At the St John’s Cathedral Music and Readings for Advent and Christmas, on Sunday 11th December, Bishop John Arnold had a very simple message for us: “Pope Francis is insistent that our Faith cannot be something that is merely personal and interior. Faith must be lived out in our decisions and actions. The birth of Jesus Christ was the gift of God in His love for us – sending us His Son to communicate His love for each one of us. It was the same Jesus who, after his resurrection commissioned us to go out to the whole world as his ambassadors and take that same love to those on the margins of society – the lonely, the poor, the trafficked, the broken.”

In his recent pastoral letter on restructuring Bishop John Arnold talks twice about restructuring as an opportunity for us to think carefully about caring for one another both within and beyond our communities.

“I firmly believe that this re-structure will strengthen us all for our missionary purpose of bringing Christ to the world in which we live, both in the care we have for one another within our own communities and in the witness we show through our Works of Mercy in the wider community.”

“In the busy secularisation of our world, many have drifted away but, if we are persistent and constant in our living of the Gospel, in our kindness and care for those around us in need, then people will be drawn back with a new sense of searching and commitment. Pope Francis asks us if we have the courage to walk with others, even while they are walking away from the Church? I believe we have.”

These words brought to mind a homily we experienced earlier this year in North America.

It was the small and insignificant township of Cheteck in Northern Minnesota but we had a good homily on humility which I thought was particularly apposite in the context of what we are trying to do by way of developing our Parish community.   It’s easy to think we have a good community and easy to think we have little to learn, yet to become a better community and a welcoming community we need to do more.  Humility it seems is the first step.

We were told that that there were three ingredients to humility:

• Not thinking first and foremost about ourselves and wanting to be the focus of attention
• Acknowledging and complimenting others
• Thinking about others and being aware of their needs

As we move into the final weeks of the Year of Mercy we should shift our thoughts from God’s mercy and ourselves to our mercy toward others – and the key to that is humility.

It was a simple enough message but presented in such a way that made it clear that humility shouldn’t just be one of a number of virtues to practice, it is at the core of our faith.  It is charity.  So what specifically did our priest in Chetek have to say about his three ingredients of humility?

along Not thinking first and foremost about ourselves Many people tend to talk rather than listen but humility should temper this inclination.  Our priest didn’t dwell too long on this one but what he said later led me to quiz him more closely over coffee and pancakes.  His thinking was much influenced by Francis de Sales and a particular theme was giving, or being the recipient of, hurt or offence.  I looked up the relevant quotes later.  They are instructive:  “Be very watchful as to what can give offence to others; if you fail in this, try to repair the mischief as quickly as possible.”   But a great quote that covers it all is: “It is a great degree of lowliness of heart …to fear honours and flattery as much as little minds enjoy them, who easily take offence at any affront.”   How often does a lack of humility make us focus on ourselves and our discomfort when someone praises us? It struck me that humility has its greatest test when someone is offended by what we do or say; or when we are offended by them.

buy isotretinoin from uk Acknowledging and complimenting others was the second point.  Humility should teach us to acknowledge praise graciously. Just as we should graciously acknowledge a compliment, so should we look outwardly to others rather than to ourselves and recognise and acknowledge them.  But the key to it all is whether we think foremost about our ourselves or others.  If the heart is pure, so too will be the acknowledgement and we will learn to tread carefully the fine line between praise and flattery.

Thinking about others and being aware of their needs was the third and final point which extended and embraced the other two.  It is easiest to start with the people we know and like but we should think of all others and not just those closest and those we feel most comfortable with.  We should think of those we don’t know particularly well or don’t particularly like and reflect on whether perhaps a lack of humility has failed us.

So as we enter the last few weeks of the Year of Mercy and as we think about developing a welcoming Parish community it occurred to me that we might see humility as a good starting point.  Let’s learn something from Francis de Sales and build the sort of community that doesn’t have to contrive methods or models of welcoming because welcoming is what comes naturally to us.

LAUDATO SI’ Litany

If you are asking questions such as: What is the purpose of my life in this world? Why am I here? What is the goal of my work and all my efforts, then journey with us.

