[Kay:] I'd like to welcome you all, and thank you very much for coming on time.... This is our fifth session... and it's The Gifts of the Spirit.... If we could just pray together.... [praying] God you are mother and father to us all. Be with us as we pray. Pour out your spirit upon your people, and grant us a new vision of your glory, a new experience of your power, a new faithfulness to your word, a new consecration to your service, that your love may grow among us, and your kingdom come. Through Christ, our Lord, amen [].... If you remember at the last two sessions we've talked about signs and symbols.... And particularly over the last session we talked about the symbolic actions that make up... the actual point of confirmation, the confirming of the sacrament, of the sacrament of confirmation.... And you had some... work to do at home... on that.... It was the Can You Remember?... section... and there were some missing words to fill in.... So if we could just check that we've all got this right. [reading] God speaks to us in many ways.... In the beauty of a sunset or a flower... in the power of the sea... in the kindness of people we know. God also speaks to us in the seven sacraments... the special symbols of God's love and care.... And on the day of confirmation I will be confirmed by the bishop. The special symbol of confirmation has four parts. And they are the laying on of hands, the anointing with the oil of Chrism, the signing with the cross... the words, be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. And when the bishop says the words, you reply Amen [].... And it's very important... to finish off with amen... and to actually do it in a very convincing way. If the bishop can't hear you or if you forget to say it, he will ask you... you are saying yes... to all... that the spirit will give you?... What we want to do now... is to actually erm do a er a guided scripture meditation with you. I don't know whether any of you have ever prayed in this way before... but it is a silent way of praying.... And I will actually... draw or paint a word picture for you to put you in the scene.... What I want to make sure first of all is that erm you understand what has gone on before the scene that we actually want to... find ourselves in.... And we're actually going to think about the evening of Good Friday. So we've actually had... Maundy Thursday and the last supper.... Jesus has been through the agony in the garden... he's been arrested... he's been abandoned by his apostles... he's been through a trial... and he has actually been through the crucifixion... and he's been buried in the tomb.... So I'll close the curtains... and the room... now will be quite dark.... I just want to you to get yourselves comfortable... during this time.... We have to be silent, we have to be still.... At the end of the meditation, towards the end of the meditation, I'll ask you three questions... and I'll leave some time... of silence between each question.... And I want you to think about the question that I ask you... but I don't want you to speak out the answers.... If you can just close your eyes... and picture the upper room.... This is the same room where Jesus a few hours earlier had celebrated the last supper.... The room is quite dark.... There are one or two little oil lamps... which are flickering.... But even in the gloom you can make out the apostles' faces.... Have a look at them.... They look tired and worn out.... They talk quietly amongst themselves... sometimes finding it hard to speak.... Some of them are near to tears.... There's a sudden noise outside in the street.... Immediately they stop talking and look anxiously at the door.... Very quietly one gets up and goes noiselessly to check the bolt's on the door.... Everyone is very tense.... Can you imagine... what they are feeling?... What are they remembering?... What are they saying?... If you'd like to open your eyes... and if you would like to... list your response on a piece of paper for me.... The questions I asked were... are... what are they feeling?... What are they remembering?... And what are they saying?... For the feelings... you've... used words like frightened... nervous... worried... sad... anxious... curious... shocked... numb... guilty... confused.... What are they remembering?... You've used words like death... last supper... good times... sad times, the past couple of days... all that Jesus had said and done... their betrayal... their cowardice.... And what are they saying?... They're asking what the noise could be... who it could be... were the guards coming for them?... They're asking each other did they know what was going to happen?... How long were they going to be there?... Would Jesus actually be raised from the dead?... All of these things are pretty negative.... They were feeling lost and all alone.... I'd really like to... erm tell you the