Cross and Flame (July 2005)
Fr Ken's reflection
Dear friends in Christ,
I want to invite each one of you to consider praying together with the
MGL brothers and sisters our daily entrustment prayer to Our Lady. This
prayer gelled suddenly in my heart after a number of years of waiting on
the Lord. I wanted a simple way that the MGL could entrust themselves
to Mary, our Mother, from the heart. Following is a short commentary on
the content of the prayer:
“Immaculate heart of Mary , I entrust myself to you”
The prayer is addressed to the Immaculate heart of Mary. This
is to honour her Immaculate Conception (c.f. the apparitions at
Lourdes and Fatima), but also to appeal to her maternal heart
for us and for the world. Notice we use the language of
“entrustment” , not “consecration”, since in our vows we
“consecrate ourselves to the wounded heart of Jesus, broken
in love for the world”. Our consecration is to Jesus through
Mary; we entrust ourselves to her, praying:
“Draw me into the heart of Jesus, your Son. Share
with me the mystery of his Cross and the fire of his Spirit”
No one knows the heart of Jesus more intimately than his
Mother. She leads us into his heart for the world. This is
especially through the mysteries of Calvary and Pentecost.
Mary was standing at the foot of the Cross when her Son’s side
was opened by the lance. She was the first one in faith to “look
upon him whom they have pierced” (Jn.19/37) . She draws us
into her experience of his saving love for us. She was also
waiting in prayer with the apostles when the fire of the
Spirit fell at Pentecost. Mary brings us most profoundly into
the mystery of the Cross and the Flame; in this way our hearts
are enflamed with the love of Jesus for the world. “I have come
to bring fire to the earth…” (Lk.12/49)
“Gentle Mother, since Jesus gave me to you from the Cross, I am yours”
On the Cross Jesus entrusted us to the heart of Mary when he said to the
beloved disciple “Behold your
mother!”. We simply “do as he tells us”. We entrust ourselves into her maternal
care without reservation.
This is a wonderful grace-filled way to be formed in the heart of Jesus.
Immaculate heart of Mary, I entrust myself to you
Draw me into the heart of Jesus, your Son.
Share with me the mystery of his Cross and the fire
of his Spirit
Gentle Mother, since Jesus gave me to you from
the Cross I am yours
Nurture me in his love and help me to pray; guide
me in his Spirit and teach me his ways
Pure and chaste Virgin, as I place my life in your
hands, bring me closer to Jesus, your Son
Make me obedient to the Father and humble of heart
Have eyes of mercy on me in my weakness
Protect me from the evil one, and bring healing
grace to my life
So with your spirit of gratitude and praise
I may have your heart for the mission to spread the
Good News of God’s love now and always |
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“Nurture me in his love and help me to pray; guide me in his Spirit and teach
me his ways”
Just as the child Jesus, in the plan of God, was entrusted to Mary to be
nurtured in love and to be taught
how to pray, so we also entrust ourselves to her for the same purpose. She
is woman of the Spirit; she
guides us and teaches us the ways of God
“Pure and chaste Virgin, as I place my life in your hands, bring me closer
to Jesus, your Son”
We trust that Mary who is totally pure of heart will obtain for us the grace
of chastity, whereby we can
rightly order the gift of our sexuality according to the plan and purpose
of God for our state of life.
Through our surrender, she brings us closer to Jesus, and we become more
like him.
“Make me obedient to the Father and humble of heart”
Mary’s obedience is the key to her being the first disciple of Jesus. We
pray that we may share in her
“fiat”, as she said to the angel “let it be done to me according to your
word”. When a woman in the crowd
cried out to Jesus: “ Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts you
sucked!”, Jesus answered:
“Even more blessed is the one who hears the word of God and keeps it”(Lk.11/27-28).
Mary’s greatness is
first in her obedience, and consequently in her motherhood. We ask for obedient
hearts, ready to do the
will of the Father. We also ask for humility of heart; to know our true state
as creatures before God; that
we are nothing without Him.
“Have eyes of mercy on me in my weakness”
Mary’s eyes of mercy reflect the mercy of the heart of God for all sinners.
