Opening Prayer Series: Collect for Pentecost Sunday Yr B

The Collect for Pentecost Sunday Year B reads as follows:

Let us pray,

O God, who by the mystery of today's great feast

sanctify Your whole Church in every people and nation, 

pour out, we pray, the gifts of the Holy Spirit  

across the face of the earth,

and, with the divine grace that was at work 

when the Gospel was first proclaimed, 

fill now once more the hearts of believers.  

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, 

who lives and reigns with You

 in the unity of the Holy Spirit one God, for ever and ever.

 Please note that this is the Collect taken from the Mass during the Day.

In making this prayer tangible, the following reflection questions emerged.

1. What is the mystery of Pentecost?
2. How can ask sanctification of the whole Church during this coming week?
3. What are gifts of the Holy Spirit most needed across the face of the earth?
4. What are gifts of the Holy Spirit most needed in my own country at this time?
5. How can I tap into the divine grace when the Gospel was first proclaimed?
6. What special grace do I most need in my life?
7. How can I filled afresh with the graces of Pentecost?

The Holy Spirit can be for some of us, a poor second cousin to God the Father, or Jesus His Son.  However, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Blessed Trinity-three persons yet one God as our Catholic Faith tells us.  Today's Gospel makes it perfectly clear that the Holy Spirit will lead us to the complete truth and what is told to us will be taken from Father God and Jesus.  In other words, it will be in total unity as is the Triuune God.

The Holy Spirit needs therefore to be our best friend, since what He tells us is in direct harmony with Father God and Jesus His Son. Yet, the Holy Spirit will provide the graces and gifts that we need for our daily lives, just as He did with the disciples after Jesus had ascended to Heaven.  It is through the Holy Spirit that the Church is guided, and we are in our personal prayer guided by Him too.  It is that quiet little voice that 

• prompts us to do the right thing and stand up for what we believe when it would easier to walk away,
• helps us examine our conscience of any wrong doing/sin/faults which we need to confess,
• guides us to do the will of God in our lives.
• is our consolation in times of grief and confusion.
• brings us a greater awareness and understanding of our faith
• supports us in our life journey and is our best friend.

Of course there are the 7 traditional gifts of the Holy Spirit and the 12 fruits which eminate from them which we are given in a special way at Confirmation.  However, although we receive them then, we can always ask the Holy Spirit daily to increase in us these gifts and fruits, and supply for us what is lacking at our present time.  

It seems to me that the Holy Spirit gives each of us an extra special dose of the gift/s that we most need for our lives, a gift we use more often than the other gifts- for me, that gift has been courage and perservance. When life has been tough, I know with God's help that I can dig deep and draw on these gifts.   Perhaps, you may have had a similar observation in your life. Of course, we do not need to wait until life is tough, but we can draw on these gifts each day in our daily lives.

The Holy Spirit came to the disciples as promised by Jesus. They were no longer afraid but went out and preached the Good News.  On this feast of Pentecost, which is the birthday of the Church, she invokes the Holy Spirit to fall afresh on us, and with that, we can ask Him to provide the gifts/fruits we most need for our lives. We can be filled anew- a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit is a wonderful grace to receive again.  Let us be open to receive the Holy Spirit afresh in our hearts and to be eagerly awaiting to receive the gift/s He has to offer us on His special Feast- the feast of Pentecost.

Come Holy Spirit.

Happy Birthday to all my readers on this  great feast of Pentecost.

Prayer to Our Lady Help of Christians.

On this feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, may all Australians pray for our country.
During the upcoming Year of Grace starting on Pentecost Sunday ( May 27) we may wish to commit to saying this prayer daily/each week for this coming year as part of our Year of Grace journey.   You might be able to encourage your parish to take up this small, but worthy initiative of intercession for our country, so that we may indeed be granted wisdom to our leaders and integrity to our citizens.

We do not have to wait until the Year of Grace begins on Sunday.  Let us start praying for our country today on our feast day.

The Opening Prayer for the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians reads as follows:

Lord, 
You place deep in our hearts the love of Mary, Help of Christians,
through her prayers,
grant wisdom to our leaders and integrity to our citizens.
Under her protection, may Australia be granted harmony, justice and peace. 

