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“Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love”.

How often and how constantly we make this prayer.  As we return once again to the great Feast of Pentecost, it is a time to refocus.  The Synod invites us to make a fresh start, guided by the ministry and life of Jesus.  “By their fruits you shall know them, good trees bear good fruit”.

From time to time I have heard stories of priests making predictions years ago, that the number of priests would decline.  By the beginning of the new millennium there would be many less priests.  I would have to say I could see all the signs that this would take place.  When I first entered the seminary, over fifty years ago, this was a time of great inspiration.  The Second Vatican Council had just taken place.  Pope John XXIII made the statement “that it is time for the church to open its windows, and let in the light”.

Pope Francis frequently returns to this.  I began writing this before this evenings very important meeting that will please God, prepare our way for a journey together with good purpose.  The opening prayers had been prepared laying the foundations in place.

Thanks be to God for our meeting and for all who attended.  There was a lot for our attention, and one contribution was an outline of what had been proposed by Our Lady of Ransom.  I look forward to the presentation of the minutes from our meeting.  The opening prayer was an indication that we can grow and develop our life of prayer and service.  There was a lot of material presented and questions raised during this meeting; a sign that we are a work in progress.

The centre and the heart of our lives is Sunday Mass.  This provides the central structure and nourishment for our faith.  The preparation and the presentation of the liturgy will be crucial to our development or not.  Having just to turn up to Mass, will continue to bring about our decline.  There is no quick fix solution, but working together has the potential to be effective, creative and inspiring. 

Just a moment to focus our attention to the essential ingredients:

a) Gossip from our parish, with all its potential for good news,

b) Prayer, nourishment, caring for the needs of our parishioners, growth in faith and renewal of life.

“Go out to the whole world Mk16:5”

                      “Proclaim the good news to all creation”.               

This is the final parting message from Jesus to his disciples for all ages, as He ascended into heaven.  But while on earth living like one of us He revealed the reality of what it means and what it entails, “no bed of roses”.

When I left my family home in order to do this; it had become enshrined in the expression “no cross, no crown”.  This is a great constant in all our lives and of my family.  The years of preparation had embedded this in my life.  His final instructions compelled His Apostles and His Mother Mary to return to Jerusalem.   They prepared to watch and pray because they were faithful, the Holy Spirit came down upon them and this is the great legacy of Pentecost.  It is important for us each year that after the Feast of the Ascension, we likewise “watch and pray” in preparation for the Holy Spirit being poured out upon us.  We may be more open and prepared for the Holy Spirit to be more active and at work in our lives.

This year gives us the opportunity to work together, to build up and renew our parish communities.  The Synod, and now our parish response is truly important.  As we receive reports from other parishes and churches, the continuing scandals in the churches, we must really raise up our hearts and minds to be refreshed and refocused.  It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us, that we can change and respond by really working together.  A start has been made, and one sign of the fruits that it can bear, was the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation with Bishop Richard, on Sunday at Our Lady of Ransom Church.  Our 10 candidates and their sponsors, Mary, Sandra and all those who helped, left us with an inspiring moment, and a very happy occasion to celebrate and remember.

Please God, may your Holy Spirit be at work in us, and let us all say Amen to this.