St Joseph – Glorious Mysteries
In honour of St Joseph the Worker and the beginning of the month of May in Mary's honour - for the glory of God.

The first Glorious Mystery – The Resurrection
Can you imagine what it was like in the great place of waiting for the doors of Heaven to be opened? When Simeon came he encouraged everyone that the Messiah had begun His saving work. When I arrived I was able to tell everyone about the infancy, childhood and adolescence of my Jesus. Anyone who arrived with news of Jesus had our undivided attention. Then that amazing moment happened when Jesus Himself arrived, having conquered sin and death. In Him all our longings turned into joy and sweetness. With Jesus leading us we stood before the doors of Heaven and heard His precious Blood cry out, 'Here I am, with the children the Lord has given Me' (Is 8:18) and watched those doors be flung open by the angels. We went through with far more rejoicing than when Israel passed through the Red Sea dry shod. At last, to be with God forever and ever! To see our Jesus smile as Redeemer, Victor and King was worth every previous sorrow.

The second Glorious Mystery – The Ascension
The victory of Jesus was complete, but His work wasn't quite over. In His glorious risen body Jesus went and visited so many people in so many places bringing hope, comfort and joy. There were many teachings and instructions that His apostles and disciples could only be given after His resurrection. So many of His resurrection visits were visits of thanks to those who had helped Him on earth, but they were also 'farewell until Heaven' visits. When all was done to perfection, Jesus gathered them all together to bless them and commission them, and return to the Father in His gloriously risen body. What a wondrous homecoming for Jesus that was! So solemn, so majestic, so breathtakingly beautiful! All Heaven fell silent and prostrate at the sight of His royal wounds in adoration, and saw the Father confer sovereignty, kingship and authority upon Him. He in turn conveyed gifts, rewards and kingdom responsibilities upon the citizens of Heaven and then the place erupted in a rejoicing that has never ceased.

The third Glorious Mystery – The Coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost
You don't think that only Mary, the Apostles and the disciples gathered in the upper room, were praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit do you? As soon as the Father outlined His great plan for the spread of the Kingdom of God, our prayers joined with theirs. In particular all of those holy ones who had been moved by the Holy Spirit were praying with particular gusto, myself, Moses, Elijah, David, Samuel, Esther, Gideon, Isaiah, Joshua, Daniel, Jeremiah, Nehemiah, Samson, Zechariah and Elizabeth, began praying not only for those in the upper room but also for everyone who would receive the Gospel message through them. How all of us had longed for the whole people of God to be moved by the Holy Spirit! And now God was graciously about to make that wonder happen! We can never praise Him enough! Be open to all that the Holy Spirit wants to do in you, and through you.

The fourth Glorious Mystery – The Assumption
What a big responsibility my Mary accepted at the foot of the Cross of Jesus! For the sake of Jesus she accepted each and every one of His disciples as her sons and daughters. During those post-Pentecost years so many disciples made their way to her, so many needy children seeing wisdom, guidance, comfort, strength, peace, prayers and knowing that the Mother of Jesus was the way to find it. But there came the long awaited day when the needs of Heaven outweighed the needs of earth. Slowly and gently her earthly strength faded until imperceptibly her beautiful soul moved from this life into the eternal life. O what a homecoming that was! Every soul that enters Heaven increases the joy of everyone within. But at Mary's arrival the joy of heaven completely doubled. Then the Father decreed something extraordinary, that Mary should enjoy Heaven in body and soul. Heaven's joy doubled again, and we formed a special procession to formally present her glorified body to the Father. At the front were the angels, then all the holy women whose lives recorded in scripture prefigured and inspired and encouraged her; then all those who had been a special part of her life on earth, including myself, Anne and Joachim, Stephen, James, were privileged to walk with her, and behind us followed the women who had dedicated themselves 100% to Jesus due to her example, and all of the people she had personally served and helped on earth.

The fifth Glorious Mystery – The Coronation of Mary as Queen
When this amazing procession ended, Jesus embraced her as His mother, the Father embraced her as His daughter and the Holy Spirit embraced her as His spouse. 'The throng wild with joy' is a very mild description of what happened. As the high spirits calmed down, expectancy grew. What gifts, rewards and kingdom responsibilities would Mary be given? All Heaven waited for the Father's decree. 'Mary, I have already declared that all generations will call you blessed. That is not enough! You are from this day forth the Queen of Heaven, the Queen of earth, and the Queen of My Heart. Come and share in My happiness. All I have is yours.' Each and every citizen of Heaven immediately knelt and with one heart-felt voice echoed, 'All we have is yours, too!' In profound silence they waited for Mary's response. She slowly began to sing her Magnificat, and then all of Heaven took up her song in melodies and harmonies in praise and thanksgiving to God.

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And a printer friendly version below:

From the Acts of the Apostles and other writings in the New Testament we learn that the charisms of the Holy Spirit were in widespread daily use by the early Christians for evangelisation and building up the body of Christ and extending the kingdom of God.

In our own era we have seen the beginnings of a return to that 'normalcy', and as we expect grace to superabound where sin abounds, Romans 5:20, it means that as our world slips deeper into moral darkness, manifestation of the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit will increase.

It is therefore prudent for information about how the charismatic gifts operate to become more widespread in the church, so that if God starts working in your life that way then you can embrace it and co-operate with Him more fully, and if He starts working in someone else's life and they come to you bewildered you will have the knowledge to bring them peace, encourage them and give them effective guidance.

That's why the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Service (ICCRS) ran a Charism School in Melbourne in March 2019. Presented was a compendium of what has been learned about the revelation and power gifts of the Holy Spirit over the past 52 years.

