Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
To be a vibrant Catholic Community
unified in its commitment
to growing disciples for Christ
Parish Priest: Fr Mike Delaney
Mob: 0417 279 437
Mob: 0417 279 437
Assistant Priest: Fr Paschal Okpon
Mob: 0438 562 731
paschalokpon@yahoo.com
Priest in Residence: Fr Phil McCormack
Mob: 0437 521 257
Mob: 0437 521 257
Postal Address: PO Box 362
Parish Office: 90 Stewart Street
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am - 3pm)
Office Phone: 6424 2783 Fax: 6423 5160
Email: merseyleven@aohtas.org.au
Secretary: Annie Davies / Anne Fisher
Pastoral Council Chair: Jenny Garnsey
Parish Mass times for the Month: mlcpmasstimes.blogspot.com.au
Archdiocesan Website: www.hobart.catholic.org.au for news, information and details of other Parishes.
Parish Prayer
Heavenly Father,
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
as we use our gifts to serve you.
as we strive to bear witness
to the Gospel and build an amazing parish.
Amen.
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
as we use our gifts to serve you.
as we strive to bear witness
Amen.
Our Parish Sacramental Life
Eucharistic Adoration - Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon, concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Weekday
Masses 9th - 13th April
Monday: 9:30am Ulverstone… The Annunciation of the Lord
12noon Devonport
Ministry Rosters 14th & 15th April, 2018
Ulverstone:
Penguin:
Latrobe:
Port Sorell:
Readings this week – Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)
PREGO REFLECTION:
As always, I give myself time to become still,
asking the Holy Spirit to come to my aid.
I prepare to pray this Gospel in the
way that suits me best.
I read the passage slowly, several times, with an open
and welcoming mind and heart.
When I am ready, perhaps I imagine I am with the
disciples behind the closed doors.
If I am able, I allow myself to interact
with them.
What is it like to be with these first disciples?
I notice what
happens when Jesus comes and stands with them.
I let his words ‘Peace be with
you’ penetrate deep within me.
How do I feel as I hear this? I share with
Jesus.
I may be drawn to the experience of Thomas, the sceptic amongst the disciples,
who struggles to believe without evidence.
Do I sometimes find myself
identifying with him?
I allow myself to respond spontaneously in conversation
with the Lord, telling him of any doubts … or of my desire for a deeper belief.
Towards the end of my prayer, I take time to notice how I am feeling now.
What
grace do I want to pray for?
Once again, I share with the Lord using my own
words. I end my time of prayer slowly.
Our Father…
Readings next week – Third Sunday of
Easter
Your prayers
are asked for the sick: Joy Kiely, Vic Slavin & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Laurie
Fox, David Welch, Brian Corbett, Katy Freeman, Phil
Tuckett, Joseph Healy
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs
about this time: 4th – 10th April
Weekly
Ramblings
The session starts at 2pm in the Community Room at
Ulverstone and we will explore how we can provide a welcoming environment from
the time people arrive until they are leaving and what that looks like. This is
more than just handing out newsletters and pouring a cuppa – even though these
are important – this is a whole of celebration experience. Everyone is welcome
to come and be part of this new look at being a welcoming community.
Again, I would like to express my sincere thanks and
appreciation to all those who assisted in any way to make the celebrations
during Holy Week and Easter such great events. There were many people who
worked away in the background before and after each of the celebrations and
their efforts helped the rest of us enjoy the ceremonies.
Also next Sunday evening from 5pm there will be a gathering
of young people (16-35) in the Parish House at Devonport. Organised by Fr
Paschal and a group of supporters it will be an opportunity for young people to
form a network of friendship of faith.
Please take care on the roads and we look forward to seeing you next
weekend.
Our Parish Sacramental Life
Baptism: Arrangements are made by contacting Parish Office. Parents attend a Baptismal Preparation Session organised with a Priest.
Reconciliation, Confirmation and Eucharist: Are received following a Family–centred, Parish-based, School-supported Preparation Program.
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: prepares adults for reception into the Catholic community.
Marriage: arrangements are made by contacting one of our priests - couples attend a Pre-marriage Program
Anointing of the Sick: please contact one of our priests
Reconciliation: Ulverstone - Fridays (10am - 10:30am), Devonport - Saturday (5:15pm– 5.45pm)
Care and Concern: If you are aware of anyone who is sick or in need of assistance in the Parish please visit them. Then, if they are willing and give permission could you please pass on their name to the Parish Office. We have a group of parishioners who are part of a Care and Concern Group who are willing to provide some backup and support to them.