brief story of the events which lead on from Good Friday to Pentecost Day.... [reading] On the night of Good Friday, the apostles must have felt a painful sense of loss.... It was not just that they had lost a friend through death, but the death that Jesus had suffered was long and cruel, and above all it was unjust. The apostles had hoped that Jesus would have been the one to set the people free. Only a week earlier on Palm Sunday, it seemed possible that Jesus could have led a rebellion against the hated Romans. Much as they admired him and loved him, he seemed to have let them down. But they too had let him down. One of their friends, Judas, had betrayed him. But then hadn't they all? Only John had had the courage to stay close to Jesus throughout the terrible events of Thursday night and Friday. Perhaps none felt it more than Peter, who boasted that he would never leave Jesus. Friday night, Saturday and Sunday... were a nightmare. They were terrified that the Jewish authorities would come for them and that they would suffer the same fate as Jesus. On Sunday morning their confusion and bewilderment increased. Some of the women who were followers of Jesus had returned from the tomb where Jesus had been buried, saying that it was empty, that they had been told in a vision that Jesus had risen from the dead. On Sunday evening nearly all the apostles were together in the upper room where Jesus appeared to them.... Now they knew that the women had been right, Jesus had indeed risen from the dead. During the next forty days Jesus often appeared to his friends. He reminded them of all the things that he'd said and done and he prepared them for their mission in the world. Forty days after the resurrection, Jesus took his friends to a hill top [yawn] outside Jerusalem. This was the last time they saw him. He gave them his last instructions, and then he was taken from their sight [].... I have an exercise for you... now. It's called a word match.... And there are twenty four words... at the bottom of the page... and we have Good Friday, we have Easter Day and we have Ascension Day. And there are eight words... that need to be fitted in... to each day. Eight words that you think... would be most suitably des that would most suitably describe... the feelings of the apostles on Good Friday, on Easter Day, and on Ascension Day.... If you can just work spend the next couple of minutes working through that.... You can work on your own or you can work in pairs.... Right let's see what we have for Good Friday.... We have end... sorrow, death, shame, guilt, despair, confusion, gloom. For Easter Day... we have joy, amazement, life, beginning, waiting, resurrection, hope, and wonder. And for the Ascension Day we have leaving, promise, command, glory, peace, question, waiting, expectation.... We see there with Good Friday... all the words are, they're negative... words aren't they?... Whereas Easter Day and Ascension Day, the words seem full of hope... for the future. New life.... Okay, if we want to finish there and erm have a short break.... You can have a drink and erm a biscuit. And during the second half, Jim will lead the second half. And in that we're actually going to look at erm... the actual... what Jesus promised with erm... with the coming of the Holy Spirit, and what the Holy Spirit can actually do for us. [tape change]
[Jim:] It's erm... now we're doing this you know so that the Holy Spirit, as you er remember is the... third person... in the trinity that we call God.... Erm... and we're looking at his role in, and I use the word advisedly, his erm... in our lives.... And er again just to... you know recall some of that to you know the... some of the ways that we think about that will be developed in this section. You know some of the ways we think about the Holy Spirit... and... some of the ways in which the Holy Spirit helps us. It's more than help actually, it's an empowering. Er what we can do with the Holy Spirit... is more than we can do on our own. What we can do with the Holy Spirit is something that we cannot do on our own. And er, you know just briefly, that's what this... er section is about. Er we've got this thing called Command and Promise haven't we?
[Kay:] Mhm.
[Jim:] Right....
[Kay:] Do you want to give them out then Peter while I'm... [papers being passed]...
[Jim:] In order to [cough] fill this in, this little... er... section... you have to look at the er the chapter that they recommend you, er Saint Matthew's Gospel chapter twenty eight.
[Kay:] Would you, you two share? Okay.
[speaker003:] Right.
[Kay:] Twenty eight, right to the very end of Matthew's Gospel.
[Jim:] You have to read that in order to er
[Kay:] Okay Peter if you, there and on to the next page right to the end.... Same for y for you, if you... if you... want to take that for yourself, twenty eight, on to the next page.... [whispering] Twenty eight []....
