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: Felicity Sly
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.
Our Parish Sacramental Life
Eucharistic Adoration - Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon, concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Weekday
Masses 3rd – 6th July
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin … St Thomas
Ministry Rosters 7th & 8th July, 2018
Devonport: 
10:30am: S Riley, M Sherriff, R Beaton, D &
M Barrientos Parish House Mower roster
July: B Windebank
Ulverstone:
Penguin:
Latrobe:
Port Sorell:
Readings this week – Thirteenth
Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
First Reading: Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-34
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
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)
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 3rd – 6th July
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin … St Thomas
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe
Thursday: 12noon Devonport
Friday: 9:30am
Ulverstone
12noon
Devonport
Weekend Masses 7th & 8th July, 2018 Saturday Mass: 9:30am Ulverstone
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin
6:00pm Devonport
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am Devonport
11:00am Sheffield 5:00pm Latrobe
Ministry Rosters 7th & 8th July, 2018
Devonport:
Readers Vigil: M Gaffney, H Lim 10:30am: F Sly, J Tuxworth, T Omogbai-Musa
Ministers of Communion:
Vigil: B, B & B Windebank, T Bird, R
Baker
10:30am: S Riley, M Sherriff, R Beaton, D &
M Barrientos Parish House Mower roster
July: B Windebank
Cleaners: 6th July: M.W.C 13th July: B Paul, D Atkins, V Riley
Piety Shop: 7th
July: H Thompson 8th July: K Hull
Ulverstone:
Reader/s: D Prior Ministers of Communion: M Byrne, D Griffin, K Foster, R
Locket
Cleaners: G & M Seen, C Roberts Flowers: M Byrne Hospitality: T Good Team
Penguin:
Greeters: P Ravaillion, P Lade Commentator: E Nickols
Readers: M Murray, T Clayton
Ministers of
Communion: S Ewing,
P Lade Liturgy: S. C J Setting Up: S Ewing
Care of Church: M Bowles, J Reynolds
Latrobe:
Reader: H Lim Minister of Communion: I Campbell Procession
of gifts: M Clarke
Port Sorell:
Readers: G Bellchambers, T Jeffries Minister of Communion: L Post Clean/Flowers/Prepare: A Hynes
Readings this week – Thirteenth
Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
First Reading: Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-34
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:7.9 13-15
Gospel:
Mark 5:21-43
PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY’S GOSPEL:
Conscious of the Lord’s loving presence with me, I take time to come to some inner stillness, perhaps focusing on my breathing for a while.
In time I turn slowly and prayerfully to the text, asking the Holy Spirit to help me enter this familiar scene, to visualise the surroundings.
Who am I? Jesus...? A disciple …? Jairus...? Or simply myself?
I notice what most strikes me ... the sadness, the hopes … the disbelief and cynicism …?
Or perhaps the faith, tenderness and concern...?
Maybe a person or situation from my own life comes to mind.
Noticing how I feel, I bring all of this gently before the Lord, sharing from my heart, friend to friend.
If there is a grace I need to ask for, I do so with openness and trust.
Before I end my prayer, I may like to take a moment to pray for all those bowed down by sickness or grief, or for anyone struggling to have faith.
I finish with a slow sign of the cross.
Readings next week – Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY’S GOSPEL:
Conscious of the Lord’s loving presence with me, I take time to come to some inner stillness, perhaps focusing on my breathing for a while.
In time I turn slowly and prayerfully to the text, asking the Holy Spirit to help me enter this familiar scene, to visualise the surroundings.
Who am I? Jesus...? A disciple …? Jairus...? Or simply myself?
I notice what most strikes me ... the sadness, the hopes … the disbelief and cynicism …?
Or perhaps the faith, tenderness and concern...?
Maybe a person or situation from my own life comes to mind.
Noticing how I feel, I bring all of this gently before the Lord, sharing from my heart, friend to friend.
If there is a grace I need to ask for, I do so with openness and trust.
Before I end my prayer, I may like to take a moment to pray for all those bowed down by sickness or grief, or for anyone struggling to have faith.
