August 2014
National Vocations Awareness Week
3–10 August 2014
National Vocations Awareness week is an annual event, set aside by the Bishops of New Zealand Catholic dioceses, dedicated to promoting all forms of vocation in the Church.
The week earmarks time for parishes and schools to consider their role in promoting vocation through prayer and education. Vocations come about in our community through people responding generously with open hearts and willing spirits to God’s call.
The Sunday readings, which bookend the week 3–10 August, all speak of responding to the Lord’s call and the blessings and life that flow from the response. From the First Reading on 3 August (Isaiah 55:1-3) that speaks of those who are thirsty coming to the water and being renewed in the everlasting covenant, through to the Gospel reading on 10 August (Matthew 14:22-33) that retells the story of Jesus calling Peter to walk on water, listen to these readings with an open heart.
During Vocations Awareness Week we pray for all of us to be open to God’s call to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ through the life we are called to. The call or summon to vocation through various forms of commitment is explored in this series of short articles.
Pahiatua Polish Children’s 75th Reunion
WelCom December 2019 Phil Cotter, a life-long parishioner of St Brigid’s parish, Pahiatua, remembers as a seven-year-old welcoming the three trains carrying the Polish children and their care-givers in 1944….
Care for our common home
Manaakihia tō tātou kāinga From Garden To Table WelCom December 2019 ‘Grow, harvest, prepare, share’ is the motto for ‘Garden to Table’. It’s a programme founded in 2008 to teach…
New Zealand Catholic Bishops Meet Pope
WelCom December 2019 The New Zealand Catholic bishops met Pope Francis for an 80-minute private audience in the Vatican on Monday 28 October during their Ad Limina visit to Rome. …