a sign to give a smile

I spent this afternoon visiting some families on Chatham. I arrived at two homes right on Christmas dinner dessert time. Perfect timing.

Over the past four years of Chatham Island visits I have often passed a sign at the corner just below the presbytery and Church. Today I wanted to share the smile I always have when I see the sign.

Christmas Day

There may well be no place on earth as far from Bethlehem as the Chatham Islands. It is remarkable that the event of the incarnation has reached this place. The wise men who visited the new-born saviour were successful in their mission of taking this Good News "to the ends of the earth".

I was very aware this morning with the couple of people at Mass, that we were not simply remembering a wonderful historical event. Instead the event of the Incarnation was once again a present event as the full reality of God became real and tangible on an altar in this isolated island antipodes of Bethlehem.

Following Mass this morning the people and I chatted (as we had last night) about the best ways for me to keep contact with them when I am in Christchurch. The people are grateful for any effort that is made and encouraged by the parishioners of OLV.

The visit of Sr Cora Grennan and Sr.Deirdre Nelson for a couple of years in July was a highlight and opened the way for future (and hopefully regular) pastoral visits of sisters.

Internet access is gradually becoming much more present on the Chathams. This makes good regular contact much easier - but this will never replace the regular visits of priests and sisters.

Later Christmas Eve

I sat alone in the Church before Mass waiting to see who would come.

Five minutes before Mass began the first person arrived. Over the next fifteen minutes a dozen more came and we began Mass singing "O Come All Ye Faithful". It was a pleasure to be able to celebrate Christmas Mass with this group. Tomorrow morning at 9, I will celebrate Mass again, for whoever comes.

I could not help but think that our celebration of the Mass here tonight was a little different from the two Vigil and Midnight Masses at OLV. Actually this is probably an understatement! Tonight was the first taste the people of the Chathams have had of the revised texts of the Mass. We sang four carols - pretty well I thought, but were not able to sing the Mass itself.

And of course our numbers were a few less than OLV. But if there was no Mass for Christmas at OLV, parishioners would only have to drive a few kilometres for another Mass. At present the people of the Chathams only have Mass half a dozen times a year. It is good that one of these times is Christmas when their friends and family visit from other places.

and just as we finished Mass the power went out! Then the stillness of Christmas night gave way to the sound of the generator kicking into life at the hospital next door.

Christmas Eve Chatham Islands

It is early evening, Christmas Eve. I will celebrate the Vigil Mass of Christmas at 9.00pm with another Mass here at Waitangi Christmas morning at 9.00am

I arrived from Christchurch (via Auckland and Napier) late yesterday afternoon. It was good to see familiar faces at the airport and I took the opportunity to let them know the Mass times for Christmas and for Sunday. To be honest, the enthusiasm level was not high - but God may well have a surprise in store for me. Soon after arriving at Waitangi I put up a notice at the bank (the main community notice board) and the pub. For the last two weeks the Mass times have been advertised in the email newsletter. Most people here see this email.

I have also advertised over the last few weeks the opportunity for baptisms at anytime. I hear there is interest, but no one has contacted me yet.

So, now, an hour before Mass I will go over to the Church to pray in preparation. I will let you know later this evening how we go...

Weather: it has just started to rain and is pretty blustery.

Some photos taken just ten minutes ago:

St Therese of Lisieux Church, Waitangi, Chatham Islands

Jubilee: Carey Haines (MC)

Bishop Barry, Bishop Basil, Reverend Fathers, Reverend Sisters and Brothers of religious communities, members of the O”Connor family, friends and parishioners’ of Our Lady of Victories. It is my pleasure to welcome you here this evening as we begin the formal part of this celebration and thanking God for 25 years of Priestly ministry of Fr. John O”Connor. It Is indeed appropriate that we have begun this celebration with Holy Mass.

In a few moments we are to hear from some significant people in Fr. John’s life. But before I introduce our first speaker I want to share my thoughts on my Parish Priest and friend. If there is one aspect of Fr. John that stands out, it is his love for the God that he serves. And nowhere is this better exemplified than in his love for the Liturgy of the Mass that we have just experienced. We have at Our Lady of Victories been reintroduced to the beauty and treasurey of our Roman liturgy with the introduction of the new translation by the gentle guidance of Fr. John. All so that we can better worship the God who loves us all.

