Signs of Hope

There has been much comment recently on the early signs of spring literally popping up all around us. Gardens around Lucan have seen daffodils beating snowdrops to be first up and keen local gardeners have even been talking about pruning the roses.

This week sees another enduring sign as the Lucan churches together celebrate the week of prayer for Christian unity. There is a long and most excellent tradition of good relations between St Marys, St Andrews, the Methodist and Presbyterians Churches and together with the Society of Friends they will all come together for our local service of prayer which this year will be held at St. Marys on Monday 23rd January at 8pm. The guest speaker will be Dr. Trevor Morrow who will draw from wide experience both at home and abroad.

The theme for the service and the week is well summed up by the international ecumenical group form Poland who chose it, they write “As we pray for and strive towards the full visible unity of the church we - and the traditions to which we belong - will be changed, transformed and conformed to the likeness of Christ.”

Unity is also a theme of the forthcoming Eucharistic Congress when the second day of the week long programme will have an ecumenical theme –“Communion in one Baptism” and will feature speakers including the Right Reverend Michael Jackson and Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev of the Russian Orthodox Church. One of the great graces of the Eucharist is an impulse to unity in Christ, a coming together.

At St. Marys, starting during the first week in Lent, we are going to celebrate the power of the Eucharist to bring people together by holding Eucharistic adoration in the homes around the parish. Anyone wishing to be involved should contact a member of our Pastoral Council. All this recognises that seeking after unity is a vital part of the Christian life and is summed up in the words of Jesus himself:

‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.’
John 17: 13-21 (NRSV)

Fr. Peter O'Reilly