A 32 page transcript of that Charism School is provided below. For those who prefer video or audio, contact the Melbourne CCR office for details https://www.ccr.org.au/ or centre@ccr.org.au

The titles of the talks given are:

Charisms, Gifts and Fruit
Co-operating with the Charisms
Workers in the Harvest

Gift of Tongues
Gift of Wisdom
Mass Homily: Spiritual Warfare
Spiritual Maturity and Inner Freedom
The Gift of Leadership

Gifts of Revelation and Inspiration
Prophecy and the Word of Knowledge
Mass Homily: Mercy and False Guilt
Hearing the Voice of God
Discernment

The Charism of Faith
Healing
Mass Homily: Surrender to God's Will
How to Pray for Healing
Deliverance

Mass Homily: Interior Life
​
Please read the document and share it widely, especially with former and current members of prayer groups and people in Christian leadership. Fluent readers will take around an hour to read it, unless they digress down one of the hyper-links or wish to compare bible translations.

Upon this document, dear Holy Spirit, we seek your unction.
May the prayers of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who prayed so ardently with the Apostles and Disciples as they waited for the promised gift of the Father, accompany it.
May Blessed Elena Guerra, Pope Leo XIII, St Philip Neri, and all the Saints who had special devotion to the Holy Spirit, intercede for each person who reads it.
May the holy angels guide the distribution of this document far and wide, especially to those who most need it.
​Amen.

A very long time ago, in a university chaplain's office far, far away, I was told this story for the first time. I can no longer remember the fine details, but the gist of the story has never dimmed in my memory. Sadly I cannot remember why it was told in the first place. Having done a few internet searches with nil results, I will attempt to retell this story to you.

Our story starts with a youngish monk, relatively new to the rigours of living out poverty, chastity and obedience within the bounds of community religious life.

He was a rather clever chap, quite charming and friendly, and he soon worked out that the juniors received the lion's share of the less appealing chores that had to be done. Some of them he liked doing, but most of them he disliked.

So he came up with what he thought was a brilliant plan to get more time doing the good stuff and less time doing the bad stuff.

If he was sent to the kitchen, he would wash up so slowly, or peel the vegetables so inefficiently, that the monk in charge of the kitchen would get so frustrated that he'd say, 'Here, I'll take over here, you head off to the chapel and pray for me'.

If he was sent to help muck out the cattle stables, he did such a half-hearted job at such a slow pace that the monk in charge of the farm soon begged the prior that someone else be sent to help instead.

If the monk in charge of keeping the accounts was a very punctual person, our young monk would aim to always arrive a little late and every so often put a 6 instead of a 9, or an 8 instead of a 3 in the ledgers.

At those chores he liked to do, he would coast along, and give them the bare minimum of effort. There would be just enough unconscious flashes of brilliance to irritate those who suspected he could do much better if he wanted to.

Everything was going wonderfully, our young monk had extra free time and less of the chores he disliked.

But something happened over time.

When opportunities for greater responsibility came up, they started to be given to other monks who hadn't been a religious as long as he had.

When the abbot went on official visits and would take a junior monk as an aide with him, our monk didn't get selected.

Worst of all, when tasks came up that were ideally suited to his talents, he wasn't even considered for them.

He was becoming an increasingly embittered monk who was perplexed that his superiors didn't seem to know how talented he was, and what a great leader he would make, and didn't seem to take him seriously.

Tragically he was unable to see that he had built up a bad reputation for himself that would be quite difficult to rectify.

And the moral/s to the story?

Always do your best, no matter how menial or distasteful the task is.
​
If you catch someone being a 'bad monk', strive to hold your frustrations in check, and for their own good and for the good of the community don't let them get away with it. Deal with any underlying causes, and call them to excellence. 

​Notes from Day 1 of The Ark and Dove Week Online Conference 11 Feb – 15 Feb 2019

These are rough notes only; very rough in places; that convey the gist of what was said.

Day 1, Monday 11 Feb 2019

Talk 1: Memory, Hope, Vision and Mission by Johnny Bertucci (video 12:51 mins)

Greetings and welcome. I am the chairman of the Ark and Dove Worldwide.

In 2015 the CCR (Catholic Charismatic Renewal) in the U.S.A. was notified that the Ark and Dove site was up for sale. Trusting in Providence, we figured out a way to procure the property. We simply could not not buy it. On 18 Dec 2015 we signed the act of sale.

The Ark and Dove was built in 1924, as two buildings, for the Bell Telephone Company, as a place of rest for female employee, and the smaller building was for the caretakers. Later on it became a boarding school. In 1964 the diocese of Pittsburgh purchased it, and invited nuns from Holland, the Ladies of Bethany, to run it. They were the ones who renamed the property, 'The Ark and Dove', and they operated it as a retreat centre.

As you know the 1967 Duchesne weekend took place here.

In 1979 the Sisters of Divine Providence purchased the property and named it 'Providence Villa'.

We have reclaimed the name, 'Ark and Dove'.

The CCR now having ownership of the property, we looked at each other and said, 'OK, now what?' It's ours. How could we use this place for unity and for passing on the grace of the Baptism in the Spirit?

No one would be excluded, it is considered as belonging to all in the CCR.

We were excited that we had the property in time for the 50th anniversary of the CCR (Feb 2017), and to be able to celebrate the Jubilee here, including that sense of people being restored to their land that the biblical concept of Jubilee has. We had a big celebration and fitted some 120 people into this place.

On that Jubilee weekend there was a prophetic word from Genesis 7:11, 'In the 2nd month, on the 17th day of the month, the fountains of the great deep burst forth and the windows of the heavens opened'.

It meant a lot to us that it was part of the story of Noah, the Ark and the Dove, and that both the original Duchesne weekend and this 50th anniversary were held 17 Feb 1967 and 17 Feb 2017. We felt like it was a note from God underlining just how special this day was.

Unity is to be our calling card. Unity is to be our mantle and our cry.

On that Jubilee night in 2017 Patti retold the story of the Duchesne weekend, and we crammed 45 people into the chapel with her, in that upper room, and we recorded it. On Friday 15 Feb during this Ark and Dove Week you will get to see that recording. It is a great love story. It was also a great night of praise and worship.

The mission we have been given is far from over.

The Ark and Dove is poised to be a beacon and clarion call for unity.

It is your place, your home. When you come to visit, you come as a member of the family coming home. Come and be refreshed.

