In the Victorian times, fairy tales and Shakespearean plays were edited to take the more risqué parts out. I often think that over time our portrayal of angels has received the same treatment.

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Our images of angels in art and story are often of a beautiful ethereal winged female figure or strong armoured winged male figure.
This strikes me as contradictory to biblical encounters with angels. Invariably the first words out of their mouth to the person they are sent is “Do not be afraid”. This might be for one of two reasons. They might look so terrifying that they need to reassure the person that they need not fear, or they know the next words out of their mouth will strike fear into the person’s very soul. Maybe it is a combination of the two.
The angel that the shepherds on the hillside encounter that first Christmas day starts with the, now very common, “Do not be afraid” and then tells them of the birth of the Messiah nearby in a manger.
This encounter is unconventional up for many reasons. A manger is no place for the Son of God to be born and shepherds are the last people to hear important news yet this is how Jesus starts his life on earth. It really is a matter of “Start how you mean to proceed”.

Jesus whole life then is one of subverting human expectations and favouring those that society pushes aside as worth less than the rest. Jesus constantly calls for justice for the weak and for us to beware of putting our trust in positions of power and privilege. His teachings are full of warnings that in the Kingdom the first will be last, and the last, first.

As we approach Christmas when we celebrate that birth that the shepherds from the hills came to witness we need to be mindful that we are the new angels of our community bringing the message that a baby born over two thousand years ago came to bring peace and justice for all.
De Colores

FROM OUR
DIOCESAN SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR
Fr MARK COOPER

1 Timothy 4.14 Paul encourages Timothy to not neglect the gift that is in him.

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Cursillo encourages us to use our gifts in the 4th day, but this is tricky. What are my gifts? Are they really good enough? Doubt can undermine our self esteem so that we dare not use them.
How often do we look at someone so obviously gifted that we wished we were them? It is so easy to devalue and dismiss the gifts we have as being inadequate and not up to the task. Even really talented people have been known to doubt their own talent and suffer from insecurity that can lead to bouts of depression.
In the days before the internet and global communications, people didn’t have the best and most talented people in the world to compare themselves to. The best
singer in the village was celebrated for their gifts. They were the best and everyone appreciated them.
All gifts come from God and we are given the gifts that are needed for the mission and service we are called to. When we compare ourselves to other people we can start to doubt that God has given us what is really needed for the task.
I love the saying, “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.” God created us, as we are. God has given us our gifts and talents. God has a place for us in the community and expects us to exercise our gifts and talents.
Of course, we do need to look for opportunities to improve our gifts. Even members of Symphony Orchestras didn’t start out with that amount of skill. Using our gifts
regularly, looking for workshops to improve, and feed back on how we are going, can improve our skill and give us more

confidence.
If anyone makes you feel like your gifts aren’t good enough, remember St Paul’s
illustration of the body. All the parts of the body are needed and none can be
excluded without compromising the body.
De Colores
Fr Mark Cooper

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A few weeks ago, in our Gospel reading Jesus was commenting on the Old Testament law “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” His comment is probably one of the most difficult for us to understand and to put into action in our lives.
Matthew 5.43-44 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth makes logical sense. There is an element of justice here; what harm you cause me, I will cause you. The payback is equal, no one can call foul. This was especially important in tribal societies where payback was often escalating. You hurt a member of our tribe, we maim a member of yours, you kill one of ours, we kill a few of yours…. There was no end.
To stop this, a justice system of equal retribution was installed. A part of the problem with this was there was no mitigating circumstances. What if the injury was a mistake? It was still an eye for an eye.
The problem with both systems is getting locked into cycles of violence. Even with an eye for an eye family members can still feel that justice wasn’t really served, that they want a greater punishment to make up for their personal loss.
These days we talk about trying to break the cycle of violence. It’s a great idea, but who breaks it first? Mostly we want it to be the other person. Let me get my last jab in, then let’s stop the violence.
Jesus says, if we are to be his disciples, citizens of God’s kingdom, then we need to be the ones prepared to break the cycle, to be the ones to turn the other cheek, give our cloak and walk an extra mile.
We might worry that this makes us look weak, a doormat for others to step on, but in reality it takes great personal strength to be willing to say, the violence stops here. That I will genuinely love and pray for those who do me wrong.
When Jesus asks this of us, he isn’t a leader cushioned from the effects of others, demanding of us that which he has no intention of doing himself. As we approach Easter we will see Jesus betrayed by a friend, deserted by his companions, arrested, beaten, humiliated, and nailed to the cross.
As he looks down, he doesn’t berate those who have left him, or swear revenge on those who are killing him, but he showed compassion for the criminal next to himself and asks forgiveness for those who have no idea what they are really doing.
Following Jesus example is incredibly difficult. We all want our last jab, but if the cycle of violence is to be broken we need to be the ones with the courage to stand up and say “it stops here, with me.”

