SCRIPTURE READINGS (A)
Exodus
19:2-6
You are a consecrated
nation
Psalm
99
We are his
peaole, the sheep of his flock
Romans
5:6-11
We are filled
with joyful trust in God
Matthew
9:36
;
10:1-8 The harvest is rich
THE
PRESENCE(S) OF GOD
I
have in my possession a charming little book entitled
“The Practice of the presence of God”. The author was
not a man well known during his life time. His name was
Brother Lawrence. He was a Carmelite lay brother and he
died at the age of 80 on February
12, 1691
As Dorothy Day notes in her introduction 'It is a classic,
and carries
a message, points a way. It tells of a spirituality which
is within the reach of all'. He did not read about prayer;
he simply prayed. It is striking that Dorothy Day, who
spent most
of her adult life helping the poor with soup kitchens
and the rest, should have
found the life of Brother Lawrence, so very different
from hers, so very inspiring.
His
life, after leaving the army was a hidden life; his spirit
was rapt in God and his body for 30 years employed in
the kitchen of a Carmelite monastery. Never theless
he was known to and revered by the whole of Paris
.' The book
is small and is largely
made up of letters written to nuns, the last of them written
in the very week he died.
The
thought of the universal presence of God is indeed very
comforting, while at the same time being very mysterious.
God is indeed everywhere. He cannot be excluded
from the world he made, he is in all things and all things
are in him. Psalm 138/139
runs as follows; 'Whither shall I go from thy spirit ?
Or whither shall I flee from
they presence ? If I ascend to heaven thou art there !
If I make
my bed in sheol thou
art there !'
This
thought is echoed by Saint
Augustine
at the beginning of his Confessions when he writes;'
Do heaven and earth contain you because you have filled
them ? Or do you fill them and overflow them because they
do not contain you ?' Yet Augustine is also aware of the
fact that his search for the presence of God is not simply
a matter of experiencing his universal presence in creation.
He also knew that there was another way of God's presence
among us, his presence by grace. Not
content with his deep involvement in the created order,
the Word of God also became
one of us and that wonderful presence is not simply another
instance of his involvement
in creation, it is mysteriously different. It was the
failure to make this distinction that led straight to
naturalism and Pelagianism.
Brother
Lawrence has this to say on the subject of the presence
of God; 'The presence
of God is an applying of our spirit to him, or a realisation
of his presence, which can be brought about either by
the imagination or the understanding'
Anthony Meredith, SJ
EVENTS
CALENDAR
Mass
for Young Adults
Anyone
between the age of 16 – 35 (roughly!) is welcome to this
popular Mass which is held on the first Sunday on each
month. There is one today Sunday, 5 th June at pm in Farm
St Church . Contact: davestewart@jesuits.net
FARM
STREET TALKS
During
June there will be a series of talks given by Fr James
Campbell, S.J. in the Hall at Mount St Jesuit Centre.
On
Fridays from the 3 rd these will be
from 12:30-1pm
on Guidance in Prayer and will
examine different forms or prayer.
On
Sundays , from the 5 th the subject will
be: The Jesuits: History &Life
and will be from 5-6pm. Admission free .
All
welcome
FIRST
COMMUNIONS
Next
Sunday at the Family Mass ( 9:30am
), Grace Eastwell, Pamela Naidoo
and Christopher and Natalie Sameen will make their First
Holy Communion. Our congratulations to them, their families
and their catechists.
A
MASS FOR THE HOLY FATHER
On
the Feast of SS Peter and Paul (Wednesday 29 th June)
there will be a sung Mass at 6pm
in honour of the
newly-elected Pope Benedict XVI. The Mass will conclude
with a Te Deum. Note that this Feast is a Holy Day of
Obligation.
BEHOLD
THE LAMB: YEAR OF THE EUCHARIST CONGRESS
Led
by the Cardinal, this will take place at Newman College
, Birmingham from 14 th – 17 th July. Contact: Fr John
Edwards, S.J. at Mount St, Tel: 7493 7811.
EMBASSIES
If
you work at one of the embassies or high commissions in
Mayfair ,
or know of a Catholic who does, could you please let Fr
William know. We would like to renew our traditional embassy
contacts so that Farm Street
events and programmes might be more widely known.
VOCATIONS
GROUP
A
talk for young adults in their 20's and 30's will take
place at 7:30pm on Friday 17 th June in the Hinsley Room
at Westminster Cathedral. Contact: 01277 373959.
Website:
vocationsgroup.org.uk.
BUILD
THE KINGDOM – A PARISH WORKSHOP
This
will take place on Tuesday 12 th July at 7:30pm in Bp
Challoner School, E1 and will be looking at the liturgy.
If you would like to attend, please let Fr Pearsall know.
SADHANA:
A WAY TO GOD
Those
who have just completed the six-week beginner's course
have asked that we continue. We will therefore be running
for a further six weeks from 2 nd June until 7 th July,
6:30-7.45pm . Beginners are welcome to join this new course.
See notice board for details or ring 8374 6959 or leave
a message at Mount St reception for Lynne.
FOUR
TALKS ON CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
FOR
THE CHURCH AND SOCIETY
These
will be held each Monday in June from 7:30-9:30pm in the
Mount St Jesuit Centre. The speakers are all Jesuits from
Heythrop College and the talks are being sponsored by
the Mount Street Jesuit Centre,
coordinated
by Brian Purfield STL, MA.
Topics
include: Jewish-Christian Relations by John McDade, SJ;
The Church since Lumen Gentium by James Hanvey, SJ and
Catholic Social Teaching by Anthony Carroll, SJ.
Admission
is £5.
For
information and booking:
brianpurfield@hotmail.com
020
7495 1673
The
Church Team
Fr
William Pearsall SJ (Parish Priest)
Fr
James Campbell SJ (Asst Priest)
Fr
Anthony Meredith SJ (Asst Priest)
Philip
O'Brien (Parish Council Chairman)
David
Graham (Director of Music)
Patrick
Mallon (Sacristan)
Fr
Hugh Duffy SJ ( Superior
of the Jesuit
Community)
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