Over the past few months, the articles in the Catholic Weekly from Dr Philippa Martyr have had me writing either rebuttals or questioning the assumptions upon which the assertions in her articles were made. Even though they didn’t make it to publication here, they have caused me to reflect deeply.

In particular, could this part of her response be true?
"Perhaps I should have also said in my limited 750 words that the laity also need to learn to be less trigger-happy. What you're describing are not major challenges to faith and morals, like having all the laity 'co-consecrate' or things of that sort. They're minor liturgical hiccups that irritate you personally."

You need to know that I was speaking of the breaking of the one cross per altar rule and the replacement of the homily with a few brief words prior to the penitential rite. On the surface level maybe they do look like minutiae.

Lay co-consecration is serious because it is a strong ideological statement about the priesthood of all believers, and a denial of what pertains only to the ordained priesthood.

Yet a brief stroll through the Scriptures shows that God takes unlawful acts very seriously.

In Leviticus 10:1-2 we have two of Aaron’s sons taking a short cut by using ordinary fire for their incense censers instead of fire from the perpetual flame on the altar. God caused the unlawful fire consumed them immediately.

In Numbers 16 we have a lay rebellion, Korah who was descended from Levi but not from Aaron, said to Moses and Aaron, ‘You take too much on yourselves! The whole community and all its members are consecrated, and the Lord God lives among them. Why set yourselves higher than the community of the Lord God?’ What was God’s response? When all the rebels were gathered together in one place, the earth split open and swallowed them all.

And lest we think this was just a caution for Old Testament times, read 1 Cor 11:28-32: ‘Everyone is to recollect himself before eating this bread and drinking this cup; because a person who eats and drinks without recognizing the Body is eating and drinking his own condemnation. In fact that is why many of you are weak and some of you have died. If only we recollected ourselves, we should not be punished like that. But when the Lord does punish us like that, it is to correct us and stop us from being condemned with the world.’

We might then ask, well why hasn’t God done something dramatic about it? The answer might be in 1 Samuel chapters 2 and 3. Here we have the sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, who were scoundrels at the altar of God. It continued for some time. Eli did warn them that sinning against God was truly serious. Then God sent an adult prophet to prophesy judgment on Eli for permitting it to happen, as well as on the two culprits. Later God spoke through the boy Samuel and warned Eli again. When Samuel had grown up, then God’s judgement came swiftly onto the whole family of Eli.

So if God hasn’t acted yet, then He has been sending warnings to both bishop and priest, and when the cup of iniquity is full, God will then act in swift judgement.

But in the meantime, there is a punishment from God that St John of Avila writes about eloquently in ‘Audi, Filia’, it is the utter misfortune of being left by God in your own errors. Because if you are in error, and you don’t know that you are in error, how can you possibly get out of that error? Ponder that until the full horror of that finds a place in your heart.

It is truly a mercy from God when He shines a light into our hearts, let’s us perceive what is wrong, and invites us to change in order to grow closer to Him.

To escape the consequences of error – if God has withdrawn from you -, someone would have to take pity upon you; and plead with God assiduously for your conversion. All of us should be afraid of this punishment; and pray with King David ‘Do not deprive me of Your holy spirit’ Psalm 50(51)11 and ‘God, examine me and know my heart, probe me and know my thoughts; make sure I do not follow pernicious ways, and guide me in the way that is everlasting’ Psalm 138(139):23-24.

So let’s now go through the breaking of the one cross per altar rule and the replacement of the homily with a few brief words prior to the penitential rite and determine whether they are minor liturgical hiccups or not.

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (G.I.R.M.) has a lot to say about the relationship between the cross/crucifix and the altar. See Appendix A below.

Here we pause for a little and consider that if such precise instructions have been laid out by the Church Universal, then ipso facto these instructions have to be far from trivial.

G.I.R.M 308. 'There is also to be a cross, with the figure of Christ crucified upon it, either on the altar or near it, where it is clearly visible to the assembled congregation. It is appropriate that such a cross, which calls to mind for the faithful the saving Passion of the Lord, remain near the altar even outside of liturgical celebrations.'

In some churches this is done by having a crucifix suspended above the altar, and the processional cross placed on a side wall out of general sight when the entrance procession is over.

When there is a suspended crucifix, then having an additional small portable upright crucifix on the altar to aid the devotion of the priest is not licit. Possibly it would be licit in such cases to have a small crucifix laying flat on the altar – but it wouldn’t be a good thing. It is the crucifix either on or near the altar that denotes that this particular table-like structure is indeed an altar. There is a one-to-one correspondence of crucifix to altar, and this is underlined in the rubrics for the entrance procession when, if there is incense, only the cross and altar are incensed.

This lack of a devotional crucifix on the altar for the priest underscores that in the Mass we are publicly worshipping God, and that the Church – presumably after much argy-bargy in centuries past – came down on the side of clear visible signs for the people of God, and not on the personal preferences of the priest.

Can you now see that an important liturgical principle is at stake here? Liturgy is a public solemn act of worship of God by the Head (Jesus) and members (us) of the Body of Christ. In it is no room for private devotional preferences.

Pope Francis in Desiderio Desideravi 48 says this: 'The rite is in itself a norm, and the norm is never an end in itself, but it is always at the service of a higher reality that it means to protect.'

All of us are custodial servants of this profound gift of Liturgy. It is God’s work, we are but participants by His grace.

Whenever we start thinking of ourselves as masters of the liturgy, with the ability to change parts of it at will according to personal preference, instead of thinking of ourselves as grateful servants, then we have got it very wrong.

Here we come to the missing homily, and this is generally a weekday issue and not a Sunday issue. Yes G.I.R.M. 66b says this, itself a quotation from ‘Inter Oecumenici’:
‘There is to be a homily on Sundays and holy days of obligation at all Masses that are celebrated with the participation of a congregation; it may not be omitted without a serious reason. It is recommended on other days, especially on the weekdays of Advent, Lent, and the Easter Season, as well as on other festive days and occasions when the people come to church in greater numbers.’

And G.I.R.M. 43b
'They should, however, sit while the readings before the Gospel and the responsorial Psalm are proclaimed and for the homily and while the Preparation of the Gifts at the Offertory is taking place; and, as circumstances allow, they may sit or kneel while the period of sacred silence after Communion is observed.'