Christmas is almost upon us again. As we get older it is not unusual to feel time passing at what seems a faster speed. Not only this, but celebrations that used to fill us with joy and wonder can become routine, losing the sparkle from our youth. This sparkle can be re-invigorated when we see thesecelebrations anew through the eyes of our children, and in later years, our grandchildren.

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Before Christmas arrives, we have the season of Advent, a time of preparation. Unfortunately, in our
consumeristic society, by Advent our Christmas celebrations seem to be fully underway. Carols have
already been playing in our shopping centres, decorations are on full display, and the first of the many
Christmas parties have started.
I find it interesting how many people decry the increasing commercialisation of Christmas, and yet each
year we all find ourselves getting caught up in the unavoidable. I don’t say this to be an Ebenezer Scrooge
about Christmas but more to ponder out loud, how we might find space for an Advent type preparation
amidst the noise and bustle going on around us.
Firstly, we need to think about what Advent is preparing for. Advent has two goals, to prepare us to
celebrate the season (12 days) of Christmas, and to prepare us for Jesus’ second coming.
Preparation to celebrate the season of Christmas does mean engaging in the commercial side, buying
presents, cards, and food. Getting our homes ready for family and friends. However we should also
balance this with the knowledge that our time together is more important than how much we have spent.
Don’t peak too soon. How often do we get to Christmas day and think “Thank God that’s over for another
year?” It is almost impossible to spend Advent in a time of fasting and prayer, but we can make conscious
choices not to overindulge.
To prepare for Jesus’ second coming we should be using Advent as a time of spiritual spring cleaning.
What habits of faith have we let slip over the year? The first Sunday of Advent is the liturgical calendar’s
New Year’s Day so starting afresh makes some sense.
When we get to Christmas Day, try to come to it with the wonder of a child. Listen to the Christmas story
in the carols that we know by heart. Look deep into the manger scene at the Christ Child lying helplessly in
the hay. Empathise with your parish clergy trying desperately to say something new and interesting for
their umpteenth year.
Personally, when I look into the manger scene I can’t help but
hear Jesus words “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the
kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”
De Colores
Fr Mark Cooper

RESPONSE TO DIOCESAN ULTREYA WITNESS TALK – So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
Thank you, Noel, for sharing your Cursillo journey with us today. It was lovely to hear the name of our dear departed friend, Max Youman, mentioned. He and Ann have certainly been a valued part of Cursillo over the years.
Early on you shared with us that both Elwyne and you were at a crossroads in your faith and that you were prepared to try anything to move forward in a positive way in your faith. GOD wishes to transform us into the people He would have us become.
Our Parish Bible Study groups at Raymond Terrace have been studying CS Lewis’ “Mere Christianity” – and near the end of the book, Lewis talks about the need for us to be open to be transformed by GOD. Many people are content with their lot in life – not wanting to rock the boat as it were – not wanting to change – [we’ve had that light bulb for the last 53 years, 4 months and 8 days and it’s perfectly OK!]

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Lewis gives us an example about the way we change even prior to birth. He says this: “We were once rather like vegetables, and once rather like fish: it was only at a later stage that we became like human babies”. And if we had been quite conscious at those earlier stages, I daresay we should have been quite contented to stay as vegetables or fish – (and) we should not have wanted to be made into babies. But all the time GOD knew His plan for us and was determined to carry it out.

Something the same is now happening at a higher level. We may be content to remain at what we call ‘ordinary people’: but He – GOD – is determined to carry out a different plan. To shrink back from that plan is not humility – it is laziness and cowardice. To submit to it is not conceit or megalomania – it is obedience.

