HOLY SPIRIT COME!ccrnsw.org.au/files/newsletters/2015/vos_aug2015.pdf · 2016. 8. 19. · a...

Voice of the Spirit NSW CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL NEWSLETTER

P h o n e 9 8 1 0 2 4 9 9 ♦ 1 9 a Q u i r k S t R o z e l l e 2 0 3 9 ♦ F a x 9 5 5 5 5 9 6 2

♦ E m a i l : e m a i l @ c c r n s w . o r g . a u ♦ W e b s i t e : c c r n s w . o r g . a u

August 2015 Issue 81

O n Sunday 24th May at Our Lady Queen of Peace

Greystanes NSW, an inspiring celebration of the

Feast of Pentecost was enjoyed by the faithful from

many parts of Sydney and beyond. This joyful feast

has been held in this church for many years and is

always a time of grace and renewal.

Following an uplifting session of praise led by The

Servants of Jesus Community music ministry, Mass

was concelebrated by Fr Bony Abraham MGL with

the four other priests.

Fr Abraham gave the homily based on St John’s

Gospel Chapters 14, 15 and 16. To summarise his

homily - Jesus speaks to his disciples about going

away to the Father and he will send them an

Advocate who will be with them on the journey. He

will give them Joy and Peace. For all Christians, if we

want to follow Jesus, we need the Spirit of Truth.

Without the Holy Spirit the Christian journey is

impossible. To love one another we need the Holy

Spirit.

He then spoke of Repentance- “metanoia” which he

translated as “beyond the current mindset.” When

the Holy Spirit comes, he will give you the power to

turn away from the current mindset - which can be a

“big mind”- a proud, arrogant stance -“this is my life”-

a rebellious attitude towards God. Or, we might have

a “little mind”- being a doormat - never believing in

our gifts or what we can contribute to the building up

of our community.

The true mindset is “I am a son or daughter of

God”. Every person is of equal dignity with the

courage to call God our Father. (cont. on page 3)

HOLY SPIRIT COME!HOLY SPIRIT COME!HOLY SPIRIT COME!

From L to R, Fr.Kene Onwukwe, Fr. Yacub Barakat, Fr. John Iacono, Fr. Bony Abraham and Fr. Bill Cunningham

Feast of Pentecost Celebration

Voice of the Spirit Issue 81

Voice of the

Spirit Official Newsletter

of the NSW Catholic

Charismatic

Renewal

This newsletter is

published quarterly.

Articles, news items

and other

contributions are

welcome and should

be forwarded to:

The Editor

Voice of the Spirit

CCR Centre

19a Quirk Street

Rozelle 2039

Editor:

Sr. Margaret Scully

and Team

Deadline for

November issue:

Friday 9 Oct. 2015

Permission is granted

to reprint any article

from Voice of the

Spirit (VOS) as long

as VOS is quoted as

the source.

Articles in VOS are

the personal views of

the writer and,

unless indicated, do

not necessarily

reflect the view of the

NSW Service Team.

If there is lack of

space, the editor

reserves the right to

edit articles.

CCR Centre

office hours:

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Phone(02) 9810 2499

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com/ccrnsw

H aving had to take

an enforced “rest”

in recent months there

has been much time and

space for me to think,

pray, reflect, read and

listen. But none of these

can be

compartmentalised, for one surely flows

out of and into the other.

One course of thinking led me to ask,

as do so many of us, why do certain

things, particularly the unexpected and

un-liked, happen to us? The response

could be sequentially logical such as: ‘If I

hadn’t done that then the end result

would have been different’ One or other

may go so far as to say ‘God did it!’ which

I don’t for a minute believe. Certainly,

God allows things to happen and then, as

only God can and does, he offers us the

grace we need at the time.

One day in a reflective moment I

considered Pope

Francis’ love for Jesus

and how he says we

‘lock Jesus into dull

categories’ suggesting

such titles as ‘Saviour’,

‘Redeemer’, ‘Lord of

Lords’ etc., which ‘keep

him at a distance

rather than at the

centre of our lives’.

Jesus breaks through

nonetheless. If we

would just let him into our lives, he will

amaze us and change us for the better.

And so I prayed, “Jesus, may I let you

amaze me this day” And, oh me of little

faith, he did!

Over the weeks I have had more time

to read the newspapers, the contents of

which appal my sense of justice and

morality and all else that is good and

right. I’ve asked myself, “What would

Jesus say and do?” This led me to

recognise more than ever the need for us

who profess to be Christian to stand up

and be counted when it comes to the

diminishment (including by law) of our

Christian values.

It seems to me that our politics have

overtaken our Christian - our Jesus

mindsets. It is only these Christian

values which, if lived faithfully, will

never become outdated, out of fashion.

And as Pope Francis has said, “The

teachings of the Gospel have direct

consequences for our way of thinking,

feeling, living…..”

Now this takes courage. So when I

listened to a 98 years young lady, as she

spoke of the numbers of letters she had

sent to politicians and others protesting

her Catholic Christian values in the light

of projected laws, I shuddered with shame.

Isn’t this what Pope Francis is doing

with his Encyclical “Laudate Si” – on care

for our common home? Not everyone will

agree with him, no doubt, but he is

certainly giving us cause to reflect as to

where justice to the poor, where our sense

of responsibility regarding care of one

another and of the environment etc. etc.

sits with us.

