Random Thoughts

New on BBC 4 Thursday at 9pm

2012-02-20T19:33:00.000Z

CATHOLICS - The Series

3 x 60 minutes for BBC Four

A new three part BBC Four series on Catholic lives starts on Thursday 23^rd February at 9 pm.

Film 1 looks at the lives of ‘Priests’. Filmed at Allen Hall Seminary in Westminster, it presents a portrait of seminarians at the start and end of their priestly training.

Film 2 ‘Children’ moves north to the village of Chipping in rural Lancashire and the tiny Catholic primary school where 6 of the 33 pupils are preparing for their First Holy Communion.

‘Women’, the 3rd and final film in the ‘Catholics’ series gains exclusive access to Westminster Cathedral where the Producer/Director Richard Alwyn interviews female members of the congregation, staff and volunteers about what life is really like as a woman in the Catholic Church in Britain today.

Catholics – The Series runs for 3 consecutive Thursdays – 23^rd February/1^st March/8^th March

“Not to be missed” says the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols

“A call to the priesthood is a wonderful gift of God for a Catholic man today. This truth is explored, and beautifully portrayed, in a BBC documentary to be broadcast on BBC4 on Thursday 23^rd February. It is not to be missed. This film entitled ‘Catholics: Priests’ is followed by two further documentaries on ‘Catholics: Children’ and ‘Catholics: Women’. Each has been made with great sensitivity and real beauty. I recommend them.”

EPISODE ONE

CATHOLICS

Priests

Thursday 23rd February – 9pm BBC Four

CATHOLICS – PRIESTS is the first of a remarkable new three-part series directed by award-winning documentary film-maker Richard Alwyn about being Catholic in Britain today. The three films – one about men, one about women, one about children – are each portraits of a different Catholic world, revealing Catholicism to be a rich but complex identity and observing how this identity shapes people’s lives.

Filmed over six months and with extraordinary access, CATHOLICS - PRIESTS is a behind-the-scenes portrait of Allen Hall in London, one of only three remaining Roman Catholic seminaries in Britain.

EPISODE TWO

CATHOLICS

Children

Thursday 1 March - 9pm BBC Four

Filmed throughout the period of Lent and into the summer of 2011, CATHOLICS - CHILDREN focuses on the children of St Mary’s Roman Catholic Primary School in the village of Chipping, Lancashire. The tiny school has just 33 pupils, 6 of whom are preparing to make their First Holy Communion.

EPISODE THREE

CATHOLICS

Women

Thursday March 8^th – 9pm BBC Four

In the third of three films exploring Catholic identity, award-winning documentary film maker Richard Alwyn talks to Catholic women about how Catholicism has shaped their lives.

With remarkable behind-the-scenes access to Westminster Cathedral, Richard Alwyn’s CATHOLICS - WOMEN is a moving film in which he meets the women staff, volunteers and congregation of the Cathedral. Set against the backdrop of the rhythm of Cathedral life, Alwyn’s meetings are brief but intense encounters that describe what it is like to be a Catholic woman in Britain today.

CATHOLICS is a Wingspan Production in association with Jerusalem Productions.

Seventh Sunday of the Year

2012-02-19T18:34:00.002Z

You cannotand should not erase Christian foundations from the evolution of our nationsanymore than you can erase spires from our landscapes” This is a quote fromBaroness Warsi which in on the front of the Catholic Tablet this weekend. Thequestion for me is that many would claim that we are now living in a secularcountry and therefore there is no place for Religion in it. It seems to me thatactually it is the other way round. Because we live in a “Secular society”there is a greater need for Religion in society. There has always been a needfor God in our lives. Even RichardDawkins a well know atheist said in an interview on the Today programme infrustration “Oh God” when asked what the full title of the Darwin’s book TheOrigin of Species.

Within theGospel today we see that Mark brings us closer to Jesus. We also see three setsof people. Looking up he saw friends and faith looking around he saw criticsand negativity looking within he saw faith in some and sin in others.

This is animage of society. We can see different kinds of people in society. We know thatthere are many people of faith striving to preach the Good news by what they doand say. We can also and must recognize that we are not perfect so our need ofGod is ever more present that he not only heals our but also our soul too hepicks us up and forgives our sins.

The onegroup though that Jesus deals with by healing the paralytic and is also anissue especially for us today is dealing with the critics of this world. He looks into their hearts. By his action heshows his authority. And I think this is a good lesson to learn on how we candeal with people who are trying to make our society more and more secular. Aswe heard from the quote I said at the beginning in this country especially theChristian faith flows through the very fabric of our society. I feel stronglythat we should stand up for our faith is vocal in promoting who and what westand for. We also need to be carefulthat we do get depressed by what is happening or not happening in our country.

There are signs of hope: the Papal visit in 2010 and locally the young peoplewith strong faith preparing to go to WYD and those who performed in the parish Panto:The fact that we have so many people coming to Mass here in Bognor. These areall signs of hope and show that we do not live in a secular society. Largelypeople have some faith even it is as small as mustard seed.

We have sometimes been quite shy about promoting our faith in this country. This has ever been because of persecution or because of being English. We need to challenge society and also be a voice in our secular society.

The Sixth Sunday of the year B

2012-02-15T10:09:00.000Z

At the time of Jesus the leper wasthe group of people that was the out casts of society. They lived on thefringes of society. They were unable to come into the town and were rejected byeven their own families. So you can imagine the surprise of the authoritiesthat Jesus went to go out of his way to be with these people and reach out andheal them. We are told that he felt sorry for them. This is actually one of thethings that we struggle with in translation in other translations it actuallysaid that Jesus showed compassion for them. This gives us a clearer insight tothe person of Jesus than he felt sorry for them.

To have compassion means to be able to walk in another person's shoes. To be aChristian is to reach out and touch these people. It is to walk along side andbe a voice for the voiceless. This is very hard to do because we have allour own baggage and sometimes we don't fully understand those people who liveon the fringes of our own society

So who are these people? One of the biggest groups of people especially in ourtown is he homeless. This issue involves us all here who sit in this Church.The area is the third largest population of homelessness in the country. In theparish we are dealing with the homeless almost every day. For a long time thecouncil and the Government have buried their head in the sands hoping that itwill go away. In the Gospel the leaper came to Jesus for help. The same can besaid about the homeless today. Reaching out with compassion also involves aresponsibility from both parties. Again this week in the news we as Christianshave been challenged by secular ideals. But, we cannot be put off for me itmakes me stronger in my convictions we must stand up for those who the worldand society rejects, we need to recognize that there are people who lead livesthat may not conform to our standards. But, and here is the warning there is athin line between helping and doing everything for them. I am sure that manymay feel that giving money to the homeless may be the most compassionate thingto do. Maybe it's not really helping a great deal and actually food and alistening ear maybe the best thing to give them.

