Advent

Things are winding up and down simultaneously in the west. Wnding up as the Christmas period and all the ensuing mayhem really hit full throttle, and winding down as school ends and people generally slow down for the next few months.

Our prayertime and community life always reflect this in Late November and the whole of Decemeber. We are tired, frantic and disconnected from ourselves, and often each other. Often it is little more than we can cope with to share a meal, some laughter and wine, a brief moment of prayer and silence, and then return to our lives. Jason and Rachel are having a new baby soon, so they must be really feeling it!

This year, we have used a few resources from the Bread for the world site. They have a terrifc selection of prayers for Advent which focus on the less wealthy, the less fortunate and the less able. We will use one of their evening prayers this evening to stimulate us from our weariness.

If you read this, pray for us. We need it.

Weddings, Parties, Anything

The last few weeks have been a blur of opposities: Preparing for Matt and Linda's Wedding, My Dad critically ill in hospital, Running Sunday School, Writing Reports, Coralie Away, End of year exams for some, Buisness Hassles, Great food at Bible Study, Baptisms, Music - It all seems to have been happening.

What binds us, is our prayer life. Matt keeps on turning up for Prayers on Monday night (and a G and T) with Shelle. Wednesday night usually has 7 or 8 of us at least. We seem to keep on making it to church on the weekend (somehow). That in itself is a blessing. We are lucky we hjave each other - so lucky I don't think we realise it sometimes. This weekend we all head north for the wedding. Bring it on.

Chris

Community life

I have been enjoying reading Andrew Dowsetts blog and this week he has written some interesting stuff on being a community which is incarnational (christlike) vs attractional (join us 'cos you like what you see) . Got me thinking about Transfiguration and what we are doing. Where do we sit on this dicotomy? I suspect that all communities are neither one nor the other, they are a combination of both in varying degrees. We have at our heart the incarnational model, we are trying to be christlike, to live out the new kingdom, to be God's family. On the other hand we are liturgical which is attractional by nature -come and see and join in. If our liturgical life is leading us to deeper incarnational relationship then great, but if it becomes a sole means of "look at us!!" then we are off beam. The reality is that we swing between these poles with no trouble at alland more importantly, it gives us life.

Lets continue an ongoing conversation about this nature of our community by commenting below!!

with love

Chris

Holidays

Happy birthday to Matt and Linda for this month.
Chris, Coralie and Shelle away in NZ for a few weeks - see the link at ayearslife opposite.
Hope the rest of our community family are well.
Can you see the tree ?? This is the view form our home in Nelson, NZ.

World

As we have continued our study of St Francis, we have been encouraged and challenged to intersect our faith with the issues confronting us on a local and global level. Hurricance Katrina was high on the agenda this week, and particularly the terrible portrayl of humanity which was chronicled afterwards. We discussed the need to become more loving, more forgiving, more selfless, more human so that we can truly reach out to others from our centre. As we considered the future of the three, soon to be four, children in our group, the issues became more imporatnt and focused, encourging local community transformation and stronger positions.

Pete and Moid were off doing their thing, but given the weather it was a miracle any of us got together!

Last night was one of those nights when everyone seemed really really tired it is funny when one of us feels tired we all seem to be in the same boat! We shared a fabulous meal at the Smiths- thanks Jas and really just sat and chatted over the meal (and a couple of bottles of fine red wine!). We missed Coralie who has not been well and thank God that she is on the mend, Chris joined us late after visiting Eliza's school for Father's night. We talked about the Taize service a few of us attended last Wed at the Cathederal and the Taize service we ran at St Phillips on Sunday evening.
Due to the tiredness and long meal we opted to have a social evening and chat instead of a more formalised study- I thing it is these types of evenings that keep us together and so strong. It is funny how the conversation does always seem to come back to Church no matter where the conversation has gone in between time!!!!
We continue to pray for Coralie's continued healing, Jason's healing, for Pete, Moid and Karen and Michelle and their families who have recently lost Grandparents.
God bless
I hope you all have a good week,
Shelle :)

August Taize at St Philip's

Thankyou all so much for Taize Sunday evening.

