A warm Ngaruawahia welcome to Father Stuart Young who will be with us for the foreseeable future.
PASTORAL LETTER 13TH FEBRUARY 2022 – SO I LEAVE MY BOATS BEHIND
13 February 2022
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,
So I Leave my Boats Behind
Seven years ago, on the 13th of February 2015 I processed into the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a priest and processed out as a bishop, your bishop. Over the last seven years you, the people of the Diocese of Hamilton, the laity, religious and priests, have helped shape and form me as a bishop as I tried my best to respond to the Lord’s call to me in the various encounters, moments and challenges of the seven years.
There is no such thing as a perfect bishop as there is no such thing as a perfect person. I have tried my best within the limits of my gifts, limitations, foibles, faults and personal sinfulness. Often when confronted with various people or situations I have struggled with what is the right thing to say or do. I’m no different to anyone else as we all try to engage in the various relationships of life. Sometimes we get things right, and sometimes we get things wrong in this age where the expectation is that we always do the right thing and everyone has to agree with what we think. At the same time a weakness of mine is to allow fear and resentment to take root in my heart and thinking and this impacts on my ability to speak, act and love as Christ calls me to speak, act and love.
So if along the way over these past seven years I have hurt or harmed you, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do, whether intentionally or unintentionally, please accept my sincere apology. It is never my intention to hurt or harm any one of you and so I humbly ask for your forgiveness.
At the same time there have been so many encounters and moments that have made my heart soar and I thank you for these. I have truly loved being your bishop. I have loved you, the clergy, religious and people of the Diocese of Hamilton. Thank you for the blessing you have been to me and for all the encouragement, challenge, support and joy you have been. I have loved praying with and for you and working together with you in the Lord’s vineyard. Through you I have learnt so much more of the wonder and wonders of our God of love.
When I was appointed the Bishop of Hamilton I chose for my motto, Ko te Ariki tōku Hēpara – the Lord is my Shepherd, for the Lord is the one who has shepherded me throughout my life. At my ordination as your bishop I chose the same Gospel I had at my priestly ordination at Hokitika in 1996 where Jesus asks Peter three times, do you love me?, and where Jesus three times instructs Peter to feed and look after his flock. The image of the shepherd and the sheep is an image of the wilderness for in the Gospel imagery that is where the sheep live. Even today the shepherds of the Holy Land are seen each morning leading their sheep out into the desert to find pasture and water with the shepherds calling their flock and the sheep following his call. This is the vocation of us all to listen for the call of Christ the Good Shepherd and to follow him with generosity and trust.
In December I received a phone call from the Nuncio with the request from Pope Francis that I accept a new appointment as the Bishop of Auckland. When many years ago I was asked to go overseas to study, my mother, who was becoming more frail in her old age, said to me, “I want you to do what the Church asks of you – you are not to consider me in your decision.” It reminds me of another mother who said, “Do whatever he tells you.” Indeed, all through the Scriptures and the lives of the saints, we see the model of discipleship is to respond generously to the Lord’s call. What I hadn’t picked up till later that day when I celebrated Mass, was that the psalm of the day was “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Once again, I knew he was walking before me calling me onward. As I left my home town of Hokitika for the Seminary, the recessional hymn at Mass was the Galilee Song, So I leave my boats behind! Leave them on familiar shores! Set my heart upon the deep! Follow you again, my Lord!
On Sunday the 13th of this month, seven years to the day after I processed into the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a priest and processed out as your bishop, I will again process into and out of your Cathedral but this time as the Bishop of Auckland before moving north. In the meantime you may see me occasionally as I have been appointed Apsotolic Administrator of Hamilton until such time as a new bishop is appointed. Please pray for the process that will lead to the appointment of a new Bishop of Hamilton.
As I move, I will hold the Hamilton Diocese within my heart, grateful for the blessings I have received with and from you. As I go, I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God as I will certainly pray for you.
Yours sincerely in Christ the Good Shepherd
+Steve Lowe, Apostolic Administrator
Taumarunui Catholic Church 50th Jubilee – 21/May, 2022
Jubilee celebrations at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, in Taumarunui is on Saturday the 21st of May, 2022. Send your enquiries to Susan – Suton3920@gmail.com or call 021 1705214. Download this poster.
Silent Directed Retreats in 2022
A silent directed retreat consists of individual spiritual direction each day (roughly 20 to 30 mins). Retreatants will be directed by either Fr Carl Telford SM or Fr John Jolliffe SM. The remainder of the day is at your disposal for prayer / spiritual reading / relaxation / leisure. These retreats are fully catered and each private room has its own ensuite. Cost – $118 fee for a weekend retreat (weekday retreats also available) – payable by Credit Card. If the fee is unaffordable please email alexb@cdh.org.nz to receive a discount code. Visit cdh.org.nz/events to register.
Weekend Retreats: March 11 – 13, April 1 – 3, April 22 – 24, May 13 – 15, June 10 – 12, September 9 -11, November 18-20.
Weekday Retreats: March 14 – 19, September 12 –17, November 21 – 24.