Eucharistic Adoration - Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon, concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Benediction with Adoration Devonport: First Friday each month.
Prayer Group: Charismatic Renewal – Mondays 7pm Community Room Ulverstone
Weekday
Masses 9th - 13th April
Monday: 9:30am Ulverstone… The Annunciation of the Lord
12noon Devonport
12noon Devonport
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe… St Stanislaus
Thursday: 10:30am Eliza Purton 12noon Devonport
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone
Weekend Masses 14th & 15th April, 2018 Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin Devonport Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell 9:00am Ulverstone 10:30am Devonport
11:00am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
Ministry Rosters 14th & 15th April, 2018
Devonport:
Readers: Vigil M Gaffney, H Lim 10:30am: K Pearce J Tuxworth, T
Omogbai-Musa
Ministers of Communion: Vigil:
T Muir, M Davies, D Peters, J Heatley
10:30: B & N Mulcahy, K Hull
Cleaners. 13th April: F Sly, M Hansen, R McBain 20th April: P Shelverton, E Petts
Piety Shop 14th April:
H Thompson 15th April: P Piccolo
Ulverstone:
Reader/s: J & S Willoughby Ministers of
Communion: M Byrne, D Griffin, K Foster, R
Locket
Cleaners: M McKenzie, M Singh, N Pearce Flowers: A Miller Hospitality: K Foster
Penguin:
Greeters: J Garnsey, P Lade Commentator: J Barker Readers: A Landers, E Nickols
Ministers of
Communion: J
Garnsey, P Lade Liturgy: SC J
Setting Up: T Clayton Care of Church: G Hills-Eade, T Clayton
Latrobe:
Reader: S Ritchie Ministers of Communion: B Ritchie Procession of Gifts: M Clarke
Port Sorell:
Readers: E Holloway, G Duff Minister of Communion: V Duff Clean/Flowers/Prepare: C Howard
Readings this week – Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)
First Reading: Acts 4:32-35
Second Reading: 1 John 5:1-6
Gospel: John 20:19-31
PREGO REFLECTION:
As always, I give myself time to become still,
asking the Holy Spirit to come to my aid.
I prepare to pray this Gospel in the way that suits me best.
I read the passage slowly, several times, with an open and welcoming mind and heart.
When I am ready, perhaps I imagine I am with the disciples behind the closed doors.
If I am able, I allow myself to interact with them.
What is it like to be with these first disciples?
I notice what happens when Jesus comes and stands with them.
I let his words ‘Peace be with you’ penetrate deep within me.
How do I feel as I hear this? I share with Jesus.
I may be drawn to the experience of Thomas, the sceptic amongst the disciples, who struggles to believe without evidence.
Do I sometimes find myself identifying with him?
I allow myself to respond spontaneously in conversation with the Lord, telling him of any doubts … or of my desire for a deeper belief.
Towards the end of my prayer, I take time to notice how I am feeling now.
What grace do I want to pray for?
Once again, I share with the Lord using my own words. I end my time of prayer slowly.
Our Father…
I prepare to pray this Gospel in the way that suits me best.
I read the passage slowly, several times, with an open and welcoming mind and heart.
When I am ready, perhaps I imagine I am with the disciples behind the closed doors.
If I am able, I allow myself to interact with them.
What is it like to be with these first disciples?
I notice what happens when Jesus comes and stands with them.
I let his words ‘Peace be with you’ penetrate deep within me.
How do I feel as I hear this? I share with Jesus.
I may be drawn to the experience of Thomas, the sceptic amongst the disciples, who struggles to believe without evidence.
Do I sometimes find myself identifying with him?
I allow myself to respond spontaneously in conversation with the Lord, telling him of any doubts … or of my desire for a deeper belief.
Towards the end of my prayer, I take time to notice how I am feeling now.
What grace do I want to pray for?
Once again, I share with the Lord using my own words. I end my time of prayer slowly.
Our Father…
Readings next week – Third Sunday of
Easter
First Reading: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
Second Reading: 1 John 2:1-5
Gospel: Luke
24:35-48
Your prayers
are asked for the sick: Joy Kiely, Vic Slavin & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Laurie
Fox, David Welch, Brian Corbett, Katy Freeman, Phil
Tuckett, Joseph Healy
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs
about this time: 4th – 10th April
Meridith
McCormack, Annie McCulloch, Lloyd Goss, George Archer, Fr Joseph Howe, Vera
Speers, Betty
Weeks, James Hannavy, Bob Mahony, John Roach, Gregory & Damian Matthews and
deceased relatives and friends of the Cunningham family.
