recognised, affirmed and nurtured. We will also need adjustment and formation for a changed situation. But the Lord is with us and the future is in his hands. Above all, we must pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and, instead of composing a prayer, I suggest that, before all we do in the time ahead, we pray together the great prayer of St Paul from the letter to the Ephesians:

          "Out of his infinite glory, may God give you the power through his Spirit for your hidden
          self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted
          in love and built on love, you will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth
          and length, the height and depth; until knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all
          knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of God."
          (Eph. 3:16-19)

God wants each one of us to find life in his Son, Jesus Christ. He wants us to belong to that communion in the Holy Spirit that finds its fullest expression in the Eucharist. He wants us to evangelise and to manifest the truth of the Gospel in the way we live - and how desperate is the need for the Good News we bear. Let us be relaxed, open, yielding, generous and courageous as we follow the calling of the Lord in new times and new circumstances. We must be open to the Holy Spirit and in this let us take Our Lady as our model and guide. She was filled with the Holy Spirit and remained open in faith to a future that was beyond her understanding. Let us say with Mary: "Let it be done unto me according to your word."