We do need to be stirred – that’s what

Jesus did when he walked this earth; he

stirred people into facing the truth and

it’s what Pope Francis is doing in so many

ways. We are called as

Catholic Christians to

be proactive in

promoting Christian

values which may

require us to stand up

and be counted. First of

all, however, it requires

our lives to match our

words. As Pope Francis

said, “The ideal is not

only to discover God in

the soul, but also to

discover God in all things”. That is a

profound shift.

Did not Pope Benedict say, “The

external deserts in the world are growing

because the internal deserts have become

so vast”? Maybe our prayer could be,

“Jesus may I allow you to amaze me

today!” But even more than that “may I

amaze you today!” Yet even more than

that “Jesus with your help and the

inspiration of the Holy Spirit, may I

amaze myself!”

“All powerful God, you are present in the

whole universe and in the smallest of your

creatures …Teach us to discover the worth

of each thing, to be filled with awe and

contemplation …..we thank you for being

with us each day. Encourage us we pray,

in our struggle for justice, love and

peace” (LAUDATE SI’) Praise be the Lord

Jesus for his blessings! ■■

Sr. Margaret Scully rsc

Editorial


(from Page1)

We need to pray every day for the humility to recognise that without Him we can do nothing. Fr Abraham

concluded with the line from Psalm 81: “Open your mouth, and I will feed you”.

After Mass we enjoyed a barbecue lunch and as usual there was catching up with old friends and members of

other prayer groups and communities. At 2.45pm the hall overflowed with people for prayer and praise led by

the Servants of Jesus. The speaker for the afternoon session was Bruce Downes, “The Catholic Guy”, who has a

ministry of reaching out to people and connecting them to parishes. He opened with a challenge to believe that

God will do miracles - and to expect it. He shared from his own experience of being called by God when he was

a young teenager - with the knowledge that he was to serve the Church in evangelisation. He shared about how

he spent years in preparation with this call on his life. Yet he was not chosen for anything until he was thirty

years old. So his message from this is, “God sees you, don’t give up the dream but pray, God, what should I do

now?” All were encouraged to listen to the Lord - what is he calling you to do? - what is his dream for you?

After his second talk based on the story of King David - his sin and repentance - there was a time of prayer

ministry. The Emmaus Prayer Community was thanked for the preparation and hosting of this annual event.

Gratitude was also expressed to the members of the various prayer groups who contributed in so many ways

and to the Servants of Jesus for leading the people in prayer and praise. ■■

I would like to share with you about a major new

initiative in Evangelisation that made my heart

leap with joy and anticipation. It

commenced with an invitation I received

from the Most Rev. Peter W. Ingham DD,

the Bishop of Wollongong, NSW, to attend

the launch of The Catholic Guy Impact

Centre in Campbelltown on 2 July this

year. As soon as I drove into the car park I

was made welcome by people showing me

where to park. This welcoming continued

when I walked into the hall at Mount

Carmel College and was met by a Catholic Guy team

member. I recognised him immediately, Eddie Ferry,

the former leader of the CCR Macquarie Field Prayer

Group. As the evening progressed I saw Ron and

Desiree Molloy serving refreshments to the invitees

at the launch. Desiree is part of the CCR day Prayer

Group at Greystanes.

The Catholic Guy Ministry is known for both its

Catholic Television programs seen in various places

around the world and in conducting parish missions,

events and other ministry activities across the

country. This is only part of a larger strategy. In his

address to us at the launch Bruce Downes, who is

known as “The Catholic Guy”, reminded us of the

91% of Catholics who are not actively engaged with

the Church. Many of us have friends or family

members who fall into this category. These people

will be the major target of The Catholic Guy Minis-

try.

Each week people who are not actively engaged

with the Church will be invited and encouraged to

come to specifically designed prayer and teaching

services. These are not intended to replace Mass but

be a beginning and nurturing place and a link to

priests, parish and the sacramental life of the

Church. This outreach will be modern in feel, life

application in focus and deeply rooted in the teaching

and tradition of the Church under the direction of the

local Bishop.

There will also be a specifically designed weekly

children’s program conducted at the same time as the

adult service. The largest unchurched group of

Catholics at the moment are children under 12

years of age. Bruce noted that many former

Catholics make up 50% of some other

Christian churches because of the children’s

activities that are offered. A youth program of

activities will also be conducted each week led

by trained youth workers.

This ministry was born out of an initiative

under the direction of Archbishop Barry Hickey, the

former Archbishop of Perth. Cardinal George Pell

invited The Catholic Guy Ministry to the Archdiocese

of Sydney. Twelve people, including Bruce and his wife

Rosemary, relocated from Perth to work in the Sydney

Diocese. Bishop Ingham invited the Catholic Guy

Ministries to open the first Impact Centre in the

Diocese of Wollongong.

I was delighted to see CCR people as part of this

ministry. I encourage you to take a closer look and

perhaps attend one of these services at Campbelltown.

Maybe the Holy Spirit will draw you to be part of it. If

that is the case I encourage you!

Ladies please note that this ministry is conducting a

Women’s Conference, “Heart” ,16-17 October2015. The

Catholic Guy website is www.thecatholicguy.com.

