“Journey into Faith”
(Talk at Mass – October 17/18th 2009)
Good morning/evening everybody. My name’s David and I’d like to talk to you today about the Parish of Holy Name’s spirituality programme ‘Journey into Faith’, and a little about myself.
I’d like to start by offering you a quotation to have in mind during my brief talk.
“Spirituality is the process of getting our minds off ourselves and back on GOD”
(Pause)
“Spirituality is the process of getting our minds off ourselves and back on GOD”
I don’t know who wrote it, and in a way I’m glad because once an author is known it can be easy to allow our presumptions about that author to box the citation off. The true meaning can be distorted or even hidden from us altogether.
The beauty of Spirituality is that it transcends religions and unites us at a deep personal level across all faiths and non-faiths. Spirituality creates the possibility of understanding one another in the name GOD. That’s what I believe those words mean, whoever wrote them.
I’ve been attending Mass at Holy Name with my family, Christina, Jade and David for the past 3 years. I started primarily coming to support my partner Christina in her faith as a Catholic. I myself at the time wasn’t that religious or particularly spiritual…or so I thought.
Suffice to say it didn’t take long before I started to enquire and wonder: so this is where all the happy, smiley people come?!
When I first started to attend church I felt a little like I was the only one not invited to the party, which I know isn’t true, you’ve always been here and God had been waiting patiently.
To quote the gospel - “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened”. Metaphorically speaking, I got Christina to ring the door bell, I’m such a coward. Well, after 3 challenging and wonderful years down the road, it’s been quite a journey and continues to be.
Early on this year just before Easter, I had the pleasure of listening to Maggie Jackson give her inspiring talk about her spiritual journey and the deepening of her faith as a Catholic. I was intrigued and inspired by what Maggie and Fr Pat were trying to do for all of us in Holy Name: that is, giving us an opportunity: showing us ways to deepen our spiritual awareness and get closer to GOD.
When coming to church in the beginning, I had felt like a fish out of water. Not knowing what to expect, when to stand up, sit down, the correct responses, what it all meant. I had doubts, feelings of inadequacy and of not belonging.
I suppose in some small degree I still have those feelings, just standing up here not really believing I have the right to.
The first time when I set foot into this church I found it terrifying but, equally, compelling: a sense of belonging, of coming home.
What made it so much easier, was the welcome I got from you all. I’ve never experienced such a feeling of community and togetherness that I get here at Holy Name. So when I had the opportunity to explore my faith deeper and get involved with the spirituality-planning group I jumped at it.
Then I thought… David what on earth are you doing? You’re not a catholic, you’ve not read the bible, you’re still getting to grips with all the right places to stand up and sit down, you’re still learning the responses at Mass.
Then it hit me…the quotation I mentioned earlier: “Spirituality is the process of getting our minds off ourselves and back on GOD”
All this time I’dbeen so preoccupied with my own feelings and fears that I wasn’t really opening up and letting God into my heart, I was closed off. I was so out of tune that when hearing the words I wasn’t letting them in, not truly understanding them.
It was through the various prayer and spirituality courses run by Maggie and Fr Pat that I started to tune in at the right frequency, but to do that I had to let go and trust.
The variety of options there are in which we can get closer to God through prayer meant that there’s something for everyone. We all communicate to God in our own way. Which is why it was great to learn that there are so many different ways to enable us to get closer God.
From this I realised that the better I get to understand God, the better I get to know myself.
The Spirituality programmes were facilitated in a friendly, caring and safe environment. It was a place of great human connection in a world that can seem at times very disconnected. I’ve met people there, that up until then, were just a face or a handshake and now I’m glad to proudly call them my friends.
I’m sure I could have read every book under the sun on faith, religion and spirituality and not have learned as much as I have at these meetings and events.
The missing ingredients when reading books on our own are PEOPLE, human interaction. Being able to share, reflect and just being there and supporting one another was very comforting and reassuring.
We’ve had the great opportunity to share in some really interesting and engaging programmes on offer this year.
Through the hard work of Fr Pat and Maggie we’ve realized from the very beginning (with the four sessions held during Lent), how easy and possible it is to make “A little extra time for prayer”.
This for me was a first; I’d never experienced Lent before. I now can see that it gave a whole new dimension and appreciation to Easter and was very well received and we had a lot of positive feed back from all who attended. This gave us great impetus to carry on and do more.
Then we had Fr Pat’s ‘Building Blocks of Prayer’, which brought out many different ways in which we can engage in prayer. The use of visual aids and settings helped create a conducive and positive atmosphere in which to find peace and quiet. Something very welcomed when having two young children.
A challenge for me was trying not falling to sleep! This doesn’t mean that the content wasn’t stimulating, because it was, it’s just in this hectic driven world we don’t get much time to be still and quiet, and the experience was very relaxing.
We’ve recently started a Spiritual Book Group called, “Words for the soul”. This is an informal get together where we have the opportunity to share our thoughts and reflections - and Fr Pat’s tea and biscuits of course.
The first book we discussed was, “Story of a Soul” by St. Therese of Lisieux. This was enthusiastically received and very enjoyable. The meeting coincided brilliantly with the visit of her relics here in Leeds at St. Anne’s Cathedral.
I’m sure all who visited the relics found the experience quite profound and moving.
Seeing all those people queuing to come and venerate her, I could only imagine the scenes of people queuing and waiting to hear Jesus speak: believers, non-believers, sceptics and those just supporting loved ones.
The list is endless and I’m sure the people in the queues are just the same then as they are today. What matters is that we were there together and to share in something quite unique and special.
We now want to invite you to take part in a variety of meetings and events, starting in November and running through to Easter, that we hope you will find interesting and enjoyable.
You will find details in the Journey into FaithOctober Update (which was attached to last week’s bulletin and is on the Parish website). Just ask if you need a copy.
There is also a handout about Spirituality attached to this week’s bulletin that we hope you find helpful.
At the end of each Mass this weekend, some of us are available if you want more information or just a brief chat about any aspects of the programme.
We’ll just gather near the altar steps and would be very happy to meet you.
I hope you will agree that these are all exciting and worthwhile developments at Holy Name, and we would also be glad to receive your own suggestions for more things we can do as part of our Journey into Faith Spirituality Programme.
Everyone is welcome at all the events.
Can I just add our thanks to Su Goodyear for all her admin work, and to Fr Pat for his encouragement and support.
I would also personally like to say to Maggie Jackson: Thank you for having the courage of your convictions, and for having belief in this programme, and allowing us all to share in this wonderful journey together.
And thank you everybody for listening.