What is happening locally? First one, and when he left us, now a second priest, has started giving brief remarks prior to the penitential rite, while we are still standing, and then no homily at all, on weekdays. We normally range between 20 and 50 persons for weekday Masses, with greater numbers on Wednesdays and Fridays.

What does that mean in practice? We are standing to listen to commentary on readings which have yet to be read to us, and by the time they are read to us, we have either forgotten the commentary or are scratching our heads to connect the commentary with the readings, unless we have hearing aids and thus have only experienced gibberish. It can become a good guessing game of ‘which readings do the commentary relate to’ – but that isn’t breaking open the Word of God, is it?

There is good reason why the Church places the homily after the readings.

But it goes deeper than that on at least two levels.

The first level of these came home to me when I was visiting an elderly gentleman parishioner in the local hospital. He had been in and out of hospital for the previous few weeks. He was completely alert, albeit a bit uncomfortable, so I was surprised when he kindly and firmly said ‘What I need now is Jesus, only Jesus’. To my even greater surprise he died a few hours later. But what he said has stayed with me, and has resonated with me for over 25 years.

What our frail elderly who show up at Mass every morning need beyond anything else is Jesus, only Jesus. They need their hearts to be refreshed by the wonder of who Jesus is in every homily. Mind you, so do the rest of us as well.

Evangelii Gaudium 135b: ‘The homily is the touchstone for judging a pastor’s closeness and ability to communicate to his people. We know that the faithful attach great importance to it, and that both they and their ordained ministers suffer because of homilies: the laity from having to listen to them and the clergy from having to preach them! It is sad that this is the case. The homily can actually be an intense and happy experience of the Spirit, a consoling encounter with God’s Word, a constant source of renewal and growth.’

Evangelii Gaudium 137: ‘It is worth remembering that “the liturgical proclamation of the Word of God, especially in the eucharistic assembly, is not so much a time for meditation and catechesis as a dialogue between God and His people, a dialogue in which the great deeds of salvation are proclaimed and the demands of the covenant are continually restated”. The homily has special importance due to its eucharistic context: it surpasses all forms of catechesis as the supreme moment in the dialogue between God and His people which lead up to sacramental communion. The homily takes up once more the dialogue which the Lord has already established with His people. The preacher must know the heart of his community, in order to realize where its desire for God is alive and ardent, as well as where that dialogue, once loving, has been thwarted and is now barren.’

The second level is that breaking open the Word of God is the way our hearts are touched and changed; and unless they are touched and changed our reception of Jesus in Holy Communion remains unchanged too.

Romans 10:13b-15a,17 says it all: ‘For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But they will not ask His help unless they believe in Him, and they will not believe in Him unless they have heard of Him, and they will not hear of Him unless they get a preacher, and they will never have a preacher unless one is sent. So faith comes from what is preached, and what is preached comes from the word of Christ.’

Homilies don’t have to be long, they can be extremely brief if only they go some way towards connecting our hearts to Jesus, and opening them in gratitude to the Father. Being in a receptive posture helps too, that is why sitting is important. Remember that standing for those who are frail or unwell or in joint pain is an ordeal.

What isn’t acceptable is a pastor who no longer has an assistant priest being perfunctory about the Mass in order to get on with all his other duties, thereby reducing any homily to an introductory commentary and saving time by returning to the altar (instead of to the presidential chair to sit), thus reducing the time after communion to a minimum, and giving out the concluding prayers from the altar.

Shouldn’t something else get sacrificed instead of preparation to preach the Word of God? Peter and the Apostles thought it of such importance that they appointed deacons to take care of food distribution and other matters. Acts 6:1-6.

If there is anything else in his life for which it is considered necessary to consistently take short cuts in the Mass, then something is seriously wrong. Once in a while, as long as good reason is proffered, is quite a different matter.

It smacks of being master of liturgy instead of being a grateful servant of the liturgy, cutting the liturgy according to personal preference and availability for other things. In some ways this is more dangerous than our lay co-consecration friend. Why? Because the majority of priests and people will sense and abhor the wrongness of lay co-consecration. And because those priests who don’t consider preaching a homily to be an honoured privilege will think it a great idea – and copy him! And because those who don’t mind the shortest Mass possible, will also think it a great idea.

Nothing any of us can do each day can shine even a candle to the magnitude of what the Lord God does in the Mass each day.

Am I being mean? Is this a minor liturgical hiccup? Poor father, he is looking after this whole big parish on his own, who knows how many sick calls, meetings and funerals are on his plate, and all the other calls upon his time and energy. But then I look at the 94 year old who is there rain, hail or shine; and I look at those who have chronically ill husbands at home; and I look at those who come in with a walker; or with the combination of walking stick and Parkinson’s; or who have got there despite failing lungs and failing kidneys; and I suspect that looking upon this combined hunger for Him, Jesus would set Himself to teach them at some length adapted to their capacity, Mark 6:34b.

When it comes to Liturgy nothing that seems to be minutiae actually is minutiae, nor a minor liturgical hiccup only due to personal irritation. More is always at stake than what appears to be on the surface.

Appendix A
GENERAL INSTRUCTION OF THE ROMAN MISSAL

49. When they reach the sanctuary, the priest, the deacon, and the ministers reverence the altar with a profound bow.
As an expression of veneration, moreover, the priest and deacon then kiss the altar itself; as the occasion suggests, the priest also incenses the cross and the altar.

75. The bread and wine are placed on the altar by the priest to the accompaniment of the prescribed formulas. The priest may incense the gifts placed upon the altar and then incense the cross and the altar itself, so as to signify the Church’s offering and prayer rising like incense in the sight of God. Next, the priest, because of his sacred ministry, and the people, by reason of their baptismal dignity, may be incensed by the deacon or another minister.

117. The altar is to be covered with at least one white cloth. In addition, on or next to the altar are to be placed candlesticks with lighted candles: at least two in any celebration, or even four or six, especially for a Sunday Mass or a holy day of obligation. If the diocesan Bishop celebrates, then seven candles should be used. Also on or close to the altar, there is to be a cross with a figure of Christ crucified. The candles and the cross adorned with a figure of Christ crucified may also be carried in the Entrance Procession. On the altar itself may be placed the Book of the Gospels, distinct from the book of other readings, unless it is carried in the Entrance Procession.

