About the Mackenzie Catholic Parish
Our parish community is ALIVE, because Jesus Christ is risen and alive.
Our faith community is surrounded by authentic, gentle, and continuous prayer, embracing the celebration of the Eucharist, the Sacraments, and intercessory means. As Christians, our faith breathes life into our words, actions, and every aspect of our lives. We strive to be living witnesses of God’s love, extending it to others. Our love for our Christian family is genuine, reflecting Jesus’s commandment to “love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34).
Inspired by the Gospel and the teachings of Jesus, we guide our thoughts, words, and actions with His true words. Filled with joy and excitement, we embody the vigour of Christ living within us, leading and caring for us. Always eager to do God’s will, we pray for guidance and remain mindful of the needs of others.
As a small but mighty crew, we seek to grow our parish numbers not only for financial stability but to sustain our weekly Eucharistic celebrations, church maintenance, and outreach programs. We try our best to reach out and connect with others who have yet to join our parish family.
Our Priest
About Our Senior Leadership Team
Leonie Guiney
I am a mother of four, married to Kieran, and a passionate dairy farmer and Catholic. My career in the dairy industry has been focused on helping farmers improve efficiency in pasture farming, which I believe is of critical value to New Zealand. I also serve on the board of Fonterra, the farmer-owned exporting cooperative, where protecting the interests of farmers is a priority for me. Kieran and I are deeply committed to helping young couples progress in the dairy industry by partnering with them on our farms.
In the late 1990s, I spent five years consulting with farmers in Ireland, which was a pivotal experience in my career.
I am deeply concerned about the erosion of the Christian foundations on which our country was built. In our rural community, it often feels like we are in the role of the original missionaries—called to share our faith boldly and unashamedly.
Seeing our parish struggle, with so few attending Sunday Mass, has motivated me to take action in ensuring we don’t lose our faith community, even though it feels like a steep challenge. Yet, I know there are many Catholics in our local area, and I am driven to help protect and grow our Christian faith, starting right here in our own community.
My Vision for the Parish: My metaphor for what our Parish can represent is an ANCHOR
When I think about why the parish matters I think about the resilience I want for my kids and future grandkids in a world full of choices. With freedom to choose and secular thinking demanding the headlines all around us what provides the guiderails for our kids? Why would self- discipline have any relevance in a world that tells you can do and be whatever you like?
My picture is of our parish as an anchor. The solid foundation of faith and scripture that provides those guiderails. I’ve drawn an anchor with a rope around it. It’s like a tethering to Jesus, an anchor that holds us in place on the right path, in a wild and unpredictable world, a path that is lead by a compass which of course has a star, a North star leading to the cross. Leading to our catholic understanding that by Jesus’ death on the cross, we enjoy His grace. No matter what happens in our lives.
And I drew a whole lot of people floating in all sorts of other directions, they are lost souls, seeking something but focusing on self.
The anchor is the Christian faith that defines right and wrong via scripture and rejects the modern argument that ‘there is no right and wrong, every view is right. There is a trendy ‘intolerant tolerance’ that is in fact intolerant of Christian teaching and makes us sometimes reticent to be witness to our faith. Our parish could be the anchor that holds us steadfast in our spiritual belief, among a community of believers who are bold enough to say we believe in God. Bold enough to invite everyone and try to lead as imperfect as we are. It could Anchor our whole community around the strength that is found in God, even save a whole generation from anxiety and depression. Our faith doesn’t promise the absence of suffering, but teaches us to find joy in every circumstance. It shows us the joy to be found in giving and focusing outside of ourselves.
What a gift we could be to those who are lost and drifting, or those who’ve had no exposure to faith in their upbringing but want to dip their toe in the water. Whose life could we make better If we were prepared to see our parish as something more than a church we attend and brave enough to be witness to our faith outside these walls?
Anthony Hill
Hello everyone, and please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Anthony Hill, though I am more commonly called Tony. I was born and raised in Oxford, England, and I am the oldest of seven children. Apart from my university years in Manchester, I lived in Oxford, and later in the Cotswold village of Combe, until coming to New Zealand at the beginning of 1988. I am married to Frances, and we have two sons and a daughter.
By profession, I am a mathematics teacher. After 14 years of teaching at a Catholic high school in Oxford, my career provided my family and me with the opportunity to move to Aotearoa, where I took up a position at Timaru Boys’ High School, working there until 2016. Since then, I have been a regular reliever at Mackenzie College.