[Jim:] Erm.... Have you read it? Okay. You'll, you'll have noticed that er in reading that that it's, it's the part er on er Zeffirelli's erm Jesus of Nazareth that erm... that is actually... what we saw on the film is actually what's written here.... Er and these, these little exercises er are meant to give you erm... they're memory aids really, they're not meant to be homework, they're simply so as er you know like if you, you want to remember er a difficult name you can sometimes do a funny thing with it you know to, to remember it you know. Well the these exercises are erm designed so as that you will remember. So you've seen the film, you look at the er the scripture and now you should er fill that Command and Promise in. Erm it says... er [reading] before Jesus ascended in to heaven, He gave a final command... which was? Look at Matthew's Gospel []. And the command is in four parts... erm and you're expected to write in what those four parts are. Er so can you remember from what you've just read what the, what the command... is?... Anybody er wants to shout, that will help all of [LAUGHTER] us [].... Right, good. Can you read it out, the bit that you feel that's er... think you're, you've got the most difficult one there. I think you've er you know. That's right, that's the first part of the command. Er now these, you know you can actually write that in, go on, if you want. That, that's the top one. Erm... you know perhaps in, in years to come you're looking over this work just to, to check on it, you the the these'll, these'll be a help to you....
[speaker003:] ...
[Jim:] Any offers on the er the last er... three parts of that?... Last three parts of the erm... the command. Well we have [reading] Go to Galilee [], and now we're looking at er... erm at er at the other parts of that command. Yes, go on.... Right, Tara's... helped us there by, they're the last three parts of the command. [reading] Go therefore, make disciples of all nations [].
[Kay:] You'll find them at the very end... of, of... chapter twenty eight. You should find it it's actually written in the last sort of four, five lines there.
[Jim:] Yeah that's it, that's the part there.... [reading] Go therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptise them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit [].... That's the first part. [reading] Teach them to observe all the commands I give you [].... Tara's also read the, the promise that comes in the last of that section. [reading] Jesus also made a great promise, what was it? []... What was it Tara? [LAUGHTER]
[speaker003:] [reading] And I will be with you always [].
[Jim:] That's right. And in my translation here it's got [reading] And know that I am with you always, yes to the end of time [].... You could always fill this in at a later date, there's
[Kay:] [whispering] Aha [].
[Jim:] no need to hurry it if you're rushing it too much. It's important just to know where it is, that's all.... Erm to save you er searching through... your Bible, I think I'll read this next bit out.... [reading] Much earlier at the last supper Jesus had promised that when he returned to God, he would ask for a gift to be sent to his friends []. In John chapter fourteen... it tells us what that gift is....
[Kay:] Don't worry about finding it.
[Jim:] No it's, it might, might be in here... later on you know.... [reading] I shall ask the Father and He will give you another advocate to be with you forever. That spirit of truth whom the world can never receive since it neither sees, know or nor knows Him. But you know Him because He is with you, He is in you.... I will not leave you orphans []. He says.... Okay so that's that particular part.... So just to recap again... we have to try and link... Ascension Day to Pentecost.... Because all of these ha all of these events are happening... fairly rapidly.... And the whole thing is accomplished within fifty days.... After the first meeting with Jesus... in the garden, Easter Sunday, there comes a period of forty days. And in that time Jesus appears to... er people who will be what he calls his witnesses. People who will say to other people I know Jesus... I know that he loves us, I know that he forgives us, I know that he is risen from the dead, and... that... the good news is that we will also rise from our own deaths. The big fear that all humankind has is that when you die, that's the end of it. Jesus' resurrection means that we will not die, not in the sense of eternal death. We will move through a period now that we call death, but we will not die in the sense of annihilation. Jesus' death and resurrection means exactly that.... So let's just er to put it in context again, we saw that on the day of