We need to foster this unity.
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Talk 2: The Holy Spirit outpoured at the Ark and Dove by Patti Mansfield Gallagher (video 6:51 mins)

When I was a little girl I would ask my mother to tell me the story about how you and Daddy met. I never got tired of hearing it.
In a similar way how God started the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is a love story, and I get to retell the story.

That retreat weekend somehow I left my makeup at home. That helped remind me that I wasn't here for a new boyfriend, but for a spiritual purpose. This was by first ever retreat, and I went with a bit of fear and trepidation. I had a plan for my life.

Since I was from a poor immigrant family, all I had was a public school education. So this retreat for me was scary, but I was excited too. I was scared God might call me to be a nun.

I discovered I need to both ask of God and to surrender to Him. My prayer was 'teach me to follow Your Son Jesus'. Somehow my unconditional surrender was needed.

There were no chairs or pews in the chapel that weekend, just cushions.

When I went into the chapel that night I knelt and trembled at the awesomeness of God. I felt it.

I asked myself, what is happening? This is something we didn't plan.

Then I was flat on my face in the chapel, and somehow my shoes were off my feet. I experienced immersion in the love of God. My prayer was, 'Stay, don't leave me'. I was basking in the love and mercy of God.

Somehow I knew that if I could experience this, others could too. Jesus is alive. Jesus is real.

After visiting the chaplain and telling him my story I saw two girls on the retreat. They said my face was glowing. I took them up to the chapel with me. I had never prayed out loud in my life before, but I asked God to do for them what He had done for me.

There were about 12 of us that night, sovereignly drawn into the chapel.

I felt a tingling all over, like I was on fire.

I was there as a witness, but it's not my story, it is God's story.
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Talk 3: The Holy Spirit outpoured at the Ark and Dove by David Mangan (video 11:13 mins)

I am delighted to be here. God has used what happened here at the Ark and Dove with me and others to advance His purpose in the Church and the world.

When I arrived at the Ark and Dove for that retreat weekend I was lacking in motivation. Having had a long day at work, all I wanted to do was sleep. I heard there was a lovely meditation on Our Lady that Friday night, but I missed it.

I knew I wanted to experience the Lord. We had been asked to read Acts Chapters 1 to 4 and 'The Cross and the Switchblade', but most of it went over my head.

I had been asked to do the talk on Acts Chapter 1, but I asked someone else to give that talk because I didn't know enough about the Holy Spirit. In that Acts Chapter 1 talk, the person who gave it said some things that changed my life. He said that the word in Greek translated as power came from the same root word as dynamite.

I wanted to follow God, but on my own steam. However I realised I was not tapped into God. I asked, 'Where's the dynamite? Surely the sacraments give us His Holy Spirit, so where's the dynamite?'

The second talk was on Acts Chapter 2, and the speaker said, 'This still happens today'. After that talk I wrote in my notebook, 'I want to hear someone speak in tongues – me.'

In the discussion after that talk, I was back to the dynamite question. Baptism is something we affirm later in life if we were baptised as infants. Confirmation, too, was similar. What about providing an opportunity to renew our Baptism and Confirmation commitments on this retreat? I was disappointed that when this idea was presented to the whole group there wasn't enthusiasm for it.

Then it was lunch time. After lunch I walked around the grounds of the retreat centre with Patti, continuing this discussion. I decided that even if no one else is interested in this, I'm going to do this. And Patti said, 'Me, too'.

Going back into the retreat centre, a leader said that the water pump had broken.

I knew I was on the trail of something, and I didn't want the retreat to end so soon. What about praying for water? OK, let's go to the chapel to pray, and a handful of us went off to do that.

I asked the Lord for water, and I was given a great burst of faith that God had given it – so I prayed in thanksgiving. I went down and turned the tap in the kitchen, and the water came out strongly. We discovered later that the repairman had a change of heart, and worked on it. God answered, it didn't matter how.

I went back to the chapel to give thanks, and the presence of God was so thick and tangible. I was on my face before the tabernacle, explosions in my body. I sat Indian-style on the floor, about to say thank you, and I started speaking a language I did not know.

I went down and talked to the leaders and asked them if this was a valid experience, and they said 'Yes'. As I left, one of the leaders asked if I had spoken in a non-English prayer, and suggested if I experienced it again, to let it flow.

God will do this for you, if you let Him.
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Talk 4: And the Fire came to our Nations by Andres Arango (video 25 mins)

Special greetings to all of you.
(then invocation prayer to the Holy Spirit for grace for the talk)

My book, 'Catholic Charismatic Renewal: A Current of Grace' has recently been published in Spanish.

As part of the research for the book I went to Lucca in Italy where Blessed Elena Guerra lived and died. I was able to pray in her room.

The work of God in her was a precursor of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, helping the world be aware of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Primarily this was done through her correspondence with and encouragement of Pope Leo XIII.

Because of this, Pope Leo XIII wrote an encyclical on the Holy Spirit, dedicated the 20th century to the Holy Spirit, and initiated the worldwide novena to the Holy Spirit leading up to Pentecost each year.

Pope St John XXIII, convened the Second Vatican Council and asked God for a new Pentecost. Elena was the first person he beatified during his pontificate. He called her the Apostle of the Holy Spirit. She wrote about the importance of crying out for a new Pentecost.

In 2015 Pope Francis quoted Cardinal Suenens about the river must be emptied into the sea, and the charismatic renewal as a current of grace.

In 2014 Pope Francis addressed the Renewal in these words: 'You, the charismatic renewal, have received a great gift from the Lord. Your movement’s birth was willed by the Holy Spirit to be "a current of grace in the Church and for the Church". This is your identity: to be a current of grace.'

When I was a child we went to a farm near a river, with lots of wildlife and fishing. We would spend time going to explore, and seeking the stream head for the river. It took some finding, because it was small and unassuming, and yet that is where the river began.

The Ark and Dove is like that stream head for the river, small and not well known, and yet the place from which this current of grace sprang for us.

May this retreat centre be a faithful instrument of God, helping us to fulfill the commission Pope Francis gave us to bring the baptism in the Holy Spirit to the whole Church.

