ready & willing

Aug 19, 2021

.

It’s one of the better-known psalms, often sung as a hymn and repeated as a short prayer: Here I am Lord, I come to do your will. Psalm 39(40)

The idea of God’s will might not sound all that inviting or attractive. For many years I thought that if I really wanted something in life then God’s will for me would probably be something very different and unattractive.

What a sad image of God I had: a God whose will for me would probably be the opposite of my own heart’s desire.

Then, after a fair bit of turmoil in my immature relationship with God I realised that I had very little idea of what I really desired anyway. Most of the time I would grasp at illusions of power or pleasure that would leave me feeling less human and sadly unfulfilled.

But God, my creator, the writer of the handbook on abundant human living, loves me more than I could ever love myself. And whereas I was willing to settle for an adequate life, God was trying to wake me up to the beauty and availability of abundant life delivering real and lasting happiness.

And this is the Collect that we pray as the opening prayer at every Mass this week:

O God, who have prepared for those who love you
good things which no eye can see,
fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of your love,
so that, loving you in all things and above all things,
we may attain your promises,
which surpass every human desire.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen

+++

AN IMPORTANT FOOD FOR FAITH UPDATE.

This Food For Faith mission has recently moved to a new stage of life with the formation of the FOOD FOR FAITH CHARITABLE TRUST.

As the mission has grown in recent years I have been unable to keep up with administration of the website as well as the production of content and responding to the many emails. It has also become clear that such a mission that is bigger than diocesan and national but also international and ecumenical does not sit easily within existing church structures and administration.

Earlier this year I received a significant number of emails, creative ideas and donations encouraging me to do much more to meet a wider and growing need, reaching out to the many people who are seeking greater maturity in faith and looking for encouragement and food for faith beyond what is already available.

I sensed that the Holy Spirit was at work here, and felt a bit thrown by the generous response and support of so many readers.

In the desert weeks of discernment that followed I found it difficult to write and prepare content, and as a result you haven’t heard much from me.

However now FFF is ready to go again.

After much consultation, discernment and prayer,  I have decided to pass the management and administration of the FFF mission to trustees and advisers who will oversee the newly formed FFF Charitable Trust enabling it to grow and respond more actively. 

I’m happy to be free of the administration aspects of FFF and therefore I will not be a trustee of the Trust. Instead my work with FFF is now able to be more focussed on the production of content and creating new resources to meet the growing need and to support the development of the mission.

To those who have made financial contributions for FFF in recent months I am very grateful. Your donations have been a powerful sign that FFF meets a real need. Life in the digital world is costly, with the production of a single three minute video costing several hundred dollars, but videos along with podcasts, written content, interviews and sharing of other resources are what people are asking for and now FFF is ready and able to meet this need.

This new FFF era includes a new bank account and on behalf of the Trustees (Catherine Gibbs, Chris Fogarty & Merv Duffy SM) I ask that you note this detail if you feel moved to support FFF financially. To those who have been making a regular direct credit to FFF, thank you. Your regular contributions are enabling me with the Trustees and Advisors to budget and decide the time for new content and projects.

Please take a moment now to add the new bank details to your records.  (Note the “Support FFF” button on the front page will take you to this information.)

Food for Faith Trust Account   12-3142-0485211-00.    (Swift code ASBBNZ2A)

I’m always happy to hear from you in the comments section of every post, or directly by email at john@fff.org.nz.  If your query is about some aspect of administration, or a problem with the website, or receipt for donation, please send your note to admin@fff.org.nz.

4 Comments

  1. good things which no eye can see …
    surpass every human desire

    Congratulations on this wonderful and wise use of the internet for mission

    Reply
  2. Amen

    Reply
  3. I am happy that I am again receiving emails from FFF which I read everyday and make it as our topic during breakfast to share our thoughts and experienced with my family. Thank you Fr. John.

    Reply
  4. Great news, John, signs of life. Thank you.

    Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Posts

the adventure

the adventure

It’s easy to make the mistake of seeing life as a treadmill, day after day ups and downs, a movement through time from youth to old age, then death and beyond.
Too often if feels as if we are helplessly captive carried along by the momentum of all that is expected of us and demanded from us, and we risk falling into an existence mode, a daily rhythm of survival, enduring, coping and so the treadmill rolls on.

the bigger picture

the bigger picture

Over the years, and even in recent months, weeks and days, I’ve prayed many prayers which have not been answered as I had hoped.
You’ve probably had the same experience: praying and wondering if and when or how your prayer will be answered.

moving waters

moving waters

Bible questions still pop up regularly in quiz shows and they often cost otherwise sharp players much needed points.
I’m ready for a question asking for the two names for the last book of the Bible. The book often known as Apocalypse is perhaps more often referred to as the Book of Revelation.
It’s common (thanks to movies) to think of an apocalypse as a devastating and unwelcome time of destruction.

to dream

to dream

The pics I use on these daily posts are sometimes snapped by me, and often borrowed from free-use websites. I thought it might be interesting to move towards using only my own snaps, and then only those taken in the past 24 hours. We’ll see how I go.
I took the pic above yesterday morning on an early walk.

to really see

to really see

Perhaps we find the miracles of Jesus too difficult to understand. How can we cope with what we may not have seen with our own eyes?
Many people cope with the miraculous by reducing it to what they can understand. They say Jesus just increased the blind man’s psychological vision, or opened his eyes of faith rather than actually giving him physical sight.