I was feeling pretty weary and as we worshipped it was as though the Lord
just lifted me into his presence and allowed me to rest there; no agendas,
no work to do, nothing to think about, just being with him. For me this was
a huge [and somewhat unexpected gift] for which I thank you and Him.

I really appreciated the simple music from the back
I found it haunting and it helped me connect with the simplicity of the
occasion.

To you all once again Thanks.
Malcolm

Taize Funeral

Last night the community was pleased to assist at the ecumenical memorial service for Br. Roger. It was a time of great beauty and peace, St Georges Cathederal almost full.
The title of this entry will take you to the Taize page of photos and text from the funeral.

Brother Roger

Brother Roger of Taize

R.I.P

While we met last night, more importantly we awoke to the news that last night Brother Roger, founder of the Taize community, was slain by a mentally deranged woman during Vespers.
We share the shock of the entire world, especially our monastic brothers and sisters , including our good friend from Taize, Brother Gishlan.
The community will offer prayers for the Taize Community through the week.
For more information link here

If you wish to leave a comment about Taize, please do so and I will forward it to them for their book of rememberence.

The Moid Link

Fo you Moid! Email here

Art

Shrine, 2004, (installation view)

Art by community member, Peter.

Anniversary

Although we have been meeting together for the last 7 years - can you believe it? - last night we celebrated our First anniversary as the Transfiguration Community. To mark this occasion, we made promises, not vows, to support our community life. Here is what we promised:

We will honor:

The light of our Benedictine Heritage.
May we always value silence, stillness and prayer

The light of Hospitality.
May we always nourish one another.

The light of Relationship.
May we always remember to value one another, married or Single.

The light of compassion.
May we always be generous in our care for one another.

The light of work.
May we always value each others occupations and activities.

The light of our children.
May we always see them as gifts from God.

The light of faithfulness
May we continue to be faithful to our community life.

The light of honesty
May we continue to share with humor and truthfulness.

The light of Openness.
May we always be open to the work of the Spirit within us.

The light of newness
May our minds not be closed to the adventure of faith.

And our thanks to you who read this webpage and support us with prayer.
May God continue to bless you.
Chris

Why Wham

Last night we continued our new St Francis study. Once again the majority of us joined together for a shared meal prior to our contemplation. We missed Coralie last night as she was preparing for her big CD launch on Saturday night (follow link to her site 'looking for coco' for more info.)
We had some great discussions last night about the powerless in the world, the poor- that are somehow connected to our own daily lives and the real poor in the rest of the world, we talked about people who we know who live out the gospel in our changing world and how we struggle to live out the gospel and what challenges confront us an hold us back. Peter shared some wisdom from his YWAM days- it has given us all something to think about looking at situations and how they fit with the fruits of the spirit.
Take care
Shelle

Study

It was great to welcome Andrew this week.
We hope your time with us was rewarding and encouraging.
Chris

New Programme

This week we begin a new study based upon Franciscan spirituality
It will good to see how the ideals of peace and environmental awareness can be incorporated in to our community life.
We continue to pray for the future marriage of Matt and Linda which is getting close, as well as all of the teachers and students who are returning to school this week.
Chris

Smells and Bells at Bible Study

We believe that God has a sense of humour, look at the diversity in His people. One of the ways we like to relieve tension in moments of, yes tension, is that if we feel the urge and have the urge, we like to let rip with a good fart. Often this has come at inopportune times but you can't always control the volume that your bottom makes, sometimes this enhances the prayer, sometimes not.... Not everyone in our community feels the freedom yet to do bottom burps but most of us will be encouraged to burp out loud and proud. We are sure that some of Jesus' disciples were often filled with hot air. These times are not mentioned in the Bible, unfortunately but I'm sure they were no different in those days than we are now. Many people feel that some bodily functions are disgusting and will leave the room to drop one, we feel sorry for these people who don't feel they can share and appreciate these gifts.
Next time you are in prayer with someone sneak one out, hopefully the odour ranking will be high and just watch and wait for their response. In this sense you will create your own "smells and bells"!!!!!!
These are our words of wisdom for this week.
Cozzie and Shelle

Contact

Contact us here

Is Tiredness Epidemic?