May they Rest in Peace
Weekly
Ramblings
In my homily at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at Ulverstone
on Holy Thursday I used the example of Mother Teresa and Dorothy Day to
highlight the message that Jesus gave his disciples as he washed their feet –
service and hospitality are closely linked and they are essential to living the
Good News. Next Sunday, 15th, we will be having an Introduction to
Hospitality and I would like to invite all parishioners to consider how we
might create a new understanding of what it means to serve and be hospitable.
The session starts at 2pm in the Community Room at
Ulverstone and we will explore how we can provide a welcoming environment from
the time people arrive until they are leaving and what that looks like. This is
more than just handing out newsletters and pouring a cuppa – even though these
are important – this is a whole of celebration experience. Everyone is welcome
to come and be part of this new look at being a welcoming community.
Again, I would like to express my sincere thanks and
appreciation to all those who assisted in any way to make the celebrations
during Holy Week and Easter such great events. There were many people who
worked away in the background before and after each of the celebrations and
their efforts helped the rest of us enjoy the ceremonies.
Also next Sunday evening from 5pm there will be a gathering
of young people (16-35) in the Parish House at Devonport. Organised by Fr
Paschal and a group of supporters it will be an opportunity for young people to
form a network of friendship of faith.
Please take care on the roads and we look forward to seeing you next
weekend.
Mersey Leven Parish Community welcome and congratulate ….
Georgia & Ashlyn Hingston
Daughters of Brett & Nicole on their Baptism this weekend.
Many happy returns to Eileen Halley
on her 90th Birthday,
Celebrated Wednesday 4th April, 2018
ST VINCENT DE PAUL COLLECTION:
This weekend the St Vincent de Paul collection will be in
Devonport, Ulverstone, Port Sorell, Latrobe and Penguin to assist the work of
the St Vincent de Paul Society.
ONGOING TRAINING FOR LECTORS:
FOOTY
TICKETS:
BINGO - Thursday Nights - OLOL Hall, Devonport. Eyes down 7.30pm!
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
COUPLES FOR
CHRIST AUSTRALIA:
are holding their 30th Anniversary National Conference on
27-29th April, the Albert Hall, 47 Tamar Street, Launceston. Couples
for Christ Australia seeks to strengthen Catholic families, and to evangelise.
They offer formation programs to help men and women mature in their Christian
faith and to develop Christian family life. Speakers include Archbishop
Porteous, Fr Seraph Balmadres and Alexander Obiorah, and members of CFC
Australia from the mainland. All are welcome! Registrations and information:
https://sites.google.com/view/cfca-national-conference/home
TASMANIAN CATHOLIC YOUTH
FESTIVAL:
Mindful Living
John Dear invites us into a peaceful, nonviolent way of
living with creation:
WHEN TIME STANDS STILL
This article is taken from the archives of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find the original here
The theory of relativity tells us that space and time are not what they appear to be. They’re relative, meaning that don’t always function in the same way and they aren’t always experienced in the same way. Time can stand still.
Or can it? This side of eternity, it would seem not. Ever since the universe started with a mammoth explosion some 13.8 billion years ago the clock has been running non-stop, like a merciless meter, moving relentlessly forwards.
However, our faith suggests that time will be different in eternity, so different in fact that we cannot now even imagine how it will be in heaven. As St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthians: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him. How will time be experienced in heaven? As we’ve just affirmed, that cannot be imagined now.
Or can it? In a wonderful new book on the Resurrection and Eternal Life, Is This All There Is, the renowned, German scripture scholar, Gerhard Lohfink, suggests that we can and sometimes do have an experience of time as it will be experienced in eternity. For Lohfink, we experience this whenever we’re in adoration.
For him, the highest form of prayer is adoration. But what does it mean to “adore” God and why is that the highest form of prayer? Lohfink answers: “In adoration we ask nothing more of God. When I lament before God it is usually my own suffering that is the starting point. Even when I petition God, the occasion is often my own problem. I need something from God. And even when I thank God, unfortunately I am usually thankful for something I have received. But when I adore, I let go of myself and look only to God.”