If you want to slow down and look at reality in a different way, promote best practice, stimulate creative solutions and encourage group and individual initiatives, then journey with us.

If you think you can replace consumption with sacrifice, greed with generosity and wastefulness with sharing and learn to give, not just to give up, then journey with us.

If you feel that the deepest roots of our present failures are to do with the direction, goals, meaning and social implications of technological and economic growth, then journey with us.

 If you believe that everything is interconnected and that our relationship with the environment can never be isolated from our relationship with others and with God, then journey with us.

If you long to be liberated from fear, greed and compulsion, to be open to awe and wonder, and to join in building a common home, then journey with us.

If you can allow yourself to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor so that the suffering of the world becomes your own, then journey with us.

If you think that we were made for love and therefore that gestures of generosity, solidarity and care can well up within us, then journey with us.

If you long to be ever open to God’s grace, to cultivate a spirit of patience, self-discipline and generosity so that you go out from yourself towards the other, then journey with us.

If you are prepared to examine your life-style, to rise above yourself, to choose what is good and to make a new start, then journey with us.

If you willing to be grateful and lovingly aware, and over time can cultivate sound virtues through little daily actions, then journey with us.

If you are open to a profound interior conversion, a change of heart, which rejects every form of self-centeredness and self-absorption, then journey with us.

If you have the potential to be attentive to the beauty all around you, see nature as a continuing revelation of the divine so that the soil, water, mountains, are like a caress of God, then journey with us.

If you have the capacity to be happy with little, are prepared to be humble and others can see how the effects of your encounter with Jesus Christ is evident in your relationship with the world, then journey with us.

Yes, journey with us if you think that all it takes is one good person to restore hope, that we can bring good out of the evil we have done, and that we are all called to live wisely, think deeply, love generously, and sing as we go.

God of the journey, who has been with us before we were born, continue to be with us this day as we reflect on what it might mean to journey with you, to be your companion, to work with you for the Kingdom.

Copyright: sbrouard/CAFOD

November 2016

Daily offering: 

Lord Jesus Christ, your heart is full of compassion for all men and women, especially for those in pain and need. Help with your sacrifice in the Mass, let me not be wrapped up in my own selfish concerns, but open to your presence in all your children.

I pray with Mary and the whole Church for the Pope’s intentions this month:

This month’s intentions:

Universal: 

That the countries that take in a great number of displaced persons and refugees may find support for their efforts, which show solidarity.

For Evangelisation: 

That within parishes, priests and lay people may collaborate in service to the community without giving in to the temptation of discouragement.

Collaboration of Priests and Laity

My time in Holy Trinity Parish in Dublin’s North Side taught me that the Lord has provided, among the parishioners themselves, all the giftedness and talent needed for building up the community. The challenge is to encourage those blessed with talent and ability to share these gifts with the parish.

Our committed Parish Pastoral Council began by organising a Volunteering Sunday three Octobers in a row. Each Volunteering Sunday was preceded by four weeks of intensive information on parish needs and outlining new Ministries and Groups that were needed and where talents could be best put to use. We got 100 new volunteers in the first year, 80 in the second and 30 in the third. As well as invigorating existing groups we created a Choral Society, Funeral Ministry Team, an Adoration Society and above all, a sense of a parish alive with multiple opportunities for taking part.

I found the image of a giant jig-saw puzzle helpful. There is nothing worse when putting together a 5,000 piece puzzle than to discover that the last piece is missing! No matter how beautiful the picture, everyone will focus on the gaping hole in the finished product. God has given all the pieces necessary to make a beautiful parish community but unless parishioners get involved, there will be a number of gaping holes where their contribution should be.

– Fr Eoin McCrystal, extracted from Living Prayer

Last Wednesday we had the first of our Laudato Si meetings.  Earlier that week and repeated on Thursday was a programme on BBC2 A World Without Down’s Syndrome? which highlighted the stark reality of where the world is trending.   The programme offered a timely reminder of the dangers of embarking on a determinist view of society and the risk that selective breeding will come to be viewed as acceptable.   There is a lot of pressure to avoid a potential “burden” as an outcome of the wrong sort of foetus.