I am not sure if you are aware, but Fr. John’s favourite beverage is milk. He shared with parishioners last Sunday that in joining brother priests in Queenstown to commemorate his 25years of priesthood, some milk would be drunk. What you may not k now is that I have it on good authority that this milk comes all the way from the highlands of Scotland!

One of Fr. John’s frequent sayings is “God never misses a chance”. God never missed a chance on the blessings he has bestowed on Fr. John. We thank God for that.

Our first speaker is a priest of the ChCh diocese currently teaching at the national Seminary in Auckland. When this Priest came to assist during the seminary recess last Christmas, Fr. John broke one of his cardinal rules. “Carey, when you get a supply priest, always make sure they are not quite as good as you. Then parishioners welcome you back next week.” He failed miserably in introducing us to Fr. Steve Lowe.

Fr. Steve Lowe's reflection

It is now my pleasure to introduce Kathryn, a sister of Fr. John who is representing the family at tonight’s celebration.

Kathryn's reflection

Before we have our last speaker, we will pause for a moment to allow you all to charge your glasses for a toast at the end of the address.

I would now like to welcome Mike Doolan, a parishioner and friend of Fr. John to speak on behalf of the parish. Mike will share with us the travel he has undertaken to be with us this evening. Thank you Mike.

Mike's reflection

Thank you Mike. It is now my pleasure to ask Fr. John to address us.

Jubilee: Kathryn Jenner

Kathryn (John's sister) shared this reflection on behalf of John's family.

John's Silver Jubilee Celebration

11 December 2010

For those of you who haven’t met me, I am Kathryn, John’s little sister. It is great to be here to celebrate with John and with you all today.

I speak on behalf of John’s family and especially Con and Evelyn who are most definitely here in spirit, and would of course have loved to be here today in person to share their pride in John, with all of you.

Mum and Dad were very committed to teaching the Catholic faith to us as children.

For as long as I can remember we attended Mass regularly every Sunday, not going wasn’t even considered. I remember Con reading excerpts from my children’s Bible at bedtime, along with Banjo Paterson.

I saw from a young age the strong faith in God that my parents had and this was taught to us. They were community minded, generous and accepting, and a great team in bringing up their family to have the values that were the foundation for their own lives.

If I could say some words about the part that John played in my life as a brother.

He was, and still is someone who encourages me to think outside the square, to learn and explore new ideas or projects or see another person’s view point. John taught me this from a young age, I remember Christmas presents that were the starting point of hobbies – bread baking book, a pot with flower seeds, something to pull me forward and learn something new. John explores things and gives them a go and does them well, beekeeping, , knitting, making ginger beer, keeping pigeons, wine making, pond building, gardening and landscaping and many more that I haven’t heard about.

I remember being a Brownie and I was about 8 yrs old. I had a fancy dress day at Brownies after school one day and John offered to make me a costume. I thought I was very lucky to have such a creative brother. Out came a book on costume making that morning, and I arrived home from school to find that John had made me a huge cardboard cotton reel reaching from knees to chin and he was winding an incredible length of coloured wool around it. I manoevered myself into this outfit and my arms stuck out at funny angles and I couldn’t sit down and I thought it was fabulous. Mum hadn’t returned home in time to drive me to Brownies so on to the back of John’s bike carrier I hop – costume on and ready to go. I commend John for his bravery.

Through being a priest, and through John being John, he makes a difference to many, many families. In our own family John has been the strength that we have needed to get us through our tough times, a leader in the important ceremonies in our lives, the baptisms, funerals, the weddings, the reunions and jubilees.

John, I thank you for all you have contributed to me and to our family and your wisdom and guidance. Mum and Dad would be very proud and very fulfilled at a parenting job well done.

Congratulations John on reaching the 25year milestone and your Silver Jubilee. I hope that the next 25 are all you could wish for.

Jubilee: Mike Doolan

Mike Doolan presented this speech on behalf of parishioners of Our Lady of Victories Parish.

Tribute to Fr John O’Connor on the occasion of his 25^th Jubilee of Ordination

on behalf of the Parishioners of Our Lady Of Victories

11 December 2010

Ever since I have known John I have had a running battle with him over the length of his sermons! Even the Pope agrees with me that about 7 minutes is the limit of human endurance of a passive listening audience, as we all are every Sunday. John listened to my arguments thoughtfully and before long, you may have noticed, his sermons were shorter but we had two or three of them over the course of the Mass. We have never resolved the debate – it is an ongoing one and, I think, gives each of us rather more pleasure than it deserves. I hope John is wondering as he listens now, whether he can endure more than 7 minutes of this.

