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In 1951 a young Dutchman came to New Zealand with only a word or two of English. His ambition was to become a farmer and he found work in Martinborough. The first Sunday he went to church (after saying Pope and Rome to his boss’s wife – she got the drift) he was befriended by a family who later said jokingly he should become a priest. A few years later (after a bit more farming in the Waikato) he indeed did become a priest and Dove Wellington was privileged to have Father Michael Sweere as their speaker for September. The text Father spoke on was Isaiah 35:8-10 - And a Highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness …. All of us are making a journey to the kingdom of heaven and he reflected how sad it was that we live among thousands of people who do not know what it is all about – a people who don’t know God. He added that ‘you as Doves are doing all that you can I am sure to try to change this attitude in the world to make Jesus the centre of life – because a life lived without God is not really a human life at all.’ Father’s lively entertaining talk was dotted with personal reminiscences, stories and bible parables but one sentence he wanted us ‘Doves’ to remember and take home with us was a quote made by Sir Thomas More (he was martyred by King Henry VIII) which said … ‘If you have not chosen the Kingdom it will make no difference whatsoever what you have chosen instead.’ With so many temptations around us it is easy to drift off the highway to a way that does not lead us to God. We have to live by God’s commandments. When we have a car it has four good tyres – but if one goes flat we can’t go anywhere. It is the same with the commandments. If we keep 7, 8 or 9 but not all 10 don’t think you will get to heaven. In order to get there we have to live the way that God told us to live. Quoting the parable of the wedding feast and the man not wearing wedding clothes and how he was flung out – we might say that was not fair of the king – not so – when kings gave banquets the guests were invited into a big hall full of clothes and they could dress themselves. There was no excuse. Now all of us have received our wedding garment when we were baptised. Sometimes it gets a bit dirty because we don’t always keep God’s 10 commandments as we should. We however know we can go to confession and tell the Lord how sorry we are. Father mentioned the special time he spent at the recent Dove Retreat at Silverstream where seven priests spent a whole hour hearing reconciliation. How important it is! It is a mighty gift from the Lord to us, but today, for many, it is a forgotten sacrament. We are all at different stages in our journey, and as we travel along it is good for us to realise that God is always with us and we need to make Him the centre of our lives. He is our best friend and will help us cope in every difficult situation and with every problem. In his own good time he will give us a solution to any situation we are facing. We make plans but God makes the decisions. Our lives are short compared with eternity and our eternity depends on how we live here and now. In John 15.15 it says ‘I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead I have called you friends, for everything I have learned from my Father I have made known to you. .. This is my command: Love one another.’ We all have to work on that friendship with Jesus and loving one another. We are here to prepare ourselves for the kingdom of heaven. We know why we are here and we have a goal... Father quoted from the book ‘After Life’. ‘If you can imagine a place filled only with the best mends you have ever had in your life and filled with those who have loved you sincerely and the most, those who wished you only the very best and multiplied that many times and you have the essence of heaven … which is the essence of love.’ That is where we are going folks and don’t forget it.