For the past 2 years we've all been through a very difficult season, where many of us have felt like our lives have been in a holding pattern. God hasn't been absent. I see His work in the lots of people who have been freed from old patterns of life, especially with regard to dependence on alcohol and nicotine.

But after the desert comes the promised land, and after death comes resurrection, and after sowing in tears comes a harvest of joy.

There needs to be some kind of change in us, to enable us to participate in the torrents of grace that God wants to pour out on all humanity, as promised in Joel 3:1-2.

God seems to have answered this need for an inner change through a talk given by Katherine Ruonala at the Australian Prophetic Summit in Brisbane on 14 Jan 2022.

A transcript of that talk is given below, 10 x A4 pages.

However, if you have the time and technology, watch it via YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYg-ufMJMjI

Details about when that talk starts and stops are on page 1 of the transcript.

And there's a possibility that one of the prayers she prays during that talk is one you might like to pray yourself each morning.

You can download that prayer below, 1 x A4 page, 4 to a page.

I know that there's a special grace upon this talk. It caused me to confront some very deep-seated mindsets. Someone else I know received eye salve from God which has been life changing.

​So, please share it.

As most would be aware by now, Pope Francis declared a Year of St Joseph from 8 Dec 2020 till 8 Dec 2021.

This will overlap with the Year of the Family beginning 19 Mar 2021 and ending 26 Jun 2022.

Both are very interesting initiatives, especially when viewed in the light of devotion to the Chaste Heart of St Joseph and the series of apparitions in Brazil during the 1990s and approved in 2010:

3sacredhearts.com/most-chaste-heart-st-joseph.html

All three seem to be part of heaven's fight back plan for our troubled world.

One of the gifts of the Year of St Joseph is particular encouragement to pray for employment needs, viz:

"Everyone who entrusts their daily activity to the protection of St. Joseph, and every faithful who invokes the intercession of St. Joseph so that those seeking work can find dignifying work can also obtain the plenary indulgence."

The latter part is what this following prayer is all about, which you might like to use on a daily basis during this Year of St Joseph:

Daily Prayer to St Joseph for Employment

Dear St Joseph, chaste husband and foster father,
you were yourself once faced with the responsibility
of providing the necessities of life for Jesus and Mary.
Look down with fatherly compassion upon me,
and my loved ones,
and upon all who suffer anxieties over their present inability to support their families
and upon all who long to use their God-given gifts and talents 
to the utmost but cannot currently find a way to do so.
Please help us all find gainful employment very soon,
so that these heavy burdens of concern
and feeling useless will be lifted from our hearts,
and that we will soon be able to provide for those whom God has entrusted to our care.
Help us to guard against bitterness and discouragement,
and help us to grow in peace of heart and confident expectation
of God’s perfect answers to our needs,
so that we may emerge from this time of trial spiritually enriched
and with even greater blessings from God.
Thank you for your intercession for us
and for the amazing answers that are coming.
St Joseph, we entrust ourselves and our families to you. Amen.
Our Father…, Hail Mary…, Glory Be…
St Joseph, pray for us.

And if you would prefer an easy to print version:

Please feel free to copy and share this prayer widely.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if during this Year of St Joseph if unemployment, under-employment and the misfortunes of being stuck in the wrong job were completely eradicated?

Prayer can make that happen, but it will take you and me and many others united in daily prayer to obtain through St Joseph's intercession before the throne of Almighty God a worldwide blessing of such magnitude.

In many countries, including Australia, we are now in the extraordinary situation of being without sacraments for the foreseeable future, due to efforts to minimise the effect of the coronavirus.

Being without Mass, sacramental Communion, Confession and the encouragement of worshipping together as a community and catching up with each other is going to be extremely difficult for everyone.

(In some places Confession and Eucharistic Adoration may still be possible, so check with your local diocesan and parish websites.)

These things are gold, but we do have access to silver, since the Church teaches that God answers our desires for these good things. For example you may remember you were taught there were three kinds of baptism, by water, by blood (martyrdom) and by desire.

In a similar way there is sacramental communion and spiritual communion. While there are many good prayers of spiritual communion, and learning at least one of them by heart is recommended, all it really needs is expressing to Jesus that you want to receive sacramental communion, but are unable to, asking Him to come and visit you in your heart spiritually instead.

The PDF below (one A4 page) explains more about spiritual communion:

My Jesus, I believe that You are truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to possess You within my soul. Since I am unable now to receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as already being there, and unite myself wholly to You; never permit me to be separated from You.

It is also why we were taught that if we find ourselves in danger, a good Act of Contrition is the best thing to do. Again, the Act of Contrition is expressing to God our desire for His pardon and forgiveness, which is in essence a desire for Confession. There are many approved prayers of Acts of Contrition, find one you like best and commit it to memory.

My God, I am sorry for my sins
with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and
failing to do good, I have sinned against You
whom I should love above all things.
I firmly intend, with Your help, to do penance,
to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads
me to sin. Our saviour Jesus Christ suffered
and died for us. In His name, my God,
have mercy. Amen.

Like the prayer of Spiritual Communion, praying an Act of Contrition daily during this extraordinary situation until the churches reopen is a good idea.

Thankfully there are options online for Mass

https://www.ewtn.com/tv/watch-live televises Mass 4 times a day (in Australia currently that means at 3am, 10am, 3pm and 11pm) although for us in Australia it will be the Mass from yesterday, and these times will change by an hour when daylight savings ends on 5 Apr 2020

https://www.youtube.com/user/ShalomWorldWide is where you can access recorded copies of Pope Francis' daily Masses. It is likely to be in Italian and without subtitles, but you should be able to pick up enough words and gestures to follow along.

In Australia on the free-to-air tv Channel 10 at 6am on Sundays there is Mass For You At Home (30 mins), which you can always record and replay at a more convenient time.

St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, has promised to live stream their 1.10pm and 5.30pm daily Masses via both their website https://www.stmaryscathedral.org.au/ and their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/stmaryscathedralsydney/

And these are only a few of the Mass options available online.

See what your local diocesan website is recommending or offering. For example, on Instagram @frjasonsmith will be live streaming a daily Mass.

Another thing that can be done is to join with the universal Church in praying the Divine Office (morning prayer, evening prayer, night prayer, or as much of it as you can manage).

For those who do not have copies of the prayer books at home to do this, some websites and apps make this possible to do.
https://divineoffice.org/welcome/
(although you will need to send them a request)
https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/liturgy/ scroll all the way down for the link, it will be according to the USA liturgical calendar.

You can order the prayer books online
(for Australia)
https://www.paulinebooks.com.au/search/search.cgi?search=divine+office

If you are new at this choose the Morning and Evening Prayer (black cover) https://www.amazon.com.au/Morning-Evening-Prayer-Not-Available/dp/0007211333
If you have money to burn, get the 3 Volume Divine Office which contains the Office of Readings
If these books look too heavy for you, go for the Shorter Morning and Evening Prayer (red cover), which covers everything but doesn't have the richness of the liturgical seasons and saints feast days that the black cover has.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Shorter-Morning-Evening-Prayer-Icel/dp/0007219873

If the Divine Office feels too complicated for you, then there is something similar at http://disabilityandjesus.org.uk/ called An Ordinary Office http://anordinaryoffice.org.uk/ specifically designed for people with disabilities who cannot access church buildings. If you have a Twitter account you can pray it via @DisabilityJ

All of these prayer options can keep us plugged into the prayer life of the universal church, and in unity.
………………………
There are lots of your friends who need this information,
so please share it around.

In all this we remind ourselves that God is in control. If He has permitted us to go through this dearth of the sacraments, then it is only so that He can bring a much greater good out of it. We can look upon this time as an opportunity to deepen our faith and to deepen our desire for Jesus. The more we do this, the shorter the time of trial will be, since we believe that Jesus longs for sacramental contact with us much, much more than we long for sacramental contact with Him. Pray for your priests, that this time is transformative for the better for them too. If nothing else, we will never take the sacraments for granted again!

Our Lady, Help of Christians, pray for us
St Joseph, terror of demons, pray for us

The main meat of the evening plenary session for #DR16 began after the offering for the work of Divine Renovation Ministries was taken up. This was a long session, so go and get your favourite beverage now, and settle in. As usual, this is not a precise transcription, and there's been some light editing of Peter Herbeck's talk and of the prayer session that followed it.

Fr James Mallon (FJM): We want to thank you for your support and we are going to ask you to continue to pray for us; to pray for us in the weeks and months ahead as we continue to see how best to respond to this call of God. But before we continue there's a particular thing that regretfully I have to acknowledge, and kind of make a public confession of…When I introduced the countries yesterday morning I left one out. So please (kneeling) humbly forgive me because, let's hear it from the people from the United Kingdom (cheers).