the ascension Jesus instructed his friends to go on proclaiming the good news throughout the world... to help others become disciples, and bring to them, and bring them to membership of the church through baptism.... Jesus knew... however, that before they would be ready to undertake this work... they needed power, they needed a special power. The apostles didn't... have the understanding or the courage to do this by themselves.... When Jesus had returned to his Father the apostles did as he had told them and returned to the city. Once more they felt lost and afraid. When Jesus, when, while Jesus had been with them they had had the confidence. Now they were not sure what to do. For ten days they hid in the upper room.... Then on Pentecost Sunday, Pentecost Day, ten days after the Ascension and fifty days after then resurrection, the apostles had an experience which not only changed them but changed the whole history of the world.... You see man from the very beginning, man and woman has been afraid.... And the thing, the biggest thing that we've been afraid of is death... and the things that lead to death like sickness... and like infirmity... like weakness. These are the things that make us afraid, and we build ourselves secure places so as that we can't or don't have any need to be afraid. What Jesus is saying is, you don't have to be afraid of death any more. I've, I've been through death and I've conquered death.... Pentecost.... You see it's one thing for Jesus to say that... it's another for us to believe it and accept it. I mean I can tell you that there's water in the pipe if you're thirsty, but you need to go to the pipe with a glass and turn the tap on in order to er not to be thirsty any more, in order to receive the water. There is something you have to do in order to receive the gift. Even if it's only stretching out your hand to receive the gift, it's something yo you... all of us have to do. Er but in order to stretch out our hands, in order to turn the tap on... er sometimes that takes courage... er because s people might be laughing at us. They'll say, oh there's no water in that tap, you know. And you say, well there is, I know there is. And er sometimes it takes a bit of courage to walk over to the tap when everybody's saying there'll be no water, and for you to turn that tap on. Of course when everybody finds that there is water, there's all sorts of excuses then. Oh yeah, somebody must have been there, you must have put it in yourself, you must have done. People give you that sort of excuse.... Er right.... Er can I read just through this Pentecost er with you.... Erm [reading] When Pentecost Day came around... they had all met in one room []. Notice there immediately, when we're frightened we like to have other people around us. [LAUGHTER] We don't like to be on our own []. It's harder to be frightened on your own. [reading] They'd all met in one room. When suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting. And something appeared to them which seemed like tongues of fire. These separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in foreign tongues as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech. Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled []. Evidently the sound that has been heard in the upper room is not just in the upper room but it's... er it's... audible within the whole district. These guys come to the sound. [reading] Each one bewildered to hear men speaking in his own language. They were amazed and astonished. Surely, they said, all these men speaking are Galileans. How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes, Aramites, people from Mesopotamia, Judaens, Capodoceans and Asian, Phrygia and, Egypt, and the parts of Libya around Syrene, as well as visitors from Rome, Jews and Proselytes alike, Cretans and Arabs. We hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God. Everyone was amazed and unable to explain it, and they asked one another what it all meant [].... Can you imagine that, you know just using your imagination again to slip back to those... er... these things hadn't been experienced. You know I mean it's difficult to... erm to grasp. It's rather like you know... you know one remembers the feeding of the five thousand. these were extraordinary occurrences, they weren't... you know things that were daily available.... But... for our... need at this moment, we have to look at what the Holy Spirit is doing. So the Holy Spirit and the symbol that was er found most useful by the Holy Spirit, was fire. Just as you look at the candle flame there burning, erm... it's a symbol. I mean it's actually giving light out, but er there's one over there if anybody
[Kay:] Yeah.
