Dear Parishioners,

Every year the church cleaning team is joined by volunteers for the annual pre-Christmas big clean. It will begin a week tomorrow, Monday 12^th December at 9.15am. We have plenty of dusters, brushes and vacuum cleaners so please do consider whether you can spare an hour anytime between 9.15 and 11.45 to join in the fun, followed by tea, biscuits and natter. Please do come along – volunteers are people like you! If you don’t come, then maybe no one will arrive! A similar appeal has gone out with the school newsletter.

You may remember two weeks ago we began to look at the Bishop’s letter outlining what he considers to be the requirements of a good and adequate preparation for infant baptism. It includes the request that parish members welcome parents and godparents to our parish community by accompanying them to Mass, to coffee and encouraging their growth in faith to ensure a well-founded hope that their child will be brought up as a practising member of our Catholic community.

Bishop John stresses that this is not the responsibility of the few parishioners who help organise the baptismal preparation instruction but of the whole parish community. Baptism should then be followed up by these or other parishioners willing to maintain a friendly link with the family to encourage them to live their baptismal promises.

Why? Well, I’m sure you are aware that the majority of parents never come to the parish after their child has been baptised until they need a copy of the baptismal certificate to help ensure a place in a Catholic school.

I have no idea how we as a parish may best organise this and would be grateful if you would share with me any ideas you may have. Could this be best achieved at the next Forum meeting on 8^th February? Or would it be better to arrange a special meeting to discuss this one issue?

One thought that I have and am certain of, is that grandparents are key. Pope Francis time and again speaks of the important role of grandparents in inculcating a love of the faith in their grandchildren and in developing their awareness of who they are and of their heritage, which will stand them in good stead as they navigate their way through life and encourage them in their turn to share their faith and heritage with their grandchildren.

Let’s start a parish conversation on these vital issues!

Fr John

Dear Parishioners,

Advent is a particularly busy time for us all: cards to send, presents to buy, meals to plan and the list could go on. But amid all this frantic panic and haste we must remember that Advent should be above all else a time to reflect, to grow in relationship with Jesus Christ and remind ourselves of what Christmas is about. There is no better way to do this than to buy an Advent Walk with Me booklet, available at the back of church (£1). This provides a short reflection and prayer for each day of Advent. Remember that a prayer a day not only keeps the Devil at bay but according to an increasing body of scientific research helps us live longer and so celebrate many more Christmases!

We are privileged this year to begin Advent with a copy of a Lampedusa Cross. It is made from pieces of a boat that was wrecked on 11 October 2013 off the coast of Lampedusa, a Mediterranean island south of Sicily, while crossing from Libya to Europe. 311 Eritrean and Somali refugees were drowned but the Inhabitants of Lampedusa helped to save the lives of 155 others. After meeting some of the survivors who are Eritrean Christians in the church on Lampedusa, Francesco Tuccio, the island’s carpenter, was moved by their plight but felt frustrated that he could not make a difference to their situation. The best he could do was to use his skills as a carpenter to fashion for each of them a cross from the wreckage of the boat as a thanksgiving for their salvation from the sea and hope for the future. A similar cross was made for Pope Francis who carried it at a memorial service for those who had perished. The cross stands witness to the kindness of the people of the small island of Lampedusa who do so much for the refugees and migrants who arrive on their shores.

CAFOD has supplied a copy of the cross which will be in our parish.

This Sunday for the Advent service in St Mary’s Sabden at 4pm.

Tuesday it will be in St Hubert’s Dunsop Bridge at Mass.

On Saturday it will be processed into St Michael and St John’s at the 6pm Mass and the 9.30pm Mass on Sunday.

During the week It will be displayed in St Michael & St John’s.

Have you considered inviting a refugee family to a meal with your family? Full details are to found at the back of each church?

Fr John

Dear Parishioners,

We have already reported on the Bishop’s policy document concerning the Permanent Diaconate and Confirmation. Today we begin to look at Baptism

The general principle: “Good preparation for Baptism is essential and can also have very positive benefits for the parents of the child being baptised, often being the opportunity to bring them back to a committed practice of their faith. We must seek to provide for the best catechesis and preparation for this sacrament, in all our parishes.”

To ensure this, children must be baptised in the parish in which they live but if for good reason, such as regularly attending Mass elsewhere, parents ask for baptism in another parish, they must obtain a letter of permission from their parish priest.

Each parish is asked to recruit a number of parishioners who will offer a warm welcome to parents when they come along to arrange a baptism, to record their details and share with the family the importance of their commitment to bring their children up in the practice of the faith.

Following the initial welcome, parents will attend a baptism preparation course along with the godparents.