Dan O'Rourke then had some housekeeping announcements and a long introduction to the main speaker for the evening, Peter Herbeck. The short version is that Peter is on staff with the team at Renewal Ministries and has been married for 30 years, with 4 children and 4 grandchildren and that he has a special gift for recounting stories about the things he has seen God do. The video-clip that was shown was an even better introduction to him.

This is the link for that video-clip about how Renewal Ministries started, and some of the things it has done. It goes for a little over 3 minutes. https://youtu.be/NEwH_emDAso

Here's the transcript for that video-clip (but the visuals will tell you so much more):

Sr Ann Shields SGL: We got a phone call from the Holy Father John Paul.
Ralph Martin: I remember giving him a copy of my latest book at the time. He took the book and he said, 'You know, I've read it already'. I almost became speechless.
SrAS: Then he turned to Ralph and he said, 'Ralph, tell me, what is the Spirit saying to the Church?
RM: I think what the Spirit is saying to the Church is 'Jesus'. We just stood there for a couple of minutes saying the name of Jesus, and it was just a very, very special moment of communion with the Lord and communion with the Pope and just proclaiming the name of Jesus together.
SrAS: We just began to pray. We'd get together every week and just pray and say, 'Lord, will You help us? Will You lead us?' And that's when we got the sense of the first countries we should go to.
Peter Herbeck: So here we were in the basement of a house here in Ann Arbor. Sr Ann gets the sense we're supposed to go to Lithuania. We don't know anybody there. Two weeks later the bishop of the cultural centre of the country calls us and says, 'Would you come and help me?' And what we had heard prophetically from folks who prayed for us said. Don't. Only go through the doors that God is going to open for you. He will open doors for you. It started with Lithuania, and then it went to Slovakia, and then it went to Hungary, and then it went to Ukraine and now it's 40 countries around the world. Clearly God's calling us. What are we going to do? So we formed an organisation, Renewal Ministries. That's how it happened.
RM: The Holy Spirit is alive and well. He's active today. When people call out to Jesus and call out to the Holy Spirit, He's going to do things.
PH: The hour of the laity has struck. The Spirit seizes us, lays hold of us, and see that's exactly what we experience, and as he said, it's happening all over the place.
SrAS: What does God want from us, His sons and daughters? How are we called to live in this generation? In this time and all the challenges that we're certainly beginning to face?
RM: We're living in quite a time of conflict and decision. It is for such a time as this that we've been called to do what we're doing. I hope that Renewal Ministries can help people make the decision that they're going to be friends of Jesus Christ and they're going to be loyal to Him even in the midst of tremendous oppression and difficulties.
PH: It's now. It's time. This is it. We didn't come together to create a religious organisation so we could have jobs. I mean Renewal Ministries is just the form, it's the way we do it. But what it's all about is what's burning in us. It's what God has put in to us. It's what the Holy Spirit has given to us. And we want to give it away to other people, and we've seen it pass like a contagion to people all over the world, to countries all over the world. And just like the Word said, He brought people to us with that same fire, with that same exact conviction burning them and we've joined forces together, and that's why we've been able to do the work so broadly across the world, because the Lord has given other people to run with us.
RM: We use all different kinds of means and methods to secure the message. But the message, which is, 'God is', that's what we're about. That's what we do on radio, that's what we do on television, that's what we do in our conferences, the seminars, the clergy convocations, and the classrooms at the seminary and all over the world.

(Here ends the video-clip transcript.)

Dan: Join me in welcoming Peter Herbeck.

Peter Herbeck: Well good evening everybody. What a delight to be able to be here with you tonight friends. This has been for me an amazing couple of days. I think today for me, besides the testimonies which were clearly the highlight for me, one of the things I learned today, I learned about my friend Fr James. Because people ask me about him. What's he like? And I try to describe him. But between Laurie and Fr James, it was very succinct what they said this morning, did you get it? He's a progressive weirdo. That's what I took from this morning.

What Father asked me to do tonight is to talk about the power of the Holy Spirit. Luke chapter 24: where Luke tells us that Jesus told the apostles that He was going to clothe them with power. What I'd like to do tonight is talk a bit about that passage and then apply that passage to what we are seeing here these last 2 days. Because what's happening here is something I think is very prophetic for the Church. I think we're experiencing the realisation of the very thing that Luke was telling us Jesus spoke in Luke chapter 24, verses 44-49.

Now, setting the scene: This is the first time Jesus appears to the apostles after His resurrection. The apostles are hunkered down. The apostles are troubled, they're confused. They've been destabilised by what happened a week earlier. Some of them had a certain amount of faith that that was the way it was supposed to go. Others are wondering if the entire project, the hope that was in their heart in Christ was for nought. Jesus appears to them. And He says this: Then He said to them 'These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about Me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled' then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, 'Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness for sins should be preached in His name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are My witnesses to these things and behold I send the promise of My Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.'

We've all heard that passage many times, right? But think about the situation. The first thing Jesus did when He spoke to them in Luke's account, is He understood where they were, understood the confusion, the destabilisation, probably the anxiety and fear that was there – and what does He say to them? 'Everything that happened went exactly according to plan'. According to the Scriptures, the Messiah must die, suffer and die, and rise again on the third day. Everything went according to plan. Now, this is what it was all for. All this happened so that repentance and forgiveness of sins could be preached to all nations. You are witnesses to these things. And I'm going to send you, but you have to wait until you receive power. This is important.

I think this is something of what we are seeing here, a kind of renewal of the very promise that Jesus spoke about in the Gospel: You shall receive power. Pope John Paul II once said, when Jesus talked about receiving power He said what the Holy Spirit does, the promise of the Father when He comes, He released power and that power creates movement. He said, so you know that someone has received that grace of the Holy Spirit when they begin to move into God's purpose and God's plan for them.

So what's God's purpose and plan? The Catechism and the Council laid out it very clearly for us. What's God's fundamental plan, if you could reduce it for us? Universal call to holiness and universal call to mission. The universal call to holiness is what? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbour as yourself. The universal call to mission is what? Go make disciples of all nations. So the Holy Father reminds us, the Holy Spirit is given to us to move us into the fundamental call for which we were made and the Church was born, to bring about holiness and mission. Right? Holiness and mission. We've been given power to grow and to do. Say it with me: to grow and to go; to grow in holiness and to go make disciples of all nations.

Pope Francis reminded us. He said Pentecost, the day the Church was born, friends, never forget he said friends, when the Church was born, it was born on the move. As soon as the Holy Spirit came, John Paul II said, the Spirit stirred the deepest energies of the apostles, the 'splankna', and then thrust them out into the marketplace.

What have we been seeing happening in the testimonies the last 2 days? Every single person encounters Christ. And where did they describe the encounter? What was the difference making experience for them? The Holy Spirit weekend. Right?
The whole reason this parish exists and the great prophetic witness they are to each and every one of us, is to bring about an opportunity for that experience to happen. For people to be able, for just a moment in time, to be present, to hear the story of Jesus - and to give the Spirit permission, to give the Spirit an opportunity. Because the fundamental mission of the Holy Spirit, the special mission of the Spirit, is to reveal to every human heart the glory and the majesty of Jesus. Amen? Amen. The glory and the majesty of Jesus.

Every single person who testified the last 2 days talked about how they were touched by love and they fell in love with Christ. Only Jesus can do that. Chris got up here earlier and he said, he had a hundred questions for his friend and what did this friend say? How did she have one answer? You've got to go to Alpha. You've got to go to Alpha why? Because the person we all know what that heart is seeking, the answer they're looking for is Jesus, is a person. Not just to have all their questions answered, but to literally meet Jesus. And so here you have people, ordinary Catholic people, who also have been touched by Christ. They know what that person is looking for, because they had been looking for Him. So just trust me, come. Just trust me, come. What you want, is you want to meet Him, and time and time again we heard it.

Now Pope Francis puts it this way. Instead of talking about a movement, he said what we are experiencing in our time is a special grace of the Holy Spirit, and he said that special grace is like a current. He said it's the current of God's Spirit and the key is to plug into the current.

The testimonies were a tremendous witness to that. One person came and got touched, and what happened? They extended it to another, and they extended it to another. Gemma. How many of you are still thinking about Gemma's testimony? I'm tracking her down. We're going to give a big conference in Toronto in March. She's got to talk about her story there, because that girl has been launched, hasn't she? You talk about movement, did you see her eyes? Did you see the conviction that that girl had? She stood up here and she's on fire for God. She not only met the Lord, but man she got the whole ball of wax, and she ends up bringing her whole family- and then she moves to Toronto and she's evangelising her peers in Toronto. Movement. Power. Current of Grace.