I give thanks to GOD, Noel, that Elwyne and you made the decision to OBEY GOD’s call on your lives so that He could continue the process of transformation in your lives – and that Cursillo was a tool that GOD deployed in this process.
Here are some steps we need to take in this process:
1. God Needs His Word in Us Before He Can Start transforming us.
Just as a potter needs enough water mixed in with the clay in order to begin fashioning the clay into the shape he desires, so GOD needs His Word in us before He can begin to transform us.
Just like our physical bodies need water in order to be able to live and survive in this world, in the same way our souls need God’s Word flowing through us in order to feed us on the inside.
In Ephesians 5:26 we are told” … that Christ might sanctify and cleanse His Church with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself as a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.”
2. We Have to Be Properly “Centered” in Jesus Christ – the potter must have the clay properly centred on the wheel before beginning to shape the clay; otherwise, the pottery vessel will not turn out properly. In order for us to become the people GOD desires us to be, we must be centred on JESUS. So, how do we become centred on JESUS? By completely surrendering our lives to Him. Jesus has to become both Lord and Saviour of our life, not just our Saviour. Too many Christians do not have Jesus as the real Lord in their lives.
3. Sanctification is a Slow, Steady, and Progressive Process.
Our journey of transformation, of sanctification, is not something that happens overnight. The bottom line is that we have to enter into God’s perfect will for our lives before He will start to guide us in the direction we need to take.
God will not fully guide us to our divine destiny in Him, nor fully sanctify us to the degree that He would really like in this life unless we first fully surrender to Him. It must be OUR all for HIS all.
We have to have patient with Him in regard to how He wants to work and build up our lives up in Him. In our fast-paced, self-centered world, we are used to instant everything. But in God’s realm, He usually works things out in a much gentler time frame than we are used too. And if we do not learn how to go with His gentler flows and time frames, we could end up becoming very frustrated and impatient, and then eventually end up losing our peace and joy in Him, not to mention our possible calls in Him.
Just as a good potter has to take his time when molding and forming out a piece of clay into pottery as it is spinning on the wheel – GOD, in the same way, has to mold, shape, and transform all of us in this same, slow, and steady manner. This is why one of the 9 fruits of the Spirit is the fruit of patience.
We all need the patience of the Holy Spirit operating within us to keep in sync with God’s timing – especially in our fast-paced world. Finally,
4. God’s Hand Will Personally Mold, Shape, and Transform Us.
The next thing in our transformation process is that it is literally the hand of God Himself, operating through the Holy Spirit within us, that will supernaturally transform and sanctify us. Removing toxic qualities such as pride, arrogance, bad temper, and lust can all be very painful due to our flesh wanting to keep these negative qualities operating in our personalities. But by letting God do this inner surgery work in us through the Holy Spirit, we will eventually be molded and shaped
5
into the godly saint that He is calling us to become in Him – and true joy, happiness, and fulfillment will be all ours in this life.
Again, if I may use an example from CS Lewis: “Imagine yourself as a living house. GOD comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that these jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house around in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – building a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to made into a decent little cottage: but GOD is building a palace. HE INTENDS TO COME AND LIVE IN IT HIMSELF!
Our Cursillo 3-day experience introduced us to a dynamic community of like-minded people and then as we begin to live our 4th day, gives the opportunity to allow GOD to lead us in His way and bless us with His abundance as He transforms us into the people He intends for us to become. We need to become more humble in ourselves, to spend more time in the Word and in prayer, and to learn to increasingly trust Him as we journey with Him.
Noel – thank you for your message to us today – reminding us that we go through good and tough times – both personally but more importantly – with the support of each other.
May GOD continue to bless you abundantly.
This will be my last article for The Encourager. I would like to thank GOD for the privilege of this ministry of Diocesan Spiritual Director over the last 7 years. May GOD continue to bless the people of this Diocese and beyond; and call more people into a relationship with Him through the Cursillo method. I encourage you to keep connected with each other through Group Reunion and Ultreya, and always remember
to “make a friend, be a friend, and bring that friend gently to JESUS”.
Blessings
Fr Steve
Diocesan Ultreya
01 November 2021