Tiredness and Weariness are often a characteristic of our times together. Whether it is writing reports, travelling long distances , looking after children, planning a wedding or managing a company, all of us have lives that at times seem to sap us of energy.

Paradoxiaclly, this is one of the reasons I think our community works so well - we see the bigger picture of relationship with one another, and God, through prayer.
Sure, some nights we pray Compline rather than Vespers - it's shorter and gives us a chance to drink a Drambuie or two(!), but we still get togther.
We pray. We are silent. We are a community.

We miss Pete as he gets ready for his exhibition and the Smiths as they journey about. Come back to us safe folks.
God Bless ya all.
Chris

Taize & the Spirit

A brief note
Last night we served the anglican community at St Phillip's in Cottesloe, providing a Taize style prayer time (and space) for the evening.
Our prayer was based around Compline combining elements of the monastic hour and Taize to create an environment where the spirit could be invited and experienced.
The response seemed to be very positive and it's likely we'll be running something similar on a kinda regular basis. Keep an eye out and we'll let you know.
Big props to Chris for pulling the thing together and Co for coordinating the musos. Shelle was a fantastic example of servant-hood, throwing herself into everything as needed (from powerpoint to climbing the walls with candles). Thanks for the work, all of you. I'm sure it was appreciated by all involved.
Pax
MJ

And a comment from someone who prayed with us..

Just a short note to say THANKYOU to whoever it was who arranged such a very special and moving service as the TAIZE worship which we had this evening. I found the experience incredibly special, deeply moving and thought provoking, and I feel very blessed to have been a part of it.

Keeping On

Lots of prayer and no updates.

The last month have of course seen us come together each Wednesday, in various groupings and at different times. Our Wednesday nights have been silent and still - most of us more tired than anything, resting in Jesus and resting in the company of each other. Four of us come together to prayer on Monday and Friday nights, and Saturdays we are all out for breakfast.

A prayer which has seemed appropriate for us lately has been:

God your arms are open wide to embrace us
Your spirit draws us in to your community,
Red, yellow, white and black, you welcome us
Male, female, slave and free you draw us in
Like a father welcomes an only son
Like a mother cradles her infant child
You beckon us into your family
To share your love
To share your life
To make us whole
Amen

God Bless you all. If you want to know where our next prayer is email Chris

Back together again

Last Wed night was such a celebration- not only were all of us together for the first time in a long time but we all started the evening with a shared meal. It somehow seems to make the prayer time all the more fruitful if we have met together, eaten, laughed and enjoyed a glass of wine together prior to prayers- that's what community is all about. It also lead us in to reminising about our time together over the years and all the fun we have had along the way- especially one occasion that always makes us laugh.
This week sadly we were back to a small group on Wed but it reminded me that it is important to meet even if it is only a few of us: Jesus said if two or more of you are gathered together in my name I will answer your prayers.
It was great for us all to meet together as a whole community but it is just as important to continue to meet when there are only a few of us.
God Bless
Michelle

Busy Lives

The busyness of our lives has been apparent in the last few weeks. We have struggled to all meet together on a Wednesday night for a few weeks. We missed Jason and Rachael last week although welcomed a visitor to the group- it was great to share what we are doing with others.
This Wednesday we again met in smaller numbers as some of our community were busy with other areas of their lives. We missed Coralie as she was out performing with her vocal group, Matt and Linda's presence was missed also as they were out sharing in a meal with Matt's parents who were visiting for a short while. Those of us who did meet shared a time of chatting, winding down, laughter and a lovely drink (or two).
I pray we will once again be able to all come together as a community this week.
God Bless
Michelle

Engagement

We celebrated the Engagement of Linda and Matt last night. Matt is a founding brother of the community, who met his fiance in New Norcia while on retreat! Linda belongs to the Perth based Catholic group Flame Ministries International, but has become a loved member of our community and attends our prayer as often as her schedule allows. The community worked hard in the kitchen and making music as our service to the new couple.

The whole Transfiguration crew wish them the very best for a happy, peaceful and long future together.
Chris

Easter at New Norcia

As usual, a large number of the community made the 100km trip North to spend Easter with our Benedictine Friends in New Norcia. The celebration of Our Lords passion and resurrection is celebrated with great simplicity and depth, allowing the real joy of this season to shine through.
Paticularly special this year was the beautiful music selection, drawing heavily on chant and Taize, and Easter night drinks on the Organists front lawn!

