20 quotes found
"If anything, I am feeling called to pray for joy, a sense of hope and joy in my ministry, because I know that it is going to be difficult, and I know there are going to be many challenges; I know the Church is facing great challenges at present, from many different avenues and what we don’t need is to become mired in, in a sense, the difficulties and the challenges that lie ahead. We are the people of the Resurrection, we are people of hope, and I want that to be a shining light and I realise that, at times, that will be difficult, but that is my prayer, that I can be that for people."
"For me it’s the experience of somebody who wants to treat life as an adventure and explore life. So acting is great for that, whereas a priest is somebody who has a vocation and knows exactly what their purpose is in life. And to be honest, I wasn’t there as a young man. I didn’t know absolutely. I didn’t have that calling."
"We are a society of apostolic life, so there’s going to be a common life … there must be fraternal life. If there’s no fraternal life, priests become extremely susceptible to the wiles and snares of the devil."
"As I watched John Dew lay prostrate on the floor during the litany of the saints at his ordination, I thought – Oh golly, I could be the next one on the floor. And so I was."
"We are all at one stage or another of being unfinished. We can be born with deficiencies, or incur disabilities, some of which last through life. In fact, we are never finished while death is still in front of us. When there is something that cannot be resolved or fulfilled within our present span of life, it helps to remember that our life was not something we had a right to in the first place; it is simply gift. And our present life is not the whole of it."
"In his quiet, fatherly way, Joseph intercedes for us in this southern outpost of the Church. He watches over the family of God’s people much like he watched over Jesus as he learned to walk, as he worked at a trade, and as he eventually left home to carry out his mission. Joseph shows us that holiness is found in a very normal and human way, carrying out the day-to-day responsibilities of family life, and being a caring citizen in the community. I am sure that this year will bring out further reflections on how St Joseph can show us how to live. He shows us something important about the dignity and importance of work, he reminds us of the significance of good fathering, and he teaches us to place our trust in God in the midst of problems and anxieties. St Joseph is certainly a very relevant and helpful saint for the times that we live in."
"Surely deep down we all want to respect the reputation of others, see the best in them and not cause an unjust injury. So aim for the heavens and not the gutter."
"A disturbed or uneasy conscience is a gift from God. Rejoice when that happens, rather than being offended, and you will discover one of the best ways by which you can grow in holiness of life. You become free of the very sin the Lord Jesus is presenting to you."
"By using the word "dialogue" I hope to be able to believe that the other has something worthwhile to say. Engaging in dialogue does not mean renouncing our own ideas and traditions but rather, renouncing the claim that they alone are valid or absolute."
"I pray now that I will do all I can to feed the people of this Church and I know that I need to be fed by you. Over the last nine years I know that I have been fed and nourished by the prayer, commitment and enthusiasm of the wonderful people who give of themselves to the Church in many ways. Thank you!"
"This Synod also calls on members to talk heart-to-heart to each other and to encourage all we shepherds to listen to small ethnic and cultural groups and minority movements in the Church. The way of the Pacific is the way of journeys also. Hospitality must be our special care. I think especially from Tokelau of the welcome given to Pacific islanders arriving in Australia and New Zealand. Hurt human nature does not communicate well."
"The Church is Christ's body and his bride. He gave it life and love, its teachings and mission. It is our task to renew and reform the Church. We do not change her in her essentials. Some would have us refound the Church to make it not new but anew: To alter it substantially so that it would become substantially other than the Church Christ founded. But the Church is our mother. We do not make the Church. She makes us."
"The Catechist is the backbone of the outlying parishes, especially where there is no priest."
"Many other catechists recalled that Bishop Stuart always had a welcoming approach. He trusted his people. He was humble — he was down to earth. Many of them saw him as a father or a grandfather. And he certainly was... very optimistic."
"One night, I prayed, "well, if it's a priest you wanted me to be, give me a sign." So much for you should not put the Lord your God to the test. The next day, when I got home, the phone was ringing. It was the young priest from the parish saying, "oh, I've been trying to get hold of you for days. I'll be coming around for coffee." I suppose it was my Damascus experience."
"In dioceses of secular countries with a network of Catholic schools and Colleges, the primary community of faith has become the school. There the majority of the baptized encounter for the first time, in any systematic way, the person of Jesus Christ, prayer, liturgy and the Church's sacramental life. Teachers rather than parents have become in many instances the first formators in faith of our young. Catholic schools are not products but agents of the Church's mission."
"People must be able to see within us and within the Church, not the structures and authority we have, but the presence of Jesus Christ. We must avoid the danger of placing so much emphasis on the "Magisterium" of the Church that we lose the sense of the "Mysterium" of the Church."
"The question we need to ask: Is it our structures that put the restraint on people who want to belong? Is it our structures that frustrate those committed priests with a great love for their people who feel they can do very little?"
"if we are going to be on mission in this world, a world that so desperately needs to hear the Gospel, it's not what we take with us on mission. It's who we take. And here is the good news—it's our job to make a decision for Christ, the strength and the power to become missionaries will come from him."
"We are returning home, I hope, with a little more discomfort than when we arrived. It's a good sign. This discomfort is an open door for the Lord to work through us."