2012-02-06T14:12:00.001Z

This is roughly the way to make the Chocolate cake that I made on Sunday and some of you had at the coffee morning. Instead of the pan of simmering water I use a bowl of boiling water. Good luck and enjoy

Ingredients

250g/8oz digestive biscuits
150g/5oz milk chocolate
150g/5oz dark chocolate
100g/3½oz unsalted butter
150g/5oz golden syrup
100g/3½oz dried apricots, chopped
75g/2½oz raisins
60g/2oz pecans, chopped (optional)

Preparation method

Use cling film to line a 20cm (8in) shallow, square-shaped tin. Leave extra cling film hanging over the sides.
Bash the biscuits into pieces using a rolling pin. (Put them in a plastic bag first so they don't go everywhere!)
Melt chocolate, butter and golden syrup in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally.
Remove the bowl from the heat and stir in the broken biscuits, apricots, raisins and pecans (optional).
Spoon the mixture into the tin. Level the surface by pressing it down with a potato masher.
Leave to cool, then put the chocolate mixture in the fridge for 1-2 hours to set.
Turn out the cake and peel off the cling film. Cut the cake into 12 squares and enjoy!

The Fifth Sunday of the year (Education Sunday)

2012-02-06T14:07:00.000Z

There is ahuge danger in modern society today. And it is a disastrous disease that issweeping across the whole of Western society today: that is the danger of doingtoo much. I know as a priest that there is always something to do, alwaysanother place to be. You could unsuccessfully do 12 hour days 7 days a week. AndI am not the only profession/vocation that can do silly hours. And so thatactually happens is that we are defined by what we do rather than who we are.By doing we feel needed and wanted by those around us. It is something thatgives us value in our lives. The commonphrase we find ourselves are “Would love to, Yes of course, I can do that.”They always seem constantly busy and doing things. But by slowing down and stopping sometimescauses a great deal of guilt for ourselves.

We run fromone event to another without taking time for ourselves and then we wonder whywe always feel under weather or get angry. And sometimes we have in ourselvesan innate feeling that everyone needs us so we must be all things to allpeople. We get this wonderful false impression that only we can save thesituation.

In theGospel today we get this idea of a day in the life of Jesus where he seems togo from place to place doing many things and from casting out devils topreaching the Kingdom of God. In a sense his work was never done and yet welearn that he was able to take some time out to pray and just be.

This weekendwe celebrate Education Sunday it is where we celebrate and also recognize andthank God for the work of our Catholic Schools. We see from today’s Gospel thatthere is a holistic approach to the life of Jesus where he takes time forhimself as well as work. So what should our schools be teaching? If we see thatCatholic Education is just about passing exams and teaching our young people tobe doers then we are missing the mark. We also need to teach our Children theCatholic faith and to reflect and learn how to be. But most of all we mustteach our young people to pray and have a relationship with the person ofJesus.

2012-01-31T17:26:00.000Z

Tuesday, 31 January 2012SAINT JOHN BOSCOPriest
(1815-1888)

Born in the diocese of Turin in 1815, and brought up in poverty, John Bosco devoted his life to the education of working youth.

He founded religious congregations -the Salesian Order, and the Congregation of the Helpers of Mary -to carry on his ideals.

He fell asleep in the Lord on January 30, 1888 at the age of seventy-two.

John Bosco (Italian: Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco; 16 August 1815^[1] – 31 January 1888), was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer of the 19th century, who put into practice the convictions of his religion, dedicating his life to the betterment and education of street children, juvenile delinquents, and other disadvantaged youth and employing teaching methods based on love rather than punishment, a method that is known as the preventive system.^[2] A follower of the spirituality and philosophy of Francis de Sales, Bosco dedicated his works to him when he founded the Society of St. Francis de Sales (more commonly known as the Salesian Society or the Salesians of Don Bosco). Together with Maria Domenica Mazzarello, he founded the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, a religious congregation of nuns dedicated to the care and education of poor girls, and popularly known as Salesian Sisters. In 1876 Bosco founded a movement of laity, the Salesian Cooperators, with the same educational mission to the poor.^[3] In 1875 he published Bibliofilo Cattolico - Bollettino Salesiano Mensuale (The Catholic Book Lover - Salesian Monthly Bulletin.)^[4]^[5] TheBulletin has remained in continuous publication, and is currently published in 50 different editions and 30 languages.^[4]

Bosco succeeded in establishing a network of organizations and centres to carry on his work. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1934.

Life

Bosco was born in the evening of 16 August 1815 in Becchi.^[6] He was the youngest son of Francesco Bosco (1784–1817) and Margaret Occhiena. He had two elder brothers, Antonio and Giuseppe (1813–1862).^[6] The Bosco of Becchi were farmhands of the Moglia Family. John Bosco was born into a time of great shortage and famine in the Piedmontese countryside, following the devastation wrought by the Napoleonic wars and a drought in 1817.^[7]

Margaret played a strong role in Bosco's formation and personality,^[8] and was an early supporter of her son's ideals.^[9]^[10] When he was young, he would put on shows of his skills as a juggler, magician and acrobat^[11] with prayers before and after the performance.^[12]

In 1825, when he was nine, Bosco had the first of a series of dreams which would play an influential role in his work and outlook.^[13] This dream "left a profound impression on him for the rest of his life", according to his own memoirs.^[13] Bosco saw a man, who "appeared, nobly attired, with a manly and imposing bearing".^[13] The man said to him:

You will have to win these friends of yours not with blows, but with gentleness and kindness. So begin right now to show them that sin is ugly and virtue beautiful.^[13]^[14]

Poverty prevented any serious attempt at schooling. Nevertheless it's suggested that the idea to become a priest came from his early childhood, especially following the dream he had when he was nine.^[15] At the time, being a priest was generally seen as a profession for the privileged classes, rather than farmers, although it was not unknown.^[15] Some biographers portray his brother Antonio as the main obstacle for Bosco's ambition to study, arguing that "He’s a farmer like us!"^[16] Nevertheless, Margaret gave her support to John and he finally left home in February 1828 at the age of twelve.^[15] Having to face life by himself at such a young age may have developed his later sympathies to help abandoned boys. After begging unsuccessfully for work, Bosco ended up at the wine farm of Louis Moglia.^[15] However, although Bosco could pursue some studies by himself, he was unavailable to attend school for two more years. In 1830 he met Fr. Joseph Calosso, an elderly priest who identified some natural talent and supported his first schooling.^[17]

Priesthood and first apostolates

Don Bosco

John Bosco began as the chaplain of the Rifugio ("Refuge"), a girls' boarding school founded in Turin by the Marchioness Giulia di Barolo, but he had many ministries on the side such as visiting prisoners, teaching catechism and helping out at country parishes.

A growing group of boys would come to the Rifugio on Sundays and feast days to play and learn their catechism. They were too old to join the younger children in regular catechism classes in the parishes, who mostly chased them away. This was the beginning of the "Oratory of St. Francis de Sales". Bosco and his oratory wandered around town for a few years and were turned out of several places in succession. After only two months based in the church of St. Martin, the entire neighborhood expressed its annoyance with the noise coming from the boys at play. A formal complaint was lodged against them with the municipality. Rumors circulated that the meetings conducted by the priest with his boys were dangerous; their recreation could be turned into a revolution against the governments. The group was evicted.^[18]

In 1846, Bosco rented a shed in the new Valdocco neighborhood on the north end of town from Mr. Pinardi. This served as the oratory's home. His mother moved in with him and in 1847, he and "Mamma Margherita" began taking in orphans.