Admittedly, lament, petition, and thanksgiving are high forms of prayer. An old, classical, and very good, definition of prayer defines prayer as “lifting mind and heart to God”, and what’s in our hearts virtually at all times is some form of lament, petition, or thanksgiving. Moreover, Jesus invites us to ask God for whatever is in our heart at a given moment: “Ask and you will receive.” Lament, petition, and thanksgiving are good forms of prayer; but, in praying them, we’re still focused in some manner on ourselves, on our needs and our joys.
However in adoration we look to God or at some attribute of God (beauty, goodness, truth, or oneness) so strongly that everything else drops away. We stand in pure wonder, pure admiration, ecstatic awe, entirely stripped of our own heartaches, headaches, and idiosyncratic focus. God’s person, beauty, goodness, and truth overwhelm us so as to take our minds off of ourselves and leave us standing outside of ourselves.
And being free of our own selves is the very definition of ecstasy (from the Greek, EK STASIS, to stand outside oneself.) Thus, to be in adoration is to be in ecstasy – though, admittedly, that’s generally not how we imagine ecstasy today. For us, ecstasy is commonly imagined as an earthshaking standing inside of ourselves, idiosyncrasy in its peak expression. But true ecstasy is the opposite. It’s adoration.
Moreover, for Lohfink, not only is adoration the only true form of ecstasy, it’s also a way of being in heaven already right now and of experiencing time as it will be in heaven. Here’s how he puts it: “In the miracle of adoration we are already with God, entirely with God, and the boundary between time and eternity is removed. It is true that we cannot now comprehend that adoring God will be endless bliss. We always want to be doing something. We want to criticize, intervene, change, improve, shape. And rightly so! That is our duty. But in death, when we come to God, that all ceases. Then our existence will be pure astonishment, pure looking, pure praise, pure adoration – and unimaginable happiness. That is why there is also a form of adoration that uses no words. In it I hold out my own life to God, in silence, and with it the whole world, knowing God as Creator, as Lord, as the one to whom belongs all honor and praise. Adoration is the oblation of one’s life to God. Adoration is surrender. Adoration means entrusting oneself entirely to God. As we dwell in adoration, eternity begins – an eternity that does not withdraw from the world but opens to it utterly.”
Time can stand still! And it stands still when we’re in pure admiration, in awe, in wonder, in adoration. In those moments we stand outside of ourselves, in the purest form of love that exists. At that moment too we are in heaven, not having a foretaste of heaven, but actually being in heaven. Eternity will be like that, one moment like a thousand years and a thousand years like one moment.
When we adore, time stands still – and we’re in heaven!
Mersey Leven Parish Community welcome and congratulate ….
Georgia & Ashlyn Hingston
Daughters of Brett & Nicole on their Baptism this weekend.
on her 90th Birthday,
Celebrated Wednesday 4th April, 2018
ST VINCENT DE PAUL COLLECTION:
This weekend the St Vincent de Paul collection will be in
Devonport, Ulverstone, Port Sorell, Latrobe and Penguin to assist the work of
the St Vincent de Paul Society.
ONGOING TRAINING FOR LECTORS:
Kath Pearce urges all Lectors to be
present at the ‘Ongoing Training’ to be held in the Community Room Ulverstone
on Sunday April 22nd from 2pm – 4pm.
FOOTY
TICKETS:
Round 2 (Friday 30th March) North Melbourne defeated St Kilda
by 52
points – winners; Charlies Angels, Stephen Jones.
The 2018 AFL season has well and truly started. For a
little bit of fun each week why not help support our Parish fundraiser, buy a footy
margin ticket (or two) $2.00 each from Devonport, Ulverstone or Port Sorell.
There are three prizes of $100.00 each week. You’ve got to be in it to win
it!!
BINGO - Thursday Nights - OLOL Hall, Devonport. Eyes down 7.30pm!
Callers for Thursday 12th April – Merv Tippett & Alan Luxton.
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
COUPLES FOR
CHRIST AUSTRALIA:
are holding their 30th Anniversary National Conference on
27-29th April, the Albert Hall, 47 Tamar Street, Launceston. Couples
for Christ Australia seeks to strengthen Catholic families, and to evangelise.