Why does it happen here? It happens here because there are people here who know how to set up an environment to help bring people in, and they have great expectation. They know it's not them. All of this is an excuse to make that connection happen. And I was touched so much watching her. She had so much fire and conviction.

It reminded me of when I was a young guy. When I was about 20. I actually came to the Lord when I was about 19 and I went to college. I was at a college seminary for a period of time, and between my first and second year I lived in an apartment with one of my buddies from high school – a guy who played American football. He was a really big guy. He had a very large head. Everyone called him buffalo head, he didn't mind that. He was just a big thick offensive lineman. He was an academic all American football player. And I was excited to move into an apartment with him, because I wanted to share the Gospel with him.

So the first night we came together we had to go to the grocery store, because we had nothing in the cupboard. And I can still see him pushing this cart, probably the first time he pushed a cart, 2 guys walking down the aisle. 'Hey Doug', and I started telling him some of the things God's been doing in my life, and he didn't pay any attention to me at all. And so after a few minutes I said, 'Hey Doug, how are you doing with your faith? Are you still going to church?' He was raised Catholic. He looked at me and goes, 'I don't want to talk about it'. He's big, so I said OK. He made it clear he didn't want to talk about it.

So throughout the summer I was praying for him. He has a class. I had a class. We lived in this tiny little apartment. Then one night about the middle of summer, about 11 o'clock and we're about to turn out the lights, go to bed. And the beds were in this little hallway between these two rooms. So they're kind of close to each other, and I flip off the light and lay down and I'm going to do a little night prayer before I go to bed. And after a few minutes I hear Doug say to me, 'Hey Pete'. I said, 'What?' 'Turn on the light'. I said, 'What for?' 'Turn on the light'. So I flip on the light. I said, 'What's up?' And he sits up in bed and looks at me and he goes, 'Is the devil real?' Huh, that's kind of a wild question. 'Yeah, why?' 'Is he real?' I said, 'Yeah'. He said, 'OK', and he laid back down. I turn out the light. I'm thinking, that's weird. A few minutes later, he said again, 'Pete, turn the light back on'. And so I flipped the light on, and he said, 'I'm going to ask you again, is the devil real?' And I said, 'Yeah, the devil's real, why?' 'Because I think there's something wrong with me, I think I'm being hassled'. I said, 'What do you mean?' He said, 'Well you know over the last couple of months I've been thinking, I've been feeling very depressed and thinking a lot about suicide'. Now I never would have known that, because here's Doug, an academic all American football player who looks like he's got it all going for himself. And here I am 20 years old, having no experience whatsoever in a situation like this. I remember the thought going through my mind, I wish there was an adult here now who could help us, for a minute, that there was a grown-up anywhere to do to. And I said, 'Doug, look, I don't know if it's the devil, but it sounds like it could be, but I do know this, we were baptized and Jesus Christ has conquered the power of the devil, and if we pray, we've got the power, we can drive him out.'
​
So here we are in this apartment, and I was totally surprised. He's sitting there. He sits at the edge of the bed in his pyjamas, and says, 'OK, let's pray'. He's got this look on his face. I didn't know what I was doing, because I had never done it before in my whole life. I had never prayed with anyone. And I came up to him, and I said 'Doug, just think about Jesus and I'll pray'. And so, he's closing his eyes and I put my hand on his head. And I was trying to think of what to pray and so I just said, 'Jesus, You conquered the devil, and You're stronger than the devil, and in Your Name Jesus I take authority over anything that's beating up my friend'. And I'm just standing there. Inside I'm thinking, 'Get him Lord, get him now, get him, get him, while he's here, get him'. And I'm just waiting and after a few minutes I lean over and I look at him and I say, 'Hey Doug, is anything happening?' He looks up at me and he says – this is no joke, this is exactly what happened – he looks at me and does, 'You don't see it?' I go, 'I don’t see what?' 'You don’t see the light?' 'No, I don't see any light'. He goes, 'Come on, you don't see the light?' I said, 'I don't see any light Doug. What do you mean?' He goes, 'As soon as you started praying in Jesus' Name this light, this light just came through me. It's here, I can feel it and see it'. I said, 'Great, I don't see a thing'.

He gets up and he goes into the other room and we had this chest where we stored stuff in, and he flips it open and throws out magazines we shouldn't have had and things like that in there. And he reaches down and he pulls out a bible that his mum gave him when he went to college. And he sits down on the bed, and I'm watching this big oaf of a guy, and he starts paging through the bible and he starts reading bible passages. As he is turning page to page and he gets to the great 'For God so loved the world' he goes, 'Listen to this Pete: For God so loved the world He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him…' and he goes, 'This is unbelievable!' I go, 'I've been trying to tell you that all summer, man, and you never listened to me one time'. (laughter) He then, he's so overcome, he gets on his knees in our apartment, he raises his hands and he starts shouting, 'God You're amazing! God, I love You!' I'm thinking, 'Doug, be quiet'. It's like 11:30 at night. That's all we need, some guy to walk in and see us in our pyjamas and he's on his knees holding the bible, screaming. That guy would say, 'What are these guys smoking in here?'

So he's literally in that position and he gets up on the bed and he's paging through scripture and I start praying like, 'OK God, this is great, this is like the stuff I've read about in books and stuff, this is really good', and I said, 'Lord, what can I do Lord? What should I do? And I felt like the Lord said to me, 'Wash his feet'. I said, 'What else would you like me to do?' (laughter) Seriously. So I'm thinking I'm being melodramatic, like this is just me, and I'm so excited about the moment I'm kind of going overboard, but I felt like the Lord say, 'Do it'. Doug's praying on the bed, and I go and I'm opening our cupboard. We had one pan. This is literally, one cake pan, and I got the cake pan and I went to the sink and I put water in it and I got a towel and I put it on my shoulder. And I went over to Doug, and he's sitting on the bed, he's got his eyes closed, he's been reading the bible. And I kneel down in front of him and I put the pan down and I said, 'Hey Doug' and he goes, 'What are you doing?' And I said, 'Doug, I'm supposed to wash your feet' (laughter) And he goes, he looks at me totally straight and does, 'Do it, Do it, Yeah, Do it'. This is no joke, and I'm looking down at triple Z feet and I feel myself blushing. Like we're the only ones in the room, and I'm totally red, I feel so stupid, you know? And he's got tears coming down his cheeks, OK, and it was crazy. So we were done. I dried his feet with the dish towel and Doug gets up and he says, 'Pete, do you realise how important this is?' And he fell on his knees, he just got on his knees and he said, 'Pete, the most important thing in human history is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ'. He said, 'I see the Cross at the centre of everything.' This is no joke. He's actually saying this to me. It's like the Holy Spirit is revealing to Doug a revelation that is coming to this guy right in our apartment, on the floor, and so I kneel down and we're praying.

We prayed for a long time. We started praying for friends and family, and it was literally like 12:30 at night. And I said, 'Hey Doug, this has been awesome, but I got to go to bed'. And he goes, 'OK'. So we go to bed. I'm laying down. I turn off the light and I'm just thinking, 'Lord, thank You so much', and I'm starting to doze and all of a sudden Doug goes, 'Pete, turn the light back on'. And I said, 'No, Doug, I'm not'. He goes, 'Dude, turn it on'. I say 'OK, I'll turn it on'. So I turned the light on. He goes, 'We're supposed to go over to the football stadium and pray right now'. I said, 'Come on, I've got to work in the morning.' It's about 12:30. He says, 'No'. So we get out of bed. He puts his jeans on and we go over to the 50 yard line at the football stadium on the field. And the dorm where some of the football players, his friends, live. We're supposed to pray for them. So here we stood, 12:45 at night, two guys standing praying towards the hall at the university where the football players live, saying, 'Lord, get those guys. Lord, bless those guys. Lord, save those guys, sober them up, do whatever it takes Lord to win them'. We were there. We prayed. We started singing (laughter….he nods his head). We actually started dancing – but not together. No, not together. We laid down on the field and looked up at the stars in the sky, and we were there literally friends, till the sun came up in the morning. We went to Mass, went back to the apartment, I called in sick, and I went to bed. (laughter).

