It was Easter 2012 and I was acting Parish Priest of the Columban Parish of Ba in Fiji. The Ba River had burst its banks once more on the Saturday before Palm Sunday, and the town and vicinity were badly flooded. As usual the Village of Votua was also badly affected. Once more they had to rescue the Blessed Sacrament from the Church by boat. Votua is the only village on Fiji whose chapel is named after St. Columban. There are two statues in the Church, one of Our Lady and one of St. Columban. The flood did no harm to St. Columban, but the statue of Our Lady was destroyed.
When I got to the village on Easter Sunday to celebrate the Easter Liturgy with them, the old ladies were very upset, “Our Lady has left us,” they told me. As was right and fitting, I preached on Jesus and His resurrection during Mass. Before the blessing, I said, “please do not be worried about Our Lady leaving you. She most certainly has not. She and Jesus will always be with you. But perhaps she has gone to change her clothes.” I have no idea what prompted me to say that.
A few weeks later, the pastor, Columban Fr. Paul Tierney, returned and took back his parish. I had a commitment to do cenacles for the Marian Movement in New Zealand. I was in a parish in Hamilton Diocese and met an old friend, Edward Gangalo, who always brought his large statue of our Lady of Fatima to the cenacles. He said to me, “I am worried that if anything happens to me, they will just throw out the statue. Do you know anyone who needs a statue of Our Lady?” “Do I ever?” I thought to myself and to Edward I said, “Yes, Edward, I actually know a church in Fiji that needs a nice statue like this but I am now going to Wellington and will leave for Fiji next weekend from Auckland.” “No problem,” chipped in a lady at the meeting, “I’m going to Auckland and can deliver it to you.”