*****************************************************

FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

Success on Catholic Matchmaker New Zealand
http://www.theopenpress.com/index.php?a=press&id=27427
Catholic Matchmaker New Zealand has its first success story. “Cathie and
David� have announced their engagement in the Christchurch Press last month,
and plan an April Wedding...

Fifty years together (photo)
http://tinyurl.com/ytfhnu
Anne Sayegh says she and husband Des are a good match because she likes to
cook and he likes to eat. The couple, who are celebrating their 50th wedding
anniversary, met at an engagement party ...

Bill Sharpe-Dunn, 1936-2007. Educator and historian who looked to God
(photo)
The Sydney Morning Herald http://tinyurl.com/2bnsd6
Bill Sharpe-Dunn, known to his many friends as "Sharpie", was a teacher,
amateur historian, expert on all matters ecclesiastical, a missionary and
pioneer educator, a Catholic Weekly book reviewer and a yarn spinner
extraordinaire. He was a delightful companion on all occasions, despite
years with diabetes and other illnesses...

Anglican Church say enough is enough
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/080119/3/3ngo.html
Anglican Church leaders are lobbying hard against allowing more shops to
open on Easter Sunday, arguing that "enough is enough where the continued
intrusion of the market into our lives is concerned"...

Human Rights Commission. Review shows busy year for interfaith activities
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0801/S00118.htm
A section of the 2007 Race Relations Report will be released at an
Interfaith workshop hosted by Auckland City this Saturday. The review of
interfaith activities reveals a busy and significant year for cooperation
and dialogue for the country’s religious communities...

*******************************************************

'BEING FRANK'

http://www.beingfrank.co.nz/

Blogs about Catholic life in New Zealand, sponsored by 'NZ Catholic'
newspaper.

Some recent topics:

** 'Pampered pets' or, Food for thought (19 Jan)

** 'How open are we'. On attending a Tridentine Mass (17 Jan)

** 'Sad yet?' On seeing the movie 'Molokai' (16 Jan)

** 'Blessed are the humble'. Ed Hillary (14 January)

*****************************************************

ALL THINGS CATHOLIC
Analysis and commentary by John R. Allen

http://ncrcafe.org/node/507

Archbishop Niederauer on cathedral ministries; Allen on church
communication; Update on La Sapienza spat
I was in Saint Augustine, Fla., this week, speaking at a national Cathedral
Ministry Conference. For American Catholics, Saint Augustine is, in a sense,
where it all began; it was here on Sept. 8, 1565, that a Spanish missionary
priest celebrated the first Mass in what would eventually become the United
States...

Also: 'New Jesuit leader a progressive shaped by Asia' .... 'Navarro-Valls
on the pope, science, and La Sapienza' ... 'After protest from scientists,
pope to skip university visit' ... 'The pope, modern science, and a canary
in the coal mine' ... 'Ratzinger's 1990 remarks on Galileo'.


Regular readers of John Allen's column may be interested to read a review of
'Head and Heart: American Christianities', a new survey of the American
religious landscape: http://tinyurl.com/24vkwq

***************************************************

WORLD NEWS OF THE CHURCH (Regularly updated)

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/

http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/

http://www.romereports.com/ (video)

*******************************************************

EMPLOYMENT

[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the
Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancy.php ]

[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of
the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz/ ]

*****************************************************

CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/media.php

** Caritas responds to strife in Kenya (11 Jan 2008)

** Nominations sought for National Catholic Youth Ministry Award Scheme
(08 Jan 2008)

** 2008 New Year's Day homily from Benedict XVI (08 Jan 2008)

**********************************************************

FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

*****************
JEREMY GRAY SM
*****************

Trainee priest who sacrificed life farewelled
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4348103a11.html
The bravery and faith of a young trainee priest who sacrificed his own
life to help save an eight-year-old boy were celebrated at his funeral in
Christchurch yesterday...

Trainee priest's sacrifice earns `saint-like status' (photo)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10485853

Hundreds farewell trainee priest in Chch
http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/NationalNews/HundredsfarewelltraineepriestinChch/tabid\
/423/articleID/43089/cat/64/Default.aspx#top

Hero priest farewelled in Christchurch
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411365/1537711

Ex-SC man's great sacrifice
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/timaruherald/4346218a6010.html
A former Waimate man has died in New Caledonia while trying to rescue a
young boy. He would have shied away from being called a hero yet former
Waimate man Jeremy Gray died selflessly and true to his Christian
principles...

