Be guided by the Spirit

Notes of meeting on 26 May 2015

Picture of a living flame of fire that seemed to be above us  and we could all clearly see it.
The flame grew into an enveloping light that joined with any light that was already within us even if it was only a speck of light. Our light was enlivened, enriched and magnified by the enveloping light and it was almost as if we had become that light.
We could feel great joy, love and peace and we felt at one with the light.
Within the light as it magnified in brilliance and depth could be seen the City of God, white, sparkling, crystal clear emitting the light and within this light were fields and gardens of such beauty with crystal fountains, rivers and brooks all making their own sounds delightful to the ear. Fish teemed in the rivers, birds sang in the green verdant countryside all part of the life giving light.
It was as though a beautiful symphony beyond our senses was taking place continually renewing and revitalising our inner core being.
Our Blessed Mother was at the great gates of the City requesting admittance for all her children. In great joy we knew and felt the resounding 'Yes' in our hearts. Our Mother was beaming and overflowing with joy as her children were home safe.

Galatians 5 v 16 -25
¹⁶ Instead, I tell you, be guided by the Spirit, and you will no longer yield to self-indulgence.
¹⁷ The desires of self-indulgence are always in opposition to the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are in opposition to self-indulgence: they are opposites, one against the other; that is how you are prevented from doing the things that you want to.
¹⁸ But when you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
¹⁹ When self-indulgence is at work the results are obvious: sexual vice, impurity, and sensuality,
²⁰ the worship of false gods and sorcery; antagonisms and rivalry, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels, disagreements,
²¹ factions and malice, drunkenness, orgies and all such things. And about these, I tell you now as I have told you in the past, that people who behave in these ways will not inherit the kingdom of God.
²² On the other hand the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness,
²³ gentleness and self-control; no law can touch such things as these.
²⁴ All who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified self with all its passions and its desires.
²⁵ Since we are living by the Spirit, let our behaviour be guided by the Spirit

Phil 2 v 1- 16
 ¹So if in Christ there is anything that will move you, any incentive in love, any fellowship in the Spirit, any warmth or sympathy -- I appeal to you,
² make my joy complete by being of a single mind, one in love, one in heart and one in mind.
³ Nothing is to be done out of jealousy or vanity; instead, out of humility of mind everyone should give preference to others,
⁴ everyone pursuing not selfish interests but those of others.
⁵ Make your own the mind of Christ Jesus:
⁶ Who, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped.
⁷ But he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are; and being in every way like a human being,
⁸ he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross.
⁹ And for this God raised him high, and gave him the name which is above all other names;
¹⁰ so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus
¹¹ and that every tongue should acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
¹² So, my dear friends, you have always been obedient; your obedience must not be limited to times when I am present. Now that I am absent it must be more in evidence, so work out your salvation in fear and trembling.
¹³ It is God who, for his own generous purpose, gives you the intention and the powers to act.
¹⁴ Let your behaviour be free of murmuring and complaining
¹⁵ so that you remain faultless and pure, unspoilt children of God surrounded by a deceitful and underhand brood, shining out among them like bright stars in the world,
¹⁶ proffering to it the Word of life. Then I shall have reason to be proud on the Day of Christ, for it will not be for nothing that I have run the race and toiled so hard.


I Chronicles 17 v 16 - 27
¹⁶ King David then went in, sat down in Yahweh's presence and said: 'Who am I, Yahweh God, and what is my lineage, that you have led me as far as this?
¹⁷ Yet, to you, O God, this seemed too little, and now you extend your promises for your servant's family into the distant future, making me see as it were a whole succession of men, and it is Yahweh God himself who raises it up.
¹⁸ What more can David reply to you for the honour you have given to your servant? You yourself have singled out your servant.
¹⁹ For your servant, and since you were so inclined, you have had the generosity to reveal all this greatness to come.
²⁰ Yahweh, there is no one like you, no God but you alone, as everything that we have heard confirms.
²¹ Is there another people on earth like your people Israel, whom a god has proceeded to redeem, to make them his people and to make them famous and do for them great and terrible deeds, by driving out nations before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt?-
²² for you made your people Israel your own people for ever and you, Yahweh, became their God.
²³ 'Now, Yahweh, may the promise which you have made for your servant and as regards his family hold good for ever, and do as you have said.
²⁴ May it hold good, so your name will be exalted for ever and people will say, "Israel's God is Yahweh Sabaoth; he is God for Israel." Your servant David's dynasty will be secure before you
²⁵ since you, my God, have disclosed to your servant that you are going to build him a dynasty. Hence, your servant has ventured to offer this prayer to you.
²⁶ Yes, Yahweh, you are God indeed, and you have made this generous promise to your servant.
²⁷ What is more, you have deigned to bless your servant's dynasty, so that it may remain for ever before you; and since you, Yahweh, have blessed it, blessed will it be for ever.'


