The Season of Spring

By Fr Kevin Canty, CM (National Director), published in AMM Bulletin Spring 2024.

We have a beautiful large tree in our backyard here at Ashfield, which I have enjoyed as it changes during each year. I have photos of it during each season, and was hoping to locate one particular one on my computer, so that I could include it here in this reflection. But unfortunately I failed to do that. I have enjoyed spending time beneath it as it changes with each season, looking, for example in Autumn, for any sign of a leaf, that perhaps was finding it difficult to let go, assisting my own reflection concerning what I might be called to let go of, in my Autumn time reflection. It is very much with its Spring attire at this time. You may have your own experience of such a tree to assist you with this reflection as you read it.

The season of Spring has a special ability to awaken one to joy, gratitude, and praise. The prayer of praise is an attitude of gratitude towards life. Sometimes, when one is grateful a person can feel impelled to reach out to others. One can feel oneself being pulled out of oneself and long to find ways to bring joy to others around oneself. When one is connected with the beautiful, you feel called to give praise to the One from whom all this beauty has come.

Some suggestions for praying with the Gospel of Spring, passages from John’s Gospel. You might like to read and reflect on any of the following:

John 11: 1-44

www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/raising-lazarus

Lazarus, like an opening bud comes out of the tomb. Still bound, he is received back into the hands of others. Gently he is unbound and they set him free. Leaving death behind, he sets back into life.

Has there been a time when you have stepped out of the tomb of death and into the womb of life of praise, thanks and hope?

John 20:10-18

www.rvasia.org/commentaries/rabboni-moment

Mary, weeping at the tomb is experiencing the terrible darkness of the death of Jesus. She has not yet seen the hope that stands waiting in the garden. Then suddenly Jesus calls her by name and her winter leaps into spring.

Has there been a time when your name spoken was a gift of life. Who was it that spoke your name? What was that like for you?

John 5:1-9

www.jesuswalk.com/john/11_bethesda.htm

A nameless man is lying by the pool. Thirty-eight years is a very long winter. The gospel of Spring was far away until he heard the question that was also an invitation. ‘Do you want to be healed?’ ‘Would you like to arise from your bondage and be set free?’ ‘Take up your mat and go home.

What about me? Has there been a mat of bondage that prevents me from leaping out of winter into Spring?

I have always remembered a comment made in a talk given to the Daughters of Charity in Paris, when Fr Richard McCullen was our Superior General. He suggested we be careful not to confuse Optimism with Hope. We may not be optimistic about our world, or our own efforts to change and grow. But we should not lose Hope, the virtue that the Risen Christ continually offers us. And Spring is a special time when we might pray:

Lord Jesus, I believe in you, please increase my faith. Lord Jesus, I hope in you, please increase my hope.Lord Jesus, I love you,help me to love you, daily more and more.

Sept 27: Feast of St. Vincent de Paul 2024

By Bianca Kallukaran, published in AMM Bulletin Spring 2024.

On Friday, 27 September 2024, the Feast of St. Vincent De Paul, members of the Vincentian Family came together to celebrate the beloved Saint’s Feast Day. The Daughters of Charity (Marsfield) organised a gathering at Elizabeth Hall where all lay members of the Vincentian Family were invited – including members of the AMM in Sydney. The evening started with some prayers and reflections (prepared by Sr Rosa, DC), which contained some reflections on the life and writings on Saint Vincent De Paul as well as some related hymns which participants sung/hummed to together.

Following the prayers and reflections was a delicious dinner and lots of time for fellowship and joyful conversations. The Daughters also sung a traditional hymn “Vincentio” to commemorate this Feast Day. Many of the lay members got to engage with the Daughters of Charity as well as catch up with one another. It was a great celebration filled with lots of laughter, learning new things about St Vincent, delicious food, and unity in the spirit of St Vincent.