How do we do this?

• By every day claiming a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
• As Pope Benedict XVI encouraged, make parishioners aware of the Holy Spirit. Ask them, 'Do you have the Holy Spirit?'
•Remembering that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is for all Christians, it is an instrument for ecumenism and unity and for collaborative evangelisation.
• By installing the culture of Pentecost as described in Acts 1:8 'You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be My witnesses not only in Jerusalem, but throughout Judea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth.'

It is our task to carry the presence of Jesus, to enable people to encounter Jesus, to fall in love with Him and to be transformed by Him.

To grow in holiness is a life style, to be lived each minute, to be filled and moved by the Holy Spirit so as to live like Jesus.

(at the end of the talk there was a prayer)
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Talk 5: Interview re CHARIS by Jim Murphy (video 5:53 mins)

CHARIS (Catholic Charismatic Renewal International Service) is the name of the new international body representing both the Communities (previously Catholic Fraternity) and the Prayer Groups (previously ICCRS) of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
Background information:
http://www.iccrs.org/en/charis-moderator-and-isc-announced/
https://www.nsc-chariscenter.org/charis-new-international-service-for-catholic-charismatic-renewal/
http://www.iccrs.org/en/new-charis-statutes-now-available/

Jim Murphy:

Pope Francis has a vision of a much broader community/family to live in the Spirit.

The current of grace of the Renewal is not something that can be controlled, managed or put in a box.

We have to get into the river of that current of grace and let it take us where it wants.

Let's go together, not in conformity, but unity in diversity, which requires an open heart.

All of us are invited into the current of grace, but don't tell anyone how they should swim. Let them swim their own way.

Start now and move slowly.

For example, 'Can we have lunch and talk about where God could be leading us?' We don't have to wait for the perfect plan. 'Could we just meet for an afternoon of prayer and discussion?' Let's start with that.

Then God can show us the next step.

Move slow, then it will be authentic. 'Let's get back together in 4 weeks'. Begin dialogue, call and invite, but do not push.

God is looking for the intention of the heart rather than the perfect plan.

God has to show up; because if He doesn't, then it is all over.
 
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The full videos for this online conference are available from the premium section (currently payment $56 US and login required for 12 month access) at www.arkanddoveweek.com

​'Where is the Holy Spirit blowing in your local area?'

I put this question, or at least a version of it, to a well-travelled clerical friend of mine recently, and his answers were perplexing.

He mentioned a recent ordination to the priesthood. While that is truly wonderful, and an extraordinary grace for any parish; it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit's work over a ten year or longer period.

He mentioned the good work the nuns were doing in the parish. Again, that is awesome. But it too is the fruit of the Holy Spirit's work in the hearts of women born some 10 years ago or more.

Then he mentioned a rather exciting regional meeting of bishops from several countries happening within the next 12 months. Absolutely wonderful, and it will hopefully be very fruitful for the whole region, but that's the Holy Spirit's work at a hierarchical level and not a local level.

Next year his parish celebrates 50 years of existence. This is a wonderful opportunity to give thanks and praise to God for the blessings and achievements of the past 50 years. Many special graces can come from an event like this, especially if time is taken to think through how the Holy Spirit has worked historically in this local area with a view to discerning His longer term plans. But again, it's not really about what the Holy Spirit is blowing on at the moment.

Why was I perplexed? Because his answers focussed on the activity of priests, religious and bishops who are a tiny proportion of a parish containing thousands of lay people in it. Because there is a big difference between serving a parish and empowering and encouraging a parish to respond to what the Holy Spirit is calling them to do.

It is really difficult to co-operate with the Holy Spirit's plans if you are having trouble noticing where He has been active. A pastor is best placed to notice these things, because he usually gets the best information.

For example if there has been a noticeable uplift in the numbers of couples coming to talk to him about how to grow in their marriages – that's a clue that the Holy Spirit is working locally in the area of marriage. If you notice that, you can put more emphasis on marriage enrichment courses and programmes and can preach more on communication, listening, forgiveness and showing love in daily acts of kindness.

For example in confession there has been an increase in people returning to the sacrament of penance and confessing struggles with addictions of various kinds – that's a clue that the Holy Spirit is wanting to do a major work to set people free in this area. If you notice that, you can invite people into the parish who are gifted by God in setting people free from addictions. Also you can put on an afternoon of prayer inviting the whole parish to come and pray that their loved ones be set free from addictions, and see what happens. If it goes well, and people testify to God setting them free, do it again in a month's time.

But if you are not noticing and paying attention, how can you even begin to co-operate with what the Holy Spirit is blowing on?

Some things might take a bit more digging and research to uncover.

For example, do you know what spurred your recent batch of RCIA candidates to begin the final leg of their journey home to the Catholic Church? Maybe over half of them had an encounter with the Mother of Jesus. If so, put extra effort into the next major Marian feast day, do a parish novena leading up to it, put on a free movie about an approved Marian apparition on the feast day, and a talk about how to pray the rosary.

For example, do you know what spurred your newest arrivals at daily Mass to attend? Go talk to them and find out. Maybe they were all positively influenced by another parishioner. If so, go and talk to this parishioner about how God has been leading him/her and see if there is any way you can support them in their efforts (eg books, pamphlets, rosary beads to give away, or direction to good resources for the most common questions people ask him/her).

Other clues to the Holy Spirit's action in your parish could just come up in conversation, or could be relayed to you by staff members. For example two women having opportunities to meet with long estranged family members could be a clue that the Holy Spirit is currently working on the restoration of family relationships. Finding a third person in this situation would be a call to action. One way to partner with this movement of grace would be to let parishioners know that the next Saturday morning Mass would be offered for the restoration of family relationships, and use one of the Eucharistic Prayers of Reconciliation, the Proper set out 'for family' or 'for relatives and friends', and specially written prayers of the faithful.

