For the month of September, the Social Impact Team this morning hosted prayer for CDA staff at Pompallier Diocesan Centre, Auckland.
After an extraordinary week of mourning and celebration it was most appropriate that monthly morning staff prayers should be equally sombre and exuberant, joyful and sad, solemn and spirited.
This morning the Social Impact Team were blessed by the presence and participation of our extended whanau from Catholic Social Services Ponsonby and Otara.
Prayer began with a moment of silence to acknowledge the recent passings of
- Kiingi Tuheitia Pooatatau Te Wherowhero VII – Māori King and Paramount Chief of Waikato Tainui
- Bishop Denis Browne – 5th Bishop of Rarotonga, our 10th Bishop of Auckland and Emeritus Bishop of Hamilton
- And our dear colleague Evangeline’s Mother – Helen Mary Moverley.
For the next half hour, we read sacred scripture, prose, poetry, prayers, sang himene and watched the Pope’s Prayer video to celebrate the themes of the day and month including:
- Today’s Feast Day of Saint Mother Teresa of Kolkata (formerly Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu)
- A preamble for Social Justice Week commencing this Sunday (8-14 Sep) which focuses on ‘Imagine Peace for All: Choose forgiveness, know peace’
- And Pope Francis’ prayer intention for September ‘The Cry of the Earth’ which heralds the month-long (Sep 1 – Oct 4) celebration of the Season of Creation that coincides with conservation week this week.
It was a truly empowering and precious time to come together, reflect, remember, pray and heal from a week (and possibly year) of beautiful beginnings, sorrowful endings and all that is life and faith in between.
In the words of Saint Mother Teresa, we come to know that “peace begins with a smile”. We felt the smile of peace at prayer this morning.
We hope wherever you are reading this message, peace will smile upon you too.
Peace be with you.
Social Impact | JPCA
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