One godparent must be a practising Catholic! The other may be a baptised Christian of another denomination. This is important because the godparents need to be people of living Christian faith so that they may be examples of faith in practice and an encouragement in faith to the child and its parents.

Practice of the faith includes regular attendance at Sunday mass. Catholics are obliged to attend Mass every Sunday, except when prevented for grave reason! Sadly, there are many children in our primary school who would love to come to Mass but are prevented from doing so because their parents will not bring them. The Bishop writes: “As an indication of the parents’ willingness to embrace the call to live as part of the Church, it should be required that they, or at least the Catholic parent, attend Mass for at least six Sundays in preparation for baptism.” However, where there is a willingness to do this but also genuine serious difficulties (work commitments, single parent, illness etc) then the situation can be discussed with the priest.

Other requirements for Baptism will be dealt with next week. Meanwhile if you have difficulties with any of these issues then please do speak with me or Fr Kevin.

Fr John

Dear Parishioners,

In the month of November when Catholics remember and pray for their deceased family, friends and neighbours, our Bishops have launched a new website that offers help and support to those grappling with issues around the meaning of dying and death. It features real-life stories about dealing with the journey through death to eternal life. It is called, The Art of Dying Well (from the ancient Latin name Ars Moriendi) and is drawn from Catholicism’s rich treasury of resources and reflections as well as consulting with experts and professionals in palliative care, ethics, chaplaincy, history and the media.

It is found at www.artofdyingwell.org. It will be of particular interest to those who are dying (that’s of all of us!) to family, friends and carers. At the back of each church there are cards with the address of the site and a prayer for the dying.

Last week I dealt with the Bishop’s response to the recent consultation on deacons. Today I quote his decision on Confirmation.
“Having considered all the opinions and arguments, I would like to see the Sacrament of Confirmation celebrated with candidates aged 13 (Year 8) or above, which is within the age range agreed by the Bishops’ Conference. Normally, I would hope to celebrate the Sacrament myself. The precise logistics still need to be worked out but I would prefer to confirm from Easter to the summer school holidays and, if necessary, into the following school term. We might also consider holding some celebrations at the Cathedral or some of the larger churches of the Diocese (such as St. Alban’s, Blackburn) to give the candidates a sense of being part of the larger Church.
“Other details still need to be finalised. The plan is that the invitation to young people to prepare for Confirmation will be addressed by me to them at the end of Year 6 in Primary School with our schools and parishes working together to prepare them for Confirmation over the following two years. Following their confirmation, I hope that schools and parishes and the diocesan team will be able to offer our young people ongoing spiritual formation which focuses on:

• growth in prayer and worship
• the call to ministry
• the call to serve those in need.

In practice, this will mean that the first group of candidates will be invited, before they leave Primary school, in summer 2019, to prepare for Confirmation after Easter 2021”

At Forum on Wednesday we shall consider these and other decisions made by the Bishop following the consultation.

Fr John

Dear Parishioners,

Following the headline announcements last week regarding upcoming changes in the diocese, the back page is back!

First the Diaconate. Recalling that 2017 will mark the 50^th anniversary of the establishment the Permanent Diaconate the Bishop writes: “This anniversary offers an appropriate opportunity for us to begin formation for the Permanent Diaconate in our Diocese. In doing so, we can respond to our current pastoral need, and the clear mandate of the Diocesan Consultation, and form men to help animate the missionary dimension of local communities through the ministry of word, sacrifice and charity that is particular to the Diaconate.  This will be a significant help to us – bishop, priests and people – as together we learn how to shape and develop missionary parishes for the future. Introducing the Permanent Diaconate now allows us to learn from fifty years of experience and practice of other dioceses and benefit from hindsight and a wealth of theological reflection and good practice.

At the time of the Council there were those who felt good people were already carrying out the work of this ministry effectively without formal recognition or ordination. The Council Fathers sought to enhance their role through ordination.  Some people still question this as a further clericalization of the Church and wonder whether there is anything that a Permanent Deacon may do which is not already possible for a lay person. Our response should echo the Council Fathers: why deprive the Church of the grace that ordination brings?  Learning from experience in other places, I believe that in our Diocese we can form a complementary relationship of collaboration between priests, deacons and people, under the pastoral guidance of the bishop.”

So now the process has begun with consultation and discussions to decide on a strategy of recruitment, selection, training, conditions of service, remuneration and the rest. If you have any thoughts on these matters, then please do submit them to me in writing (hard copy or email) and I shall forward them to Fr Philip Caldwell who is the Bishop’s delegate for these matters.

Finally, November is the month during which in our Catholic tradition we pray for all our dead and request their prayers of us. The last wish of St Monica, mother to the great St Augustine, was “All I ask of you is that, wherever you may be, you should remember me at the altar of the Lord.” During the month of November we should do no less for our deceased family and friends.

Fr John