Another way to get an idea of what the Holy Spirit is blowing on; is to have a listening session. What you want to do is to identify people in the parish who have solid prayer lives and sacramental lives and are in various service roles in the parish. Invite them in groups of ten for morning or afternoon tea. Then when you are together, ask them what God has been doing in their lives recently, and pay close attention to any patterns that emerge or murmurs of agreement when something is shared that the rest can relate to. If you hear common threads of God asking them to slow down and spend more time with Him, organise a one day retreat. If you hear common threads of God asking them to trust Him more, find some stories from the internet or elsewhere about how God worked wonders when people trusted in Him, print them off, and share them around as encouragement.
​
Obviously if you can pick up on the Holy Spirit's clues, what you do to partner with His action in your people's lives is going to be many times more effective than a 'let's try this new programme and hope it works' approach.

Here are just a few of the photographs from the #CCRNSW Retreat weekend at St Agatha's Parish, Pennant Hills on 19-20 Jan 2019.

​The first one is of Jim Murphy, president of ICCRS, as those gathered for the retreat prayed for him, invoking the Holy Spirit to help him teach what we needed to hear.

In the background you can see the big poster with the theme for the retreat weekend on it, 'Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord' Zech 4:6

The next one is Jim Murphy teaching on the first day of the retreat. 

And Fr Hugh Thomas CSsR preaching the homily for Mass on the Sunday of the retreat.

After lunch each day, and before the final afternoon session of the day, there was opportunity for Eucharistic Adoration in the parish church. The monstrance on the altar isn't easy to see, but it is there.

While Eucharistic Adoration was going on, several priests were hearing confessions. Many, many people took advantage of both opportunities.

And our last photo is from the final session of the weekend.

Jim Murphy is straight in front of you with his guitar, playing hymns of praise and worship. It isn't easy to see, but above his head you can see the top of the monstrance. The people standing up are the prayer teams praying over the seated people, specifically over the areas where our backs (areas of weakness) had been targeted by the enemy. 
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It was a taste of a deo-centric culture, albeit in microcosm, but still united to the worship of God going on in the throne room of heaven.

Mass, Sunday 20 Jan 2019, CCRNSW Retreat

Fr Hugh Thomas CssR was the celebrant for this Sunday Mass during the #CCRNSW retreat weekend. You can learn a bit more about him here and here.

The readings were taken from Sunday Week 2 in Ordinary Time, Year C.

The first reading came from the Prophet Isaiah beginning, 'About Zion I will not be silent'. The Psalm response was, 'Proclaim His marvellous deeds to all the nations'. The second reading came from 1 Corinthians 12 about the variety of gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel came from the section of St John where Jesus changes the water into wine at the wedding at Cana.

Fr Hugh Thomas

Today in most churches we talk about marriage because of the setting of the Gospel at a wedding feast. The ministry of Jesus began by His attending a marriage of a man and a woman.

Bride and bridegroom is a theme running all through Scripture beginning in Genesis when He made them male and female. God uses this image of marriage to illustrate His love for us.

We are a people constantly unfaithful to God, but constantly called back to Him. God only chose one race at that time, the Jewish people, yet they were rebellious and inconstant. Sometimes He had to punish them to bring them back to their senses. Despite everything, He still loved them. He still delights in them, and in us. He never took back His choice.

Marriage is important in God's eyes. That's why it is under so much attack.

God loves marriage so much! Is it irreparably damaged? God is able to change things. How? Through us.

Even if you have been wounded, you still have a part to play.

Our witness shows that Christian marriage is still possible, whether it be 15 years to 58 years.

Jesus wanted the guests at the wedding and the wedding couple to have a good time, because marriages are worth celebrating.

These things equally apply not only to Israel but to each of us individually too. In God's eyes we are a princely crown, 'not forsaken, My delight'. God delights in us, even when we are messing it all up.

Some of the Saints have had the mystical marriage experience. He has this for each and every one of us.

It was the Mother of God who noticed that there was a problem with the wine supplies. She knew He would never refuse her. We ask her to pray for all the families who are here – especially for those who are struggling and for families broken but still loved. One day He will restore everything. Believe it!!
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The final session of the CCRNSW Retreat wasn't exactly a prayer meeting. The chairs were rearranged into circular formation with an altar-table in the middle. After a brief explanation, Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance was brought in and put on the altar-table, and participants were free to just have some 'me and God' time, or to join in the praise and singing that accompanied the Eucharistic adoration. Passages from Rev 5 about the throne room of God, and from Rev 21 about the new heavens and new earth were read out. 'You are the people of Revelation. This is now.' Sometime later prayer teams went around quietly praying over the targets on our individual backs. Following that prayer time people were invited to give testimony to how God had been working in them and speaking to them during the retreat.
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​And here is the PDF of the notes from the whole Retreat weekend. They run to 18 A4 pages. 

Session 5, Sunday 20 Jan 2019 with Jim Murphy, president of ICCRS

Sometimes even when we know what to do, it is still not easy to do it.

Sometimes we feel we can't jump that high – that's why He gives His Spirit.

When Jesus says, 'Take My yoke…', we know that the yoke goes across the shoulders of two animals. Normally an older more experienced animal is joked with a younger animal. The older one calms the younger one down and communicates, 'Just walk with Me, I know how to do this.' On our own we are not capable of doing what God is calling us to do.

How does the Spirit work? It starts with you and me.

God is responsible for the great revival – no one else – and He will deal with us first. Pay attention to your own piece of real estate, and only then together look at the big picture. However if you wait until you are perfect to help anyone else, you will die of old age before that happens.

This is a both/and, not either/or, and we need to seek balance. God wants to give you the power to do the things of the kingdom, and also to be and to become holy. Both are essential and necessary.

Charisms flow from the generosity of God; they are undeserved gifts from the ridiculous generosity of God. God knows how to give good things to His kids.

Have you ever sat in a car-park of a hospital, nursing home or funeral place and said, 'I don't want to go in. God help me.' and you eventually got up and went in. That was His grace at work.

Priesthood is a special example of this; God working in the man, with the man, beyond the capacity of the man.

