Please Support the Good Friday and Easter Sunday Collections

Rightly, we are moved by the stories and images we see on TV and YouTube of teachers, and nurses and doctors who, notwithstanding great danger, set out daily to work in Aleppo and Mosul and other war zones. Similarly when the Ebola Virus was rampant in Liberia and Sierra Leone, I often thought the local medics, wrapped from head to foot in protective gowns, were surely the unsung heroes going about their daily duty away from the safe media zones.

For some people in our world, going to Mass is also dangerous. For a complexity of reasons, Churches and our schools and clinics can become targets of violence in parts of Iraq, Iran, Syrian, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Yemen as well as the Holy land itself.

The ancient but fragile Christian communities in the Middle East and the Holy Land (where Brother Ben Shore OFM Cap, from our Diocese, is currently serving as part of his formation with the Capuchin Friars) face oppression and harassment yet they remain courageous in their charity and their appreciation of Mass.

It is to them that our annual Good Friday collection is destined. You can support this appeal by placing a donation in an envelope marked Good Friday Collection on the Friday itself or in the usual Sunday collection basket.

Our prayers for peace in the region are also much appreciated.

Easter Sunday Collection

This collection is a “thank you” for our priests. It is divided equally among them and used for holiday costs, books and periodicals, and the priests’ own charitable donations. We are blessed with the service of our priests whose workload is far from light. This is one way to show your appreciation. Thanks everyone. Kia ora tātou.