My parents, by their unstinting example, taught me from an early age the importance of serving both the parish and the wider community, and this has always been an integral part of how I have tried to live my faith. Therefore, I was honored to be invited to join the Senior Leadership Team for our parish as we work to build a vision for and with our community, looking not only to the next one or two years but to the next five, ten, or even more. How do we ensure that the parish we pass on to future generations is the best it can be and one they will want to inherit? This is the mission entrusted to your Senior Leadership Team, in partnership with all members of our Mackenzie parish.
The challenge we face in developing this vision is to imagine our ideal goal and plot a path to reach that dream. We must keep asking ourselves the question: “If absolutely anything were possible, what would we most want to do and most want to achieve?”
As Michelangelo (1475–1564) said, “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”
My Vision for the Parish: They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42).
We are companions on the journey,
Breaking bread and sharing life;
And in the love we bear is the hope we share,
For we believe in the love of our God.
We are companions on the journey – a simple yet far-reaching summary of our earthly mission and our commitment both to our Parish community and the wider communities in which we are called to participate.
We ARE companions – none of us lives our life in isolation from others. We have an impact on others and others have an impact on us. Even though we may have lost touch – temporarily or permanently – with someone, there has still been connection between us and some mutual steps along the way of our life and that of the other person. Recognizing this fact, how can we – in the true spirit of our Faith – do other than ensure that all such interactions and connections are as positive and life-affirming as possible.
We are on THE journey – no matter how our paths may seem to differ from one another we are all attempting to live in a similar manner. All people wish to be happy in their lives, however an individual may describe what that actually looks like to them. Have you ever heard anyone claim that their life goal is to be miserable? Many struggle to achieve this happiness of course, or come to doubt they will be able to achieve it, but that does not stop it from being their dream.
As people of faith, we have a solemn duty to share with others as we participate in this journey. We may see a certain path for ourselves to our ultimate goal while others – even though aiming for the same destination – may choose a different route. There can, of course, be many paths to the top of a mountain.
Others again may seek a different goal altogether and follow a path to that end. We may be blessed with the ability and opportunity to guide someone from a more difficult path or from one that would only lead to a dead end. We may even need the grace to realize that it is we – rather than others – who are choosing a harder path and graciously accept guidance when it is offered.
There may be some who become tired along the way and need help with carrying the burdens which life places upon them or who believe that they have reached their goal when in truth they have completed only part of the journey.
Throughout this journey we must remember that our constant companion and guide must be Our Lord Jesus Christ, walking beside us as He did with His disciples on the road to Emmaus. To be a truly caring parish community, our commitment needs to have its focus on sharing this journey; a journey which we are making together, however different our paths may at times appear. When we accept this mission, we will share our strengths, our abilities, our love and our commitment with all of our “Companions On The Journey”.
Catherine Hanrahan
Hello! My name is Catherine Hanrahan, and I’m originally from Christchurch, New Zealand, where I was born and went to school. I completed my secondary education at Villa Maria College and then attended Polytech, where I graduated with a qualification in secretarial studies.
In the 1980s, I traveled to London, England, where I worked for banking corporations and lived for four years. During that time, I also completed a hairdressing apprenticeship, so I alternated between office work and hairdressing. I now live in Fairlie, where I run a salon and work four days a week. I have a daughter who attends Mackenzie College and previously attended St Joseph’s School in Fairlie. We are both very happy to be living in Fairlie and enjoy being part of the Mackenzie Parish and community.
I feel privileged to be part of the Parish Senior Leadership Team, and I look forward to working with the team as we develop a vision for the Mackenzie Catholic Parish!
My Vision for the Parish: My metaphor was taken from a quote by Pope St. John XXIII: “Throw open the windows to the Holy Spirit.”
So I have drawn a stained glass window of a church, which is open, therefore the Holy Spirit is not only inside the church but on the outside as well, touching all those open to its presence.
Those open arms of Christ on the crucifix have been what I wanted for the Church, to open our arms to all. These arms remind us that Christ died for all. Take away all that divides us so may all religions and cultures come together as one people, Your people, oh God of the nations. As Pope St. John XXIII stated, “shift the focus of Christianity back to the Bible, draw religion back to the ideals of Jesus”.
Then I was influenced by ‘Acts of the Apostles’ Chapter 2, verses 1-4: “The Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the spirit enabled them.”
As St John says, “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.” (John 14:25-31)
And that’s where I have drawn the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, from which flows flames of fire. My hope for our parish and community is that by the power of the Holy Spirit, more people will receive and experience transformation and evangelization!