Automatic translation of a report in the New Caledonian newspaper:
http://tinyurl.com/2bxlyx
The original article in French, with enlargable photograph:
http://www.info.lnc.nc/articles/article_1586_394.htm

*******************
OTHER NEWS
*******************

Historic mass in Northland
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10486270
Catholics are planning to converge on the remote Torata Point in Northland
on Sunday to commemorate 170 years since the first Mass was celebrated in
New Zealand...

Students spread joy of season with festive song (photo)
http://tinyurl.com/2287jt
[Concert at Tokoroa resthome by pupils of Bishop Edward Gaines School]

Christmas songs in Jerusalem (photo)
http://tinyurl.com/yucop7
The 27 members of the Taumarunui community choir, plus family and friends,
visited the restored and rededicated church on the Whanganui-Pipiriki Road
to sing Christmas carols for the people of Jerusalem (Hiruharama)...

Irish walks to whet Kiwi tourists' appetites
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4346568a2181.html
A love match spawned nearly 60 years ago on the foxhunting fields of the
Irish province of Munster between a Limerick Catholic and a South Canterbury
Protestant will bear further fruit this year when their daughter, Rachel
Ryan, escorts a touring group from New Zealand...

Life full of song rewarded
http://tinyurl.com/2hbwra
Playing the organ at St Patrick's Church in Napier every weekend has been a
habit for Pauline Hill over the past 40 or so years, but there was a time
when this lady had a fan club...

Radio NZ. 'Summer Noelle'. Interview with Mike Grimshaw
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/national/summernoelle/mike_grimshaw
The senior lecturer of religious studies at Canterbury University talks
about New Zealand in church, and religion in politics.

*******************************************************

WORLD YOUTH DAY, 15-20 July 2008

http://www.worldyouthday.org.nz/

Youths scrub for pope (photo)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/sundaystartimes/auckland/4350315a6497.html
Fatima Sauaga is carwashing her way to the Pope. The 22-year-old is a team
leader for St Joseph’s Youth Group who are scrubbing and shining vehicles to
make it to Sydney for World Youth Day.

Sjana joins world's youth at special day in Sydney (photo)
http://tinyurl.com/ytnsjv
Past St Anthony's Catholic School student Sjana Levin hopes to meet the pope
this year when she attends the World Youth Day in Sydney ...

*******************************************************

'BEING FRANK'

http://www.beingfrank.co.nz/

Blogs about Catholic life in New Zealand, sponsored by 'NZ Catholic'
newspaper.

Some recent topics:

** 'The Many Faces of Freemasonry' (12 Jan)

** 'Help' (10 Jan)
This Sunday at Auckland’s Mt Eden Prison is Catholic Sunday (second and
fifth Sundays of the month are ours!) and I’ve just had word that they’re
possibly going to cancel the ministry this week for a lack of volunteers...

** 'Tribute to a true Kiwi hero' (8 Jan)
Some of you may be aware of the fact that Jeremy Gray, a young New Zealand
Marist Seminarian died in New Caledonia last week. I consider myself blessed
to have known Jeremy as a friend ...

*****************************************************

INSPIRATIONAL TV

http://inspirationaltv.net/

'Samoan violence'
Do we have a false perception of Polynesian crime and violence from our
media? Br Chris Maney, who spent 20 years in Samoa, shares his insights ...

*****************************************************

ALL THINGS CATHOLIC
Analysis and commentary by John R. Allen

http://ncrcafe.org/node/507

Highlights from papal homilies and addresses. From the 'no sense of humor'
file
College football fans probably felt a bit deflated this Tuesday, since the
Bowl Championship Series, always their favorite time of year, came to a
close Monday night. For Vatican devotees, Tuesday likewise brought a twinge
of melancholy, and for much the same reason: the annual "bowl championship
series" of papal teaching, which begins in mid-December with a message for
the World Day of Peace, ended Monday with the pope's address to the
diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See...

