Fr Peter’s Message

 

Fr. Peter met with the priests of the suggested Belfast 21 Family of Parishes on 16th October to take the next step on our Pathway to the Future. Another meeting has been arranged for 27th November. Please keep Fr. Peter and all our priests in your prayers.

Belfast 21:

Derriaghy, Saint Luke’s, Nativity, Christ the Redeemer, Our Lady Queen of Peace and St Anne’s. 

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When I am Among the Trees – a poem by Mary Oliver

When I am Among the Trees,
especially the Willows and the Honey Locust,
equally the Beech, the Oaks and the Pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they Save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have Goodness and Discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk Slowly, and Bow often.
Around me the Trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The Light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come into the world to do this, to Go Easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

“Discovering ecological conversion in the spirit of Laudato Si’ “

“Throughout that summer, especially when my immune system was at its weakest point and I was close to death, I had never felt more vulnerable or more open to acknowledging our nation’s ecological sins. I found myself focusing especially on the fixation on comfort and economic growth that has prevented our taking climate change seriously. In my wish to undergo ecological conversion, I have had to own up to my blasé attitudes as a consumer. I have needed to see how I have failed to live in solidarity with people in developing countries whose lifestyles have had minimal impact on the atmosphere, and yet are facing the worst ravages of carbon pollution (See Mary Robinson’s Climate Justice: Hope, Resilience and the Fight for a Sustainable Future)……

The root of our need for change is our refusal to see and hear God’s presence in His beloved creation. We have forsaken the guidance of divine wisdom revealed through evolutionary and ecological designs, including the mind of humanity at its most humble and discerning best………

Ecological conversion is to return to God; it is to return to dust and ashes, as creatures in fraternal communion with the wonders and terrifying powers of creation. For some people, ecological conversion may be as simple as accepting the reality of climate change, and beginning to shift behaviors accordingly. It could mean an awakening to the reality that nature bears the touch of God, and is therefore deserving of reverence. It might lead to giving up meat, or eating far less of it, or at least being more conscious of how it is produced.

Of course, it could mean a lot more. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, ecological conversion is what has the potential to create a holistic political economy, in which we no longer idolize profits or consumer ease. Imagine a new and yet ancient arrangement of economics — neither capitalist nor socialist — in which citizens become caretakers in ways that are profoundly attuned to the integrity of creation, and the well-being of all people……..”

                                                                                                   Doug DeMeo  – Pastoral associate at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Essex, Maryland

 

 
 
 

Pathways to the Future

 We continued the conversation on Wednesday 17th January in the Parish Centre.

Click on the following link to get a summary of our conversation:

Priest Prophet King – a conversation 170124

 

Prayer for the Season of Creation 2023

Creator of All,
From your communion of love life sprung forth like a mighty river and the whole cosmos
came into being.
On this Earth of overflowing love, the Word was made flesh and went forth with the lifegiving waters proclaiming peace and justice for all creation.
You called human beings to till and keep your garden.

You placed us into right relationship with each creature, but we failed to listen to the cries of the Earth and the cries of the most vulnerable.

We broke with the flowing communion of love and sinned against you by not safeguarding the conditions for life.
We lament the loss of our fellow species and their habitats, we grieve the loss of human
cultures, along with the lives and livelihoods that have been displaced or perished, and we
ache at the sight of an economy of death, war and violence that we have inflicted on
ourselves and on the Earth.

Open our ears to your creative, reconciling and sustaining Word that calls to us through the
book of Scripture and the book of creation.

Bless us once again with your life-giving waters so that the Creator Spirit may let justice and peace flow in our hearts and overflow into all creation.

Open our hearts to receive the living waters of God’s justice and peace, and to share it with
our suffering brothers and sisters, all creatures around us, and all creation.

Bless us to walk together with all people of good will so that the many streams of the living
waters of God’s justice and peace may become a mighty river all over the Earth.

In the name of the One who came to proclaim good news to all creation, Jesus Christ.
Amen.

 

A Prayer for the Earth (from Laudato Si, 246)

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love and peace.

 

Pathways to the Future

When we read about Pentecost and the birth of the Church in the Acts of the Apostles, we find inspiration for where we are as a Church here in Ireland today.  

We know that we have come to a fork in the road.  

