January 2010 – Saint Uriel's Mission

Nearly there

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Here at the rectory, we have our heads down planning workshops and courses for 2010, rethinking the way we run services and scheming new ideas to connect with the community and be of service.

The core of the community is you, and we want to make sure that we’ve done our best to include your wisdom in our thinking.

I mentioned the annual survey in last week’s newsletter and a huge thank you to the people who have spent a few minutes completing it. This second letter is to encourage you, if you had planned to send us some feedback, to take a moment and fill out the survey now. We’re in the final stages of planning the year and we really want to include your thoughts in the plan.

Click here to complete the survey

I’m excited about our plans so far. I hope that when we have a chance to share them with you that you will be too.

Please continue your prayers and gifts in support of the people of Haiti this week and throughout the coming weeks. We have all, I suspect, wept watching the news more than once, but weeping doesn’t bring clean water or antibiotics.

My blessings, as always, on your journey wherever this email finds you.

Father Tim+

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Parish of St Uriel the Archangel

5a Lilydale St

Marrickville, NSW 2204

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Haiti

I’m not telling you anything you haven’t already heard. I’m writing to you because I’m conscious of my own tendency to get a kind of fatigue about humanitarian disasters in other countries and because I want to shake myself, I’m also going to try to shake you.

The news programs tell us of the scale of the earthquake in Haiti. They talk about how much suffering there is. One important part of that is how rickety civil society in Haiti was prior to the disaster. Haiti was the target of a lot of international relief in any case so they’re in an awful situation to cope with what’s just happened.

The results of a desperately exploitative colonial past, economic boycotts and successive dictatorships have left the island barely able to sustain itself in the best of times. And now this. So there’s a desperate, practical, humanitarian need for immediate, large-scale help.

The spiritual context for taking action is, to me, founded in the understanding that we are one human people, not separate. My devotion must be to my neighbour, as dear to me as my own soul. This isn’t a logical argument about why you should act, it is simply the spiritual fact of the matter – one we work hard to remain blind to because it is so terribly inconvenient, unwelcome and expensive.

I believe that choosing to act on behalf of another, especially another I do not know and will never meet, is a way of asserting to myself, to my logical mind, this eternal truth of non-separateness. A decision to give in a situation like this, or even to give to someone on the street who asks, made consciously, resonates through my being beyond my rational capacities and tells all of Me the truth. I am not helping "them" I am helping "us".

So, with that as context, please consider doing something to help those who are already on the ground in Haiti. If you already support a charity who has a Haiti appeal, consider giving a little more. If you don’t here’s some suggestions.

Save The Children
UNICEF
Red Crescent/Red Cross

But don’t just send money, pray too. Pray for those of us in Haiti. Pray for us who have lost our parents. Pray for us who have lost our children, our sisters and brothers, husbands and wives. Pray for us in our need. Pray for our comfort and care and health and courage and will.

May the Unknown Father rain down loving-kindness and strength upon the people of Haiti and may the souls of all the faithful departed forever rest in peace.

Father Tim+

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Our mailing address is:

Parish of St Uriel the Archangel

5a Lilydale St

Marrickville, NSW 2204

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Happy New Year

So a hello and best wishes in the afterfeast of Epiphany. I trust everyone made it through the trials of Christmas and the ordeal of New Year’s Eve unscathed.

I’m writing for a few reasons. The first is to wish you and yours many blessings for 2010. Lots of people seem to have had a challenging year last year, so there are some reasons to hope for a lighter load in 2010. May all your wishes be granted, just as they are.

The second is to let you know that there aren’t any public services through January. People are on holidays and busy and I wanted some time to rest and rethink the way Saint Uriel’s fits together and works together to foster the growth of gnosis and fellowship in Sydney. A small group of us are working on a strategy for the year with a few new ideas which we hope you’ll like. I’ll send an email with details of all that as soon as we’re done – it will include a service schedule for at least the next six months.

This leads me to the third thing – we’d like your help with the strategy we’re putting together. We’ve put together a short survey (4 questions) which I’d like to ask you to fill in. We’re interested in your opinion especially if you’re not a regular at the weekly services and super-especially if you’ve never attended an event.

If you can spare us 10 minutes to fill this out, it would really help us in planning to better meet the needs of the Sydney community this year. It’s anonymous (unless you want to fill in your name).

View Survey
(or cut and paste this URL http://surveys.polldaddy.com/s/32A96ABA2DEB6258/ into your browser)

So, please watch this space! Some new ideas, different plans and interesting events are coming in 2010 and we can’t wait to tell you about them.

With love,

Father Tim+