An inspirational preacher

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Andrea Harvey
5 years ago
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1 The Carmelite News

The days are getting lighter which I always find consoling. The other morning when I was walking to the station the sky glowed with soft red light giving way to a subtle turquoise.

2 The days are getting lighter which I always find consoling. The other morning when I was walking to the station the sky glowed with soft red light giving way to a subtle turquoise. All this made up for the intense cold of the frost. As the train journeyed to London the fields were coated with a silver frost. However this winter has also been a time of gales and soft weather. Christmas was so mild that it almost felt like April. The gales have left their mark on the Church, as the wind got under the roof and brought down chunks of plaster. It was a blessing it all happened at night as the chunks of plaster could have caused injuries. Now we are hoping a builder will come and make the roof safe. Faith Flourishing There s a great deal of talk about the demise of faith and that we have no need of belief. However it is always amazing that at the great feasts our churches are full to overflowing. What I notice here is the number of families with children who are with us on a Sunday. It is good when people don t rush off after Mass and have time to chat, while the children enjoy the freedom of our gardens. However I do believe it is important to welcome people as they come to Mass and have time for newcomers so that they can feel at home. People need to feel they belong and our churches should be places where they know that they matter and are at home. An inspirational preacher It is vital that young people hear the Gospel and can come to know Jesus Christ as their friend and saviour. I was at our local catholic secondary school in Canterbury recently during a mission. The main speaker was a lay evangelist John Pridmore who spoke to a

We need more events like that mission to help both young and old.

3 group of twelve year olds about forgiveness, how forgiveness through Jesus can bring us peace and freedom. John spoke of his own journey to belief and healing in such a sensitive and simple way that nearly every pupil present went to the sacrament of Reconciliation. We need more events like that mission to help both young and old. John brought Jesus alive for those young people and it is that living faith in the person of Jesus that matters not church structures; we can get lost in arguments and lose sight of what Jesus can do for our lives. The Journey to Easter It will soon be Lent the time for our journey in prayer and reflection to Easter. Fr Joseph Chalmers has produced a book of meditations on St Marks Gospel that could be a helpful guide for our Lent prayer. Fr Joseph has great experience in opening up the Scriptures and shows us how God speaks words of love today through the Bible. He also draws on the teaching of St Teresa who stresses our friendship with God. I would recommend this book, it can be obtained from us and the cost is inclusive of postage or Euro equivalent.

Besides giving time to reading the Scriptures, Lent is a time when we can pray for those who are preparing either for baptism or being received into full communion with the church at Easter.

4 Besides giving time to reading the Scriptures, Lent is a time when we can pray for those who are preparing either for baptism or being received into full communion with the church at Easter. It is wonderful when people rediscover their Christian roots or find faith in the middle of life s journey. We have a new member of the community here at Faversham Brother Neil Scott. I have asked him to introduce himself to you. Brother Neil Scott I was born and brought up in Eccles near Manchester. (Where the cakes come from) When I left school I trained as a chef at Salford College of Technology. Something I have found to be very useful since joining the Order. I worked in the catering industry for some time before retraining as a Community Support Worker. I worked for Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council for twelve years in various posts within the learning disabilities section. I joined the Carmelites in August 2007, after the noviciate ended, I went to study Philosophy at St Patrick s College Maynooth in Ireland. Last year lived and worked in our community at Aylesford. I moved to Faversham in September and I am delighted to be here at Our Lady of Mount Carmel working as part of the parish team. Generous giving Your kindness in supporting us through your generosity helps us educate our young friars. As you know everything is so much more expensive, I find that when I shop for the community, milk, bread it s

5 all so much dearer. Again of course through your kindness we can help Carmelites in the developing world. I am always grateful when you help us by gift aid which means an extra thirty per cent on every donation. Again another way to help is if you can remember us when it comes to making a will. If you want any help on these matters Nuala and the ladies in the office will always answer any of your questions. So do not be shy to write, phone or send us an . We also have a website and that links you to the main Carmelite website That website opens up a whole host of work that the Order does in Britain and throughout the world. The internet can be an amazing help sharing good and inspirational news. I know computers can seem a mixed blessing but I have got used to them late in life. My younger Carmelite Brothers are very adept with this technology and use it creatively to spread the Gospel. St Joseph provides Thinking of practicalities brings me to St Joseph, we have his novena in March. When I was a novice in Aylesford Fr Malachy Lynch would often talk about St Joseph in a vivid practical way. He saw St Joseph as the one who cared for Jesus and Mary and he believed that St Joseph cares for us in practical ways. He also saw St Joseph as the one who would help us especially when it seemed that we had financial problems that were insuperable. Once when rebuilding Aylesford Fr Malachy was asked by the bank what was his surety and the answer came back St Joseph. You only have to see all that has been done at Aylesford and elsewhere to know that if we trust, so much can be done that surprises us. The Rosary Way You have been generous in helping us replace the Rosary Way. If all goes to plan the new rosary stations should be in place during the summer. A local craftsman has produced new stations based on the Kossowski originals. They will be a wonderful addition in the gardens and in fine weather they will make a helpful focus for prayer. It is important that we cherish the devotions that are part of