About 6 years ago I was speaking at a men's conference in Northern Illinois university, and I gave my talk and I went to my book table, and I'm kind of wrapping things up and I look, and who comes walking down the hall? Buffalo head. Right? And he comes walking up and he goes, 'Hey, Herbs', I said, 'Hey Doug, how are you doing man?' He goes, 'I'm fine. I'm fine'. He said, 'You got a minute?' 'I've got to head to the airport, to O'Hare'. He goes, 'Can I give you a ride?' I said, 'Sure'. So I get in the car. We get in the car, he puts the keys in the ignition and he looks at me and he goes, 'Do you remember that night?' Just like that. I said, 'How could I forget it?' He said, 'Pete, a week hasn't gone by in my life that I don't think about that night' and he said, 'It's been a part of me my whole life, and since that time it totally changed and transformed me'.

The reason I tell the story, not just because it's so goofy, it's so unusual, but because I was 20/21, I didn't really know much about anything yet, but I had met Jesus, I had been touched by the power of the Holy Spirit, and friends I think back now in that moment when Doug started sharing the problems that he was having, and I felt I had a moment where I felt there was nothing I could do about it, like, what do I do? And then I thought, maybe pray. And in my mind I'm going, 'Pray?' What's that going to do?' What do you expect to have happen? What do you know about this stuff? And like feelings of inadequacy, or I was in over my head. Do you have them? Moments like these? Yeah, a couple of us have, that's good. I don't feel alone. Seriously. And this is where the power of God…You are clothed with power, you've been baptised, you've been confirmed, Jesus Christ the Lord lives in you. And He's given you His Holy Spirit and it's through the power of the Spirit of God that the kingdom is extended, one heart to the next.

Listening to the witnesses that we heard, yesterday and today, ordinary people encountering Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, and suddenly they're praying over each other. Who were the two guys? Mike and Alan. These guys coming together and now they're saying not only would I not have gone to a meeting like that, not only I would never let anybody pray with me, I could never imagine myself being in that situation. And now these guys have been delivered and released, are now bringing that same grace to these men in their parishes. Isn't that beautiful? (clapping) I mean the current of grace, it's the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit.

There is a woman named Mary Hagar, and a deacon Michael Thoennes, they live in Minneapolis St Paul. They came to an evangelisation school we did about 10 years go in Ann Arbor, and we talked about the kerygma. At the end of it she stood up, she's about mid-60s, she said, 'I've been a DRE (Director of Religious Education) for 28 years. I've led every program any parish could possibly run', and she listed them all. She said this to the whole class. 'And it dawned on me for the first time: in 28 years I don't think I've led one person into relationship with Jesus Christ'. And she said, 'I think I know why. Because everything we do presumes this person or these people have met Jesus'. She said, 'I got it all backwards. I wrote everything in the parish, from cradle to grave, I wrote every program for our parish. I'm going to go home and talk to the pastor'. She said, 'I'm going to tell him, let's tear up every course we wrote, and let's start over. And let's have as the goal of every course, whether it's confirmation prep or marriage prep or whatever, to meet the Lord Jesus Christ, to have an encounter with Jesus'. (clapping)

So she goes home. Two very ordinary people. If you saw them they wouldn't wow you at all, but they wow me now. She goes home and meets with her pastor. It’s the first time he's a pastor of a parish. She said, 'Let's tear everything up', and of course he was afraid, right? And so he called the archbishop and said 'Here's this proposal, and Mary wants to do this. What do you think?' And the archbishop knew Mary and said, 'Just relax, no problem. Go ahead and do it'. So they re-wrote everything.

She comes back 5 years later. I had very little contact with her. She came back to the same course. I said, 'Mary, what are you doing here?' 'We came back to get another shot in the arm'. I said, 'What happened?' She pulls out a binder with 500 individual testimonies in it. She had DVDs she brought me, DVDs of truck drivers in the parish weeping, talking about their experience on Alpha. They went back and said, 'We need to introduce people to Jesus'. And the priest said, 'How do we do that? What should we do?' So they looked around, they searched for different vehicles and well, this Alpha thing… So they did Alpha.

She stood up in front of this new class and she said, '5 years ago I was here and I came just after our parish fund raiser. At the time we had 2 parishes that are related to each other, we had a Catholic school that had to close because we didn't have enough people in it. We tried to get Eucharistic adoration 24/7, we couldn't get that to happen, and we had about 10 to 15 people going to Mass each day, and we were literally managing decline is what we were doing'. And she said, 'I'm here to tell you right now we just won the bronze medallion in the diocese, for our elementary school is completely full, we have a waiting list to get into the school. We have Eucharistic adoration 24/7. We've got almost 200 people gone through Alpha who are now on service teams with us. And the thing that Father really notices: 5 years ago we raised $25,000, this year we raised $100,000. And Father learned something: converted people give money' (clapping) They are now mentoring 25 parishes in the Minnesota-Iowa area, it's called CORE Ministries.

I called them a couple of weeks ago and said, 'How's it going?' 'They've put 1500 people thought Alpha', she said. 'We've got about 250 people who are engaged in mission, helping us build other parishes and mentor other parishes'. Ordinary people. And I said, 'How did it go?' She said, 'The crazy thing is nobody believes it when you tell them how simple it is. They just don't believe it. All we are is environmental architects', she said, 'We set up this opportunity and we invite people, in the kind of way that Laurie described this morning. 'I was loved, and nobody judged me, and they welcomed me and they loved me' – and they met the Lord. Amen? Amen.

This parish is a sign for us. The Lord is responding and helping us with the challenges that we are facing. It's a Caleb moment, like the pastor said. How many of you have experienced over the last few years of your life and ministry what he was saying about the 10 that said it just ain't going to work? Most of us are tempted to experience that same thing. And what we need to do and what we need to hear is not, 'Wow, Fr James is Superman', you know, I mean if he was in our parish, sure it would work. Did you hear what he said today? Wasn't it revealing, listening to them about their relationship? It was so great to hear about the push back on Fr James. That made my weekend. It was so good.

Look, we don't know everything, but what we do know is that we're called, and that the One who is calling us is faithful, and that He has the power to accomplish all that we can ask or imagine. And so they take that step of St Peter out of the boat, and they decide to live right here (balancing precariously on one foot). Friends, this is where the power of God gets released. Not when we're sitting in the boat, but when by His command we step out and we just decide, we're going to live the kind of faith that you spell R.I.S.K, a faith that will risk because we know the One who has called us is faithful.

That current of grace is already present in your parishes in various ways. But the Lord wants to ratchet up the voltage a little bit. He wants you to know that He has clothed you with power and is making you a conduit of this grace to be released in your parish, and to help your people come into that experience of the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Amen? Amen.

How many of you think we're facing new challenges in our culture? How many of you think the wheels are falling off around us? We are in an intense battle, aren't we? Pope Benedict XVI characterised our time like this: He said, 'Today the faith is in danger of dying out in vast areas of the world, like a flame which no longer has fuel'. He said, 'What we are witnessing is humanity is pushing God from the human horizon' and he said, 'As God is pushed from the human horizon, the light that is in God, what happens? Darkness begins to settle on the human mind and the human heart', and then he reads it perfectly – he says, 'As a result humanity is losing its bearings'. Do you see that? We don't even know what a family is anymore. We don't even know what sexuality is about. We are incredibly confused, our culture, and it is getting more and more confused all the time because people have pushed the light away. And what is God doing in the midst of it? He's pouring out His Holy Spirit, the answer friends to the dilemma of the time we are living in. Pope John Paul II said, 'You are the answer, the Spirit of Christ Jesus risen in glory in your heart is the answer to the moment that we're living in. So be the light of the world, and be the salt of the earth.' Amen? Amen.

We're going to take a few minutes to pray tonight, maybe a bit longer than we've had the last few sessions, and what I want to do first is to sing. Let's stand. We are going to ask the Holy Spirit to come and to lead us in our prayer. I want to begin with a song, to give us a moment to open our hearts, stretch out our hands, and open our hearts to the King, using this song as a prayer to invite Him again to pour out His Holy Spirit on us.

(If you want to join in with this time of prayer it begins at 1 hour 20 mins into the recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I5nJ8T3QKE )

(Song: Lord, I need You)

Lord, I come, I confess
Bowing here I find my rest
Without You I fall apart
You're the One that guides my heart

Lord, I need You, oh, I need You
Every hour I need You
My one defence, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You

Where sin runs deep Your grace is more
Where grace is found is where You are
Where You are, Lord, I am free
Holiness is Christ in me

Lord, I need You, oh, I need You
Every hour I need You
My one defence, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You

So teach my song to rise to You
When temptation comes my way
When I cannot stand I'll fall on You
Jesus, You're my hope and stay

Lord, I need You, oh, I need You
Every hour I need You
My one defence, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You

You're my one defence, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You
My one defence, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You

Songwriters: Christy Nockels / Daniel Carson / Jesse Reeves / Kristian Stanfill / Matt Maher

PH: As we were beginning to pray, Cilla had a sense from the Lord that she wanted to share with you

Cilla: The Lord gave me this sense that there were some people here tonight who feel like a well, but inside they feel like this well is deep and nearly empty. There's a little bit of water inside, but just very little. And when people are coming to the well they can't really draw any water. And I felt the Lord remind me of the picture that Fr James shared of the pump with the water pouring out, and then the picture of the church filling up with water and the water pouring out the windows. And I feel that God is saying to some of you who feel empty and nearly dry, tonight He wants to fill you. He wants to fill you with that life giving water, so that out of you streams of living water will flow and the thirsty will come and there is plenty of water to give.

