Praise Be

This week we begin the rehearsals for the recording of Praise Be.

The three rehearsals are:

Monday 1 November 7.00pm, OLV Church

Thursday 4 November 7.00.pm, OLV Church

Sunday 7 November 2.00pm - 4.00pm, OLV Church

The Recording will be:

Monday 8 November 7.00pm - 10.00pm.

Praise Be was to be recorded at Our Lady of Victories the week of the first earthquake. Due to the earthquake this had to be postponed.

Now these November rehearsals and recording have a new purpose. The sessions now are a time of thanksgiving to God that there was no loss of life in the quakes.

Let's fill the Church with friends and family that through this recording God will be praised.

there is another way

On my way through the Press to the crossword yesterday morning I was deeply moved by a testimony of transcendence. It was the photo that caught my attention first; an embrace that was so much more than a routine greeting.

In May of this year a young driver lost control of his car and killed a four year old child. Alcohol was not a factor.

I cannot begin to imagine the trauma that overwhelmed young Nayan's parents Emma and Duncan, and Nayan's brother Jacob. And yet not six months later, at Ashley's sentencing, Duncan (speaking for himself and his wife) read a truly remarkable Victim Impact Statement.

I was unable to read this statement without several time having to stand and move, overwhelmed with my own emotion at the most powerful example of love I think I have ever read in the media. Take a few minutes to read this for yourselves.

I have no idea of the background or beliefs of Duncan and Emma and their families. This is not important.

Too often we label such transcendent behaviours (charity, justice, forgiveness and moral living) as peculiar to those who call themselves "Christian". In labelling such noble attritubes, we limit the power of God. In Jesus we see God forgiving those who do not deserve forgiveness. In doing this Jesus shows us much more than what it is to be Christian. Jesus shows us what it is to be human.

Emma and Duncan have reminded us of what it is to be human. I am moved by their response to the extent that the cells of my body shake as I read their witness. They have remind us (in the midst of the most traumatic loss and grief) of what it is to be human.

To do anything less than they have done, is to act in a way that is less than human.

They have shown us that in the midst of grief and loss, we do not have to resort to anger and violence.

There is another way.

revised texts of the Mass

As we prepare for the introduction of the revised prayers and responses of the Mass in less than one month, you might find these websites helpful:

Revised Order of the Mass (texts etc from the US Bishops' website)

Video Introduction to the Revised Order of the Mass (50 minutes)

A new translation: why and how? (video 49 minutes)

A higher register: Translation & Proclomation (video 52 minutes)

thirty-four more sleeps

In just four weeks, on Sunday 28 November 2010, the New Zealand Church will receive the people’s parts of the Revised Order of the Mass. On this first Sunday of Advent the texts of the prayers we pray together at Mass will change.

Many of these new texts will be familiar, since in many of the changes we will return to the exact wording of the scriptures from which these prayers were taken.

In the years following the Second Vatican Council, local translations of Latin texts were prepared for every language. Forty years on, it is clear that the English texts of the Mass are not as theologically precise or as aurally attractive as those of other languages.

text revision

In the years since the Council, many people who love the Liturgy of the Church have called for more accurate translations that reflect more fully the depth and beauty of Catholic tradition. Now we are able to receive the fruit of these years of prayer and study as we welcome the Revised Order of the Mass.

On the First Sunday of Advent we receive the revised people’s prayers. At this time there are new translations of

• the greetings and responses at the beginning of Mass
• The texts of the Penitential Rite
• the Gloria
• the Creed
• the prayers and responses during the Liturgy of the Word
• all the dialogues between the priest and the people during the Liturgy of the Eucharist
• the Holy Holy
• the Memorial Acclamations
• the Doxology
• all the prayers and responses of the priest and people from the Communion RIte to the Concluding Rites.

Next year the revised priest’s prayers (Eucharistic Prayer etc) will be introduced.

a significant opportunity

This is a significant moment for the Church in New Zealand. We are the first country in the world to use these new English texts. Australia will follow at Pentecost 2011 and USA in Advent 2011.

The new texts are quite different from those we use now. It is evident that these revised translations are not the casual conversational language of the street. Some words and phrases will sound strange at first. This is because we have become used to casual vernacular prose rather than the more dignified language of liturgy.

in the Mass we learn to mean what we pray

In the language of the Mass we do not simply pray what we mean as in private prayer. Instead in the Mass we allow ourselves to be formed by these ancient prayers that carry and communicate the heart of our faith. Our need in the Mass is to mean what we pray. In this way we are formed and re-formed by the ancient and time-tested prayers of the Mass.

not simply speaking, not simply singing... the beauty of chant

At the heart of the Catholic tradition of Liturgical prayer is chant. In the last forty years we have grown accustomed to singing popular hymns at Mass. There are times when this is appropriate and even perhaps necessary. However, rather than singing ‘at’ Mass, the Catholic tradition is to sing ‘the’ Mass.