[Jim:] can't see it. The er... it's actually giving light out, but if you were to try and grasp that light in your hand, you couldn't. You know you can't feel, you can't grab hold of light in your hand. And you can't actually grab hold of wind er in your hand either. You know I mean if you try... and grab the wind all you you're left with is a clenched fist.... But those symbols of fire and of wind are useful because... when we say God is in us, when we say the Holy Spirit is in us, we can't actually grab anything and say... you know we can't actually put it on a video and say, that little bit to the right of my heart is the Holy [LAUGHTER] Spirit. You can't do that []. The Holy Spirit is erm... is not visible in, in the same way that wind isn't visible. And yet... the, to say that the wind doesn't exist because you can't see it... would be erm... would be pretty dangerous if you were standing on a cliff and saying there's no wind around here, and there's a howling gale [LAUGHTER] blowing you off [] [LAUGHTER] and into the water. Erm so some of the things that we can look at with wind for example of the er... you know the power and the... the destructive nature of wind, the cooling nature of wind, the refreshing... nature of wind, the disturbing nature of wind. Erm you know when you're th we were just talking about the upper room, and erm and the great wind that was noise that was felt. There aren't many people who aren't afraid when there's a lot of wind about. Most people on a very windy day, and we had a couple you know in the winter there didn't we, and storms wind storms, and there aren't many people who say, you know in the middle of that storm, oh I feel quite comfortable, I'm quite happy with this. You know I mean you're wondering whether it's going to blow the chimney pot off or all sorts of things. But having said that, if you're standing... er at the seafront after a hot day or something and there's a cool er breeze coming in off the sea, the same thing... is... er is a pleasing thing. It's hard to define. Fire too is a similar thing. It can be warming or destroying, it can be purifying, life-giving.... It can symbolize enthusiasm, you're on fire with love, you know and er... you know the, the power that's generated by fire. Okay. The... thing that's suggested just to sort of er bring that round to you to you know rather than just have me speaking, is to suggest that er if I start a sentence... er perhaps... you know people could join in with the finish of that sentence, you know. So if I say, the Holy Spirit is the one who gives us.... [LAUGHTER] What would you say? How would you finish that sentence? The Holy Spirit is the one, there's no right answer to this let me say. It can be anything that you feel you know. The Holy Spirit out of all that we've been speaking about and listening to you can give us the end of the sentence.
[speaker003:] Hope.
[Kay:] Hope.
[Jim:] The Holy Spirit is the one who gives us hope. Mega. I mean... this generation needs hope. The Holy Spirit is one who... gives us?
[speaker003:] Strength.
[Jim:] Strength. Yes, indeed.... The Holy Spirit is one who gives us?...
[speaker003:] Comfort.
[Jim:] Yes. True. The comforter. Erm... any more? The Holy Spirit is the one who... gives us?
[speaker003:] [whispering] Protection. Protection []....
[Jim:] They're some of the things that you can think out and er... work out you know, that's, that's what we've been trying to do. We've got a thing called The Changed Man, er... little handout.... And you're asked to complete this work in pairs if it's easier. working in pairs.... Getting a bit short of time.
[Kay:] Yeah I think it might be if you could just actually talk through it really rather than asking them to do it. It might be... as well.
[Jim:] Oh right, yes.... Now let me just work through this with you so as er wh... you know it's unfortunate there's such a lot in these things that er
[Kay:] Mm.
