Come & See Inspirations (C&SI)

On the podcast this week rather than just one particular topic or interview John and Shane have a magazine style programme looking at various topics and events from around the catholic world.
Magazine topics covered on this weeks podcast:
1. News on progress on the cause of Frank Duff
2. We reflect on different aspects of Pope Francis visit to Slovakia including:

• The plurality of rites and liturgies of the Church - Pope in Slovakia: Prešov Divine Liturgy shows Church breathes with 'two lungs
• Pope thanks Slovak Jews for opening doors to healing and fraternity
• Pope to young people in Slovakia: dream fearlessly
• Pope at Divine Liturgy in Slovakia: Let us turn our hearts to the Cross - homily

3. New lectionary translation for Ireland

• Bishops progress preparation of new edition of the Lectionary following feedback from public consultation
• New lectionary translation raises practical concerns

4. Recovery of remains of early Korean martyrs
5. Harvard University appointment of an atheist as head "chaplain" - link to response by Bishop Robert Barron

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On this week's programme we chat with Martina O'Sullivan about her upcoming Faith camp in Abbeyfeale for children aged 5-12. Martina also tells us about two other resources: Camp Veritas and Children's Adoration.

Children's Faith Camps

This week Martina O'Sullivan shared with us resources available for helping to develop children's faith experience. Martina has arranged a Faith Camp for children 5-12 years from Monday 29 July to Thursday 1 August in Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick:

'The Faith Camps are a wonderful way to witness to the joy of the Faith that makes it seem attractive to both the children and the young leaders. All of what is undertaken, from art, sport, games, lessons to group-work, is all aimed towards a particular end: encouraging them to form a personal relationship with Jesus.'

St. Ita’s Faith Camp
St. Ita's Faith Camp will take place from Monday, July 29th to Thursday, August 1st in St. Mary's Boys School, Abbeyfeale. Activities include sport, art, drama, music, faith lessons and Mass. It takes place from 10.00am to 3.00pm each day and the cost is €40 for the first child and €25 per sibling. Advance registration is essential. For further information contact Martina at 087-2788834 or email: [email protected]

Martina also tells us about Camp Veritas for Children 12-18 years which was held recently in Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare. This was a week long 'play and pray' pilrimage and summer camp for teens attending secondary school. You can read more about it HERE and HERE.

Martina also reminded us of Children's Adoration resources which you can read more about HERE.

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On this weeks programme John talks to Gerard Hanley from Emmaus Centre in Dublin about the celebration of WYD2019 in Dublin by those pilgrims who couldn't make it to Panama. We have our regular reflection on the weekly Sunday Gospel as well as other notices and liturgical odds & ends.

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On this weeks programme John and Martina have an interview with Dr Mary Healy. Mary is a professor of scripture in Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit Michigan and a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. Mary spoke to us about her experiences in Charismatic Renewal and Healing. She also spoke to us about family life and marriage.
Mary grew up in a “Sunday Mass catholic home”. Parents took her to mass on Sunday but had no other faith activity during the week.They had no prayer life to speak of. Then her parents went on a “Cursillo” retreat and both her parents had a deep conversion experience after which the rosary, the sacraments, and personal prayer became so important to them and they introduced their children to these also. Mary went to college, and as is quite common drifted from God due to having no prayer life. At end of college she was spiritually empty but went on to rediscover her relationship with God while attending in Steubenville University. Mary lived with a charismatic community in Maryland for several years and this taught her a great deal about getting to know God in a personal way and through the Cross and Resurrection.
Mary also shares with us about the Christian understanding of marriage and how repentance, giving and accepting forgiveness makes marriages strong and leads spouses to a deeper love for one another. One of the biggest obstacle to healing is unforgiveness. We need to be very careful about this in our lives and examine our conscience often. Forgive and allow God judge the person who has wounded us. With every Gift of the spirit it is God the Holy Spirit operating through us. The more intimate we are with Jesus the more we know His ways. We are like a musical instrument which the Holy Spirit “plays”...the more intimate we are with Jesus the “sweeter the tune”!!!!

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So we are coming to the end of the month of October and in the northern hemisphere and particularly in Ireland the dark days of winter are coming in. So on the podcast this week we resurrect a chat that John and myself had in 2017 about who and what are the saints in the tradition of the church ahead of the great festival of All Saints on November 1st.
All Saints
As the clocks change this weekend and the evenings have firmly drawn in, we head into Samhain (November) and the dark days of Winter here in Ireland. As the earth heads into hibernation and rebirth, the ancient Celts saw this time as a "thin place" between this world and the next. All Hallows Eve (Halloween) and the celebrations of All Saints and All Soul's are a reminder to us that our nearest and dearest who have died are not really that far away and that we honour and pray for and with each other in the Communion of Saints especially at this time of the year.
On November 1st, the Church celebrates all the saints: canonized or beatified, and the multitude of those who are in heaven enjoying the beatific vision that are only known to God. During the early centuries the Saints venerated by the Church were all martyrs. Later on the Popes set November 1 as the day for commemorating all the Saints.
We all have this "universal call to holiness." What must we to do in order to join the company of the saints in heaven? We "must follow in His footsteps and conform [our]selves to His image seeking the will of the Father in all things. [We] must devote [our]selves with all [our] being to the glory of God and the service of [our] neighbor. In this way, the holiness of the People of God will grow into an abundant harvest of good, as is admirably shown by the life of so many saints in Church history" (Lumen Gentium, 40).
"For centuries the church has confronted the human community with role models of greatness. We call them saints when what we really often mean to say is 'icon,' 'star,' 'hero,' ones so possessed by an internal vision of divine goodness that they give us a glimpse of the face of God in the center of the human. They give us a taste of the possibilities of greatness in ourselves."— Joan D. Chittister in "A Passion for Life"
"When I invite you to become saints, I am asking you not to be content with second best. I am asking you not to pursue one limited goal and ignore all the others. Having money makes it possible to be generous and to do good in the world, but on its own, it is not enough to make us happy. Being highly skilled in some activity or profession is good, but it will not satisfy us unless we aim for something greater still. It might make us famous, but it will not make us happy. Happiness is something we all want, but one of the great tragedies in this world is that so many people never find it, because they look for it in the wrong places. The key to it is very simple - true happiness is to be found in God. We need to have the courage to place our deepest hopes in God alone, not in money, in a career, in worldly success, or in our relationships with others, but in God. Only he can satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts."

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