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Plenary Council of the Holy Spirit

30/9/2021

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In a few days’ time the first session of the Plenary Council of Australia will begin. From Sunday 3 Oct to Sunday 10 Oct there will be all kinds of online meetings going on.

The timetable is here (if you scroll down a bit)
https://plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au/assembly-1/

(But as that website page has been a bit glitchy, this is the timetable as it was online as at 30 Sep 2021.)
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And the YouTube channel where you can find the livestreamed Masses and ‘open to all’ sessions is here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPKFmOZcjJfMQ9SfcotyZJg

The second session will happen mid-2022.

If this goes according to normal Vatican Synod precedents, the first session tends to be a bit of an ice-breaker, and sets the conversation going, and then second session is where the nitty gritty stuff happens – because the first session gives everyone a handle on where the battlelines are and what the stakes actually are.

Yes, the first session is necessary, just like a football game the first half is where you size up the strengths and weaknesses of the other team, and the second half – like the second session – is where the game is decided.

It is a process that involves real people, with their own talents, responsibilities and agendas; the prayers of the church local; national and universal, and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Do not underestimate the Holy Spirit;
we know from holy scripture that He is just as adept at bringing God’s plans to fruition through the evil, the skullduggerous, the fool, even through a donkey, as well as through the well intentioned and the truly good and holy.

Obviously the Holy Spirit can do far more with willing collaborators than with the unwilling ones. The degree of willing collaboration determines whether the Father’s base plan, His better plan, His outstanding plan or His jaw-droppingly-wonderful plan is enacted.

l want to see the jaw-droppingly-wonderful plan happen,
don’t you?

Yes, there are massive forces working against this,
including the enemy of our souls and his minions as well those who independently want to shape the church in their image rather than in God’s image, and the potent zeitgeists of our era.

Yet this is the great south land of the Holy Spirit.
We have yet to see anything here that would deserve a smidgeon of that epithet.
But that’s what gives us hope, that this is the time,
among the chaos and lockdowns,
among the inability to freely and publicly access the sacraments,
when it most certainly can’t be by our doing,
that God can do it,
that He can do it in such a way that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God alone did it.

That’s why beyond all our fears that this is going to be a secular-agenda-led talk-fest and a complete waste of time,
that it will be known as the Plenary Council of the Holy Spirit.

That doesn’t mean we stop praying.
It means we intensify our prayers.

One way to do that is to join in with the full rosary (20 decades) being livestreamed through St Mary’s Cathedral Sydney from 3pm to 4.30pm on Sunday 3 Oct 2021.
https://www.stmaryscathedral.org.au/event/holy-rosary-with-the-cathedral-clergy-3rd-october-2021/
(Remember Daylight Saving starts in NSW that morning! Fix your clocks.)

Another way to pray is to do what Archbishop Polding did when times were tough on the sea voyage from Sydney to London via the bottom of South America in 1846, when they risked being becalmed for weeks.
He got everyone to pray 5 Our Fathers, 5 Hail Marys and a Memorare for suitable wind.

We certainly need the wind of the Holy Spirit in our nation Australia,
and in the people of God who reside here,
in the Plenary Council of the Holy Spirit,
and in those who are on the path to seeking Him
but don’t quite realise it yet.

It seems like a good plan,
and achievable between now and 10 October,
especially as a family or household group,
to pray the 5 Our Fathers, 5 Hail Marys and a Memorare daily;
and if you feel so led,
to continue to pray them daily until the close of the second session in 2022.
…………………………………………
Our Father
Our Father, Who art in heaven,
hallowed be Your Name.
Your kingdom come,
Your Will be done,
on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary
Hail Mary, Full of Grace,
The Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit
of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners, now,
and at the hour of our death. Amen.

The Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known
that anyone who fled to your protection,
implored your help,
or sought your intercession was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence,
I fly to you, O Virgin of virgins, my mother;
to you do I come,
before you I stand,
sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in your mercy hear and answer me. Amen
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Prayers please, for a new bishop

29/6/2018

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Late last night the news embargo was lifted, and we learned that our bishop of 3.5 years, Bishop Peter A. Comensoli, has been appointed as the new archbishop of Melbourne.

Those who have been around for a while realise that there is no cause for either rejoicing or commiseration at such news, until the calibre of the replacement is known - and that can take up to 2 years after his appointment.

What we do need, beyond doubt, is prayer. Soaking, daily, communal and collective prayer, begging God for the grace of a new bishop that will fulfill God's whole purpose for his appointment and be the right person at the right time to lead our diocese into an immense harvest of souls for the kingdom of God.

So here's the prayer:

Eternal God and Father,
our Good Shepherd and Redeeming Lord,
in Your abundant Mercy give to Your Church
in this diocese of Broken Bay
a shepherd after Your own heart
who will walk securely in Your ways,
and who will with wise and loving care
watch over the welfare of Your people.
Do not look upon our sins, upon our apathy
nor upon our lack of response to Your call,
but look upon our great need for a bishop
whose greatest desire is the salvation of souls
and who wants the whole diocese to collaborate with him
in bringing souls back to You
and Your boundless Mercy.
Grant that he may be for us a fearless teacher
of the truth, a tireless preacher of the Gospel,
and wholeheartedly committed to doing
Your holy Will and only Your holy Will.
May he be a true father, good example,
inspiration and encouraging support to the priests, deacons and religious of our diocese.
So may Your Church in our diocese be built up in love
and Your holy name glorified;
we humbly ask all this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
​

Our Lady, Star of the Sea, Help of Christians, pray for us.
 
And below there is the PDF, print and share version:
prayernewbishop2018pdf.pdf
File Size: 45 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Whether you are part of the Broken Bay diocese or not,
​please join us in praying for this most important intention.
Thank you
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A request for prayers

27/11/2014

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It is with extreme reluctance that I interrupt the notes from Proclaim 2014, but the need for prayer is so huge.

Last week we learned that our assistant priest would be moving to take up a leadership role in another parish, and that a replacement for him at our parish has not yet been made.

This week we learned that our parish priest has decided to retire at the end of January, being closer to age 75 than to age 70, and that even the local Catholic primary school will also have a new principal and deputy principal for next year.

Our new bishop, Peter Comensoli, will be installed at Waitara Cathedral on 12 December. Which gives him between 2-3 weeks to find priests for our parish before he goes on annual leave during January.

It is a rather dire situation to be in, and we trust in God to provide for us. There is a lot at stake. We could face a reduction in weekend Masses, the twinning of our parish with another one, the loss of daily Mass, the loss of timeslots to avail ourselves of the Sacrament of penance, and all manner of other things as well as all the upheavals change brings.

Please pray that the good God provides us His excellent and bountiful solutions to our situation. You might like to join us in the prayer downloadable below and to offer some of your Advent penance for these intentions. We also bear in mind that changes like these tend to have domino effects onto other parishes in our diocese, and that prayer to obtain God's most perfect solution for all of us is greatly needed.
prayernewparishpriestspdf.pdf
File Size: 49 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

St John the Baptist, patron of our parish, pray for us
Our Lady, Star of the Sea, patroness of our diocese, pray for us
Our Lady, Help of Christians, patroness of our country, pray for us
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