It was for TOL members to wake up at an ungodly hour of the morning - for a public holiday. Yet some of us manage to wake up just to catch a glimpse of the Movie. Turn out for this parish event was not many, but the event was an enriching one for many of us. Paul, Manfred, Colin & several Youth Ministry people turned up for the movie screening. There were 2 parts to this event.
1) Movie screening
2) Adoration
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Life of St John
He was a French parish priest (8 May 1786 - 4 August 1859)
He was posted to Ars, a village not very far from Lyons. He realized that the Revolution's aftermath had resulted in religious ignorance, due to the destruction of the Catholic Church in France. Sundays in rural areas were spent working in the fields, or dancing and drinking. He was shocked to find that as to him Sundays was a day for religion. Few people came, but his continuous pray and fasting and even his sincerity to the people touched them and drew them back to church and even conversion in the village. In the confessional Vianney spent time in the confessional and gave homilies railing on blasphemy and dancing. If his parishioners did not give up dancing, he refused them absolution.
During the last ten years of his life, he spent sixteen to eighteen hours a day in the confessional.
His instructions were simple in language, full of imagery drawn from daily life and country scenes, but breathing faith and that love of God which was his life principle and which he infused into his audience as much by his manner and appearance as by his words, for, at the last, his voice was almost inaudible.
The greatest miracle of all was his life. He practised mortification from his early youth. and for forty years his food and sleep were insufficient, humanly speaking, to sustain life. And yet he laboured incessantly, with unfailing humility, gentleness, patience, and cheerfulness, until he was more than seventy-three years old.
To me I find the career and job of a priest really tiring and he has to be consistently devoted to his people. Hence, marriage is out of the question. Like St John, he realized that in order for a priest to reach out to all man, he has to be totally devoted to the people just like he has always been by the side of his villagers, listening to their problems and their confession. I really take my hat off to those who are willing to lay down their lives to make all humanity the love of their lives. But we ourselves need to take a step back to see how we can also be priest to the people of the world, living out our baptismal mission. - king, prophet, priest
In the part 2 of the Adoration, Many of the intercession was targeted to priest. Nicholas (our dearest adult advisor) came to my mind. People bet the same went for those who were present
Erica Stella
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