There was a farmer's wife who came to a prayer meeting with her very reluctant husband. He had a speech problem that made putting a sentence together a laborious effort. He was prayed with for the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and nothing seemed to have happened. However at subsequent prayer meetings, he would be prompted by the Holy Spirit to stand up and speak – and out came this divine poetry. The farmer had been given an extraordinary prophetic gift that only operated under the influence of the Holy Spirit. At all other times he continued to have speech difficulties. This was an unusual charism chosen to show forth the surpassing power of God.

So don't limit God by saying, 'I could never do that', because we put our faith in the God who can do it in us.

Human effort cannot fix the world – only God can save us now.

Do not count yourself out – let Him use you to do something extraordinary – that the rest of us really need.

If God calls you to do something – do it. But you don't have to go it alone, seek out and talk to experienced people about ways to move forward in responding to that call.

Prayer groups are not the only place for charisms, they are for the water cooler interactions too. If someone at the water cooler shares what they are struggling with, seek the Lord for that person, and if there is openness and permission from him or her, take the opportunity to pray together about that situation.

Don't ever be afraid to minister in the Spirit anywhere.

The Spirit gives us the power to be something else – to be the sons and daughters of God.

Galatians 5:22 give us the fruits of the Spirit which flow from the Isaiah 11 gifts of the Spirit. When the Spirit of God fills and dwells in you, His personality starts rubbing off on you. Then the Holy Spirit's capacity for courage, wisdom etc start becoming our qualities, forming us into the likeness of Christ.

You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Can you believe that?

When we think gift, we normally think of objects, but 'the' gift is the person of the Holy Spirit.

With some people, the room changes when that person walks in, and that person – just by their presence – brings everyone closer to God.

More people are converted by character than by charism: pick both!

This inner work in us cannot be done except by the Spirit of God.

We all need to be more open to the Holy Spirit. Ask Him, 'where is the bulls-eye on my back?' He wants to shine light on it. He will show those areas of weakness to you for the purposes of love and healing.

Human beings don't co-operate well together – but the Holy Spirit can make unity happen and can make team-work happen.

Without the Holy Spirit, there is no vision to unite us.

I invite you to journey with the Holy Spirit. Ask Him, 'what do I need to pay attention to from this weekend?' Reflect on it, but keep inviting the Holy Spirit into the process.

The only way restoration happens is by the Spirit of God.
There is no other way, no other option.
We have been called by God, to be with God for this great restoration.
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When all the talks are transcribed and blogged, a printer friendly version will be provided. There is still the Homily to go.
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My thoughts

There is outward and inward work to be done, and all under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit. As missionary disciples, the charism gifts are the missionary part, and the character gifts are the discipleship part, and we should earnestly desire both types of gifts from God's goodness.

To think that we can do anything (prayer groups, children's liturgy, parish leadership, soup kitchens, evangelisation through social media, teaching as a catechist, youth groups, welcoming ministry, raising a family etc) without the Holy Spirit and His charisms – is sheer lunacy. But with Him all things are possible, fruitful, and effective.

If there isn't room for the Holy Spirit's charisms to operate in your corner of the restoration work – make room. Get your team together, collectively surrender your whole ministry to His leadership, beg the Holy Spirit together for the charisms your team needs, and spend time in prayer each time you come together seeking His guidance and direction, and be open to changing your plans according to His.
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Make room in your hearts and minds too. Get hold of resources that have experiential knowledge of how charisms operate, and study them. Visit ministries in similar fields to yours where charisms are operating, and let the possibilities of what God can do get you on your knees seeking Him with all your heart.

Session 4, Sunday 20 Jan 2019, with Jim Murphy, president of ICCRS

This session began with an invitation to people to share what from yesterday's input resonated most with them.

Jim Murphy

God speaks to the community and He speaks through the community.

Things can be very unfair and unjust, and that's real, but we have to avoid a victim mentality. Remember the bear in the cage? We have to change how we see ourselves.

Some years back Jim met a girl who had been very badly treated for 7 years by her mentally ill mother, chained up and neglected. He asked her, 'How did you forgive your mother?' She answered him by pulling her sleeves back to show the damage still remaining on her arms and wrists and said, 'If I did not forgive her, I would still be in her chains'. This girl became a person of forgiveness and mercy. It is not easy to do. It doesn't mean forgiveness is easy to do. We need grace from God to do it. The only influence we have is on our own hearts.

Do you remember the 3 beliefs from yesterday: Restoration, Role, Providence?

Principle no.1: God is number 1. Either God will do it, or it isn't going to happen.
Principle no.2: The reality of opposition. Ultimately God always wins. Hold onto that.

God is calling you and I to build. 'Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain'. Psalm 127:1

Stop doing things for God. Start doing things with God.

If you think of any New Testament miracle, you would be hard pressed to find one that didn't require the practical assistance of others.

We see the obedience of the servants in filling the water jars at Cana, and we see faith as they bring the dipper to the boss of the wedding feast. When did the miracle happen? Was it after the jars were filled, or was it when the dipper was being taken?

Then with the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes to feed some 40,000 people, the 2 fish and 5 loaves didn't belong to Jesus. He blessed and broke the loaves and fishes, and handed them to the 12, who each walked out to the groups who sat ready.

When Jesus goes to raise Lazarus from the dead, someone has to roll back the grave stone, and others have to unbind him.

There are a few exceptions.

Jesus prefers to work in the context of His people.

God wants us to be part of His work.

We need the power of vision to do the work of building. The book of Zechariah contains many visions, promises and hope for that purpose. I encourage you to read Zechariah and Nehemiah.

Nehemiah showed a special motivational gift in his speeches to the people. Some people have this gift of giving vision to others.

A modern example is how Churchill spoke to the people of England when things were bleak indeed in 1940, 'We will fight them on the beaches….' etc. This gift changed the situation from bleak to determined and hopeful of victory. Napoleon put it another way when he said, 'a leader is a person who deals in hope'.

We need to restore vision in 3 ways.

