On The Journey This Week: Fr Richard Healy’s Gospel reflection. Mother Hilda with a story on Cardinal Basil Hume facing his death and God’s mercy, Fr Mike Delaney asks are we looking at things from the wrong angle. Trish McCarthy tells the five keyways God seeks to enter our lives and touch our hearts, and Fr Dave Callaghan asks what’s under your faith bonnet.

God in the Everyday–Fr Mike Delaney–The Wrong Angle (Fr Mike recalls a story about distinguished art critic, Robert Cumming, who criticised the painting by the Italian Renaissance master Filippino Lippi for its poor perspective. Then it occurred to him that the problem might be his. The painting was not just another piece of religious art hanging in a gallery, Lippi’s painting had been commissioned to hang in a place of prayer. Self-consciously, the dignified critic dropped to his knees in the public gallery before the painting and he suddenly saw what generations of art critics had missed. From his new vantage point, Robert Cumming found himself gazing up at a perfectly proportioned piece. Fr Mike wonders how many things that happen in life when, because of any range of things – busyness, prejudice, presumption – we look at things from the wrong angle.)

Milk & Honey–Trish McCarthy–Emotions & Senses (Trish says there are five keyways God seeks to enter our lives and touch our hearts. It includes our emotions, imagination, mind and will, memory, and senses. Emotions can be powerful and a gift from God. Even the challenging ones. Imagination this includes being able to visualise things, to hear what we imagine God to be saying in our hearts. Our mind and will work together. Our will is the capacity of our soul to move towards good or away from harm, recognised by our intellectual mind. Memory allows us to cultivate gratitude to remember the times we have known love, mercy, and forgiveness. Our external senses of taste, touch, smell, sound, and sight, open us up to the whole human experience.)

Wisdom from the Abbey–Mother Hilda–Cardinal Basil Hume (Mother Hilda recalls a story on Cardinal Basil Hume, originally a Benedictine monk and Abbot before he was made a Bishop and Cardinal. He learned just two months before his death that he had terminal cancer. He said, how much better it would be If I could come before God when I die, not to say thank you because I was such a good monk, such a good Bishop, but to say rather, God be merciful to me as sinner. For if I come empty handed then I'll be ready to receive God's gift. Mother Hilda says, in fact, every time we say God have mercy on us, we're already experiencing heaven. What a beautiful thing to go through life calling out to such a God.)

Catholic Mission–Fr Brian Lucas–Soctober (October is World Mission Month, and during October many schools engage in this October initiative. They'll kick goals for poverty by raising funds to help the mission churches. One initiative is called Soctober. It started with the idea of socking it to poverty. It involves young people making what's called a sock ball. They take plastic bags and socks and old clothes and things that are otherwise going to be thrown in the rubbish tip and we teach them the technique of binding them all up with string to make the sort of soccer ball that many young people around the world use in circumstances where they don't have the money for the fancy soccer ball we would buy from a sports good store.)

Men Alive– Testimony–Growing Good Men Weekend (Participants tell Journey Editor, Max Norden, about their experience of the Men Alive “Growing Good Men” weekend at the Cataract Scout Complex last weekend. Growing Good Men enables fathers and their teenage sons to share faith, to strengthen their relationships and to explore important elements of growing into manhood. It is an invaluable experience to deepen communication between fathers and sons at time when boys are often beginning to react away from their parents.)

The Bush Deacon–Josh Clayton–Hold Your hands Up (During a recent ecumenical group gathering to share, to pray and to support each other, the members asked Josh to explain the role and use of the Divine Office as a prayer tool. It's a wonderful way of going through, praying through the Psalms, through scripture, and through understanding of the things that we should pray for as a society. It reminds Josh of the Book of Exodus, when Moses’ arms, grew heavy because he was raising them in prayer, and the moment where others come to help him pray, to hold his arms up. Sometimes that's what we need, a prayer buddy or two, so that like Moses, we can have people come and hold our arms up and help us to pray when we don't feel like praying.)

Wisdom from the Abbey–Mother Hilda–Walking for Others (The well-known pilgrimage track, the Camino, the one that stretches from France to Spain that one undertakes to make amends for one's own sins, the sins of others, and as a means of thanksgiving, reminds Mother Hilda that in the pilgrimage that is our life, we too can walk for the sins of others. When someone is rude, insensitive, or dismissive, instead of condemning and retaliating, could we too bear the sins of others with a smile and understanding? It takes courage. But then after all, Jesus did it. Surely as Christians we can do no less in carrying the sins of others.)

Gospel Reflection–Fr Mark De Battista–Ready to Repent and Reform (Today it's Zacchaeus’ turn to experience salvation. In his heart, unbeknownst to him, there was a deeper curiosity, the deeper hunger to know the Rabbi of Galilee. Through his interaction with Jesus, Zacchaeus is now ready to repent and to reform his life. To what heights would we climb to meet Jesus, be ready to repent and reform our life, and hear our Lord say to us, today salvation has come to your house?)

On The Journey This Week: Fr Mark De Battista’s gospel reflection. Mother Hilda on the pilgrimage track of life making amends for one's own sins, and the sins of others. Plus, testimony from some of the participants on the Men Alive – Growing Good Men weekend, and Deacon Josh Clayton on using the Divine Office as a method of prayer.