| Silver Jubilee for Wakefield Prayer Group There are a surprising amount of prayer groups, as we found out from our questionnaire a few years ago, that have been going over 20 years. Below J Burke, a member of St Austin's prayer group, in Wakefield, shares a little of the story of their group, which last autumn celebrated its 25th anniversary
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Twenty five years is a long time but we have met every Monday during that time, as from the very beginning we felt the Holy Spirit impressing upon us the need to be faithful and persevering. The Spirit also made us understand that there are no holidays from prayer. For most of the members, Monday night is simply prayer meeting night and nothing interferes with that. This is not a matter for boasting but rather it has led to a much deeper realisation of our great need for God. Of course it has not always been easy. Especially in the winter months before the church was heated and there was always the temptation to stay in the warmth and comfort of home rather than brave the cold weather and hard chairs. On days like this there were sometimes only three or four people but we took to heart Jesus' words, "Where two or three are gathered in my name there am I in the midst of you". And we found, however few, cold or tired or discouraged we may have felt at the beginning of the meeting. God always showered us with abundant blessings and by the end we felt renewed, invigorated and strengthened with His love. What, may one ask, have we learnt during these years? Or what have we achieved? For most of us, brought up in the Catholic Faith, we have learnt nothing new. What we have discovered is that God's life in each Christian is not static, it either grows or diminishes. If we accept God's invitation and try to respond to His graces as best we can then God's Life within us deepens, and we learn to trust more in His Divine Providence. As one of the group said recently, prayer is like climbing the mountain of the Lord and, just as mountaineers are roped together for safety, the prayer group members are roped together through prayer. In this way when one loses his or her footing (as we all do from time to time) the other members are there to hold that person safe. And as we climb we begin to see with greater clarity, what is important in life and we experience more and more the true power and efficacy of prayer. As individuals and as a community over the years our understanding of the majesty of God has grown, as has our love of the Scriptures and of the Church and the sacraments, particularly the Holy Eucharist and our desire for holiness and to be more like Jesus. We have many people to thank who have helped and supported us along
the way. Members of our own families, members of the group now dead,
generous people who organised renewal days and conferences which fed
us, particularly the many priests who have given themselves so completely
to help us. We are especially grateful to Fr Leonard May and his team
at Maltby for their Friday healing Masses. Most of all, however, we
would like to give praise and thanks to God our Father, his soft Jesus
and his wonderful Holy Spirit for all the blessings we have received
over these last twenty five years as a small community and without
whose grace we would not have lasted.
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idea of forming a group came on a pilgrimage to Lourdes and so I'm
sure it's no coincidence that our anniversary fell on the feast of
the Holy Rosary. It began in fact as a rosary group and only gradually
became a charismatic prayer group, but Mary has always been important
to us, praying with us and for us. 
