Tuesday of Holy Week

To attain holiness, then, we must not only pattern our lives on Christ’s by being gentle, humble and patient, we must also imitate him in his death.

We imitate Christ’s death by being buried with him in baptism. We have to begin a new life, and we cannot do so until our previous life has been brought to an end - when we wish to reverse the direction of our lives there must be a pause, or a death, to mark the end of one life and the beginning of another.

From the book On the Holy Spirit by Saint Basil

Monday of Holy Week

Daily Reflection
Brothers and Sisters,
let us then fearlessly acknowledge, and even openly proclaim,
that Christ was crucified for us;
let us confess it, not in fear but in joy, not in shame but in glory.
From a sermon by Saint Augustine

Holy Week

As we enter this season when “ the church celebrates the mysteries of salvation accomplished by Christ in the last day of his life on earth. beginning with his messianic entrance into Jerusalem” (PCEF) , these words of Henri Nouwen from my daily reflections, seem to hit home :

Every time you celebrate the Eucharist and rceive the bread and wine, the body and blood of Jesus, his suffering and his death become a suffering and death for you.
Passion becomes compassion, for you.
You are incorporated into Jesus.
You become part of his “body” in that most compassionate way you are freed from your deepest solitude.
Through the Eucharist you come to belong to Jesus in the most intimate way, to him who suffered and died for you, died and rose again so that you may suffer, die, and rise again with him.

My Prayer:
that I may enter the Eucharist’s,
and the prayer of this holy week, fully,
and experience this mystery of God’s love
more clearly.

Matts itunes adventure

Tried the iTunes test today,
here's how I was evaluated in the eyes of
itunes (how does it know?)

How does the world see you?
Weary Cutters
Steeleye Span
Hmmmmmm

Will I have a happy life?
Slit Skirts
Pete Townsend
Sounds good to me!

What do my friends really think of me?
Thank you (for loving me at my worst)
The Whitlams
I always knew I could count on my friends

What do people secretly think of me?
In & Out
The Straw Theory
No comment...

How can I be happy?
Until the end of the world
U2
It was "how" not "how long" right? Uh oh!

What should I do with my life?
Moon over Bourbon Street
Sting
Show me the street & I'll show you a moon

What is some good advice for me?
Don't smoke in bed
Nina Simone
Very good advice I thought

How will I be remembered?
No one can compare (to you)
Guy Sebastian
No cheating I know, I couldn't have picked it if I wanted

What is my signature dancing song?
Gigantor
Helmut
It's a cartoon theme, hey that's me

What do I think my current theme song is?
Hey Nineteen
Steely Dan
I thought Linda was older than 19 ... ooh

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
George's Helper
Pete Murray
Always the helper never the helped

What song will play at my funeral?
Prove my love
The Violent Femmes
Pretty punked up funeral I'm having

What type of men/women do you like?
What a shame
Steely Dan
Doesn't sound like I pick em well does it?

What is my day going to be like?
I wanna be adored
The Stone Roses
It's all about me today you know!

Lectio

Lectio divina is a slow, contemplative praying of the Scriptures.

You can read about it here.

For Your Lectio:
The best prayer is the one in which there is the most love.Adoration, wordless admiration, that is the most eloquent form of prayer:that wordless admiration which contains the most passionate declaration of love."
- Charles de Foucauld

"Receive very simply from God
the gift of being"
- Abhishiktananda

Balance

Nice paper on the work/home balance here - but probably not for long!

I wonder whether getting up earlier
means a slower start to the day...?

Transfiguration at Flickr!

Check out our photos at Flickr.
The link on the side bar will always take you there!

Confirmation

Confirmation at St Philips Cottesloe of community member Michelle's sister, Rosemary.

A wonderful morning with Archbishop Roger of Perth.

Creator Spirit, strengthen Rosemary with your gifts of grace, to love and serve as a disciple of Christ. Grant that she may grow into the fullness of the stature of Christ. Fill her with the joy of your presence. Increase in her the fruit of your Spirit: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of love, patience and gentleness, the spirit of wonder and true holiness.

Amen

Movies

Last night we continued our study of the movie Chocolat, but the highlight was the before!

Michelle's birthday celebrations, Jason's fantastic Chili, and time spent watching some little cartoons from Monsters Inc and Madagascar with the kids. Fabulous.

A good meal, wine, beer, movies, children, friends and a celebration. Not to mention some silence, prayer and laughter.

Perhaps, I'm wrong, but it seems from my reading of the gospel that Jesus was fond of these things too.

And I reckon he was there last night.