Currently 92% of babies diagnosed with Down’s syndrome before birth are aborted, and the 1967 Abortion Act allows for abortion up to birth in the case of disability in England, Scotland and Wales.

Laudato Si is about how we should live our lives with a care for the whole world and the whole of humanity.    Specifically on abortion Pope Francis says: Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion. How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties? “If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of the new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away”

We have a Pro-Life Group in the Parish.  We need to rally together and raise our voices.

Download Laudato Si here…

Address by Cardinal Vincent Nichols to the Special Conference held at the United Nations on 7 April 2016 on the combatting of human trafficking and modern slavery

Mr President, Your Excellencies, Sisters, ladies and gentlemen,

I am honoured to address you this afternoon on this most important topic which is increasingly demanding not only our attention but that of the entire world. I address you behalf of the Santa Marta Group, an international network of cooperation and initiatives, active in this work against human trafficking and modern slavery. I speak, therefore, in the name of the Catholic community which today again wishes to make clear its unequivocal support for all who undertake this work and its willingness to take part in it.

In asserting this commitment of the Church, I emphasise the foundations from which we act: a radical commitment to the dignity of every human person, a dignity which has to be protected and promoted in every circumstance and time; a dignity which does not depend on the abilities or status of a person but which is rooted entirely in the inner depth of the person’s existence, in the gift of human life which always comes from the Divine Creator who has shown himself to be our loving Father. Human trafficking and slavery radically strips a person of this fundamental dignity, reducing them to the status of a commodity. It is an evil crying out to heaven. That there are over 20 million people callously held in modern slavery in our world today is a mark of deep shame on the face of our human family that no words alone can remove. The challenge that the eyes of faith see before us today is to work to our utmost to rescue, protect, assist and serve the poorest of the Father’s children who have be sold into slavery even as Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers ‘in the beginning'(Gen 37.32).

More personally I stand before you because of three key moments in my life.

The first was four years ago when I listened, for the first time, to the witness of a young woman who had been betrayed into the slavery of enforced prostitution. Her story was heart-wrenching. But what added a particular depth to my shock was the fact that she was a young English woman, trafficked from England into slavery in Italy.

The second moment was occurring about the same time. I began to witness a remarkable partnership being built in London between religious women and London police force, Scotland Yard. This partnership transformed the effectiveness of operations to rescue victims, care for them and pursue to prosecution the perpetrators of this horrendous crime. I realised then the effectiveness of such partnerships, especially between unlikely partners.  Religious women, working on the street, did not instinctively trust the law enforcement agencies who they understood, with good reason, were in all likelihood going to prosecute the very women the Sisters were trying to protect. Yet over time the partnership was established. It was the fruit of the hard work of building trust, a work made up of many demanding practical steps, requiring change in mindsets and procedures. For one thing, it was essential that the police gave to the Sisters the assurance that the victims of trafficking would not be prosecuted, but rather they would be helped.

The third moment came two years ago when, at the end of our first Santa Marta Conference in Rome, Pope Francis turned to me and asked me to keep this work going. That is an order that cannot be refused!

The Santa  Marta Group brings together the leaders of law enforcement agencies from an increasing number of countries – 36 at the last count – and the resources of the Catholic Church, in order to fashion shared alliances of effective action in the fight against human slavery. There have, to date, been three major international gatherings: in Rome, London and Madrid. Results are emerging, with a growing number of countries putting together effective partnerships in this work. Strong examples can be given – in Edu State, Nigeria, – for example, where a detailed four year programme is being put into effect.  Similarly, a North Atlantic Maritime initiative is emerging to tackle the problems of unjust working conditions in the fishing industry. Other initiatives involving the Catholic community have emerged in Argentina and Lithuania and requests for initiatives have come in from the Philippines, South Africa and Mozambique.

