As Advent approaches Pauline McDougall, from the Emmaus Family of Prayer in Southport, encourages us to reflect on God’s ongoing intervention in the life of his people throughout history, which can give us hope that he will be there in our lives too. Fr Chris Thomas, another member of the Emmaus Family of Prayer, in his article, “Do Not Be Afraid”, calls on us to be like Mary, and to not be afraid, because whatever is happening around us, we can trust in God who is always with us.

This Advent will be the 40th anniversary of the papal encyclical Populorum Progressio, Pope Paul VI’s seminal document outlining the Church’s teaching on development and social justice. Fr Mark White, a member of the English NSC, tells us about “Live Simply” a new campaign to encourage the Church to reflect on the document, this coming year. Charles Whitehead further reflects on the theme of Stewardship and encourages us to look at how we spend our time, money and talents as well as our responsibility to the environment in the light of our Christian faith.

Ralph Martin has long been one of the prophetic voices of the CCR. He has just brought out a new book called “The Fulfilment of All Desire”, which presents in a readable way the teaching of some of the great mystics of the Church. This is a wonderful book to encourage us all on the road to holiness. Graham Wildsmith, meanwhile in his article, looks at John of the Cross and what he has to teach us today, particularly his message of detachment from worldly pleasures so we can be free for Christ.

Detachment is not just about not being ruled by our desire for pleasure but about anything that disturbs our peace. Fr Ronald Rolheiser OMI, the well known columnist and author on spirituality, asks us to reflect on how we react to interruptions. Far from being obstacles to our work, he comments, they can sometimes be our real work and he calls on us to be open to hearing God’s voice through them.

One of the key ways we come to recognise God’s voice speaking to us is through meditating on the Scriptures. Geoff and Gina Poulter, who run the Catholic Bible School near Chichester, share about the importance of the Scriptures in their lives and their vision for the school. As well as knowing God’s word, for it to be effective in our lives, we need to put it into practice. In the article “Two by Two” we hear about the fascinating practice of members of the Neo Catechumenal Way, whereby they are sent out on mission for ten days to preach the gospel, with literally nothing but the bible. We hear some of the stories of what has happened to those who have done this and what they have learnt as a result.

Kristina Cooper