[Jim:] y you tend to run short of time so... [reading] Then Peter stood up with the other eleven apostles and in a loud voice began to speak to the crowd []. This is after Pentecost now. This is after he's filled with the Holy Spirit. [reading] Fellow Jews, and all of you who live in Jerusalem, listen to me and let me tell you what this means. This is what the prophet Job spoke about []. This was a prophet in the old writings of the Jews... and er one of their, one of the people who they looked to for wisdom. And what he said, prophesying about the future, saying what would happen in the future in this case. [reading] I will pour out my spirit on everyone. Your sons and your daughters shall proclaim my message []. The Holy Spirit has been poured out and it's enlivened man. It's rather like... er I had a plant the other day, a marigold, and it had been there for about two weeks and it was a lovely plant, and er I noticed it beginning to droop and I thought, oh well it's finished now, it's in a pot. And then I poured some water on it, and it's lasted a further two weeks. It [LAUGHTER] took on a []... a whole new lease of life. Erm... when the spirit is poured out on us, our life changes too, and from being mortal we become immortal.... [reading] Listen to these words. Jesus of Nazareth was a man whose divine authority was clearly proven to you by all the miracles and wonders which God performed through him. This Jesus you handed over to be crucified, but God raised him from death, setting him free from its power. God has raised this very Jesus from death, and we are all witnesses to this fact. What you see and hear is His gift of the Holy Spirit which He has poured out on us. All the people of Israel... then... are to know for sure that this Jesus, whom you crucified, is the one that, that God has made Lord and Messiah. When the people heard this, they were deeply troubled and said to Peter and the other apostles, what shall we do? Peter said to them, each of you must turn away from sin, and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ, and you shall receive the gift of his Holy Spirit [].... So we've got column one... and we have the picture of the cock in the background crowing. as if it wasn't bad enough [LAUGHTER] there was [LAUGHTER] there was []... there's the cock crowing in the background, and in column two we have the picture of Peter er smiling and confident, welcoming just like the Spirit that imbues him really.... I think it's fairly... erm... straightforward isn't it? In, in column one we may think er bewildered, fearful... hiding, weak, afraid, are words that might describe Peter's state of mind, his emotions. After the coming of the Holy Spirit we might say that he is strong, sure, courageous, confident, powerful... leader. A changed man.... Just like to, we should have had a little bit of discussion there but we're moving quickly.... In our day and age, can you... think of someone who has been so full of the Spirit that... he's had the courage to... to preach...... even when his own life was at stake?... Someone who's had the courage... who... knowing that what they were saying was upsetting powerful people, still taking that risk and saying what they felt to be true and just?... Can you think of anybody??
[speaker003:] Erm Martin Luther King?
[Jim:] Martin Luther King.... Absolutely....
[speaker003:] Romero.
[Jim:] Romero. Archbishop Romero, he was a bishop in... El Salvador... and er... he was an archbishop and erm... he was shot because he opposed the people who were in power.... And we can think of other people like... Mother Theresa too, in the face of... so much er you know what people have said to her is, you know, don't you think that er... what you're doing is just a drop in the ocean? You know you've got a million people and you're just looking after a thousand, maybe more. And she has got the courage to look at that million people, which takes courage, and look at the thousand which she is helping and saying, no... love is never wasted. You know it's er it's... it's a mystery force, and what I do for one in some way affects the million. That takes courage, to actually think in those terms.... Okay we'll move on to the... seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. We've got a thing there I think with them on have you? Ah.
[Kay:] Oh sorry.... [LAUGHTER]
[Jim:] [LAUGHTER]
[Kay:] They have now.
[Jim:] They have now. [LAUGHTER] Right [].... The dove there is representing the Holy Spirit traditionally and from the dove... are seven channels. [cough] Seven is, in Jewish thought and in Christian thought for that matter, is a perfect number. It's er it's not meant to encompass all of the gifts that the Spirit gives us. Er it's simply meant to say that any gift that the Holy Spirit gives you is... a perfect thing, and it's erm... that seven there... it's erm it's just trying to bring that idea across. Notwithstanding that, there are seven things that we can talk about er when we say gifts of the Spirit. Erm we might say for example er that all of these gifts, you've heard of the word grace?... Er sanctifying grace... natural grace, you know now they're... it's all, it's all help from God but clever thinkers have decided to split them up into various things, just like the way... I mean... for example er there's so many different things made from oil, you know er... like erm... turpentine... er petrol, diesel. It's all oil, plastics. It is in fact all oil, but for trying to understand the thing