MGL chapels often have the
icon of Our Lady of Mercy, with her eyes of deep sorrow and compassion for
the lost of the world. She is
deeply aware that God has “looked upon his lowly servant in her nothingness”,
and that his glance of
mercy is imprinted on her heart. Her constant song is of God’s mercy, which
he has shown “from age to
age”. Consequently, she is called “refuge of sinners”; we fly to her for
protection in our weakness.
“Protect me from the evil one, and bring healing grace to my life”
Mary is the woman whose foot “crushes the head of the serpent”. With
her presence the promise of Jesus is fulfilled; that we will “tread underfoot
serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy”(Lk.10/19). Her
prayer is our strength in the spiritual battle. Mary also ministers deep
inner
healing to us through her gentle presence. We find ourselves healed through
her
embrace, which enfolds us in the maternal love from the heart of God.
“So with your spirit of gratitude and praise…..”
We ask for Mary’s “Eucharistic attitude”; always grateful for the gift of
life and
love from God given moment by moment. With Mary we seek to utter a continual
“Magnificat” in the rhythm of our daily lives.
“I may have your heart for the mission to spread the Good News of
God’s love now and always”
Upon hearing the Good News, and conceiving the Word incarnate in her womb,
Mary immediately burst forth across the Judean hills to bring the Good News
to
Elizabeth. Mary is the first evangeliser. When her word was spoken the child
in
Elizabeth’s womb leapt for joy. We ask for her missionary heart for the world;
to
bring the message of Jesus especially to “those who do not yet know the love
of
God”. We entrust ourselves to her that we would become, with her, true
missionaries of God’s love, now and always.
MGL Darwin Mission
The Top End of Australia is another world.
The beauty of it belies its hidden destructive
power. Peaceful tropical scenery and cool
swimming holes give way to freak storms, high
humidity, cyclone warnings and crocs! Ministry is
a bit like that too! The beautiful people and
relationships developed are often in the context of
huge social problems.
Fr David and Br Paul continue the vital work at St
Martin de Porres Catholic Aboriginal Community.
This is a place of great healing, reconciliation and
praise. Many of the committed members are part
of the Stolen Generations. One of the special
features of St. Martins is that both indigenous and
non-indigenous people from many different
backgrounds have found a home there. Often
people will witness to the love and acceptance
they have found in this community. In the midst
of such a very supportive environment there is
often great sadness. In one week recently Fr.
Dave celebrated two funerals for
indigenous men who were not much older than
himself, and another funeral for a young girl who
was killed in a tragic car accident. Yet in the face
of such tragedy there is always witness of new
life and trust in God.
The local people have truly adopted the MGL
brothers; some are even planning the big trip
“down south” for Ben Roberts’ Ordination (Ben
was in Darwin during his training).
Recently the brothers organized a Mass for the
National Day of Healing (Sorry Day May 26). This
day seeks to tell the stories of the Stolen
Generations, whose official report “Bringing them
Home” was tabled in Parliament
on May 26, 1997. The Indigenous Boarders at St
John’s College were joined by St Martin’s people.
Fr David helped bring together a group who
painted a tree whose trunk was burnt but whose
many different leaves were bursting with life and
healing. Blessed Oil was mixed with clay from the
Tiwi Islands (where there is a Catholic Mission),
all present were anointed and we prayed for
healing and courage to face the many challenges.
Br Paul continues the challenging work at the
prison where there are many Aboriginal men. He
gathers them in prayer and song, and they open
their hearts to him in a way that in such a hard
place they would normally not be able to do. If
there is one place in Australia where Jesus is sure
to be present it is in this humble ministry, as Br.
Paul moves amongst these men being a witness
of hope and a light in the darkness.
Fr Dan has been travelling around the Top End
in his capacity as Youth Chaplain in preparation
for the World Youth Day Pilgrimage; reaching
out to Aboriginal youth, inviting them on this
awesome opportunity and trying the great variety
of bush tucker(especially the tasty turtle eggs!).
