30th June 2014 - Golden Jubilee of Priesthood
On Sunday 29th of June, the Feasts of St Peter and Paul, as well as the Feast of Pope Francis, I celebrated my Golden Jubilee of Priesthood.
We had a full Cathedral and a rich Liturgy of Faith, music, song and enthusiastic participation. There was an Acknowledgement of Country to the Yamaji People and a Message Stick of greeting and well-being presented to me at the beginning of Mass.
My family and a few priests came from Perth, together with Archbishop Tim Costelloe, Emeritus Archbishop Barry Hickey and the Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton and the Bishop of Bunbury, Gerard Holohon.
A huge brunch followed -where the joy, gratitude and celebration continued.
As I received the call to the priesthood through my family and Faith community of my Parish many years ago, I pray daily that many more will answer the call God gives to be priests and shepherds for his people.
For this Vocation and for everyone's Vocation, I include the prayer that I printed on my Jubilee card. You may wish to pray it regularly, because it is all about our Church and for the good of our Church and world.
Vocation Prayer
Father,
Yours Son Jesus said:
'The harvest is rich but
the labourers are few,
so ask the Lord of the
harvest to send labourers
into His harvest.'
We all rejoice in the call
of our Baptism to be
workers in your vineyard.
Continue to enrich your
people with generous
Priests and Religious.
Help us to grow in your
service in our own
particular Vocation, be it
Married, Single, Religious
or Priest.
And let us support each
other lovingly.
Amen.
23rd June 2014 - The Feast of St Peter and St Paul
We have one more big Feast Day coming up on Sunday 29th of June - that of Peter and Paul.
Since Peter, our first Pope, was our first fierce leader in the Faith and Paul, the fearless Preacher of that same Faith - and both martyred in Rome - it is no wonder that on this day we think of and pray for our Pope - currently Francis.
Saints inspire us by word and example and show us how to be Disciples of Jesus.
What I love about Peter is not only his deep love of Jesus but also his weakness and sinfulness. This in turn brings out Jesus' continual love for him. I am sure we all get great heart from this.
Paul is just so keen to share Jesus with people everywhere, no matter the cost. We cannot ponder Paul's life and words without catching some of this.
Pope Francis is for us all a wonderful living example of all the above. He is conscience of being a sinner, he has a deep love for Jesus, especially in the poor of the world, and he shares the good news of Jesus' great joy.
Honouring Peter and Paul and so praising God's work in them, we ask their prayer support for our Church and world. We keep praying in gratitude also for Pope Francis who keeps asking for our prayers, so that Jesus will continue to work powerfully in him.
16th June - The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
We celebrate another special Feast Day next Sunday - June the 22nd of Corpus Christi.
While in each Mass we are graced with the Body and Blood of Christ (and so much more), the Church wants to highlight this immense gift by this special Feast each year.
The Holy Spirit is involved so closely here as well. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that the Son of God became one of us in the Womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We can say the Holy Spirit brought us Jesus.
Likewise it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that bread and wine at Mass are transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus. The use of the words 'body and blood' or 'flesh and blood' means that Jesus is fully with us in this way - Jesus our Crucified and Risen Lord.
The words of Jesus in John's Gospel chapter 6 are so simple, clear and profound. 'Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world'. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day.' Jn 6:51.54
Many walked away at that time. Many do today. We stay, because, like Peter, all we can do is stand in wonder and awe at this great mystery. This Lord of ours goes to any lengths to be with us - and to be food for our journey of life.
Like Peter we too say 'Lord to whom shall we go. You have the Words of eternal life' Jn 6:68
On this Feast Day may our Faith grow in this unspeakable gift of Jesus which comes to us through the creative power of the Holy Spirit. In turn may it affect our lives so that we may bear the fruit that Jesus wants.
9th June - Trinity Sunday
Having celebrated the wonderful Feast of Pentecost we come to the end of our very rich Eastertime and now return to Ordinary Time, as it is called by the Church.
We return also to praying the Angelus. Before we take up the Liturgies of the Ordinary Sundays of the Year we have three extraordinary Feasts. Therefore instead of continuing my reflection on the Angelus I propose to give a thought in preparation for each of these approaching Feasts.
Next Sunday is Trinity Sunday.
The point I want to share about the Trinity is that it shows us that God is not only the Creator of the universe and all-powerful, all-knowing, eternal etc. but that God is also a 'loving community'.
We believe that God is triune because of what Jesus revealed to us. The way we phrase it is that in one God there are three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit - equally and fully God.
As we ponder the Trinity we see the Father loving the Son. The love between them is so real. In fact we believe this love to be personified in the Holy Spirit. To put it simply, the love between the Father and the Son is the Holy Spirit. St Paul says 'God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.' Romans 5:5
The Trinity shows us that our wonderful God is personal, relational and a loving family.
I want to say therefore that all those who have grown up in a normal loving family would humanly know as much and even more than most theologians, about the Trinity.
Trinity also throws more light on the truth that we are 'Created in God's image'. We are called therefore to be truly relational people, growing as a loving community in our families and beyond.
3rd June 2014 The Presence and Action of the Holy Spirit
When on Sunday 8th of June we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, our Eastertime - a very special period of fifty days - will conclude.
Our time for praying the Regina Coeli also concludes with the end of Eastertime. We then resume the Angelus, right through to next Easter.
One thing that is common and present throughout the whole Liturgical Year though is the Holy Spirit.
At the Last Supper when Jesus spoke of leaving his Disciples he also said 'I will not leave you orphans; I will come back to you'. Jn 14:18
At that Supper Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit. He added that it was necessary for him to go in order to send the Holy Spirit. 'Still, I must tell you the truth; it is for your own good that I am going because unless I go, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I do go, I will send him to you.' Jn 16:7
How wonderful is the gift of the Holy Spirit. We appreciate God the Holy Spirit as the very Life, Love and Power of God.
The Gospel tells us more. It is the Holy Spirit who, as it were, brings the Risen Lord to us - just as it was through the power of the Holy Spirit the Son of God took flesh. It was through the Holy Spirit that Jesus came to be with us and live among us in the first place.
So how wonderful are these two prayers - the Angelus and the Regina Coeli - which span our whole year.
Much more wonderful - infinitely more wonderful - is the gift of the Holy Spirit who not only spans our whole year but also our whole life and who brings the incarnate and Risen Lord to us.
Jesus is with us now each day and each moment of each day, because of our wonderful Holy Spirit.