I finish with a slow sign of the cross.
In time I turn slowly and prayerfully to the text, asking the Holy Spirit to help me enter this familiar scene, to visualise the surroundings.
Who am I? Jesus...? A disciple …? Jairus...? Or simply myself?
I notice what most strikes me ... the sadness, the hopes … the disbelief and cynicism …?
Or perhaps the faith, tenderness and concern...?
Maybe a person or situation from my own life comes to mind.
Noticing how I feel, I bring all of this gently before the Lord, sharing from my heart, friend to friend.
If there is a grace I need to ask for, I do so with openness and trust.
Before I end my prayer, I may like to take a moment to pray for all those bowed down by sickness or grief, or for anyone struggling to have faith.
I finish with a slow sign of the cross.
Readings next week – Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
First Reading: Ezekiel 2: 2-5
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10
Gospel: Mark 6: 1-6
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Let us pray for those whose anniversary
occurs about this time: 27th June – 3rd July
Basil
Triffett, Terry Charlesworth, Fr Michael Fitzpatrick, Herbert Smith, Rosslyn
Wilson, Leonard
Hamilton, Don Wilson, Eileen White, Hazel Gaffney, Kathleen Edwards, Geraldine
Roden, Eileen Joyce, John Csoka, Frances Preston, Mary Woodcock, Pamela
Withers, Kora Pembleton, Paul Mulcahy, Charles Desire, Laurance Gibbons, Maud Powell, John Cochrane, Jimmy Dunlop and Pat Landers.
May they Rest in Peace
Weekly
Ramblings
It is has
been an interesting week as I have tried to settle back into the Parish after
severe jet lag. I’m not asking for sympathy (although it is always
appreciated!!) but just simply expressing what this week has been like.
As
mentioned elsewhere the Parish Pastoral Team meets this Sunday and we (John and
Glenys Lee-Archer and I) will be sharing some of our experiences of the time in
the parishes of Saint Benedict (Halifax) and the Church of the Nativity
(Baltimore). The PPT will spend time looking at the best way to share our
experiences with the Parish and so more information will be available in coming
weeks.
This week
I will heading to Hobart on Monday afternoon for the Council of Priests Meeting
on Tuesday and I also have some other things to do (including going to the
Dentist) before returning on Wednesday afternoon.
Please
take care on the roads and I look forward to seeing you next weekend.
FROM THE
PARISH PASTORAL TEAM
CARE
& CONCERN:
LUNCH:
FOOTY
TICKETS:
BINGO - Thursday Nights - OLOL Hall, Devonport. Eyes down 7.30pm!
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
ST VINCENT PALLOTTI SCHOLARSHIP: APPLICATIONS NOW
OPEN
SOLEMNITY OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL: will be celebrated with a sung
Mass at the Carmelite Monastery, 7 Cambridge St., Launceston on Monday 16th
July at 9:30am. Archbishop Julian Porteous will be the celebrant and homilist.
Mass will be followed by morning tea. All are welcome to join the Carmelite
Nuns for this celebration. A Novena of Masses and Prayers will be offered in
preparation from 7th – 15th July. Intentions may be sent to Mother Teresa
Benedicta at the Monastery.
OLMC
DELORAINE RE-UNION LUNCH: for past
pupils on Friday 27th July at Pier 01 Ulverstone, 12 noon for 12:30pm
start. For enquiries please phone Mary
Owen 6435:4406.
SEMINARIANS
SUPPORT DINNER 2018:
THE MARY OF SCRIPTURE AND THE MARY OF DEVOTIONS
This article is taken from the Archive of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find the original article here
There’s an axiom that says: Roman Catholics tend to adore Mary while Protestants and Evangelicals tend to ignore Mary. Neither is ideal.
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, has, in effect, two histories within Christian tradition. We have the Mary of Scripture and we have the Mary of Devotions, and both offer something special for our Christian journey.