6 the traditions of the Church. Another devotion that is especially opportune is Lent are the Stations of the Cross. A priest friend of mine Mgr Dickens has produced some insightful reflections on the way of the cross. He calls his reflections Steps of pain, steps of Hope. His meditations are rooted in scripture and daily life and they help us journey to a path of new life. Besides the meditations there are beautiful illustrations by the artist Ann Kelly. Mgr Dickens book can be obtained from us for 4.95 including postage or Euro equivalent. Easter Glory The cover of this newsletter is a powerful image of the Risen Christ. It is a stained glass window in the Shrine of St Jude the artist being Richard King, a Mayo man. Our Lent journey brings us to the great feast of Easter the feast of the new life with Jesus breaking the power of sin and death, the triumph of love over fear and darkness. Easter however can only be after Good Friday. Jesus obedient to the Father, made of his death an act of loving obedience he drank the cup of suffering and John s Gospel shows how love transformed that suffering and death into something glorious on the Cross. All of us have to die to sin so we can allow the new life of Christ freedom in our lives. The Gospel shows the Risen Christ bringing peace and the presence of the Holy Spirit. The disciples were frightened, perplexed and ashamed and then Christ comes gently helping them into the new life of hope. We need to let that peace and the breath of the Holy Spirit into our lives. Sometimes we can feel lost or we wonder if God can love us. Let s remember that God loves us first and it we can just trust, letting go so that God in Jesus Christ can be all in all for us.

7 Healing our society We need that Easter joy and peace because so much in our society is troubled and fearful. The fall out from the banks and the other economic ills is making life hard for the vulnerable. It is sad that young people are without jobs and so many people live in the worry that they could be made redundant. We need hope in such times and also we need voices to be the voice of the poor. It was good to see our Anglican bishops using their role in the Lords to speak up for vulnerable children. Our own bishops have voiced their concerns on these matters to the government and rightly so. I find it sad when I see people in pain because the queue for treatment gets longer and longer. We need to support those who work for justice but lets also ask St Jude to be our friend and intercessor in there hard times. The taxi driver Sometimes as I am travelling around as provincial when my bones are creaking and they can do that sometimes, I take a taxi; I always find taxi drivers friendly and willing to talk about anything. They also drive with panache especially in London. I wonder if the following is true... A taxi driver and a friar were waiting to get into heaven and St Peter welcomed the taxi driver and let him in leaving the friar disconsolate. What is so special about him? he asked so St Peter replied. Well your sermons put people to sleep whereas that taxi driver, the way he drove, put the fear of God in thousands! We don t have to put the fear of God into folk but I am sure if we live the Gospel we will touch people s lives and help them find the loving God who inspires what we try to do. REMEMBER OUR NOVENAS Novena to Saint Joseph...11th 19th March Novena for Easter...31st March 8th April Novena to Saint Jude...5th 13th May

My prayers for you I hope you are blessed with good health as this time of year can be difficult the end of winter can see flu and bad chests. I hope you can keep warm.

8 My prayers for you I hope you are blessed with good health as this time of year can be difficult the end of winter can see flu and bad chests. I hope you can keep warm. It is important to keep where we spend most of the day as warm as possible. I Know that Fr Piet, Bro Neil and myself keep you in our prayers and at Mass each day. Can you keep me in your prayers so I can be faithful in working for God s Kingdom. Peace and joy for Easter. And may Our Lady protect us. God bless Fr Wilfrid McGreal, O.Carm. Prior Provincial. P.S. We have a lovely DVD Relics and Roses which tells the story of the visit of the relics of St Thérèse to England and Wales you can get the DVD from us for inclusive of postage or Euro equivalent. Front Cover: The Resurrection of Christ by Richard Joseph King The Carmelite Friars, PO Box 140, ME20 7SJ England Telephone: chaplain@stjudeshrine.org.uk (A Registered Charity) Printed by A.G.A. Printers and Sons Telephone

The Carmelite News Spring

The Carmelite News Spring 2013 1 I was in our local supermarket just after Christmas and was amazed to see huge displays of Easter Eggs and at the Bakery piles of hot cross buns. For a moment I felt as