Check it out! May the God of Mercy and Forgiveness

continue to bless each one of us. ■■ Mike Lulan Chairperson NSW CCR Service Team

In an address to 50,000 Catholic Charismatics in

Rome on 1 June 2015 the Pope said “I expect all of you,

charismatics from around the world, to celebrate your

great jubilee with the Pope at Pentecost 2017 in St.

Peter’s Square,” ARE YOU INTERESTED IN COM-

ING TO ROME IN 2017? Details yet to come. Email or

ring CCR Centre to express your interest.

Message from the Chairperson

INVITATION FROM POPE FRANCIS


2015 International Charismatic Priests’ Retreat

E arly in June over 1,000 priests gathered in Rome

for another extraordinary charismatic retreat. I

was blessed to be present due to the kindness of the

National Service Committee of CCR. I am very

grateful that they made it possible for me to attend.

It was wonderful to be together with such a large

variety of priests from 89 different countries of all

ages and at stages in life. The retreat was organised

by ICCRS together with the Catholic Fraternity of

Communities as part of the common journey towards

the Great Jubilee in 2017.

The theme of the retreat was “Called to Holiness for

a New Evangelisation”. It was broken down into five

themes, one for each day: Gathered, Reconciled,

Transformed, Empowered and Sent. All the sessions

were held in St John Lateran Basilica – the Pope’s

own cathedral. Lunch was served in big tents outside

the Basilica. Buses brought us from our residences in

the morning and back again after the evening

session.

There were so many powerful spiritual moments

during the retreat, and so many moving preachings

and teachings, that it is difficult to summarise the

experience. I was overwhelmed by the quality of the

inputs, and the response of the priests, many of

whom were having their first charismatic experience.

The session when we prayed for the baptism in the

Spirit to transform our personal lives and empower

our ministries was particularly powerful. Patti

Gallagher Mansfield gave a riveting account of the

first outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Dusquene

weekend in 1967. Then together with others she

began to invoke the Holy Spirit. It was an electrifying

moment as 1,000 priests with hands held open and

raised up high yielded together to a new infilling of

the Spirit. The praise was so full and enthusiastic

and went on and on, so much so that the organisers

were becoming concerned since the time to leave the

Basilica was fast approaching. But no one wanted to

finish the time of worship. It was so anointed and

overflowing with grace. No doubt this was an answer

to the fervent prayer of so many many faithful people

around the world interceding for the renewal of their

priests. Thank you so much for your prayers, and

please keep it going.

It was great to sit under the

teaching of Fr Raniero

Cantalamessa, the preacher to

the papal household. After giving

us a biblical and theological

understanding of what it means

to be anointed, he encouraged us

to stay under the anointing of the

Holy Spirit given in the

sacraments and also in charismatic laying on of

hands. There is a sweetness and tenderness to the

anointing, but there is also a power, strength and

authority to the anointing. We are told Jesus was

“anointed by the Holy Spirit and with power”. We

have already received the anointing to become saints,

and this hidden fire needs to burst forth in our

preaching. We are to be more aware of the anointing

of the Lord, and walk under it

always.

I was also touched by the

testimonies of priests such as

Jonas Abib, the founder of a large

community in Brazil. He spoke of

how he first experienced a

personal encounter with Jesus,

which transformed his faith; and

then later experienced the baptism in the Spirit

which empowered him in mission.

Bishop Jose Luiz Azcona also

from Brazil shared about his “first

Pentecost”, when he felt he had

been exposed as a Pharisee, but

now felt the love of God within

him and a new inexpressible joy.

His “second Pentecost” came in

the face of a highly publicised

death threat from those who wanted to eliminate him

because of his public stand against human

trafficking. He was on his knees asking the Lord for

answers; he was feeling the temptation to succumb,

because if he died who would look after the poor

people. He heard the Lord speak to him to be a

pastor; his people were being hurt and sold for

nothing. His “second baptism” was a grace to be

ready to die for his people, invoking Our Lady,

Mother of God, and of priests. With this new

Pentecost he is no longer afraid to die. “By the power

of the Spirit I say to the Lord: ‘If you call me to die

for you, this day will be the happiest day of my

existence. To give my life for these abandoned sheep.

This is my purpose.” He encouraged us not to be

afraid to be martyrs.

Martyrdom was a common theme. Don Olivio

Tachini of Italy challenged us on the cost of

discipleship. Like the early Christians we need to pay

the price of breaking with the world. The baptism in

the Spirit enables us to change our lives and be true

Fr Jonas Abib

Bishop Jose Luiz

Azcona

Fr Raniero

Cantalamessa


From Fr. Mick Court SDB - Parish Priest, Engadine

T he experience was profound for me ... I thank the CCR profoundly. I gave a talk to our Thursday night

prayer group about it and have talked about it in the parish. Here are a few words - not sure how much you want - I could write pages if I had time!!

Many have asked me about my time away? It was an amazing gift which I pray I continue to unpack at many levels. The time away had at least four types of gifts. 1) Touching the land of Jesus gave me a richer perspective of his environment and the history that has flowed from Jesus walking that land. I smell the country as I read the Scripture now, I have a deep sense of the distances between places, and the countryside being spoken about. It is another dimension/richness to the Scripture.