Fr Dan will also be hosting the APSE team in July.
They will be joined by some members of the
Disciples of Jesus Community for a mission time
on the Tiwi Islands. Please pray for this mission,
that the young people would experience God’s
love and the power to break the bonds of suicide,
drug & alcohol abuse and low self esteem.
Building appeal for a chapel at Garran
A mini-building appeal has been launched to fund a chapel for the
MGL brothers’ formation house at
Garran. . It will be a simple and modest extension off the main house
to provide a space large enough for
the brothers when they come together to pray.
In the formation house they pray together for two hours in the morning
, then again for evening prayer
and night prayer. It is critical that they have a chapel adequate for
this purpose. In addition they often
have vigils through the night before the Blessed Sacrament. The Missionaries
need our continued support
in order to form their seminarians and novices and lead them all the
way to ordination.
When we lay people have a need and want someone to pray with us for
help, we want to be able to go to
someone who is steeped in prayer. We do not want priests who are only
good administrators; we want
priests who pray, and priests who are walking in holiness. We are blessed
that the MGLs are formed in
such a way, spending many hours each day in prayer with a particular
focus on the Blessed Sacrament.
Embracing a life of poverty, they are totally dependent on the Lord’s
providence each day. They receive
no direct funding from the Archdiocese or parish. This provides a wonderful
opportunity for us to cooperate
with the Holy Spirit and be part of a great work within our church.
The MGL are completely dependent on donations in order to fund this
extension but feel confident
that this is of the Lord and
that he will provide, as he did with the Garran house itself in 2003.
You can help the chapel appeal by
making a donation or by buying one or more bricks at a suggested donation
of $100 a brick. Fr. Ken
assures us that the names of the donors will be written on the bricks
“in invisible ink”! This is his tongue
in cheek way of saying that all donors are sure to be blessed by God!
Mary Pidcock (for the Friends of Providence)
To make donations, contact Fr Ken Barker , 6 Boake Place, Garran ACT
2605.
For further details: (02) 6281 0132 or frken@smartchat.net.au
………news from the mgl sisters
We had our Consecrated Life Weekend in May and shared our lifestyle and
charism with seventeen
women, most in their early twenties or younger, all seeking whatever Jesus
wants for them in life. It is a
gift to us to express to these young women, who are so open to the grace
of God, what God has called us
to be in the Church. We love telling them that we want our lives to express
that Jesus is worth everything
and that a person can have nothing at all in this world except Jesus and
be perfectly happy, in fact more
joyful, because Jesus is everything. All Christians are called to let others
know how real, intimate and
personal God’s love is for them and to know their dignity, meaning and
purpose in life through relationship
with Jesus, but some are given the desire to be for God alone, to give
all their love to Him, and to know
Him as theirs to in a particular way. It is exciting to see the women catching
the vision of what consecrated
life is really about. In a world that so often misunderstands religious
life, it is a blessing when people can
really see the privilege of what we live and appreciate it with us.
I always tell young women that come, not to be afraid that we will try
to talk them into joining us, we won’t.
We are looking for people who recognise a call in their hearts, and see
in our lifestyle, a way of living what
they most deeply want. Sometimes of course this desire is a bit stifled
and confused, but only when we
really know the deepest desire of our hearts will we be able to live it.
Please pray for young people that
they will have the opportunity to really find their vocation in life and
live their lives centred around Jesus.
Please pray too for many vocations to the MGL Sisters. We already have
one young woman coming into
the pre-novitiate next year, but we are praying that she will be joined
by a few others too.
The sisters in formation are going especially well; busy being ideal examples
of consecrated women and
struggling strongly with all the issues that discernment offers.
Therese is currently in Indonesia for three weeks leading a team of young
people in an evangelisation
mission experience. They will be running programmes for youth based on
sharing their own love for God.
They use testimonies, dramas, games, teachings and any number of creative
Jesus-centred activities
designed to wake up faith. Similar missions are also running in Fiji, and
amongst the indigenous people in
Darwin.
