What an amazing week we have had with the Franciscans of the Renewal - God has been very active among us!
We have listened to the sisters giving their powerful testimony of how God has been active in their lives. They and the friars have also given us beautiful and moving talks on God's love and mercy. We have been captivated by them!
The presence of these joyful women and men has brought a lot of happiness and much laughter around the parish. We have also been greatly blessed by their willingness to give time to so many parishioners, listening to their stories, sharing their joys and sorrows, bringing God's love amongst us in a beautiful way.
Much of our time of prayer has been spent in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. The sisters have reminded us just how important it is to spend time with the Lord in the Eucharist, growing closer to Him, listening to His voice, experiencing His peace.
Sr Therese and Sr Catherine helped us to raise our prayer to the Lord with uplifting and inspiring music.
One of the highlights of the visit was the service of Eucharistic healing service on Wednesday night. We were invited to reach out to the Lord, asking for whatever healing - physical, emotional, spiritual - that we need. Many people were clearly moved by this beautiful time of prayer.
During the daytime, the sisters were busy with visits at St Clare's school and Corpus Christi Catholic College; they also led our Anointed youth group on Sunday night. You can see more pictures of their visits to school and Anointed here.
The visit ended with a beautiful Mass (above) and a social in the parish hall (below). It's been wonderful to see so many people coming to these times of prayer with the Franciscans, and many have spoken of the powerful work God has done in their lives through our Franciscan friends. Our sincere thanks go to Sr Catherine, Sr Faustina, Sr Antonia, Sr Therese, Fr Bernardino, Fr Giles and Brother Benedict Joseph for coming amongst us this week, carrying the joy of the Gospel. Let's pray that the Lord will continue to greatly bless us in the time ahead. Click on the gallery below to see more images of this wonderful week.