We thank you for your continued support of the Spirit matters blog and are glad that we have been able to bring you a time of reflection and refreshment each week. We will be back in January 2021, ready to start a new year with a new series from Fr Philip Carter on Hope.
Prayers at the Advent Wreath We light the third Advent Candle as a sign of joy — a testimony to the Light of God coming into our world that will shatter the darkness and bring healing to all who suffer and mourn. Loving God, we thank you for the joy you bring us. Help us […]
Faith necessarily refers us to something beyond ourselves. CH Dodd Faith “is the confidence that reality is not the same as what is being felt at any given moment”. Rowan Williams The act of faith is not a leap from darkness into light. It is an affirmation that light exists beyond the darkness …..Morris West It […]
Prayers at the Advent Wreath We light the second candle to represent John the Baptist, who proclaims Jesus as the Messiah. This candle is the candle of peace, a sign that God’s promises will be fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ – Prince of Peace. Peace is a gift that we must be prepared […]
Faith releases in us a power that is beyond us. Albert Nolan The great tragedy for Christianity (it’s been said) is the transfer of faith from the dimension of personal encounter into the dimension of formal instruction. Faith then is reduced to assent, believing that a statement or claim is true. Marcus Borg says we […]
Introductory Rites Blessing of the Advent Wreath Heavenly Father, we look forward to the celebration of Christmas and to the coming of the Lord in glory. Bless this Advent wreath, and bless us all. As we pray, fill us with your love, and strengthen us for our work in the world. We ask this through […]
The opposite of faith is not doubt, but the closed mind. True faith can only grow and mature if it includes the elements of paradox and creative doubt. Such doubt is not the enemy of faith but an essential element of it. For faith in God does not bring the false peace of answered questions […]
Today is the last Sunday of Pentecost and a time to reflect on Christ the King as we prepare for Advent. Lots of wonderful music and familiar voices. “When the bloom of the jacaranda tree is here, Christmas time is near.” The jacaranda blossoms are displaying the full glory of their colour. As we’re not […]
I shall not understand unless I believe. Anselm The Masai people of Africa, speaking to Vincent Donovan said “to have faith is to be sought out by God. He has searched us out and found us. All the time we think we are the lion. In the end the lion is God”. Think about times, […]
Faith is not an opinion, it is an attitude. Brother Roger of Taizé. So I saw and understood that our faith is our light in our night, which light is God, our endless day. Julian of Norwich. Faith is a God-given way of imagining existence, not a cold truth, easily captured in concepts. Michael Paul Gallagher […]