I have been busy contacting other groups of consecrated women like ourselves
in Europe and America. I
plan to stay with them when I travel overseas for World Youth Day in August
this year. I am looking
forward to meeting all kinds of exotic consecrated groups and coming back
with new vision and ideas
gained from their experiences.
Patti Jo has been busy organising and running all kinds of interesting
retreats in Melbourne. Wilderness retreats, Parish retreats, Older
peoples Retreats, Retreats in daily life. There is a smorgasbord of
spiritual encouragement on offer there.
Patti, Therese and I will also be travelling to PNG in September to help
run an Asia Pacific School of Evangelisation in Weewak, but also to do
some on-site discernment of vocations from there. It will be quite an
adventure to meet our PNG brothers and sisters in their homeland and
to work with them in sharing the Gospel. Most of our costs have been
covered now, but we are still short a few plane trips. We are trusting
God to provide for us to get back home again as well, but if there is
anyone who would like to help God out with this, we’d love to hear
from you. We also depend on your prayers for the success of this
mission trip. We are so aware that we depend entirely on grace to live
this life and are very grateful to the people who pray for us.
You are in all our prayers too.
……… Judy Bowe
meet more of the new brothers for 2005 … …
We asked each brother to answer two questions -
What were you doing before you came to MGL?
What attracted you to MGL?
Albert Pastera
Albert had been participating in the College program of Our Lady of the
Angels (Franciscan) Seminary in Manila from 2002 to 2004. He came across
the MGL while surfing the internet. He then approached Fr. Steve Tynan
to
make enquiries. Albert has had a varied work experience – as a bagger in
a
supermarket , a fisherman in Eastern Samar, and a stock clerk in Red Ribbon
Bakeshop. In the last employment he learned how to make all sorts of
exciting cakes, a skill for which the brothers in Canberra have often rejoiced!
Albert says: “ I was attracted to the MGL because they are charismatic,
and I
thought this would be the best way to be an effective priest. I was also
drawn
by their simplicity of life and their love for the poor.”
Michael Steele
Michael worked on the youth ministry team with Catholic Youth Services
in
Sydney during 2004. He was actually born in Canberra but grew up in Sydney.
He has a fine arts diploma from St. George College TAFE, and is quite gifted
in
graphic art. He has been involved in charismatic renewal since he was 12
years
old, thanks to his Mum’s influence. Michael says: “ I was distressed that
I had a
vocation to priesthood, but there seemed nowhere to go where the charismatic
part of me would be embraced and nurtured. Then a friend told me about
the
MGL, and I knew it was for me”. He says what attracted him also was when
he
discovered that “the MGL have such a passion for youth evangelisation”
Vincent (Vas) Clementine
“Vas” is short for “Vincent” with a French accent; his father came originally
from Mauritius. Vas comes from Canberra. He worked on the Catholic
Youth Ministry team for the Canberra- Goulburn Archdiocese during 2004.
He came across the MGL through contact with the charismatic 7.00pm Mass
on Sunday nights at St. Benedict’s Eucharistic Centre, and in other ways
as
well. Before doing full-time youth ministry Vas was studying at the ANU
School of Music. He is a gifted classic guitar player. Vas says : “ I was
attracted to the MGL because of their solid life of prayer, and their deep
Catholic identity. I was also wanting to make a lifelong commitment to
share in the universal mission of the Catholic Church. The MGL provides
me that opportunity”
Vincent Widi
Vincent comes from Bali, Indonesia. He was previously a member of the
Xaverian Missionary Society and was trained in Jakarta and Paris before
spending some time on mission in Cameroon. He encountered the MGL when
he attended the Asia-Pacific School of Evangelisation in Canberra in 2004,
and
then joined the budding community of Disciples of Jesus in Bali. He was
a very
active member of the community and also in his local parish near Kuta beach.
Vincent says that he was attracted to the MGL because he found in them
an
authentic expression of “the two wings” of consecrated life – a deep prayer
life
and a strong commitment to evangelisation. He says that under the grace
of the
charismatic renewal, the “wind of the Spirit” lifts these two wings into
full flight
in God.