2) The retreat in Rome was at the John Lateran Church. The first Christian Church and the Church of the early Popes for about 1000 years. I felt the depth of our 2000+ years of Church history within Rome and within that Church. I pray touching those places gives me more perspective and depth.

3) The retreat with 1000 priests from around the world had many gifts. First there were the impressive presentations by major Church teachers, with the

witnesses to Christ without

compromising or being

half- hearted. He urged us to look

to the Book of Revelation as a

manual of resistance to the

world’s agenda; to choose Christ

and not to fall back into our old

ways.

Fr Daniel Ange from France

urged us to be ready to lose

everything rather than lose

Christ. He reminded us of the 21

Orthodox Coptic martyrs

beheaded on a beach by Isis, many

with the name of Jesus on their

lips. We need to be intercessors for

our people, like Moses on the mountain, never giving

up in the battle, but with arms outstretched in

prayer at all times.

By far the greatest highlight was the visit of Pope

Francis on the feast of the

Sacred Heart. He spoke to us

all with a gentle fatherly spirit

and a shepherd’s heart. He

won us by his simplicity,

humility, and sense of humour.

He was calling us to have the

tender, merciful heart of Jesus,

acquired especially through

personal prayer before Jesus in

the Blessed Sacrament. I was

blessed to be in the front only

a few metres away from him as

presentation by Pope Francis being the most powerful. My prayer is that I can take their encouragement and challenge and live it with my people. I could spend many pages talking about those presentations.

4) Finally the most significant gift for me was God touching me through the people I met; the priests from all over the world, but also the everyday travellers that I interacted with. I was always going somewhere or set to do something; however along the way there were amazing people who shared with me aspects of their way of living the gospel. I found it fascinating and inspiring! I could name at least 10 individuals and encounters with them that marked me in terms of my faith. They include a deaf priest from Canada, a young provincial of the Augustinian's from Lima Peru, two Americans, African priests from Uganda and Nigeria, a priest from Sweden, another from Germany, and more. Your group gave me an amazing gift and I pray I can hold it in my heart and let God speak to me through it ... I also pray I can pass it on in many different ways.

Blessings and thanks, Fr Mick Court ■■

( Your donations to the NSW CCR allowed us to send Fr . Mick to this Charismatic Priest’s retreat)

he spoke, and it seemed every

word was for me. After his

spiritual talk a priest from

each of the five continents

had the opportunity to ask

the Pope a question. I was

blessed to be asked to speak

on behalf of Oceania. I asked

the Holy Father what was his

secret in being able to

communicate so well with a

sometimes hostile secularized world, such as we have

in Australia. He answered by reminding us of the

need for personal witness, that love conquers, not

argumentation and disputation. We are to give our

testimony, but in all things to speak with love, and

most of all to live in love, especially for the poor,

marginalised and discarded people. This, he said,

will irresistibly attract people, because the deepest

longing in the heart is for this love. Much to my

surprise at the end of his answer to me I was able to

embrace him personally and present him with a copy

of my book “His Name is Mercy”, while thanking him

for the coming Year of Mercy. After the questions

and the Pope’s answers which went for over an hour,

the Holy Father then celebrated Mass with us. He

had told us before that we should keep our homilies

to seven minutes. Some of the “wags” timed his

homily; it was almost fifteen minutes. No doubt that

is the Pope’s prerogative. Thanks again to all who

made it possible for me and two other MGL priests,

as well as another ten or so priests from Australia to

attend such an enriching retreat experience. ■■

Fr Ken Barker MGL

Don Olivio Tachini

Fr. Daniel Ange

Fr. Ken Barker meeting

the Pope

Fr. Mick Court

I t is disturbing to see many who profess to be Catholic Christians make the effort to practise their faith and

yet seemingly not get everything that it offers. I suspect that a major cause is an inadequate understanding

of salvation. I would like to share some thoughts with you concerning this and offer an understanding of

salvation which might help the perplexed. In the immortal words of Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music:

“Let’s start at the very beginning.”

We develop a secret interiority from very early in life. As young children, the wrath of our parents quickly

teaches us the “horrible criminality” of telling Aunt Agatha that she is fat or the man next door that he is ugly,

even though both may be true. We thus begin the lifelong process of keeping our dark thoughts and emotions to

ourselves. After all, who could possibly love me if they knew what I really thought and felt?

We fare no better in wider society. To promote order, society has put in place systems of law, social

conventions and customs and just plain good manners to govern the ways that we interact with each other. We

are “good” if we conform and “bad” if we don’t. If we don’t conform, we find pressure put on us to use our will

power to change; if we don’t change, we find ourselves outcasts. The emphasis is on outward conformity;

society has no interest in what is in our hearts.

All too often, we “do Church” with these influences hanging heavily over us. We shy away from openly

disclosing our inner selves to God – we carry the haunting fear that even He couldn’t possibly love us as we

are; we must somehow earn His love and approval. We attempt to do this by conforming to Church law and

customs, by ritually participating in the sacraments and even presenting our children for the sacraments of

initiation as customary rites of passage. Yet somehow inside we remain untouched. If we are honest with

ourselves, we find the words of the Lord spoken by the prophet Isaiah echoing down the centuries to confront

and challenge us: “This is a people who worship me with their lips while their hearts are far from me.” (Isaiah

29:13)

Could there possibly be more to faith than what we are experiencing at present? Is there a God to whom we

can disclose the darkness of our inner selves and find that He loves us tenderly, infinitely and unconditionally?

