"Well, Here I am a failure", said Father Emmet McHardy S.M. to his Spiritual director and fellow Marist.

Nothing though, could be further to the truth. As his spiritual director responded, "Yes, you have failed, failed like Christ on the Cross".

The example of Father Emmet McHardy is one of joyful simplicity, missionary zeal and a love for both God and the people he served with a smile. Born in the Taranaki in 1904, Emmet McHardy trained at Greenmeadows seminary and would be ordained a priest within the Society of Mary. His strongest desire was to go on the Missions, and so in 1929 he was sent to the Solomon Islands.

Alone in his mission station, Emmet McHardy worked tirelessly often against local opposition. Despite his trials, Emmet maintained his trademark smile and good humour, which inevitably won the day:

"Last Saturday I went up to the big village in the mountains, Penkeponto by name. Shortly after I came here I attempted to go there, but they would not let me inside the village. Of course, discretion is the better part of valour, and all that sort of thing! But I went back, and gradually their coolness was broken down."

His time in the islands would however be remarkably short, for he contracted malaria, pneumonia and tuberculosis and was to die, back in New Zealand, in 1933.

Although his time in the islands was short, his memory has not being extinguished. What has remained a striking feature of this Marists life is his total dedication to the mission, served always with a generous smile. Even as he lay dying his only desire was to return the missions and work with the people of God:

"I am grieved only that I have let the Bishop down, that I have fallen down on a job where there is so much to be done . but God knows what He is doing, and if He wants to take me [then] what should we be but delighted to fulfil His holy will."

Emmet McHardy wrote six resolutions to live by, and although lived for only 29 years, they remain poignant today:

• I will never criticise my superiors, not even my confreres.
• I will never uphold my opinion to the extent of angering another.
• I will never become heated and raise my voice in argument or when correcting. It would lower my priestly dignity.
• I will never forget that I am one of God's 'marked' men.
• I will always remember that I am made of exactly the same stuff as the worst sinner on earth. Without God's grace I would be worse than he.
• I will always have a happy smile for everyone, especially for those who like me least I will try to hide my own wounded feelings behind a mile.

"Needless to say, I am overwhelmed with kindness here, and our Fathers have been so wonderfully kind. Never before did I understand fully, or appreciate the wonderful family spirit, of our dear little Society."