A Three-evening Mission 

11th 12th 13th November 2025
Report

Taste and See: A Three-Evening Mission that Stirred Hearts

For those who grew up hearing stories of old-style parish missions—week-long visits from fiery Redemptorist preachers whose sermons could rattle the bravest souls—the atmosphere at Saint Peter Chanel Church, Te Rapa this month came as a gentle surprise. Gone were the imagined echoes of brimstone and booming admonition. Instead, as parishioners and friends stepped through the doors, they were welcomed by warm smiles and the uplifting swell of live music. What awaited was not intimidation, but invitation.

Across three evenings, each about ninety minutes long, between eighty and one hundred people gathered to be led by Fr Alliston Fernandes, a covenanted member of the Institute for World Evangelisation–ICPE Mission and a priest incardinated into the Archdiocese of Malta. With a licentiate in Pastoral Theology from the University of Malta and extensive experience guiding parish missions throughout New Zealand, Fr Alliston brought both theological depth and pastoral tenderness. Until recently based at St Gerard’s Monastery in Wellington, he is known for his ability to speak to the heart as much as to the head.

The mission carried a striking visual anchor: the renowned “Holy Trinity” icon by Andrei Rublev. Its imagery—three persons in harmonious communion—served as a prelude to the themes explored each night:

The Father’s Merciful Heart, Restoration in Christ, and Empowered for Mission.

Night One: The Father’s Merciful Heart

Fr Alliston opened by painting a picture of God the Father vastly different from the distorted images many people hold. His message was disarming: God’s love is outrageous, reckless, and deeply personal. “We are the sum of the Father’s love,” he said, “not our failures.” In Jesus—“Love revealing itself”—we see the true face of the Father. The call of the evening was simple yet profound: allow yourself to be healed of any image of God that is anything less than merciful.

Night Two: Restoration in Christ

The second evening centred on Jesus’ enduring desire to forgive. From the paralysed man lowered before him in Luke 5:20 to his final, aching words on the Cross—“Father, forgive them…”—the theme was clear: forgiveness is the heartbeat of Christ. Fr Alliston unpacked the nature of sin as both disobedience and distrust in God’s goodness, offering prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as its healing antidotes. The session culminated in the Sacrament of Reconciliation followed by personal and powerful time before the Crucifix. This was supported by five additional priests. Many were moved by the reminder from 1 John 1:9: if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive.

Night Three: Empowered for Mission

The final evening turned toward the Holy Spirit—the often-forgotten Person of the Trinity who animates every Christian life. In this Year of Jubilee, Fr Alliston spoke of the Holy Spirit as the source of a hope “that does not disappoint,” poured into our hearts as Romans 5:5 promises. Even the ability to proclaim “Jesus is Lord,” he noted, is possible only through the Spirit at work within us (1 Cor. 12:3). Though every believer first receives the Holy Spirit in Baptism, Jesus encourages us to ask for more (Luke 11:13), especially for the sake of mission.
“For better or worse,” Father Alliston reminded, “we are the unwritten Gospel the world reads.” The night ended with a moving period of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, a quiet but powerful encounter with the presence of Christ.

As on the previous evenings, the mission concluded with shared food, warm conversation, and a sense of newly kindled fellowship. What began as a gathering of individuals slowly became a community tasting and seeing the goodness of God together.

Far from the fearsome parish missions of legend, these three evenings offered something richer: a gentle, hope-filled rediscovery of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—an invitation not just to believe, but to live the Gospel with renewed clarity and joy.