Fr. Tien Cao
Father Tien Cao is originally from a small village in the middle part of Vietnam. He is the second son of a family of six boys. His father passed away when he was eleven, his mother has remained a widow since. She is an exemplary model of faith and hard working for his brothers and him. She is still working hard on a rice farm.
Tien Cao arrived in Christchurch in 2008. He learnt English there for over a year, next he was trained in theology for the priesthood at the Holy Cross Seminary in Auckland for about seven years, where his second youngest brother (Linh Cao) is also being trained in the fourth year for the priesthood for the Diocese of Christchurch.
Tien Cao was ordained a Catholic priest in Christchurch in 2015. After that he was sent as an assistant priest to St. Patrick’s Catholic Parish in Greymouth, next to St. Francis of Assisi at Mairehau in Christchurch (now it is part of the Christchurch Cathedral Parish) and then he was working at St. Peter Chanel in Rangiora for about three years before calling to Fairlie as the parish priest. Now, he is residing at Fairlie, looking after the Mackenzie Catholic Parish, which includes Albury – Fairlie- Tekapo and Twizel. He is very happy to be sent here by Bishop Michael Gielen. He loves playing sports and being near to nature. He said that Fairlie is about the size of his village in Vietnam, however, the population in his village may be bigger, which is about 3.500 people. He would be delighted to be involved in our communities. He is happy to have a chat with anyone about anything in life, especially those who are interested in exploring their relationship with God.
My Vision for the Parish: Fanning the Flame (2 Timothy 1:6-7)
The symbol of “fanning the flame” comes from the second letter of St. Paul to young Timothy. Paul reminded Timothy that God had given him a spiritual gift, which he must fan into flame, just as embers of a fire are fanned into a blaze. In this symbol, our community is like a pile of wood, and the Holy Spirit is the Fire of God’s love. The gift comes as an ember from the Holy Spirit, but we must respond with the right decisions and actions to nurture it into a bright flame.
Saint John Mary Vianney (1786–1859) once said, “a smoldering fire can consume a damp pile of wood.” This analogy reflects his belief that even one person on fire with love for Christ can inspire and convert others, no matter how “damp” or indifferent they may seem. In the context of our Mackenzie Catholic Parish, though we are small in number and insignificant in resources, like a mustard seed, we entrust ourselves to the Holy Spirit. Fanning the flame helps us understand that those who are aflame with the love of Christ can ignite others. There is nothing else more exciting in life than seeing someone who is willing to turn around and be converted to Christ, devoting themselves to holiness and good work.
Through the symbol of fanning the flame, I envision a future for our parish that is vibrant with youth and young families at every Sunday Mass. I long to see people coming to daily Mass, visiting the Eucharistic presence of Christ among us. I hope for a parish where everyone is proud to be Catholic, praying many times a day, eager to share God’s love with others, and equally devoted in their love for God.
I dream of community where all families are united by love, on fire with enthusiasm for voluntary work both within and outside the parish.
I imagine our local Catholic school facing the “problem” of having too many parents wanting to enroll their children, eager for them to learn about Christ and the message of salvation. I want it to be a place where students encounter the Risen Lord and are equipped with virtues to become Saints, the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Furthermore, I dream of a parish that fosters numerous vocations to the priesthood and religious life, sending missionary men and women overseas—individuals who forget their own comfort and wealth to serve the poor and underprivileged across the globe.
I desire that people all over the world come to know about the Mackenzie Catholic Parish, just as they know about the early Christian communities. St. Paul expressed deep pride and joy in the early Christian communities for their faith, love, and perseverance in the face of trials. Here are a few examples: about the Thessalonians: Paul was proud of their unwavering faith and endurance despite persecution, calling them his “glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20), about the Philippians: Paul highlighted the Philippians’ generosity, rejoicing in their partnership in the gospel, even when others did not support him (Philippians 1:3-5; 4:10-19), about the Corinthians: Despite their struggles, Paul saw spiritual potential in the Corinthians, praising how they were enriched in speech and knowledge and had received many spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 1:4-7). He also acknowledged their repentance and growth in love (2 Corinthians 7:4, 9-16).
Finally, Jesus constantly commissions us to “go and make disciples of all nations, … and he promised that ‘I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). To his beloved disciples, Jesus expressed his wish: “I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already!” (Luke 12:49). The fire Jesus spoke of is the same fire that Moses worshiped at the Burning Bush (Exodus 3), it is now in you and me, and we too can be burned with the fire of the Holy Spirit without being consumed. Every one of us has something to give and contribute. We have prayed for some time for the Holy Spirit to come and fill our hearts, to rekindle in us the fire of love, so that we may be recreated, and through us, the face of the earth will be renewed.