The Mary of Devotions is the more well-known, though mostly within Roman Catholic circles. This is the Mary invoked in the rosary, the Mary of popular shrines, the Sorrowful Mother of our litanies, the Mother with the soft heart through whom we can get the ear of God, the Mary of purity and chastity, the Mother who understands human suffering, the Mother who can soften the hearts of murderers, and the Mother we can always turn to.
And this Mary is pre-eminently the Mother of the poor. Karl Rahner once pointed out that when you look at all the apparitions of Mary that have been officially approved by the church you will notice that she has always appeared to a poor person – a child, an illiterate peasant, a group of children, someone without social standing. She’s never appeared to a theologian in his study, to a pope, or to a millionaire banker. She’s always been the person to whom the poor look. Marian devotion is a mysticism of the poor.
We see this, for example, very powerfully in the effect that Our Lady of Guadalupe has had on much of Latin America. In all of the Americas, most of the indigenous peoples are now Christian. However, in North America, while most of the indigenous peoples are Christian, Christianity itself is not seen as a native religion, but rather as a religion brought to the native peoples from elsewhere. In Latin America, in every place where Our Lady of Guadalupe is popular, Christianity is seen to be a native religion.
But piety and devotions also run the risk of theological sloppiness and unhealthy sentimentality. That’s the case too with the Mary of Devotions. We’ve tended to elevate Mary to divine status (which is simply wrong) and we have far too often encrusted her in so much piety that she, the Mary of Devotions, cannot possibly be the same person who wrote the Magnificat. The Mary of Devotions is often so enshrined in piety, over-simplicity, and asexuality that she needs to be protected from human complexity. Still, the Mary of Devotions offers us a lot vis-à-vis our spiritual journey.
Much more ignored is the Mary of Scripture and the role the various Gospels assign to her.
In the Synoptic Gospels, Mary is presented as a model of discipleship. More simply, she’s shown to us as the one person who gets it right from the beginning. But that isn’t immediately evident. On the surface, the opposite sometimes seems to be the case. For example, on a couple of occasions as Jesus is speaking to a crowd he is interrupted and told that his mother and his family are outside wanting to speak to him. His response: “Who are my mother and who are my brothers and sisters? It’s those who hear the word of God and keep it.” In saying this, Jesus isn’t distancing his mother from himself and his message, the opposite. Before this incident is recorded in the Gospels, the evangelists have been very careful to point out that Mary was the first person to hear the word of God and keep it. What happens here is that Jesus singles out his mother first of all for her faith, not for her biology. In the Synoptic Gospels, Mary is the paradigm for discipleship. She’s the first to hear the word of God and keep it.
John’s Gospel gives her a different role. Here she’s not the paradigm of discipleship (a role John gives to the Beloved disciple and to Mary Magdala) but is presented as Eve, the mother of humanity, and the mother of each of us. Interestingly, John never gives us Mary’s name, in his Gospel she is always referred to as “the Mother of Jesus”. And in this role she does two things:
First, she gives voice to human finitude, as she does at the wedding feast of Cana when she tells her son (who is always divine in John’s Gospel) that “they have no wine”. In John’s Gospel, this is not just a conversation between Mary and Jesus; but also a conversation between the Mother of Humanity and God. Secondly, as Eve, as universal mother, and as our mother, she stands in helplessness under human pain and within human pain when she stands under the cross. In this, she shows herself as universal mother but also as an example of how injustice must be handled, namely, by standing within it in a way that does not replicate its hatred and violence so as to give it back in kind.
Mary offers us a wonderful example, not to be adored or ignored.
The Template of Reality
God is love. —1
John 4:8
[1] Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, trans. J. M. Cohen, “Sketch
of a Personal Universe,” Human Energy (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich: 1962), 72.
Your prayers
are asked for the sick:
Mary Webb, Kasia Hoffler, Rosalinda Grimes, Rose
Kirk-Patrick & ….