This does not mean that complex melodies and harmonies need to be learned. Instead, good chant is simple and beautiful. Alongside complex choral singing and enthusiastic lively melody, chant can seem like a lesser option. However the reality is that in most parishes, spoken prayers not choral singing have become the norm for Mass.

Therefore, think of chant not as 'dumbed down' melody, but as elevated speech. When we chant the otherwise spoken parts of the Mass we are giving greater dignity to the prayers we pray. Rather than racing apace through prayers, the gentle motion and flexible rhythm of chant slows us, giving us time to ponder what we pray. We get a chance to savour what we sing.

Chant does not require instrumental accompaniment: therefore even the smallest congregations can pray together in this most dignified form.

no problem if you can't sing - chant instead!

Many people in an average congregation feel unable to hold a tune or to sing a melody, especially when notes climb or descend out of range, or when the tune is unfamiliar. But every worshipper has the ability to join in simple chant. In this communal action we seek not to sound like a choir. Our goal is to express our unity and faith, and to pray together “with one voice.”

It is significant to note that the liturgy document of the Vatican Council never anticipated that ancient chant would vanish from Sunday parish Masses. There is something in the human heart that yearns for an option of communication that is 'in-between' the simple casual spoken word, and the complex beauty of choral music. This is perhaps why as chant was used less in Churches, music stores filled up with albums of monks and nuns chanting ancient prayers. If we couldn’t have chant in church, we had to have it in our homes.

Have a listen to some examples of the revised texts in chant. These could be used at any Geraldine or Grey Valley Mass:

www.chantcafe.com

You might have a chance to spend some time over the next couple of weeks becoming familiar with these tones online.

gone before - marked with Faith

On Tuesday 2 November the Church celebrates the Feast of All Souls. We know this month of November as the month of Holy Souls. In this month we take pause to remember those who have died. We pray for those whom we have loved in life on earth. We pray for those who have loved us. We also remember those who have no one to remember them.

Next Sunday 31 October, I will visit several local cemeteries to spend time with parishioners in prayer. I will lead a time of prayer, with blessing of individual graves, at the following cemeteries at these times:

11.30pm Waimairi Cemetery

12.00pm Avonhead Park Cemetery

12.30pm Yaldhurst Cemetery

1.00pm Shands Rd Cemetery

If you have loved ones buried in these places, or if you would like to walk this path of prayer with us, please meet at the above times.

First Communion

Over these weeks children from our parish will receive Holy Communion for the first time.

You will remember your own First Communion. For me it was in St Patrick’s Basilica in Oamaru. Our preparation has lasted seven full years: every Sunday since before we could remember, our parents had taken us to Mass. The Church was a familiar place. The ritual was not entertaining, but it was real. As a child, I was curious. I asked questions that led me more deeply into what was most real. The one thing first communicants had to know was that this host was the real presence of Jesus.

Years have passed since then. Times are different. Most of the parents who have brought children to the First Communion programme since I arrived at OLV eleven years ago had not been a part of the parish before or after their child’s First Communion. I fear we have failed them by not communicating the wonder and beauty of what happens in the Mass and particularly in the personal reception of the fullness of God in communion.

I know that life is complex and at times difficult for parents. There are many demands on time and resources, especially at weekends. It is helpful to notice that parents who do see Sunday Mass as an essential part of every weekend are able to see life differently. They have been reminded at every Mass that the God of love is eager to work miracles in their lives. In the Mass each week they call on God to lead them (even to carry them) through the week ahead.

Take a moment to consider this: There is something deep within every human person that compels and propels us to go deeper. Contemporary living offers a range of products and practices that promise to satisfy this personal depth. But this method is exhausting and expensive. Sunday Mass is the ultimate expression of human need meeting divine generosity. How could we not reach out for this reality when it is offered so tangibly in the Mass?

You may be at Mass today because you feel you have to be. This is a helpful beginning, but such external pressure cannot sustain an adult life of faith. Listen to the deeper desire within and follow this call to live more deeply. Fleeting fantasies and entertainments may provide brief relief from the struggles of life. But in the Mass the Church brings to us the ultimate meaning of life: God is with us. We have nothing to fear.