Even before this, Bosco had the help of several friends at the oratory. There included priests like Joseph Cafasso and Borel, some older boys like Giuseppe Buzzetti, Michael Rua, Giovanni Cagliero and Carlo Gastini as well as Bosco’s own mother.^{[citation needed]}

One friend was Justice Minister Urbano Rattazzi, who despite being anticlerical, nevertheless saw value in Bosco’s work.^[19]^[20] While Rattazzi was pushing a bill through the Sardinian legislature to suppress religious orders, he advised Bosco on how to get around the law and found a religious order to keep the oratory going after its founder’s death.^[19] Bosco had been thinking about that problem, too, and had been slowly organizing his helpers into a loose "Congregation of St. Francis de Sales". He was also training select older boys for the priesthood. Another supporter of the religious order's idea was the reigning Pope, Blessed Pius IX.^[21]

Bosco hated the ideals that had been exported by revolutionary France, calling Rousseau and Voltaire "two vicious leaders of incredulity",^[22] favouring an ultramontane view of politics that acknowledged the supreme authority of the pope. In 1854, when the Kingdom of Sardinia was about to pass a law suppressing monastic orders and confiscating ecclesiastical properties, Bosco reported a series of dreams about "great funerals at court", referring to politicians or members of the Savoy court.^[23] In November 1854, he sent a letter to King Victor Emmanuel II, admonishing him to oppose the confiscation of church property and suppression of the orders, but the King did nothing.^[24] His actions, which had been described by Italian historian Erberto Petoia as having "manifest blackmailing intentions",^[25] ended only after the intervention of Prime Minister Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour. Despite such criticisms, the King's family did in fact suffer a number of deaths in a short period. From January to May 1855, the King's mother (age 54), wife (32), newborn son (Vittorio Emanuele, Count of Genoa; nearly 4 months old), and his only brother (32) all died.^[23]^[24]

Several attempts were made on his life, including a near-stabbing, bludgeoning and a shooting. Early biographers put this down to the growing influence of the Waldensians in opposition to Catholic clergy.^[18]

Opposition to Bosco and his work came from various quarters. Traditionalist clergy accused him of stealing a lot of young and old people away from their own parishes. Nationalist politicians (including some clergy) saw his several hundred young men as recruiting ground for revolution. The Marquis de Cavour, chief of police in Turin, regarded the open-air catechisms as overtly political and a threat to the State, and was highly suspicious of Bosco's support for the powers of the papacy. Bosco was interrogated on several occasions, but no charges made. Closure may have been prevented by orders from the king that Bosco was not to be disturbed.^[26]

Foundation of the Salesian Family

Basilica Don Bosco in Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Asti.

In 1859, Bosco selected the experienced priest Alasonatti, 15 seminarians and one high school boy and formed them into the "Society of St. Francis de Sales." This was the nucleus of the Salesians, the religious order that would carry on his work. When the group had their next meeting, they voted on the admission of Joseph Rossi as a lay member, the first Salesian brother. The Salesian Congregation was divided into priests, seminarians and "coadjutors" (the lay brothers).

Next, he worked with estarino, Mary Mazzarello and a group of girls in the hill town of Mornese. In 1871, he founded a group of religious sisters to do for girls what the Salesians were doing for boys. They were called the "Daughters of Mary Help of Christians." In 1874, he founded yet another group, the "Salesian Cooperators." These were mostly lay people who would work for young people like the Daughters and the Salesians, but would not join a religious order.^[27]

The story of the departure of the first Salesians for America in 1875 is based on the missionary ideal of Bosco. After his ordination, he would have become a missionary had not his director, Joseph Cafasso, opposed the idea. He eagerly read the Italian edition of the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith and used this magazine to illustrate his Cattolico provveduto (1853) and his Month of May booklets (1858).

When Bosco founded the Salesian Society, the thought of the missions still obsessed him, though he completely lacked the financial means at that time. One night, he dreamt again. Being on a vast plain, inhabited by primitive peoples, who spent their time hunting or fighting among themselves or against soldiers in European uniforms. Along came a band of missionaries, but they were all massacred. A second group appeared, which Bosco at once recognized as Salesians. Astonished, he witnessed an unexpected change when the fierce savages laid down their arms and listened to the missionaries. The dream made a great impression on Bosco, because he tried hard to identify the men and the country of the dream.

For three years, Bosco searched among documents, trying to get information about different countries, thus identifying the country from his dream. One day, a request came from Argentina, which turned him towards the Indians of Patagonia. To his surprise, a study of the people there convinced him that the country and its inhabitants were the ones he had seen in his dream.

He regarded it as a sign of providence and started preparing a missionary there. Adopting a way of evangelization that would not expose his missionaries suddenly to wild, uncivilized tribes, he proposed to set up bases in safe locations where their missionary efforts were to be launched.

Statue of San Juan Bosco, Ronda, Spain

The above request from Argentina came about as follows: Towards the end of 1874, John Bosco received letters from that country requesting that he accept an Italian parish in Buenos Aires and a school for boys at San Nicolas de los Arroyos. Gazzolo, the Argentine Consul at Savona, had sent the request, for he had taken a great interest in the Salesian work in Liguria and hoped to obtain the Salesians' help for the benefit of his country. Negotiations started after Archbishop Aneiros of Buenos Aires had indicated that he would be glad to receive the Salesians. They were successful mainly because of the good offices of the priest of San Nicolas, Pedro Ceccarelli, a friend of Gazzolo, who was in touch with and had the confidence of Bosco. In a ceremony held on 29 January 1875, Bosco was able to convey the great news to the oratory in the presence of Gazzolo. On 5 February he announced the fact in a circular letter to all Salesians asking volunteers to apply in writing. He proposed that the first missionary departure start in October. Practically all the Salesians volunteered for the missions.

By this time Italy was united under Piedmontese leadership. The poorly-governed Papal States were merged into the new kingdom. It was generally thought that Bosco supported the Pope.

The Preventive System

Bosco's capability to attract numerous boys and adult helpers was connected to his "Preventive System of Education". He believed education to be a "matter of the heart" and said that the boys must not only be loved, but know that they are loved. He also pointed to three components of the Preventive System: reason, religion and kindness. Music and games also went into the mix.

Bosco gained a reputation early on of being a saint and miracle worker. For this reason, Rua, Buzzetti, Cagliero and several others chronicled his sayings and doings. Preserved in the Salesian archives, these remain resources for studying his life. Later on, the Salesian Lemoyne collected and combined them into 77 scrapbooks with oral testimonies and Bosco’s own Memoirs of the Oratory. His aim was to write a detailed biography. This project eventually became a nineteen-volume enterprise, carried out by him and two other authors. These are the Biographical Memoirs. It is not the work of professional historians, but chronicles that preserve the memories of teenage boys.

