5 September 2021

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B

All gatherings and events are postponed until further notice.

Sunday Mass with Fr Vui – Sunday 5 September @ 9am – https://youtu.be/zkgLr5wScNA

Sunday Mass with Fr Trung – Sunday 5 September @ 10am – https://youtu.be/KQNF7hnzSGo

Catholic Radio – Sunday 5 September @ 9am – On Manawatu Peoples’ Radio, 999kh Am

Shine TV – Sunday 5 September @ 2pm – Free-to-air TV Channel 25 – SKY TV Channel 201

Online Liturgy with Julie Randall – Sunday 5 September @ 4pm – Teams “Zoom” Gathering

Weekday Mass with Dio of Hamilton – Every weekday @ 9.00am – https://www.cdh.org.nz/livestream

Pray the Rosary with Fr Vijay – Everyday @ 8pm – Click here to Pray the Rosary

Afternoon Prayer with Fr Joe – Wednesday 8 September @ 4pm – Afternoon Prayer and Cuppa with Fr Joe

How to Pray the Rosary – https://3daysoffasting.com/rosary/

3 Days of Fasting & More – https://3daysoffasting.com/

Liturgy resources Auckland Diocese – https://www.aucklandcatholic.org.nz/liturgy/liturgy-of-the-word-with-children/

Children’s Sunday Mass Resource – https://cafod.org.uk/Education/Children-s-liturgy

English children’s liturgy site – https://www.colourandshapeonline.com and https://www.youtube.com/c/ColourandShape

Children’s Activity sheet – http://www.sdc.me.uk/sundayliturgy/worksheets/b-ordinary_time-23.pdf

Catholic NZ – https://indd.adobe.com/view/25f770ac-5f43-4534-abc8-db3a6d9c451e

WelCom – https://www.wn.catholic.org.nz/adw_welcom/welcom-naumai-september-2021/

CathNews – CathNews New Zealand

COVID 19 – Level 3

REMINDER:
All our parish homes together with the parish offices are closed
until further notice.
When we move to Level 2, we will let you know what
this means for each of the 3 parishes.

Pastoral Information – LEVEL 3

Prayer Intentions: If you have prayer intentions for sick members of the family or anniversaries, please email these to be included in the newsletter – office@pncathedral.org.nz.

Visiting the sick and dying:  Under level 3 there will be no visiting to our parishioner’s homes.  If you are needing pastoral care while in hospital, please contact us and we will arrange for our hospital chaplain to meet with you.

Funerals:  Under level 3, only 10 people can attend a funeral including the priest and musician.  If you require any assistance around funerals, please contact one of the following:
Fr Joe Grayland         027 777 8096 or priest@lourdesparish.nz
Fr Vijay Dungdung    027 7156654 or fr.vijay@lourdesparish.nz
Mons David Bell 021 257 6771 or  d.bell@pncathedral.org.nz

Pastoral Outreach:

The Pastoral Telephone Trees are now operating.  Do we have your contact details?

Please let us know if your household details have changed or you are new to our parishes, we would like to Stay in Touch.

• You can do so via an Online Register @ https://kotahiano.infoodle.com/f/InformationUpdate
• Or you can email Claire Jacobs directly @ office@pncathedral.org.nz
  • Examples of household changes are:
    • Moving House / Changed Parishes
    • Changed Phone Numbers
    • Children are adults and moved out etc

Alternatively, you can speak to one of the following people for any of your pastoral needs:

Cathedral of the Holy Spirit
Kate Bell                  k.bell@pncathedral.org.nz

Our Lady of Lourdes/Sacred Heart
Fr Joe Grayland     office@lourdesparish.nz

St Marys’ Foxton/Shannon
Eleanor Jacobs      foxtoncoordinator@lourdesparish.nz

Pastors Desk

A friend wrote of listening to a woman on the radio speaking about eating disorders and lockdown. As he listened to the speaker—a recoveree—describing the impact of lockdown on younger people who are being admitted as acute cases, she said, “they talk themselves out of food…”. She described the social dimension of sharing food and why those with eating disorders often avoid the dining table while the rest of the family eat together.

