Hello Ramblers!

"I thank my God in all. my remembrances of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, thankful for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now."  
Thus St. Paul begins his letter to the Philippian Church. It is his most joyful letter incuding in Chapter 4, v. 4 the famous "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, Rejoice". This, then, I make as my greeting to you from St. J oseph's, Burslesm, where I am continuing to serve as a deacon until January 10th 1981. That is,the date set fer my ordination to
the priesthood. It will take place here at our Church at 11 a.m.Bishop Joseph Cleary will be the ordaining minister. If any of you are able to attend you'll be welcome. Burslem is some 2 1/2 hours by road from London , .Hcwever if you can't come in person, please join me in prayer.
Prayer in the Spirit transcends all time and space.

In my last article I gave you an outline of what a deacon is and his function. In the last three months I think I have experienced most of the duties of this unaccustomed ministry in the Church of today. The primary and ultimate aim of the ordained ministries is the prclamation and the  building up of the kingdom of God. In this all of us who are Christians
in the Catholic tradition have a share. As a deacon I have been fortunate in being able to exercise this important part of our service to God's people, his delight (see Proverbs 8,31). In addition to preaching at Mass, I have preached holilies atmarriages, baptisms and funerals, conducted pre-marriage talks with engaged couples and instructed parents before
baptism of their children. When I take Holy Comrnunion to the sick and the housebound, I usually try to expound the reading. This is essential, for when one is ill, one needs'encouragement and uplifting, and what better way than becoming open to the action of God's healing love? 

There are other duties that I have been asked to perform, like producing the parish newsletter and leading a retreat whioh I found somewhat daunting at first but when one rememters that it is the Lord who leads and spurs you on to carry out his will, then confidence is restored for "I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil. 1,6.).

lnvolvement in parish life has already included attendance at Prayer meetings, Legion of Mary metings at whlch I have had to give allocutios, participating in Parish Council meetings and showing a face at social gatharings: dances, dinnters etc. We also have regular Inter-Church Fraternals: these are morning get togethers of' clergymen of the area -
Methodist, Anglican, Catholic and others like the United.Reform Church and the Pentecostal at which we deal with any shared church functions that come up and also listen to a talk by invitation. At the next Fraternal I have been asked to speak on the preparation for the Roman, Catholic prlesthod, in which, of course, 'l can draw on my own experience.

I've had occasion to revlsit London, dear home of mine for 29 years, twice. Thefirst time was in mid August,to assist at the marrlage bf a couple of friends of mine vho now live in a place called Flitwick; and the second was to attend the Golden Jubilee at Westminster. That was a memorabie occasion.  For me especially, I was honoured to perform as a deacon at the Mass at the Cathedral and later to meet the three daughters of the co-foundress of the St Francis of Assisi Catholic Ramblers. I would like to record here my heartfelt thanks to all who organised and helped to make this grand occasio a success. It was really great to meet so many with whom I had rambled in the past. Praise the Lord!·
On World Mission Sunday , Otober 19th, I was asksed to represent the SVD.(Divine Word Missionaries) at St.Chad's·Cathedral, Birmingham. This was my first visit to the mother church of our dlocese. The priest who welcomed me said '' Oh, l don't think weve had a deacon here before!" I was at the Archbishop's left hand throughout the Pontifical High Mas. What adifference from the Church of yesterday! Myparish  priest has been telling me .of his diaccnate. In his time it was just a token ministry. He used to wear· a stole over his left shoulder and stand at Communion time at Mass. He did not have any of the experiences of ·the deacon's servlce that I have had. We are li vfng in exciting times.

Which brings me to the last part of this I artice. Have you read "The Easter People" as yet? If not, dont f'aiI to do so. It is excellent. We have been studying it and trying to apply it in our parish and our area. North Staffordshire is one of the first areas of the Arohdiocese of Birmingham to organise and operate a series of follow-up talks and discussions on the projections of the on National Pastoral Congress. We are more than halfway thorugh them already. In addition to the Area Pastoral Talks and
discussions on themes such as the Church, Family and Marriage, Justice and Peace and Evangelizatlon or Mission, our own parish ofSt. Joseph's has begun a series of Adult Educational Courses on Belief, Scripture and the Sacraments. They are run by the people themselves and are a good
sign of the needs that exist and cry out for action.

Life as a deacon is very fulfilling. It can be quite demanding, but there is hardly a dull day. One is constantly meeting people of all kinds. Some situations can be pretty challenging. Prayer is the greatest part of the ministry. The Lord needs to remind each one of us that we have been called to a special service and if we don't pause awhile and listen to his
voice we can go astray in our own misguided way.  Come on, you budding vocations, if there are any among you, young or not so young and listen to the cry of Jesus: "If any one thirst, let him come to me and 
drink". (John 7, 37and read on). Jssus is echoing the voice of Wisdom crying out aloud in the street (see Prov 1, 20f).

Finally, a reminder that my ordinatin to the priesthood is set for 11 a.m on Sat. 11 Jan 1981 atst. Joseph's, Burslem, Stoke on Trent ST6 4BB, Staffordshire. 

To end withPaul's letter to the Philippians: "God will supply every need of
yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 

Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." (Phil, 4; 19-23)

                                                              Shalom!  Leo Coshan, SVD
****************************************************************************