ASCENSION OF THE LORD | MOTHERS’ DAY

And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven: there at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.
Gospel of Mark 16: 19-20
*Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass ©2001, 1998, 1970 CCD.*

Most people think of the Ascension of Jesus as being a ‘departure’ moment. Jesus was here and now he’s gone. We imagine Jesus going up into the clouds and the disciples waving farewell from below.

This is an unhelpful image.

It is essential that we understand what does happen and what does not happen in the Ascension event.

It would be easy to wrongly think that in his ministry showed us how to build the city of God on earth, and now he has gone and the mission is left to us.
Our mission is always Jesus’ mission. HE is the missionary. We are the loved servants. We are the tenderly embraced instruments.

True liberation is instigated and gifted by God. When humans respond and co-operate with this divine initiative, real freedom becomes an earthly reality.It is only when we relax into God’s love for us, and the enduring and intimate presence of Jesus with us in every situation and every moment, that we become effective disciples of the Master Missionary.

We are never alone. Jesus is with us.

Because of the event of the Ascension and Pentecost (which we will reflect on tomorrow), Jesus is with us even more intimately. When we live in intimate relationship with him, our efforts bear fruit.

Fr John O’Connor, Food for Faith, 20 May 2023

*The tradition of dedicating the month of May to Mary, came about in the 13th century.*
The link between Mary and the month of May became popular among the members of the Jesuit Order — by 1700 it had a firm hold among their students at the Roman College and a short time later it was publicly celebrated in the Gesu Church in Rome. From there it spread to the rest of the Church.
*Each week in May, we will highlight one of the many titles of Mary.*
Mary, Queen of Peace
The history of the title of "Our Lady, Queen of Peace" dates to the early 16th century when Jean de Joyeuse presented a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary to his bride.. Unlike other statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mary was depicted holding an olive branch in her right hand and the Prince of Peace - Jesus Christ - seated in her left arm. The statue became a family heirloom that was passed down to Jean's grandson, Henri Joyeuse, who joined the Capuchin's in Paris, France. The statue remained with the Capuchins in Paris for the next two-hundred years. It was at this time that the statue was re-named: *Notre Dame de Paix - Our Lady of Peace.*

To all our precious mums,
*May the Lord keep you and bless you. May the Lord shine his face upon you and bring you Peace.*

LIVE THE LITURGY
Inspiration of the Week

Jesus was taken into Heaven, but the work he leaves us is here on earth. Here on earth, we must speak the truth in every language and confront evil wherever we find it. Here on earth, we must get to work - remembering always that we do not work alone.

GOSPEL MEDITATION
Encourage Deeper Understanding of Scripture

When I was a kid, my parents took me to the circus, and I was mesmerized by the acrobats. I recall one show in which the trapeze artists would swoop down just above the ground and then launch up into the air, flinging their bodies seemingly to the top of the tent, all at dizzying speeds. It wasn't just their height but their dangerous proximity to the ground that thrilled me.

Perhaps that's a little how St. Mark wants us to feel as he describes the Ascension of Jesus. He tells us that Jesus "sat down at table with them" and then, just a few lines later, "he ascended into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God." He dies, he rises! He sits down, he ascends! What do these divine acrobatics teach us?

The depth and height on display are a show of his love for us. When Jesus "sat down" he "upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness of heart." He dangerously swoops down into our lowly place of fragmentation, disbelief, and death. When he ascends, he confirms their preaching with signs of powerful healing. The height of heaven is the place from which God brings wholeness, faith, and life. The point is the Ascension of Jesus is not about his departure. It is about the feat by which he unites the heavens and the earth, the highest and the lowest.

We are meant to relive this spiritually dizzying experience in every Mass, when Jesus sits down with us at his Eucharistic table and then offers himself up to the Father with and for us. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls: welcome to the great tent of the Church! Feast your eyes on the divine and human acrobat whose saving feat is the great thrill of our lives.

Fr John Muir

Click on the image to hear Bishop Barron’s homily: ***Get to Work!***
Friends, today we come to the wonderful Feast of the Ascension of the Lord. Like the disciples in our first reading, we often want to ask the Lord, “When is all of this going to come to fruition? What’s it all about? When is all of this going to make sense?” Reasonable enough questions. And we hear the same answer: It’s not for you to worry about. Rather, get to work! In the Ascension, the Lord moves to a higher dimension and then sends the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, so that we can be empowered to do Christ’s work in the world.

