This year they held their festival on Sunday 25th April with visitors from the Auckland and Wellington churches. After the service in the chapel they all moved to the friary lawn for the feast in a joyful atmosphere. The weather stayed fine for the more than 50 guests.

The photo shows;

Brenda Trim TSSF, Rose Christie-French TSSF, Br Simone ssf, Alison Molloy TSSF, Rosemary Blackwell, Br Clark Berge ssf, and Fr Terry Molloy TSSF.

Missy, the friary cat also got into the picture.

Brother Clark Berge, our Minister General, arrived last Thursday to spend a couple of weeks with us. He has just come from Papua New Guinea, where he spent time living with the brothers and also participating in the Ministers’ Meeting. This week he and Br Simone are taking part in the Holy Week devotions in Cambridge parish and also at St Peter’s School. Next week Br Clark will have some speaking engagements and will conduct a Quiet Day at the Friary.

Brother Brian is assisting with the Good Friday services at Melville during an interregnum.

Brother Clark and Brother Brian will then go to our Provincial Chapter meeting at Stroud, NSW, Australia.

Friary guests at the moment include a family recently arrived from the United Kingdom to settle in New Zealand. So we are a full house!

    Brother Clark Berge ssf

 

QUIET DAY

Saturday 10th April 2010

10:00 am – 4:00pm

Led by Br Clark Berge SSF

Minister General of the First Order Brothers

Friary of the Divine Compassion

Te Ara Hou Village

100 Morrinsville Road

Hillcrest

Hamilton

Bring your own lunch

Hot and cold drinks provided

Koha welcome

The day will conclude with Evening Prayer at 3:30pm

followed by an Afternoon Tea to which people are

openly invited.

This week began with Brian preaching at both the 8:00 am and 9:45am Eucharists at St Peter’s Cathedral Church. We had lunch together as a community at a restaurant in town for a couple of small friary celebrations. In the afternoon and evening Brian, Simone and Joseph travelled to Auckland and back, for the Requiem for Archbishop Jabez.

Monday 15th February 2010

In the morning the Village Forum held a regular meeting in the friary. Simone was on duty at Manaaki Mai overnight.

Tuesday 16th February 2010 (Shrove Tuesday)

Damian Kenneth participated in the Anglican Action Council meeting. Brian Simone and Joseph attended the annual barbecue which Bishop Denis Browne (Catholic Bishop of Hamilton) hosts for Religious in the Diocese.

Wednesday 17th February 2010 (Ash Wednesday)

The brothers attended the combined Anglican/Roman Catholic Ash Wednesday service, held this year in St Peter’s Cathedral Church. Bishop Denis was the preacher.

Thursday 18th February 2010

Joseph returned to Stroud after his stay here.

Br Joseph is with us at the Friary in Hamilton for a couple of weeks for a time of familiarisation. He is usually based at the Hermitage of St Bernadine at Stroud NSW. Joseph hails from Western Australia, a former Royal Australian Navy chef and a member of the Vietnam Veterans’ Motorcycle Club of Australia. We certainly enjoy having him with us albeit for a short stay.

 In 1970 four Brothers from four nations and three different SSF Provinces were chosen to pioneer our Franciscan First Order presence in Aotearoa New Zealand. One of them was a large Solomon Islander – Brother Colin – from Malaita. They were first at St Francis House, Greys Avenue, Auckland and then at St Mary’s Vicarage, Glen Innes.

 Colin was one of the first Solomon Islanders to come to test his vocation as a friar at what is now known as Haruro (formerly Jegerata) near Popondetta in Papua New Guinea. The other two were Michael Davis, who died in 1989 and Comins Romano who returned to Haruro this year from the Solomons for the celebration in July of our being 50 years in Papua New Guina. Both were from the island of Ulawa. These three Solomon Island Brothers had come to join SSF before there was a friary in the Solomons. Colin had previously resided and worked at Pawa boys’ secondary school on Ugi Island. Now we have to record that he has died in the general hospital in Honiara after a long illness, aged 73. He was professed in 1969.

