With this in mind, I want to share with you what the format of the vigil on Saturday evening will be to give some structure to the thoughts and prayers for the family and for each other at this time.

The service will begin with the hymn 'Be Still for the Presence of the Lord' as a reminder to everyone that we gather together in God's presence. Whenever we bring someone or something to mind in God's presence it is transformed into a powerful prayer. The gathering together of people is in itself important. That we gather together in the presence of God is a statement of faith in the face of difficulty and a show of support for each other.

After the hymn there will be a lighting of candles. This will begin with a five branch candle stick. The candle in the centre is white and symbolizes Christ, God made man, who has gone through suffering and death and has risen so that he can be with each one of us on our journey through life. A reminder that Jesus is with us in our times of suffering and our light to guide the way. The four other candles are red; the colour that represents suffering and martyrdom. Red also represents the gift of the Holy Spirit, which we believe is given to us especially in times of persecution. These four candles will be lit to represent the four members of the Karim family: Nigel, Pearl, Crystal and Calvin.

Then everyone will be invited to receive a light from the candle that represents Christ and we will pray together in the light of the risen Christ who is with us on our journey.

With these candles lit we will pray together the Stations of the Cross. These represent the journey of Jesus to Calvary. This tradition of the church is a very powerful form of prayer to offer for those who are in difficulty. When we pray each station of the cross we reflect on the journey an innocent man made to his death because of his love for us. In a world without faith it makes no sense but for us it shows us the way through suffering that Jesus took so that he is with us now. Praying the Stations of the Cross also makes us feel vulnerable and helpless because we must stand by as we follow Christ in His suffering. This is one of the reasons why it is such a powerful prayer to offer for those who need our prayer, are in a time of suffering and when we do not know what else we can do to help them. This part of the vigil will end with the hymn "Shine, Jesus, Shine" as reminder of our faith and hope in Christ in a time of darkness and our need for Jesus to be the Way, the Truth and the Life for the Karims at this time.

Once we have prayed the Stations of the Cross together the Asian Catholic Community Choir of Nelson will lead us in hymns and readings. This will be a wonderful reminder that our community is united in its support of the Karim family who are very important to all of us.

Following this we will use chants from Taize to focus on the scripture reading from John's Gospel: 'When Jesus spoke to the people again, he said 'I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the light of life.' (John 8:12) This will be a powerful opportunity to reflect in song and in silence on Christ present amongst us. In His light we will pray for the family and for each other. During this period of the vigil there will be an extended period of silent prayer lasting about fifteen minutes. The silence of a large group of people is very powerful. In a very simple way it expresses our solidarity as we open our hearts to God.

At the end of this time of prayer as we continue to sing the chants, which remind us that God is with us, people will be invited forward to light a candle as a focal point of their prayer. These candles will be placed at the foot of the altar as a reminder that we place all things into God's hands. And there the vigil will end: in darkness transformed by the light of Christ. There we place the Karims and each other into God's hands and allow Jesus to be the Way the Truth and the Life in the days and weeks ahead.