122. On reaching the altar, the priest and ministers make a profound bow.
The cross adorned with a figure of Christ crucified and perhaps carried in procession may be placed next to the altar to serve as the altar cross, in which case it ought to be the only cross used; otherwise it is put away in a dignified place. In addition, the candlesticks are placed on the altar or near it. It is a praiseworthy practice that the Book of the Gospels be placed upon the altar.

123. The priest goes up to the altar and venerates it with a kiss. Then, as the occasion suggests, he incenses the cross and the altar, walking around the latter.
​
308. There is also to be a cross, with the figure of Christ crucified upon it, either on the altar or near it, where it is clearly visible to the assembled congregation. It is appropriate that such a cross, which calls to mind for the faithful the saving Passion of the Lord, remain near the altar even outside of liturgical celebrations.

A strange thing happened on Good Friday; an email asking if I’d like to pen 600 words of an inspiring nature about my 2021 Paschal Triduum experiences. At that point the Holy Thursday ceremonies had been sub-par and disappointment was beginning to creep in. With this unusual time in history and the unusual confluence of Passover coinciding with Easter, I had dared to hope for some of the more dynamic manifestations of the Holy Spirit during these holy days.

Rants I could provide.
Inspiration – not so much.

But the consideration did clarify some of what I wanted to see during these holy days:

I'm never going to be happy until I see signs of God's supernatural action during the Triduum.

That means:
*Homilies that are beyond human wisdom and convict and uplift the heart at the same time.
*Pandemonium because people have come back from Holy Communion and have found themselves healed.
*People sitting in the pews long after the ceremonies are over because they have been caught up in God.
 
Things like that.
 
But I haven't seen it yet, so I remain disappointed, because that's how Easter is supposed to be.
 
The Triduum liturgy has the structure and the capacity to hold and channel Resurrection power.

I don’t know about you, but I believe in an Almighty God who can do far more than give me uplifting emotions, and I want far more than that. Emotions come and go. Action changes the status quo. I want action, not only for me and my loved ones, but for everyone present and their loved ones.

I want the newspapers filled with testimonies about what happened during the Triduum.

But I know we can’t get there if the homilies are lacking the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

“Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved. But they will not ask His help unless they believe in Him, and they will not believe in Him unless they have heard of Him, and they will not hear of Him unless they get a preacher…. Faith comes from what is preached, and what is preached comes from the Word of Christ.” Rom 10:13-15a,17

The first homily spoke primarily of the gifts of the eucharist and the priesthood, and didn’t speak much about the Giver, on His night of nights.

The second homily was long, but began to improve mid-way, touching many of the right notes but without any power riding on or through them.

The third homily didn’t mention any of the banquet of scripture readings, and could have been a replay of similar homilies given in different locations; did say all the expected things, but didn’t have Jesus as the primary focus.

When a homily is as it is supposed to be, it makes Jesus present, and enables us to encounter Him.

But that takes not only study, and time, but assiduous prayer and more than ordinary levels of holiness, and it also requires responding to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit (no matter how ‘out there’ they might feel) both in the preparation phase and in the delivery phase.

We also can’t get there without intercessory preparation, i.e. a parish army praying daily all through Lent for those who will attend the Triduum (in whole or in part), that their hearts and souls will be good soil for the Gospel, and further, for the Holy Spirit to act upon them to convict, save, heal, direct and commission those attendees according to His holy will.

Truly inspired parish armies will also pray afterwards that the good seed sown in hearts and souls will come to full harvest under the action of the Holy Spirit.

Yes, God can act sovereignly without these levels of human co-operation, but generally His modus operandi is to work with us rather than without us – as long as we take all our cues from Him.

In all honesty we can’t expect Him to show up and take our plans from good to great without seeking His input in the planning – even though planning without seeking His input (but, perhaps, for a brief 30 second prayer at the beginning of a planning meeting) appears to be our normal modus operandi.
​It takes more intentional effort than that!
​
Please God, may He make us so dissatisfied with our Triduum experiences that we put Him first, front and centre next time, and ever after. Amen.

The Gospel for this Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B, comes from the first chapter of St Mark and shows us how the public ministry of Jesus began.

Like the scribes Jesus knew the scriptures well. Unlike the scribes, He wasn’t repeating from memory what been drilled into Him by rote. Jesus wasn’t saying Ancient Rabbi 1 interpreted the passage this way, and Ancient Rabbi 2 had a different interpretation, and that the Hillel school preferred Rabbi1 and that the Sadducees preferred Rabbi 2, and the Pharisees were still on the fence as to their preferred interpretation.

That kind of thing has its place in faithfully handing down to the present the collective wisdom and insights of the past.

When Jesus read from the scriptures it was something living, beautiful and fascinating. Mostly when the scribes read from the scriptures it was with the precision of dissecting a much-revered dead animal.

When Jesus sat down to teach from the scripture passage He had just read out loud, He spoke about how God’s love, mercy and wisdom were revealed in that scripture passage. And as Jesus spoke hearts were touched by the power of God’s love.

As a learned Dominican priest once preached, authority is growth power. When authority is activated properly, people have the stability and the security necessary to try the risks that lead to growth. When that doesn’t happen people live in siege and survival mode.

When Jesus taught, hearts started growing in love for God and growing in true knowledge of God. When that happens, hearts and lives change because the desire for more of God gets activated in them, and that desire motivates the changes in life that we recognise as repentance.

Who doesn’t want hearts and minds turning back to God?
The evil one.

Whenever truth gets spoken in love, there is a counter-attack, and it is immediate. Have you ever noticed that the first comment on a well-written opinion piece, especially on religious and pro-life topics, is both nasty and negative? I have. It is actually a kind of badge of honour or extra proof of the truths expounded in the opinion piece. No one bothers to denigrate a less well-written opinion piece.

The evil one has noticed the modus operandi of Jesus, and actively seeks to derail it. Jesus wants relationship not celebrity. The evil one shouts that Jesus is the Holy One of God, something that Jesus wants people to work out for themselves and at their own pace. Immediately Jesus shows He has the power to shut evil down, and to release people from its grip.

What lessons can we take home from this?
That God can stop evil in a moment, with a word, at any time He chooses.
That God does choose when and how to confront evil and dispatch it for maximum impact.
Be prepared for counter-attacks if you are taking ground for God’s kingdom, and take them as signs that you are on the right path and not as cause for discouragement.

So let us renew our trust in Him. Amen.
​
#GospelRelection

A Christian is someone who has accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Most of us find the Saviour part easy, and it is the Lord part we struggle with.