 Colin had become the “patriarch” of our Brothers in the Solomons, being wise and faithful, though a little too fond of bettlenut. Many people sought his advice and encouragement. Having an infectious sense of humour he could tell many good stories and was a gentle mimic. He played the guitar and had a good bass voice. He was a reader but often admitting that “this book is too big for my head”. His sermons were powerfully delivered. He hated nonsense and pretence. And having a keen understanding of justice he founded and managed a school for girls at Fouala-a whom he felt were deprived of educational opportunities compared with boys. This was his main work in the second half of his Franciscan life. He was ordained priest at a late age at the hands of the then Bishop of Malaita.

 May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

Celebration powhiri

The social services village Te Ara Hou (The New Way) celebrated its 10^th anniversary this month with a party attended by local dignitaries, agency workers, clients, residents and people from the neighbourhood.

 In pre-European times the land was a village, Mangaonua, resourcing the local tribes with food from the stream and crops. After the land wars it became a sizeable farm which was later subdivided. The present site became a residence for the Society for the Intellectually Handicapped, Christopher Park. From there it became Chanel Park the headquarters for the Catholic Diocese of Hamilton.

 In 1999 the land and buildings were purchased by the Hamilton City Council in order to facilitate the founding a social work village. To this end they retained ownership of part of the land and on-sold the buildings to a Trust set up for the purpose of operating and promoting the Village and to promote social services generally in the Waikato region. The remainder of the land was purchased by the Anglican Diocese of Waikato in order to preserve the potential of a village concept.

 Te Ara Hou (The New Way) is an innovative village where we work together to respond holistically to meet people’s needs: a community of agencies collaborating for the benefit of all. The village honours the partnership inherent in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

 The friary moved to Te Ara Hou in December 2001 and is an integral part of the village. The friary offers spiritual resources and encouragement for the staff of the various agencies on site; daily chapel offices and eucharist; hospitality to guests and visitors; and a place of peace, quiet and refreshment in the midst of an often hectic and confusing setting.

 The present village is a model of co-operation and a tribute to the foresight of those who worked so hard for the vision they held.

 Congratulations Te Ara Hou!

The 50th Anniversary of the arrival of the First Order Franciscan Brothers in Papua New Guinea was celebrated at the Haruro Friary, near Popondetta. Franciscan Brothers and Sisters came from many parts of the world. It was a great day of Papuan-New Guinea celebration: well planned and organised by our PNG Brothers.

 A large number of Orokaiva dancers in traditional dress with their drums: singing and dancing led the procession for the Eucharist. Throughout the service there were points at which there was dancing by representative groups of Franciscan Brothers, Sisters of the Visitation, Melanesian Brothers, theological college students and the local Sunday school — all done so reverently.

 The President of the Eucharist was the Bishop of Popondetta, Joseph Kopapa. I was privileged to be the preacher. We tried not only to recall the past with thanksgiving, but to be aware of the challenges of the present, and the need to take risks in faith and hope for the future, seeing religious orders as beacons of light.

 At the end of the service the dancers led us all to a shrine in the garden where deceased brothers are recalled, especially two Papuans, Philip and Timothy Joseph and American Brother Justus, who was the Principal of Newton College. A plaque was unveiled and blessed by Brother Clark Berge. The Minister General of the Third Order, Rev Dorothy Brooker was present as this also marked the beginning of the Third Order.

 Feasting and dancing with drama followed. Nearly a thousand people were present. Much food; pigs, poultry and vegetables, had been cooked through the night. Speeches were given by people of the wider community. Oliver Ambo, the deputy Governor and son of late Bishop George Ambo, spoke of behalf of the Government and Bishop Joseph Kopapa on behalf of the church.

 Gifts were exchanged and Brother Lawrence Hauje spoke for the province. The proceedings concluded with evening prayer led by Bishop Tevita Talanoa. It had been an exhilarating and exhausting day and one long to be remembered.

