Hello folks
Sorry it’s been so long! I hope all your preparations for World Youth Day next year are going well. I am a little out of touch with the preparations in Hamilton city now that I have come home to Piopio for the summer holidays so I will just fill you in a little on what I have been up to…
A few months ago, I went into an evening mass at St Josephs in Te Kuiti and spoke to the Parish there. It was incredible to see how keen these elderly people were to help out it whatever way they could. The youth going to World Youth Day will be in their prayers and they are keen to donate to the fundraising effort also.
On the 13th of November I spoke for the Catholic Women’s’ League in Morrinsville. Some of the senior students from St Joseph’s primary school came too. The women were really responsive and asked lots of questions about World Youth Day. Some of them even wanted to know whether they could come! We also asked at the end of the slideshow how many of the students would be keen to go if they were old enough and all of them put their hands up. The women are supportive with their prayers and look forward to hearing all about WYD when we come back next year.
On the 17th of November I spoke at the Youth Service in the Piopio Co-operating parish. They were all very supportive too and keen to hear what we are up to. Subsequent to this service my brother received a donation to his World Youth Day fundraising effort by one of the people he works with who heard me speak that morning!
What I have learnt over the past few months is that there are so many people out there willing and able to support you towards World Youth Day and also people out there ready to help you out just generally in life. It is only a matter of asking them and sharing what an amazing event this is going to be.
I also want to encourage you to keep praying for World Youth Day. The majority of the people I have met over the last few months are not going to WYD because they are older people but they are still supporting us immensely with their prayers.
Keep up the good efforts with fundraising, keep enthusiastic, and most importantly keep praying!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Adoration
As the campaign for Eucharistic adoration is about to be launched in Christchurch I thought that I would write a little something about it on this blog…
Our Catholic faith tells us that the Eucharist we receive in the mass IS the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know, both through the Church’s teaching and our own experience, that the host we receive is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, the son of God and second person of the trinity. With our human eyes we can sometimes fail to see and believe this, and doubt can invade our minds. Yet, I urge all of you to have faith!! Have faith in the Church, have faith in God and have faith in the Eucharist.
So we have the body of Christ with us. Adoration is when we gather before the exposed Eucharist, which is placed in a monstrance, and simply adore Jesus. Adoration is what it says it is!! We know what it is to adore people, for example we adore our girlfriends, boyfriends, parents, grandparents. Perhaps the easiest people to adore are little babies, who in their innocence, purity and beauty are impossible not to love! Sometimes it is hard to express this emotion towards Jesus, mostly because we don’t know him! But when you spend time with him in prayer and in adoration and reflect on what he did for us upon the cross, you do get to know him. Then it is hard not to adore him!
“I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). Upon going to adoration this verse should have a profound new meaning. We go to adoration to sit or kneel in the presence of Christ, who is the bread of life. Being in his presence changes us. It transforms us. I have heard it likened to spiritual sunbathing – the Eucharist is the sun and we sit and get a healthy tan from the sun’s rays. “God is love” as St John and Pope Benedict put it, so if the Eucharist is God then it is also pure love!! If we sit in the presence of this love then naturally we are affected.
When we adore Christ we are in very good company. Think of the nativity scene – Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men – all adoring the word made flesh, baby Jesus. As Christmas gets closer you will see this scene everywhere from your local parish to shopping malls!! And every time you see it make sure you realise what exactly is going on – Adoration. There are also the Angels. They, like us, are created to adore God, and do so (Hebrews 1:6).
Adoration is the best preparation you can make for WYD. It will prepare you soul for the journey ahead and draw you closer to Jesus. They are calling it the “Holy hour of power” because that is what it truly is. When you give your time to Christ in this way don’t be surprised to see changes in your life.
I will post another blog after the launch of the adoration campaign this Sunday. All are welcome to come: 7pm at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Christchurch. See you there!!!
Any questions, send me a comment!!
Our Catholic faith tells us that the Eucharist we receive in the mass IS the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know, both through the Church’s teaching and our own experience, that the host we receive is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, the son of God and second person of the trinity. With our human eyes we can sometimes fail to see and believe this, and doubt can invade our minds. Yet, I urge all of you to have faith!! Have faith in the Church, have faith in God and have faith in the Eucharist.
So we have the body of Christ with us. Adoration is when we gather before the exposed Eucharist, which is placed in a monstrance, and simply adore Jesus. Adoration is what it says it is!! We know what it is to adore people, for example we adore our girlfriends, boyfriends, parents, grandparents. Perhaps the easiest people to adore are little babies, who in their innocence, purity and beauty are impossible not to love! Sometimes it is hard to express this emotion towards Jesus, mostly because we don’t know him! But when you spend time with him in prayer and in adoration and reflect on what he did for us upon the cross, you do get to know him. Then it is hard not to adore him!
“I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). Upon going to adoration this verse should have a profound new meaning. We go to adoration to sit or kneel in the presence of Christ, who is the bread of life. Being in his presence changes us. It transforms us. I have heard it likened to spiritual sunbathing – the Eucharist is the sun and we sit and get a healthy tan from the sun’s rays. “God is love” as St John and Pope Benedict put it, so if the Eucharist is God then it is also pure love!! If we sit in the presence of this love then naturally we are affected.