PH: If any of you feel like that word is for you, would you mind raising your hands? Because we'd like to pray with you. Get them up high so people can see them, don't be shy. If people round them would be willing to lay their hands on them and pray for them for a moment as we ask the Holy Spirit to come. And those of you with your hands up, if you'd like to pray with me:
Lord Jesus Christ, You are my Lord, You are my God. Lord, come. Pour out Your Spirit upon me again. Lord, I am empty, I feel empty. Lord fill me, fill me.

Come Holy Spirit. Blessed be Your name Lord. We ask You to release the power of Your kingdom on our brothers and sisters. Come Holy Spirit.

(repeat of the song, 'Lord, I need You')

Let's pray together. Join me. Lord Jesus Christ, You are my Lord and my God. I love You Lord. I ask You Jesus to release the power of Your kingdom in my life in a new way. Pour out Your Holy Spirit. Send Your anointing. Release the power of Your kingdom. Come Holy Spirit.

Let's wait on the Lord together, just to be in His presence and to receive from Him. He's here. He loves you. He knows you by name.

Some of you are experiencing the Lord just touching you or filling you in some way. If you do, just raise your hand wherever you are, and sense His presence working in you and beginning to fill you with His Holy Spirit. I feel on my heart the Lord saying:
Receive My power. I'm with you. I am with you. I have called you. I've called you by name and I have anointed you. Receive My power.

(repeat of the song, 'Lord, I need You')

Receive His grace. Receive His power. He's here, welcome Him. Say Yes to the anointing He wants to give you. Pope John Paul II said, 'Pray for a rain of charisms'. At this moment, let's pray together, let's ask the Lord to send more of His charisms upon us, to give us the grace of a new Pentecost on us, and on your parishes back home. Give the Lord permission. Invite Him to work in you in a new way. Lord we stand with John Paul II and with Pope Francis who exhort us to cry out to You for a rain of charisms. Lord Jesus Christ, we stand with You tonight, and we ask You Lord to pour out Your gifts upon us anew. Lord, send us more apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers, gifts of hospitality and leadership, gifts of prophecy and teaching, gifts of tongues and new ways of praying. Lord, new freedom in the Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit. Come Lord.

(song: 'Holy Spirit You are welcome here')

He inhabits the praises of His people. One of the things to look for, and the Lord wants to help you as you go home, is to help teach your people how to cry out to God. To help them, give them permission to be able to open their hearts to Him and to welcome Him. It's a sign of the presence of the Spirit, because the Spirit within us cries out 'Come Lord Jesus Come', and that is in their hearts. Cry out to God and to welcome Him in your homes, in your parish, in your ministry.

One of the things we want to do tonight was to ask the priests who were here and you brought your people with you, if you would be willing to let your brothers and sisters lay hands on you tonight and pray and to bless you. If you'd like to, pastors, just raise your hand, put them up so your people can see them, and we'd just like to pray with you. Feel free to join in, and ask the Lord to come and to bless these men whom you love.

Lord Jesus send Your power. Lord bless them, anoint them. Release Your power Lord. Let these brothers and sisters be a conduit of grace, a current of grace. Come Holy Spirit. Lord refresh our brothers. Lord drive away all fear and renew their strength tonight. Let them be Joshua and Caleb when they go home. Let them be men that say Yes, Yes, Yes, God is able. He can establish more here. He can break out His kingdom here in our parish.

Brothers as you're receiving prayer, any feelings of self-limitation, fear of discouragement, loneliness, just give them to the Lord. He knows you. In the presence of these people incarnate right here, He's loving you and speaking to you. He is saying, 'My sons, I have called you, I have named you, I have anointed you, and I promise I am with you always until the end of the age'.

Lord, we pray for a release of Your Spirit in a new and a fresh way in our brothers. Renew their strength. Come Holy God. Brothers, know that you're loved, that God loves you. These brothers and sisters love you, and you are not alone. Lord, we ask that you would forge these teams together. Help us. Come Holy Spirit. Lord we thank You for these men. We thank You for the gift of the priesthood. We thank You for how everyone of us has been loved and cared for and ministered to by priests since we were little kids. Men who have heard our confessions, consoled us when we were sick or dying. Thank You for the word they brought to us in the scripture. Thank You for Your call on their lives. Lord we lift them up to You and we say thank you tonight. Amen.

Now turn to somebody next to you and say, 'God is good' and give them a hug. You guys are glowing now, there's a glow here. Amen. Praise the Lord. Your faces look different. (clapping)

Something hit me earlier today and it's still in my gut, it's a kind of 'splankna' moment for me, and I'm going to give it to you. Say it with me, 'Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom', repeat, 'Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom'. It is time for the Catholic Church to be free, for brothers and sisters to rise up in love and mercy in the power of the Spirit without fear in the courage and freedom of the sons and daughters of God. Amen? Amen.

I want to drive out the enemy, who has tried to drive us down, to drive us in the back, to silence us. Amen? So with me right now, we're going to take authority over that spirit that always tries to steal our freedom. Amen? Say it with me: Lord Jesus Christ, in the power of Your Name, in the power of Your Blood, I cast out every spirit of fear, of timidity, of discouragement, and I receive the freedom of the Spirit, the freedom of the sons and daughters of God. Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! Amen. Amen. Amen.

Did you know that the Church has an infinite capacity for regeneration? Did you know that? Did you know that the Church has right now all the power, every resource it needs, to conquer every enemy strategy the enemy brings against Her. Amen? Amen. Because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Right now many people in our countries are scared, aren't they? Because it is so strange what's going on, right? People are frightened, and lots of Catholics are frightened and confused, right? They don’t know what you know. What you know is that Jesus Christ is Lord and that Jesus Christ is enough. The reason we have strength in us that are stronger than the world is that Jesus Christ reigns in glory at the right hand of the Father. Amen? Amen. And He's given you a share in His glory. Amen. It's in you. The thing the devil is so afraid of is if we start waking up, if the Church starts waking up to what it's got – if we cast aside our idols and our lukewarmness and we wake up to Jesus Christ like that 17 year old girl that was here with her game face on. If we receive that Spirit, and the freedom, look out, we are actually the answer for United States, for Canada, and for the world. Right? Jesus Christ is what they are all looking for (clapping). He's it.

We prayed with our brother from Pittsburgh? Are there any other protestant or non-Catholic brothers and sisters we can pray with? Put up your hand if you're here. Get them up nice and high. Would you be willing to come up here, so that we can pray with you?

(around 15% of the participants responded to this)

When Father was interviewing Pastor Lee a few minutes ago, it was another very important sign that we can't miss of the grace that's present here. It's the Holy Spirit who brings us together. The Holy Spirit wants unity. He wants to bring us together. Amen.

You brothers and sisters, just receive. We are going to ask God's blessing upon you because we love you. We thank you for your Yes to Jesus. Come Holy Spirit. Let's sing again 'Holy Spirit you are welcome here' as we pray for them, just a united prayer of our hearts for you, and for God's blessing on you. (Song)

Lord Jesus we ask You to bless these brothers and sisters, with the power of Your Spirit bless them. Lord we cry out for the broken body of Christ. We cry out that You bring unity in this hour, in this critical hour in the Church. Lord, mend our hearts together. Release the power of Your kingdom. Lord forgive us for how our division hinders our witness, our witness to Your glory, Your majesty, Your love and Your power. Lord we don't want it anymore. We can't do it on our own power. Come and heal and unite, mend us together with one voice in this confused world, where we can say together Your name Jesus, we can say Jesus to the world united. Brothers and sisters, we love you. We thank you for being here. We thank you for the witness that you've been to us in so many ways; your faithfulness to preaching the Gospel. We pray tonight with united voice that the Lord would bless you, your lives, your families, your ministries, with a double portion of His grace, in power, for His glory, for the glory of His great name. In Jesus' holy name we pray. Amen. Amen.