My friend had two comments. First, the Church of the past—and where it acts moralistically—has sent its own from the table to eat alone in their rooms or seek out other tables of friendship and affection that will knit them into a communion of hope. He wrote that the end effect is ‘we have “sterilised” the Eucharist even for the “good and worthy souls”.’ He gave the example of a priest in the 1950s visiting outback mission stations in Queensland for a month. The priest forgot to take the altar stone with him, so for the entire month, his masses were, he said, a “mountain of mortal sin”—priests could commit 110 sins while saying the Latin Mass. As soon as the new priest arrived, he confessed to him at the bus stop and was absolved.

The second comment concerned authentic experiences of the Eucharist. Eating alone and not sharing the table with friends, family, or even strangers bring the burden of isolation. He wrote that we need to be careful not to use alternatives that ‘talk us out of authentic food’. There’s a qualitative difference between a home-cooked meal and fast food. One is nutritious; the other is not. We need to be careful ‘that we remember the taste of authentic bread and true wine even if we can’t have it.’

There is a social dimension to worship. Sharing the Body and Blood of Christ is essential to our existence as Catholic-Christians. The loss of our practising sacramental life through Covid restrictions can remind us to be thankful for the easy access to the Eucharist, the Anointing of the Sick and Reconciliation we usually enjoy. But the restrictions should not stop us from seeing the sacramentality of God in all things and giving eucharist—thanksgiving—for this.

Our sacramental life is mediated through symbols like water, bread, oil, and wine. We use signs like touch, immersion, anointing, eating, and drinking, and we do this in a community setting with the Church’s minister. When all this comes to a stunning halt, it is natural to turn to alternatives that image the sacraments but lack their essential quality of sacramental encounter. The celebration of the Sacred Liturgy by the Church gathered is a physical encounter. It is the celebration of redemption for which the virtual environment is insufficient. An authentic encounter between God and the believer needs sign, symbol, presence, and encounter. Let’s not forget how to eat with the community

By Fr Joe Grayland [/showhide]

Reflection

The message we hear in all three readings today is simply: Ephphatha! That is: Be opened! Be open to the goodness and graciousness of our God.

Isaiah speaks words of hope to the Israelites in the desert, to those whose hearts are frightened: “Be strong, fear not” (Isa. 35:4). He encourages them to be open to the saving work of God, who will open the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf. God will transform even the earth with streams bursting forth in the desert, burning sands become pools and springs of water in thirsty ground.

James speaks of welcome and hospitality, of openness to both the wealthy and the poor. For those of us baptized into Christ, there cannot be any judgment of worthiness of another to be in our company, to be part of our communities of faith. Our call and our behaviour is to be open to all.

And finally, in Mark’s gospel, we hear the story of Jesus healing the deaf man with a speech impediment. Here is when Jesus speaks, “‘Ephphatha’—that is, ‘be opened’” (Mark 7:34). And indeed, his ears were opened and his speech impediment was removed.

Perhaps you have viewed the videos of people who are colour blind receiving glasses that allow them to suddenly see colour. In each case, the person with new vision erupts in emotion at being able to see. Their lives are changed. Other videos portray people who are given hearing aids and are able to hear human voice and music for the first time. Such hearing allows them to speak clearly as well. These are stirring stories and the aids to sight and sound transform lives.

How do God and the gospel open our eyes, ears, hearts? How are our lives transformed—indeed, made different?

The gospel calls us to see with eyes of love and acceptance. In our humanness, we tend to notice only differences: age, colour, ethnic background, sexuality, socioeconomic status, physical and psychological wellbeing, politics. These differences bring judgment. With hearts opened by God, we see every person and our earth as our neighbours, deserving of respect and care. Paul speaks this theme clearly, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). What a transformation there would be if we lived what we see in the example of Christ.

