Intimacy

Intimacy  between John the apostle and Jesus led to an awareness of resurrection. It was John who saw the significance of empty tomb and the grave clothes tidied away. For John it was enough, he was able to read the signs of life in the middle of death. As we look at the empty hopes that scatter our day and cling to the grave clothes of the past we might ask John, the apostle of love to help us to draw eternal life from the tombs of our disappointments.

Christmas

The whole point of christmas is presence: the desire that God has to be with people and to identify with creation. Intimacy is the mood of christmas. God comes close to us despite the mess and compromises we make of life. The challenge of christmas is to see beyond the frailty we try to hide from because that frailty is precisely the place where God comes to meet us. Like Adam and Eve we try to hide behind the fig leaves of success and miss the intimacy and trust that awaits in vulnerability and dependence. It is in the poor unstable parts of our lives that God awaits us this christmas.

Focus: where is yours?

I often need to remind myself that I need to focus on what is positive. Our culture is aimed at eternal improvement which focuses not on the good but on the small percentage of things that go wrong or fall short. Focus on those failures and your energy goes down Focus on the good you have received and achieved and your energy goes up. That is the energy you can then use  to work on the imperfections of life with a cheerful heart. You become more buoyant and rise above difficulties and live life more fully.

In other words, on a day to day basis we can influence our moods by the way we think.

Jesus reminds us that his vocation is to bring us to the fullness of life. (John 10 10) and he points us to his Father as the one in whom we can trust.If we can move our focus from failure to The Father we will be following Jesus more closely and our ability to build the kingdom of God expands. Therefore, choose to focus on the good and leave the rest in the hands of your Father in heaven.

The genius of Don Bosco

Don Bosco was a great saint who was able to connect the tradition of the church to the raw and energetic world of young people. He was able to make faith into a constant experience in young lives. The ability to link fun, friendship, optimism, and compassion to the Gospels makes him an outstanding saint for this century.  He couldn't think of saints as miserable. He wanted them to radiate resurrection and trust that God is with us. So being present to life and to others was, for him, a way of being present to God.

So where are you with that mysterious presence of God right now?

Immanence

The closeness of Jesus is a kind of "resting within us" an awareness of an "at homeness" that is safe, non judgemental and wills our good  for ever. That homely presence is the heart of what is most human. At this level there is no contradiction between science and religion, between the sinner and the saint, all is one and all is gift. What matters is how we share and prioritise this universal presence connecting all of creation.

Savio House

Savio house is a place of youthful energy and a privileged place to live, especially for those of us who are no longer young. It pulls the best out of each member of the community and eases people through the highs and lows of living together. It is a good place to be.