Let's pray for the St Benedict's team. Amen? (clapping) Could the St Benedict's team come up here? The whole team that's here serving, not just the leadership team, everybody, and the staff. This is a big family. Amen. Let's thank the Lord for them (clapping) This is Jesus. This is what happens when we sinful broken people decide to be honest about who they are, even weirdos, and just give the Lord permission to reign. Amen. Look at all of you. This is amazing. Let's extend our hands, brothers and sisters, over them, and pray God's blessing on them.

(Song: Holy Spirit You are welcome here)

I can say on behalf of everybody who is here, thank you. Thank you for your Yes to Jesus. Thank you for your sacrifice and your love. You know, your little community is starting to touch the whole world because you are saying Yes to Him. We want to thank you. We have all been touched immensely this weekend. God is using you, He's commissioned you, He's empowered you, He's anointed you. He's given His authority to you because He wants to wield you like a sword. He wants to set captives free all around the world. You gave Him permission. What you have done this weekend is just beginning. This is not the end or a climax but a beginning of a move of God in you, if you just keep saying Yes. Amen? Amen.

I have to say a special honour to the women, because in these testimonies it started with a woman, right? It started with a woman, yeah. Amen. You are so special. God bless you brothers and sisters (clapping)

Dan O'Rourke: This is the St Benedict family all crushed up around the stage and we were all so excited to have all of you 600 people come and visit us. And like any proper family gathering where we've invited extended family from countries and from cities all over the world, we wanted to take some photos of our gathering. So we had our teams going around taking some pictures and shooting some video of the last 2 days and we've put it together in lightning fast speed so that we can have a chance to watch some of what we experienced.

(The video is 6.18 minutes long, https://youtu.be/ZxAuyuElKUM or search 'Divine Renovation Afterglow Video'. It contains snippets from the workshops, so it's well worth viewing.)

Father James Mallon: I said at the beginning that we didn't know who was crazier, us for doing the conference, or you for coming, but actually there were a number of people who were even crazier than that. The guest speakers here at this conference who came from far away…basically I called them and said, 'Hey, how would you like to come and speak at a conference that we don't know if anyone will come at, and pay your own way, and not get paid for it?' and they all said Yes. (clapping) We have a gift for you, a special Nova Scotia crystal Christmas ornament with the DR16 logo engraved on it. Thank you so much. (clapping)

There are 2 final people I wish to say thank you to, who put in an incredible amount of hours, Anne Marie Sime and Elizabeth Randell, who dealt with many of you over this last year. I think these 2 women spoke and emailed personally to almost every one of you over the last year. These women were sometimes working from 5am in the morning till 11 o'clock at night, working very passionately to make this a success. I also want to thank Louise and the organising committee that at the very beginning got things going. There's so many more to thank, you know who you are. Thank you so much. (clapping)

Our closing hymn is a kind of unofficial DR16 theme song, 'Open up the heavens', and that's what it's all about.

Open up the heavens
We want to see you
Open up the floodgates
A mighty river
Flowing from your heart
Filling every part of our praise     (chorus of the song written by Meredith Andrews)

...............................................................................................
Below is a print friendly version, which has had some extra editing. it runs to 12 x A4 pages.'

Feel free to share it around to anyone you know who needs encouragement in their work for the Lord.

Dear Friend, what you are experiencing in your parish and in your diocese is sadly rife throughout the world. Even though it has been a few years since I last visited your diocese, I recall that I came home and prayed very hard for each of the priests I came across.

I must have read 'Warning from the Beyond' at least 20 years ago. So it is time that I re-read it. What I do recall is that I made several changes in my life as a result of reading it.

When things have got to the sorry state where from the pulpit you are not encouraged to commit to Sunday Mass each Sunday, where you are discouraged from frequent confession, where the pulpit is used to promote things other than Jesus, where it is hard to pray prior to Mass due to all the chatter and where those in various service roles at Mass couldn't pass the dress code to get into St Peter's Basilica in Rome – then the only remedy is prayer, and lots of it.

Nobody willingly gives up an error that makes them and those they speak to feel comfortable and feel like good people. Only the Holy Spirit can make that happen. Talking to them, pointing out the errors, giving excerpts from authoritative documents to read isn't going to make a single jot of difference until the Holy Spirit opens their hearts – and even then it might be many months and years before they are ready to hear these things.

So prayer is absolutely essential.

But there is a danger that an 'us and them' mentality creeps in, 'the goodies and the baddies'. If it does, it will undo all the good prayer work. 'There but for the grace of God go I'. View them as a brother or sister in Christ who is in deadly danger and who doesn't realise what a serious condition they are in.

Here's the fight back plan:

Remember we are not fighting against our sick brothers and sisters, but against the evil agents who made them sick.

Firstly we have to have our own house in order.
Daily prayer, regular self-denial, Sunday Mass, Daily Mass if possible, monthly Confession, daily reading from the Bible, and daily reading from the Church's Magisterium (catechism, papal documents, lives and writings of the Saints), regular prayer with others, significant regular giving to worthy causes, regular outreach evangelistically, regular service to those in need, regular quality time spent with spouse and family.

Then we pray.

Firstly at every Mass, after the Our Father and Lamb of God, when the time comes for the priest to receive Holy Communion - that's the best time to pray silently and fervently for the Holy Spirit to work powerfully in the priest's mind and heart. It also makes it easy to remember to do.

If there isn't a group that prays the rosary before or after daily Mass, start one. Our Lady's message to St Dominic was that with the Rosary every heresy can be conquered. Parishes that have regular recitation of the rosary in their churches and Mass centres have done much better at keeping the faith than parishes that don't have this.

When someone comes across your path and whispers that they are unhappy with what is going on, invite them to come and pray regularly with you. Keep any grumbles to an absolute minimum and keep the focus on prayer and upon Jesus who has the power to change any situation and any person's heart, mind, soul, spirit and body.

Be open to the Holy Spirit. Beg Him for the guidance, spiritual gifts and charismatic gifts that will make the necessary difference. Human wisdom, elbow grease and ingenuity are as nothingness and straw compared to what the Holy Spirit can do. Listen for His promptings, discern what is from Him, then gather your courage and act upon it.

Start using some of these prayers and novenas.
Particularly pray them for priests and bishops and anyone in authority, especially school principals, teachers, youth group leaders, catechists etc

33 Adorations of the Cross on Fridays (contains a promise to soften hard hearts)

30 consecutive daily Holy Communions (contains promise of eternal salvation for a person whom you can choose)

Novena of Holy Communions in honour of Jesus, King of All Nations (promises help of the angels for the person it is offered for)

The 365 day St Bridget novena in honour of the wounds of Jesus (contains among other promises, promises of eternal salvation for family members)

Will you see any immediate impact from these prayers? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, but the timing of the answers to prayer is God's business. That He will keep His promises is certain, when He will keep them is up to Him.

Get into holy rhythms of life… Read up on the promises attached to the 9 First Fridays and 5 First Saturdays and make them the hinge of each month, and encourage others to do the same.

Message to an American mother of three, 'Apostolate of Holy Motherhood', March 15, 1987:
Christ Child: "I want all My children to practice the Nine First Fridays’ in reparation for sins and the Five First Saturday’s in honour of My Mother so that the tide of evil sweeping across the world will end in defeat. These two monthly devotions, if practiced faithfully by My followers, would alone win this battle, so great are their power in appeasement of divine justice and the eradication of sin and evil."

Then remember that God wants these sorry situations to change even more than we do.

Take heart and enter the battle.

Write Non Fiction In November : #WNFIN Day 28
​
Let us pray for our political leaders. St Paul tells us in 1 Tim 2:1-3 that our top priority should be praying for kings and those in positions of high authority. Unless those who govern have God in their hearts, the lives of those they govern are going to be rather miserable. Knowing that the better the leader, the happier the people, helps us understand why Jesus as King of Kings, and the Kingdom of God He invites us into, are so important.

A quick look at the current local political scene reveals why the situation is so disturbing, and in need of prayer:

We have the citizenship crisis which has already caused by-elections and the introduction of new inexperienced members to parliament (particularly in the senate).

We have doubt about the short term and long term political stability of the current federal government.

We have a lot of vitriol in the media resulting from post-mortems of the Queensland state elections, as we wait for a final result to emerge.

We have the Victorian lower house poised to pass euthanasia legislation into law.

We have a federal government seemingly willing to pass same sex marriage legislation without ensuring safeguards of freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom to teach traditional marriage, and freedom to practice religion.

We have members of parliament who have said they will vote to pass same sex marriage legislation despite the plebiscite vote in their electorates being No.

So let's pray....

