AMPJP Executive Officer's Report: January 2021 - Association of Ministerial PJP's

AMPJP Executive Officer’s Report: January 2021

29 January 2021 by Lawrie Hallinan

What happened to January 2021.

I look forward to January as the quiet month where I can catch up on the non-urgent but important work that usually gets pushed aside through the rest of the year. Well it doesn’t feel like I have achieved much catching up.

I did take a week or so as annual leave but the rest of the month has been busy-ness as usual.

CORMSAA met on 19 January which took some time preparation and follow-up. Last year AMPJP did not have CORMSAA so that partly explains my busy January.

The AMPJP Council will meet on 09 February 2021 which means the meeting papers need to go out on 02 February 2021. I’m beginning to see where the month has gone.

Below are some words from Pope Francis which I feel are a good reflection as I start the year – leave room for and trust in God’s plans.

Like the prophet Jonah, we are constantly tempted to flee to a safe haven.

It can have many names: individualism, spiritualism, living in a little world, addiction, intransigence, the rejection of new ideas and approaches, dogmatism, nostalgia, pessimism, hiding behind rules and regulations.

We can resist leaving behind a familiar and easy way of doing things.

Yet the challenges involved can be like the storm, the whale, the worm that dried the gourd plant, or the wind and sun that burned Jonah’s head.

For us, as for him, they can serve to bring us back to the God of tenderness, who invites us to set out ever anew on our journey.

(Gaudete et exsultate #134)