Bosco's concerns over his influence

Shortly before his death, Bosco commented "I will reveal to you now a fear... I fear that one of ours may come to misinterpret the affection that Don Bosco had for the young, and from the way that I received their confession - really, really close - and may let himself get carried away with too much sensuality towards them, and then pretend to justify himself by saying that Don Bosco did the same, be it when he spoke to them in secret, be it when he received their confession. I know that one can be conquered by way of the heart, and I fear dangers, and spiritual harm."^[28]^[29]^[30]

Death and legacy

Bosco died on 31 January 1888. His funeral was attended by thousands. Soon after there was popular demand to have him canonized. The Archdiocese of Turin investigated and witnesses were called to determine if Bosco was worthy to be declared a saint. The Salesians, Daughters and Cooperators gave supportive testimonies. But many remembered Bosco’s controversies in the 1870s with Archbishop Gastaldi and some others high in the Church hierarchy thought him a loose cannon and a wheeler-dealer. In the canonization process, testimony was heard about how he went around Gastaldi to get some of his men ordained and about their lack of academic preparation and ecclesiastical decorum. Political cartoons from the 1860s and later showed him shaking money from the pockets of old ladies or going off to America for the same purpose. These cartoons were not forgotten. Opponents of Bosco, including some cardinals, were in a position to block his canonization and many Salesians feared around 1925 that they would succeed.

Pope Pius XI had known Bosco and pushed the cause forward. Bosco was declared Blessed in 1929 and canonized on Easter Sunday of 1934, when he was given the title of "Father and Teacher of Youth".^[31]

While Bosco had been popularly known as the patron saint of illusionists, on 30 January 2002, Silvio Mantelli petitioned Pope John Paul II to formally declare St. John Bosco the Patron of Stage Magicians.^[32] Catholic stage magicians who practice Gospel Magic venerate Bosco by offering free magic shows to underprivileged children on his feast day.

Bosco's work was carried on by his early pupil, collaborator and companion, Michael Rua, who was appointed Rector Major of the Salesian Society by Pope Leo XIII in 1888. Salesians have started many schools and colleges around the world.

Footnotes

^ Giovanni Battista Lemoyne (1965). The Biographical Memoirs of Saint John Bosco (1rst ed., Volume I, 1815 - 1840, p.26). New York, Salesian Publisher, Inc.
^ John Morrison (1999). The Educational Philosophy of Don Bosco (Indian ed., p.51). New Delhi, Don Bosco Publications, Guwahati. ISBN 81-87637-00-5
^ "Salesian Cooperators". Salesians of Don Bosco, Province of Mary Help of Christians, Melbourne. http://www.sdb.org.au/family/default.cfm?loadref=111. Retrieved 2 May 2010.^{[dead link]}
^ ^a ^b "The Salesian Bulletin in the World". Eircom.net, Dublin. http://homepage.eircom.net/~sdbmedia/bulletin/sdb_bull_world.htm. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
^ Ceria, Eugenio; Diego Borgatello (1983). The Bibliographical Memoirs of Saint John Bosco, volume XIII (1877 - 1878). New Rochelle, New York: Salesiana Publisher. p. 191. ISBN 0-89944-013-4.
^ ^a ^b Lemoyne, Giovanni Battista; Diego Borgatello (1965). The Biographical Memoirs of St. John Bosco. New York: Salesiana Publisher, Inc.. pp. 20–28.
^ The Piedmont drought lasted from 1817 to 1819. See The Majesty of Charleston by Peter Beney, p.64, 2005 edition.
^ Lemoyne, Giovanni Battista; Diego Borgatello (1965). The Biographical Memoirs of St. John Bosco. New York: Salesiana Publisher, Inc.. pp. 44–49.
^ "Venerable Margaret Occhiena". Salesian Society of Don Bosco. February 8, 1995. http://www.sdb.org/ENG/Pagine/_2_12_19_25_.htm. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
^ Steve Whelan. "Mamma Margaret". Salesian Bulletin, Don Bosco West. http://www.donboscowest.org/salesian_family/salesian_bulletin/199801/mamma_marg.htm. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
^ Willey, David, Magician priest wants patron saint of magic BBC News 2June 2002
^ Magnificat.ca
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Lemoyne, Giovanni Battista; Diego Borgatello (1965). The Biographical Memoirs of St. John Bosco. New York: Salesiana Publisher, Inc.. pp. 95–96.
^ St. Giovanni Melchior Bosco Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 2., New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907, accessed June 9, 2009
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Lemoyne, Giovanni Battista; Diego Borgatello (1965). The Biographical Memoirs of St. John Bosco. New York: Salesiana Publisher, Inc.. pp. 142–152.
^ "Don Bosco, Friend of the Youth". Salesians of Australia. http://www.donbosco.org.au/DonBoscoStory.htm. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
^ Lemoyne, Giovanni Battista (1965) "24" The Biographical Memoirs of St. John Bosco ISalesiana Publishers, Inc., New York pp. 159–163
^ ^a ^b Charles D'Espiney, Don Bosco: A Sketch of His Life and Miracles, 1884
^ ^a ^b Craughwell, Thomas J. This Saint's for You!, pp. 156-157, Quirk Books, 2007
^ Jestice, Phyllis G., Holy People of the World, p. 138, ABC-CLIO, 2004
^ Villefranche, Jacques-Melchior, The Life of Don Bosco: Founder of the Salesian Society, pp. 15-16, Burns & Oates, 18??
^ Giovanni Bosco: « Storia ecclesiastica ad uso delle scuole », in Giovanni Bosco: Opere edite. Prima serie: Libri e opuscoli, vol. 1 : 1844-1855, Rome, Editrice LAS, 1976 (37 vol. : 19600 p. ), p. 496
^ ^a ^b Mendl, Michael The Dreams of St. John Bosco Journal of Salesian Studies 12 (2004), no. 2, pp. 321-348.
^ ^a ^b Memoirs of the Oratory of Saint Francis de Sales 1815 - 1855: The autobiography of Saint John Bosco Translated by Daniel Lyons, SDB, with notes and commentary by Eugene Ceria SDB, Lawrence Castelvecchi SDB, and Michael Mendl SDB, Ch. 55, fn. 802
^ Petoia, Erberto (June 2007). "I sinistri presagi di Don Giovanni Bosco". Medioevo: p. 70.
^ Alban Butler, Butler's lives of the saints, Volume 1, 1995
^ "Patron Saints Index". http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintj14.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
^ Translated from the Italian, from Giacomo Dacquino, Psicologia di don Bosco, Sei, Torino 1988, page 128: "Ti manifesto adesso un timore (...), temo che qualcuno dei nostri abbia ad interpretar male l'affezione che don Bosco ha avuto per i giovani, e che dal mio modo di confessarli vicino vicino, si lasci trasportare da troppa sensualità verso di loro, e pretenda poi giustificarsi col dire che don Bosco faceva lo stesso, sia quando loro parlava in segreto, sia quando li confessava. So che qualcuno si lascia guadagnare dal cuore, e ne temo pericoli e danni spirituali"
^ Paul Pennings, "Don Bosco breathes his last. The scenario of Catholic social clubs in the Fifties and Sixties". Among Men, Among Women, Amsterdam 1983, pp. 166-175 & 598-599
^ Stephan Sanders,A phenomenon's bankruptcy; Don Bosco and the question of coeducation. Ibidem, pp. 159-165 e 602-603
^ "Catholic Online". http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=63. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
^ Magicians Want Don Bosco Declared Their Patron 2002-01-29 Zenit News Agency

English Collage 650

2012-01-31T17:23:00.001Z

650 years of the English Collage Rome:

The Venerable English College, located in the heart of the Eternal City, has been of invaluable service to the faithful of England: welcoming her pilgrims, forming her priests, and -- during the age of persecution -- giving her martyrs.