it's better to try and break it down if we can, and that's what's being done here. So wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit... and that particular thing is to... er help us to judge in the way that God does. Erm... what is the way that God judges?... I think He judges with mercy, you know erm... it's erm... perhaps sometimes when we're asked to be in a situation where we have to give an opinion, then it should be, if we have wisdom... er a merciful erm... balance.... To help us to understand. The gift of understanding is to help us to understand all that God has told us.... Which is a lot isn't it really, once we come down to it, you know we've had a two... solid hours of what God has been trying to teach us today.... Right judgment is to help us to know what to do in difficult situations. These are things that when you're confirmed... you will have the... ability to reach into.... You will have the erm... When you're confirmed there'll be a difference in you... that isn't there now. You will have the ability to turn the tap on. At the moment... in a way, you don't have that ability to turn the tap on. Erm but after you're confirmed, you will have... er... you know the ability to say, yes Lord I want to have wisdom, I want to have right judgment. Courage. The courage of Peter er after his denial is something that was given him by the Holy Spirit. But Peter had to accept it. And Peper Peter had to accept it not just... once you know and then he was a changed man. He was a changed man, but he also, there were times when he failed again, when Peter failed again. And if you read the scriptures, you'll discover those where... er... he, you know er he was with Paul on one occasion, and er he'd been eating with Gentiles and er then some Jews came up who believed that eating with er non-Jews even though they were followers of Jesus was wrong. And er and... and Peter because of his fear of the Jews says, okay I, I won't do that any more, I'll go and, I'll just go and sit with the Jews. And Paul comes up to him and says, you're totally wrong, out of order here Peter, erm you know what, what you know I mean... you're afraid, that's, that's your problem. And er and, and Peter says, you're right, er I was wrong to do that. You know so you have to reach out on a daily basis for these gifts. You know so when you're confirmed, it won't be, okay I'm on the boat now, it will be making use of those gifts, whatever they may be, and they'll be uniquely your own in each one, the mix'll be uni uniquely... you know, to the person, you'll have to make use of it on a daily basis, not just simply, okay I'm on the boat.... Erm... I think that's about it really.
[Kay:] Okay.
[Jim:] We can er...
[Kay:] Right. I'm sure that we'll, we'll... touch on those again... To actually finish erm... To actually finish with erm our prayer.... [music in background] Just put your papers down for... a couple of minutes... please.... Jesus said... I shall ask the Father and He will give you another advocate to be with you for ever.... Let's pray in the silence of our hearts that God will send the Holy Spirit to fill us with promised gifts. Perhaps there is one gift you feel you need very specially.... Without getting your papers out, can you remember... erm finish with.... [praying] Day by day...
[speaker003:] [praying] These things I pray. To see you more clearly, to love you more dearly, to follow you more nearly.
[Kay:] May God bless us and keep us. May God send us His Holy Spirit and make us courageous followers of Jesus Christ our Lord [].
[speaker003:] Amen []....
[Kay:] Thank you. There's just one more... handout that I need er to give you.... If you fill this in... at home.... Erm... have you all got the date when we're meeting again?... Yes.
[speaker003:] Yeah.
[Kay:] Can you all remember?...
[speaker003:] ...
[Kay:] Now I'm not sure whether it's
[speaker003:] Saturday.
[Kay:] Twenty first? Yeah.... Yes.... So there's two Sundays off.... Right.... There's Easter Sunday and the Sunday after that because some of you may well be off on holiday. So we're meeting back here on the twenty fifth of April at two thirty. Okay. Erm... we've also, there's also a bit of homework in there, do you remember that was given out erm one of the early sessions, and you will be expected to have erm thought quite a lot about that and to have worked through that. If I could also ask those of you who haven't decided on a confirmation name, I think really by the time we meet again... you should. So I mean I won't take them now if you have thought erm... and if y if you have er decided on a name I won't... erm... make a note of it now, erm but if you can all remember that that we definitely need the confirmation names sorted out. Also I do need the name of your sponsor and their address... and also I would like to see if possible by then any erm baptismal certificates that we haven't... seen. Have you got a got a problem with it or? okay. Erm the problem being that if, if erm if it is from another parish erm the priests in that parish can really be very slow in erm supplying you with erm a copy of it. Erm so if erm she doesn't leave it any later than Monday, if she gets in touch with the parish priests would be very grateful. Erm we'll talk some more too about the away day... at the next session. Erm really what er I wanted to do was erm to sort out the, the person who is actually going to the Chrism mass.... Erm so... Catherine you said you didn't think you'd go, you could go.
