NEWS - September 26, 27

Fr. Richard Rohr (Franciscan), the founder of the Centre for Contemplation and Action (CAC) in the U.S. and the author of many acclaimed spiritual books, is getting on in age now. However he still pens a daily meditation on a weekly theme. One of his recent themes was “Paul’s Transforming Vision”.

Fr. Richard says: “We now believe the reason this one man enjoyed such immense success in such a short time is that he gave human dignity back to the world that had largely lost it”.

Imagine the effect of Paul’s words on the people at that time. Here are 2 examples.

“One and the same Spirit was given to us all to drink!” (1 Corinthians 12:13).

“You, all of you, are sons and daughters of God in Christ Jesus … where there is no distinction between male or female, Greek or Jew, slave or free, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26–28).

Now that people could be a “temple of the Holy Spirit” there was hope again. The temple at Jerusalem had served its purpose. There was now a new world in place of the old. Not many years after Jesus’ resurrection the Temple and all Jerusalem were brutally razed to the ground by the Romans.

Each of us is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps a prayer of thanks to God today for such an incredible gift is not such a bad idea.


Faith Matters lending library

Perhaps, throughout your hectic week, you are looking for a small book of various articles dealing with common day spirituality and with a touch of humour. We have a number of such booklets written by Br. John Venard (Marist Brother). There are about 6 titles under the theme “The Battlers God”. Why not take one home for a week and browse it. John was very good at communicating spiritual themes with readers. Duck in to the church shop at Grovely at the end of any Masses on the weekend.

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NEWS - September 19, 20

Years ago, there was a series of information sheets about aspects of the Catholic faith called “Inform”. One of the series was called “The Name of God is Mercy”. When one considers the teachings of “Jesus of Nazareth”, as found in the Scriptures, one realises how true this is. In the early years of the Church the sacraments were gradually established, one of which was the Sacrament of Penance which today is usually called “The Sacrament of Reconciliation”.

The way we think of mercy and justice is far from the way God looks at them. In the parable of the Prodigal Son we see a son, who has so seriously offended his father, receive such a welcome from his father when he returns to seek forgiveness. One of the images of this parable is that of the father searching the horizon every day for the slightest sign that his son might be coming back to the fold.

Surely, we think, there should be some element of justice doled out to the son. What about the parable where the person starts work right at the start of the day while another begins about 5 minutes before knock-off time, yet both receive the same pa? Where is the justice in that, we say? How many other parables are there where God’s approach is so different from the way we look at things?

Because we are human with the gift from God of free will we are prone to sin in various ways and we all do sin - some far more than others. We often see things from a justice point of view than from a mercy view. What do we think about the idea that maybe some of the world’s worst dictators could be in Heaven? Where is the justice of that, we think?

For a lot of the last century this Sacrament was received by many Catholics almost weekly. People would receive the Sacrament, often on a Saturday afternoon before Sunday Mass. The times have changed. Today, the Church says we should receive the Sacrament at least once a year in the period before the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday.

The point to remember is that this Sacrament is a gift from the God of mercy and should be received more than once a year. No need to overdo it but, via the priest, it allows God’s mercy to swamp us as we try our best to follow the example of Jesus.

Faith Matters lending library
Perhaps, throughout your hectic week, you are looking for a small book of various articles dealing with common day spirituality and with a touch of humour. We have a number of such booklets written by Br. John Venard (Marist Brother). There are about 6 titles under the theme “The Battlers God”. Why not take one home for a week and browse it. John was very good at communicating spiritual themes with readers. Duck in to the church shop at Grovely at the end of any Masses on the weekend.

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