“The Lord is our Rock and our Salvation”. A good place to begin a new year.
Better still, Renaldo, our very helpful resident has come into the office and he adds his bit.
“He is always present at our side. He may not be visible but He is to be experienced in others. In Gaelic “tús maith is ea leath na hoibre”. A good start is half the work.
So please God, for the coming year. Reality is that the virus continues to play a big part in our lives at the present. At the beginning of last Advent as we lit the first candle I was in a bad place, but the light of “Hope” became very important to me. Now that we have celebrated to the best of our ability the light of Christ coming into our world, it is a time to refocus, to trust where Christ finds us at this time which is a real test; and to start reaching out with a sense of great hope as we begin our journey into the New Year.
For me the best point of reference is the synod that Pope Francis highlights and has his confidence and trust. Having begun my journey with great confidence in the 2nd Vatican Council, and during my years in the Seminary, was a great challenge and real hope. I have some great events to recall from this time, in fact my first mass and celebrating my brother John and his wife Helen’s Wedding, was part of a great occasion. Early experiences left a sense of adventure. More and more I came to realize the forces that are against it, that’s life.
Leading and organising remains one of my many weaknesses. Conviction that a body made up of many parts working together has always been a strength. The new church is an expression of this, but the church as a community of the faithful has always been my great hope. Leaven Groups promised to play a great part in this. So it is time to begin again and to heed the promptings of our very helpful resident, Renaldo.
The diocese has provided us with material to facilitate this (For a Synodal Church – Communion, Participation, Mission), this can be downloaded at https://www.abdiocese.org.uk/synod. As stated earlier there are two additional items that are crucial. A) Why do we need it? and B) like our new church – what would be the best outcome?