Communion of Saints

No I've not disappeared. Days have gone by without posting anything, but it's a mix of not having inspiration to write and being especially busy at the moment.

Just during the last couple of weeks, one thing which has impressed itself upon me is living in the communion of saints. I often look to certain saints for intercession, but it's only in looking back that one can often see the effect of trusting oneself to their intercession. I'd just like to bear witness to the particularly powerful effects that I have seen in the past few months of the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St John Mary Vianney.

When I was in Guadalupe last August, I had the opportunity to spend about an hour in prayer before the image of Our Lady. I went through a whole lot of things in my mind - doing the talking - but it was in listening that I heard like a voice speak to me in my head "Go to confession". And the more I prayed, the more I heard it. Since then I've made sure that confession isn't a hit and miss affair, but a regular and frequent element of the spiritual life and this has borne huge fruit and strength.

St John Mary Vianney has been particularly influential on me too. You only have to read the posts we've already put on here about the SJMV to know that. I attribute to the intercession of the Curé of Ars my being here at the University as chaplain, as the offer to come here came just a week after making an act of abandonment to the divine will at Ars. When I was in Ars with Fr Richard recently I had the inspiration also to open my flat and the adjoining flat up and to use the space to bring together a discernment community. I am hoping that we may have two or three young men here next year living with me at Newman House, with daily prayer and a regular life together as a support for discerning God's will. Please pray for this initiative.