 This event was commemorating not only what is happening in PNG but also throughout the South Pacific. From PNG the First and Third Orders of SSF have spread to the Solomon Islands, Australia and New Zealand and beyond to Asia. One of the reasons Bishop Philip Strong invited the Society to come was his firm belief that there would be vocations to the Franciscan way of the Religious Life among Melanesians. This visit showed me that there was not only an increase in the number of Brothers but also in maturity. There are now thirty brothers in PNG, all of whom are local people and a larger number in the Solomon Islands. We can give thanks to God.

 Br Brian SSF.

The friary was pleased to welcome Fr Massud ibn Syedullah for a three day visit in June 2007. Fr Massud was in New Zealand to take part in the Third Order Convention held in Wellington. While in this country he conducted workshops and seminars in Howick, Tauranga and Hamilton. A member of our Third Order, Fr Massud has served as Minister Provincial of the TSSF Province of the Americas. He is a parish priest in the Bronx, New York City.

For more than twenty-five years, Fr Massud has used his gifts as musician, educator, and spiritual director to create and lead retreats, conferences, and workshops, nationally and internationally. As Director of Roots & Branches: Programs for Spiritual Growth, he provides a variety of programs for spiritual formation to parishes, dioceses, religious communities, and other institutions of the Church. He also works closely with the Brothers of the Ecumenical Community of Taizé, France, leading conferences and workshops in the music, worship, and the scripture study style of that community. He has a strong interest in the relationships between Christianity and Islam and in developing further understanding between the two religions.

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Te Hurihanga Opened

On a wonderful afternoon on Friday 27th April 2007 the community of Te Ara Hou gathered to welcome the Hon Mark Burton, Minister of Justice together with many other dignitaries to offically open the Te Hurihanga Youth Justice facility.

The photo shows some of the Te Ara Hou community at the welcome.

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Ceremony and Karakia to break the ground to begin building Te Hurihanga

On 3rd October 2006 (the Transitus of St Francis) the friars took part in the ceremony to break the ground to begin the construction of the buildings which will make up Te Hurihanga – the Youth Justice house next to the Friary.

The afternoon began with a p?whiri where Ng?ti Haua and te iwi o Te Ara Hou welcomed senior members of the Ministry of Justice and the members of Youth Horizons Trust, accompanied by the Bishops of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, their spouses and Personal Assistants meeting in Hamilton at the time, and many other local supporters. Strong support was vocalized and pledged during the speeches,

The combined group the moved to the site of the front door of the new building and karakia accompanied the turning of the first sod by Kaumatua Andrew Thompson of Ng?ti Haua and Archbishop David Moxon, Bishop of Waikato. Further expressions of support came from a number of speakers.

A group of local residents objecting to the project staged a protest at the front entrance to Te Ara Hou and the Waikato Times showed a photo on the front page of Br Kentigern captioned as Peacemaker (a very Franciscan role).

Of course we then moved to the cuppa!

For assistance with the translation of M?ori words we use the Ngata Dictionary

Photo courtesy of Waikato Times

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SPCA Service at Cathedral for St Francis Day

Animals and owners count their blessings

09 October 2006 – by Yvonne Tahana (Waikato Times)

Adrienne Corfu’s dog wore a red scarf to the SPCA annual blessing of the animal service – but it was a fashion choice that didn’t go down well with some of the well-hooved canines.

Ms Corfu is an SPCA committee member and took along her black labrador to St Peters Cathedral yesterday.
“I think they thought she was a bit of a show-off.”
Budgies, rabbits, poodles and schnauzers were among the 40 animals blessed.
It served as an opportunity to recognise the love and companionship animals give in homes.
But it was also a chance to raise awareness about animal abuse and neglect.
In the Waikato, the organisation received up to 30 complaints a week, she said.
“That’s anything from dragging a dog behind a car to not feeding a horse or donkey which means they can’t walk any longer.
“It’s just a reminder that animals are living breathing beings with feelings”.

Br Andrew Philip at the Annual Pets’ Service

(Photo and articles by courtesy of the Waikato Times)