Faith must be lived out in our decisions and actions

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.”

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

 

Becoming a welcoming community

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?

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.

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.

 

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

 

Thoughts on Laudato Si

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

 

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Letter from the Queen to the Ladies Group

ST MICHAEL and ST JOHN’s LADIES GROUP
TEA DANCE

St Michael and St John ’s Ladies Group run a Tea Dance on the third Wednesday of every month. On the occasion of the Queen’s 90th birthday, 20th April, 2016, we held a special celebration – the hall was decorated with red, white and blue bunting, flags were on each table and everyone came dressed in red, white and blue.
A celebratory cake was made by one of our members, we had a glass of wine and a toast to her majesty.
Photographs were taken of this memorable occasion and sent to the Queen – including poster, cake, committee and dancers.
We have received a letter from the Queen, see below, together with some photographs of the day.

 

BUCKINGHAM PALACE
To: Everyone at St. Michael and St. John’s Ladies Group
The Queen wishes me to write and thank you for the letter which you
have sent on the occasion of Her Majesty’s ninetieth birthday.
The Queen greatly appreciated your kind words and Her Majesty was
interested to hear a little about St. Michael and St. John’s Ladies Group.
The Queen was also touched to know of the tea dance which you held
in honour of her special day and hopes you all had an enjoyable time.
Her Majesty hopes you will understand that, because of the enormous
number of letters, cards and messages she has received in the last few
months, it has not been possible to reply to you until now and I am to thank
you, once again, for your thought for The Queen at this time.
.251011

 

 

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Pray with the Pope

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

 

Christ the King – November 20th 2016

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