Some of you will know that I have been on the other side of the world these last few weeks and only arrived back this morning. Earlier this week, a representative of the Parish Council asked me to speak at this function on behalf of all parishioners. This is a tremendous honour and one I value, and I have thought really hard about what I should say, in between engagements and sitting around airports or trying to keep warm as yet another blizzard ripped through Amsterdam. John will only have one 25^th jubilee of his ordination and I, and I am sure all of you, want what I say to be memorable for him.

John has many facets to his character that are observable and there will be many more known only to himself. As I thought about John the priest and the man, a number of descriptions of him came to mind:

· He is, first and foremost, a holy man. His life revolves around prayer and the sacraments and we all need to know if we do not already do so, that there is nothing more important to him than this. Try asking John about the heating or lights in the church just before Mass and you are likely to get short shift. While meeting and greeting people entering the church, he is preparing himself for his most important ministry – celebrating the Eucharist – and this is something one interrupts with mundane issues at one’s peril

· He is a faithful man, a follower of Jesus, loyal to the Pope and his Bishop and unswerving in his commitment to the Catholic Church.

· He is a forbearing man. John has endured harsh criticism at times, such as adverse reactions to his promotion of church teaching on funeral rites, or reactions to the way he carries out his chaplaincy functions, but always he endures this with remarkable fortitude, seeks to see where he could have done things differently without wavering from the truth and most remarkable of all, remains pleasant and personable to his severest critics. That is something I truly admire and probably explains why I could never do what he does!

· He is a creative man. The restoration of our church is the best example of this, John having the vision and creativity to work with Charles Thomas, the original architect, to have Our Lady of Victories achieve its full potential and a post Vatican 2 church.

· He is a playful man. He enjoys company, social gathering and the odd glass of milk. He likes to rag people a little – when we were on Pilgrimage in Italy earlier this year we struck a cold patch of weather. I bought what I thought was a really nice scarf to help me keep warm. John looked at it, admired it and then asked whether the shop sold men’s scarves too!

· He is a demanding man, sometimes working himself and others to the point of exhaustion. He is an active, engaged, involved, energetic Parish Priest. How lucky we are to have him.

· John is an educated man. His continuing education and in particular his liturgical studies are a source of strength in our parish. While his absences are sometimes a cause for comment there is no doubt that we all benefit from his ongoing education and study. Just consider the effortless ease with which he has led us to a true understanding and acceptance of the “new words” and chants of the Mass. Our Parish is in the front line of liturgical development in the Diocese and we have our Parish Priest to thank for that.

I have long believed that Fr John is a man of our times in the Catholic Church, and a man for the future. He has a restless sort of urgency about him and this stirs passions and can lead to conflict and disagreement in those who see things differently. But those who take the time to listen and to know him better discover a rare quality – a true man of principle who knows and appreciates the teachings of the Church and wants us to understand them too.

John, you guide us and, from time to time, you chide us, but of one thing I am very certain – that you love us, the parishioners of Our Lady of Victories, and for this we are profoundly grateful. We rejoice with you in this milestone of your ministry. We remember with gratitude also, Evelyn and Con, your parents whose faith and generosity predisposed you to your vocation as a priest. We hope we only lose you to promotion!

On that subject, a Rabbi talking once to a man like you was curious about promotion in the Catholic Church. What is your next step, he asked the priest. I suppose I could become a Monsignor. And what after that? Well, perhaps a Bishop. And next? Well the next step is a Cardinal. Is there a step after that asked the Rabbi? Well, yes, I could be Pope. And what comes after that? Good heavens man, said the priest, do you think I could become God? Well, said the Rabbi, one of our boys did.

Hang in there John!

Jubilee

It is Tuesday evening: three days since the wonderful gathering of friends and family to give thanks to God for sustaining and using me as His priest for 25 years.

I am still quite overwhelmed by the beauty of the gathering. It is evident that something wonderful was at work among us on Saturday evening. No, not so much 'something', but someone. The Spirit of God was present and active.