Friday through Sunday, the Venerable English College celebrated its 650th anniversary of service to Catholic faithful of England and Wales. The oldest English institution outside of England, it was originally established as a hospice for pilgrims on Jan. 27, 1362. When it became illegal to train as a priest in England, the hospice was converted into a seminary, preparing men to serve the faithful as priests in their home country.

The celebrations began Friday with Mass presided over by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, who served as rector of the College from 1971-1977. At the conclusion of the Mass, the cardinal intoned the Te Deum, the traditional hymn which, during the persecution of the Church in England, the students of the College would gather and sing upon receiving the news that one of their classmates had been martyred.

On Saturday morning, Holy Mass was celebrated at the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva by Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, followed that evening with a lecture on the history of the College. The Mass on Sunday morning, which was celebrated by Archbishop Nichols of Westminster and concelebrated by 70 priests and bishops, was attended by more than 200 guests.

The hospice

During the Holy Year of 1350, a group of Englishmen living in Rome were inspired by the great number of pilgrims traveling to Rome. They formed themselves into the "Confraternity of St. Thomas of Canterbury," signing the deed for what would become the Venerable English College on Jan. 27, 1362. There was already an English couple living there, John and Alice Shepherd, who sold rosary beads to pilgrims visiting the medieval St. Peter's. As a hospice it attracted large numbers of pilgrims including, in its early years, the mystic Margery Kempe, the priest-hunter Thomas Cromwell, the future martyr St. Henry Walpole, and later the poet John Milton. In Henry VII's reign, it was known as the "King's Hospice"; Henry VIII described it as "Our Hospice."

The "Age of Martyrs"

The Venerable English College entered into the most dramatic phase of its history when, in 1579, it became a seminary due to the law in England that prohibited the training of priests. Here, young men were prepared for the "Mission" to their home countries of England and Wales, that they might support the faith as priests for the persecuted Catholics. Between 1581 and 1678, 44 of its alumni were martyred in their homeland, the first of them being St. Ralph Sherwin. Upon hearing that one of their brother priests had been martyred, the students would gather before the "Martyrs' Picture" -- a painting of the Holy Trinity, commissioned shortly after the seminary was founded -- and chant the Te Deum. Among those martyred, 10 have been declared saints, 26 have been recognized as blessed, and four as Venerable.

Many of the pilgrims who pass through the College today are deeply moved by this profound history. "Ever since the first students arrived, they were keen to keep the faith alive in England and Wales, and in the home nations," says Marc Homsey, a seminarian in his sixth year. "The courage that they would have had just by the knowledge that it was an extremely dangerous thing to do -- to return to England as a Catholic, hopefully not getting caught, so as to be able to minister to the people in England. But then, to know that they willingly gave their lives as part of this, to sacrifice themselves to keep the faith alive in England, is an amazing fact, and the people that visit the College are very grateful for the witness that these students gave."

The mission of the Venerable English College, which is to serve the Church of England from the heart of the Church in Rome, continues even today. "It's an honor and a privilege to be part of this great tradition," Homsey continued, "the continuous tradition ever since 1579 of having students trained here for the priesthood. And even though we won't go back to potential martyrdom in England nowadays, there is still perceived persecution from society. We still have a very evangelical mission to carry out back in our homeland, and so there is a lot to look forward to in terms of keeping this tradition alive."

Some of the notable guests who were present during the celebrations were the retired archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, along with Cardinals Levada and Tauran. Others present were the archbishop of Cardiff and the bishops of Lancaster, Leeds, Middlesbrough and Plymouth; the secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Archbishop Augustine Di Noia; the president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, Archbishop Marcelo Sanchez Sarondo; and the apostolic nuncio to Guatemala, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.

Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, one of the former rector's of the College, was joined by five priests to have succeeded him in that position: Monsignors George Hay, Jack Kennedy, Adrian Toffolo, Patrick Kilgarriff and the current Rector, Nicholas Hudson. Rectors from all the other seminaries for England and Wales were also present. A large group of alumni, known affectionately as the "Old Romans," were also present, along with a similarly large number of the College's support association, "The Friends of the Venerable

4th Sunday of the year B

2012-01-29T16:57:00.000Z

Last year Fr Dominic and I on our visit to Jerusalem tooksome time to go to the Holocaust Memorial and Museum. It is on a hill thatoverlooks the main city of Jerusalem and is a permanent reminder for all peoplewhat the wrong use of power and authority can do to those around them. We have also seen in our own country andChurch what can happen when people use their power and authority for their ownmeans rather than for the great good of others. It is no wonder that manypeople in the world have a great mistrust of those in authority.

This gives then a great challenge for today’s Gospel when wehear that Jesus had power and authority. So what is different? Mark shows usthat Jesus is invested with the power of the Holy Spirit at his baptism and soacts with authority. So through his words and actions he is acting on theauthority of God himself.

So what the people see is that the difference between theteaching of Jesus and other religious figures of the time is that with Jesussomething actually happens. It is not a matter of words but it creates a deepimpression on the listeners because they can see real change for the good iteffects the broken, the crippled and the dispossessed.

The Gospel is one of action: He not only shares his wisdombut also his power, his power to heal by words and actions. This is a new kindof authority and as we can see it wins the approval of all. But, as we knowlater this new kind of authority and power will challenge others and ends indisaster for Jesus.

And after over two thousand years since the death of Christwhat do we do with this authority? We should also be challenged by the teachingof Jesus but often we try and pigeonhole his authority in what best fits usrather than to rise to the challenge. Wewater it down so that it best suits our own understanding and circumstances.What we have not grasped and we see quite importantly with the disciples isthat through this authority and following Jesus came freedom.

So today we need to think about two very important things.First of all how does the authority we have, and we all have it in differentways, is life giving for others. Or are we holding on to authority and powerbecause it suits our own means rather than for the good of others? And also dowe really try and live out the teaching of authority of Jesus and his Church orare we supermarket Catholics picking what we like and leaving the morechallenging teachings on the shelf.