God calls us to hear the gospel with open minds and hearts, and also to speak that message with our lives. May we hear God speaking to us: “Ephphatha! Be opened.” And then, both seeing and hearing, transformed by new sight and sound, may we be catalysts for change in the world.                                                                                                                                                     (US Catholic)

Jesus, open our ears so that we can hear you in the pleading of the poor,
the cry of the environment, the war-torn, the immigrant, the hungry.
Open our ears so we can hear you in the crash of waves, the sound of children
laughing, the call of a friend, in music by Puccini.
We want to know you well;  wherever you are and in all things.
Open our deaf ears and loosen our tongues. Let us hear and
speak your love to all the world.       Anne Osdieck

Prayer Intentions

We Pray for Our Deceased: RIP: Tom Keeble, Maree Gunn, Paul Phillips, Paul Dawes, Whanganui, brother of Patricia Dawes, Lourdes parish & Mary Crowley (previously Woodville), uncle to his Crowley nieces and nephews. Zoe Cutfield, recently from Hamilton, died at the Manor Rest home. Aloyisius Heynen (Louie) father of Janey Bishop and father-in-law Peter and family members of Lourdes parish, Fr Don Morrison, & Glen Wellen.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen

Mass intentions: Betty Barnao (A), Frank O’Brien (A), Abdul Ahad Putris-Yacoub (A), Cheryl & Megan Hunter (A), Nieves Rincoraya (A), Josie Bell (A), Patricia McCormack (A), Sean Gallagher (A), Colin Brown (A), and Sheila Butler (A)

Peter Hurly, Adam Lavery (9yrs old), Rayn Lavery (11yrs old) and family, Kath Keenan, Jimmy Coogan, Adele Scott, Carol & Garry Miers, Jean Kathleen Butturini, Bernice OBeirne, Barbara & Graeme Younger, Bernadette Conlon, Brian Cundall, Bridget Beckett, Catelyn McCormack, Clive Robinson, David Maeguard, Diane Stubbs, Deborah Green, Dorothy Speller, Evie Feierabend, Fiona Hurly, Frank Williamson, Freya Cuthbertson-Walsh, Graham Ryan, Ian Sutherland, Jason Donald, Jean McLean, Jesus Orendain, Joe Henry, Joey Fohn,  June MacMillan, Julie (Auckland), Hazel Probyn, Kay Fran, Kelly Clifton, Kerry Hocquard, Kia Reyes, Ludwig Gertzgrasser, Margaret Lambeth, Margaret  Caldwell, Marian Carey, Mary Jefferies Mary Mainwaring, Maryanne Jacobs, Mikulas Oros, Michael Quirk, Pat Kauri, Nicola Burmeister, Peter Morrison-Story, Pippa Richards, Patricia Harvey (Aus), Patrick Tobin, Raymond Jones, Rebecca Lauvi, Rose Waldvogel, Steve Horgan, Tony Murphy, Tony Nicholls, Tony Winchcombe, Vinnie Carroll, William Lemmon, Anna & John Feldberg, Margaret Maskill, Tyler & Allan (Foxton), Ruth Pentland & Lynn Nelmes.

Special Notices 

Season of Creation 2021 – 1 September to 4 October

Why Christians are pitching ‘Abraham’s tent’ during 2021 Season of Creation

Every year during the Season of Creation, Christians on six continents unite to pray, take action, and advocate for our common home. But every year also features a new theme and a new logo for Christians to unite around as they care for God’s creation.  This year’s theme is “A home for all? Renewing the Oikos of God,” & the logo reflects that theme as it’s Abraham’s tent, which symbolizes “a home for all.”

Want to learn more: Pope Francis’ Invitation to you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcOOLlqjahI

A Season of Creation website: https://seasonofcreation.org/

Pink Shoes into the Vatican. 

Join the campaign for gender equity in the Catholic Church on Sunday 19 September (Women’s Suffrage Day) 2-3pm Cathedral of the Sacred Heart Wellington.  Cardinal John Dew will meet us and accept the petition, to be conveyed to the Vatican. Send us your shoes or your story to contribute to an eye-catching and creative installation using women’s worn-out shoes, some painted pink, leading from the steps of Parliament to Sacred Heart Cathedral in Thorndon, Wellington.  Each pair will have a tag attached giving a short vignette of one woman’s walk with the Church. Your support would be most welcome. We need your shoes and notes by 12 September. Post your shoes to 33 The Esplanade, Raumati South, Paraparaumu 5032 or deliver to 104 Majoribanks St, Mt Victoria. If you can’t send shoes, send your message to the above address or email cecilymcneill@icloud.com

CHANGE OF DATE

Liturgy Hui at the Diocesan Centre now to be held on Friday 29 October to 31 October 2021. 