We pray for those politicians who did the right thing and resigned from parliament when they discovered they were dual citizens. For those not returning to political life may God guide them to where they can best serve the needs of the communities in which they live. For all those who are candidates in by-elections, may they be given the grace to truly listen to the people in their electorates and the courage to work for their highest good. May God grant that any unworthy candidates, due to corruption and significant moral failings, not win their elections.

We pray for those who have recently won parliamentary seats in elections, and those who will be chosen in the by-elections to come. May each one of them be given special graces of both moral and spiritual conversion.

We pray for those politicians who up until now have been too weak to stand up against the prevailing majority and to speak up for the truth, and who due to weakness have not defended human life from natural conception until natural death. May God grant them the grace to fear His opinion of them far more than they fear the opinion of their parliamentary colleagues and leaders. May God remove the blinders from their eyes, so that they can clearly see the truth and eternal consequences of each decision they make, and the requisite courage to act accordingly.

May God raise up a new breed of politician, a breed firmly convinced that the success of a government is measured by how well they have served the poorest and most vulnerable in our communities.

May God raise up candidates for election and public office who are worthy of being voted in. May our election choices from this point onwards not be between bad and worse, but between great and excellent.

May all those who have been guilty of corruption in public office, or guilty of turning a blind eye to corruption in public office be each granted a true spirit of conversion, penance and reparation.

May those elected leaders who have betrayed electorates and colleagues and leaders for the sake of political and financial gain be given the grace to repent and to seek forgiveness and pardon from God and from all whom they have wronged.

May all of our political leaders be given the will to remove from parliaments all the processes that waste time and resources, and the grace to come together respectfully and bipartisanly to seek the very best solutions for the common good not only of those they were elected to serve but of all humanity as well.

We pray for those political representatives who see politics as a game of thrones and who only see value in short term sound-bite or photo-opportunity wins and not in getting things right for the long term. May God convert them amazingly, or remove them gently from office. O God, please raise up a new breed of politician who wants to enable long term good to be done and who is unconcerned who wins the credit.

We pray for the political king-makers and party whips, may they be given the gift of Samuel to discern who has the anointing of God upon them for leadership, and all the gifts needed to properly train and prepare them to govern with the wisdom of Solomon.

We pray that a new spirit of unity come upon our political parties, so that factional divisions may recede before the needs of the common good of the people they were elected to serve. May the days of political point scoring, as the priority above all else, be over.

Heavenly Father, please may we live to see political leaders whose one desire is to please You, to seek You and Your holy will, to do Your will, and to serve the people You have entrusted to them to the best of their ability. May that day of rejoicing be soon. Amen.
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St Thomas More, pray for us
Blessed Charles of Blois, pray for us
St Vladimir of Kiev, pray for us
St Stephen of Hungary, pray for us

Write Non Fiction In November : #WNFIN Day 23

Time for thanksgiving: It is an American tradition that we don't have here, but all Thursdays have Eucharistic overtones remembering the Last Supper, and Eucharist means thanksgiving.

Normally we are reasonably good at thanking God for the stuff that we like in our lives, so I might pick up the 'Prison to Praise' challenge and have a go at thanksgiving for all the stuff that we wish wasn't there.

Thank You God for the traffic snarls on the roads that help us learn patience, and during which while we wait we sometimes use for prayer.

Thank You God for the people who hold views diametrically opposed to ours, they help us examine situations from another perspective and help us make better decisions.

Thank You God for the times we feel our frailty and our mortality, they give us a desire for the lasting joys of heaven.

Thank You God for the times the plans for our day went awry, they remind us that the majority of things are beyond our control and that we should deepen our trust in You.

Thank You God for the times unkind words have been said to us or about us, they give us opportunities to learn how to forgive.

Thank You God for all of our unanswered prayers, both the ones that will never be answered and the ones that have yet to be answered, they teach us that You know what is best for our long term benefit and that You know the perfect time to deliver it. So often that's the only way our faith and trust grows.

Thank You God for the times we experience sickness and the inability to do the things that were once easy for us. You often use those times to wean us away from things that are bad for us and give us a palette for far more wholesome things.

Thank You God for the times we experience loss and grief. If You knew of a better way to help us let go of the things we cling to so that You could give us something far better, You would use it.

Thank You God for the toughest times in our lives, because so often they teach us compassion and empathy and become sources of support and blessing for others.

Thank You God for the people who annoy us the most and who we would love to exclude for the sake of peace and harmony, they are Your invitations to grow in love, patience and forgiveness.

Thank You God for the times we have felt betrayed and humiliated, otherwise we'd never understand how bad these parts of the sufferings of Jesus actually were.

Thank You God for the regrets and opportunities we have missed in our lives, they spur us on to do better and to be better next time.
Thank You God for the times of testing and trial that You send us, because You want us to be victorious so that You can reward us.

Thank You God for the times that our finances get stretched so thin that we begin to believe and receive Your providence for us.

Thank You God for our times of thirst and hunger, often it is the only way You can get us to start appreciating how wonderful the simple things in life really are.

Thank You God for our times of fatigue and helplessness, often they teach us where our true friends can be found and help us change from being individualistic to becoming community minded.
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For these, and for all the many other things we frequently fail to thank You for, we are truly grateful. Please help us to grow into true gratitude. Amen.

Write Non Fiction In November : #WNFIN Day 16
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More prayers from the pit for guidance: If they resonate with you please make them your own. If they don't resonate with you, please pray them on behalf of the rest of us.

Yes, that's right. Still absolutely no change is on the horizon. The waiting (and sometimes praying) game continues. Today we invoke the intercession of St Gertrude the Great, since it is her feast day, and because she was never afraid to ask God questions and audaciously bold in all that she asked of Him (and obtained too!!). May she pray with us, and for us.

Family

If Your prophets are to be believed Heavenly Father, then You want to bring big breakthroughs in our family relationships. There's a really important family event coming up soon, and there's a really important family member who at this point is not going to attend. It is hard, this feeling of no account, since this family member has been able to rearrange the schedule to attend other events this year. Please bless this family member. Only You can change this heart, and if it is Your will, arrange things so that attending becomes both easy and something desired. Only You can give me the power to forgive the hurt and the rejection, and the needed compassion for what this family member deals with in secret.

If we are going to ask Heavenly Father, we may as well ask for even bigger things too. Between a father and a son there is a really big rift, a rift that only got worse last year when opportunities for rapprochement were rejected. Neither one of them is getting any younger. Due to the rift there are grandchildren growing up without any knowledge of a grandfather. The stubborn streak runs strong in this family. Only You can undo the damage of past misinformation. Only You can help an adult reconsider adolescent years from a more objective perspective. Only You can put the will and the desire into both sides to mend the rift and forgive and open up communication channels. Please work this wonder.

Wisdom

Heavenly Father our country rather publicly rejected Your plans for marriage and family yesterday. We are so sorry about that. Please forgive us. Please guide our parliamentarians and give them Your own wisdom to enable them to balance fairly the needs of those who embrace alternative lifestyles and the needs of those who desire to maintain the freedom to think and say and act without penalty according to Your plans for marriage and family. Grant to them divine wisdom in drawing up and approving legislation and amendments to that legislation. Please take away from their minds and hearts any blinders preventing them seeing the holy path of Your will and following it.

We also need the wisdom that You gave to young King Solomon, Heavenly Father. In light of the national plebiscite results and the rush to get legislation through parliament, many of us are going to receive invitations to wedding ceremonies that could never be sacramental. How do we balance our affection for these friends and relatives, and our respect for the love that is between them and their intendeds, with our love for You and for Your holy will for marriage and family? How do we show our love for the persons, and not implicitly condone actions contrary to Your will. Please, please, please grant us Your holy wisdom. Only You can help us find the narrow path, and the strength to walk it. How we desperately need Your holy wisdom in this!

Unity

Your desire for unity is so strong, Heavenly Father. But our desire for it is so weak. Only You can change that. Please change that. All of our efforts to obtain opportunities to sit down and chat with leaders of other churches have come to nothing. Do we do as the persistent widow, and ask yet again? Should we do the dust shaking thing, and see if efforts to initiate meetings of laity from other churches come to something? Are we as David, with too much blood on our hands for this kind of work? Should we be praying that You raise up a Solomon to spearhead this work of unity locally? All we have are questions. We don't have the answers, but we know that You do. At the moment all we have is fear that if we step out and try and initiate anything, that we will both fall on our faces in the spilt milk and ruin whatever delicate plans You already had in train. We need Your wisdom, we need the clear unequivocal guidance of Your will for our concrete local circumstances. Please, please, please, show us what You want us to do, and just as clearly what You don't want us to do.
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For all the unanswered emails and unresponded to messages, we thank You and ask the grace to forgive and not to bear grudges. For all of our efforts towards unity that have backfired, we seek Your pardon and the restoration of what was lost. For the times that we failed to seek and achieve peace when squabbles broke out among our own, please forgive us. Please forgive us our own local petty jealousies and misunderstandings and prejudices. Please bring in the healing and unity and peace that we cannot achieve on our own. Only You can do it. Only You can break us out of our silos and cliques and into service of the whole rather than our private fiefdoms. Please do.