Will He really take away our hearts of stone and replace them with hearts of flesh as promised through His

prophet Ezekiel: “I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead”.

(Ezekiel 36:26), thus transforming our relationships with Him, with ourselves and with others. Could right

behaviour be a natural fruit of such a heart of flesh, instead of a gritty conformity that is an act of the will?

The Good News is that the answer is “yes”. All of these things and more are to be found in the full salvation

brought to us by Jesus.

To understand this salvation, we must first consider who

and what we are as human beings – and what has gone

wrong. Scripture tells us that we are body, soul and spirit

“May the God who gives us peace make you holy in every way

and keep your whole being – spirit, soul and body – free from

every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

(1 Thessalonians 5:23). The body relates us to the external

world, with which we connect through our five senses. The

soul is our inner self, our personality; it consists of our minds,

wills and emotions. These three work together something

like this: The mind says: “I don’t think I should do that.”

The will says: “I won’t do that.” The emotions say: “I don’t

feel like doing that.” The spirit is our innermost being,

breathed into us by God at the moment of our conception. It

is through the spirit that we relate to the spiritual realm and

to God. It is often said that, as human beings, we are spirits

having souls that both live in our bodies.

As we know, there is much that can go wrong with us.

First, there is the problem of sin, wrongdoing that

strangles our spirits and blocks our communion with God.

And the problem isn’t just the sins we commit. There is

something deeper within us which alienates us from God,

making sin attractive and inclining us to sin. It is called

iniquity. Sin is the visible fruit and branch; iniquity is the

hidden root. Iniquity affects our very identity - sin is

something that we do; sinful is something we are.


Salvation? ? ? ?

Our souls can suffer wounded emotions, distorted thinking and weakened wills. Frequently, this will be

caused by the sins of others against us. Because we are hurt, we will strike out and hurt others in return. We

sin because we have been sinned against. The powers of darkness can attack us through our soul wounds and

our sins and sinfulness, while our bodies are subject to disease, disability and death.

The spirit, soul and body can all be affected by a single affliction. For example, our spirits might be dead in

sin. Guilt and depression accompanying this might affect our minds and emotions; it could even overflow to a

psychosomatic illness in the body. Or we might have a physical illness which may lead to depression again

affecting our minds and emotions; There may also be a sinful resentment against God which affects our spirits.

This grim picture of the human condition certainly demonstrates

our need for the full salvation offered by Jesus – salvation of the

whole person, body, soul and spirit. The first hurdle, of course, is

that we think that we must somehow “earn” or “deserve” this

salvation by good works or good deeds. Not so, St Paul tells us. “For

it is by grace you have been saved, through faith…and…not by

works…” (Ephesians 2:8). Saving grace is entirely God’s free gift; it

can never be earned or merited. Christian salvation is a “come as

you are party”; the ticket to the “party” is our acceptance of Jesus

as Lord and Saviour!

Accepting Jesus as Lord of our lives is a big step; we want to be in

control of our lives. However, by recognising him as Lord we are acknowledging that self-trust is a “dead end”.

Being willing to trust him instead is the “essence of faith”.

By accepting Jesus as Saviour, we acknowledge our complete inability to help ourselves. By ourselves, we are

powerless against sin, iniquity, other afflictions and the powers of darkness. The model for laying our sin and

iniquity before the Lord is King David, King of Israel. Scripture tells us of the dramatic encounter between

David and Nathan the prophet, when Nathan confronted David in the

name of the Lord for his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her

husband, Uriah (2 Samuel 12:1-12). Tradition has it that David, chastened

and repentant, composed the incomparable penitential Psalm 51 in

response to his encounter with Nathan. It includes this heartfelt cry to his

God: “Wash away my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” (Psalm 51:2)

David has no merit to claim of his own and has no way of making

amends. He can only plead to his God for forgiveness, mercy and cleansing.

David’s cry is our cry. We might be somewhat less auspicious sinners than

David, but we are sinners nonetheless. Jesus will hear our cry for

forgiveness, mercy and cleansing. After all, he paid a very great price that

it might be so. Our spirits, weakened through sin and iniquity, will come to

life.

Full salvation in Jesus also includes healing of afflictions and deliverance

from dark powers. Indeed, the original Greek word for “salvation” in the

New Testament, “soteria”, means healing and deliverance from evil as well as saving from sin and its

consequences. Jesus healed people and delivered them from dark powers during his earthly ministry. The Book

of Acts and Church tradition tell us that the early Church did the same in his name. Healing and Deliverance

are still available today, and are ours for the asking.

Salvation is a process. Its centerpiece is an ongoing saving, healing, empowering and transforming

relationship with Jesus. We can live in a personal relationship with him with expectant faith; he is the way to

the Father’s heart. This relationship has many fruits. We can actually experience the love of Jesus and the

Father for us and can abide in this love which is infinite and unconditional. We do not have to do good deeds to

earn it. Rather, we can do good deeds out of gratitude for the love that is already ours. We can take

confidence that our sins are forgiven and that we are strengthened against sinning. We can find healing for our

wounds and deliverance from evil. We can be empowered and transformed to fulfill the great Commandment

to love God with all our heart, all our soul and all our strength and likewise to love our neighbor. (Matthew

22:34-39).