They offer formation programs to help men and women mature in their Christian
faith and to develop Christian family life. Speakers include Archbishop
Porteous, Fr Seraph Balmadres and Alexander Obiorah, and members of CFC
Australia from the mainland. All are welcome! Registrations and information:
https://sites.google.com/view/cfca-national-conference/home
TASMANIAN CATHOLIC YOUTH
FESTIVAL:
The inaugural “Tasmanian Catholic Youth Festival” (TCYF)
will be held on 16th and 17th May 2018 in Launceston and
Hobart respectively with a fantastic line-up of speakers and performers. They
include US singer/songwriter and ACYF performer Steve Angrisano, entrepreneur
and Oneplate charity founder Therese Nichols, and many more! The festival will
consist of a day session which will be open to all school students from years
8-12 followed by a night rally that will be open to all young people until 30
years of age. More information on the festival will be out shortly. If you have
any questions, please email youth@aohtas.org.au
THE
AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS CONFERENCE’S PROCLAIM CONFERENCE ON PARISH RENEWAL
AND EVANGELISATION: will be held in Brisbane,
12-14 July, 2018. Focus areas: Leadership, Culture Change, Young People,
Belonging and Evangelisation. Early bird registrations available until 22
April. For information: http://proclaimconference.com.au/
For those with limited finances, partial sponsorship is available via the
National Centre for Evangelisation, email: director@nce.catholic.org.au
Mindful Living
This commentary is taken from the daily emails from Fr Richard Rohr OFM. You can subscribe and receive the emails by clicking here
John Dear invites us into a peaceful, nonviolent way of
living with creation:
To grow in deeper, loving awareness of our sisters and
brothers, the beautiful creatures, and wonders of creation, we practice the art
of mindfulness. That means we try not to live in the past or stew over the
future. We give ourselves to the present moment of peace and return to the
gentleness of our breath as a way to return to the present moment, the eternal
now. The Buddhists teach mindful living, mindful eating, mindful walking,
mindful working. Every moment becomes an opportunity to step into the present
moment of peace.
“We are speaking of an attitude of the heart,” Pope Francis
writes, “one which approaches life with serene attentiveness, which is capable
of being fully present to someone without thinking of what comes next, which
accepts each moment as a gift from God to be lived to the full. Jesus taught us
this attitude when he invited us to contemplate the lilies of the field and the
birds of the air, or when seeing the rich young man and knowing his
restlessness, ‘he looked at him with love’ (Mk 10:21). He was completely
present to everyone and to everything, and in this way, he showed us the way to
overcome that unhealthy anxiety which makes us superficial, aggressive and
compulsive consumers.” [1]
Putting on the mind of the nonviolent Christ and practicing
his nonviolence, we learn to contemplate the lilies of the field and the birds
of the air. When he rose from the dead, he gave his friends the gift of
resurrection peace, breathed on them, and said receive the Holy Spirit. He sent
them on a global mission of peace and nonviolence. We try to follow Jesus by
welcoming that gift of resurrection peace, breathing in his Holy Spirit, and
walking in his footsteps in his kingdom of nonviolence. In that mindfulness,
everyone shines like the sun.
We recognize every human being as a sister and brother,
every creature as a gift from God, and Mother Earth as a treasure to be honored
and cared for. We too learn to walk mindfully on earth in the present moment of
peace. As we do, we not only non-cooperate with injustice and environmental
destruction, model gospel nonviolence, and seek justice and peace for everyone,
we help everyone step into the present moment of peace, the kingdom of God.
Along the way, we discover that we have already entered eternal life. Eternity
has begun. We are here, on earth, in the peaceful presence of the Creator.
[1] Pope Francis, Laudato Si’, 226,
w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html.
John Dear, They Will Inherit the Earth: Peace and
Nonviolence in a Time of Climate Change (Orbis Books: 2018), 123-124.
WHEN TIME STANDS STILL
This article is taken from the archives of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find the original here
The theory of relativity tells us that space and time are not what they appear to be. They’re relative, meaning that don’t always function in the same way and they aren’t always experienced in the same way. Time can stand still.
Or can it? This side of eternity, it would seem not. Ever since the universe started with a mammoth explosion some 13.8 billion years ago the clock has been running non-stop, like a merciless meter, moving relentlessly forwards.
However, our faith suggests that time will be different in eternity, so different in fact that we cannot now even imagine how it will be in heaven. As St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthians: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him. How will time be experienced in heaven? As we’ve just affirmed, that cannot be imagined now.