Prayer is to see God in any person, or in any creature, with whom we come in contact ...
Prayer is the smile, the look of the eyes which conveys to the other the greetings of the heart, which tells the other, known or unknown that they are not a stranger, but recognised as a brother or sister
Abhishiktananda

Peace

Chris

Catholic Roundtable

In Kentucky, a cool gathering happened this weekend.
A group of “emerging” Christians have been meeting to discuss catholic practices and spend time praying the hours and been in community. In the words of Bryan Sherwood they “prayed Evening Prayer together and spent the rest of the evening sharing our “story”; telling a bit about how we’ve been drawn and influenced by the ancient church.

Sounds great to me.

In a land which seems to be frightened of ancient Christianity, where the new is always better, events of this type are vital. It stops communities like ours feeling so alone, and also enables us to be challenged and gifted by others stories and experience.

Looks like they also ate some super food!

This is a conversation well worth keeping your eyes on. I suspect updates will br made at Bryans site above, at the great Alan Creech’s site, and also at my new friend Antony’s site.

God Bless

Community- definition

Like Chris mentioned we are doing a Lenten study Christ and the Chocolaterie based on the movie Chocolat. We spent two weeks watching the movie and began the study this week. I’ll be honest and say that I have only just finished reading the introduction to the study and this paragraph struck me as I feel it really rings true to us and who we are as community:

The word community is often used to describe a group of people who just happen to be thrown together by geography or interest. True community, however, is far deeper – and quite rare. The following definition is based on the writings of Dr M. Scott Peck… “We define community as a group of people who, regardless of their backgrounds and beliefs, have been able to accept and transcend their differences, enabling them to communicate effectively and openly.”

I hope that through this study and our continued sharing of our lives together we may continue to group as a community. Thanks to the community for accepting me and welcoming me and allowing me to be who I am and share my life with you.
God Bless
Shelle :)

iTunes Knows All, Reveals All

Instructions: Go to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play.

Use the song title as the answer to the questions. NO CHEATING.

How does the world see you?
Jerry, Stand up.
Something for Kate.
Hmmm. “Quit your job” and “Once upon time you were crazy”.

Don’t really understand the message here…Will I have a happy life?
Coloured Rain
Traffic
“Yesterday I was a young boy…til you came along there was nothing but an empty space”
Better. True if seen from the divine perspective…

What do my friends really think of me?
Good cop, Bad Cop
Everything but the Girl
“I don’t want to feel this way, won’t somebody take away this feeling”
Well I hope not…

What do people secretly think of me?
The Word
Sara Groves
Thankyou to all my friends!

How can I be happy?
Man in the corner shop
The Jam
Should I BE the man in the corner shop, or should I date him?

What should I do with my life?
Old John Robertson
The Byrd’s
What the..?

What is some good advice for me?
Blue
Joni Mitchell
Thanks Joni…… I think.

How will I be remembered?
In France they kiss on main street
Joni Mitchell
I haven’t even been to France!

What is my signature dancing song?
Begin
Ben Lee
I don’t dance. Good choice.

What do I think my current theme song is?
Artificial Energy
The Byrds
Yep, that about sums it up!

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
Cindy of a thousand lives
Billy Bragg
Ummm, do I appear schizophrenic?

What song will play at my funeral?
I'm Only Dreaming
The Small Faces
Lets hope so!

What type of men/women do you like?
King Jesus has a Garden
Kings College
Looks like celibacy for me!

What is my day going to be like? .
Oh Santa
Vege Tales
It’s March for goodness sake!

Wow interesting findings

Who Should Paint You: Salvador Dali

You're a complex, intense creature who displays many layers.There's no way a traditional portrait could ever capture you!

What Artist Should Paint Your Portrait?

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Giving and Taking (or the Art of Chocolate)

We finally got to the first study of our Lenten book "Christ and the chocolaterie". (Click for a review). Only a few of us last night, but a good chat and think nonetheless. The main issue, as per the post title, was giving up. We thought, and watched, as people struggled with their humanity, their desires and needs, and the "requirements" of the pre-vatican 2 French Catholic church.

Got really interesting as we discussed what we could, and will give up, and why! But we all seem to have adopted the more modern approach of life change, or taking on a practice, for Lent.- some more prayer, others less stress, others spiritual reading (You go boy!)

On another, more secular note by far, I was very happy to recieve Donald Fagen's new album "Morph the Cat". Donald explains helpfully: "There’s nothing sexier than the Apocalypse. I suppose you could call this album Apocalypse Wow.”
Cool grooves, dark themes, humour, history, death, mayhem and despair.
Very nice.

Bless you.

Apparently...

Well it seems

Who Should Paint You: Salvador Dali

You're a complex, intense creature who displays many layers.There's no way a traditional portrait could ever capture you!

