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A Synodal Prayer
I composed a prayer with synodal intentions which I thought I might reproduce here. This prayer is especially for the ‘local Churches’ in whichever diocese and whatever area or place we find ourselves within the broader Church. All of the quotations within the text of the prayer are taken directly from the Final Synthesis Report of the first session of the Synod of Bishops. I hope you might find it useful. Merciful Lord, thank You for the faith which acknowledges that this gift of the Synod is “a time of grace which encourages us” and which invites us to “a mode of being Church”. Give us the hope,…
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A Beautiful Moment
I had a touching experience a few days ago which left an impression upon me. We had a visiting priest, who has ben here for the last few weeks and who is aware that I pray the Divine Office before the morning Mass. This particular morning, he asked me had I already prayed Morning Prayer and I said I had not; he then asked if it would be alright for him to join me in praying it. Of course, I was delighted and said ‘yes’. And so we sat there, before the Tabernacle in a Church which was still empty apart from us, and we prayed that Hour of the…
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Together In One Place
In just a few days’ time, the Synod on Synodality will commence. The participants, both clerical and laity, are journeying to Rome, many of them already there. The First Session of the Synod will begin with a three-day retreat, so that whatever takes place beyond that will be grounded in prayer and open fully to the inspiration and grace of the Holy Spirit, “the Protagonist of the Synod”. For all of us, we have a part to play in this forthcoming Synod. Regardless of whether or not we took place in the initial discussions in our parishes or elsewhere, our task now is to support the Synod by means of…
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Quiet Sanctity
Every morning before Mass, a small group of people in the parish gather and pray the Rosary together. In the stillness of the Church, their united voices call out with confidence to the Queen of Heaven as they think about the Mysteries which are being prayed, each Mystery a reflection from some episode from Scripture, usually from the Gospels. This morning Rosary is separate from the Mass which will shortly follow it, but it provides a beautiful lead-in to that Mass. It means that for those praying, they enter the Mass in a spirit of prayer, their souls and their minds quietened in order to listen a little better to…
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From Child To Mother
The first time the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Bernadette in the grotto at Lourdes, the meeting began with a smile from the mysterious Lady, directed toward the child standing in front of Her. Bernadette later reported that the Lady bowed Her head toward her in an initial mark of respect, which the child reciprocated. Later on, Bernadette said that when the Lady spoke to her, She addressed her using the intimate – as opposed to the formal – form of the word ‘you’. There is a lesson there for all of us. Often, in the midst of our piety and the recitation of our prayers, we can easily…