Peace like a river
Love like a mountain
The wind of Your Spirit
Is blowing everywhere
Joy like a fountain
Healing spring of life
Come, Holy Spirit
Let Your fire fall

June Prayer Intention

June Prayer Intention

PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

O God, who by the mystery of the great feast of Pentecost sanctifies the whole Church in every people and nation, pour out, we pray, the gifts of the Holy Spirit across the face of the earth and, with the divine grace that was at work when the Gospel was first proclaimed fill now the hearts of believers.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

 

We will be having a monthly prayer intention throughout the year and if anyone has ideas for areas of intercession please let us know. The first meeting of each month will be set aside for praying for the particular monthly intention.

Lord breathe your Spirit upon us

Notes of meeting on 19 May 2015

John 20 v 19-13
¹⁹ In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, 'Peace be with you,'
²⁰ and, after saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord,
²¹ and he said to them again, 'Peace be with you. 'As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.'
²² After saying this he breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit.
²³ If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone's sins, they are retained.

(Solemnity) Pentecost Sunday  •  John 20:19-23
After his resurrection from the dead, Jesus breathed the Spirit into his disciples (v. 22). Then, after filling them with the power of the Spirit, he sent them out to proclaim to all the Good News that, by his death and resurrection, he has saved the world. He also sent them to give the fruits of his salvation – the forgiveness of sins – to all who turned to him in faith and repentance (v. 23).
On the Day of Pentecost Jesus poured the Spirit out on his apostles as they were gathered together in prayer (Acts 2:1). Filled again with the Spirit, they received the power to preach about the ‘mighty works of God’ in many languages (Acts 2:11). The mighty works of God are centred on the person of Jesus, so they proclaimed his resurrection: Jesus has conquered death! They proclaimed that the Father has given Jesus, the first-born from the dead (Col. 1:18), the power to give life to all who believe in him (John 5:21). They proclaimed that God, in Jesus Christ, has reconciled the world to himself and established a new creation, a new order of being.
Then the apostles invited those listening to them to receive the fruits of Jesus’ salvation into their own lives: to ‘be reconciled to God’ (2 Cor. 5:20) and become ‘a new creation’ (2 Cor. 5:17). In this new order of creation all can enter into an intimate relationship with God, a relationship in which God becomes their Father and they become God’s beloved, adopted children. In this relationship, delivered from the power of death, they no longer live in the fear of death (Heb. 2:15). They are to believe in Jesus as their Saviour and ask him to fill them with the Holy Spirit.
Today the Church celebrates the Father’s gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is given to the Church to communicate to us the things of Jesus (John 16:15). He makes Jesus known to us (1 Cor. 12:3). He communicates to us all the fruits of salvation that Jesus gained for the human race by his saving death and life-giving resurrection. How wonderful that we can receive the power of the Spirit from Jesus! Turn to him in faith and receive the Spirit from him.
Jesus, my Saviour and my Lord. Breathe your Spirit upon me and fill me with your forgiveness, salvation, life and peace.

Breathe on me breath of God

Love one another as I have loved you

Notes of meeting on 13 May 2015

Picture of Jesus upon the Cross saying: "It is complete".
His poor Mother stood praying that the Father's will be done.
A great wind containing a force of darkness cam along that brought a terrible stench. This vortex of pain, darkness and sin seemed to be upon, within and around our beloved Jesus. It was as though he was absorbing all the hatred, pride, lies and sin in that last breath upon His Cross.
Our blessed Mother reeled with the heaviness, pain and smell of our sins but she still abided in the Father's will praying for us her beloved children. She was left in terrible sorrow, her Son had just died but she knew that this was the Father's will as she was told by Simeon long ago. She wept for her Son she wept for us her children as well.
This act of love by her beloved Son was the means of salvation for all and so began the mission to bring her children to the safety of Heaven. She asks us to cooperate in this mission to save souls:
"My children the time of Pentecost is approaching lay aside all differences , all unforgiveness make peace and then you will be so much more effective in your prayers to save your family , lost souls and yourselves. I will never leave you. My Son's blessing be upon you. Be missionaries like your Mother."

Stand in my Grace. I will not let you fall.

Romans 15 v 1 - 13

1.We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2.Each of us should please our neighbours for their good, to build them up.  3.For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”  4.For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

5.May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had,  6.so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7.Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8.For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed  9.and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;

I will sing the praises of your name.”

10.Again, it says,

“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”

11.And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.”

12.And again, Isaiah says,

“The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.”