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PARISH NEWS & EVENTS

Here’s what's happening this week

Sunday, 12 May: Ascension of the Lord | Mothers’ Day
5pm Saturday Vigil Mass, Tūrangi | 9am Mass, Taupō

Sunday, 12 May: Divine Mercy
3pm | Taupō

Monday, 13 May: Tim Tam Connect | Book Club
10.00 am | Cafe (then 2nd Monday of the month during school term)

Tuesday, 14 May: Healers’ Connect
9.30 am | Taupō

Tuesday, 14 May: 50th Jubilee of Priesthood | Msgr Leonard Danvers & Msgr Joe Stack
12noon | Cathedral

Tuesday, 14 May: Tuesday Community Lunch
1pm | Taupō (then weekly during school term)

Tuesday, 14 May: Youth Groups
6.30 pm – 8.00pm (Years 9 & 13) | Taupō (weekly during school term)

Tuesday, 14 May: PLT
6.30pm | Faith Development Centre

Wednesday, 15 May: Depth Charge Connect
10am | Dennis and Catherine Hancock’s place (weekly during school term)

Wednesday, 15 May: Alpha
7pm | Cafe & Faith Formation Centre

Thursday, 16 May: Purl Connect
1pm | Lesley McIntosh’s place

Thursday, 16 May: Endurance Connect | Men’s Group
7pm | Cafe (then weekly during school term)

Friday, 17 May: Divine Mercy
3pm | Taupō

Friday, 17 May: Praise & Worship
6pm | Taupō

Sunday, 19 May: Pentecost Sunday
5pm Saturday Vigil Mass, Tūrangi | 9am Mass, Taupō

Sunday, 19 May: Divine Mercy
3pm | Taupō

Alpha | Wednesdays | 7pm | Cafe
It’s still not too late to join!

Here are some of our Alpha Stats

This is our 10th Alpha.
We have had 225 attendees over those 10 Alphas (including people who did it more than once and those who didn’t complete it).
103 parishioners have done Alpha. Some of them have done it multiple times.
We have had 21 unengaged Catholics attend – 6 of whom became active in the parish after doing Alpha.
50 non-Catholics have done Alpha and 12 of whom have gone on to do RCIA and become Catholic.
These are pretty impressive numbers!

ANNIVERSARIES OF DEATH OF PARISHIONERS WHO DIED DURING THIS WEEK IN MAY

DIOCESAN NEWS & EVENTS

Monsignor Leonard Danvers and Monsignor Joe Stack are both celebrating 50 years of priesthood this year.
Monsignor Joe will be having parish celebration on:
Date: **Saturday ,** **11 May 2024**
Where: **St Patrick’s Church, 625 Alexandra Street, Te Awamutu**
Time: **5.00pm Mass followed by refreshments in the parish hall.**
Monsignor Leonard will be having parish celebration on:
Date: **Sunday ,** **12 May 2024**
Where: **St Peter’s Church, 21 Anzac Street, Cambridge**
Time: **4.00pm Mass followed by drinks and nibbles in the parish hall.**
The diocesan celebration for both priests will be held on:
Date: **14 May 2024**
Where: **Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 494 Grey Street, Hamilton**
Time: **12.00pm**
The parish will be arranging transport to the Hamilton event. If you would like to attend, there is a sign up form in the church foyer. Seats are limited. First in, first served.

Go preach the gospel: Monsignors Leonard Danvers, left and Joe Stack, right hold the Book of Gospels over Bishop Richard Laurenson with outgoing bishop Steve Lowe in the background. Photo: Deearn Strawbridge.

The longtime friends, both septuagenarians sporting grey beards and a collegial banter, now hold the title of monsignor, granted by the Pope to denote a special honorary clerical status.

They will mark their 50-year milestones in separate jubilee services in Waikato next week. Mons Stack, who leads St Patrick’s Church in Te Awamutu, will celebrate on May 11, while Mons Danvers, who leads St Peter’s Church Cambridge, will mark his on May 12. That their collective contribution to the Catholic Church in New Zealand has reached this point seems to surprise neither of them. After all, they suggest, that was the purpose of seven years of study at seminary… seven years in which many of their original class of 31 dropped out, leaving just 10 who were ordained.

What they share now is a deep appreciation at how well it’s gone, how much they have packed in and how much they have learned along the way.

“This is so much more than a career,” said Danvers, “it is really a calling. Above all, it is relationship-based. We intersect with people at some the most significant times of their lives and they don’t forget that. We see that as a real privilege.”

Stack agreed, adding that over and above their commitment to their respective congregations, both have also held administrative roles within the church and the Hamilton diocese during those years.

Both men grew up in strongly Catholic families. Danvers was born in Hastings but moved with his sister to be raised by their Manurewa-based grandparents after his mother’s death. He became an altar boy, then went to St Peter’s College where early thoughts of entering the priesthood began to percolate. “We used to have ‘old boy’ priests who came to talk to us,” he said. “I guess you could say they introduced the vocation to me from a human level. On leaving school, I applied to the bishop for acceptance into the Holy Name Seminary in Christchurch. He gave me the nod and off I went.”