Our participation in the Mass is the most effective witness of this reality to our children.

light & life: the witness of Mary MacKillop

from darkness to light

The world-wide news story of the week must be the rescue of the 33 miners in Chile. It is impossible to imagine what they went through in their ten week captivity. For their first two weeks we did not even know they were alive. Until the last moments of their rescue there was uncertainty about whether the rescue shaft and equipment would do the job. Thanks be to God they are now reunited with their families.

One of their many great struggles in their first days underground, was darkness. While there was an emergency bulb, to conserve this they waited in darkness. We tasted their experience in last month's earthquake, when in the moments of our greatest terror, there was no electricity.

When the miners emerged from the darkness on Thursday, they were wearing the sunglasses that had been sent down to them. After life in the dark, the light they had yearned to see, would be too much for their eyes. They would have to grow accustomed to the light of day once again.

This contrast between light and darkness is a useful metaphor for the life of faith. We need light. Without light there is no life. Light gives the ability to move ahead with clear direction and confidence.

Mary MacKillop: walked our roads

This weekend, Mary MacKillop will be named a Saint of the Church. On Sunday night (NZ time) Pope Benedict will celebrate Mass in St. Peter's Square, Rome. At that Mass he will also name five others as saints of the church.

Saint Mary of the Cross is the first named saint to have travelled (probably by horse and buggy, perhaps on foot) through the streets of our city. Her brother John, is buried in the Barbadoes Street cemetery. (ref. Inform Page headed 'schools')

The first Josephite sisters arrived in Temuka (the first New Zealand Josephite foundation) in 1883. In the last years of the nineteenth century Mary MacKillop's sisters formed communities throughout New Zealand in response to the needs of education and poverty in our country.

Between 1897 and 1902 Mary made four visits to New Zealand to spent time with her sisters and their communities in our country. It was on her last visit to NZ in 1902 that she became ill and returned to Australia where she died in 1909.

I won't go into the details of the life of St. Mary of the Cross in this reflection. There are many websites (some listed below) that give a good insight into the life and faith of this holy woman.

Instead the Canonisation of St. Mary of the Cross, gives us the opportunity to remember that the life of the saint is the "default-setting" for every baptised Catholic.

You and I are created to be saints.

People think that it is impossible for 'normal' people to be saints. This is not true. In Baptism we have been given all that we need to begin to live the life of the saint. If we followed the journey that we begin in baptism we would live the full potential of our human existence.

Instead of following this wonderful adventure of faith, from our earliest years, we seek to avoid this life-giving invitation. Like Adam and Eve in the garden we grasp at whatever looks promising. We become convinced that the bite of an apple can turn us into Gods.

sin: chasing fleeting mirages

This action (and motivation) is sinful, since in chasing these fleeting mirages, we are escaping the truth and beauty that is offered to us by God.

Those named as saints by the church are not named so because they were friendly polite people. Saints are not saints because they have achieved personal knowledge self-mastery or psychological wholeness. It is not even avoidance of sin that makes a saint so.

Saints are saints because they know that they are created by God, that they are sinners, and that they are loved by God. It is this experience of divine love that transforms. Rather than trying to satisfy myself by lurching from one passing pleasure to the next, the saint in me is seeking to relax into the embrace of God, and live in harmony with and response to every divine nudging.

Mary MacKillop: a most reasonable life

I am created for life in this loving embrace both for now and for eternity. Healthy human activity emerges from this relationship. This ultimately reasonable attitude is what we see in the life of Mary MacKillop.

Too often we settle for an existence of lurching from one satisfaction to the next. This exhausting habit is both stressful and demeaning for the woman or man created in the divine image.

May St. Mary of the Cross teach us to be who we truly are. Let us no longer be satisfied with existence in the enclosures of darkness. May the intercession of St. Mary of the Cross open us anew to the fulness of divine light. Like Mary, let us refuse to settle for anything less than intimacy with God in every word and action.

Holy God, source of all goodness,

you show us in Mary MacKillop

a woman of faith

who lived by the power of the cross.

Teach us to embrace what she pioneered:

new ways of living the gospel

that respect and defend

the human dignity of all in our land.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Websites:

Australian Mary Mackillop Website

http://www.marymackillop.org.au

Canonisation Live Webcast

http://webcast.viostream.com/?viocast=2866&auth=84b037b5-0eab-4e27-8d5c-e1c403c3d255

Christchurch Diocese Mary MacKillop site with more links

http://www.chch.catholic.org.nz/?sid=2540

New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Website

http://www.catholic.org.nz/our-story/dsp-default.cfm?loadref=48

A selection of relevant websites.

http://online.cesanet.adl.catholic.edu.au/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-14776/MMK+news+no8.pdf

New Zealand claims Mary MacKillop

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2010/10/12/3035970.htm

day is done

It has been a long day.