13.May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jeremiah 29 v 10 -14
 ¹⁰ For Yahweh says this: When the seventy years granted to Babylon are over, I shall intervene on your behalf and fulfil my favourable promise to you by bringing you back to this place.
¹¹ Yes, I know what plans I have in mind for you, Yahweh declares, plans for peace, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
¹² When you call to me and come and pray to me, I shall listen to you.
¹³ When you search for me, you will find me; when you search wholeheartedly for me,
¹⁴ I shall let you find me (Yahweh declares. I shall restore your fortunes and gather you in from all the nations and wherever I have driven you, Yahweh declares. I shall bring you back to the place from which I exiled you).

John 15 v 9-17
⁹ I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.
¹⁰ If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.
¹¹ I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete.
¹² This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you.
¹³ No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.
¹⁴ You are my friends, if you do what I command you.
¹⁵ I shall no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know the master's business; I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father.
¹⁶ You did not choose me, no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last; so that the Father will give you anything you ask him in my name.
¹⁷ My command to you is to love one another.

Night of intercession for the Celebrate NE 2015 Conference

 

Notice of a  night of intercession for the Celebrate NE 2015 Conference on Tuesday 2nd June at St Mary’s Presbytery, 2 Major Street, Stockton-on-Tees TS18 2DD starting at 7.30pm with Rosary and the intercession meeting starting at 8pm.

Ann Webster (Liddell) will be leading our time together as we come from all parts of the diocese to intercede for the conference.

More details on Celebrate NE can be found at the following link:

http://www.celebrateconference.org/weekends/northeast/

The Lord has indeed risen

Notes of meeting on 5 May 2015

Luke 24 v 33 - 53
³³ They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions,
³⁴ who said to them, 'The Lord has indeed risen and has appeared to Simon.'
³⁵ Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking of bread.
³⁶ They were still talking about all this when he himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you!'
³⁷ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost.
³⁸ But he said, 'Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts stirring in your hearts?
³⁹ See by my hands and my feet that it is I myself. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.'
⁴⁰ And as he said this he showed them his hands and his feet.
⁴¹ Their joy was so great that they still could not believe it, as they were dumbfounded; so he said to them, 'Have you anything here to eat?'
⁴² And they offered him a piece of grilled fish,
⁴³ which he took and ate before their eyes.
⁴⁴ Then he told them, 'This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms, was destined to be fulfilled.'
⁴⁵ He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures,
⁴⁶ and he said to them, 'So it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
⁴⁷ and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
⁴⁸ You are witnesses to this.
⁴⁹ 'And now I am sending upon you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city, then, until you are clothed with the power from on high.'
⁵⁰ Then he took them out as far as the outskirts of Bethany, and raising his hands he blessed them.
⁵¹ Now as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven.
⁵² They worshipped him and then went back to Jerusalem full of joy;
⁵³ and they were continually in the Temple praising God.

 

Isaiah 1 v 3

³ The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master's crib; Israel does not know, my people do not understand.'

 

Isaiah 2 v 2 -4

² It will happen in the final days that the mountain of Yahweh's house will rise higher than the mountains and tower above the heights. Then all the nations will stream to it,
³ many peoples will come to it and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob that he may teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths.' For the Law will issue from Zion and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
⁴ Then he will judge between the nations and arbitrate between many peoples. They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into sickles. Nation will not lift sword against nation, no longer will they learn how to make war.

Lord we thank you that you are risen from the dead and call us to share in your Life.
Help us to know you and listen to you who are our master.
Let us come to you and your Holy Mountain, help us walk in your ways and be fed and nourished by you.
Fill us with your gift of Peace and all your good gifts.
Amen.

May Prayer Intention

May Prayer Intention

PRAYER FOR PRIESTS AND VOCATIONS

Father, You have appointed Your Son Jesus Christ eternal High Priest.
Guide those He has chosen to be ministers of Word and Sacrament
and help them to be faithful in fulfilling the ministry they have received.

Lord Jesus, transform the hearts and lives of those You are calling to serve as priests, deacons, missionaries, brothers and sisters in Your Church.
Make them living reflections of Your Heart and channels of Your mercy to others.
Open their eyes to see Your presence in souls around them; open their ears to the appeals of others; inspire them with Your message of forgiveness and comfort;
strengthen them for the service of those in need as You prepare them to reflect Your mercy. Call many generous souls to Your service, and transform them into ministers of Your mercy, for You can do all things.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

We will be having a monthly prayer intention throughout the year and if anyone has ideas for areas of intercession please let us know. The first meeting of each month will be set aside for praying for the particular monthly intention.

Son of the Living God

Notes from meeting on 28 April 2015

Picture  of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.
Many people, in fact a multitude were following Him.
Men women and children of other faiths were laying aside their former beliefs and with outstretched hands asking to join the many. They knelt down on their knees and worshipped Jesus calling out "Righteous One", "Prince of Peace", "Son of the Living God" and "Jesus in you is our life and our being, you are true man and true God". They joined the multitude under the banner of the Lamb.

Jesus says:
"No one can come to Father except through Me, Jesus the Son of the Living God"