The core of the vision and work of Santa Marta, then, is to foster a  symbiotic relationship between law enforcement and the resources of the Catholic Church in this great fight.

I offer this brief sketch of this work because the new Sustainable Development Goals now express the official commitment of every UN member state to work, in this period, for the eradication of human trafficking and modern slavery. The core proposal of this day is that this goal cannot be achieved without effective, international cooperation at many levels, one of which is indeed the

Santa Marta Group, open to all who see the importance of its insight and wish to take part in its processes.

Such international partnerships require not only a shared motivation but also some clear key aims. For us they are univocal: the well-being of every victim of human trafficking, for it is the victim who must always be central to our efforts; the enhancement of the work of law enforcement: the breaking up of criminal networks, the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators; and thirdly the strengthening of the legal frameworks within which this work is carried out.

For me, and I am sure for many of you, Pope Francis remains a central and inspiring figure. He is direct and blunt in what he expects of us – something far more than words: effective action on the ground which frees prisoners, comforts the victims, serves their well-being and generates new hope in a world in which there is far too much suffering, poverty and grief.

When he was here at the UN in September last year Pope Francis talked about the importance of having ‘the will to put an end as quickly as possible to the phenomena of social and economic exclusion’ mentioning first ‘human trafficking and slave labour.’ He called on us to create institutions which ‘are truly effective in the struggle against these scourges.’ He asked us to remember always that we are responding to ‘real men and women’, sons and daughters of our one Eternal Father’ and who are therefore truly our brothers and sisters. In their plight we are complicit. In their freedom we will rejoice with a joy no other satisfaction can give.

I hope and pray that this important Conference will mark a vital step in the work not only of our individual nations and agencies, working in new and effective partnerships, but also in the role of the United Nations itself, an institution which, in the words of Pope Francis, is ‘an appropriate juridical and political response to this present moment of history.’

I thank you for your attention.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols

Archbishop of Westminster

United Nations Headquarters, New York, 7 April 2016.

Pope Francis’ Easter Message was summarised by the BBC commentator in  the words:  “…many references there, both direct and indirect to the fact that  this has been declared by the Pope the Holy Year of Mercy, a year which many have seen it with the emphasis rather less on the rules of the Church, the strict observance, than on mercy, mercy being available and open to all.  The full text is below.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, a Happy and Holy Easter!

the Church throughout the world echoes the angel’s message to the women: “Do not be afraid! I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised… Come, see the place where he lay” ( Mt 28:5-6). This is the culmination of the Gospel, it is the Good News par excellence: Jesus, who was crucified, is risen! This event is the basis of our faith and our hope. If Christ were not raised, Christianity would lose its very meaning; the whole mission of the Church would lose its impulse, for this is the point from which it first set out and continues to set out ever anew.

The message which Christians bring to the world is this: Jesus, Love incarnate, died on the cross for our sins, but God the Father raised him and made him the Lord of life and death. In Jesus, love has triumphed over hatred, mercy over sinfulness, goodness over evil, truth over falsehood, life over death.

That is why we tell everyone: “Come and see!” In every human situation, marked by frailty, sin and death, the Good News is no mere matter of words, but a testimony to unconditional and faithful love: it is about leaving ourselves behind and encountering others, being close to those crushed by life’s troubles, sharing with the needy, standing at the side of the sick, elderly and the outcast… “Come and see!”: Love is more powerful, love gives life, love makes hope blossom in the wilderness.

With this joyful certainty in our hearts, today we turn to you, risen Lord!  Help us to seek you and to find you, to realize that we have a Father and are not orphans; that we can love and adore you.

Help us to overcome the scourge of hunger, aggravated by conflicts and by the immense wastefulness for which we are often responsible.

Enable us to protect the vulnerable, especially children, women and the elderly, who are at times exploited and abandoned.

Enable us to care for our brothers and sisters struck by the Ebola epidemic in Guinea Conakry, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and to care for those suffering from so many other diseases which are also spread through neglect and dire poverty.