Today our two meetings for the Thanksgiving Programme were held. The first, this afternoon, filled the Bishop Joyce Centre. A smaller (but still most satisfying) number gathered this evening. The co-ordinator of the Diocesan Thanksgiving Programme presented the process, with statistics and hopes to us.

The response of those present was very positive. A good number of parishioners signed up to form visiting teams. This will enable us to make contact with all those on the parish roll.

Please keep the process in your prayer, especially over these next few weeks.

Thanksgiving Meeting Number One

I have come over to the church to pray for a few moments before our 2pm Thanksgiving Programme meeting. I have no idea what the response will be. The same meeting will be repeated tonight for another group.

To be honest I am a bit apprehensive. We are at a turning point in the life of our parish. We need the resources to be able to reach out to the four thousand Catholic who live within the parish boundaries. We see only 800 at Mass each Sunday.

While I am apprehensive I am also hopeful. Excited even. The possibility for the birth of a new era of parish life is before us.

I will let you know how we go.

Pray!

Thanksgiving

Last week OLV parish began the Thanksgiving Programme. This process over six weeks invites and challenges us to re-consider our contribution of time, talent and treasure to the life of the Church within this parish.

This is a great opportunity for our parish to begin to move into the future with Faith and confidence, as we seek anew to share with others the beauty of the life we have tasted in God.

A brochure will be distributed in the next few days in the parish. I was asked to write a letter to be included. Here is the text:

Dear Parishioners,

The sabbatical weeks gave me good opportunity for personal reflection. As a priest, this reflection is always about the priestly ministry which God has entrusted to me, and which is an organic part of my life. It is a privilege for me to serve Our Lady of Victories as Parish Priest. In my time away I thought a lot about our life together at Our Lady of Victories. There are many blessings. God is working powerfully among us.

These weeks of the Thanksgiving Programme give us good opportunity to give thanks to God for the many gifts He has given us. The diversity and commitment of so many parishioners at Mass every Sunday is a powerful witness to the presence and action of God in this place.

As we give thanks to God, we are also aware that a significant number of our friends and family no longer worship with us. Too many of our children and grandchildren, nephews and nieces who were baptised, raised and educated as Catholics, have little (if any) contact with the Church in their adult lives. This is a tragedy that rightly concerns us deeply.

It is all too easy to leave the responsibility solely with them. However as a parish community we can do much more to present the lively beauty of our Faith in a way that is inviting and attractive to them. All too often we reduce the Catholic Faith to moral living, legal practice and doctrinal orthodoxy. Life as a Catholic is primarily a living encounter with the person of Jesus Christ who is God. This vibrant relationship of love transforms every aspect of human life. The fruit of this living relationship is sound moral living reflecting the intention of the Creator. In such a life, the law of God is fulfilled and life is fully lived.

If the Catholic Faith is to survive in our parish, we who worship here every Sunday, need to give fully of our time, our talent, and our treasure. For two thousand years the Catholic Faith has thrived only where Catholics are generous in these ways. Such an atmosphere of lived generosity is fertile ground for divine miracles. We will witness these miracles in our own lives and in the lives of those we love.

TIME

The first call on our time is weekly participation in the Sunday Mass. Without the Mass we might be able to cope or survive, but we cannot live. During each week our life as Catholic people takes time: we delay when we are busy to spend time with the needy neighbour or workmate. We get up to the sick or hungry child at night. We respond with the same generosity when our parish calls for help.

TALENT

Our parish community is united not by our common interests or natural personal attractions of friendship. Instead we are a wonderfully diverse group drawn together by our knowledge of our need for God. Each of us brings gifts and talents to this local gathering of God’s family. We offer our talents generously for the up-building of the parish and for the mission of the Church in this place.

TREASURE

Like every family, our parish community has great potential. We have the ultimate message of hope to share with family, friends, neighbours, workmates, children and grandchildren. But like most families we are limited in our resources. In recent months our weekly collection has barely covered our basic parish expenses. There are around 1000 income earning adults in our parish. The minimum hourly wage is $12.75. Given that for ten years now we have suggested ‘one hours wage’ as the starting point for contribution to the parish, our weekly collection should be in the vicinity of $12.000. In recent years it has been $3000. Let us each renew our giving pledge, enabling our basic parish expenses to be covered, and opening possibilities for outreach and mission by the parish to those we love, and those to whom God sends us.