The Third Sunday of the Year

2012-01-24T17:00:00.004Z

The Third Sunday of the Year B

When we look at the news or the Newspapers we may get thefeeling that there is little or no Good News out there. We may get anunderstanding that there are so many bad things going on in the world thatthere is no room for Good News. And what we do is to get sucked into this worldof Bad News. I think that this has beenhighlighted with the advent of the rolling news on TV.

We are asked in this weekend’s Gospel to “Repent andbelieve the Good news.” The word Repent means to think again the people of Ninevehin the first reading were asked by Jonah to think again about their behaviourand the way they treated each other. We must constantly think about the waythat we treat each other and the way that shows itself as good news for othersor as bad news for others. And keep seeking the Lords Forgiveness and return tohis love. But, I think that the problemgoes deeper than this. For we are asked to “Repent and believe the Good news.”

The key word that links both of these fundamentals to ourfaith together is the word “Believe.” And, this is where a lot of peoplestruggle. Do we really believe that we are forgiven by God? That he loves usand this is good news? This belief comes from our image of who we see Jesus as.

Our image of Jesus defines our image of the Church ofrepentance and of Good news. It can become a blockage to a real and authenticrelationship with the person of Jesus. If we see Jesus as a person who isjudging us then our relationship with him will be one of always trying toplease him. This is possibly the image of Jesus that is presented by the Churchof pre Vatican II.

Our relationship with him must come from him being bothfully human and fully divine. We must see him in friendship as a real humanbeing with real human emotion: But also the power to forgive sins and heal. TheGood News must come from our relationship with him through prayer and study toknow the person of Jesus really in our lives. The Post Vatican II Jesus is oneof love and acceptance of who we are and where we have come from. Just think ofthe story of the Prodigal son. We are not judged but wrapped in love.

The Good News then is that we are loved by Jesus totallyand unconditionally we just have to Believe it for ourselves and that’s thehard work.

2012-01-16T13:55:00.001Z

I have to say that this weekend I said something different from what I actually prepared but these are the notes from which I drew my inspiration.

This weekendwe have an opportunity to explore what is the meaning of being called by God.It is also a chance to look at what our response might be in the midst of thiscall. So I thought that I would reflect with you what this call has been likein my life and where I am today as a priest. I remember my Mum telling me atthe age of about 7 I came down from upstairs after a night’s sleep and I toldher that I wanted to become a priest. When I she asked me why I explained toher that it was because they only worked on Sunday. My Vocation to thePriesthood came because I was being invited to come and see and for me also toavail myself and say “here I am.” Both must work together but yet sadly manyare put off either by no invitation because of negativity about the Church thatthey receive from others or because of the business of the world and theirlives they never able to hear God speaking to them and so cannot say “Here Iam.”

I wonder ifwe look back for a moment in our own lives we can think of those good men andwomen who inspired us and invited us by the way they lived or what they told usencouraged us to be introduced to the person of Jesus. And so we should do thesame. Many people come into the Church on the RCIA because they have beeninspired by others; they have seen Christian witness really at work in theirlives and want a bit of it. Some have gone on to be priests, Religious or goodparents living out the Christian message in their lives. Where did it startfrom a simple invitation to “Come and See” exactly like Andrew talking to hisbrother Peter.

Vocation route is “to be called.” But, as I havediscovered in my own life through the doubts about my ministry to leaving itfor a while to work in Retail that it takes courage and trust in the Lord tosay “ Here I am” and “ Speak Lord your servant is listening.” It may take along time for us to really realise our role in the world and God’s plan for us.As Newman says we may never really discover it in this life. But, we must beopen to that invitation. We must allow ourselves to be open to the will of Godand be able to say with trust and hope “ Speak Lord your servant is listening

The Epiphany of the Lord

2012-01-09T17:47:00.002Z

Today we see that Jesus is made manifest for all peoplesand all nations. The wise men coming from all corners of the globe follow astar to meet Jesus bringing three significant gifts of Gold Frankincense andMyrrh. Three gifts to represent his kingship, divinity and also pointingtowards how he was to die. It must have felt quite an odd thing to happen forMary and Joseph but we are told that Mary kept all these things in her heart.

Both Mary and Joseph made these rather mysteriouscharacters welcome and allowed them to worship Jesus.

This story has got me thinking about our parish communityand actually how we treat the stranger who comes into our Church. For the houseof God is for everyone no matter who they are and where they have been. As aparish community we should extend the welcome out to everyone because we areall brothers and sisters in the Lord. And we may think that we are a welcomingand warm community but when we go deeper what is the reality. I have witnessedhere in this very Church people being asked to move because the person hasalways sat there and that their seat or a child that makes noise and peoplearound them tut and pull faces. We have a Christian duty to make the strangerwelcome to bring Christ to them to make Jesus manifest not only in the worldoutside these doors but also in the Church. We profess to be Christian and cometo Church and yet sometimes and I include myself in this we do not act like it.

I often wonder what more we can do to get people in tohear the message of God’s love for them. I don’t think that we can often blamethe teachings of the Church or the new translation or the priests/Bishops sometimesit comes down to a simple welcome and making someone feel that they belong. It’sas simple and as complicated as that.

As we strive into a New Year let us all become awelcoming community allowing the stranger to feel at home and challenge anybehaviour that we see that is contrary.

Christmas

2011-12-24T11:30:00.002Z

To all my readers: Have a very happy Christmas and a blessed New Year. I have placed a link to the Song I have used in my Christmas Homily. God Bless you all. Fr Peter

And all thishappened because the world is waiting, waiting for one child A Child that willgrow up and turn tears to laughter. Hate to love, war to peace. And every oneof everyone’s neighbour Misery and suffering will be words to be forgottenforever.

The Song asyou may well know was sung by Jonny Mathis and comes out every Christmas. ITtells us the story of a Child that brings peace to the word. It is also a songof hope that we will learn from this child what it means to love one another.But, when we see a newly born baby what does it teach us about God and his lovefor us. A baby is totally dependent on its parents. And so should try and become like littlechildren and become dependent on God. A Baby brings also people together weonly have to see that in the story of Christmas where the wise men and theshepherds came to see the Holy family. And so also 2000 years later Jesusbrings families together. And so welcome if you are a long lost member of ourfamily here in this Church. It is a great joy and blessing to see you today.Everyone is very welcome here as we are all part of God’s family.

I am awarethough that there are lots of families cannot share in the joy of Christmasthis year. Maybe their Sons or Daughters are away either in the armed forces ora member of their family has died in the last year. This is where the family ofGod can help sp much by praying for them. And maybe we can spare a though forthem this Christmas day.

There are somany examples where the Christmas story is played out and the message of thelove of God is shown. An example of this is the famous story of Christmas day1914 when in the trenches the English and German went into no man’s land andshared songs, cigarettes and photos. They even had an improvised game offootball. For a day they forgot about what the orders of their superiors hadsaid and showed that the spirit of Christmas prevailed. In a sense it was amissed opportunity. Let us not waste our opportunities today to bring aChristmas into others lives. But, not only for one day but for all our lives sothat the spirit of Christmas is always shown in how we live in the world andhow we treat others.

