As this Encourager originally WENT to print my thoughts were with the team for MW52 as they continued their training. I am excited that my hope for an influx of candidates for MW52 was realized and it was wonderful to see that the new 2 day programme was so well received.

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We are living in a world where people are suffering feelings of anxiety, financial strife and homelessness, but following the success of HOPE 25, we as Christians know that ultimately the unconditional love given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ is what keeps us looking to a future of peace, hope and love for our neighbours and ourselves through God’s unconditional love and care. I would like to finish with this prayer which was on Facebook recently:
God of mercy, look with compassion on all who are affected by the present conflicts. Grant insight to hardened hearts, comfort to the fearful, protection to those in danger, and hope to those who are despairing, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

De Colores

Lorraine Phillips

As I write to you today the world we live in can seem as though it is in a constant state of stress as people suffer through wars, natural disasters, climate change, cost of living crisis, homelessness and violence. However, we as Christians know the Hope we have in our loving God who, once He had created the world, looked back and declared that it was ‘Good’.

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During Lent this year we have been encouraged through Hope 25 that we need to remember that the love of our awesome God never fails us. He is there watching over us especially in times of great difficulties. He sent His Son Jesus Christ to intercede for us, and the Holy Spirit to be our guide and comforter, to live within us. To teach us to be loving, caring people, to love our neighbours, to care for the environment, the homeless, and those who are feeling unloved. May the love of Christ shine through us by the way we live our lives and share that love with others.
We look forward to the MW52 weekend 29-31 August 25. Graham Eagleton as Lay Director is getting his team together ready for commissioning 3rd May at Glenrock. The program for this weekend will be a bit different. We will be trialing a 2-day weekend this year, starting Friday night and ending Sunday evening. We have stepped out in Faith and Hope in a way to encourage people to attend and in an attempt to make it affordable for everyone. We still have a vacancy on Secretariat, as we need an applications coordinator to receive all Cursillo application forms.
Please continue to pray for new candidates and also for your Secretariat as we continue to work in Hope and Love.
De Colores, Lorraine Phillips

When I lived in the UK, every city I visited usually had some type of tourist experience based on the history of the area.

The one in Canterbury told the story of the pilgrims who would come to see the shrine of Thomas Beckett and it used Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem “The Canterbury Tales” to tell the story. A feature of the experience were the smells in each room to really help you feel like you were there in the late fourteen hundreds.

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As we approach Christmas and prepare for services and celebrations, we will be making everything as beautiful as we can, ignoring the real down-to-earth history and its smells. Smelly BO, musky animals, and manure. This is the environment God chooses to be born into. The exact opposite of what any human king would choose.

When the heir to the throne is born, they are surrounded by the best doctors in the most comfortable palace. The Christ Child is born among the animals and laid in a feed trough. Our nativity scenes make it look rustic, beautiful but lack the authentic sights, sounds and smells.

When the human heir to the throne is born the elite nobles are the first to be told, with the information trickling out and down the social layers of society. Jesus’ birth is announced to the shepherds on the hillside. Again, our beautiful scene has rustic shepherds on a hill, watching their sheep, visited by angels with the wonderful message. The reality is, these shepherds are the poorest of the poor, not trusted to give evidence in a trial, unwashed, and scared out of their wits at the sight of these angels.

When you start a new job or new project one of the best pieces of advice is “start how you mean to
finish”. This is exactly what God does here. God wants the full human experience; not a comfortable
cushy life.

God puts the socially excluded first. God came into our world, smells and all, to know what being
human really feels like. This Christmas as we look at all the beautiful nativity scenes, take a moment to
imagine all the sights, sounds, and smells.
De Colores,

Fr Mark Cooper

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