Compendium Series: After the first sin

78. After the first sin what did God do? (CCC410-412,420)

The Compendium states:
 

After the first sin the world was inundated with sin but God did not abandon man to the power of death.  Rather, He foretold in a mysterious way in the “Protoevanegelium” (Genesis3:15) that evil would be conquered and that man would be lifted up from his fall.  This was the first proclamation of the Messiah and Redeemer.  Therefore, the fall would be called in the future a ‘happy fault’ because it “gained for us so great a Redeemer” (Liturgy of the Easter Vigil”)

What does this mean for me?

1. I can offer a prayer of thanks to God for sending humanity a Redeemer, One who is not only Redeemer of the past but of my present life as well.

2. When I feel disheartened with my efforts to walk the journey, I will remind myself that ‘man is lifted up from his fall’ each time I receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Questions to consider:

1. What does it mean to me that evil would be conquered by God?
2. How can I be lifted up from my fall?
3. What does Jesus as Redeemer mean to me?

Opening Prayer Series: Collect for the Ascension of Our Lord.

The Collect for the Ascension of Our Lord reads as follows:

Let us pray,

Gladden us with holy joys Almighty God,

and make us rejoice with devout thanksgiving,

for the Ascension of Christ Your Son is our exaltation,

and, where the Head has gone before in glory

the Body is called to follow in hope.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son,

who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirt,

one God for ever and ever.

In making this prayer tangible, the following reflection questions emerged:

1. Why am I asking God to gladden me with holy joys?
2. Why should I rejoice with devout thanksgiving on this Solemnity?
3. What does the Solemnity of the feast of the Ascension mean to me?
4. How will this Solemnity affect this coming week in my life?
5. How will I  prepare my spiritual plan for the Year of Grace this coming week?
6. How might I live in the glory and hope of the ascension this week?  

The Ascension of Our Lord is essentially a feast of hope since we can look forward to eternal life.  We must however not sit on our hands and wait. Christ has given us His command and we need to live lives worthily, so that we can enter through the narrow gate.  

gives us a mission-a focus.
The four fold command of Christ to His disciples is a command to us and gives us a mission- a focus.

• Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations,
• baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
• Teach them to observe all the commands I gave you
• Know that I am with you until the end of time.

So how can we make disciples of all the nations?   We need to be ready with our answer should someone asks us for our reason for our belief.  Most of us can evangelize others by not even saying a word- it is by example of the lives we lead. 

Evangelization does not have to be difficult.  If we  are trying our best to live good Christian lives,  other people will be attracted to it. Then when a casual question or conversation occurs, it may be our time to speak.  More importantly is is a time to listen, since it is the question of the enquirer that is important.As the journey unfolds, then there will be a time for them to want to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit.  This will be God's timing, not ours since it is God who is leading the person to Himself.  Then as their journey continues, it is time for learning and teaching ( RCIA for example is part of the process), and as catholic pilgrims on the journey, we need to remember and encourage each other in our struggles knowing that Jesus is with us always.

So yes, the feast of the Ascension is a feast of hope of future glory. We need to have this hope in our hearts and try to live our lives now with this future glory in mind. Next week, on Pentecost Sunday, we start the Year of Grace ( more about that in my new series- the Year of Grace.  However, in the light of today's Solemnity, we can start to get ready this week with hope in our hearts and future glory in mind and examine our lives right now. We can then decide and prepare our own personal spiritual plan for the year of Grace.

What will we do with Christ's 4 fold command this coming week in our family, parish, workplace and neighbourhood?

