Leaping into the Arms of God

One of the privileges of my long years in Carmel has been that I have got involved in mentoring others.  What I notice is how mature in their Catholic faith most of those who join us already are.  We don’t have to catechise them or take them through the essentials of the faith, they are wanting to use the faith as a springboard enabling them to leap further into the arms of God.  It’s such a joy to work with souls already so deeply in love with Him, it means that formation sessions are more about sharing than they are about teaching.  Come to think of it, there is one thing absent from most Secular meetings – arguments.  They sometimes simmer below the surface, but in my view we have to strongly discourage the raising of controversial topics (e.g. the Latin mass) during our meetings.  In our discussions there we need to focus on the heart and on our relationship with God in prayer and in our daily lives, and that is not generally difficult, although meetings do occasionally need gentle but firm leadership to keep the discussion in helpful channels.       

Intercessions

RIP Fr Jon Bielawski, Jacqui, Sister Maisie, Ann Widdecombe

Cancer: Brian Davis, Bernard (and wife Angela caring for him), Catherine, Alex (43 with five children), Theresa K, Elena

Sophie – newborn having heart surgery; Sianna, young child in the post-operative phase; James, recovering from heart surgery

Ivy – sick child

Brian (recovering from Pneumonia)

Kevin (heart attack)

William Gove (in recovery)

Illness:  Katy Keeling

Siena, Elara – sick children

David OCDS – housebound

Grace – troubling ailments, job difficulties, family (deceased mother and health of father)

Mark – brain infection

Michael, Kira – vulnerable youngsters

Defence of the unborn and the elderly

We are asked to pray for the Diocese of Chiang Mai and Northern Thailand, as the Northern Mission celebrates its centenary. The process of selecting a new bishop continues.