Today we celebrate with the members of the Passionist Family Movement 30 years of ministry and presence in the Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand.

We give thanks for the members and their work in our parishes, homes and families.

We have benefitted from the movements values and its aim to create a communal, shared and supportive environment of intentional families. In this environment, members are supported and nurtured in times of need and celebration.  The early church’s experience as the place of worship, support, nurture and welcome to all is critical today, especially when an individual is often left to find their own way through a world of conflicting values, often without the support of a community of care.  Community images the deepest reality of God, who in the Trinity is a community of love and creativity.  Here in Our Lady of Lourdes Parish we have received the blessings of the Passionist Family Groups in the work that members have generously done for us.  Thank you!

On behalf of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and the parishioners of Palmerston North, I wish each member of the Passionist Family Movement, their families and friends, the riches of God’s blessings.

Fr Joe Grayland