[speaker003:] I can't.
[Kay:] And Kate you can't go. Can you go Fay?
[speaker003:] Yeah.
[Kay:] So we've got Fay. And you're, you don't think that
[speaker003:] I'm I'm not sure.
[Kay:] So...
[speaker003:] I'll... find out for next week.
[Kay:] No. That's no good because the mass is on Thursday. It's Thursday
[speaker003:] [whispering] Which Thursday []?
[Kay:] this Thursday coming. Are you around or did you say you thought you were going away?
[speaker003:] I thought, we are going away... to Wales.
[Kay:] You don't know when?
[speaker003:] No. [LAUGHTER]
[Kay:] Right. Ben what about you?
[speaker003:] Er I'm not sure.
[Kay:] You're not sure, so you haven't... right okay. And what about you Tara?
[speaker003:] I'm going, I am going away.
[Kay:] So you're going away. So Fay it looks as though it's down to you. Alright, so would you like to do that for us? I explained quite... quite well I think didn't I on erm... Friday when I saw you, what was involved. Erm if I just give your name to Liz she'll, she'll probably get in touch with your mum. Erm but she may well pick you up about eleven o'clock. starts at half eleven, alright Fay? And then you will be coming to evening mass won't you? Because we'll need you to... process. Erm... so you're definitely away? Are you, are you definitely away Catherine or are you, is it just the day that you're going out? Will you get mass?
[speaker003:] Yeah I, I don't know.
[Kay:] I'll get in touch, I'll give her a ring, because we actually, we were looking erm out of the twelve of you altogether we were looking for six of you to actually have your feet washed on Maundy Thursday evening at the, at the, the mass at the service on Maundy Thursday evening. What happens is o you know, you know that erm... twelve people have their feet washed er during that erm service, and erm what we wanted was six confirmation ca er candidates to actually have their feet washed on the sanctuary erm by Father and then to ask those six to then go down into the congregation and wash the feet of one other person each making twelve altogether. Really sort of as a sign of service erm to, to community. Erm it doesn't look really as though out of, certainly out of this six that we're going to get three. But you may be around mightn't you?... And you may be around
[speaker003:] Yeah.
[Kay:] Peter anyway. Erm are you around on...
[Jim:] may be around. [LAUGHTER]
[Kay:] that? Right. And Tara you're, when are you going away?
[speaker003:] Well we're going away erm on the Friday morning.
[Kay:] Ah right okay. Well
[speaker003:] We might be able to come to the mass but I'm not sure.
[Kay:] Alright I'll, I'll, I think it's probably better if, but Kate you're away definitely. Okay. Well I'll, I'll give your parents a ring then. It's probably you know better me to do that and make certain erm... But if, if, if you were here, would anybody be prepared to do that?... To actually have their feet washed and then go down and wash somebody else's?... It's nothing to be bothered about really you know it... it's a good thing to do.
[Jim:] It's only a, it's only a token.
[Kay:] Yes it's not erm you do have to sort of take your sock and shoe off, but only of one foot. And you'll just have a, some water you know... poured on top and then you'll have a towel to wipe your feet. You won't be involved in that Fay really cos you'll be part of the erm procession with the oils you see.... But erm what we would like is for any of you who are actually here at that time to attend that mass and to be involved in some way, to do some sort of erm service.... So okay. Think about it anyway, and I'll try and get in touch with your mums and dads erm...
[Jim:] It's not because we can't get anybody else, [LAUGHTER] it's because we want to involve you []. But er
[Kay:] Yes it is. Be be because you know it, it really is, it's erm... er... it is sort of really we see it as sort of part of the confirmation programme really and your involvement in it, and it's all sort of quite erm... special to confirmation so... it would be nice if you could be involved. Alright. But I'll