HAVE YOU CONSIDERED REMEMBERING THE MISSIONARIES OF
GOD’S LOVE IN YOUR WILL??
new leaders for the spiritual association …..
I am grateful that Anne and Jim Foster are our new leaders of the
Spiritual Association. Anne and Jim live at Murrumbateman,
between Canberra and Yass. They have been involved with the
Disciples of Jesus community and the St. Benedict’s Eucharistic
Centre almost as long as I have! Until recently Anne has been
leading the music ministry and Jim has been involved in sound
ministry for many years. They are great servants, witnessed at the
recent Light to the Nations, where Jim was faithfully at the sound
desk and Anne was coordinating the whole event! Anne has recently had a
hip replacement, but is aking
a rapid recovery. Anne is also responsible for putting together the MGL
newsletter, the Cross and lame. I
look forward to their leadership of the Spiritual Association and trust
that they can build on the good ork
done before them by John and Noeleen Carrick and others in the early years.
……… Fr Ken
*** SPIRITUAL ASSOCIATION NEWS ***
BRISBANE: On 17th April the Missionaries of
God's Love Spiritual Association gathered for
Mass and afternoon tea with Fr Chris Ryan. All
present were grateful for Fr Chris'
ministry. During his Brisbane visit Fr Chris also
had informal contact with many young people. In
May Fr Anthony Phillips conducted a Retreat
for people involved in Catholic Charismatic
Prayer Groups. The feed back from participants
was very positive. Dates are not available yet for
visits of other Missionaries during 2005
For information contact Margaret-Mary (07)
33491944.
MELBOURNE: Gatherings to be held at
Seminary House, 297 Warrigal Rd. Burwood. on
August 27 and October 8. ALL WELCOME.
Starts 2.00pm with Mass. Followed by afternoon
tea (bring plate). Then rosary and Benediction.
Finishes 5.00pm.
For details about the Spiritual Association ,
contact Jenny and Glen Rawlins, (03)
97080810
CANBERRA: Gatherings to be held at St.
Peter and Paul’s Church Garran, near brothers
house,
August 6 and October 15. ALL WELCOME.
Starts 2.00pm with Mass. Followed by afternoon
tea (bring plate). Then rosary and Benediction.
Finishes 5.00pm. Contact Anne and Jim
Foster (02) 6226 8030
COMING MGL EVENTS ……….
VOCATIONS WEEKEND FOR MEN
9 - 11 September 2005 at Garran Formation House.
Please encourage young men interested in searching
out a vocation to come along. Starts 6.00pm Fri night
and finishes 2.00pm Sun.
YOUNG PRIESTS GATHERING (UNDER 5
YEARS ORDAINED) 2 -5 October.
Please pray that the young priests are encouraged and
strengthened. Focus is on styles of leadership.
NOW IS THE TIME FOR YOUNG MEN OF
GOD Conference for young men. 8 – 9 October.
All Saints Parish Hall, George St. Liverpool. Sydney.
NSW. For young men aged 18 and over.
Enquiries: Alex Nolasco, 6 Boake Place, Garran.
(02) 6281 0132.
LET YOUNG MEN KNOW ABOUT THIS.
CELEBRATION OF ACOLYTE AND LECTOR
Sunday 16 October at 3.00pm
Celebration Sunday Mass of Disciples of Jesus
Community at St. Benedict’s Church Narrabunda h.
MGL brothers will be installed as acolytes and lectors
by Archbishop Carroll. ALL WELCOME.
VOWS AND PROMISES Saturday 3 December
(11.00am) at St. Benedict’s Church Narrabundah.
MGL brothers will celebrate promises and profession
of initial vows. Please pray for them as they prepare.
ALL WELCOME
ORDINATION TO PRIESTHOOD Friday 9
December at 7.30pm in St. Christopher’s Cathedral
Manuka. Deacon Ben Roberts will be ordained a
priest by Archbishop Carroll. ALL WELCOME!
THANKSGIVING MASS
Saturday December 10th celebrated at St. Benedict’s
by newly ordained Ben Roberts. ALL WELCOME.
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