Recently we had a Mass at the Home of Compassion for the Fiji community of the greater Wellington area. It was a wonderful occasion during which members of our community we able to reconnect and also to welcome new members. We prepared for the singing during a choir practice on Saturday. After Mass we gathered for a meal together and to celebrate the birthday of one of our members, Aunty Veronika.
As I read the first reading from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, about the influence of the Spirit in our lives and the Gospel reading from Luke 4:31-37 where the community gave thanks for the power of Jesus to bring about healing, I am grateful to the movement of the Spirit in our Fiji community of the Greater Wellington area and the sense of renewal and healing after the long period of time when we have not been able to meet because of the COVID restrictions.
May the Spirit continue to inspire parish and ethnic and religious communities throughout the Church as we come together again and gradually move beyond the pandemic.
Columban Fr. Tom Rouse provided this reflection.