***************************************************

WORLD NEWS OF THE CHURCH (Regularly updated)

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/

http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/

http://www.romereports.com/ (video)

*******************************************************

EMPLOYMENT

[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the
Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancy.php ]

[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of
the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz/ ]

****************************************************

What Christmas means around the world (photo)
http://tinyurl.com/2hhlco
Celebrating the holidays comes in different strokes for the different ethnic
folks who have made North Shore their "home away from home"...

Sisters of God face the future (photos)
http://tinyurl.com/yul4jz
They started with six over a century ago, and after making an immeasurable
contribution to Wairarapa education and spiritual care, The Sisters of St
Bride's are now back down to six ...

Doing God
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4337299a14337.html
Tony Blair's entry into the Catholic faith has made surprisingly big
headlines, considering the secular beliefs that now dominate much of the
Western world, says The Press, in an editorial...

Midnight masses held across NZ (text and video)
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411365/1522453
Christmas celebrations started on Christmas Eve with midnight mass held in
churches across the country. Hundreds turned out for an extra festive
service at Auckland's Saint Patrick's Cathedral in the city - its first
Christmas mass in the 160 year-old cathedral in two years, after it closed
for major restoration work...

Good attendance at church services
http://tinyurl.com/2xbyc3
Undeterred by wet weather on Christmas Eve, several thousand people flocked
to churches throughout Dunedin to celebrate the Christmas story...

45% believe in religious significance of Christmas Day - survey
http://tinyurl.com/ys4keq
A survey suggests a large number of New Zealanders believe in the religious
significance of Christmas Day. Some 500 people were polled by Research New
Zealand from 4 to 11 December and 45% said 25 December is significant in
terms of religion...

*****************************************************

Dear readers,

'News & Notes' will take a break for about three weeks, restarting in
mid-January as soon as there is something to report.

Every best wish and all God's blessings for a happy Christmas and new year.

Mike Leon

****************************************************

CHRISTMAS 2007

Wide choice of services at churches
http://tinyurl.com/2swobs
Taking time to appreciate and celebrate Christmas for its true meaning is
the message many will be receiving at Dunedin church services this holiday
season. Dunedin’s larger churches and cathedrals will be marking the festive
season with their popular carol services and midnight Masses.

Little church lights up (photo)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4328636a20379.html
The little Catholic Church at Kauwhata Marae has existed without electricity
for more than 110 years. However, during the festive season, until December
27, the church of St Peter and St Paul on Te Arakura Road is being lit up by
Christmas lights covering the interior and exterior walls, and a Nativity
scene...

Churches unite for real Christmas (photo)
http://tinyurl.com/2rlwya
Church leaders of the Wakatipu Basin have banded together to give a special
message to people of Queenstown this holiday season, and that is to remember
the true meaning of Christmas ...

**********************************************************

CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/media.php

Cakes earn $14,000 to help families at Christmas time (20 Dec 2007)
The Catholic Caring Foundation is the charitable foundation of the Catholic
Bishop of Auckland, providing funding for grass-roots organisations that
work with the marginalised in society. Again this year, the Foundation ran
the Bishop’s Bake Christmas Cake Appeal - a hugely important annual
fundraiser...

**********************************************************

FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

God in the House (photo of Helen Clark meditating)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4332757a13135.html
Overt religious beliefs seem to rest uncomfortably with the political
aspirations of our parliamentarians. Philip Matthews looks at why so many of
them are uncomfortable with talking about whether they believe in God.

Community groups support Royal Commission of Inquiry into Criminal Justice
Sector
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0712/S00280.htm
Influential community leaders support the Ombudsmans call for a Royal
Commission of Inquiry into the Criminal Justice Sector...

Colombians seek refuge in Hamilton
Hamilton Press
http://tinyurl.com/2khnr4
Hamilton's Refugee Resettlement Service last week hosted the arrival of one
of the largest groups of refugees to arrive in the city...

Revegetation of a gully
http://tinyurl.com/32tms9
A Master's degree wasn't enough for Tatiana Kalnins, but the journey to the
pinnacle - a PhD - has led to a project to replant part of the Marian gully
with native vegetation...

The aftermath of sexual abuse (photo)
The Eastern Courier, East Tamaki
http://tinyurl.com/3c6233
After decades of living with the effects of sexual abuse, an Auckland man
turned his experience to helping others cope with similar situations ...