Comfort all those who cannot celebrate this Easter with their loved ones because they have been unjustly torn from their affections, like the many persons, priests and laity, who in various parts of the world have been kidnapped.

Comfort those who have left their own lands to migrate to places offering hope for a better future and the possibility of living their lives in dignity and, not infrequently, of freely professing their faith.

We ask you, Lord Jesus, to put an end to all war and every conflict, whether great or small, ancient or recent.

We pray in a particular way for Syria, beloved Syria, that all those suffering the effects of the conflict can receive needed humanitarian aid and that neither side will again use deadly force, especially against the defenceless civil population, but instead boldly negotiate the peace long awaited and long overdue!

Jesus, Lord of glory, we ask you to comfort the victims of fratricidal acts of violence in Iraq and to sustain the hopes raised by the resumption of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

We beg for an end to the conflicts in the Central African Republic and a halt to the brutal terrorist attacks in parts of Nigeria and the acts of violence in South Sudan.

We ask that hearts be turned to reconciliation and fraternal concord in Venezuela.

By your resurrection, which this year we celebrate together with the Churches that follow the Julian calendar, we ask you to enlighten and inspire the initiatives that promote peace in Ukraine so that all those involved, with the support of the international community, will make every effort to prevent violence and, in a spirit of unity and dialogue, chart a path for the country’s future. On this day, may they be able to proclaim, as brothers and sisters, that Christ is risen, Khrystos voskres!

Lord, we pray to you for all the peoples of the earth: you who have conquered death, grant us your life, grant us your peace!

Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter!

You are warmly invited to our Lent Talks which will be taking place each Saturday morning for five weeks starting on Saturday 20 February at 11 am with coffee served from 10 30.

The talks will be held at the St. Michael and St. John’s Parish Centre in Lowergate, except for Saturday 27^th when we meet at the United Reformed Church.

This year’s theme is “Christianity at work”.  Each week we will learn about the challenges and joys experienced by Christians in their work and the principles which we can apply to our everyday lives.”

Saturday 20 February  “Investigating modern slavery”

Detective Chief Inspector Sion Hall of Lancashire Police at St. Michael & St. John’s

 Saturday 27 February “Serving Lancashire communities”

Gill Beeley of Together Lancashire and Blackburn Anglican Diocese at the URC

 Saturday 5 March “Supporting children and families”

Nick Shelley of Blackburn with Darwen Children’s Services

at St. Michael & St. John’s

 Saturday 12 March “Working with young people”

Chris Meyer of the Grand at St. Michael & St. John’s

 Saturday 19 March “Whole life discipleship – the onward journey”

“Christianity at work” Shirley Jenner of Manchester University Global Development Institute

at St. Michael & St. John’s

Jim Wallis, an American commentator on ethics and public life and a spokesperson for faith based initiatives speaks of Faith in Action.  At our Joy of the Gospel sessions (sessions 3 and 4 tonight and next week in the Parish Hall) we are learning from each other what Evangelii Gaudium means in practice but reaching people isn’t easy.  Jim Wallis says: “Many people today are hungry for spirituality, but have no appetites for religion.  Still others, who are part of religious communities, are asking how their faith might be connected to the urgent problems of the world.  But spiritual interest may no longer be enough.  In today’s world the test of any faith is action”.  Quoting St Paul: “There are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit”, Jim Wallis makes the point that people from almost every kind of work are finding ways to shape their vocation in the direction of service and justice.  He cites examples of a doctor, a fund raiser, an art director and a policy analyst but actually it can apply to anybody regardless of their vocation and their skills.

Often we underestimate, undervalue and don’t even recognise our skills.  David was a shepherd boy who knew only how to protect sheep but using only the skills he had he slew Goliath.  We know of so many people who have said they aren’t good at anything because what makes them different and exceptional are things that others recognise but they themselves don’t value.  We need to recognise who we are and use our gifts instead of deferring to others’ experience and perspective.   Evangelii Gaudium is a hard hitting document from a Pope who doesn’t mince his words.  It is about living our lives in such a way that our faith pours out of us.  The special gifts that God has given us should be a shining light.