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Message from the Ministry Team

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Dear friends,

The end of June saw me on a retreat at the Briery in Ilkley. It was led by Father Daniel O'Leary and the title was "The Religious Mind or the Broken Heart". Daniel was focusing on how we can observe our religious rituals to the limit, and feel we have got it right, or we can  accept our brokenness and our need of God's continued help in our lives. It's one thing to look at the Pharisees and say they got it wrong, but we too need to make sure we are not letting self-reliance, and a sense of self-righteousness, creep in.

We find it hard to simply accept God's gifts to us. We tend to want to do something to earn them, or to prove that we've changed. To go on accepting makes us feel dependent, yet that is what we are, and so it is best to humbly acknowledge that we are, instead of trying to earn our way. When we can simply accept, we can let go of the burden of trying to please, and begin to learn to be ourselves. That is what God wants of us, to be the best we can be. God does not want me to be another John Wesley, another Julian of Norwich or even another Pope Francis. He wants me to be the best Christine that I can be, to discover my gifts and use them to serve him and others, and in serving to grow in who I am, so that my service fulfils me as well as those around me. 

So I would like to invite you to the Circuit Quiet Day on Saturday 19 August at Northcliffe. Come to be refreshed, to talk to God and to listen to God, and to allow God to reassure you of his love which is poured out upon you. Come and receive without pressure to give, to do, to perform.

It's a chance to hear God and have enough space to let his words settle in, and to enjoy his love, that asks nothing of you but that you come as yourself and be who you are. Such meetings can change our lives, if we come with open hearts. Will you?

With love

Christine

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