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Kath Jamieson, Dawn
Beamish, Mary Binks, Mary Halligan, Elaine Holloway-Sheppard, Helen Cooper, Br
Jack Higgins CFC and Beverley Russell
Let us pray for those whose anniversary
occurs about this time: 27th June – 3rd July
Basil
Triffett, Terry Charlesworth, Fr Michael Fitzpatrick, Herbert Smith, Rosslyn
Wilson, Leonard
Hamilton, Don Wilson, Eileen White, Hazel Gaffney, Kathleen Edwards, Geraldine
Roden, Eileen Joyce, John Csoka, Frances Preston, Mary Woodcock, Pamela
Withers, Kora Pembleton, Paul Mulcahy, Charles Desire, Laurance Gibbons, Maud Powell, John Cochrane, Jimmy Dunlop and Pat Landers.
May they Rest in Peace
Weekly
Ramblings
It is has
been an interesting week as I have tried to settle back into the Parish after
severe jet lag. I’m not asking for sympathy (although it is always
appreciated!!) but just simply expressing what this week has been like.
As
mentioned elsewhere the Parish Pastoral Team meets this Sunday and we (John and
Glenys Lee-Archer and I) will be sharing some of our experiences of the time in
the parishes of Saint Benedict (Halifax) and the Church of the Nativity
(Baltimore). The PPT will spend time looking at the best way to share our
experiences with the Parish and so more information will be available in coming
weeks.
This week
I will heading to Hobart on Monday afternoon for the Council of Priests Meeting
on Tuesday and I also have some other things to do (including going to the
Dentist) before returning on Wednesday afternoon.
Please
take care on the roads and I look forward to seeing you next weekend.
FROM THE
PARISH PASTORAL TEAM
Your Parish Pastoral Team (PPT) continues to focus on the
Vision endorsed by the former Parish Pastoral Team: to be a vibrant Catholic community, unified in its commitment to
growing disciples for Christ. Unity is ‘the state of being joined as a
whole’, and one step to achieving unity is through communication. The challenge
for the PPT is to communicate, to let you know what steps we are exploring, and
to listen to you. As such, we will have short updates regularly in the Parish
Newsletter, and welcome discussions with you. On Sunday afternoon, we will be
meeting to listen to and reflect on the experiences that Fr Mike, John Lee-Archer
and Glenys Lee-Archer bring back from their recent trip to Canada and the
United States.
Please take the opportunity to talk to your Parish Pastoral
Team: Felicity Sly (Chair), Fr Mike Delaney, Fr Paschal Okpon, Jenny Garnsey,
Carol Seager, Mandy Eden, Glenys Lee-Archer, Mike Hendrey, Christine Miller and
the Leadership Team: John Lee-Archer and Grainne Hendrey.
CARE
& CONCERN:
It was decided at a recent gathering that the Bereavement
Group (Siloam) would now take the form of a social group. The group will meet on the second Tuesday of
each month at MacKillop Hill, Forth for afternoon tea. The group decided also to extend an
invitation to other parishioners who might like to come along, particularly
those who do not have the opportunity for social activity, those whose
spouses/partners are now in residential care etc. Transport can be provided.
If you would like to find out more, please contact Mary
Davies 6424:1183 / 0447 241 182, Margaret McKenzie 6425:1414 / 0419 392 937 or
Toni Muir 6424:5296 / 0438 245 296.
For catering purposes we would appreciate your advising of
your attendance to any of the above numbers.
LUNCH:
Next Sunday 8th July at the Lighthouse Hotel, Ulverstone 12noon
-12:20pm. All welcome. For more enquiries or if you need a lift please phone
Maureen McLaren 6425:2021.
FOOTY
TICKETS:
Round 14 (Friday 22nd June) Port Adelaide by 10 points.
Congratulations to the following winners; A Davies, A Xavier, J Pintar. For a little bit of fun why not help
support our Parish fundraiser and buy a footy margin ticket (or two) $2.00
each. 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 5th July –
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
ST VINCENT PALLOTTI SCHOLARSHIP: APPLICATIONS NOW
OPEN
The St Vincent Pallotti Scholarship Trust offer
scholarships to enable lay people to further their understanding and skills in
leadership/ministry or a specialised activity, such as promoting faith
enhancement, social justice and pastoral care.
