The Ephipany – 8th January 2017

Dear Parishioners,

It was wonderful to see so many children and young families at the 4pm Mass on Christmas Eve. The time certainly suits young families, so this 4pm Childrens mass will be repeated next Christmas.


The following comments are from a priest who works promoting good relations between the Catholic and Jewish communities:

“Another area of common understanding between Jewish and Catholic communities is concern for the created order and the care for the earth, our common home. I have heard many Jewish groups express much gratitude for Pope Francis’ encyclical ‘Laudato si’ (On the Care for our Common Home)

“Pope Francis uses many Biblical texts to explain the essential values on which the encyclical is based. His recurring themes of the dignity of human beings is based on Genesis 1; the origin and connection of humanity to the earth itself is found in Genesis 2; the interconnection and inherent value of all life comes from Psalm 148; the connection of the degradation of the environment to the degradation of the poor are based on the stories of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4 as well as other quoted texts. He also uses many of the same laws in the Torah that Jewish environmentalists have been quoting for decades: the laws of the Sabbatical Year and Jubilee from Leviticus 25, the protection of species from Deuteronomy 22:6-7, and the Sabbath imperative to rest, from Exodus 23:12.

“In Laudato si, Pope Francis is focused on climate change’s impact on the poor. His encyclical looks at the moral and spiritual crisis that climate change illustrates: moral, because of its disproportionate impact on the poor, and spiritual because it highlights our disconnection to creation. He makes a deep and thoughtful critique of the modern economy, consumerism, the current concept of progress, and the way in which technology can have a negative impact on the environment if not properly regulated.

“Pope Francis calls for an open and honest discussion among all people to find effective solutions to this growing crisis. Many Jewish communities are seizing this critical moment in the history of our planet to speak out clearly and loudly about our common future on earth that is in jeopardy. Together as Christians and Jews, we must ask: ‘What kind of world do we wish to leave our children?'”

Members of our parish have been exploring this question in our discussions of Laudato si. We meet again a week on Wednesday, 18th Jan, at 7.30pm in the Presbytery. Why not join us ?

Fr John

Mary, The Holy Mother of God – 1st January 2017

A New Year’s Prayer

When the song of the angels has been stilled

when the star has gone from the night sky

when the kings have reached their far shores

when the shepherds have returned to their flocks

then the work of Christmas really begins

to find those who are lost,

to heal those who are broken in spirit

to feed those who are hungry

to release those who are oppressed

to rebuild the nations torn by strife

to bring peace among all peoples

to bring the Light of the Gospel

into the darkest corners of our world

O Lord, as we begin a new year, remind us of our truest

values and our deepest desires. Help us to live in

the goodness that comes from doing what you want

us to do. Help us to put aside anxiety about the

future and the past, so that we might live in peace

 with you now, one day at a time. 

Amen

 

 

Olive Aid

OLIVE AID is a charity which helps Palestinians who have lost their olive trees, usually their only source of income, to the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements on the West bank and that dreadful security wall.  Olive trees are precious: just twenty trees can sustain a family for a year.  Olive Aid is a self-help project run by the Catholic Bethlehem University which provides needy families with 3 year old olive saplings.  Christian and Muslim alike are helped but the project particularly aims to stem the emigration of Christian families who suffer the most in conflict. Today, Christians in Bethlehem constitute less than 15% of the population.  Fifty years ago, Christians living in the birthplace of Jesus made up more than 70% of the population!  You can donate a tree for £25.  For details see me or go to www.oliveaid.com.  It is a Christmas Charity that I support and a number of parishioners have joined with me over the past few years.

Fr John.

Thank you from Diane…

A thankyou from Diane Ngoza (Asylum seeker)

I would like to extend my gratitude for all your support at this moment in my life.  I am profoundly humbled and touched by your compassion and I will never forget everything that you are doing for the rest of my life.  I feel so privileged to have people like you to empower me when the tide seems to be against me.  I feel so strong and peaceful because of all of you.  My life has changed so much during the past few months and I have been blown away by your courage.  Thank you once again and God bless you.     

Yours sincerely, Diane

 

Third Sunday of Advent – December 11th 2016

Dear Parishioners,

On this Sunday three years ago, Pope Francis said:

The Third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday; that is, the Sunday of Joy. In the Mass the invitation rings out several times to rejoice. Why? Because the Lord is near. Christmas is near. The Christian message is called the ‘Gospel’ which means ‘good news’, an announcement of joy for all people; the Church is not a haven for sad people, the Church is a joyful home! And those who are sad find joy in her, they find in her true joy!

However, the joy of the Gospel is not just any joy. It consists in knowing one is welcomed and loved by God. As the prophet Isaiah reminds us in today’s first reading at Mass, God is he who comes to save us and who seeks to help, especially those who are fearful of heart. His coming among us strengthens us, makes us steadfast, gives us courage, makes the desert and the waste land rejoice and blossom; that is, when our lives becomes arid. And when do our lives become arid? When they lack the water of God’s Word and his Spirit of love. However great our limitations and dismay, we are not allowed to be sluggish and vacillating when faced with difficulty and our own weakness. On the contrary, we are invited to strengthen the weak hands, to make firm the feeble knees, to be strong and to fear not, because our God always shows us the greatness of his mercy. He gives us the strength to go forward. He is always with us in order to help us to go forward. He is a God who loves us so very much, he loves us and that is why he is with us, to help us, to strengthen us, help us go forward. Courage! Always forward! Thanks to his help, we can always begin again.

Someone might say to me: “No, Father, I did so many inexcusable things… I am a great sinner… I cannot begin from scratch!” You are wrong! You can begin from scratch! Why? Because he is waiting for you, he is close to you, he loves you, he is merciful, he forgives you, he gives you the strength to begin again from scratch! Everybody! And so we are able to open our eyes again, to overcome sadness and mourning to strike up a new song. And this true joy remains even amid trial, even amid suffering, for it is not a superficial joy; because it permeates the depths of those who entrust themselves to the Lord and confide in him.

Christian joy, like hope, is founded on God’s fidelity, on the certainty that he always keeps his promises. The prophet Isaiah exhorts those who have lost their way and have lost heart to entrust themselves to the faithfulness of the Lord, for his salvation will not delay in bursting into their lives.

Gaudete, Fr John

 

Second Sunday of Advent – December 4th 2016

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 12th 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 8th 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

 

First Sunday of Advent – November 27th 2016

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

 

Mayor’s Christmas Parcels

Anyone over 80 years of age, living alone, who would like a parcel and hasn’t previously received one, please contact Ann on 01200 422890

CAFOD – World Gifts

Looking for Christmas presents with a difference—CAFOD World Gifts could be the answer!  Delight your friends and family and make a huge difference to people around the world.  See the new Christmas catalogues in all three of our church porches