​This relatively short talk (34 mins) is one of the best I have ever heard on that topic:

Joe Chircop is one of the founders of the Servants of Jesus Community in Western Sydney, it is an ecumenical community, and this talk was presented in the middle of the lockdown that Sydney experienced from mid March - late May. 2020. His heritage is Maltese.
 
The first 3 mins are rather slow, as they give background to why he is speaking on the Discipleship topic. The last few minutes contain a prayer which extends to all online viewers.
 
Here is an excerpt:
 
Imagine if a young man proposed to a young woman - re marriage - and instead of giving her... and the young woman instead of giving herself she says to the man, you can have my jewellery, you can have my house, you can have my car, you can have my property, you can have my wealth: what would we think of that? We would think that's a bit strange. But actually Jesus is asking us the same thing, but we often say, well I'll give You my tithe, I'll give You my house, my talent or whatever, but refuse to give Him our selves.

.......................................................

I am blogging about this talk because I want to be able to find it again, and I am hoping that you might want to find it again too. All too frequently the things we share on social media get submerged and rarely found again.

I see this talk as a great resource for anyone assisting those who have recently accepted Jesus as their Saviour, and for those assisting others on their way to the fullness of the Christian life. As we all know, it is possible to get stuck along the way, and this video will go a long way to helping people get unstuck. It is short enough to be played at a Youth Group or Connect Group as a discussion starter.

Why? Because it often isn't easy to have a conversation about the truths this video contains, and I have rarely heard them expressed so clearly and in an easily understandable way.

But there's another reason I am blogging about this talk, and that is our responsibility to share with others the good things we have found. All too often we come across a great book, podcast episode, twitter thread, newspaper article or video link, and we do nothing to pass that good stuff on to others. 

It doesn't take much effort to write a review of a book and post it online at Amazon, Goodreads or elsewhere. It doesn't take much effort to like and share a podcast episode on Facebook. It doesn't take almost any effort at all to like and retweet a twitter thread. It is normally only a matter of using a search engine to find an online version of the newspaper article and to then share it on social media, or to take a photograph of the article and share that instead. It is rather easy to share YouTube videos on social media, and even easier to click the like button or to add a positive comment.

And yet so few people think to do so.

Your challenge today, should you choose to accept it,
​is to determine which content had the most positive impact upon you and your life during the past 7 days, and to then share it with others in at least 2 different ways, and with at least one of those ways being through social media.   

Homily by Archbishop Christopher Prowse at Our Lady of Lourdes, Seven Hills, Sunday 19 February 2017.
This Mass was the final event of a weekend-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal #ccrgoldenjubilee2017
 
(As usual, this is only the gist of the Archbishop's homily.
The content of this homily he expressly asked to be distributed far and wide.)
 
The readings for this Mass were from the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A
Leviticus 19: Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. You must not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. You must love your neighbour as yourself.
Psalm102(103): Who heals every one of your ills: with the Response: The Lord is kind and merciful.
1 Corinthians 3: You are God's temple The Spirit of God is living among you. You must learn to be  a fool before you can be truly wise.
Matthew 5: Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you: You must be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

It has been lovely to have been with you over these days.
God is not interested in our acts but in our deeds. Let us not muck around with God. Be serious with Him. Be hot or be cold, don't be lukewarm, because as you know the lukewarm get spat out.

I want to talk to you about how to have healthy prayer groups and communities.
 
Be holy
In 1965 Vatican II ended and in 1967 the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) began. The CCR prayer groups are at the heart of the Church. Pope Francis says that the apostolate of the prayer groups is to bring the Baptism of the Holy Spirit to every Catholic and beyond. To live out the vocation of the laity you need to start with the sacrament of Baptism. Let us take seriously the sacrament of Baptism. If we get that right everything else falls into place. The reason the modern controversies about the priesthood get it so wrong is that they start thinking from the sacrament of Holy Orders, when they should start their thinking from Baptism. 'God has no grandchildren. He only has children' David du Plessis used to say.

The waters of Baptism have brought us into the very heart of God. It does not need to be earned. We do not have to prove to God that we are worthy to be loved by Him. He doesn't love me for what I have done. The Father loves me because when He sees me He sees His Son. We are to draw people to Jesus by attraction, by talking to others about what Jesus means to me personally. We are the sacrament of Jesus. We are Christ in the world. Baptism is what animates us. Through Baptism into Jesus I am loved as first born in God, and inheritor of all His gifts.

Bring that Good News experientially into people's lives. We are an encounter religion. We say that we can encounter God like Thomas and Mary Magdalene. What about you? Jesus asks these questions of each of us. Who do you say I am in the depth of your being? When we experience Him, and encounter Him, our response is surrender, 'I surrender myself to you'. Mary the mother of Jesus, is The woman of Pentecost, the Yes woman, the first charismatic. Every parish should have at least one of these groups: Life in the Spirit Seminar; 4 Step Retreats run by The Community of the Risen Lord: Alpha: RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults). Say Yes if you are invited to become involved in them. It doesn't matter which one, they are all ways of sharing Jesus with others.
 
Just as Priscilla and Aquila, lay people, saw the potential in Apollos and assisted him to come into full relationship with the Holy Spirit, that is your task too. There are lots of ways of doing this. It is always good for us to pray for our bishops, but we don't have to go to the following lengths: There was a diocese in another country which had lots of prayer groups, but a very resistant bishop. In his curial office he had a bronze bust of himself on display. One of the prayer group leaders was a cleaner, and it was his regular task to clean the bishop's office. On one occasion when the premises were thought to be empty, he smuggled in members of his prayer group. In the bishop's office they prayed for their bishop. They prayed over the chair he usually sat in, asking God to guide his decisions. They prayed over the desk asking God to bless the deliberations that took place there, and knowing their slim chances of ever praying over the bishop directly they placed hands on that bronze bust of his and prayed for him personally. The Vicar General of the diocese came by and asked what on earth was going on. In some fear and trembling the prayer group said they were praying for the bishop. He let them off by saying, 'It is good to know that there has been some prayer in that office, but you had better be off and I don’t recommend you trying this again'.
 