Pupils light way for successors
Waikato Times â€" News â€" 17 Dec 2007 â€" Page 3
Senior pupils at St Joseph's Catholic School in Fairfield handed over
responsibility to next year's senior students at a special mass last week.
The final school mass for the year saw outgoing Year 8 pupils carry candles
to the altar, before handing them over at the end of the service to next
year's leaders, who carried them out of the church.
[This story is not available on the newspaper's free Website. It can be read
at the public library, and via the libraries' free Newztext service for
borrowers.]


****************************************************

'THE FIFTEENTH STATION' - NZ's first Catholic podcast

http://station15.libsyn.com/

In the programme for 15 December 2007 ...

'Christmas hope'
Our first Christmas podcast and there's quite a bit to talk about. The
Pope's new encyclical on hope has been released, and it makes for popular
reading. We talk about the 4,210 NZ pilgrims are heading over to see him
next year at World Youth Day, and whether or not movies like the Golden
Compass can be bad for the faith of those who watch them. And we talk a bit
about Christmas traditions and interpretations of the season. We wish all
our listeners a happy and Holy Christmas.

*****************************************************

'BEING FRANK'

http://www.beingfrank.co.nz/

Blogs about Catholic life in New Zealand, sponsored by 'NZ Catholic'
newspaper.

Current topics:

Somewhere in a galaxy far far away… (22 December)
As we approach the end of advent and I have been pondering the incarnation
and the birth of Our saviour, I began to think a little about the
implications of extra terrestrial life. (Weird, I know…not really the most
obvious correlation). I mean, if there was other life (with spiritual souls)
on other planets somewhere in another galaxy â€" what does this mean for us as
Christians? ...

It Was A Very Good Year (21 December)
Well, it’s obvious that another year is about to draw to a close and people
on the blog have just about had enough of each other. Fortunately, I don’t
have any frustrations and agendas to air on the site. Some might say I don’t
have anything useful to air at all. Very funny...

Who/what do we care about? (20 December)
I was having a “discussion� with friends the other day about animal rights
versus human rights and how I obviously thought the abuse of humans was
worse than the abuse of animals. I thought my friends were disagreeing with
that, but as we continued to “discuss�, I came to understand they were
actually pointing out that one is simply an extension of the other...

*****************************************************

INSPIRATIONAL TV

http://inspirationaltv.net/

Lay leaders among us, Part Two: 'Meet the people'
Joan manages a unique programme called "Launch Out" which forms lay people
to work in partnership with priests in ministry.

'Angel in the City'
Rev. Frank Nelson, the Dean of Wellington's Anglican Cathedral, reads the
Christmas story and discusses it with Sr Stephanie.

*****************************************************

MAGAZINES & NEWSLETTERS

** 'Marist Messenger' - December 2007
http://www.maristmessenger.co.nz/

** NZ Catholic Education Office. 'Lighting New Fires', Christmas Edition
http://www.nzceo.catholic.org.nz/pages/resourcesubpages/lighting-new-fires.html

** 'Inform' - the newsletter of the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch -
December 2007
http://www.chch.catholic.org.nz/?sid=25

Marist Brothers' New Zealand Province.
** Schools' Champagnat Newsletter - December 2007
http://www.maristbrothers.org.nz/Schools%20Champagnat%20Newsletter.htm
** Marist Family News - December 2007
http://www.maristbrothers.org.nz/Marist%20Family%20News.htm

** NZ Catholic Bioethics Centre. 'The Nathaniel Report' - Issue 23
http://www.nathaniel.org.nz/?sid=163

** 'Tui Motu InterIslands' - December 2007
http://www.tuimotu.org/

** St Columban's Mission Society, Aust. & NZ Region. 'The Far East' -
November/December 2007
http://www.columban.org.au/?MID=200510192652

** Carmelite Monastery of Christ the King, Christchurch. Christmas
Newsletter 2007
* http://www.karmel.at/christchurch.nz

******************************************************

ALL THINGS CATHOLIC
Analysis and commentary by John R. Allen

http://ncrcafe.org/node/507

Catholics helped pass U.N. vote favoring global death penalty ban; Notes
about: Episcopalians, Kolvenbach and Vatican PR
It would probably be pushing things a bit far to suggest that Tuesday's vote
in the General Assembly of the United Nations in favor of a global
moratorium on the death penalty is a victory for the Catholic church. It is,
however, a result difficult to imagine without the Catholic contribution...