Stack took a similar route. Born in Auckland to a Catholic family, he too attended Catholic schools and became an altar boy. He joined his family in other church-led community endeavours and by the sixth form, he felt ready to apply for a seminary place. “I had some – not very accurate – thoughts about what life as a priest might be. I was young and idealistic.”

Stack started in 1967, Danvers in 1968. Seven years of training included philosophy, with four years of theology then taught at Mosgiel. There were various points at which students could reaffirm their commitment, but there were also occasions when students opted out, often leaving with no forewarning to their classmates. “That was quite unsettling, but it is what was done back then,” said Stack. He added a further year’s university study to his training, which meant the two twenty-somethings – Stack and Danvers – were ordained in 1974, each in their home diocese. Stack was ordained in Ellerslie, and Danvers in New Zealand’s first outdoor ordination, organised to accommodate his being the first Manurewa old boy to become a priest.

Stack’s work has taken him across the North Island and he moved to Te Awamutu almost a decade ago, while Danvers – who studied at Boston College in the United States in the mid-1980s – has worked primarily in Auckland, Tauranga and the Waikato. He has led St Peter’s Church in Cambridge since 2013.

The pair became foundation priests when the Hamilton diocese was formed in 1980. Both men are grateful for the timing of their five decades… things are very different now. The seminary they attended closed in 1978 as student numbers dropped, training shifted to Auckland and much of the philosophy they enjoyed has now disappeared from the curriculum.

New priests, once accommodated in presbyteries with more senior priests with whom to share tasks within the role, now mostly live alone. Congregations are smaller, priests are challenged more than in the past. Times are changing.

As Danvers and Stark reach their 50-year milestones they’re taking a cautionary approach to the prospect of retirement. There’s no pressure to give up, but both admit to having a few things on their bucket lists …

Courtesy of the Te Awamutu News | 2 May 2024

Ministers for Sunday, 12 May

Taupō & Tūrangi

Rosters March 2024 – May 2024 | Taupō

Rosters March 2024 – May 2024 | Tūrangi

INTERNATIONAL NEWS & EVENTS

Year of Prayer 2024

**Ahead of the 2025 Jubilee, Pope Francis has inaugurated a *Year of Prayer*.**
More information to follow.

*Click the image above to go to the Jubilee Year website.*

RETREATS

PARISH SCHEDULE

Sunday Mass Schedule

Vigil Mass: Saturdays, 5pm | Tūrangi
Sunday Mass: Sunday, 9am | Taupō

Weekday Mass Schedule

Confessions | Reconciliation | Penance

Wednesday: After Mass | Tūrangi
Saturday: 9.30am | Taupō
By appointment: Ring 07 378 7440 OR see Msgr Trevor in person

Adoration

Monday – Saturday: 30 minutes before Mass | Taupō

Regular Events

Anointing of the Sick Mass
2nd Wednesday of the month | 12noon | Tūrangi
2nd Friday of the month | 12noon | Taupō

Ave Connect | Rosary
Wednesdays 11.30am, Tūrangi | 7pm, Taupō

Community Lunch
Tuesdays | 1pm | Cafe
(weekly during school term)

Depth Charge Connect
Wednesdays | 10am | Dennis & Catherine Hancock’s place
(weekly during school term)

Divine Mercy
Fridays & Sundays | 3pm | Taupō

Endurance Connect
Thursdays | 7pm | Cafe
(weekly during school term)

Healers’ Connect | Care for the Sick & Housebound
2nd Tuesday of the month | after 9am Mass | Cafe

Movie Night
1st Friday of the month | 6pm | Taupō
(except during Lent)

Praise & Worship
3rd Friday of the month (except during Lent) | 6pm | Taupō

Prayer for Life
1st Sunday of the month | after Mass | Cafe

Purl Connect
Thursdays | 1.00 pm | Lesley Mac’s place

SVDP
2nd Thursday of the month | 5.30pm | Cafe

SVDP Lunch
2nd Friday of the month | after Mass | Cafe

Tim Tam Connect | Book Club
2nd Monday of the month | 10am | Cafe

Youth Groups
6.00 pm – 7.00pm (Years 7 & 8) | 7.00 pm – 7.30pm (dinner) | 7.30 pm – 8.45pm (Years 9 & 13) | Taupō
(weekly during school term)

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Sunday, 12 May 2024

ASCENSION OF THE LORD | MOTHERS’ DAY

And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven: there at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.

Mary, Queen of Peace