St. Francis Xavier – 3 December Francis Xavier was born on 7 April, 1506 at Javier, Kingdom of Navarre. He died on 3 December, 1552 aged 46 at on Shangchuan Island.  He met Ignatius of Loyola at the University of Paris where he was studying. Ignatius convinced Francis to do the  Spiritual Exercises . He subsequently became one of the first seven Jesuits who took vows of poverty and chastity at Montmartre, Paris in 1534. He was ordained a priest in 24 June, 1537.  In 1541, at the request of...

My Community Values… When I was very young my parents decided to move from war-torn Europe to New Zealand. This meant tearing ourselves away from our large extended family. They thought that in New Zealand we would have a better chance of making good in life. My parents have since died and did give my brothers and I a far better opportunity at life.  While we did not see ourselves as refugees, in a sense that...

I remember many years ago before I married, I spent some time assisting my friends who were the owners of a property, to start a new vineyard in the prime agricultural country of Poverty Bay, in NZ.  We had a large empty paddock, which was fairly level. We set about doing a survey to determine the best way to lay out the vineyard. We built a large shed to accommodate the tractor and other machinery. A water pump...

Central American migrants meet the USA border… What are the issues here? Central Americans are being forced from their homelands for various reasons. They travel all the way to northern Mexico where they meet the USA border. Everything they know tells them that life will be better further north. However, they have many obstacles to overcome! The USA does not want them! Their internal politics have determined that these refugees are not welcome! In reality, this...