***************************************************

WORLD NEWS OF THE CHURCH (Regularly updated)

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/

http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/

http://www.romereports.com/ (video)

*******************************************************

EMPLOYMENT

[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the
Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancy.php ]

[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of
the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz/ ]

*****************************************************

CHRISTMAS 2007

First airings for Christmas cantata (photo)
http://tinyurl.com/2l34wf
Three months of hard work will have its pay-off this sunday when the
Taumarunui Community choir has their first performance of a new Christmas
cantata ...

**********************************************************

FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

Historic link for new library (photo)
http://tinyurl.com/2nvwba
St Patrick's School in Kaiapoi has a new library and information centre
named the Barbier Centre after the nun who founded the order which
establisehd the school in 1926...

Local medics bound for remote islands (photo)
http://tinyurl.com/3y4hf5
Two Wairarapa women hope to head to Indonesia early next year to a remote
island where New Zealand doctor, Derek Allen, works with the poor, the sick
and the needy ...

New Zealand's Catholic chaplains embrace Antarctica's adventures
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0707048.htm
Christchurch, New Zealand (CNS) -- Not many changes from his last trip to
Antarctica, reported a priest from New Zealand: The ice runway is nearer to
the base, it's colder than 10 below zero, but the sky is blue, he added...

Nun Briefs Parliamentarians On Timor-Leste Crisis (photo)
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0712/S00175.htm
Security is still the most pressing problem for Timor-Leste according to nun
and refugee camp organiser Sister Guilhermina Marcal currently visiting New
Zealand...

Catholics encouraged to watch 'Compass'
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/thepress/4319133a6530.html
The distributors of a film that has outraged Catholic groups in the United
States have invited New Zealand Catholics to previews to "make up their own
minds"...

****************************************************

'BEING FRANK'

http://www.beingfrank.co.nz/

A blog about Catholic life in New Zealand, sponsored by 'NZ Catholic'
newspaper.

Current topics:

The culture of death - first hand (15 Dec)
"About three weeks ago, I found out that my 15-year-old sister was pregnant.
I quickly got her in contact with the crisis pregnancy centre and they have
done an absolutely wonderful job! Thanks be to God, she has decided to keep
the baby. However, I haven’t had extensive contact with my family and this
new situation has meant that I have been exposed, first hand, to the reality
of the culture of death..."

Decorated fur trees… (12 Dec)
Yesterday my Outlook inbox was graced with the presence of an email from a
colleague, addressed to all the members of our workplace, asking if it were
possible to adopt more inclusive language at this time of year in
acknowledgement of those who don’t celebrate Christmas...

Today, tomorrow, Timaru… (11 Dec)
Last week I picked up a parish bulletin from a South Auckland parish. As I
was reading through the bulletin, I came across something that I was
completely astounded by; in fact I had to read the notice twice to be sure
that what I was reading was really on the page in front of me: "The priests
of the South Auckland Deanery expressed concern to the Bishop over the
possible confusion that could arise next year on February 6th when ‘The Day
of Ashes’ and the Waitangi Day celebration would coincide. We wanted to
honour both days… and approached Bishop Patrick Dunn with a suggestion that
for the South Auckland Deanery parishes ‘we transfer the liturgy of Ash
Wednesday to Thursday 7th February..."

*****************************************************

INSPIRATIONAL TV

http://inspirationaltv.net/

'Lay leaders among us'
Joan manages a unique programme called "Launch Out" which forms lay people
to work in partnership with priests in ministry

*****************************************************

ALL THINGS CATHOLIC
Analysis and commentary by John R. Allen

http://ncrcafe.org/node/507

Marini's book on liturgy: The future of the liturgy is the future of
Christianity
When I’m on the lecture circuit, there’s a story I like to tell to
illustrate the sometimes surprising diversity inside the Vatican. It’s set
in the summer of 2002, when Pope John Paul II was in Mexico City to canonize
Juan Diego, the Aztec visionary in the Our Lady of Guadalupe devotion. At
the moment in the canonization Mass when John Paul read out the Latin
formula declaring Juan Diego a saint, pandemonium broke out in the Basilica
of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Confetti fell from the ceiling, drums beat and
horns blared, and a knot of indigenous dancers began to gyrate down a
catwalk. Inside, it felt like Michael Jordan had just hit the winning shot
in Game Seven of the NBA Finals; an American TV correspondent standing next
to me, who happens to be Jewish, shouted in my ear, "If they did it this way
every Sunday, even I would show up!" ...

