Tokoroa welcomes seminarians

by JENNY FLAVELL
Fr Michael Gielen and seven first year seminarians travelled from Auckland to Tokoroa on October 27 on their way to Taupo and stopped in for dinner at the presbytery of St Pius X Parish, Tokoroa.
The parish greeted the guests with a potluck meal.

It was such a joy to see Fr Michael again. He was ordained here 17 years ago. Tokoroa is his home town, his village, as he puts and it, and many of us had not seen him for years.
Each of the seminarians introduced themselves — all but one from the far north, are from around the world including Vietnam, Iraq, and Hong Kong.
It was so nice to meet young men giving their lives to God in such an
important way.
In the course of the evening parishioners had a chance to talk to them and Fr Gielen, the director of first year seminarians.
Father Gielen said he had fond memories of the people and the parish. He shared some of his experiences growing up in Tokoroa, including one from the time he told the parish priest at Tokoroa that he wanted to become a priest. Father replied, “Well, they are desperate for seminarians, so you’ll probably
get in. In fact, even if you were one legged you would probably get in.”
To conclude the evening, we went into the church and Fr Matt McAuslin led the gathering in a decade of the Rosary.
We sang hymns and briefly posed for a group photo before seeing off our guests as they continued onwards to Taupo.
A wonderful time was had by all.
It was a very special evening indeed.