Services at St Michael and All Angels
Sunday 30 September, Sunday within the octave
of Saint Michael and All Angels
Colour: White
Intent: Christ as Truth
Sunday 7 October, 19th Sunday after Trinity
Day of recollection of other religions
Colour: Green
Intent: Tact and Tolerance
Sunday 14 October, 20th Sunday after Trinity
Celebrant: Archbishop Graham Preston
Colour: Green
Intent: Serenity
Sunday 21 October, 21st Sunday after Trinity
Colour: Green
Intent: Perseverance
Note that Bishop Richard will be travelling
overseas on 14 + 28 October and 4 November
Sundays with no Eucharist service
at St Michael’s:
(Services are held at St Alban’s,
351 Wickham Tce, Brisbane)
Sunday 28th October, 22nd Sunday after Trinity
Colour: Green
Intent: Right Energy
(St Raphael Wednesday 24 October)
Sunday 4 November, Sunday within the octave
Of All Saints’ Day
Colour: White
Intent: Precept and Practice
Start of our LCC Study Group
We have started a regular Study Group following our Sunday Eucharist. This is intended for both “newcomers” to the LCC and folk who have been members of the LCC for a while. Over a cup of tea at 10.30am on Sundays we will visit the history, doctrine, teachings, inner workings of the Eucharist, and much more. We would love to see you there and please feel free to invite friends for the discussions.
Recent journeys
I have recently returned from Europe where my “day job” took me to technical conferences in France and Italy. It was interesting to see European cities which are built for people to cope with cool to cold weather now trying to deal with long hot summers.
Our Presiding Archbishop, Graham Wale, and his wife, Kylann, live in the Chateau de Bois Rabot, in the countryside south of Paris. We enjoyed a very pleasant day at the Chateau, which is a property of the LCC and is used as a Training and Meeting Centre for LCC Clergy from all over the world.
 
The Chateau do Bois Rabot Kylann and Richard
My second conference took me to Italy on the Amalfi Coast. This is one of the most beautiful parts of Europe, and one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, close to Naples and the Isle of Capri.
 
Looking down towards Amalfi
At the Amalfi Coast I had accommodation in two places: one, a nunnery which took in casual visitors, and the other, a whitewashed house in a local village let out for holiday accommodation. In both places I was immersed in the activities of the local community, and I appreciated how central their Roman Catholic activities were to their lives. I took part in the three-day Festival of the Nativity of Our Lady which involved the congregation of the local church next door to my house and much of the surrounding community.
 
On Friday night the statue of Mary was carried around the church courtyard during Vespers. On Saturday she was taken in a procession throughout the whole village with a brass band, the Mayor, and much chanting and singing. The elderly who couldn’t join the procession came to their doors to touch the statue of Mary. The procession ended with fireworks and dancing.
 
 
 
The local churches in this region are separated from one another by a short distance, forming a chain along the length of the Amalfi Coast. Often they are in sight of one another. The chain of churches includes a famous cathedral in the town of Amalfi. What really affected me, putting aside the differences in world view between this religious community and the Liberal Catholic community, was that the Amalfi communities gain great resilience and strength from the close connection between church and community.
As Australians we value our personal independence. But we can all see the difficulties that arise with isolated mothers and children and older people with little or no family support. Limited social connections are detrimental to physical and mental health for all people and the effects exhibit themselves in the short or the long term. Apart from the social issues we see on a daily basis, as Liberal Catholics with a wider world view, we can appreciate, and increasingly come to know, the reality of the deep interconnectedness of all people and all life on the planet on many different levels of our being.
The stunning beauty of the Amalfi Coast, when experienced daily, gradually morphs into a “normal” background. This is a consequence of our human process of perception where we are hard-wired to deal mainly with the immediate new “thing”, but the connections we develop and cultivate with all life, visible and invisible, continue to enrich and energise us. The regular interactions with many people and the increasing realisation that the situations and problems of others’ lives are similar to our own should encourage us to be more tolerant and loving with one another.
The Intents of Perseverance (21st Trinity), Openness of Mind (24th Trinity) and Endurance (25th Trinity) give us personal wake-ups to recall the important things in life. As we say in the Act of Faith, “…..we know that we do serve Him (God and man) best in service freely given”.
With God’s blessing
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