Or can it? In a wonderful new book on the Resurrection and Eternal Life, Is This All There Is, the renowned, German scripture scholar, Gerhard Lohfink, suggests that we can and sometimes do have an experience of time as it will be experienced in eternity. For Lohfink, we experience this whenever we’re in adoration.
For him, the highest form of prayer is adoration. But what does it mean to “adore” God and why is that the highest form of prayer? Lohfink answers: “In adoration we ask nothing more of God. When I lament before God it is usually my own suffering that is the starting point. Even when I petition God, the occasion is often my own problem. I need something from God. And even when I thank God, unfortunately I am usually thankful for something I have received. But when I adore, I let go of myself and look only to God.”
Admittedly, lament, petition, and thanksgiving are high forms of prayer. An old, classical, and very good, definition of prayer defines prayer as “lifting mind and heart to God”, and what’s in our hearts virtually at all times is some form of lament, petition, or thanksgiving. Moreover, Jesus invites us to ask God for whatever is in our heart at a given moment: “Ask and you will receive.” Lament, petition, and thanksgiving are good forms of prayer; but, in praying them, we’re still focused in some manner on ourselves, on our needs and our joys.
However in adoration we look to God or at some attribute of God (beauty, goodness, truth, or oneness) so strongly that everything else drops away. We stand in pure wonder, pure admiration, ecstatic awe, entirely stripped of our own heartaches, headaches, and idiosyncratic focus. God’s person, beauty, goodness, and truth overwhelm us so as to take our minds off of ourselves and leave us standing outside of ourselves.
And being free of our own selves is the very definition of ecstasy (from the Greek, EK STASIS, to stand outside oneself.) Thus, to be in adoration is to be in ecstasy – though, admittedly, that’s generally not how we imagine ecstasy today. For us, ecstasy is commonly imagined as an earthshaking standing inside of ourselves, idiosyncrasy in its peak expression. But true ecstasy is the opposite. It’s adoration.
Moreover, for Lohfink, not only is adoration the only true form of ecstasy, it’s also a way of being in heaven already right now and of experiencing time as it will be in heaven. Here’s how he puts it: “In the miracle of adoration we are already with God, entirely with God, and the boundary between time and eternity is removed. It is true that we cannot now comprehend that adoring God will be endless bliss. We always want to be doing something. We want to criticize, intervene, change, improve, shape. And rightly so! That is our duty. But in death, when we come to God, that all ceases. Then our existence will be pure astonishment, pure looking, pure praise, pure adoration – and unimaginable happiness. That is why there is also a form of adoration that uses no words. In it I hold out my own life to God, in silence, and with it the whole world, knowing God as Creator, as Lord, as the one to whom belongs all honor and praise. Adoration is the oblation of one’s life to God. Adoration is surrender. Adoration means entrusting oneself entirely to God. As we dwell in adoration, eternity begins – an eternity that does not withdraw from the world but opens to it utterly.”
Time can stand still! And it stands still when we’re in pure admiration, in awe, in wonder, in adoration. In those moments we stand outside of ourselves, in the purest form of love that exists. At that moment too we are in heaven, not having a foretaste of heaven, but actually being in heaven. Eternity will be like that, one moment like a thousand years and a thousand years like one moment.
When we adore, time stands still – and we’re in heaven!
6 MYTHS ABOUT GROWING HEALTHY CHURCHES
We are currently preparing for our REUILT 2018 Conference in which we’ll be welcoming parish leaders from 30 states and 10 countries. We’ll be spending two days talking about church health and growth.
Healthy churches are growing churches, because healthy things grow. Growth might come in different ways in different seasons: growth in discipleship, worship, service, mission, and other ways too, besides growth in attendance. But, however its growing, a healthy church is a growing church.
And of all the things that limit health and growth, a leader’s mindset can be the biggest obstacle. It was for us for sure. And until we changed our minds about a few myths we’d bought into, growth was beyond our grasp. There are lots of myths about church that churchpeople buy into.
Here are 6 we hear everywhere we go.
1 .What Works There Won’t Work Here
When we first visited Saddleback Church we were blown away, but walked away with the conviction that there was nothing there for us to learn. We confront the same myth everywhere we speak. The attitude is other parishes can’t learn from us because we’re a “rich” parish, or a northeastern parish, or a suburban parish. What works there won’t work here. Really? Why? Are you honestly that different? When it comes to what works where – it’s often your attitude that determines the outcome. Henry Ford once commented: “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
2. My Church Won’t Change
It is true people resist change, they always do. It is the inevitable reaction to any renewal or rebuilding effort, and the first one, so it can always slow you down or trip you up. But it’s just not true that you can’t move most people through change successfully. It’s work for sure, but it can be done.