What Artist Should Paint Your Portrait?

From the looks of it I'm not too easy to capture.

Burrfoot

Who should paint you?

Who Should Paint You: Gustav Klimt

Sensual and gorgeous, you would inspire an enchanting portrait.. With just enough classic appeal to be hung in any museum!

What Artist Should Paint Your Portrait?

New Listening

I got home yesterday to find my latest music purchase "From the Six Corners" by The Players had arrived. Cool. Funky UK urban soul.
I am a happy camper!

And finally we are famous! The Brisbane Catholic diocese has used our communities story as a part of their Lenten Resource site. Check it out here.

Going green and community

One my of goals for Lent was to eat less meat and better quality food over all.
So we’ve taken up buying our fruit and Vege from “An Organic Experience”, our meat from “Meatlovers” and loads of fantastic European products from the “Re Store” (Which has the added value of avoiding many additives which have been banned overseas, but are still in loads of Aussie foods…)

Too early to say if we feel better physically yet, but it is nice to go to a store where people know you, give the kids a chocky, and there is no awful background music…

Stay away from those Supermarkets I think. They’ll do your head in. Not to mention your body.

Christ and the chocolaterie

A bit breezy today - Please don't be upset...

For Lent, we have begun using "Christ and the Chocolaterie", by Hilary Brand. It is a study guide to the movie "Chocolat" and picks up many Lenten themes. In my spirit of Lent, we are going slow and not pushing ourselves. We are taking two weeks just to watch it, and then we'll gradually work our way through the text.

The movie is set in Pre-Vatican 2 France, a bastion of conservative Catholicism. Fasting is to be practice hard and fast. To give into temptation is a sin. We must suffer for Christ. etc etc.
The whole community lives a penetential 6 weeks before Easter comes, and are "Free again".

Surely this is to miss the point. To be fruitful, fasting should be part of the re-orientation process, which I believe is what Lent is all about. (As in "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel...). We should (In an ideal world) each fast from what binds us, to drop its attachment, and see its power over us. But we are so self indulged that any sort of moderation - whether it be in eating, drinking, exercise, technology, sex - seems foreign to us.
Painful.
Perhaps even dangerous.

And I include myself here. I don't WANT to fast. Or give anything up. I like to eat and drink. And be merry. But I love God more. And if I am serious about entering into God's mystery, then history shows (and my limited, flawed experience tells me), fasting is helpful

On another note, the Irish Jesuits rock. Pray as You Go is an awesome site. Daily reflective mediations on the Gospel of the Day, one for each day of Lent.
I have been using the End of the Day prayer each night before sleep. It is fab

Hidden-ness

I finally got my self a copy of “Emerging Churches” by Gibbs and Bolger. It’s a good read. At this point in our communities journey it is good to read that we are

(1) not alone in doing the small community thing and
(2) that the issues we face are the same that others have, and continue to face.

But, perhaps it’s just me, but I run into problems with this sort of thing. The minute we put something down in print we give it a pseudo endorsement, both of the subject of the text and of the authors as knowledgeable about the issue. I would hate to think that others new to the movement or whatever we call it, feel this book sums it up.
New communities (new monasticism, emergent church, missional communities, take your pick really…) are all “emerging” (whatever that means) because we are on the way to something – a new way of being church. By definition we can’t be there yet and not many people I know think they have got it all worked out anyway!

That said, and the fact that I was sad there was so little of Oceanic groups mentioned (although they do state why…). This book is terrific in analysing the present state of the movement by allowing emergent church leaders to tell their story and offering their opinions. It avoids being too academic and I loved the bios of the contributors- many of whose blogs I read. I can really, really recommend it.
5 people are lined up to borrow mine!

Which leads me to hidden-ness. Did I feel we needed to be in there? Have those communities mentioned in the book noticed people beating down their doors to
“Have a look”? (Nothing can disturb a community’s life more! Look at the changes Taize has had to make over the years to accommodate their visitors). What will the long-term ramifications of this book be to these communities spiritual growth? How missional and open can you be and still maintain a communities integrity and strength of life? How many awesome communities were not listed? Should they have been?

Turning to our community’s monastic foundations, I think of all the little known monks and nuns through the years who have been hidden away, and yet whose prayers and mere presence have been powerful forces in the world.
We will never know who they are, no matter how intune with God they are, but they make the way clear before us.

I think this is what I wish for our community.
To be hidden, not drawing attention to our selves, getting on with being Gods people in our context, but still being open to the next challenge, the next person.

But I still check the blog stats to see how many people are checking us out!

Oh Vanity!