Applications close 23rd July 2018. Details and application: http://www.pallottine.org.au/scholarships/st-vincent-pallotti-scholarship-for-lay-inistry.html
SOLEMNITY OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL: will be celebrated with a sung
Mass at the Carmelite Monastery, 7 Cambridge St., Launceston on Monday 16th
July at 9:30am. Archbishop Julian Porteous will be the celebrant and homilist.
Mass will be followed by morning tea. All are welcome to join the Carmelite
Nuns for this celebration. A Novena of Masses and Prayers will be offered in
preparation from 7th – 15th July. Intentions may be sent to Mother Teresa
Benedicta at the Monastery.
OLMC
DELORAINE RE-UNION LUNCH: for past
pupils on Friday 27th July at Pier 01 Ulverstone, 12 noon for 12:30pm
start. For enquiries please phone Mary
Owen 6435:4406.
SEMINARIANS
SUPPORT DINNER 2018:
The 2018 Archdiocese/Parishes Seminarian Support Dinner is
being coordinated by the Knights of the Southern Cross together with the valued
support of Guilford Young College. The dinner represents a wonderful
opportunity to gather as a single community of faith to enjoy each other’s
company while also allowing us as a Catholic community to contribute much
needed funds to support our Seminarians. Your attendance in support to the 2018
Archdiocese/Parishes Seminarian Support Dinner would be most welcomed. The
event is being held on Thursday 16th August 2018 commencing 6.30pm, Guilford
Young College – Hobart Campus. The cost for the dinner is $60.00 per person and
will include a complimentary drink upon arrival followed by canapés and a
four-course meal. To secure your ticket, these are being coordinated through
individual Parishes and our organisations, please speak to your Parish priest
or other members of your Parish. If you have any queries on please contact the
Dinner Co-ordinator, Mr Les Gardner 6229:0103
THE MARY OF SCRIPTURE AND THE MARY OF DEVOTIONS
This article is taken from the Archive of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find the original article hereThere’s an axiom that says: Roman Catholics tend to adore Mary while Protestants and Evangelicals tend to ignore Mary. Neither is ideal.
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, has, in effect, two histories within Christian tradition. We have the Mary of Scripture and we have the Mary of Devotions, and both offer something special for our Christian journey.
The Mary of Devotions is the more well-known, though mostly within Roman Catholic circles. This is the Mary invoked in the rosary, the Mary of popular shrines, the Sorrowful Mother of our litanies, the Mother with the soft heart through whom we can get the ear of God, the Mary of purity and chastity, the Mother who understands human suffering, the Mother who can soften the hearts of murderers, and the Mother we can always turn to.
And this Mary is pre-eminently the Mother of the poor. Karl Rahner once pointed out that when you look at all the apparitions of Mary that have been officially approved by the church you will notice that she has always appeared to a poor person – a child, an illiterate peasant, a group of children, someone without social standing. She’s never appeared to a theologian in his study, to a pope, or to a millionaire banker. She’s always been the person to whom the poor look. Marian devotion is a mysticism of the poor.
We see this, for example, very powerfully in the effect that Our Lady of Guadalupe has had on much of Latin America. In all of the Americas, most of the indigenous peoples are now Christian. However, in North America, while most of the indigenous peoples are Christian, Christianity itself is not seen as a native religion, but rather as a religion brought to the native peoples from elsewhere. In Latin America, in every place where Our Lady of Guadalupe is popular, Christianity is seen to be a native religion.
But piety and devotions also run the risk of theological sloppiness and unhealthy sentimentality. That’s the case too with the Mary of Devotions. We’ve tended to elevate Mary to divine status (which is simply wrong) and we have far too often encrusted her in so much piety that she, the Mary of Devotions, cannot possibly be the same person who wrote the Magnificat. The Mary of Devotions is often so enshrined in piety, over-simplicity, and asexuality that she needs to be protected from human complexity. Still, the Mary of Devotions offers us a lot vis-à-vis our spiritual journey.
Much more ignored is the Mary of Scripture and the role the various Gospels assign to her.