Also: 'Daily News & Updates: In World Peace Day message, Benedict paints a
Catholic shade of green'

***************************************************

WORLD NEWS OF THE CHURCH (Regularly updated)

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/

http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/

http://www.romereports.com/ (video)

*******************************************************

EMPLOYMENT

[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the
Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancy.php ]

[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of
the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz/ ]

******************************************************

CHRISTMAS 2007

Finally a mass in the church of Saint Nicholas and Myra
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=10974&size=A
The ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew I, after years of insistence, was
finally given the possibility to celebrate mass inside of what is, according
to the State, only a museum. A saint who is unknown in Turkey, but is the
origin of Santa Claus...

*****************************************************

'WEL-COM' - The newspaper of the dioceses of Wellington and Palmerston North

http://www.welcom.org.nz/

From the December issue ...

News
Call for peace marks Parihaka Day ... Belonging is key for Generation Xers
... Upper Hutt adopts Parihaka theme ...

World News
Bearing fruit in Timor Leste ... The 1967 Middle East war 40 years on and
still raging ... Timor Leste in election turmoil

Columns
Archbishop's column: Advent a graced time, by Archbishop John Dew ... Hail
Mary, blessed among Israel's great women ... Editorial: Be awake to the
lessons of history

Schools
Carterton school gets down to earth: St Mary's enviro group tends the soil
... Viard choir in US barbershop contest ... Cardinal McKeefry School
students go to parliament with WWF

Features
Joy's vision permeates pub conversations ... An imagined journey to
spirituality and Christ's peace ... Nearly a holy soul: Making sense of
Ordinary Time

Wellington
Clergy appointments 2008 ... Arise Women of God: Dove Wellington's new
president ... Waikanae parish marks 25 years

Palmerston North
Hato Paora principal faces sex charges ... Whanganui reunion for class of
'54: Sacred Heart College Old Girls get together ... Surprise for Mother
Meri at Pakipaki

Reflect
Second Sunday of Advent Year A: Matthew 3:1-12

*****************************************************

FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

Pupils discuss global warning (photo)
Newslink, Gore 6 December 2007
http://tinyurl.com/ypra7f
Pupils of St Peter's College, Gore, have dived deep into the issue of global
warming

Content may offend
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4315889a13135.html
The boom in rudeness and crudeness on TV and in advertising has meant a
field day for both the prurient and the prudish. Philip Matthews
investigates whether it's really anything to get worked up about...

Principal facing sex charges bailed to appear in March
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10481017
Details of the sex charges faced by Hato Paora College principal Elvis
Dobson Shepherd will be revealed on March 19...

Oh Lordi . . . Christians take on fiends of rock
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4307239a10.html
A crusade is looming as church groups prepare to take on heavy metal
heavyweights poised to play in Wellington over Easter...

*****************************************************

INSPIRATIONAL TV

http://inspirationaltv.net/

Special Report
What you are really giving when you give blood.

'An Angel at our Shoulder'
A look back at the circumstances that inspired the 1998 Hikoi of Hope.

*****************************************************

ALL THINGS CATHOLIC
Analysis and commentary by John R. Allen

http://ncrcafe.org/node/507

Springtime for ecumenists: A realistic assessment
The problem with ecumenists -- who are almost universally good-hearted and
dedicated souls -- is that they don't know how to manage expectations. It's
a lesson anyone who has ever organized a public event should have learned:
if you expect 100 people, put out chairs for 75, so the result feels like a
triumph rather than a disappointment...

