The greatest leader who ever walked this earth came from a poor Jewish background and was born in a stable. His

mother came from a small town in Galilee; his father was a carpenter and no doubt he taught the trade to his son.

One can imagine that, as a child, he was as mischievous as any other; in fact, we know that at one stage when his

parents took him to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of the Passover, he wandered off leaving themwith the dilemma of trying to find him in the milling crowd. After three days they discovered him in the Temple where, young and all as he was, he had the undivided attention of the ‘hierarchy’. He then returned with his mystified parents to their little home in Nazareth where he lived under their authority for thirty years in what one could call ‘a hidden life’.

 

 

As Sunday, May 20 dawned, we awakened to a most glorious Pentecost day; it was as if God was already

renewing the face of the earth with His Spirit of love.Then, as more than 300 people settled into Our Lady

Queen of Peace Church, Greystanes, the celebrations began with a spirit filled time of praise of our God led by

Mark Mordini and the music ministry of the Disciples ofJesus Community. On this Pentecost morning the people

of God were well and truly alive!

 

Jagath Francis Nanayakakkara , from Sri Lanka and a leader there in the Community of the Risen Lord, was our guest speaker for the day at Rozelle. From the moment he entered the hall, quite spontaneously a small group had gathered with him lifting up their voices in praise of God. Drawn by its power, drawn by its prayerfulness, others unobtrusively joined the group to the point where Sandy had difficulty initiating the formalities of the day! Once the whole gathering joined together in praising and worshipping our great God, the place was ‘on fire’ in the Spirit; again it was so powerful, so prayerful...... 

 

 

 

 Once again, the time has come for us to celebrate the birth of the Messiah. As you know, our primary sources for this event are the Infancy Narratives in the Gospels of Luke (Ch.1&2) and Matthew (Ch. 1&2). These are actually two very different Christmas stories that cannot be readily reconciled. Let us briefly consider them both. In order to properly appreciate Luke’s account, we need to understand the world into which Jesus was born. Augustus was emperor in Rome and, under his wise and benevolent leadership, the Empire was at peace and prospering. Roman fleets had cleared the seaways of pirates, and Roman garrisons had ensured against civil unrest and protected the highways from brigands. Certainly there were the poor, the marginalised and the oppressed in this world but, all things considered, this was a ’Golden Age’ and pretty much “as good as it gets” - at the purely human level.