We can’t keep going the way we were, we have to head out on a new pathway.

In Down & Connor the Pathways to the Future project is charting the next steps on this journey.  

We have to be realistic – change is inevitable.  

There will be new ways of working in our parishes and communities.

 But this isn’t something to be afraid of.  

God still has a dream for our Church.  He wants us to be filled with the Spirit and willing to go out and share the Gospel with others.  

He wants us to be generous, loving and inclusive, welcoming everyone into his family.  

And he wants us to be confident that each of us – lay women and men, clergy and religious – has a part to play in renewing our parishes, the diocese and building up the Kingdom of God.

Pastoral Letter from Most Rev Donal McKeown D.D.

 

Pathways to the Future Prayer

 

God of Love,
You are with us in every transition and change. 
As we enter into this new era with excitement and even some anxiety, 

we recall your deep compassion, presence, and abounding love. 
We thank you for the gifts, talents and skills with which you have blessed us. 
We thank you for the work of others that gives breadth and depth to our own work. 
Be with us as we move forward, rejoicing with you and supporting one another. 

We ask this in your Holy Name.       AMEN

 

Thought for the Day

          • The four speeds of prayer are slow, slower, pause and reverse.

          • God promises believers a safe landing but not a smooth passage.

          • Jesus does not just call believers. He calls disciples who will follow him through suffering love to the cross.

          • Prayer is more about trust and hope than about arranging the world to suit me.

          • I cannot work miracles, but by active loving I can work healing all the time.

          • It is always a mistake to do nothing because I can do just a little. 

          • Before you sleep, name one thing for which you are grateful that day.

 

Click below to listen to Fr. Peter in conversation…………

Click below to listen to Fr. Peter in conversation with Prof Sir Michael McBride

 

 

Click below to listen to Fr. Peter in conversation with Rev Corrina Heron

 

Click below to listen to Fr. Peter in conversation with Fr. Martin O’Hagan

 

Click below to listen to Fr. Peter in conversation with Gerry Kelly

 

Click below to listen to: Fr. Peter in conversation with Paul Clark 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synod 2021/2023 – SYNODAL LISTENING IN OUR PASTORAL COMMUNITY. 

In order to journey together, Pope Francis wants every person to take their place at the heart of the Church and to hear every voice and the voice of the Holy Spirit.   Our local parishes are encouraged to come together, pray together, and enter into a Spiritual Conversation about our Church at this time. 

Bishop Treanor has encouraged each area of the Diocese to have a time of coming together as part of the Synod.  Coming together to listen and share helps us build flourishing and resilient communities for the mission of the Church today.   We invite you to come along and to take part in the synod by listening and talking to one another in an authentic, meaningful, and welcoming way.

If you would like to take part in this synodal moment then please feel welcome to join us on Thursday 28th April in Nativity Church, Poleglass from 7-9pm.    The session will be facilitated by Paula McKeown and Jim Deeds from the Living Church office. 

 

Trócaire is part of the worldwide Caritas Network, and has been supporting the Caritas Ukraine response since the outbreak of war. With the help of people across Ireland, and the “Ireland for Ukraine” campaign, Trócaire will continue to support Caritas Ukraine, Caritas Poland and Caritas Romania and are currently finalising plans with Caritas Czech to support their work with Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic.

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Check this out:   Synod on Synodality- All You Need to Know

 

 

The Synod Prayer

Every session of the Second Vatican Council began with the prayer ‘Adsumus Sancte Spiritus’, the first word of the original Latin, meaning, ‘We stand before You, Holy Spirit’, which has been historically used at Councils, Synods, and other Church gatherings for hundreds of years, and is attributed to St. Isidore of Seville (c. 560 – 4 April 636). As we embrace this Synodal Process, this prayer invites the Holy Spirit to be at work in us so that we may be a community and a people of grace.

 

We stand before You, Holy Spirit,
as we gather together in Your name.
With You alone to guide us,
make Yourself at home in our hearts;
Teach us the way we must go
and how we are to pursue it.
We are weak and sinful;
do not let us promote disorder.
Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path
nor partiality influence our actions.
Let us find in You our unity
so that we may journey together to eternal life
and not stray from the way of truth
and what is right.
All this we ask of You,
who are at work in every place and time,
in the communion of the Father and the Son,
forever and ever.
Amen.