October Events

Day of Celebration for Venerable Suzanne Aubert

By Fr Kevin Head SM

Sunday 4 October

The first Sunday in October is the closest to the anniversary of Suzanne Aubert’s death on 1 October 1926. Nationally observed, this celebration promotes and rejoices in the spirituality and good works of Venerable Suzanne Aubert. This remarkable woman arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand as a missionary at the age of twenty-five. She made this country her own and inspires us by what she did and what she achieved. This day of remembrance and celebration provides all Catholics with the opportunity to commit to praying that the church will soon recognise this extraordinary woman of great faith as a Saint.

There are on earth many (people) who make much noise, and others who pass unknown. Everyone is rushing to the grave, and none will ever come back. The grave conceals rich as well as poor, there is no difference whatever between the ashes of the one and the ashes of the other
-- Suzanne Aubert, Directory p. 321, 1.

Let’s pray today for the grace to see in others a little of what God sees – and the grace to be able to treat them always with the respect they deserve.

Day of Prayer to Respect Life

Sunday 11 October

On this day we bring to mind that every life is a precious gift given by God, and that humans have a responsibility to protect life, because, as Pope Francis expressed it, “Even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God’s creation, made in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect”.
See the prayer on page  51

World Mission Sunday 

18 October

“Here am I, send me” Isaiah 6:8.

Mission Sunday reminds us again that each and every one of us is called to mission, no matter how young or old, how healthy or sick, no matter our state in life. Our Baptism made us missionary. It’s in our DNA! In simple terms, we are to be Christ to those we meet.

The mission that God entrusts to each one of us leads us from fear and introspection to a renewed realisation that we find ourselves precisely when we give ourselves to others.
-- Pope Francis
Message for World Mission Day 2020

Labour Day 

26 October

Labour Day is a day to recognise and honour the efforts of the trade unions to achieve an eight hour working day for all New Zealand’s workers. New Zealand was the first country in the world to adopt the eight hour working day. At first, it was restricted to tradespeople and labourers.

The holiday can actually be traced to a carpenter called Samuel Parnell, who refused to work for more than eight hours a day. It is said that Parnell told a prospective employer: “There are twenty-four hours per day given us; eight of these should be for work, eight for sleep, and the remaining eight for recreation”. He influenced other tradesmen to work for only eight hours a day, and a local workers’ meeting formally supported the idea in October 1840.

28 October 1890 saw the 50th anniversary of the eight-hour day marked with a parade, and with government support an annual celebration in late October as either Labour Day or Eight-Hour Demonstration Day, eventuated. The government passed a law to make the day a public holiday from 1900 (Labour Day Act 1899), and it was ‘Mondayised’ by the Public Holidays Act of 1910.

While Labour Day is a secular holiday, it reminds us of Catholic teaching about the dignity of work and its value. Workers are co-creators in God’s ongoing creation, and are called to build up the kingdom of God in their daily labour. The holiday invites us to honour all those who work, to appreciate the contribution they make for the good of society and to thank God for them.