Many people in this time, are finding words of reflection to share with one another. The other day I was sent these words: In the rush to return to normal, use this time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to. Dave Hollis

It certainly is a time to pause and reflect on how we have been living prior to Coronavirus, what we normally have given our energy to, and what and who in this time we have come to value with renewed eyes!

Many parishes have been searching for creative ways to remain connected with one another, to continue to pastorally outreach during this time of isolation from one another and to keep being nourished in our living faith.

Our Mount Carmel leadership team has taken the approach that we are church, within our homes and within our families and those with whom we have connection, through friendship or through a sense of shared belonging or shared concern, we have therefore tried to supply resources for being church in our homes.

We are also very conscious of those within our community at this time, who carry the expectation of being, adult, parent, partner/ husband or wife, employee or employer, and now educator/teacher for their children. An unrealistic expectation for any person to carry even in ‘normal times’ but in this unprecedented time, extremely stressful and exhausting. Be kind to yourselves and each other!

Many of us are experiencing the loss of gathering as a community, and when the restrictions are lifted, look forward to rejoicing in the fellowship that we do share.

My hope however, is that when we can be together again, it will be in a changed way, where some of what we have come to value in this time, can be our ‘new normal’!

We might ask ourselves, will the ‘new normal’ be self-born, self-evident, self-nourishing and enduring and/or do we need to do something as a parish community to discern what is the ‘new normal’ and to find ways to sustain facilitate, and encourage it?

For example, what might our future gathering for Eucharist look like, when we can come together again in our church building?

Thomas O’Loughlin in a recent article in the Tablet, (28th March 2020) comments on the language we are using now, as many are taking up the practice of ‘watching mass’:
We talk about ‘getting Mass’ and ‘attending Mass, ‘of getting communion’ and ‘taking communion’. The image in our minds is that the Eucharist is something ‘out there’, which we watch or somehow obtain and make our own, as if we are theatregoers or consumers. But the word Eucharist relates to a verb: it is something we, the whole people of God, do. It is the activity of thanking God the Father as a gathered community - and we offer this praise and thanks through Christ our Lord……It is our basic activity as Christians, not some ‘thing’ that the priest does for us or makes for us.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them. Matthew 18:20.
Even the smallest gathering - just two people standing two metres apart so as to not spread the virus - has the risen Lord among them.

Wherever the things of the Lord are spoken about, there the Lord is present. Didache - 1st century disciple’s guide.
Every table can be a sacred place where Jesus can be encountered in gratefulness for the people we share our meal with and the food and the many blessings we receive in abundance each day.

Our tables can be a sacred place for remembering those within our community who are struggling: emotionally, financially, and in so many other ways.

Perhaps this current experience of discovering being church in our homes, can humanise and revitalise our more public gatherings in the future.

We need to tell our story, to listen to one another, to know one another as fellow disciples, and to find ways to give witness to what and who we care about.

Can we even change our language and realise the opportunities being given to live solitude rather than an experience of isolation being imposed on us?

A positive space to reassess our lives and to see where we place value and what we give energy to. A contemplative space!

Some have said, perhaps this event of life being lived in quieter, less stressful, calmer ways, with more quality engagement with each other, was needed as a ‘wakeup call’ to recognise who we had become!

The darkness is in the loss of life, the loss of income and the pain and grief of separation from loved ones, none of which can be trivialised.

Let’s remember, God the ‘architect of our hearts’, has created us for love, and so it is and will be.

Fr. Wayne

Below you can download the scripture-based stations of the cross booklet and a slideshow featuring the images of the stained glass windows at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Coorparoo. May the way of the cross draw us more deeply into the mystery of God's love for us in the midst of the suffering of our world.

“The only journey worth taking is the one towards inner authenticity, brave honesty and utter integrity. And on arrival, God is found too.” -Daniel O’Leary
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Daniel, priest, author, spiritual theologian, writes these words in his final book as he recorded living with his own dying with cancer. Life and the many relationships in his life became his teacher and were instrumental in his journey of transformation towards authenticity, brave honesty and utter integrity. He even found himself questioning celibacy, a lifestyle he had lived all his life. His God was a god of relationship and celibacy made no sense to him outside of a context of relationship.

It is these words that I have found myself being drawn to, in times of quiet reflection, over these past weeks.

We have often heard words like Solidarity, Global Community, Common Humanity, and until recently these have simply been concepts that we have found ourselves intellectualising about. NOW they are no longer concepts but the reality we are all living. All humanity without exception is finding ways to live with an experience of suffering on many levels, that no one will be spared - here in Australia and across the world.

The living with is what I believe needs to be our focus, which was the very insight Daniel O’Leary came to, as he received the news of his terminal diagnosis. He could have simply waited for death but instead chose to live! This too is the opportunity being offered to us in this pandemic time for our world!

The reality of our lives can be our initiator to transform our anger, fear, frustration, boredom, anxiety, despair, blaming etc., but only when we can allow ourselves to let go of our constant need to control, or to have answers, or to have a sense of being  ‘in charge’ of our future. It is when we can begin to recognise the invitations being given to us, in this time that we can begin to hear not just the voice of our own EGO, but recognise we are all part of a much greater reality. Our task is simply to be a participant in allowing reality to transform us or the danger becomes, if we don’t allow ourselves to be transformed, we simply transmit onto others all the negativity we might be currently experiencing.

This time can be lived as a cathartic moment for our church, ourselves and our world.
What have been some of the invitations you have found yourself hearing?

• There is freedom in living simply.
• I am not that important. Life is not about me, I am a participant in life.
• Family, friends and the communication between us does nourish my heart and soul, but so often is neglected when my work is how I define myself. (Especially for men!)
• The very hiding place and the revelation place for God is LIFE.
• We are the Church, which is larger than any one building, reminding us that “every life has an influence on every other kind of life”. (Richard Rohr)
• Oppression, exclusion, homelessness, judgement etc. lead to isolation. NOW in our isolation we are being offered an opportunity to grow in empathy and compassion for those within minority groups in our community who have known this way for a long time!
• As one parishioner put it: “Is there any point in blaming anyone\country\race for the current pandemic? In our isolation which is motivated by a desire to stop the virus spreading and help ourselves and others to avoid contracting the virus, can we forget judgement/ blame and move onto forgiveness/ tolerance and love?”
• I don’t always have to be doing, BEING is okay!

I miss our connecting with each other. I look forward to it in the future, when I hope we can bring the changes we are all making for a better humanity.

​Blessings
Fr. Wayne