Perhaps, though, the greatest fruit to be experienced this side of death will come on the day we have the

blinding insight, the awesome experience, the assurance beyond doubt, that the Living God of Israel, the Lord

God, Creator of the heavens and the earth, is also Abba, Father…Papa…Daddy….■■

Kerry Guerin (member of NSW CCR Service Team)


News from Around and About


W hat a blessing to have attended the

Formation Day on Saturday the 25 July 2015

and experience the Presence of our Lord Jesus in a

deeper way through the sharing and testimonies of

Phil and Jennie Ryall. One of the first questions

posed to us on that day was: “Are we hungry sons and

daughters of God and do we want a fresh revelation?”

Phil impressed on us that we are gateway people

but what is holding us

back? We need to throw

away all that is holding us

back, cut it away and have

a child like spirit. We are

meant to rise. We are like

a hot air balloon which is

not being held to the

ground with ropes.

Jennie shared her

testimony of how fear had a grip on her, due to past

hurts and strained relationships in her family when

growing up. She came to a point in her life where she

cried out to God in

desperation. "God if

you’re real, show yourself

to me”. Through this ex-

perience she encountered

the love and acceptance

of God. She had a

prayerful encounter with

a beautiful Christian. She

said: "I went in an orphan and came out a daughter.”

She spoke about having a orphaned spirit. Ro-

mans 8:15, “For you did not receive a spirit that

makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the

spirit of sonship so that we cry out to God: "Abba, Fa-

ther." This speaks of abundance as our hearts are

desperate for Fatherhood, for Fullness and for Fami-

ly.

The Dance

Phil beautifully explained how we were made to

join in the dance of heaven, by showing us a short

video of ball room dancing to the Blue Danube Waltz.

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit were in this amazing

dance together, and then they invited us to join them

in the dance of heaven, but through the fall we

inherited fear and shame. Our intimacy with our God

was dulled or blocked. Deep down inside we all hun-

ger for this fullness. The rhythm of heaven is like, in

the waltz, where God the Father takes us in His arms

and dances with us. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit

are having a ball and we need to share in this dance.

He urged us to see from heaven’s perspective, to see

the Paul in Saul!

The first mission field is the mission field of our

heart. Jesus became the orphan, by dying for us on

the Cross to bring heaven's abundance to each of us.

“Who is the Father to me now?” Jennie started

the second session with that question. She went on to

say that He is a loving Father; it's not about a

feeling. She knows she is under His wings, on His

lap, pulsing and alive. By the Blood of Jesus and the

power of the Holy Spirit, she can call to Him any

time. Every single bit of trash that was thrown to her

over the years, He has made His treasure. Every

drop of her past suffering, the Lord has changed by

His Grace to be a blessing. She stands under the

daughter-ship of Jesus. She not only waits and rests

in Jesus, but also knocks, seeks and asks. This is not

a feeling but a choice she makes and she dares to do

this, expecting to be loved by God. All God is

concerned with is our relationship with Him.

Also there may be a number of veils over us which

cause darkness. We don’t justify offense when the

veil is over us, for the veil not only dulls our beauty

of God, but also prevents us from seeing our own

beauty. Isaiah 61 speaks about the Lord’s favour,

setting free the captives and releasing the

prisoners. We are imprisoned when we

hold unforgiveness. We may be beautiful hot air

balloons but may be held captive and need to make

the decision to forgive and so set ourselves free. We

could be bound by words put on us by ourselves or

others or by vows we make in our lives.

But Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the

life”..... and that the Truth will set you free.

Truth is a reality. We are called to live in a heavenly

home and not live in an orphanage!

Phil spoke about a time when he was one day

praying for his son. The words which came to him

was "The Holy Spirit is the answer". As he said

these words out loud, a dove came out towards him

from the darkness of the night. This happened three

times. Often we want the details, but the Holy Spirit

is the answer and we need to pray for the answer

even though we may not see it.

He spoke of the two upper rooms which are

necessary in our lives:

1. The upper room of our secret place where God

can tell us His secrets; and

2. The upper room of the community of Faith.

Dough and Fresh Bread: Early each day as we go

to the secret place (our prayer closet) as sticky,

gooey dough and we spend time in the Lord's

presence, we rise and we come out as "The Baker’s

Delight". When we spend time with the Father in

prayer each day, we rise in His presence and the

fresher we are, the more He can use us.

The Community is the supply house. We need to be

aligned before we are assigned. In the gospel, where

Jesus cursed the fig tree, Jesus had the right to

expect impossible fruit. We need to be people who

walk in the impossible and carry heaven’s

Formation Day - “Releasing Heaven's Abundance For a New Day”

Jennie Ryall

Phil Ryall

News from Around and About (continued)


perspective into this world. A rising people seeing from heights, like the hot air balloon. Be climate changers,

atmosphere changers and the fruit will overflow. So we must declare His promises and be a gateway people. 2

Cor 1:20 speaks about His promises as “Yes”, in Christ and “Amen”. His grace makes it possible for us on earth

to agree with what is going on in heaven. Jesus always did the will of His Father and not His own will.