It is essential that we embrace the opportunity that we have in these weeks. Many parish communities around the world have simply faded from existence. This must not happen to us. What is required of us is a generosity that exceeds our comfort level. It is such a ‘sacrificial’ generosity that imitates Jesus who called us to give all in His service and in love of one another.

As we are grateful to those who nurtured seeds of Faith in us, so too will future generations of Catholics be grateful to us for our generous response to the call of Jesus.

And we know that God will abundantly reward those who respond generously to His call.

Sincerely, in Christ,

Fr. John C. O’Connor

Parish Priest

Our Lady of Victories Parish

Sockburn

OLV: hope for the future

On Wednesday night a small, generous and enthusiastic group of parishioners gathered to begin preparations for our OLV Parish Thanksgiving Programme 2010.

It is five years since we last invited Phil Gourdie (Thanksgiving Programme Director for the Diocese of Christchurch) to lead us through this process. Two years ago when our parish was due for the programme, we were restoring our parish Church. In the midst of the generous response of many parishioners to this restoration we asked that the Thanksgiving Programme be delayed.

At the parish Finance Committee meeting last month it became clear that our collection at Mass each Sunday is no longer covering our parish expenses. Alongside this reality we know that we do not have the resources to meet our parish responsibilities for evangelization.

Before the late 1960’s there was no need for a parish planned-giving programme. While many parishioners lived in great poverty, they knew that if they gave generously to God, God would provide for all their needs. Parents sacrificed everything to ensure that their children were raised in the practice of the Catholic Faith. Sunday mornings were given completely to God. A significant percentage of each household income was generously given to the church and school. Time and talent was given without cost to parish and school maintenance and working bees. People would express their support and gratitude to the Church by gifting up to a weeks salary at the time of a Marriage or Baptism.

The years since have seen significant changes in society. Many of the things that the people of our country once accepted as essential have been disregarded. Much of what citizens then knew to be wrong, have since been embraced as normal and even desirable.

However the Church has remained consistent in presenting the full possibility of human living with God.

Over the past half century the Church has struggled to communicate the beauty of the Catholic faith to people who seek satisfaction in what is new, untested and unreliable. Many people are now tiring of this futile seeking. A significant number of active Catholics have discovered a renewed and adult appreciation of the contemporary reality of life with God, within the Church.

In many young Catholics we see a renewed embrace of the Faith that sustained their grandparents. The World Youth Days are but one vivid example of this renewed movement towards God within the Church.

Here at Our Lady of Victories we are ready to move into a new stage of parish life together. Even in the few years since our last Thanksgiving programme we have welcomed many new parishioners to the parish. These new parishioners bring a wealth of cultural diversity and personal experience to in their lives as faithful Catholics.

As Catholics we carry in the practice and teaching of the Church, the answer to all human needs. This answer is not itself a doctrine or a practice, but a person; Jesus Christ who is God alive with us today.

Citizens of the twenty-first century are not attracted to practices and doctrines. Wise people seek experience, encounter and relationship. People, who take time to reflect on their own experience of seeking and not finding satisfaction in life, are ready to encounter God within their human experience. It is this real and living relationship with the divine that gives meaning to all human life now, and for eternity.

A parish community that takes this new opportunity seriously needs to be supported with practical resources. It is my hope that we are able to employ a qualified and competent young person to work full time within the parish. This person would:

• Make contact with younger parishioners, that is, people aged up to late 20’s early 30’s, providing opportunities for them to gather for sound Faith formation, for prayer, and socially within the parish.
• Continue to build on the sound and lively relationship with children and teachers in our parish school and neighbouring Colleges.
• Work with children preparing to celebrate the Sacraments of Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist and Confirmation.
• Liaise with the Catholic Diocesan Youth Team to ensure that the younger parishioners of Our Lady of Victories benefit fully from all diocesan opportunities.
• Co-ordinate possible parish participation in the International World Youth Day event.
• and, as a member of the Parish Team, respond to other needs that arise within the parish

I see this possibility as a hope-filled step forward that will reap benefits in the life of our parish into the future.

However we can only take this step if we have a greatly improved weekly parish income.

There are many other tasks of mission and maintenance that we need to address. Many people have comment that the Bishop Joyce Centre needs to be completely restored. Your increased commitment to the parish planned-giving programme every week will ensure that we can address this need.

Please keep the Parish Thanksgiving Programme in your prayer in these weeks. May we all respond with generous and grateful hearts.