In the Synoptic Gospels, Mary is presented as a model of discipleship. More simply, she’s shown to us as the one person who gets it right from the beginning. But that isn’t immediately evident. On the surface, the opposite sometimes seems to be the case. For example, on a couple of occasions as Jesus is speaking to a crowd he is interrupted and told that his mother and his family are outside wanting to speak to him. His response: “Who are my mother and who are my brothers and sisters? It’s those who hear the word of God and keep it.” In saying this, Jesus isn’t distancing his mother from himself and his message, the opposite. Before this incident is recorded in the Gospels, the evangelists have been very careful to point out that Mary was the first person to hear the word of God and keep it. What happens here is that Jesus singles out his mother first of all for her faith, not for her biology. In the Synoptic Gospels, Mary is the paradigm for discipleship. She’s the first to hear the word of God and keep it.
John’s Gospel gives her a different role. Here she’s not the paradigm of discipleship (a role John gives to the Beloved disciple and to Mary Magdala) but is presented as Eve, the mother of humanity, and the mother of each of us. Interestingly, John never gives us Mary’s name, in his Gospel she is always referred to as “the Mother of Jesus”. And in this role she does two things:
First, she gives voice to human finitude, as she does at the wedding feast of Cana when she tells her son (who is always divine in John’s Gospel) that “they have no wine”. In John’s Gospel, this is not just a conversation between Mary and Jesus; but also a conversation between the Mother of Humanity and God. Secondly, as Eve, as universal mother, and as our mother, she stands in helplessness under human pain and within human pain when she stands under the cross. In this, she shows herself as universal mother but also as an example of how injustice must be handled, namely, by standing within it in a way that does not replicate its hatred and violence so as to give it back in kind.
Mary offers us a wonderful example, not to be adored or ignored.
The Template of Reality
This is an article taken from the daily email from Fr Richard Rohr OFM. You can subscribe to receive these emails by clicking here
God is love. —1
John 4:8
The physical structure of the universe is love. —Pierre
Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) [1]
If a loving Creator started this whole thing—the Big Bang,
the evolution of diverse and beautiful life forms—then there has to be a “DNA
connection,” as it were, between the One who creates and what is created. The
basic template of reality is Trinitarian, it’s relational. God is relationship.
“Let us create in our own image, in the likeness of
ourselves,” the Creator says (see Genesis 1:26). The Hebrew writer used the
plural pronouns for some wonderful reason.
St. Bonaventure (1221-1274) called the Trinity a “fountain
fullness” of love. [2] God is unhindered dialogue, a positive and inclusive
flow, an eternal waterwheel of self-emptying and outpouring love—that knows it
can completely self-empty because it will always be filled back up. This is the
very definition and description of divine love; all human love merely imitates,
approximates, and celebrates this same pattern.
The energy in the universe is not in the planets or in the
protons or neutrons, but in the relationship between them. Not in the particles
but in the space between them. Not in the cells of organisms but in the way the
cells feed and give feedback to one another. Not in any precise definition of
the three persons of the Trinity as much as in the relationship between the
Three! This is where all the power for infinite renewal is at work:
The loving relationship between them. The infinite love
flowing between them. The dance itself.
[1] Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, trans. J. M. Cohen, “Sketch
of a Personal Universe,” Human Energy (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich: 1962), 72.
[2] Bonaventure, Breviloquium, part 1, “On the Trinity of
God.”
Adapted from Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine
Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016), 43, 55, 56;
and
Richard Rohr, God As Us: The Sacred Feminine and the Sacred
Masculine, disc 2 (Center for Action and Contemplation: 2011), DVD, CD, MP3
download.
HOW WELCOMING IS YOUR CHURCH?
This is an article taken from the weekly blog of Fr Michael White, pastor of the Church of the Nativity, Timonium, Maryland. You can find the original blog here
Asked why they don’t attend church, the most common response unchurched people give is simply: “Because I don’t feel welcome.” Unfortunately, churches can be very unwelcoming and not even realize it. Sometimes dozens of little details church people don’t even see subtly communicate to the unchurched that they don’t belong.
