From WelCom Issue 6 – November 2025
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ – tena koutou.
Last month I wrote about the Hope and Renewal Summit that 93 of us from the Archdiocese attended in Palmerston North. It was focused on the renewal of our parish life and ministry. It was a powerful experience of the Holy Spirit at work in a group of people committed to working to make our parishes places of faith and mission.
At the beginning of this month I was present with the parishioners of Te Awakairangi Parish in Lower Hutt who gathered at St Martin de Porres Church in Avalon for its final Mass. That parish had been established 65 years ago from St Peter and Paul’s Parish in Lower Hutt. In 2015 it combined with three other parishes to become one parish. The gathering was one of gratitude for all that had happened in that church, for all the people who had gone before and for the witness of the things of God to the people of that area. It was an experience of real faith and also hope.
It was a time of hope because while this church may no longer be a place of worship there is a vibrant faith community in the Lower Hutt area. The Te Awakairangi Parish has a life and a mission which is open to all. The people who have worshipped at St Martin de Porres will join other communities in the parish for Mass while continuing to be part of all the activities and events that make up parish life. This is not the end for them but rather a change.
We all know that change can be difficult to deal with. We often have mixed emotions about change, and different people can have very contrasting reactions to the same situation. But for us as people of God, His Church, we know that our focus is on Him and that the structures we have will adapt to the various circumstances we f ind ourselves in. That is why we need to ground these changes in the spiritual realm, because we are people of the Spirit. This isn’t a combining of Rotary groups or sports clubs. This is the joining together of the sons and daughters of God in communities who are there for worship, community and mission.
That is what the Hope and Renewal Summit was trying to help us grapple with. What do we need to develop in our parishes so that we can more effectively achieve this mission? How do we help one another to realise our call as baptised members of the Church, and what does that ask of us? The ways of being parish, the structures we may have used in the past, might not meet the needs of our people in the world we live in now. Just doing what we have always done isn’t enough. This isn’t something new; the Church has always had to respond to the changing nature of the world in which it has lived. We in turn are being asked to do that for our time.
What is encouraging is that there are so many who are already wanting to do this. There are growing numbers of people looking to join the Church and who are members of the OCIA programmes. Our Catholic schools are constantly looking at ways of helping our children discover Jesus Christ and building connections with the parish community. Groups are gathering in parishes to find ways of providing opportunities for people to support one another, to pray and to work for justice.
If our parishes are to be life-giving, we need to provide support for one another outside of being at Mass on Sunday. Sundays are the source and summit of the life of the Church, but for us to be truly alive we need to have a faith life from Monday to Saturday, both as individuals and as parishes. We all need to play our part in contributing to the life of the parish. If everyone takes and no one gives, in every sense of the word, then our parishes will not be able to sustain their life. Perhaps a question each of us could ask is: What more can I do to ensure that our parish is a place of faith, community and mission?
In this year of Jubilee, a Jubilee of Hope, my hope is that we will work together to do all we can to renew our parish life. My hope is that our parishes become more alive and full of people doing all sorts of things to help one another come to love Jesus more, to help those in need, to provide social support, to be a place of welcome and connection for people who are seeking the truth. I want to do to all I can to encourage that to happen for us in the coming years.
When you are next at Mass, look around at the people with you and give thanks to God for them. Thank Him for their response to His call and their presence at worship and ask yourself what you might be able to do to help others come to be part of this community of faith.
Blessings to you, especially as we approach this season of Advent. May the Holy Spirit stir your hearts and help you to see what God is asking of you in your life.