Looking for an available rental:
The Diocese is looking for a house for the NET Team to live in for 2022 while they minister at Aquinas College the parishes and across the Diocese. If there is anyone with a 3 bedroom house for rent that may be open to renting to the Diocese, please contact Danielle Mourits at daniellem@cdh.org.nz
Early Childhood Teacher
Our Place Preschool was established in 2014 to complement the thriving St Columba’s Frankton’s school and church community. We are privately owned and operated by a manager/teacher who also works on the floor.
We are currently seeking a qualified teacher to complete our vibrant and friendly team, preferably full time but hours are negotiable for the right person.
We are licensed for 40 children in a mixed age, family setting. We are deeply embedded in the St Columba’s school and parish communities and embrace a learning programme that reflects our faith, using the NZ Catholic ECE Curriculum to support our teaching.
The successful applicant will hold a relevant qualification, a current full practising certificate, a heart for children and be willing to embrace our Catholic character.
We offer a small, friendly team, good working conditions, and a wonderful community so if you are heart-led, fun loving and passionate about children’s learning, please email your C.V and covering letter to admin@ourplacepreschool.co.nz
Or call Kelly 8477472 or 027 4653073
Implementation of the Strategic Pastoral Plan –
The Pastoral Services Team can assist. Click here for more information.
I would like to expand the parish history on the site. Does anyone have old photos of the church especially inside, or names and photos of early priests and dates they were here? I believe one of the first parish priests is buried in the Ngaruawahia cemetery does anyone know where. One of our priests told me this some years ago but I can’t remember where he said the grave was. I think he said he was Dutch and played in a brass band. Please email anything to zlterenceol@gmail.com Thanks, Terry.
New Media statements from NZCBC
Catholic bishops issue guidelines for working with people who choose “assisted dying”
The NZ Catholic Bishops have written a pastoral statement and guidelines for health professionals, chaplains
and priests to help them work with people who decide to die under the End of Life Choice Act which takes effect on 7 November. Though the Church opposes the deliberate taking of human life, it cannot turn away those who choose “assisted dying” under the new law, says the Bishop of Hamilton, Stephen Lowe, the vice-president of the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference.
The media statement and the two documents are online here: https://www.catholic.org.nz/news/media-releases/eolca-catholic-guidelines
NZ Catholic bishops urge everyone to have a Covid-19 vaccine
The country’s Catholic bishops are strongly urging their faithful and everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand to get a Covid-19 vaccine when it becomes available.
NZ Catholic Bishops Conference President, Cardinal John Dew, cited this country’s 2019-20 measles epidemic and the endorsement of Covid-19 vaccines by Pope Francis as reasons the bishops are calling on everyone to get vaccinated.
Pope Francis this week lamented that some people were saying they would refuse vaccination, adding: “I believe that morally, everyone must take the vaccine. It is the moral choice because it is about your life [and] the lives of others.”
Cardinal Dew said the Pope had made it clear there was no religious reason to reject vaccination, including that some vaccines were created with cell lines that originated from tissue from human fetuses aborted several decades ago.
Catholic teaching opposes abortion, but the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith office has said the “grave danger” of spreading Covid-19 outweighs those concerns when “ethically irreproachable vaccines are not available.” It was “morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process.” Pope Francis endorsed that statement last month, on 17 December.
Pope Francis and his predecessor Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI were both vaccinated against Covid-19 this week at the Vatican.
Cardinal Dew said the bishops took their advice about vaccines from reputable doctors, scientists and the bishops’ own bioethics agency, the Nathaniel Centre.
“We reject the false information circulating on the internet and elsewhere that claims vaccines should not be used,” Cardinal Dew said. “Vaccines work, and they protect against a wide range of illnesses. Because of vaccines, once-universal diseases such as smallpox have been wiped out, saving countless lives.
“To protect everyone against a disease, it is vital that most people in a country be vaccinated. The 2019-20 New Zealand measles epidemic happened because only about 80 per cent of the population were vaccinated. As a result, the disease was carried from Auckland to Samoa where more than 80 people died, most of them babies and children.
“Everyone, including Catholics, has a moral responsibility to protect themselves and others by getting a Covid-19 vaccine as soon as they become eligible for it under the Government’s planned vaccine programme,” said Cardinal Dew.
The Vatican doctrinal office statement endorsed by the Pope said that all vaccinations recognised as clinically safe and effective could “be used in good conscience with the certain knowledge that the use of such vaccines does not constitute formal cooperation with the abortion from which the cells used in production of the vaccines derive.”
Click on these links for further information:
• Pope Francis saying people have a moral obligation to be vaccinated, click here
• The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith December 21 note saying it is morally acceptable to use Covid-19 vaccines derived from fetus cell lines, click here
• Pope Francis endorses CDF note, click here
• Nathaniel Report article on the ethics of vaccines derived from fetus cell lines, click here
• NZ Catholic article by Nathaniel Centre director Dr John Kleinsman report on the ethics of Covid-19 vaccines, click here
• NZ Catholic article discussing Covid-19 vaccines, click here