At Nativity, we have worked hard to change that perception, and we know we have to keep working at it because the gravitational pull will always be towards insiders. Through the cultivation of an irresistible environment for “Timonium Tim” (the quintessential unchurched person in our zip code) we keep growing our congregation both in numbers and in discipleship.
Here are three things we focus on:
1. Get the people out of the pews.
“A non-serving Christian is a contradiction in terms,” as our friend Rick Warren likes to point out. We encourage every parishioner to serve in a ministry. Serving helps those who serve grow closer to Jesus Christ who himself “did not come to be served, but to serve.” (Mt 20:28). But a culture of service that is driven throughout the life of the parish changes the culture of the parish and is extremely attractive to newcomers.
2. Make the details count.
It is difficult for churchpeople to appreciate how difficult it is for unchurched people to come back to church, especially if they’ve had bad experiences in the past. They need encouragement from the start.
After parking their car – our message starts at the parking lot – they are welcomed by our parking ministers, our greeters, staff members and host ministers. Before they even sit down, they have had perhaps 4 or 5 pleasant exchanges. During Mass we project the lyrics, prayers and responses on screens so the unchurched don’t feel excluded by a language they do not yet speak. We even broadcast the Liturgy of the Word into the Café, for those who are not yet ready to even cross the threshold of the sanctuary. Probably the most impactful thing we do is also the easiest: we greet the unchurched, we acknowledge their presence. Each week at the end of Mass we always say some form of: “If you’re a newcomer or visitor, if this is your first time back to church in a long time, or your first time ever, welcome, we’re glad you’re here.”
3. Be a community.
The early Church successfully attracted people to their community because they were such an attractive community. “The word of God continued to spread, and the community of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly.” (Acts 6:7) The Greek word for community is koinonia, which means “community through participation”. The early Christians shared everything they had, enjoyed worshipping together, spent their free time in fellowship and were open to anybody who wanted to join them. That is what made the early Church attractive to outsiders. If your congregation is a joyful koinonia, first timers will be attracted and come back the next week.
This is an article taken from the weekly blog of Fr Michael White, pastor of the Church of the Nativity, Timonium, Maryland. You can find the original blog here
Asked why they don’t attend church, the most common response unchurched people give is simply: “Because I don’t feel welcome.” Unfortunately, churches can be very unwelcoming and not even realize it. Sometimes dozens of little details church people don’t even see subtly communicate to the unchurched that they don’t belong.
At Nativity, we have worked hard to change that perception, and we know we have to keep working at it because the gravitational pull will always be towards insiders. Through the cultivation of an irresistible environment for “Timonium Tim” (the quintessential unchurched person in our zip code) we keep growing our congregation both in numbers and in discipleship.
Here are three things we focus on:
1. Get the people out of the pews.
“A non-serving Christian is a contradiction in terms,” as our friend Rick Warren likes to point out. We encourage every parishioner to serve in a ministry. Serving helps those who serve grow closer to Jesus Christ who himself “did not come to be served, but to serve.” (Mt 20:28). But a culture of service that is driven throughout the life of the parish changes the culture of the parish and is extremely attractive to newcomers.
2. Make the details count.
It is difficult for churchpeople to appreciate how difficult it is for unchurched people to come back to church, especially if they’ve had bad experiences in the past. They need encouragement from the start.
After parking their car – our message starts at the parking lot – they are welcomed by our parking ministers, our greeters, staff members and host ministers. Before they even sit down, they have had perhaps 4 or 5 pleasant exchanges. During Mass we project the lyrics, prayers and responses on screens so the unchurched don’t feel excluded by a language they do not yet speak. We even broadcast the Liturgy of the Word into the Café, for those who are not yet ready to even cross the threshold of the sanctuary. Probably the most impactful thing we do is also the easiest: we greet the unchurched, we acknowledge their presence. Each week at the end of Mass we always say some form of: “If you’re a newcomer or visitor, if this is your first time back to church in a long time, or your first time ever, welcome, we’re glad you’re here.”