Servant Leadership
You belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. Our starting place is with our wounds and our vulnerabilities. It isn't easy to do because no one wants to talk about weakness, failure and losing. Everyone is in haste to succeed. Someone asked an 80 year old nun, 'When did you decide to become a nun?' and she gave a very wise answer, 'This morning'. Activate your baptism every day, today. Christianity is a today religion. We leave the past to God's mercy, and we leave the future to God's providence, and we trust God today. In this moment you can act in God. Say Yes to God in the present moment, now. If you have messed up – go to confession, do penance and get on with it. Have faith in Him. If you have been to see the tomb of St Mary McKillop you know that on it is written, 'Trust in God'.
 
You need to be a prayer group. Don't be a 'lonely hearts' group or a 'remember when' group. Don't be a gossip group. If there is something causing division among you, deal with it. Change your leaders every so often. Having the same leader for 20 years is not a good thing. Your prayer group will die out if you don't keep yourselves young. Prayer keeps you young. Seven days without prayer makes a person weak. Getting new younger members keeps you young, too. When we share our vulnerabilities we build trust. Regularly taking part in opportunities for leadership formation keeps you young. Having an apostolate for the poor keeps you young.
 
Love
Only love matters. Offer no resistance to the Holy Spirit by getting rid of all competition and jealousy. Fr Raniero Cantalemessa, the preacher to the Pope, reminds us that if all the bibles in the world vanished except one, and that one was burnt except for a barely legible page, and a single readable line, 'God is love', then the entire message of the Gospel would have been preserved. I invite you to think about all those who have been love to us in prayer groups. Be inspired by them and imitate them. How can we activate the laity? How can we grow in servant leadership? Only if we are animated solely by God, Who is love. Lay people of the Church, Awake! Revive!

In the book of Genesis we read how God breathed (ruah) into the nostrils of Adam, and he became a living being. To feel a gentle breeze or to hear a whisper we need to be still and to listen carefully. In John's Gospel we read that when the Risen Lord appeared to his apostles, He breathed on them. Our mission to be salt and light to the world began at Pentecost – the beginning of God's new creation. Without the Holy Spirit we become robotic and greedy. We need the Holy Spirit to breathe on us afresh. Take time regularly to be still and to know that God is here with you.

....................................................................
 
At the end of that Mass, the prophetic word that emerged throughout the weekend was shared in summary form:
​
•A call for unity among us as children of God. This is the third year in a row for this message: Do not ignore it!
•God is unity and love – there should be no more divisions among you.
•Be united in the one Spirit.
•The Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart were embracing us all.
•You have been given wings to fly, that the Church may be awakened and become vibrant once again.
•The future is not only in adults but in the children.
•The call to holiness is for all of us.

The principal celebrant for this Mass at Our Lady of Dolours, Chatswood, was Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington.
 
The readings were mostly taken from Saturday Week 22 Ordinary Time Year II, with the Proper for the feast day of St Gregory the Great.
 
Opening hymn: Sing a New Church (to Beethoven's tune of 'Come Sing a Song of Joy…')
 
Cardinal Wuerl : We gather together for the Eucharist, our source of faith and energy, our purpose and our reason for all that we do.

The first reading was from 1 Corinthians 4: 6-15, a passage where St Paul asks us to keep to what is written, and to remember that all we have has been given to us so that there is no cause for boasting. He reminds us that as apostles poor treatment is expected, and that we are to pay back with a blessing.
 
The responsorial psalm was part of Psalm 95(96), which includes 'Sing to the Lord all the earth, sing to the Lord, bless His Name.' taken from the readings for St Gregory the Great, with the sung response 'Proclaim, proclaim, proclaim His marvellous deeds to all the nations.'
 
The Gospel reading was from Luke 6: 1-5 about Jesus walking through the cornfields with his disciples on the Sabbath, and getting into trouble because the disciples were doing 'work' on the Sabbath by picking the ears of corn and eating them.
 
Cardinal Wuerl
My brother bishops, priests, religious, and brothers and sisters in the Lord, I want to express to you my gratitude for participating in this Conference with you, and for the intensity of your commitment. Today we celebrate the feast of St Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church, a great inspiration for his day and age. His Book of Pastoral Rule written to help bishops in their ministry still inspires us today. He was the Pope who used the title Servant of the Servants of God for the first time. How do you carry the Gospel into the world in which we live? In the Gospel we hear Jesus say that 'The Son of Man is master of the Sabbath', helping His disciples understand who He is. What does Jesus ask of us, as He reveals who He is? That we place our faith in Him. The Eucharist is the agent and power of our faith. We come to Mass to be renewed every day, praying to be open to the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit. Faith, great as it is, is meant to be shared. Jesus says to each one of us, 'You will be My witnesses'. Grateful for the gift of faith, St Gregory the Great sent missionaries out. We are particularly thankful for the missionaries he sent out to the English speaking world. St Paul tells us that we are born to faith through those who have proclaimed it to us, and in turn we become Gospel reflections to others. We hear the words of Jesus, 'You will be My witnesses', 'Proclaim, proclaim, proclaim', 'You will be My disciples'. When we respond through the act of faith we become active participants in the transformation of the world. St Gregory the Great challenged his missionaries to engage in the announcement that Jesus is Lord. How do we in turn bear witness to the people around us who are in need of the faith, love and presence of Jesus? That is the great task of the New Evangelisation. Firstly our minds and hearts must be renewed in the faith, continually, over and over again. Then in confidence stand, and calmly and serenely offer to others the words of everlasting life. Live it. Go Out. Share it. Pope Francis encourages us not to stay locked up in the comfort of faith, and to go out and share it. What does it take for each one of us to invite someone to Mass? A true witness will recognise that it is our turn. The same power of the Holy Spirit is with us to quietly, persistently, consistently live in the joy of the Gospel in such a way that invites others to share that joy. He is the Lord, we are His witnesses and the power of the Holy Spirit is His gift to us.

Communion Hymn: Take and Eat
 
Recessional Hymn: Go To The World (with the tune of 'For All the Saints' Sine Nomine)
 
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My response

For me this homily contained the key thought for this third day of the Conference: 'In the power of the Holy Spirit, quietly, persistently and consistently live the joy of the Gospel in a way that invites others to share that joy.'
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This homily brilliantly distilled in a few sentences all that we had heard God calling us to do throughout the Conference. The hard part, of course, is actually doing it. May God help us.
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In the next issue will be notes from the keynote speech of Bishop Nicholas Hudson about how to make our parishes oases of mercy.

