College Chaplain Reflection – October 6, 2016

October 5, 2016

I still have a couple more reflections based on the Pope’s homilies to go, but to break it up a couple of -‘adverts’.

  1. The Australian Catholic Marriage & Family Council, a Council of the Australian Catholic Bishop’s Conference, has proposed that October stand as a month of prayer and fasting for the family. To support this they have suggested particular prayer- intentions in support of families for each Sunday of this month. For more information visit www.acmfc.org.au

We probably don’t talk about fasting much anymore, which is a pity because Jesus certainly never shied from suggesting and modelling it. Fasting can take many forms; from periodic abstinence from certain luxuries to the practice of quite literally limiting what we eat. Either way the action helps reinforce our absolute trust in the Father and reminds us of our complete dependence upon his love.

  1. The Mission team will host a Vocations retreat day again this year, on Saturday 12th November. We will share more details in the weeks to come, but essentially we will make a pilgrimage walk along the Skipton Rail trail from Scarsdale out to Linton, where we will finish with Mass and a lunch. Along with supervising staff members from the College, a couple of seminarians and priests will join us to give students the opportunity to ask questions around what plans God might have in store for us in a supportive environment. Every one of our students has been entrusted by God with a special task or mission in this life; this retreat is aimed at helping them explore and discern that plan so that they might then generously respond to it.

“Jesus has a specific task in life for each and every one of us. Each one of us is hand-picked, called by name by Jesus! There is no one among us who does not have a divine vocation!” St John Paul II.