For Bookings:  https://tumanako.pndiocese.org.nz/2021/06/te-hahi-hurihuri-the-evolving-church-liturgy-hui/

Planned Giving and Special Collections

If you would like to donate your Planned Giving online via Automatic Payments, please email the parish office office@pncathedral.org.nz for further information.  If setting up, please include your Surname, AP number (available from Parish Office or use your current planned giving envelope number) and ‘donation’.  Thank you for your continued support.

Cathedral of the Holy Spirit:            02-0630-0288037-01

Our Lady of Lourdes:                       02-0630-0288037-18

St Mary’s Foxton:                             02-0630-0288037-07

St Vincent de Paul Society

To donate to SVDP, The Society of St Vincent de Paul bank account number for donations is: 03 0718 0047377 00. Please provide your name and email address as the reference for receipting purposes. Thank you and God bless.

The October 2021 Funding Round for the Diocese of Palmerston North Allocations Group is now open 

• Parish groups, agencies and church organisations that provide a helping hand by supporting Families and Social Services are invited to apply for funding from the Catholic Charities Foundation of Palmerston and the Tindall Foundation through the Diocesan Allocations group.
• The priority is to fund Catholic and community organisations who are working in areas identified as priorities by the Catholic Charities Foundation of Palmerston North and the Tindall Foundation, and aligned with the diocesan goals.
• We are charged with the funding support of groups committed to social, pastoral, charitable and educational needs in the diocese. Applications are judged based on need, resource availability and the fulfilment of set criteria.

Applications are now open and are due on Thursday 30 September 2021.  Application forms and more information can be found here: https://pndiocese.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/Catholic-Charities-Application-form-2020.pdf or please contact Wendy Silver at wsilver@pndiocese.org.nz or ph (06) 354 1780 ext 833

Resources for Children

CAFOD children’s liturgy of the Word
https://cafod.org.uk/Education/Children-s-liturgy

Word – Sunday.com
http://www.word-sunday.com/Files/b/23-b/V-23-b.html

“Stuffed Ears” Game

When Jesus healed a man’s hearing, he did more than restore a bodily sense. He enabled people to really listen to his message.

To make this point, play “Stuffed Ears,” – a variation on the old telephone game.  Stuff your family members’ ears with cotton or ear plugs.  Line them up and whisper a message once to the first person.  That person is to whisper the message only once to the second person, and so on, like the telephone game. After a few rounds of the game, discuss the results.

Was the game frustrating or hilarious or interesting?
How much easier is it to listen with stuffed ears?
How do we stuff our “inner ears?”
What gets in the way of really hearing other people?
How can Jesus help us listen to each other?

Activity sheets:
https://www.catholicmom.com/sunday-mass-activities

Catholic Schools

St Peter’s College

Contact Phone No.: (06) 354 4198
Email: office@stpeterspn.school.nz
Website: http://www.stpeterspn.school.nz/
Principal: Margaret Leamy

St James

Contact Phone No.: (06) 357 9719
Email: office@stjamescatholic.school.nz
Website: http://www.stjamescatholic.school.nz/
Principal: Tom Sheehan

St Mary’s School Foxton

Contact Phone No.: (06) 363 8177
Email: info@stmarysfoxton.school.nz
Website: http://www.stmarysfoxton.school.nz/
Principal: Mary Kleinsman-Powell

Our Lady of Lourdes School

Contact Phone No.: (06) 358 9727
Email: office@olol.school.nz
Website: https://olol.school.nz/
Newsletter: Our Lady of Lourdes Newsletter
Principal: Caroline Deazley-Gilligan