Here Where I Stand at the Turning of the Years

Or, the year in review.

January

• Moved out of my old house
• House-sat for mum
• Volunteer Bunbury Diocese's Summer Camp
• Moved into my new house
•  Turned 20
• Went to Canberra for Pa's 80th Birthday
• Didn't go to the Pro-life Conference in Albury

February

• Went to Sydney with the expectation of making a retreat
• Farewelled Linda
• Spent 3 nights in King's Cross
• Caught up with Jess
•  Met Jinny; stayed two nights at her house
• Went to a Vigil led by Msgr Reilly
• Didn't make the retreat
• Flew home  
• Actually spent some time at my new house
• Restarted teaching for the year 
• 40 Days for Life Started
• Went to Emily's Math's class
• Flew back to Sydney

March 

• Stayed with Paul, Theresa and Magda
• Stayed with Team Girls (incl Mary-Anne) and helped them move house
• Made 9 Day Silent Retreat in Pymble
•  Stayed with Paul, Theresa and Magda
• Flew Home
• Sand-Sculpture Competition

April

• Started spending time at CYM

May

•  Started spending a lot of time at CYM
• Year of Grace starts

June 

•  Dr Who party
• Starting to help organise the Teen's retreat at CYM
  

July

• CYM Teen's Retreat: Rise Up
• Starting to help organise Steve Angrisano in Perth
•  Basically living at CYM

August

• Started back at UNDA
• Luke and Acts
• Letters of Paul
• Sacraments of Initiation
• Steve Angrisano in Perth

September

• Spending more time at CYM than at Uni, home and work combined
• Con's Wedding
• That week
• Aaron's birthday
• Helping to organise the CYM Young Adult's Reteat

October

• CYM Young Adult's Retreat
• Year of Faith starts
• Catholic Conversations 
• Holy Hours and Masses on Mondays at UNDA
• Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers
• Mum's Birthday
• Spending so much time at SBG
• No longer 'living' at CYM

November

• All Saints Party 
• Exams
• House sitting for  mum
• Aaron does pretty decently in the Nationals

December

• 'Girls' Retreat' at Mum's
• Finish teaching for the year
• Mum & Az come home
• Police come that night to tell us that dad died
• Organising dad's funeral
• ALL the people at EtG
• Dad's Funeral
• Spending ALL the time at SBG
• Christmas
• Even more time at SBG
• New Years Eve tonight

I Heard There Was A Secret Chord

Or, Feeling Like King Saul

There are a few songs at the moment which, even if I'm not playing all the time, I would like to be.

The first, here, is from the Divine Office. It is the Hymn for Morning Prayer of the Office for the Dead. It will be the Communion Hymn for dad's Requiem Mass.

Remember those, O Lord
Who in Your peace have died
Yet may not gain love's high reward
'Til love is purified.

With You they faced death's night
Sealed with Your victory sign;
Soon may the splendor of Your Light
On them forever shine.

Sweet is their pain yet deep
'TIl perfect love is born;

Their long night watch they gladly keep
Before Your radiant morn.

You love is their great joy;
Your will their one desire;
As finest gold without alloy
Refine them in love's fire;

For them we humbly pray:
Perfect them in Your love.
O, may we share eternal Day
With them in Heav'n above!

This next is one is a sing that I've liked since it was first shown to me (h/t to Conface.) I first liked it because it's the first theologically decent song about the Book of the Appocalypse that I've heard in a long while; I then begun to like it because of a few lines in one of the verses which 'spoke' to me, as it were; I now like it because it is related to the First Reading from dad's funeral, the discussions we've been having at The Presbytery and - even more - because of those same lines.

For all the thirsty in need of the river
For all the sleeping hearts waking from their slumber
For everyone still standing at the shoreline, come

For all the hurting souls running from their healer
For all the skeptics running from an answer
Let everyone who hears these words say come

For the Spirit and the Bride say come
Yeah, the Spirit and the Bride say come

For all the Pharisees, empty on the inside
For all the lovers who spent their love on a lie
For the forgotten, the Father's heart says come

For all the fatherless looking for approval
For all the daughters who've never heard they're beautiful
Let everyone who hears these words say come

For the Spirit and the Bride say come
Yeah, the Spirit and the Bride say come
For the Spirit and the Bride say come
Yeah, the Spirit and the Bride say come

Amen, amen
Come, Lord Jesus, come again
Until then, until then
Grace and peace be ours, amen
Amen, amen
Come, Lord Jesus, come again
Until then, until then
Grace and peace be ours, amen
Till You come again
Peace be ours, amen
Till You come again
Till You come again

For the Spirit and the Bride say come
Yeah, the Spirit and the Bride say come

My Brother

Aaron is a star.

Him:

"Do you know what the worst thing is?"

Me:

"What?"

Him:

"We're going to have to trawl through AC/DC songs."

Seriously, my brother is amazing.




On a related note, x