As we discussed the impact of the weekend last night, over a cup of tea and a hot cross bun, the words of community and peace came up repeatedly. At least for a few short days we really LIVE as a community- praying, laughing, sharing and eating together. What a gift!

Easter Peace to you all

Chris

Monday prayers

Last night for the first time this lent I was able to make our prayer time- an extra pray session a week we decided to try out during lent. Coralie and I met with Matt at his place. It was a short 15 min prayer time but it was a great reminder to me to slow down and stop and to devote time to God. At first I kept wanting to look at the time since I had a meeting at 6 but when we got into the prayer time the time didn't seem an issue, time with God was far more important than any meeting.
May you all be able to find a time in your coming week to stop and be with God.
God Bless
Michelle

St Benedict Week 2

We all met for dinner before our study time, and it was great to welcome Pete back amongst us. Continung our study of the rule of St Benedict, we dug around in the rule to see how it orders the monastics life, giving a balance between all of the parts of our lives. Reading chapters of material about food and drink, authority, work and care helped us try and see areas of our own lives which needed more balance and/or time commited to them.

As always we ended with compline - bringing some peace and stillness at the end of our busy days.


Peace,
Chris

Lenten Study

This week was our first lenten talk. We have decided to learn more about the Benedictine life and Benedict himself as we all have some connection with the Benedictine life through our visits to New Norcia's monastry and our interactions with the Monks there. Chris gave a talk detailing some of Benedicts life with many anecdotal stories about what he did, who he worked with and the attempts by others to poison him.
We concluded the evening in prayer using a prayer time regularly used at New Norcia- our Lent Compline prayer was the perfect way to conclude and pray for each other and the members of our group who were unable to join us on this evening.
Take care and God bless.
Michelle

Ash Wednesday

We saw in Ash Wednesday with Vespers as we normally do, but this night in particular was quite prayerful and reflective. During Vespers we listened to a reading by Cardinal Murphy O'Connor, from his address for Ash Wednesday to be given also during vespers in the Westminster Cathedral.
The main thrust of the reading was to do with what stops us from spending time with God. Below is an excerpt from Cardinal Murphy O'Connor's address:
"So if people ask me what they should do for Lent, I am inclined to say, on this Ash Wednesday, you should not try to do without something, but to get something done as if your eternal salvation depended on it. If Lent is to mean anything in our lives, it has to be a season of renewal. The word "Lent" itself means "springtime." The idea is that we die with Christ like the seed in the ground and rise with Him to more abundant life. We die to sin and rise to integrity. We die to selfishness and rise to generosity, especially towards the poor.
Whatever penance we do, whatever we choose to give up or do without, should help us to put on these new clothes, and to grow into stronger, healthier Christians. Each one of us should spend more time in prayer during these 40 days; some time in reading a Lenten book about how better to follow Jesus Christ, and some exercise which involves care for others, perhaps a visit to someone less fortunate than we are. What we should give up is whatever stops us doing that extra thing."
May each of our Lenten journeys be a time of growing closer to God.
Love in Christ
Linda F

New Norcia Reflections 1

I am on retreat with Phil Timms, a friend. It is hot, and about to have a thunder storm.
Here is a little of todays influences.

The people God loves are precisely those people we meet daily in the streets and on the job. God calls each one to Himself, all of them, just as they are, with their qualities and faults, their joys and their sorrows. He calls them all to share His own inner life, to be perfect as He Himself is perfect. There's no second class call tyo something less, but only the one vocation to the infinite joy of God's very self, for God's love has no restrictions

Fropm Charles de Foucauld

A Year to Grow

Happy New Year everybody.
What does the year hold for our Community?
Still meeting on Wednesday nights. Still praying, laughing, eating and sharing together.
During Lent, we will have a series of talks about St Benedict, the rule and what it means for us.
Passover meal. Easter with the monks at New Norcia. Our community retreat in September.
Lots of love, Lots of God, Lots of Growth.
Hopefully!