AFTER OUR CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS:

AFTER OUR CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS:
DON’T MISS OUT ON SOME SPECIAL GIFTS OF GOD FOR YOU

In the aftermath of our Centenary Year culminating in the last very busy six weeks we should be on the lookout for particular gifts (or ‘graces’) which God will want each of us to receive and so be open to. God works through particular events and particular traditions, and this parish is certainly one of those traditions. What is the Holy Spirit offering you at this summer-time?

The last of our recent grand events is illustrative of this dynamic. Our parish performance of the musical Rock of the Anointed, which played to three full houses last weekend, illustrated the life of King David. This biography is one of the numerous examples in the Old Testament of great, pre-Christian literature and great characters. It is foundational to the Catholic tradition of which we, by the grace of God, are a part.

In it we can discover much about ourselves in his life of failure and faithfulness, bereavement and hope, betrayal and forgiveness, lust and repentance, and about the purification of love. We are particularly reminded of the need to put God first and the danger of forgetting Him.

Our experience of producing this play is that it is indeed a tradition blessed by God. This has been the experience of those involved in its development over its previous three productions over the last two years. It has helped many people in their Catholic faith, in their living and loving. The fruitful Catholic youth organization, Youth 2000, itself blessed by God, was inspired to commission Tillie Callaghan and Edwin Fawcett to write it, as a work of prayerful and dramatic witness. Martin Plunkett has played the role of David in each production, and it has proved an important part of his spiritual journey. Our parish is now lucky enough to have received inspiration from this particular work of God. There will be follow-up initiatives in the new academic year. Watch this space.

The death of Tillie last January, in her first year working amongst us, shortly after having requested that we do this production here, has added a certain poignancy and power to the spiritual and witness dimensions of our production. The show seems to have touched many, along with other events during our centenary celebrations. Let us pray that as a community we may be open at this time the graces God wants to give each of us individually and as a family of families. Look out for him calling you deeper through it, and through all our centenary celebrations.