The Summer School for Evangelisation (#sse17 #sse17pat) takes place for a week in January, one is held in Bathurst, others in Melbourne and Perth, and one in Paterson NSW (actually Tocal, a few kms north of Maitland). For the closing Mass at Summer School Paterson the principal celebrant was Fr Steve Fletcher MGL.
 
The Mass was for the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A, and the homily is relevant for anyone who has just had a 'mountain top' experience with God and His disciples and is heading back to the plain of normal life. As usual, this is the gist of that homily, and many of the nuances are missing.
 
First Reading: Isaiah 8:23-9:3 God's promise to the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali that great light and joy will come to them, dispelling darkness and shadow.
Psalm 26 with response, 'The Lord is my light and my salvation.'
Second Reading: 1 Cor 1:10,13-17 I appeal to you, be reconciled and be united
Gospel: Matthew 4:12-23 At Capernaum Jesus began to preach and to call apostles.
 
Fr Steve Fletcher  MGL
 
Thank You God for Your Word which resonates in us, and sets us free.
When people are exposed to an environment of faith, and the teaching of truth, and begin to hunger for God in their lives, then they change from living under shadows to living under bright light.
We've heard truth in the songs we have sung, the lectures we have heard, and the conversations we have participated in. Yet He speaks to us no less in our day to day lives and personal situations.
We came here as sad sinners. We leave here as sinners, too, but happier ones because we know we are loved.
The Lord has already accomplished everything, and we need to believe and trust in that even if we don’t know how His work will unfold. It is the desire of His Heart that we would be the light in the place where we are at. We have come and drunk from the Heart of Jesus this week. We need to do that every day. Daily prayer is the oxygen of our lives, together with the sacraments. The Holy Spirit, source of life, needs to flow into our lives each day.
We can put emphasis on the people of greatness around us, but none of them will ever replace Jesus.
'That person you admire so much, he didn't die for you. I did. They are a vehicle of grace for you, but they haven't been broken, given out and risen. I have.'
Every day have before you the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus. The power of the name of Jesus breaks every chain. If there is prayer, the chain will weaken and be broken.
The fruit of living in the light of Jesus is joy. The irrepressible sign of the Holy Spirit is deep abiding joy, a joy that can exist despite exterior sadness and grief.
Remember the words of Jesus, 'I am with you always. Peace be with you.'
When people ask you the reason for the hope you have, do like St Peter recommends and give an explanation: 'It is Jesus. He is my every thing.'
As we go, we do not go alone. Jesus is waiting for you wherever you are going to. Call upon His name.
 
Other messages shared by various people:
 
I saw each of us like tiny human pieces of Lego, and God's hands so big, so giant, so loving and so powerful. Very tenderly, and deliberately He took each one and placed him or her where they were supposed to be. Many were returned to what is normal, some were moved to something new.
 
We are sent out as God's agents, each with an individual Bluetooth earpiece. All your instructions for mission will come through this earpiece. Don't take this earpiece out. It represents daily prayer, particularly in the mornings, reading scripture and going to Mass.
 
We have been speaking of a river of grace, but Pope Francis has been talking about a current of grace. For our farm to have electricity, an uninterrupted electric current has to reach the farm. If the current stops, someone has to be sent out to find out where the current was interrupted and fix it. Each bit of the current is significant. Your choice matters. Every good choice helps the current of grace hit our world.
 
Pay out the nets with Jesus for a catch of fish. He will be with us, helping to do all the tasks, bringing in the nets, cleaning the boat, taking down the mast etc. It is not enough to do it today. Each day you need to have the readiness of heart to go out to the boat, and do it all again the next day with Jesus. Be bright and eager to begin each new day working with Jesus.
 
In your strengths and in your weaknesses, it is in both of them that you need God.

The principal celebrant for this Mass at Our Lady of Dolours, Chatswood, was Bishop Nicholas Hudson, auxiliary bishop of Westminster.
 
The readings were taken from Friday Week 22 Ordinary Time Year II
 
The first Friday of September and the first Friday of March are celebrated as Ember Days, a time to reflect upon creation, and the change of seasons, with penitential overtones.
 
Opening hymn: All Creatures of our God and King
 
Bishop Hudson : Ember Days mark the transition from one season to the next. They remind us that God is making all of His creation new. Let us ask Him to renew our hearts.
​
The first reading was from 1 Corinthians 4: 1-5, a passage where we are reminded that we are Christ's servants, His stewards, entrusted with the mysteries of God. The Lord alone is my judge. When He comes to judge, any praise that is deserved will be given by God.
 
The responsorial psalm was part of Psalm 36(37), which includes 'If you trust in the Lord and do good, you will live in the land and be secure. If you delight in the Lord, He will grant your heart's desire.' with the sung response 'The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.'
 
The Gospel reading was from Luke 5: 33-39 about Jesus being questioned why John's disciples fast and pray and His disciples do not. When the bridegroom is taken away, then they will fast. If a new piece of cloth is used to mend an old piece of cloth, both get ruined. New wine does not go into old wineskins, because both will be lost.
 
Bishop Hudson
Jesus is preparing His friends for His departure. Can you imagine St Gabriel whispering to Jesus, 'Lord, it that it? Or do You have a contingency plan?' And Jesus replying, 'These motley apostles – they are My plan.' With Jesus the disciples were forever praying the psalms, and this one speaks of trust. 'If you trust in the Lord He will grant your heart's desire. Trust in Him and He will act.' St Paul reminds his readers that they are Christ's servants. It is expected that we be found worthy of this trust. Pope Francis, he challenges us, 'Don't close your heart to the surprise of the Holy Spirit.' We invite the Holy Spirit to renew our way of being church, to help us find new ways to bring others to Christ. Other ways are time honoured, and truly precious in the eyes of the Lord. They may not need changing, but they may need developing. Let it be vivified and magnified by the Holy Spirit. Patching up will NOT do. Half-hearted will not do. Being open to Jesus means that some of the things we do need a complete overhaul. Fr James Mallon points out in his book that 80% of our people we only ever see at weekend Mass, and we spend 20% of the week planning for that moment. What a difference it would make if we spent closer to 80%! If only we had the time to prepare them properly, how good our Eucharists could be. There is a sad trend in theology students today, they want the Church but not the Mass. The Eucharist makes the Church. We are distressed at so many not returning to the Sacraments. These days together are for thinking big, in order to help people meet Christ more readily in our parishes. See. Judge. Act. Reflect. Plan.  Be open to new things should your assessments suggest it.  Imagine Him looking at St Gabriel, 'There is no contingency plan. They are My plan. I trust them. I trust them to rebuild my church.' 'As He trusts us, so we need to trust in Him.