3. Be a community.
The early Church successfully attracted people to their community because they were such an attractive community. “The word of God continued to spread, and the community of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly.” (Acts 6:7) The Greek word for community is koinonia, which means “community through participation”. The early Christians shared everything they had, enjoyed worshipping together, spent their free time in fellowship and were open to anybody who wanted to join them. That is what made the early Church attractive to outsiders. If your congregation is a joyful koinonia, first timers will be attracted and come back the next week.
The Solemnity of Peter and Paul
This is taken from the website of the Jesuits in Britain - www.thinkingfaith.org. You can read the entire article by clicking here
During this past week we celebrated the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. ‘They were both apostles of Christ who sacrificed their lives to the same persecution, but their origins, personalities and achievements remind us that we live with diversity as well as uniformity in the Church of Christ.’ Peter Edmonds SJ describes how God’s grace worked differently in the lives of these two saints, neither of whom had straightforward paths to holiness. Peter Edmonds SJ is a tutor in biblical studies at Campion Hall, University of Oxford.
29 June is the day set apart in the Catholic world for the celebration of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. Apart from Mary, the mother of Jesus, St Joseph and St John the Baptist, these are the only human figures commemorated in the calendar of the universal Church with a day given the rank of ‘Solemnity’. Like all saints, Peter and Paul did not come with sanctity ready-made from heaven. We respect them because in them the grace of God achieved its purpose. Such grace works in different ways. Sometimes God’s grace, like the prophet Jeremiah, has to ‘destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant’ (Jeremiah 1:10). Paul and Peter offer us instances of each of these dynamics.
In Paul’s case, God’s grace had ‘to destroy and overthrow’. Paul boasted how ‘as to the law he was a Pharisee. . . as to righteousness under the law blameless’, but, ‘ Whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things’ (Philippians 3:4-7). When Paul prayed to be freed from ‘the thorn in the flesh’, a messenger of Satan sent to torment him, the Lord replied, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Corinthians 12:10). As to boasting, he wrote, ‘If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness’ (2 Corinthians 11:30). Luke in Acts gives a dramatic instance of this grace of God at work. His account of Paul’s conversion begins with Paul ‘breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord’, but it concludes by describing how Paul, having met the light of Christ, had to be led by the hand and brought into Damascus. ‘For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank’ (Acts 9:1-9).
This is taken from the website of the Jesuits in Britain - www.thinkingfaith.org. You can read the entire article by clicking here
During this past week we celebrated the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. ‘They were both apostles of Christ who sacrificed their lives to the same persecution, but their origins, personalities and achievements remind us that we live with diversity as well as uniformity in the Church of Christ.’ Peter Edmonds SJ describes how God’s grace worked differently in the lives of these two saints, neither of whom had straightforward paths to holiness. Peter Edmonds SJ is a tutor in biblical studies at Campion Hall, University of Oxford.
29 June is the day set apart in the Catholic world for the celebration of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. Apart from Mary, the mother of Jesus, St Joseph and St John the Baptist, these are the only human figures commemorated in the calendar of the universal Church with a day given the rank of ‘Solemnity’. Like all saints, Peter and Paul did not come with sanctity ready-made from heaven. We respect them because in them the grace of God achieved its purpose. Such grace works in different ways. Sometimes God’s grace, like the prophet Jeremiah, has to ‘destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant’ (Jeremiah 1:10). Paul and Peter offer us instances of each of these dynamics.
In Paul’s case, God’s grace had ‘to destroy and overthrow’. Paul boasted how ‘as to the law he was a Pharisee. . . as to righteousness under the law blameless’, but, ‘ Whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things’ (Philippians 3:4-7). When Paul prayed to be freed from ‘the thorn in the flesh’, a messenger of Satan sent to torment him, the Lord replied, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Corinthians 12:10). As to boasting, he wrote, ‘If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness’ (2 Corinthians 11:30). Luke in Acts gives a dramatic instance of this grace of God at work. His account of Paul’s conversion begins with Paul ‘breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord’, but it concludes by describing how Paul, having met the light of Christ, had to be led by the hand and brought into Damascus. ‘For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank’ (Acts 9:1-9).