3. If You Build It They Will Come
For generations the story of the Catholic Church in this country was “build it and they will come.” And they did. And they still do (on Christmas Eve or when it’s time for their kids’ First Communion), but to a sharply diminishing degree. And yet, lots of pastors are still operating like this myth is true, despite the empty pews. We’ve got to do more than open the doors on Sunday morning to get our parishes growing.
4. If I Only Had…
This was us for so long. We just looked at healthy churches and ached with jealousy for what they had that we didn’t have. And instead of doing something about it, or just being grateful for what we did have, we used it as an excuse for inaction instead.
5. My People Don’t Give/ My People Won’t Serve
Maybe they don’t, but whose fault is that? Just because they don’t doesn’t mean they won’t if you make a compelling and consistent case for it in all your preaching and teaching.
6. People Don’t Like Big Churches
The data doesn’t support the view that people don’t like big churches. Many large churches keep growing. And many smaller churches keep shrinking. Sure, it’s important to keep your church relational and preserving fellowship as a core value of your community. Our investment in our weekend café is one way we make this happen and our Small Groups program is another. It’s not a question of whether people like big churches or small churches. People like effective churches.
We are currently preparing for our REUILT 2018 Conference in which we’ll be welcoming parish leaders from 30 states and 10 countries. We’ll be spending two days talking about church health and growth.
Healthy churches are growing churches, because healthy things grow. Growth might come in different ways in different seasons: growth in discipleship, worship, service, mission, and other ways too, besides growth in attendance. But, however its growing, a healthy church is a growing church.
And of all the things that limit health and growth, a leader’s mindset can be the biggest obstacle. It was for us for sure. And until we changed our minds about a few myths we’d bought into, growth was beyond our grasp. There are lots of myths about church that churchpeople buy into.
Here are 6 we hear everywhere we go.
1 .What Works There Won’t Work Here
When we first visited Saddleback Church we were blown away, but walked away with the conviction that there was nothing there for us to learn. We confront the same myth everywhere we speak. The attitude is other parishes can’t learn from us because we’re a “rich” parish, or a northeastern parish, or a suburban parish. What works there won’t work here. Really? Why? Are you honestly that different? When it comes to what works where – it’s often your attitude that determines the outcome. Henry Ford once commented: “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
2. My Church Won’t Change
It is true people resist change, they always do. It is the inevitable reaction to any renewal or rebuilding effort, and the first one, so it can always slow you down or trip you up. But it’s just not true that you can’t move most people through change successfully. It’s work for sure, but it can be done.
3. If You Build It They Will Come
For generations the story of the Catholic Church in this country was “build it and they will come.” And they did. And they still do (on Christmas Eve or when it’s time for their kids’ First Communion), but to a sharply diminishing degree. And yet, lots of pastors are still operating like this myth is true, despite the empty pews. We’ve got to do more than open the doors on Sunday morning to get our parishes growing.
4. If I Only Had…
This was us for so long. We just looked at healthy churches and ached with jealousy for what they had that we didn’t have. And instead of doing something about it, or just being grateful for what we did have, we used it as an excuse for inaction instead.
5. My People Don’t Give/ My People Won’t Serve
Maybe they don’t, but whose fault is that? Just because they don’t doesn’t mean they won’t if you make a compelling and consistent case for it in all your preaching and teaching.
6. People Don’t Like Big Churches
The data doesn’t support the view that people don’t like big churches. Many large churches keep growing. And many smaller churches keep shrinking. Sure, it’s important to keep your church relational and preserving fellowship as a core value of your community. Our investment in our weekend café is one way we make this happen and our Small Groups program is another. It’s not a question of whether people like big churches or small churches. People like effective churches.
Healthy churches are growing churches, because healthy things grow. Growth might come in different ways in different seasons: growth in discipleship, worship, service, mission, and other ways too, besides growth in attendance. But, however its growing, a healthy church is a growing church.
And of all the things that limit health and growth, a leader’s mindset can be the biggest obstacle. It was for us for sure. And until we changed our minds about a few myths we’d bought into, growth was beyond our grasp. There are lots of myths about church that churchpeople buy into.