There are many words that people might use to describe the gathering. Yes it was beautiful. It was wonder-ful. It was pleasant and uplifting.

And then tonight I read an article in the latest Traces magazine written by the Irish columnist John Waters. He suggests that many of our good words have lost their impact through overuse and misuse. How about another word to raise the mind and heart to the presence and action of God among us?

He suggests: "Godness".

Thanks be to God for the Godness of the Saturday evening celebration.

25 Years of Priesthood

He is the One

It was a joy this week to spend time with the group who were ordained priests in 1985. We are a diverse bunch of eight. We have aged and matured. Hopefully our "vintaging" is more good wine than old car.

We spent time over the days together chatting about life and priesthood. It was clear that over the years any distinctions between priesthood and life had faded. Priesthood had become our life. Life for us was priesthood.

Between us there was two hundred years of priestly ministry to talk about. We did a bit of this. There were some great stories told. At times the laughter was deep and prolonged.

But it was evident that over the days together a much greater presence was evident in our conversation. Jesus had called us to be his priests years ago, and now he was calling us together again. Kind of like the disciples being sent out then re-gathered at the feet of the master.

As I drove back to Christchurch I reflected that I heard very little of the adventures-in-ministry of my jubilee companions. Almost all of our conversation was about what God had done through us, despite us. The moments that we once considered to be our greatest successes, were later revealed as nothing of real substance or lasting value. Instead, the days when our failure was evident to us, became the most powerful examples of Jesus the priest at work through us.

This was most evident to us each day of the week when we celebrated the Mass. In this encounter Jesus once again becomes real and tangible in bread and wine. Each of us have celebrated the Mass thousands of times in our quarter centuries. Yet every time the journey from eternity into the present is made by the God who is with us and loves us.

And we are most open to this ultimate life-giving encounter when our weakness, vulnerability and sin is evident to us. The divine hand once again writes straight with the crooked lines of our lives. This is why we begin every Mass with the invitation to "call to mind our sins".

In the light of this real encounter with Jesus at every Mass, it is no surprise that we talk about Him instead of us when we gather. As John the Baptist proclaims in todays Gospel: "He is the One..."

Earlier in the year I had the privilege of being a part of a larger gathering of priests. On a mild June evening, 15000 priests from all over the world reflected on the life and ministry of the priest with Pope Benedict in St Peter's Square. The occasion was the formal closing of the Year of the Priest.

As Pope Benedict has commented in the months since, that year turned out to be nothing like we could have planned. In many ways the twelve months had brought priesthood to its knees. The media focus on the dark aspects of the life of some priests, and accusations cast much more widely, ensured that any thought of marking priestly success and achievement was wisely dismissed.

As priests from around the globe gathered in the square there was an atmosphere of festivity. It was good for us to be here. I sat between a young priest from Denver and an elderly missionary from Africa. Then, as the sun lowered behind the basilica, the formal part of the gathering began. Via video links on large screens we met priests from around the world and heard them speak about their experience of priesthood. These were powerful testimonies from a diverse range of priests. As they shared I knew again what had encouraged me to apply for the seminary thirty years ago: priesthood was, without a doubt, the greatest adventure of all.

After the testimonies Pope Benedict entered the square and was welcomed with all the enthusiasm and energy of a World Youth Day. For forty-five minutes he sat and chatted with us. The large screens brought his physical presence alongside each of us. More significantly his words spoke gently and powerfully to the heart of every one of us. Several priests asked questions to which the pope responded with extraordinary simplicity and power. I was deeply moved and looked around several times to see tears in the eyes of every priest around me.

But the best was yet to come. The Blessed Sacrament was processed into the gathering and to the altar. In one movement the priests moved to their knees as the hymn was sung. Then, silence. For fifteen minutes there was not a sound. We could say that the priests were praying in those moments and that is certainly true. But the real activity here was the activity of God forming and reforming us. Now God was forgiving and healing us. This prayer was God's work. And we together were nothing more than simple and needy servants.

Later in the evening we moved together and slowly out of St. Peter's square. No one was in a hurry. I knew why the disciples wanted to set up camp with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. These hours were an encounter with the God who is the source and meaning of all life. "He is the One."

It is a privilege to continue this adventure as Parish Priest of Our Lady of Victories, St Therese of Lisieux Chatham Islands, and now St. Joseph's Darfield.