A Parish Synod is Announced

 Looking forward to a large Synod in Rome in 2020, the bishops of the world have been asked to permit every parish they are responsible for, to conduct their own Parish Synod and Bishop Egan has announced the beginning of this project in our Diocese.

The first step I expect to be a period of prayer.   I was listening this morning to a Service of Prayer from the Cathedral of Armagh in Ireland.  It was about reconciliation between the Protestant and Catholics on that Island.   There were representatives from different denominations who led us in prayer and gave us their heartfelt pleas for peace, but for me the most meaningful words came from a Protestant Evangelical Minister, who raised the question of the Grace of God being the only means of reconciliation.   Grace is not talked about very much in my Church today, and yet the purpose of grace, a gift to our souls from Jesus, comes through the Sacraments we receive, especially through the reception of Christ in Holy Communion, when His flesh is joined to ours.  This is an act of pure love by our Saviour for myself and for all who receive Him in faith.   This is where I beg Him to give me the life he has promised.   "I live, no not I, but Christ lives within me" cried St Paul.  And he further said "We no longer live by the law, but by the grace of Jesus Christ".     He was not saying "Forget the Commandments he himself had been preaching, but that when you are filled with the Spirit of Christ you no longer have any fear of sin.

So how does this apply to the coming Synod.    If I stand up and teach my own wisdom, with no prayerful life behind me, and only my pride telling me that I am being guided by the Holy Spirit, then Christ will have no voice.   It is in humility that the Word of God is found, not in arrogance.   Have I been arrogant in the past, most certainly the answer is yes.   But the stakes are very high in this Synod for it is the future of Christ, and His teachings, and His Church that are threatened.    Everyone must act with humility, rather than pride and arrogance.

May he Hearts of Jesus and Mary guide us in our preparations.    



  











 the Cathedral 

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