***************************************************

WORLD NEWS OF THE CHURCH (Regularly updated)

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/

http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/

http://www.romereports.com/ (video)

*******************************************************

EMPLOYMENT

[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the
Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancy.php ]

[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of
the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz/ ]

******************************************************

FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

Museum in art heaven
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4287558a14297.html
Priceless art and architecture treasures from the Vatican will have their
own business class seats when they fly from Rome to New Zealand next year.

Catholic Matchmaker â€" A Success Story
http://www.pr.com/press-release/61683
Catholics are avoiding the usual problems that Dating/relationship Sites
have, by only allowing paid members to Catholic Matchmaker New Zealand ...

Drama shot on Coast (photo)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4287639a6047.html
Dutch film-makers have descended on Greymouth to shoot an $11 million drama
about Dutch brides-to-be who flew to New Zealand for a new life half a
century ago...

Pupils train fares to rise (photo)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4289760a7694.html
Pupils travelling into Wellington secondary schools from Kapiti Coast and
beyond will pay nearly double the train fare next year...

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'THE GOLDEN COMPASS'

This films opens in New Zealand on Boxing Day and will attract the mixed-age
audiences who enjoyed 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe'. The film is
controversial because its story is based on a book (by Philip Pullman) which
is an anti-religious - and specifically anti-Catholic - polemic which aims
at reimagining the story of the Fall in a way that does away with Original
Sin, and portrays God as an imposter, not unlike the Wizard of Oz. The
Hollywood version, on the other hand, has stripped out most of the overtly
Christian references and dropped the final two chapters, to produce "a story
about a little girl creating a new family for herself".

This article in the New York Times explains the background to the
controversy:
http://tinyurl.com/2r47zr

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ENCYCLICAL LETTER 'SPE SALVI' (Saved by hope)

In his second encyclical letter Benedict XVI affirms that "the heavens are
not empty" and "life does not end in nothingness": faith in God's existence
is the origin of Christian hope, it gives meaning to our existence and it
allows us to look beyond fear towards the last Judgement. Hope gives meaning
to our waiting for justice which cannot be found in man alone as the "great
revolutions" have shown by bringing nothing but death and destruction.

The full text can be read at:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_\
enc_20071130_spe-salvi_en.html

A comprehensive summary of the encyclical by AsiaNews.it:
Pope: certainty of faith is the foundation of Christian hope
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=10934&size=A

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INSPIRATIONAL TV

http://inspirationaltv.net/

'A Little Company'
Sister Mary and her fellow sisters from the order "The Little Company of
Mary" invite you to share in an event in their lives as they visit a very
sepcial grave in Wellington's Karori Cemetery where their past sisters are
now buried. While many of us fear death, these sisters - whose call is to
treat the sick and the dying - have come to realise that it's something
which allows a closer relationship with God...

'Angel in the City'
Scripture Reading and discussion from St Mary of the Angels' church,
Wellington.

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MAGAZINES AND NEWSLETTERS

Marist Messenger - December 2007
http://www.maristmessenger.co.nz/

Edmund Rice Network Newsletter - November 2007
http://www.edmundrice.org.nz/pages/newsletter/newsletter.htm

Tui Motu - November 2007
http://www.tuimotu.org/

NZ Catholic Education Office Newsletters:

'Lighting New Fires', incl. Catholic schools' Supplement, November 2007
http://www.nzceo.catholic.org.nz/pages/resourcesubpages/lighting-new-fires.html

'Good News and the News', a broadsheet of good practice for integrated
schools - September 2007
http://www.nzceo.catholic.org.nz/pages/resourcesubpages/good-news.html

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ALL THINGS CATHOLIC
Analysis and commentary by John R. Allen

http://ncrcafe.org/node/507

Sex abuse settlement, the pope's visit and ecumenism: Cardinal Mahony speaks
with NCR

[Note: John Allen posted two stories this morning to the NCR web site about
Pope Benedict XVI newest encyclical: Spe Salvi, or "Saved in Hope." The
stories are: Benedict XVI offers the second in a possible triptych of
encyclicals: 'Saved by Hope' Spe Salvi a 'Greatest Hits' collection of core
Ratzinger ideas]

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WORLD NEWS OF THE CHURCH (Regularly updated)

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/

http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/

http://www.romereports.com/ (video)

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EMPLOYMENT

[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the
Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancy.php ]

[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of
the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz/ ]