The importance of unity in the Church was spoken about and Phil showed a short video of the Pope urging us

Charismatics to pray for unity. We need to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood / sisterhood, for the blood of the

martyrs unites us. We drink your wine and you drink our wine.

Arise and Shine - Isaiah 60

Phil spoke about the new day dawning and the glory of God rising upon us. We are being called like never

before to arise and meet the dawn. The new dawn is about to come and we need a culture of seeing and speaking

life into each other; it is a call for new mercy. New wine skins need to stretch by looking at each other through

God's eyes and not only through our own. ■■ Janis Lisboa

Holy Spirit Prayer Group - Heathcote

I have enjoyed fellowship with the Wednesday Holy Spirit Prayer Group, Heathcote, over the last few months and was pleased to attend the formation day at Rozelle recently with Phil and Jennie sharing their

experiences of the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. I was impressed by their honesty and openness, of their experiences and their positive assertion of hope they were expressing. Firstly with the illustration of the hot air balloon being released and rising to great heights, I felt God releasing us from unforgiveness and bondages that hold us down, moving us into greater fellowship with our Lord. Another releasing experience was the revelation of God wanting to dance with us, in a harmony of love and praise, giving us a foretaste of heavenly grace. I found a warm welcome to this day and a great prayer blessing at the close. This day left me with a greater desire to worship the Lord with song and dance and a freedom in His presence. ■■

Patricia Honeywell Holy Spirit Prayer Group - Heathcote

F r Hugh Thomas CssR reminded members of St Therese of Lisieux, Lakemba Prayer Group and friends that Pope Francis has called on us to be Spiritual Evangelisers. This set the tone for our annual retreat in July which culminated with Baptism of

the Holy Spirit and a deepening in the Gifts. The Joy of the Gospel fills the heart and lives of all who encounter Jesus. We were blessed to gather and to celebrate Holy Mass on each day of the retreat – God in us – rejoice. We reflected on the endless love God has for each of us. He saved us – we are the sinners who need His Salvation. He brings us to New Life. He promised He would not leave us orphaned, and He sent the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. The same Spirit which emboldened the Apostles at Pentecost is His gift to us. We were also blessed at Mass on Saturday 11 July, as Fr Hugh shared with us that it was the 50th

Anniversary of his ordination. We thank him that he chose to celebrate this great milestone with us. ■■ John Deacon

Lakemba Prayer Group

Lakemba Prayer Group Annual Retreat


T he Catholic School of Evangelisation will be conducting the ‘Philip - New Life’ Course at

St Joseph’s Parish Hall, Gordon St. Rozelle, on the weekend of 31 Oct. -1 Nov. 2015. The Course gives participants an opportunity to deepen their re-lationship with God and a desire to share that with others. It is not so much a lecture, but more an experience of the reality of God’s love providing a personal encounter with the risen Jesus and to receive a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Power Point, Scripture based presentations, music, prayer, reflection, sharing and various dynamics will present the basic fundamental content of the Good News. This is the foundation stone on which the rest of our Catholic faith and doctrine rests. ■■

God’s Love

Sin

Salvation in Jesus

Faith & Conversion

Holy Spirit

Community

CONTENT

Bookings essential - See enclosed brochure

For more info contact:

Lucy Grasso: (02) 8840 8213; 0423 931 881

Participant’s comment:

“I knew about the death of Jesus, about salvation, but only now do I grasp how I can experience salvation.”

Catholic School of Evangelisation

This is a seven week seminar consisting of prayer and praise to God followed by a teaching on Thursday

evenings.

Venue: Chapel at the Holy Spirit Church, Cox’s Road, North Ryde

Commencing on Thursday 22 October 2015 and concluding on Thursday 10 December 2015.

Time: 8.00 to 9.30pm

A healing Mass will be celebrated on the evening of Thursday 19 November 2015.

Enquiries: Contact Parish Office: 02 9888 2569

A Life in the Spirit Seminar - North Ryde Thursday night Prayer Group

A day at “DAVID’S PLACE” with Fr. Jack Soulsby 26 September 2015

ARRIVE at 9.30am for 10.00am start and CONCLUDES with Mass at 4.00pm

INCLUDES—Lunch, tea and coffee times, conversation and prayer

RSVP to Jo de Groot– Email: [email protected] - Phone:9521 5392

DAVID’S PLACE –17 Little Albion St, Surry Hills

“JESUS IS RIGHT HERE, NOW!”