Offertory Hymn: Song of Cosmic Praise (Sing a new song, sing a new song and wait upon the promise of the Lord…)
 
Communion Hymns: 1.Bread of Life :2. Ubi Caritas (Taize)
 
Recessional Hymn: Jesus Christ You are my life.
 
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My response
 
Bishop Nicholas Hudson has almost no digital footprint, so I had no idea what to expect. If you consider this homily an 'appetizer' then his keynote talk on Saturday should be very impressive.

The Hymn, 'Jesus Christ, You are my life' was very popular during World Youth Day Krakow, and I was so looking forward to seeing the words on screen for all the parts that get mumbled. Would you believe that the hymn projector decided to conk out just as the opening chorus got underway? Bitterly disappointed I was!
Here is the sheet music: (Sadly I didn't find anything with the verses translated into English).
http://www.k-l-j.de/download/pdf/lieder/wjt/jesus_christ_you_are_my_life.pdf
And a selection of YouTube clips of various groups and choirs singing it:
http://www.sixmaddens.org/?p=5758

Of all the input that happened during the Proclaim Conference, only a few bits have instant recall for me: many of the one liners from the Discerning Charisms workshop on Thursday and this image of Jesus looking at both the motley crew of Apostles on Ascension Day and the motley crew gathered at Chatswood and saying, 'They are My Plan. There is no contingency plan.'

His Plan is to use ordinary folk like you and me. Just because His means are simple and ordinary doesn't make them ineffective. Here are two local stories to underline this. The first is a parishioner being friendly to those who passed by as she gardened. That opened the way for conversations, and conversations with one gent enabled him to be reconciled with Jesus through the sacraments prior to his death. Another parishioner has been to hell and back with health issues over the past few years. But her friends have been taking notice at how well she has coped, and are being inspired to ask her about the things of God and how to return to church. Powerful stuff, one person at a time mostly, but gentle and effective nonetheless.

'Patching up will not do. Half-hearted will not do.' Both are ways of doing similar things to the things we have always done – and expecting better results. 'Similar' is far too close to 'same' for any hope of better results. In the world of nature baby animals grow slowly until they go through the massive changes that transform them into adult animals capable of reproducing new baby animals. Is this what God is inviting us to do in our parishes?
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Let us be open to the surprises He places in our paths, and ready to give it our best shot at the beginning. No more feeble pilot attempts, thinking about maybe backing something if a few people put in the hard yards and show that it is viable first. If we are talking about transformation of this magnitude, then it has to be done by the whole parish and whole parish leadership from the get-go. A caterpillar doesn't change into a butterfly one wing and thorax at a time. All of it changes at the same time.
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In the next issue will be notes from the workshop on renewing sacramental preparation.

P.S. Sophy Morley of Sale, VIC, tells me that the music with English texts for "Jesus Christ You Are My Life" can be found in Catholic Worship Book 2 available from Morning Star Publishing.

​The principal celebrant for this Mass at Our Lady of Dolours, Chatswood, was Archbishop Mark Coleridge, Archbishop of Brisbane and member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. He is active on Twitter, Facebook and wrote an inspiring blog during the second Synod on the Family in 2015.
 
The readings were taken from Thursday Week 22 Ordinary Time Year II
 
Opening hymn: Praise to You, O Christ, Our Saviour
 
The first reading was from 1 Corinthians 3: 18-23, a passage where we are told that have to learn to be a fool before we can truly be wise. The Lord knows how useless the thoughts of wise men are. Anything human has no reason to boast.
 
The responsorial psalm was part of Psalm 23(24), one of the Davidic psalms used when entering the Temple, with the sung response 'To the Lord belongs the earth, the earth and all that fills it.'
 
The Gospel reading was from Luke 5: 1-11 about Jesus standing by Lake Gennesaret, and getting into the boat of a fisherman (Simon Peter's) to sit and teach those listening on the shoreline. Afterwards Jesus tells Simon to put out into deep water and let down his nets to fish. The catch of fish fills two boats to almost sinking point. Jesus tells them not to be afraid, because from now on it is men they will catch.
 
Archbishop Coleridge
In the Bible the question of who knows what is always decisive. The difference between God and humans was understood differently by pagans and believers. For believers, God knows everything and us, we do not. For pagans it was a case of who lives longer determined who was divine and who was human. Peter was a professional fisherman. He knows this lake like the back of his hand. He caught nothing all night long, therefore there are no fish. This Rabbi doesn't know what he is talking about. The professional fisherman doesn't have a clue. Jesus knows and Peter doesn't. Surprise. Surprise. Peter thinks God can have nothing to do with sinful human beings. He thinks he knows God's law, and expects that God relates to sinners with 'go away, you are incompatible with Me'. Jesus does not walk away. He embraces the sinner and says 'Come follow Me'. He does the exact opposite. The real God doesn't walk away, He says 'You come and walk with Me'. Let us listen to the only One who does know the truth in this Year of Mercy. Let us listen to Him, Who can teach us who God is, who we are, and what our relationship is. We live in a world that thinks it knows, and in fact knows so little and at times knows nothing. We come to listen to the foolishness of God and to find a far greater wisdom so that we can find Christ and belong to Him Who belongs to God.
 
Offertory Hymn: Psalm 130(131) I have not gone after marvels too great. My soul in silence and peace rests as a child in its mother's arms.
 
Communion Hymns: 1.We have been told :2. The Servant Song
 
Recessional Hymn: The voice of God goes out through all the world.
 
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My response
 
It is always a special gift to celebrate Mass together with the other conference participants, bishops, clergy, religious, laity from Oceania and locals. When a bishop preaches the Word of God gets opened up at a deeper level than usual; and when the people of God gather together as representatives of the nation and region, God speaks through the readings and the homily to the nation and to the region. In some ways the conference Mass is God's daily Keynote address to us.
 
Coming straight after Cardinal Wuerl's talk, these readings had a special resonance. The message seemed to be, 'The time of preparation and learning is done. It is time to act. Get out there and put what you have learned into practice. I promise your efforts will be extraordinarily fruitful. You won't be working alone, I will be side by side with you.'
 
This time I also included the hymns, because in them, too, God speaks to us.
 