When we adore Christ we are in very good company. Think of the nativity scene – Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men – all adoring the word made flesh, baby Jesus. As Christmas gets closer you will see this scene everywhere from your local parish to shopping malls!! And every time you see it make sure you realise what exactly is going on – Adoration. There are also the Angels. They, like us, are created to adore God, and do so (Hebrews 1:6).
Adoration is the best preparation you can make for WYD. It will prepare you soul for the journey ahead and draw you closer to Jesus. They are calling it the “Holy hour of power” because that is what it truly is. When you give your time to Christ in this way don’t be surprised to see changes in your life.
I will post another blog after the launch of the adoration campaign this Sunday. All are welcome to come: 7pm at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Christchurch. See you there!!!
Any questions, send me a comment!!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
We NEED to pray!!
Well things have certainly started progressing with WYD preparations!! Registrations are completed, deposits are being paid, fundraising is in full flight and air beds are being ordered!!
All this preparation is over and above our normal lives, which are already jam packed with full time work, part time work, school, university, and sports. Deeper still is our family lives where we are busy with family, children, brothers, sisters, parents and friends. But at the deepest level is our faith. It is the foundation for all we are and all that we do, even if we don’t realise it, and it is essential that it be what our WYD preparation is based on.
If faith is the car we drive, prayer is the petrol. We NEED to pray, we NEED to lift up our hearts to the Lord. If we don’t have this “petrol” for our faith then it will soon break down. Cardinal George Pell, who is the Archbishop of Sydney, has recently urged all those involved in WYD not to put other preparation before spiritual preparation. It would be the most unwise thing for us to do as our faith is the very reason WYD exists.
Cardinal Pell made his appeal, saying that World Youth Day is not just a multicultural encounter, or a chance to make new friends it is “above all a moment of conversion and encounter with God, living the experience of sharing, and announcing the good news.”He cautioned against getting caught up in practical preparations and organizational challenges."The most important challenge is the spiritual preparation," by way of prayer and sacraments, the cardinal said. "One of the blessings we will receive from World Youth Day," the cardinal affirmed, "is that it will give us the one true God, remind us of the teaching of Christ, the only Son of God, and it will bring spiritual values onto the public scene."
So prayer is pretty important. If you have a WYD prayer card make sure you use it!! I hope and pray that all your preparations on a parish, diocese and national level are going well and people are getting more and more enthusiastic!! The other day I realised that sometimes what WYD is actually going to be like escapes us, and as the cardinal warns us against, we see WYD as just a big event, in the not too distant future. Then I was talking to someone who had just registered for WYD and didn’t know much about it and all he said was “imagine what it’s going to be like sleeping – or not sleeping! – outside with all those other young Catholics. Its going to be CRAZY!!” And when I started to imagine it, it really blew my mind. Over 500,000 young people. Together. Waiting for Pope Benedict. How literally awesome is that going to be?!
Keep up the good work!
My whole strength lies in prayer and sacrifice. They can move hearts far better than words. St. Therese of Lisieux
All this preparation is over and above our normal lives, which are already jam packed with full time work, part time work, school, university, and sports. Deeper still is our family lives where we are busy with family, children, brothers, sisters, parents and friends. But at the deepest level is our faith. It is the foundation for all we are and all that we do, even if we don’t realise it, and it is essential that it be what our WYD preparation is based on.
If faith is the car we drive, prayer is the petrol. We NEED to pray, we NEED to lift up our hearts to the Lord. If we don’t have this “petrol” for our faith then it will soon break down. Cardinal George Pell, who is the Archbishop of Sydney, has recently urged all those involved in WYD not to put other preparation before spiritual preparation. It would be the most unwise thing for us to do as our faith is the very reason WYD exists.
Cardinal Pell made his appeal, saying that World Youth Day is not just a multicultural encounter, or a chance to make new friends it is “above all a moment of conversion and encounter with God, living the experience of sharing, and announcing the good news.”He cautioned against getting caught up in practical preparations and organizational challenges."The most important challenge is the spiritual preparation," by way of prayer and sacraments, the cardinal said. "One of the blessings we will receive from World Youth Day," the cardinal affirmed, "is that it will give us the one true God, remind us of the teaching of Christ, the only Son of God, and it will bring spiritual values onto the public scene."
So prayer is pretty important. If you have a WYD prayer card make sure you use it!! I hope and pray that all your preparations on a parish, diocese and national level are going well and people are getting more and more enthusiastic!! The other day I realised that sometimes what WYD is actually going to be like escapes us, and as the cardinal warns us against, we see WYD as just a big event, in the not too distant future. Then I was talking to someone who had just registered for WYD and didn’t know much about it and all he said was “imagine what it’s going to be like sleeping – or not sleeping! – outside with all those other young Catholics. Its going to be CRAZY!!” And when I started to imagine it, it really blew my mind. Over 500,000 young people. Together. Waiting for Pope Benedict. How literally awesome is that going to be?!
Keep up the good work!
My whole strength lies in prayer and sacrifice. They can move hearts far better than words. St. Therese of Lisieux
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