St Joseph’s Parish Hall, Gordon Street Rozelle:

For information and bookings contact CCR Centre 9810 2499,

Weekends

November 13 – 15

and 21 – 23

ELIJAH HOUSE PRAYER MINISTRY SCHOOL - Level D

NSW NSW -- Upcoming EventsUpcoming Events


Sydney Healing MassesSydney Healing Masses

Friday

4 September 2015

8.00pm Mass

HEALING MASS HEALING MASS HEALING MASS --- St Joseph’s Catholic Church St Joseph’s Catholic Church St Joseph’s Catholic Church 126 Liverpool Road, Enfield

7.00pm Rosary / Reconciliation; 7.30pm Prayer and Praise; 8.00pm Mass

For information phone: Rose 9642 2359 / 0412 115 961

3rd Sunday

Each Month 2.00

pm

(except January)

CHARISMATIC HEALING MASS CHARISMATIC HEALING MASS CHARISMATIC HEALING MASS --- Our Lady of the Rosary ChurchOur Lady of the Rosary ChurchOur Lady of the Rosary Church Cnr Mamre Road & Swanston Street, St Marys

Costandi & Barbara (02) 4754 4625 / 0410 475 723 or 0427 327 471

or Christine 0427 327 471. Email: [email protected]

1st & 3rd Tuesday

Each Month

10.30am

YARRA BAY EUCHARISTIC PRAYER COMMUNITY YARRA BAY EUCHARISTIC PRAYER COMMUNITY YARRA BAY EUCHARISTIC PRAYER COMMUNITY --- HEALING MASSES HEALING MASSES HEALING MASSES

St. Mary’s Church, 23 Swanson Street, Erskineville

For more information ring Marika Gubacsi on 9556 2118

Email: [email protected]

1st Friday 7.00pm &

Last Saturday

8.30am

Each Month

HEALING MASS (with anointing of the sick) HEALING MASS (with anointing of the sick) HEALING MASS (with anointing of the sick) --- OUR LADY OF THE ROSARYOUR LADY OF THE ROSARYOUR LADY OF THE ROSARY

18 Vine Street, Fairfield

Friday Mass preceded by Holy Hour (in Vietnamese)

For more information phone parish office 9724 5997

3rd Thursday

Each month

8pm

HEALING MASS HEALING MASS HEALING MASS --- HOLY SPIRIT CHURCHHOLY SPIRIT CHURCHHOLY SPIRIT CHURCH 191 Cox’s Road, North Ryde ……… Prayer Ministry available after Healing Mass

For information contact the Parish office: 9888 2569

NSW NSW -- Upcoming EventsUpcoming Events

HEALING MASS HEALING MASS HEALING MASS --- St. MICHAEL’S CHURCHSt. MICHAEL’S CHURCHSt. MICHAEL’S CHURCH Croydon Road, Hurstville For information contact Parish Office 9587 2166

1st Friday

Each Month

March, June, Sept,

Dec at 6.00pm

HEALING MASS, ADORATION, PRAYER MINISTRY HEALING MASS, ADORATION, PRAYER MINISTRY HEALING MASS, ADORATION, PRAYER MINISTRY

With Fr Ken Barker MGL With Fr Ken Barker MGL With Fr Ken Barker MGL --- Bring a plate to share for afternoon teaBring a plate to share for afternoon teaBring a plate to share for afternoon tea

St. Michael’s Parish, 45 Maxim Street, Meadowbank,

For more information and RSVP contact Maureen Richardson 0417 042 790

Saturday

31 October 2015

2.00pm - 5.00pm

1st Friday

Each month

7.30pm

HEALING MASS HEALING MASS HEALING MASS --- St. PATRICK’S CHURCHSt. PATRICK’S CHURCHSt. PATRICK’S CHURCH 294 The River Road, Revesby Heights (Reconciliation at 6.30pm)

For information contact Terry Fernando 9708 1095

CHARISMATIC MASS CHARISMATIC MASS CHARISMATIC MASS --- BREAD OF LIFE CATHOLIC FELLOWSHIPBREAD OF LIFE CATHOLIC FELLOWSHIPBREAD OF LIFE CATHOLIC FELLOWSHIP Servants of Jesus Centre ….. 15 Park Road, Seven Hills

For information contact office: 9624 3322

Each Sunday

9.15am

SHARE THE HOLY SPIRIT CONFERENCE

24 to 28

September

2015

The Servants of Jesus Covenant Community is conducting this annual The Servants of Jesus Covenant Community is conducting this annual The Servants of Jesus Covenant Community is conducting this annual

Conference which is entitledConference which is entitledConference which is entitled

“EQUIPPING THE SAINTS” (Eph. 4:12)“EQUIPPING THE SAINTS” (Eph. 4:12)“EQUIPPING THE SAINTS” (Eph. 4:12)

Full details on their website: <www.servantsofjesus.org> Full details on their website: <www.servantsofjesus.org> Full details on their website: <www.servantsofjesus.org>

Or ring 02 9624 3322Or ring 02 9624 3322Or ring 02 9624 3322

MGL SPIRITUAL ASSOCIATION

Friday 22nd January

to

Sunday 24th January 2016

Jim Murphy is well known as the man who walked with a

2 metre cross across America. Jim has ministered

to the CCR on many occasions and is a

much sought after international speaker.

Fr. Hugh Thomas is a facilitator for priests‘retreats not

only in Australia but also overseas.

He is a great supporter of the Catholic

Charismatic Renewal.

Venue: The very modern

St Joseph’s Spirituality Centre

64 Mackillop Drive,

Baulkham Hills, Sydney

NSW CCR Upcoming Weekend

Retreat with Jim Murphy and

Fr Hugh Thomas CSsR

This is a live-in Retreat with the option of

day attendance.

Cost and registration details will be provided later

Catholic Charismatic Renewal NSW

CCR Centre: phone 02 9810 2499

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.ccrnsw.org.au

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