for:
Jenny Norris - Rusty says that Jenny is very well cared for and is calm and
contented but he would like us to keep her in our prayers this week.
www.plimmertoncatholic.org.nz.
This is the place to go to see the newsletter, easy access to our YouTube channel
for Mass ( St. Theresa's Plimmerton YouTube Channel) , the children’s corner,
information about the Parish and other resources to help you get through this
Covid-19 Level 2. Please remember that Father Maurice invites you to join him Sunday – Friday at 9:30am for Mass.
Please click the link above to go to our YouTube channel, and then click SUBSCRIBE so that you can receive
announcements of upcoming live streams, or check our website for days and times .
• Our Lady of Kapiti is also livestreaming Mass and Prayer services on https://kapiti-catholic.org.nz/. Please visit
their website to see the timesThe children’s corner on our website http://www.plimmertoncatholic.org.nz/
WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY 2020 (25-31 MAY)
Activities for children’s liturgy or to be done at home
1. Look at a map of the area around Malta. Where is it in the world? What countries are close to it? How
big is it in comparison to New Zealand?
2. Make a cardboard boat (Google has many ways of doing this) or alternatively using coloured tape, mark
out the shape of a boat on the floor.
3. Using a large blue cloth, ask each of the children to hold a section of the fabric and move it up and down
to represent the strong wind and waves.
4. This passage from the Acts of the Apostles is very dramatic
and lends itself to acting out. Children may be invited to play
various non-speaking roles as the passage is read. For example,
children could sit in marked out boat and sway back and forth
to show that the ship is in a storm. When the reading describes
Paul standing up and speaking, one child may stand to
represent Paul. There may be a group of children who act out a
struggle to show how the guards wanted to harm the prisoners
and one child can be the centurion who stops them. There can
be children who represent the natives of Malta who show
kindness and hospitality. This may help to keep children
engaged for what is otherwise a long passage of Scripture.
5. Children could be asked about what hospitality means, and build up some simpler words to explain it.
How do they show hospitality at home and at school? Encourage them to name ways our church welcomes
people, and makes them feel at home.
6. Children could be in charge of serving at a morning tea following the Mass, or serving people in their
home – allowing them to take a leadership role in providing hospitality.
7. Fill a medium container with water. Investigate with children what objects float and which objects sink.
Objects may include: a small rock, a feather, an iceblock stick, a pen, keys, a toy boat. Although the feather
floats, it is not strong so nothing can stand on it or float on it. The iceblock stick floats but it is hard to hold
on to. The boat, however, can have people in it. The church is like a boat that helps us to keep afloat and
carries us to safety.
8. Have children make an oar each, and decorate it with symbols of kindness. Ask what it is and what it’s
for. What happens to the people in a boat who have no oar? (lose speed and direction; can’t get
anywhere.) Brainstorm with the children how prayer, scripture, the church community, parents etc are all
like ‘oars’ for us.
http://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/paul-shipwrecked/You can also read