A Group of Favoured People
Fr Tom Liddy, 1992
Monsignor Tom Liddy, who grew up in Fairlie, died in Christchurch on 24 January 2002. In his sermon at the 90th Jubilee Mass on 11 October 1992 he reflected in a moving and powerful way on what his Parish had meant to him.
Now that I am old, I have more opportunities of looking back and recognizing God’s gifts in my life, and apart from the most evident ones of faith and grace, church and sacraments, good parents and faithful friends, I think that the most sustaining gift given to me over the years is the experience of growing up in the special atmosphere and the impressive surroundings of this town and this countryside.
I hold the memories in my heart of mountains – awe-inspiring and immovable like God himself. The kinder hills and beautiful valleys, the river flats, and the willow-lined streams all combine to cry out the poetry of God’s presence here and God’s goodness. Each varied season has its mood and light; the crisp winter snow, the new surprise of spring, the clear summer heat, and the varied colours of autumn. They all speak of God in their own way. And I come back to join you in your thanks to God for all these treasures that surround us.
But our memories today are of persons too and it is from the people of Fairlie that I learned as a child the experience of kindness, of faithfulness, and of generosity. I would like to pay tribute to the faith and example of the parishioners of St Patrick’s who came Sunday after Sunday, some from long distances in frost and rain in winter and howling northwestern in summer to draw spiritual strength from the Mass they loved and cherished. Their strength of faith becomes part of our faith and again we thank God for the power of their example.
And we recall today the parish priests of those ninety years – the Marists first of all and then the priests of the diocese. Each one in his own way, contributed something to the total life of the parish and the pastors helped to make the parish what it is today. Some were respected, some were loved, some were practical, and others were more prayerful. Some had good business heads, others were friendly. Some were eloquent, others learned.
It is the same with the Sisters and it is the same too with the people of the parish. Taken altogether they provided an atmosphere of living charity that benefits and inspires all.
You see that is what a parish is for, to nourish us spiritually and to form us in Christ’s image, so that we can witness to others that God is present in our lives, that God is here amongst us, and that we are His people.
That is what a parish is supposed to be – a group of favoured people united with their pastor and drawn together by the faith they love and cherish and blessed by God in that faith, in his Word and in his Eucharist and sacraments, so that they can witness by the way they live that Christ is present amongst us in his love.
Fr Tom Liddy, 1992
The First Mass
Old identities remember Fr Chataigner paying visits at intervals to the few Catholic families residing in the Albury and Fairlie district. When Fr Chataigner returned to France, and in the subsequent course of events, Fr (later Archdeacon) Devoy SM was appointed parish priest of Timaru, he at once made arrangements to have Mass celebrated at a private house in Fairlie and appealed to the people for funds to build a church.
The result was the purchase of a site of five acres at a cost of £100. To Fr Devoy’s successor, Fr Foley SM, was reserved the work of erecting a church, and in 1889 his Lordship Bishop Grimes laid the foundation stone of St Patrick’s. The next pastor of Timaru, Fr (now Dean) Tubman SM, added a block of ten acres to the church property at Fairlie. After Fr Foley’s first visit to the District, the Catholics of Albury and Fairlie were regularly attended.
The Church in New Zealand – In the Path of the Pioneers, 1912
In a letter to Mary Goulter about 1935, T D Burnett MP wrote:
For years the Catholic element in the Mackenzie County was very small with the exception of a few West Highland Catholic sheepmen, John McGregor and John Mackintosh for instance. In the late seventies, considerable numbers of South Irish roadmen flowed in, clearing tracks for the wagons and making roads and cuttings. Also doing the shearing, a big population were South Ireland Catholics. It wasn’t until agricultural settlement in the Fairlie Basin took place, that the Catholic element began to grow.
Archdeacon Thomas Devoy from Timaru celebrated the first Mass in Fairlie in 1882 in the kitchen of the Sheehan family home at the Eversley Reserve. Tradition has it that 30 people were present, both Catholic and non-Catholic. Three Sheehan children were baptised that day as were two or three children from the Keefe family.
After that the people of Fairlie had Mass about once every three months. The priests continued to come from Timaru and stayed with local families, but in 1884 the Gladstone Grand Hotel was built which meant that the accommodation of visiting priests was more easily managed, though it apparently depended on the identity of the proprietor whether it was for money or for love!
Gallery - The Old Albury Church
