One Day Retreat at Bishop Viard College on 2 Aug 2017

On 2 August 2017, ICPE Mission was invited to conduct a one day retreat for the Year 7 students at Bishop Viard College.  The day was filled with activities, teachings and games to emphasize the children's identity as sons and daughters of God and having their identity secure how they could live out the christian values.  The students were receptive and it was a blessed time for both the students and the team who conducted the retreat.

To God be all the glory!

Worship Night - July 2017

Come and be blessed!

Pentecost Sunday

On 4 June 2017, the Church celebrated Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples as tongues of fire.

Sunday was a day of multiple celebrations. Apart from it being Pentecost, the ICPE Mission celebrated its 15th anniversary of Pontifical recognition and it was the 50th anniversary of the Charismatic renewal.

The Sunday began with the 10:30am Mass at St Gerard's Church where we celebrated the baptism of John Matthew Remnant. This was followed by a charismatic gathering called Ablaze at 2:00pm at St Joseph's church, Mt Victoria, organized by the Archdiocese Service Group.

Ablaze began with a time of praise and worship led by the ICPE Mission NZ Music Team and continued with testimonies shared by Steve Ready and Binnari Lee. A team from ICPE Mission NZ performed to a song 'Receive the Power from the Holy Spirit' using sign language. Scripture passages were read followed by a beautiful time of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament after which Fr. John Rae shared to us the history of the charismatic renewal in NZ which brought us in awe of the movement of the Holy Spirit.

After the talk we had a time of prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We were encouraged to receive gifts of the Holy Spirit in faith. People received different gifts ranging from prophecy, faith, wisdom, word of knowledge, healing, tongues and evangelization.

The afternoon ended with a song of praise giving all glory to God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Divine Mercy Sunday Celebration

Divine Mercy Sunday celebrated on 23 April 2017 at St. Gerard’s was a collaborative effort of the Centre for Divine Mercy and the ICPE Mission.

The celebration witnessed the church being jam packed with about 180 people in attendance to the programme which included a time of praise and worship, a talk on mercy by Fr. John Rea, a short sharing by Shirley (the coordinator of the Centre for Divine Mercy), adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet, sacrament of reconciliation, holy mass and veneration of the sacred image as well as blessing of religious articles.

The celebration concluded with a time of refreshment and fellowship. The Divine Mercy of God has indeed touched His people through this celebration and we thank God for His mercy.

Lenten Retreat at St Anne’s Hall

On 19 March 2017, a Lenten Retreat was held at St Anne’s Hall, Newtown. It was a time of preparation of our hearts towards the Easter Triduum. The short retreat began with praise and worship followed by a talk on Salvation. The retreat finished with an incredibly beautiful time of ministry that filled hearts with a deep sense of God’s love.  

Easter Triduum at St Gerard’s 2017

The highest honoured time of the year in the Catholic calendar, the Easter Triduum began with the Maundy Thursday Liturgy. We commemorated God’s love for us through the symbolic representation of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples, the institution of the Holy Eucharist at the last supper and journeying with Jesus at the beginning of His passion and death. This time was followed by adoration till midnight where the Blessed Sacrament was placed at the altar of repose.

 

We continued walking with Jesus through His passion and death with the Liturgy of the Hours prayed at St Gerard’s Church, the Way of the Cross at St Joseph’s church and the Liturgy of the Passion of Christ at 3:00 pm after which we watched the movie ‘Passion of the Christ’.   

On Saturday, we had the Easter Vigil Mass at our St Gerard’s Church where we celebrated the Lord’s Resurrection. Beginning with the service of light followed by the nine readings signifying the history of salvation and watching a brother and sister receive the Sacraments of Initiation. Our sister Emmanuella Teresa Ling received all the three Sacraments of Initiation with immense joy and our brother Dionisius Bisma Pradhana received the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Celebration of the Lord’s resurrection continued at St. Gerard’s on Easter Sunday with mass and fellowship.