Give him another parish

Joe Grayland is a theologian and a parish priest of the Diocese of Palmerston North, which has been without a Bishop for three years.

This article was published in NZ Cath News on
Monday, March 20th, 2023
At a recent dinner with the Vicar General of an Australian diocese, he quipped, “to the parish priest who has everything, give him another parish.” The five priests seated with him laughed at this. But, as the conversation turned to the realities of our failing diocesan infrastructures, the tone became more serious. Two priests were managing three separate, cooperating parishes, three priests were managing two amalgamated parishes and the Vicar General had one parish. The six priests around the table were managing thirteen parishes with a total of thirty distinct communities between them, doing the work of ten previous parish priests.

A man wanting to irritate an Irishman said, “Did you know that St Patrick was in fact and Englishman?”
“Is that so”, the Irishman responded calmly.
Not satisfied, another man continued, “Did you know St Patrick was an idiot?”
“Ah yes, your mate was just telling me that!”

St Paddy’s day is a special day. Patrick (Maewyn Succat) lived during the fifth century, and is the patron saint of Ireland. He was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a slave at age sixteen. He escaped, but freely returned to Ireland as a priest and is credited with bringing Christianity to its people. Interestingly he was never formally canonised!

The 10th anniversary of Pope Francis pontificate is approaching (March 13th). Here are some quotes from those years.

1. “The Eucharist is “not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.”

2. A teenage boy told the pope that he was trying hard to believe in God and be faithful, but that he often struggled with doubt. "What can you say to help me and others like me?" he asked the pope.
The life of faith is a journey, Francis answered. “Journeying is an art because if we're always in a hurry, we get tired and don't arrive at our journey's goal,” he said. “If we stop, we don't go forward and we also miss the goal. Journeying is precisely the art of looking toward the horizon, thinking where I want to go but also enduring the fatigue of the journey, which is sometimes difficult. … There are dark days, even days when we fail, even days when we fall … but always think of this: Don't be afraid of failures. Don't be afraid of falling. What matters in the art of journeying isn't not falling but not staying down. Get up right away and continue going forward. This is what's beautiful: This is working every day, this is journeying as humans. But also, it's bad walking alone: It's bad and boring. Walking in community, with friends, with those who love us, that helps us. It helps us to arrive precisely at that goal, that 'there where' we're supposed to arrive.”

Bruce Lipton suggests that to better understand the opportunity hidden in today’s crises, consider the tale of another world in transition. Imagine you are a single cell among millions that comprise a growing caterpillar. The structure around you has been operating like a well-oiled machine, and the larva world has been creeping along predictably. Then one day, the machine begins to shudder and shake. The system begins to fail. Cells begin to commit suicide. There is a sense of darkness and impending doom.

Learning from history
Last year our Province celebrated our founding one hundred years earlier. Jeff Foale gave an excellent presentation but the audio was deficient. With assistance from Tri, Jeff re-recorded his talk, titled, ‘Learning from History’. Given Jeff joined the Passionists in 1946 and lived with men who had either been pioneers or knew those pioneers personally, he has a unique perspective. His 31 minute video can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/W4I0EXU6AYQ

Province Assembly
Our Assembly was a great gathering. There was a strong sense of unity, a sense of trust that allowed participants to honestly express their ideas, and a particularly strong sense of listening. We followed the synodal process which provided time to gather in small groups to read an outline and simple questions to discuss. There followed a time of individual sharing with no discussion; just each participant listening. Then participants were asked to share “What did you hear?” This was followed by some quiet time. Next was some discussion, and finally a check on what were the main points we heard that we would like to register. We also a few brief presentations: on the Passionist Youth Retreat Team; the Passionist Family Group Movement; Safeguarding and Risk Management; Finance and Province Legislation. We repeated listening process with the four areas we gathered to consider. Now there will be a similar gathering in Saigon and another in Sydney and from that should come some priorities and recommendations for our Chapter delegates to consider. Our thanks to many people who assured us we were/are in their prayers.

Province Assembly
Every four years, Passionists who belong to a common Province gather for a Provincial Chapter to review the past four years, plan ahead and elect a Provincial and Council for a four-year term. Holy Spirit Province includes Australia, PNG, New Zealand and Vietnam. As part of our preparations for the Chapter which will be held in July, we will have three regional Assemblies, one in Melbourne, one in Sydney and one in Saigon. Each Assembly will be for two days. The first of these meetings will be held today and tomorrow at Holy Cross. Participants from our communities will attend one of the three meetings.

Karen
On Thursday afternoon, Sr Karen Englebretsen made her final profession of vows (for life) as member of the Sisters of the Cross and Passion. Congregational Leader, Sr Therese O’Regan CP received Karen’s vows, with her two community members Sr Brigid Murphy CP (also Karen’s formator) and Sr Emily Tran, as witnesses. Karen made her first profession in 2018 while living with her community in Endeavour Hills. Karen is well known to the parishioners and Passionist Family at Endeavour Hills and at Holy Cross. She and Brigid, unexpectedly spent two years living with us (in ‘The Tavern’) because COVID-19 prevented them from their planned relocation.

The Cat and the Rabbit

There is quite some strong feeling among various Vietnamese, that this new year, is not as the Chinese celebrate, the year of the rabbit, but, rather, the year of the Cat! The Chinese zodiac, cycles through one sign per year, over twelve years. The animal signs follow the same order every dozen years: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat (also translated as Ram and Sheep), Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. 

Tết means ‘festival’ in Vietnamese language. It is most commonly short for Tết Nguyên Đán (Lunar New Year) which is one of the most important celebrations in Vietnamese culture. Tết Nguyên Đán, means "Festival of the First Day of the Year". and it celebrates the arrival of spring based on the Vietnamese calendar.
Tết is generally celebrated on the same day as Chinese New Year (also called the Spring Festival),but the one-hour time difference between the two countries means the new moon occurs on different days.
Tết is a national holiday usually spread over 3-9 days, and this year will run from Friday January 20th to Thursday January 26th. It is customary for Vietnamese people to return to their families for the festival holiday if that is possible.