Opening Prayer Series: Collect for Sixth Sunday of Eastertide Year B

The Collect for the Sixth Sunday of Eastertide Year B reads as follows:

Let us pray,

Grant almighty God,

that we may celebrate with heartfelt devotion these days of joy,

which we keep in honour of the risen Lord,

that what we relive in remembrance,

we may also hold to in what we do,

Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son,

who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

In making this prayer tangible, the following reflection questions emerged:

1. Why should I celebrate Eastertide with heartfelt devotion?
2. Why should I ask God to grant me this gift?
3. How will I celebrate Eastertide with heartfelt devotion in my life this coming week?
4. What difference does the risen Lord make to my life?
5. How does the suffering, death and resurrection of the risen Lord show in what I do?
6. How has my spiritual growth been nurtured during Eastertide and what changes and preparations do I need to make as I move forward into the ordinary time of the year.
7. How will I start to prepare for the Year of Grace this coming week?

 In today's Gospel, we are challenged to love one another by Jesus. However, it is not to be a love that is mere talk, rather one that challenges us to lay down our life.  We are to be friends of Jesus if we follow His commandments, and in doing so, by clothing them in love, we will go out and bear much fruit.

So let us get down the nitty gritty- how can we lay down our life and how do we keep the commandments and clothe them in love?  We do this in the circumstance in which we find ourselves by followiing our vocation.  For the mother, it is to nurture her husband and family.  She may not feel like vacuming, cooking or providing practical love to her family every minute of every day. No, but mothers usually do despite the way they feel. They are giving selflessly and are laying down their life for those whom they love.  The husband and father also lays down his life for his wife and family by providing for them. He may not feel like getting out of bed, setting out to work, putting up with colleagues who he has no personal affinity. However, everytime he helps out a collegue, works as part of the team, goes without something he would like to buy for himself and uses that money for the good of his wife and family, he lays down his life and shows selfless love.

It is not only the married that this gospel is written for.  The single person has responsibilities just as much as the married person, albeit at times different ones.  How often is a single person the carer for his/her aged parents, extended family member or parishioner?  How often does a single person contribute in love to his/her family, workplace and parish life?

The priest or religious lives out this gospel countless times a day by attending to the sick, celebrating Mass, hearing confessions, visiting parishioners who are 'shut-ins'' and giving a kind word and by listening to a parishioner who is grieving or in distress of some kind or other.  Again, the priest or religious may feel like being or perhaps need to be in a million one or other places, but the more they give in love selflessly, the more they lay down their lives.

So whatever your vocation, single, married, religious sister or priest, the call to lay down our life is there. We can only do it on a daily basis if we obey the commandments and do it out of love.  As Jesus tells us that He chose us and we are to bear much fruit- fruit that will last.

How will you obey the commandment to love and to lay your life down during this week?

Being Affirmed in Christ.

A Spirit of Affirmation

The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines affirmation as ‘ 1. To assert strongly, make formal declaration; 2. To confirm or ratify (used in law related to judgment)’.

However, the Spirit of affirmation has two other important qualities viz, encouragement and praise.  As Christians, it is important to use this gift in ministry as Christ himself did with his disciples.  Also it is another way of combating the power of the evil one and giving people ‘the hope to which they are called’.   Scripture itself gives us encouragement.

When a person is affirmed, not only is encouragement and praise given, but also it can have, as the dictionary meaning suggests the qualities of ratification or confirmation and strong assertive characteristics.

Recently I came across this mp3 Christian affirmation series.  There are a total of three series featuring over 200 minutes of Christian affirmations. These mp3 affirmations are a great way of maximizing your time as for example you can listen to them while walking, exercising, gardening or doing the housework and they will help you feel wonderful but also accpet the truth of the affirmation in your heart so it becomes your reality.  For example: I know at an intellectual level that Jesus loves me. However lately when life has been very tough, it is easy for the worries of the world to cloud this truth from my heart. I find that knowing and affirming myself at a heart level is a great help to stay focused and not allow temptation and despair to enter into my heart.

What I like the most with the Christian mp3 affirmations is that they require no concentration. You just listen to them and as we tend to do your mind can wonder off thinking about other things however you hear enough to feel great. Every day a different affirmation or Bible promise will just stick with you. Every affirmation set also comes with background music. 

I agree that affirmation is a gift that needs to be used regularly.  However, my own experience of it is it not only needs to sound plausible to the one who hears it, but is in fact delivered with SINCERITY from the one who GIVES OR SPEAKS IT.  This is vital when it is used in interpersonal relationships, and essential in counselling.