•The vision of God: Many have a distorted vision of God, so we need to share with them the true vision of God.
•The vision of self: People need a true vision of who they are in Christ. Treat them like a child of God, whether they see it or not.
•The vision of the world situation: Most people don't really get it that they are in a massive battle between Light and Dark.

Nehemiah's vision enabled the people to rise up and start building, and he brought order and teamwork to the process. He set one group clearing the rubble. He set another group rebuilding the north gate. Another group were sent to rebuild the south gate and to watch out for lurking enemies. Another group were given the task of getting the eastern wall up quickly.

Everybody had a specific job to do, which allowed them to focus on their own job and to do it well. We need to marshal our resources like this. The gift of administration and organisation is far from mundane.

This concept of the diversity of work in the re-building means that we don't have to worry about the other projects that the designated groups are doing.

Everyone has a gift, something to give and to contribute to the work of restoration.

And it doesn't have to be a charism.

On a trip to the Middle East, and an Islamic country, I came across men with a 1967 Ford Galaxy. We were able to bond over our shared love and appreciation of this car. They were surprised that a Christian was as car-mad as they were, and this was a 'meeting point' the Holy Spirit used to enable me to talk to them about Jesus.

You are more than your charism; your personality, your temperament, your hobbies, your work can all be 'meeting points' that the Holy Spirit can use to bring people to God.

Each person is essential, not only for what you do, but crucially for what you are.
………………………………………………………………………….When all the talks are transcribed and blogged, a printer friendly version will be provided.
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My thoughts

God wants us to work with Him. It is His preferred way of doing things. But of course, we have to wait for Him to initiate and invite us in. It doesn't work if we start off ourselves and expect God to catch up.

Isn't it a breath of fresh air to hear how important gifts of wise administration are, and how they help the other gifts to work at premium capacity?!

As long as there is a God gifted person in the leadership/gift-co-ordination role, then that frees those called to do works of mercy to concentrate on assisting those in need, while the evangelists do the outreach and the teachers and pastors do the discipleship.

It might also stop us loading each other with guilt for not being gung-ho at everything. Have you noticed how evangelists want everyone to be great evangelists, and prophets want everyone to be great prophets, and preachers want everyone to be great preachers?

It is OK to not be the same. It is OK to have different callings from God. We should be helping everyone to find their unique God-given calling; and not assuming that if God has been calling me in this particular direction that God is calling you in the same direction too.
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Every gifting has levels: there's the ordinary level that God can call upon anyone at any time to exercise; there's a ministry level or area where a charism is frequently used by God; then there's an office level for gifts recognised by the community as having far more than local reach and authority (city, regional, national, international)

Session 3, Saturday 19 Jan 2019 with Jim Murphy, President of ICCRS

The story of God's people is also our story and my story.

The first theme, putting the Lord No. 1 is essential. Our God can do the impossible. Regularly we go down to Mexico to minister to people in the rubbish dumps. We took 418 food bags with dried goods in them, and 650 people came, and they all collected food bags. He multiplies food. Don't ever tell God what He can't do.

If God is the main thing, then we should be a deo-centric culture, with praise and worship at the heart of all we do. There is a danger in ministry where we let ourselves get busy doing things for God and neglecting our personal time to be with God. The main thing is God. Try not to let the secondary role become the primary role.

Is my whole life deo-centric, built around Him, in all aspects?

When God is at work, you can bet money there will be opposition from the enemy of humanity (that's what St Ignatius calls him).

Zechariah chapter 3 gives us an example of this opposition.
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing at the altar of the Lord, with satan standing beside him accusing him. The angel said, 'May God rebuke you'. Joshua was standing in filthy garments. The angel said, ' Take off his filthy garments and clothe him in festal garments and a clean mitre. See, I have taken away your guilt.'

This is very similar to the story of Isaiah saying, 'Woe, is me, I have unclean lips', and an angel taking a hot coal from the altar and touching Isaiah's lips with it to remove his guilt.

Joshua represents not only himself, but also the people. Standing beside him is the father of lies, the accuser of the brethren, dumping accusation upon accusation upon Joshua. Be aware of this tactic of accusations. The purpose of them is to increase discouragement and hopelessness, often by playing tapes of past hurts and failures back in your head. They don't even have to be of past sins, any stupid comment of condemnation will do. God wants to remove the old and replace them with garments of celebration and marks of office.

God wants to remove that brokenness and clothe us in righteousness and to equip all to do the work of the Lord. This is God's desire for each man, woman and child. Everyone has a call and a vocation. There are no spectators in the kingdom of God. Everyone has something they were literally created to do.

The Lord silences the accusation, then God removes the gunk. He gives you your true identity and dignity. The evil one wants us to look down, the Holy One wants us to look up.

People often start acting out what they believe about themselves. Teachers look forward to school photo day, because that day being dressed up for the photo the students treat each other differently, and act differently.

In Texas there was a great teacher who left her cushy job and went to teach in a school for troubled kids. Before starting, the teacher asked to read the basic files on all who were to be her new students. In those files the teacher discovered that all of the new students had very high IQ's, genius level ones. So when the teacher met them for the first time the teacher was gushing, 'How excited and privileged I am to be working with you this year. I am going to push you. This is going to be a great year. There will be extra work for you, but you are so capable of it.'

Sure enough the year was transformational for these students. They discovered that they were capable of more than they ever dreamed they could be. What were hoodlums were changed into stars. It was only a long time later that the teacher discovered that it wasn't IQ scores in those basic files, but locker numbers (183, 184…). This teacher treated these students in a way that helped them find who they really were.

Do you treat everyone around you like a genius?
Do you treat everyone as a child of God?

Some years back I was in youth ministry at a parish, and there was this really difficult kid. I didn't like him at all. But God said, 'I want you to hang out with this kid more'. So I did. Then one day this kid says to me, 'What are you doing? Are you trying to change me? I am not worth your time. My Dad has told me I am nothing and will never be anything.'

Be mindful of how we treat others. Don't be an unwilling accomplice of the evil one.

God wants to restore the true authentic image of His will for us.
Take it on faith, whether you feel it or not.
God is bigger than the opposition.

