E NEWS 14 FEBRUARY 2025 VALENTINES DAY
According to Wikipedia, Valentine’s Day, also called Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine,[1] is celebrated annually on February 14.[2] It originated as a Christian feast day honouring a martyr named Valentine, and through later folk traditions it has also become a significant cultural, religious and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world.[3][4]
There are a number of martyrdom stories associated with various Saint Valentines connected to February 14,[5] including an account of the imprisonment of Saint Valentine of Rome for ministering to Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire in the third century.[6][7] According to an early tradition, Saint Valentine restored sight to the blind daughter of his jailer.[8] Numerous later additions to the legend have better related it to the theme of love: tradition maintains that Saint Valentine performed weddings for Christian soldiers who were forbidden to marry by the Roman emperor;[7] an 18th-century embellishment to the legend claims he wrote the jailer’s daughter a letter signed “Your Valentine” as a farewell before his execution. Well, you learn something new every day!
Last Sunday some of the Maori & Pacific Governors and staff put on a BBQ for families at Queen Margaret College for the Maori and Pacific families. It was a great occasion. A young man came up to me and said “hi Fei, remember me?” I had to cast my mind back over 30 years ago and I had to picture a 10 year old boy from the Hataitai Samoan Methodist Church Sunday School. I used to worship there with my uncle when I visited Wellington during the Knox break on my way up to Auckland from Dunedin. His eldest daughter has just joined QMC this year. OMG, you realise your age when you have to cast your mind way back and need their prompting to get it right.
Monday night my friend the MP for Mangere Lemauga Lydia Sosene invited me to dinner, so we went local to the Dumpling Company on the Terrace but this time we dined in the front at the Korean BBQ section. Loved it very much, it was a good way to catch up and take your time eating as you waited for your meat to cook. So that is my third MP who considers me as minister of SAOTT to be their chaplain. There’s the honourable Carmel Sepuloni, Hon. Barbara Edmonds and now Lemauga Lydia Sosene. Then there’s the CEO of Ministry of Pacific People’s Geradine Clifford Lidston, the CEO of Ministry of Culture and Heritage Mac Leauanae and Dr Tagaloa Junior Ulu the Director of Pacific Health at MOH. That’s our Community Outreach as SAOTT. They contact me because I am based on the Terrace and they regard me as their Tangata Pasifika Chaplain. My other two dear friends Judge Ida Malosi Principal Youth Court Judge and outgoing CEO of Te Whatu Ora Margie Apa are extremely busy people and if we meet up accidentally at a function or on the street outside then that is our quick catchup which we have to make-do with. I didn’t know until I came to Wellington that many of my friends who just happen to be Samoan were heading up some really important Government departments and others are members of parliament. Would be even better if I could persuade them to come to SAOTT on a Sunday but the reality is most of them go home to Auckland to be with their families in the weekend.
Next Wednesday is the premiere of the Movie “Tina” (meaning mother in Samoan). I had intended going but it clashes with our Finance and Facilities Meeting and being the first for the year I need to be present. I sent the lead actress Anapela Polotaivao a message telling her that I am with her in spirit on the day. I am going to watch it the following week as part of a fund raiser for one of the QMC daughters. I have seen the trailer and I highly recommend it, sad, happy and all the emotions associated with losing a child and beginning a new chapter in one’s life as a Samoan teacher in a private girls school.
This Sunday is our Y Group lunch meeting upstairs in conference room 1. We will be reflecting on what the word/name/title “God” means to us. If you feel young at heart feel free to come along and join us and bring some food to share if you are able. Hamish Dick is hosting this month.
This Sunday is Epiphany 6 and our theme is “Upside Down Jesus”. We will be exploring Lukes version of the Beatitudes called Sermon on the Plain compared with Matthew’s sermon on the Mount. The Gospel is Good News to the Poor and the down cast and probably Bad News to the rich and the wealthy. Food for thought. Hope to see you on Sunday. Enjoy your weekend. Fei
You can view the full E-news here: https://mailchi.mp/05f152b7eedd/this-weeks-newsletter-from-st-andrews-on-the-terrace-10133174