And so Iremind you of the words I started with:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ6hJNGZ8vg&feature=related

News-Campaign to save Pugin's personal church of St Augustine’s / News Releases / Home - The Catholic Church for England and Wales

2011-12-18T18:34:00.000Z

News-Campaign to save Pugin's personal church of St Augustine’s / News Releases / Home - The Catholic Church for England and Wales

Advent 4

2011-12-18T18:18:00.000Z

There is a serious question that needs to ask in the Gospel today. For today we have the annunciation of Mary. It is a story of the start of the Infancy narrative that we hear so much about next weekend as we celebrate Christmas. But, also today is a story of Vocation. It is a story of discovery for Mary about what God had chosen her to do. So let us take a closer look at what this story says to us today. The first thing that we notice is that angel says “Rejoice.” For Mary had been chosen. But, Mary was afraid even though the Angel said that you would not be doing this alone for the “Lord is with you.”

To follow the Lord is hard it takes both courage and also we too can be afraid. We also don’t believe all the time that the Lord is with us. I remember for years in my own vocation that I thought that I could do it alone. I too was unable to see the hand of God in my life. I realise now that I was afraid. I thought that I could not possibly follow the Lord be a priest because of my own sinfulness. I was afraid to say Yes to let go and let God into my life. When we begin to accept that the “Lord is with you” because we are loved by him then we can respond to what the Lord wants us to do in our life.

After the angel has said to Mary “Do not be afraid” we see another interesting word that the angel says and it is just one word that we must do in order to respond to our own vocation and it’s just one word “Listen!” In today’s modern and noisy society we have forgotten how to listen to the voice of God to that calling. I believe that one of the reasons why there seem to be a lack of vocations especially to the Priesthood and religious life is that we have lost the art of listening to God. We have become the sound bite generation. Notice that even when we listen to the news we have the music in the background so that it draws our attention. And so we need to focus on really listening to the voice of God not only in silent prayer but by reading the signs of what people say around us or by our own feelings about what the Lord is calling us to do.

Another reason why we sometime shy away from our vocation is that we do not believe that we are worthy of the call. We like Mary ask “How can this come about?” This is where we need to trust in him for nothing is impossible to God.

The discernment process is hard and often challenging because it is a matter of trust and allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us and realising that we need to let go of some of the control in our lives and let God. Mary had to let go and let God. She knew that the path ahead was going to hard with many hardships but she allowed God to do his work. Let us also pray that we can follow the example of Mary and trust in God and know that the Lord is with us.

Advent 3

2011-12-12T13:00:00.000Z

Have you ever been in a place where you know well but because it is dark it feels very unfamiliar. We feel our way and what appears normal with the light on is very different in the dark. But, then we the light on and we draw a collective sign of relieve because we realise where we are. The gospel today is about light. And where there is light there is hope. This is something that as Christians especially in this advent season we can really draw upon. We are people of the light and of hope. We can see this is our language even in this winter season. I have had so people say that it's ok the shortest day is next week and then it starts to get lighter.

Again this weekend we meet the rather strange character of John the Baptist: This time from the Gospel of John. We notice that he says that he is not the light " I am not the light." the noticeable words in this sentence is the words "I am." the listeners would have remembered the story of Moses and the burning bush. Where the holy name of God was said as "I am who I am" Jesus states his divinity through these words and states seven times in the gospel that "I am." so Jesus is our light and the hope of a brighter future. He is the expectant hope that we hear about in the first reading. Light tends to give warmth even on a cold day in a sheltered place we can feel the warmth of the light in the sun if it is out.

Often it is hard to see this light in what increasingly seems like a darkened world. A world that is in the midst of violence, economic meltdown where neighbour does not get on with each other. Through this darkness comes Jesus this is what gives us joy. So how does Jesus show us his light let us again look at the first reading. Here the prophet Isaiah states that the messiah would be the one to set people free. To un bind the captive and to declare a year of favour for the lord. To putting it simply is the light for the world around us and says to those who can only see darkness in their lives "I am the light"

And we have a responsibility to be that light for others. For we know who the light is for us and if we hide this light it will be put out. So let others see the light by the joy that knowing Christ our light gives to us by the gift of the Holy Spirit given to us in baptism. We were given that light at our baptism from the paschal candle a light divided but undimmed to be kept burning and to give others that light. Let us not rest in this awesome responsibility given to each one of us. So that others may also know that Jesus the Christ is the light for all people.

Advent 2

2011-12-05T16:10:00.000Z

I need to explain here that there are two homilies here for the price of one. I got a bit carried away the other day when writing them. This does not mean that you will get three homilies next week. That is just being greedy

There is no surprise in the first line of today’s Gospel. Mark quite simply states that he wrote his work for the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ. But, what maybe is quite surprising is the emergence of what that the first hint of what that proclamation not comes from Jesus himself but from a rather way wood person John the Baptist the Wildman of the Wilderness. A man that does not belong to any religious group or political persuasion and what does he preach repentance and forgiveness. Mark pretexts this with a quote from the prophet Isaiah so that the listeners are in no doubt that it links with the Old Testament prophecies of the coming of the Messiah

But, surely this quote also links in with the message of John the Baptist. So let us take a closer look. I wonder what the Wilderness in our life is. Does it mean for us that we have all these gifts and talents given to us by God that we do not use them? Or are we walking in the wilderness of our own selfish attitudes. Have we had a difficult time to forgive our neighbour or ourselves? And what about the valleys these could be our dips in faith and enthusiasm for our faith. The times we have doubted that God exists or our prayer life fails. And the mountains are those times when we feel that we are the obstacles in our life where we fail to see the person of Christ in others or even ourselves. The desert may represent the coldness of feeling towards others and us in a heart bearing no fruit of love and compassion

Now this may sound bleak and like being in a desert seems endless and hard work. Well I have to tell you that the spiritual life is hard work.

But wait it is not all bad news. Advent is about hope. Hope for the Messiah, Hope for us to say come Lord Jesus. Come and transform us. Come and rejuvenate us. Our Advent prayer of hope breaks through and tears through the obstacles of our lives. Our advent prayer helps us to find the path out of the wilderness of our selfishness and pride. Our Advent prayer renews our faith and gives us a heart of love. All we need to do is to be to open ourselves and be able to say “Come Lord Jesus.”

Part two

We have an opportunity to allow God to enter in to attempt in this advent season to make our paths straighter. Last week I gave the challenge to turn off your mobile phones in order to hear the word of God in our lives to make space for God by for one day getting rid of a distraction. This week I invite you to think about the sacrament of Reconciliation to receive God’s love. I invite you this Advent to make use of the sacrament. To open our hearts and invite the Lord to Come and help us make our paths straight and find that road out of the wilderness. But don’t think we are doing this alone. Look at the prayer we say at mass the “I confess”. Once we have acknowledged our sins we ask the community to pray for us because we need the help and prayer of our Brothers and Sisters to make our paths straight. The Last hope that we have is that we do not do this alone. We do it with the help of Jesus but also our brothers and sisters who are praying for us too. This is one of the most important things to realise and something that we forget often.

