A Day in the Life of a Remuera Resident — Monsignor Brian Arahill

by Kimberley Tse, age 8 years.

The person I have chose in Monsignor Brian Arahill. I have interviewed him to help me write this essay. He is a Parish priest for St. Michael’s Church in Remuera, which is on Beatrice Road, off Remuera Road. St Michael’s is a Catholic Church which also has a school for catholic children.

Monsignor Arahill was born in 1931 in Hastings. He is 74 years old. He has been a priest for 48 years. He has lived in Remuera since 1989 before that he was a priest in St. Patrick’s Cathedral for 17 years.

Monsignor Arahill has a busy life. He enjoys being a priest because he likes meeting people and talking with young people. Sunday is a very important day for Monsignor Arahill. He starts the day off by preparing for mass. He has 3 masses to celebrate on this day. He celebrates mass by saying prayers with parishioners and readings from the Bible which are called “Liturgy of the Word”. After the Liturgy of the Word, he gives a talk about the Bible reading which is called a “Homily”. In the homily he explains the messages of the Bible.

Sometimes he baptizes babies or adults on Sundays. That means that he welcomes the babies or adult into the church and community. After church is finished, he talks to parishioners. Later in the day, he sometimes takes Holy Communion, which is a symbol of the body of Christ, to the sick people who cannot attend mass. He also does readings to prepare for talks and the homily.

During the weekdays Monsignor sometimes has meetings with other priests. They will discuss important matters of the church. On Monday evenings he helps some children prepare for Holy Communion. A group of about 35 children and their parents take part in the “Becoming Church” program. Monsignor teaches and prays with the children. Some days he visits the teachers and children at St. Michael’s School. He lives right next door to the school and we often see him throughout the day. He knows almost every child’s name off by hard.

One day of the week he leads the school assembly with prayers. Sometimes he attends meetings with the teachers. Monsignor enjoys being a priest but sometimes he finds it hard when people don’t respond to a good way of life. Monsignor is a well know person living in Remuera and is part of St Michael’s Church and School.