Jesus still used Peter's fishing skills and expertise, but got him to use them in a place outside Peter's usual comfort zone. What wasn't working in the shallows and medium waters, did work out in deep water.
 
But let us pray for each other, since some of us are still in the 'I've been fishing all night with no result' situation – wondering where God is and whether He has abandoned us; whether He cares that all our efforts for Him and His lost ones have been so fruitless; and why we should bother continuing to try. Sometimes He keeps silence and with Newman we have to hope that even our perplexity may serve Him, until He reveals what He is about.
 
Our Lady, Help of Christians, pray for us.
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In the next issue will be notes from the very good Workshop on Discerning Charisms with Clara Geoghegan.

​Recent days have been full of rare treats, an Ordination Mass for two Dominican priests and a Dominican deacon, and one of the first Masses of Fr Matthew Boland O.P.
 
Treats like that deserve to be shared, so here are some of my amateur photos and some notes from the homilies:

​The Ordinations took place at St Benedict's Broadway on 9 July 2016. It is a beautiful church, with a lot of history and currently part of Notre Dame University campus. Some of the WYD Sydney events took place here (for anyone who thinks it looks familiar).
 
Ordained Priest were Matthew Boland and James Baxter, and ordained Deacon was Robert Krishna.

​The readings were from Jeremiah 1:4-9 Do not say 'I am a child', go to those whom I send you ; Psalm 89 I will sing forever of the goodness of the Lord / I have chosen David my servant and with oil anointed him ; 2 Corinthians 5:14-20 The love of Christ overwhelms us. He gave us the work of handing on the news of reconciliation ; Luke 22:14-20, 24-30 The Last Supper narrative, Here am I among you as One who serves.
 
The homily was given by Archbishop Anthony Fisher O.P. and this is a rough transcript:
 
'What does it mean to be a priest of Jesus Christ? If we look at some of the great Hollywood movies from the 1950s onward, the priestly characters are depicted in a romantic and heroic light. A bit too far from reality in places, but they did manage to capture the spirit of sacrifice with some accuracy. Jesus turns our notions of leadership and greatness up-side-down when He reveals that He is among us as one who serves. Every priest is called to serve after the example of Jesus. If this is how Jesus acts, then we must do the same; we must empty ourselves and empty ourselves for others. Thus we may preach Him as His ambassadors. We are members of the Dominican order, called to preach Him, an order that is essentially clerical, but hopefully not clericalist. This year we mark the 800th anniversary of the Dominican order, and see these three as a special gift to us. Dominicans made their mark in the colonial period of Australia, even before the Benedictines. There is a patch of land nearby that is still called Blackfriars Estate. By the 1880s much of the original land was taken by the education office and acts of parliament. Those school buildings and the former teachers college now form part of the UTS campus (University of Technology Sydney). A Dominican is currently chaplain at UTS and our newly ordained Fr Baxter will be chaplain to Notre Dame campus. There is a story about how St Dominic spent all night in a pub conversing with a heretic, in order to convert him. Who knows, perhaps Matthew's experiences of working in a pub might prove advantageous as well. James had an experience in Year 2 of primary school of the truth and reality of the resurrection of Jesus. Time spent in his Year 11 days with an elderly priest caused James to ponder on the worthwhile life this priest had lived. He went off to Uni to study law, and it was only then that he started questioning whether law was the right path. An end of year retreat in 2003 started him thinking more seriously about the mission of the Church and what his own role in that might be. Matthew studied Maths and Physics and walked the Camino. The influence of Fr Dom Murphy began his attraction to the Dominicans. We know that Matthew has a particular passion for introducing others to the thought of St Thomas Aquinas. Robert has had a long journey too. At various times he has been a Hindu, an agnostic, an atheist, Anglican and finally a Catholic after a long intellectual search. For him, too, that end of year retreat in 2003 was a turning point in his vocational journey. Aquinas said that we should be awestruck that God should grant such graces in sacraments through human agency. No one can fully express the sweetness of this Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is the Sacrament of Sacraments. It is not just a sign of Christ's love, but Christ Himself, present body and soul, humanity and divinity to bring about communion with us. The hour has come for the three of you to take your place in a new way at the altar of the Lord. You are called to be heroes, to self-sacrifice, to put others first. You are called to serve, for that will prove your true greatness.'

​One of Fr Matthew Boland's first Masses as principal celebrant was at St John the Baptist, Woy Woy, on 11 July 2016. This parish was home base for him during his early adult years and the long process of discerning God's vocational call. He was often at morning Mass at Woy Woy when visiting his parents on study breaks.

​11 July was the memorial of St Benedict, and the readings were from Monday Week 15 of Ordinary Time Year II : Isaiah 1:10-17 God desires worthy sacrifice from hands clean of evil deeds : Matthew 10:34-11:1 Turn away from things not worthy of Me.

Again, this is only a rough transcript of Fr Matthew Boland's homily:

​'Some may think of St Benedict as a remote and distant figure from 6th century Norcia, but his story still resonates today. As a young man Benedict went to Rome to study, and saw the dissolute life of the city. His response to that was to begin a search for silence and a search for God. After a while a dying monastery asked for his help in getting it healthy again. The monks there were living a rather loose monastic life, and Benedict came to them bringing added strictness to their lives. Unhappy some of the monks tried to poison Benedict. However as he said the blessing, the cup containing the poison broke. That's a good reminder to pray grace before meals – just in case – isn't it? St Benedict is not without his influence in Australia. We have the monastic town of New Norcia near Perth together with the AFL Oval at Subiaco. The first archbishop in Australia was Bede Polding, a Benedictine. What can St Benedict teach us today? That we need silence in our lives in order to hear the Word of God and His message to us. That we need time to be with Him in silence, to listen. The prophet Elijah had his own search for God, going up a mountain (whenever the scriptures talk about going up a mountain, that's code for 'something really important is going to happen – pay attention'). It was in the gentle breeze that Elijah met God. If we don't give time to God, it is very hard to hear what He has to say. God has to be number 1 – even above family – and then everything else will fall into place. Take advantage of the silent moments at Mass, at adoration and at other times of prayer. Lectio Divina is a good way of meeting God in His Word. We ask that through the intercession of St Benedict before God, that His peace may come into our lives. Let us imitate St Benedict and include a bit more silence in our lives.'
 
St Benedict, pray for us.
St Dominic, pray for us.