NauMai September 2021
The Kapi-Mana Society of St Vincent de Paul Conference will host the annual Archdiocese of Wellington’s St Vincent de Paul Mass this year at Our Lady of Kāpiti parish. Cardinal John Dew will celebrate Mass at 9am, Sunday 26 September, at Our Lady of Kāpiti Church, Paraparaumu.
This annual Mass also celebrates the Feast of St Vincent de Paul and the work SVdP undertakes in Wellington throughout the year.
Kapi-Mana conference president Gerry Stevens says 2021 has been a busy year for the region, which stretches from Tawa to Levin. ‘A highlight has been participation in the Levin and Ōtaki Benefit Impacts in co-operation with Catholic Social Services, parishes and other groups in the community. Another highlight has been revamping the Porirua op-shop to make it more welcoming,’ he said.
‘Our ongoing conference work includes provision of food parcels to assist people in times of need, and staying in touch with isolated elderly people, some of whom live in loneliness and in very poor accommodation.’
However, Gerry emphasises, while meeting people’s material needs is important, that is only one purpose for the outreach work of the Society. The Society of St Vincent de Paul’s work is vital in assisting the Archdiocese to meet its Synod ’17 goal ‘to go out to the peripheries of society’.
It’s the visits and face-to-face meetings in which this mission of the Society is achieved most strongly says Gerry. ‘We’re meeting people, not organisations. When our people get home, the people they met should be able to say they encountered Christ. And a member of St Vincent de Paul should feel and know that in meeting the poor, they met Jesus.’
The Society invites others to join in its mission and welcomes everyone to the Mass for the Feast of St Vincent de Paul – especially people interested in joining the Society in its mission.
Mass at 9am, Sunday 26 September, will depend on Covid-19 lockdown levels at that time.