Employment

Dear Heavenly Father, our young people are finding it so hard to find employment, and it is even harder for those seeking their first job. How can we truthfully say that You are watching out for them, that You have everything in hand, and that it is all going to turn out OK, when week by week and month by month so opportunities for them appear on the horizon? Us older ones, we can take the uncertainty and the perplexity a bit better. But these young ones are vulnerable in a special way to the whispers of the evil one that You don't care for them, and that You are never going to provide a way to make a living for them. We confess that we do not understand Your ways. We confess our anger and frustration at the delays in seeing Your answers especially for these young ones. They have so much self-doubt as it is. How can we ask them to believe that You are a loving and provident God, when in such an important area we have no proof to show them? Please Heavenly Father remove all the delays that hinder the answer to our prayers for employment for our young people. Don't make them wait, and lose even more hope, any longer. They are so vulnerable to exploitation. Please grant them good holy and wholesome employers, just wages and work that develops their unique skills and talents for the benefit of all humanity. Only You can do this. Please come through for them and for us. Only You can provide the connections, the happy meetings, and the opportunities that have holy flashing lights over them. All of our own efforts have failed. We look to You as our only hope. Please Lord show us that our hope and trust has not been misplaced or in vain.

Amen.

Write Non Fiction In November : #WNFIN Day 15
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Today is the feast day of St Albert the Great, patron saint of scientists. He has had a special place in my heart for a long time. With his wonderful inquisitive brain He sought God and found Him in truth, in theology and philosophy and in studying and experimenting with the creation He had made.

So it is a good day to pray for scientists, and to express our appreciation for the work that they do which enables us to wonder ever more profoundly at the work the Creator has done.

At the same time we have to acknowledge that science can teach us a lot about how things happen, but very little indeed about why they happen.

Did you know, for example, that the angle at which the oxygen atoms attach to the hydrogen atom to make water is important? If it were any larger or smaller, water wouldn't flow like it does, or have the precise properties that it does that enables living organisms to function.

Did you know that the moon is crucial to the health of the earth? So many things on earth depend upon the tides that the moon creates. So many bits of asteroid debris get deflected from earth by the moon.

The more we learn about what is on our planet and what is beyond it leaves any authentic seeker of truth to marvel at the order and majesty of creation, and by extension to marvel at the divine intelligence that put it all together.

So we give thanks to God for all the clues about Himself that He has left for us to find in His masterpiece of creation.

Were you aware that flowers are a proof of the existence of God? Their beauty and colour and diversity is unnecessary for the perpetuation of plant species, but they tell us so much about beauty, and the importance of fragile things, and they inspire us to be affectionate towards each other. How amazing it is that no one needs to be taught what flowers are for! A young child gathers flowers to give to a mother; a young man seeks flowers to give to a sweetheart; those in sorrow receive flowers from those who mourn with them; it is far more instinctive than cultural.

Everything we learn through the work of scientists enables us to appreciate the awesomeness of God better.

We can marvel at the utter patience of God, creating the atoms over millennia in the combustion of stars that now work together in the formation of living organisms. Of stardust we are indeed made.

We can marvel at the providence of God, preparing all those prehistoric forests on earth that now fuel our world as coal, petroleum and natural gas.

We can marvel at the invisible forces at work in our world, like gravity and electricity and time and light and love, which invite us to understand that the most powerful things of all are not material and tangible but signs pointing us to a divine and benevolent Creator.

So let us pray for scientists:

That their work may lead them and us to reverence the Creator of all

That in harnessing the invisible powers at work in our world, scientists may grow in humility and not give into the pride that tempts them to be demi-gods through cloning and genetic manipulation and other technologies

That they may be given the grace not to give up in the quest to find answers that will benefit humanity, especially in medical treatments and agricultural innovations to increase the production of food without harm to the environment

That they may always be conscious of the limitations of their work, and co-operate with ethicists and philosophers in determining the boundaries that should not be crossed even though it is possible to cross them
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That they may be given the courage to stand against all efforts to transform their research and discoveries into weapons

That they may be given the grace and the funding providence to follow the research paths that the Holy Spirit directs and not the more limiting paths of commercial success

That they may be given the strength not to give in to the temptation to falsify research data, no matter how much exterior pressure is supplied

That they may be generous with their time and diligent in reviewing the work and assumptions and writings of their colleagues, in service of the truth

That they may always honestly give credit where credit is due to assistants, colleagues, mentors and the previous research of other scientists

That those students of promise, who don't fit the regular mold, may be given all the scope, encouragement and support that their genius needs in order to fulflill God's purpose for their talents

That collaboration between scientific disciplines would grow so that holistic solutions may be found to the material problems that challenge humanity and the health of the planet and its flora and fauna

O gracious God, please bless the work of all scientists that their efforts may please You and benefit both our souls and our bodies. Amen.
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St Albert the Great, patron of scientists, pray for them.

Write Non Fiction In November : #WNFIN Day 14
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Are you in the doldrums? Me, too. It is as boring as blazes being in a holding pattern with no hope of change on the horizon. The only thing that keeps me going sometimes is a story I often recall from a little book called 'Lessons from a sheep dog' by Phillip Keller.

The story goes like this, if I remember it correctly. Phillip had to train a sheep dog which had been mistreated by a previous owner. Of all the tasks that the dog was trained to do, the most hated one was staying still and keeping the flock of sheep in place while the master went off to do something else. Obviously the dog wanted to be where the action was, with his master. Conversely it was the most important task the master could give the sheep dog, and truly crucial to the success of the farm, but it really stretched the trust of the dog and the obedience of the dog. If the dog gave up and left its appointed (yet utterly boring) post, very much would be lost and damaged.

The only good part of that story was that the dog got extra rewards and treats if he stayed faithful to the master's task, more than for any other task.

Remembering this might take a bit of the sting of the wait away, but it doesn't take away the tedium. What makes it worse is reading about other people who are in a very happy place in their ministries and seeking signs and wonders from God flow. All of us want to be where the action is.

So this one is going to be a prayer from the pit, begging guidance from the Lord :

Dear Heavenly Father, Your ways are not our ways. For some kind purpose of Yours we sit in obscurity and endure another day of not seeing the gifts and talents you have given us employed in any worthwhile way. We definitely do not understand. Your own Word tells us that the harvest is rich but the labourers are few, and we want to be in the thick of the harvest and here we are on the sidelines feeling unwanted, ignored and useless.

As Newman says, may our perplexity serve You somehow. Surely it should be 'all hands on deck', but we are kicking our heels in the marketplace waiting for You to come and show us where in Your vineyard You want us to work and what You want us to do.

Please don't pass us by. At this point we're ready to do just about anything to get out of the monotony of doing seemingly nothing.

At the same time we are scared stiff that we will miss the moment when you actually call us to something new. When that longed for moment comes, please make it unmistakably clear what You want us to do. No 'in the glass darkly' stuff, but blinking neon lights and dancing girls and signs that the messages are unmistakably from You and You alone.

Inexplicably we are also terrified that You will ask us to do stuff we've never tried before (like walking on water and telling a mulberry tree to go and plant itself in the sea). We are scared that we're going to stuff it all up, and that if we really step out in faith that You won't be there to catch us because You have been so seemingly invisible, inactive and absent for so long.

Like the poor sheep dog that's had to stay at its post far longer than the master originally intended, we're beginning to wonder if we will recognise You when You come at last. We've forgotten what it's like to be at play with You, and to snooze contentedly at Your feet, and to feel your pats and scratches behind our ears.

When Lord will You come?

If it is going to be an agonizing while longer, please send us some encouragement. Every so often the scent of your promises gets carried to us by the wind. We go on the alert for a while, and then settled down dejectedly again at our post. 'Be patient, it will be soon' is wearing thin. What is soon for You could be months or even years away for us.

When Lord will You come?

Do you hear our howls in the night, and our cries and whimpers by day? Sometimes we hear the happy yelps and barks of sheep dogs afar off, praising You, and we confess that we've forgotten how. Then we take stock of ourselves and wonder who would want to be with bedraggled and miserable mutts like us anyway.

Please Lord, do not permit further delays to Your return that will set us free. Amen.