Here are 6 we hear everywhere we go.
1 .What Works There Won’t Work Here
When we first visited Saddleback Church we were blown away, but walked away with the conviction that there was nothing there for us to learn. We confront the same myth everywhere we speak. The attitude is other parishes can’t learn from us because we’re a “rich” parish, or a northeastern parish, or a suburban parish. What works there won’t work here. Really? Why? Are you honestly that different? When it comes to what works where – it’s often your attitude that determines the outcome. Henry Ford once commented: “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
2. My Church Won’t Change
It is true people resist change, they always do. It is the inevitable reaction to any renewal or rebuilding effort, and the first one, so it can always slow you down or trip you up. But it’s just not true that you can’t move most people through change successfully. It’s work for sure, but it can be done.
3. If You Build It They Will Come
For generations the story of the Catholic Church in this country was “build it and they will come.” And they did. And they still do (on Christmas Eve or when it’s time for their kids’ First Communion), but to a sharply diminishing degree. And yet, lots of pastors are still operating like this myth is true, despite the empty pews. We’ve got to do more than open the doors on Sunday morning to get our parishes growing.
4. If I Only Had…
This was us for so long. We just looked at healthy churches and ached with jealousy for what they had that we didn’t have. And instead of doing something about it, or just being grateful for what we did have, we used it as an excuse for inaction instead.
5. My People Don’t Give/ My People Won’t Serve
Maybe they don’t, but whose fault is that? Just because they don’t doesn’t mean they won’t if you make a compelling and consistent case for it in all your preaching and teaching.
6. People Don’t Like Big Churches
The data doesn’t support the view that people don’t like big churches. Many large churches keep growing. And many smaller churches keep shrinking. Sure, it’s important to keep your church relational and preserving fellowship as a core value of your community. Our investment in our weekend café is one way we make this happen and our Small Groups program is another. It’s not a question of whether people like big churches or small churches. People like effective churches.
Return to Galilee
After the discovery of the empty tomb, the disciples had only one instruction to follow in the midst of their fear and uncertainty: go to Galilee. That is still an instruction to us today, says Brian Purfield, because we are in the same place as the disciples: ‘This is where we live: after the resurrection but before the return, entrusted with a message that is wonderful, but the import of which we do not quite understand.’ Where is our Galilee, and how do we get there? Brian Purfield is a member of the Mount Street Jesuit Centre team and teaches short courses in theology.
As a general rule, the gospels end on a note of triumph. In the popular imagination, at least, the gospels end as the faithful women trudge in darkness to the garden where, in Zeffirelli-like fashion, brilliant light and a blonde-haired angel emerge from the tomb to say that everything is going to be all right.
Mark’s Gospel, however, ends on a rather more sombre and subdued note. The last words of Mark’s Gospel are, ‘for they were afraid’ (Mk 16:8).[1] Yes, the stone is rolled back and there is an angelic messenger. But no risen Jesus, no lakeside barbecue, no traveller on the road who stays for supper, no mysterious gardener who knows our name. Only the message that Jesus is resurrected, the command to tell Peter and the others to go back to Galilee, and three terrified women who may or may not tell anybody anything.
You can read the complete article by clicking here
After the discovery of the empty tomb, the disciples had only one instruction to follow in the midst of their fear and uncertainty: go to Galilee. That is still an instruction to us today, says Brian Purfield, because we are in the same place as the disciples: ‘This is where we live: after the resurrection but before the return, entrusted with a message that is wonderful, but the import of which we do not quite understand.’ Where is our Galilee, and how do we get there? Brian Purfield is a member of the Mount Street Jesuit Centre team and teaches short courses in theology.
As a general rule, the gospels end on a note of triumph. In the popular imagination, at least, the gospels end as the faithful women trudge in darkness to the garden where, in Zeffirelli-like fashion, brilliant light and a blonde-haired angel emerge from the tomb to say that everything is going to be all right.
Mark’s Gospel, however, ends on a rather more sombre and subdued note. The last words of Mark’s Gospel are, ‘for they were afraid’ (Mk 16:8).[1] Yes, the stone is rolled back and there is an angelic messenger. But no risen Jesus, no lakeside barbecue, no traveller on the road who stays for supper, no mysterious gardener who knows our name. Only the message that Jesus is resurrected, the command to tell Peter and the others to go back to Galilee, and three terrified women who may or may not tell anybody anything.
You can read the complete article by clicking here
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