I think that it is also important that we constantly are affirmed by Jesus in prayer, so that He heals the whispers of the evil one, (the lies we have listened to about ourselves) which we have allowed to enter our beings, and that our body mind and spirit soaks in the truth that Jesus offers us in affirmation.  

Section 2: Part 2 Jesus calls the first disciples.

Welcome to my Gospel of Mark Series. During 2012-13, each week, I will write a post about the Gospel of Mark as I review and explore each of the 16 chapters and how it may be applied in our daily lives. My goal is to understand and pray the Gospel of Mark.  I hope you will join me on this journey as we travel through the liturgical season of Year B.  In today's post, we explore chapter 1:16-20 which is Jesus calls the first disciples.

After the identity of Jesus himself, the response of the disciples is the second key factor in Mark's Gospel.  Two questions continually challenge us.  Who is Jesus? What is the response to Him?

The decisive element in this passage is the call of Jesus, not the response of the two pairs of brothers.  Nothing is said about the qualities of the men He calls or their suitability to be companions with  Him on His mission.  Jewish disciples sought out a master to study under Him for a time, but Jesus Himself seeks out followers.  He does not call them to study, but to be with Him always.  By following Him they observe His work, listen to His teaching and begin to be challenged by Him.

Simon and Andrew are casting into the lake. Jesus calls them to be different type of fishermen. They are to leave their nets and follow Him. The disciples are called to be with Jesus and to share His mission.  A little further aloong the lakeshore, James and John are mending their nets.  They too are called and respond at once.  A change in relations with their families and in their customary way of working is singled out in the few details Mark mentions.  To follow Jesus as disciples means leaving many familiar things behind.  The unexpected call of the four fishermen is like the call of Ellisha by Elijah (I Kings 19:19-21).

Following Jesus in Mark means more than physical companionship.  It is feeling the costly challenges of the new liberating power Jesus brings to the world.  Nor will it always be easy attraction and instant response . There are shocks in store for the disciples.

Note to my readers

For this week only, I will be writing two posts a day about the Gospel of Mark.
Should I write any other series, it will be a bonus. I just need a catch up week.  After that, I promise you that I will back on track with my daily posts and various series that are in progress.
Thanks for understanding. 

In the meantime this week, if the Gospel of Mark series does not take your fancy, then please feel free to browse my blog for something that interests you.  I will hopefully be back on track by the end of the this week. Now that I have committed myself to you with this post, I will do my very best to uphold it.

Thanks for your patience in these last couple of months where my posts have been less regular.  The preparation and placing my home on the market for selling  has consumed alot of energy since January so as a consequence had less creative energy for my blog.  A few  prayers to guide me what to do at this point would be much appreciated.

Hopefully by the end of this week I will be back with lots of creative energy again for my blog since I have missed my regular post writing and sharing our Catholic faith.

New Horizons.

Opening Prayer Series:Collect for 5th Sunday of Eastertide. Year B

The Collect for the 5th Sunday of Year B reads as follows:

Almighty and ever-living God

constantly accomplish the Pascal mystery within us,

that those who You were pleased to make new in the Holy Spirit,

may, under your protective care,bear much fruit,

and come to the joys of life eternal.

In making this prayer tangible, the following reflection questions emerged:

1. What is the Pascal mystery?
2. How can this Pascal mystery be constantly accomplished within me?
3. What does  '' to make new in the Holy Spirit "' mean to me?
4. What fruit will I bear this week?
5. How can I bear much fruit each week?
6. What is my atttitude to life- is it the here and now or do I honestly long for life eternal?

 

Reflection and Prayer Series: The presence of the Lord.

My reflection and prayer series is about sharing reflections and Prayers which have impacted upon me and have provided food for thought. I hope that they will also nurture your soul and spirit.

My post is called:

THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD.


Strength is often found within the silence, 
While resting in the presence of the Lord.
Abiding in His peace, we feel His power,
While leaning on His love, 
we are restored.

May you feel restored as you lean on His love
and rest in the presence of the Lord.