Fr David Arms Celebrates his 60th Anniversary of Priesthood

Fr David Arms Celebrates his 60th Anniversary of Priesthood

Fr Davd Arms

A Family Occasion

On Matariki Day, 24 June, 2022, we celebrated Fr David Arms’ 60^th anniversary of Priesthood within the Missionary Society of St Columban. The celebration began with 10.30am mass at our chapel here at the Columban Mission, Lower Hutt.

It was indeed fitting that Dave celebrate his anniversary with family on the feast of Sacred Heart which was the feast day on which he was ordained 60 years ago. But it was also the day on which we celebrated, for the first time as a national public holiday, Matariki – Maori New Year, because most of Dave’s whanau – family – came together for this occasion. The stars of Matariki have guided Dave throughout his life as a Columban missionary.

Fr Dave (middle) with, from the left, cousins Bob Thomas and Joan Sole and his sister and brother in law Judith and Tony Wilton

During the homily, Dave told us of his life, from his early days growing up in Lower Hutt. He was very grateful, first of all, to his parents and family for their support over these years. During those early days he also was a member of the first class in St Bernard’s, Lower Hutt. His seminary formation took place in Sydney and after ordination he was sent to do studies in linguistics. He eventually went on to complete his PhD.

He returned to Fiji and was parish priest of Lau. In 1976 he was elected to the General Council and served as Vicar General of the Society for 6 years. After that he went to Pakistan with the intention of applying his linguistics skills. Upon return to Fiji, he was unexpectedly sent to Vanuatu to work for a brief time down in Tanna. Returning to Fiji, he was a member of the first team to set up a formation program for Columban priesthood in Fiji. He also worked for a time in Ba parish where he oversaw the completion of the new parish church.

Throughout much of this time in Fiji, as his main work, he established a translation office – Vosa – which produced homily notes for catechists and then coordinated the rewriting of the Fijian lectionary and missal. Despite serious health problems since coming to New Zealand, he is still working on a Fijian dictionary.

Fr Dave with his family outside the Columban Chapel, Lower Hutt

Following the mass, the family had a cup of tea at our main house and then we all went down to a Chinese restaurant in Lower Hutt town for a celebratory luncheon. It was a wonderful occasion that brought family together - Dave’s family, our Columban family and three sisters of the Home of Compassion. This added a special note to the occasion because, when the sisters of Compassion chose to establish a home in Fiji, it was located in what was, at that time, the Columban parish of Tamavua.

Please keep Fr David in your prayers. We are grateful to God and to his family for the grace of Dave’s continued presence among us.

To Dave, we say:

"May God continue to bless you as you continue to carry out your call as a priest of the Missionary Society of St Columban".

The stars of Matariki have guided Dave throughout his life as a Columban missionary.

 Tom Rouse, Lower Hutt - New Zealand