Let's look at another kind of opposition. When Nehemiah brought the exiles back there were all kinds of other people living in the Holy Land. There were a whole lot of people who didn't want the Israelites back, and who exhibited hostility and enmity, overt and subtle towards them. No one was happy to see them come back.

For a host of reasons there are people who will oppose what you want to do, for all kinds of motives. Even our friends will oppose and resist.

Nehemiah did an interesting thing, he ordered the people to do two things. The first one was for everyone to sleep with their weapons in their hands. Then he set half the people to building the wall, and the other half to shielding and protecting the builders.

So this kind of opposition is dealt with in 2 ways; we carry our own weapons and one half of the group protects the other half.
You have a responsibility for your own life- only you. It is really easy to slide into a victim mentality, and very hard to get out of it. It is easy to stay trapped.

There was a new zoo in Germany, custom built habitats without cages and separated by moats. The bear exhibit had been created to delight the bears as much as Disney world delights children. To populate the zoo, the zoo was buying up circus animals. They found a circus bear who lived in a cage, and spent most of its life going 5 paces forward and 5 paces backwards. The zoo was so excited about this bear seeing the habitat for the first time that they called in the video cameras. They opened the cage, and the bear looked out, and then paced back and forth in the cage. The bear had to be lured out of the cage with bits of meat and a cattle prod. Now this massive bear was out of the cage for the first time since it was a small cub. What did the bear do? It still kept going 5 paces forwards and 5 paces backwards. The bear might have been out of the cage, but it was going to be much harder to get the cage out of the bear.

Even if you were dealt a bad hand in life like that bear, it is not the end of your story.

What are the weapons Nehemiah wants us to sleep with?

There are 5 things that together lead to spiritual prosperity:
Prayer
Scripture
Sacraments
Community
Service

These are the 5 normal ways God works in our lives. You will languish without them. They are the weapons we need to fight for ourselves.

When I am a victim, the whole world is about me. Serving helps us see the needs of others.

If you make these 5 things part of daily life, they are the best weapons for self protection.

We need this sense of belonging to each other. If half of us build and half of us protect, then we get it done together.

Gossip and criticism, we all fall into it.

Do you realise that each time we talk about each other and have a joke at each other (especially about that other person's weakness) we paint a target on them, and we are not protecting them. In fact we are giving the evil one the GPS co-ordinates of their weaknesses.

We are called to bear with each other. As long as we are alive, we will misunderstand and hurt each other. The trick is, what mechanism do we have to talk it through? We can get past this if we ask the Lord.

We have lots of superficial relationships. We don't know how to deal with disagreements. Something goes wrong, and people are not seen again.

Reconciliation comes from the Latin: re for again, con for with; cilia for eyelashes. When you are at odds with people it is hard to look at them. It is the human condition. Find a way to be reconciled to one another. What can't be done humanly can be done spiritually.

Say I have a problem with pride. Everyone knows about it except me. Wouldn't it be good if someone stood between satan and me, and stood in a spirit of prayer, fasting, compassion and mercy? Will you cover me instead of expose me?

Jesus did that. Jesus died for us in the weakest area of our lives, the places that drive our nearest and dearest nuts. Will you stand with Jesus there?

Doing this lets God help people to see their faults rather than letting satan know where those faults are. It is such an important principle!

Opposition during restoration. The people who came back with Nehemiah got discouraged and overwhelmed. They began the work of restoration, days, weeks, months, years of it. At some point the people just got tired and discouraged.

There are times when we too go through the motions without enthusiasm. It is OK that we get tired and weary. It is OK to say, 'Lord we are tired, we need restoration, renewal and refreshing'. God has got to stir something up that we just don't have.

Together let us seek how to turn back to the Lord and find the pulse and fire again.

God wants us to have that enthusiasm again, but we must ask for it.

Nehemiah's builders started fighting each other – which wasn't real smart given they had enemies on every side – but it is a normal human tendency. We feel freer to be meaner towards the people that we love. Why is that? Under pressure we start snapping at each other.

The Lord pleads with us for unity and for us to love each other. We have enough opposition out there, we don’t need the internal stuff.

Even as they rebuild, the people start to go back to their old ways and to go off track again. How do we hold up the vision of what God wants, aware of the gap of where we have fallen to? There is tension between 'what God wants' vs 'where the people are'. Sometimes God says, 'stir them up and correct and rebuke them', and sometimes we need to gently walk with and accompany people.

May the Holy Spirit give you guidance about how to cover that gap. You can't yell at people to change – that doesn't work. You can't lower standards either – that doesn't work.

Nehemiah began the restoration work with provisions from King Cyrus. However sometimes the supplier ran out of supplies or the enemies cut off the supply chain.

Know this: If God has given you a project to do, He will give you the means to do it. It may not match our ideas of how it should look, but He will give you all you need to do the job according to how He wants it to look. If things you think you need don’t come, then they may not be needed. Trust in the provision of God. His plans are not always as flowery and ornate as we like to imagine them to be.

Dare to dream that God wants to do a work of restoration in His people.

If you believe in God's plan of restoration, do you believe that you have some role in that plan?

If God wants to do a restoration work, can you believe God will equip His people with all that is needed to do the job?

Pray about these three things:
God is doing a work of restoration.
In some way, you play a role in that restoration.
God will give you and us all that is necessary for that restoration.

Let them percolate in your heart. Tell God about the one you have the greatest trouble believing.
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When all the talks are transcribed and blogged, a printer friendly version will be provided.
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My thoughts

Do you get the impression that the work of restoration that God wants to do is bigger and more extensive than we can imagine? It is much bigger than our parish's plan for this year. It is much bigger than the diocesan 5 year plan. It is about bringing a whole civilisation back to Him, and making it Christo-centric.

We can't do it alone; we can only do it in co-operation with God and as a community.
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The restoration work occurs under battle conditions, and can only go ahead if our personal spiritual weapons are battle ready and if we protect each other. Every builder needs a prayer warrior-intercessor. How we treat each other and talk about each other matters.