Advent 1

2011-11-26T17:44:00.000Z

It seems that because of the way that we live our lives at such a pace that we have become less patient. Let us look at the reasons why I say this. Have you ever stood waiting at the Bus stop and it has not come exactly on time and you start to tut or you a train is slightly late leaving the platform we start to wonder why. It seems that the world has speeded up and we get caught up in this rat race and we find it very difficult to slow down and therefore I think that we lose patients.

Sometimes we have to be patient. Things do not come to us straight away. We have to prepare and get ready. This is another danger in this Advent season to think that we are already emerged in Christmas. Instead of waiting and preparing for the birth of Christ: Often we are all Christmased out by the time it comes to the 25^th December.

So we need to learn to wait patiently and prepare well for the coming of Christ so that the coming of Christ at Christmas does not end in an anti climax.

The clues on who to wait patiently come in the Gospel today. The Gospel tells us to stay awake. What does this mean? Surely if we stay awake we will surely fall asleep. But there is a deeper meaning. Sometimes we can be spiritually asleep and this is because we have not managed to slow down and stop and listen to what is happening around us. Like allowing and looking around us at the beauty of the world. The image in the psalm is to allow God rest upon us like the Sun resting upon our faces on a warm day. But do not worry if it takes a bit of time to slow down. Sometimes it can take us a few days in order to slow down.

But can I suggest something that we might do to help with this slowing down in order to listen. And here I am going to be very controversial and some of you won’t like. So I am going to say this quickly “Turn of your Mobile phones for one day.” We don’t have to be available 24 hours of the day. Before you do this make sure you know how to turn it on again. Turn it off and maybe we can do some way forward to slowing down and having that little bit of patience

Feast of Christ the King

2011-11-20T18:34:00.000Z

The other day I was watching one of my favourite programmes called 30Rock. It is a comedy about film studio. In this episode they had decided to make a charity programme to raise money for a disaster that had not happened yet: So that their channel could be the first to get on the band wagon when the news of the disaster comes into their rolling news channel.

These run on charity programmes raising money for all different causes are part of our national conscience from the recent poppy appeal to Children in Need to Red Nose day. They are all very important and it is good to give money to charity and it helps millions of people not only in this country but in other countries too and it makes us feel good a warm feeling in our hearts that we have done some good.

I remember a few years ago listening to this Gospel and feeling quite good about myself because of the charities that I had given to throughout the year. So we had gone into Lunch with the parish priest and tucking into our Chicken and roast potatoes when a knock came on the front door. It was a group of Refugees that had found themselves in Leigh on Sea five of them in a single room.

Suddenly this gospel became real. For here was the stranger, here was the person in real need and they were standing at our door step. Often when we throw money at things we don’t actually face the reality of people’s lives. It makes us feel better, but does it really change another person’s life.

I would like to propose another way. Jesus challenges us to see the face of Christ in our brother and sister .for I was hungry so it is Christ himself who stands before us in the poor in those in need. And what do we do? We cross the street avoid the person. Surely it’s easier to throw a bit of money to a charity than to spend time them. Here in the person that we find most difficult that we would not share a cab with is our brother and sister and here in front of us is Christ himself and would we turn him away.

So what does this Gospel teach us about the feast that we are celebrating today? It teaches us something about the Kingdom. The listeners would have been shocked that Jesus said that the Kingdom was for all nations Jews as well as Gentiles that there needed to be help for everyone they would have recognized the fact that the things asked of them were part of the Jewish arms giving the good works of mercy.

What it also teaches us is that the best thing that we can give is not necessarily money but our time. Time to be with those on the fringes of society. To go out of our way in helping to poor. This is the greatest gift that we can give and the greatest way of helping bring the Kingdom of God here on earth.

Vatican News

2011-11-16T22:45:00.002Z

Vatican cardinal urges priests to spice up ‘dull, irrelevant’ sermons

By MADELEINE TEAHAN on Thursday, 10 November 2011

Cardinal Ravasi also encourages priests to use Twitter (Photo: PA)

A Vatican cardinal has appealed to clergy to liven up “dull, flavourless” sermons in an address at a conference in Rome.

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, claimed that homilies had become “irrelevant” to worshippers who were used to the thrill and excitement of modern technology such as the television and the internet. He said: “The advent of televised and computerised information requires us to be compelling and trenchant, to cut to the heart of the matter, resort to narratives and colour.”

The cardinal described the theological language used by priests in their sermons as “grey, dull and flavourless” and appealed to priests to use the graphic and dramatic imagery of the Bible to illustrate their sermons with colour and intrigue.

The Bible was “crowded with stories, symbols and images”, he said, which were appropriate for “the children of television and the internet” who grace church pews.

Speaking at the conference the cardinal encouraged priests to use social media networks to communicate the faith and the Word of God. He said: “We need to remember that communicating faith does not just take place through sermons. It can be achieved through the 140 characters of a Twitter message.”

Cardinal Ravasi was appointed president of the Pontifical Council for Culture in September 2007. In November last year Pope Benedict XVI elevated him to the College of Cardinals.

The cardinal, who some see as a possible future pope, blogs regularly for the Italian financial newspaper Il Sole
24 Ore.

2011-11-14T11:36:00.000Z

This weekend was Remembrance Sunday so I will post also the poem " The Fallen" as a memorial to those who have died in the two great wars but also those who have in recent conflicts and their families.

For The Fallen
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

32nd Sunday of the Year A

2011-11-08T08:29:00.002Z

THE END IS NIGH. But there is so many things that I want to do. Give me a little time: The Cats still in the garden. I have not finished the washing. Can’t it wait until there is a little more time to have a think about it? Maybe tomorrow when I am not so busy? And yet maybe the questions we need to ask are: Am I ready? Have I done everything that I can? Am I ready to meet Jesus? Is my Soul really longing and thirsting for the God of my life.

The Gospel shows us that sometimes we are not ready to meet the Lord. We are like the foolish bridesmaids who when asked are not ready at all because they were not prepared the story tells us that they had gone out to buy oil for their lamps: and so missed out.

It is suggested that we are like the wise bridesmaids who were ready for the bridegroom when he came.

So how do we do this? How do we get ready? Well the readings give us a very good clue. The psalmist prays and acknowledges that he is waiting and yearning for God. We wait in prayerfulness for the Lord’s coming. We build our relationship with the God who loves him. “For your love is better than life, my lips will speak your praise.” By prayerful communion with Jesus by coming to Mass and receiving the sacraments we are making ourselves ready. But, it is also putting this prayer into action. We need to try our best to live the Christian life in the world in which we live in. In the book of wisdom it states “She herself walks about looking for those who are worthy of her in every thought of theirs coming to meet them.” Our relationship with the person of Christ our prayer life is shown in the way that we live our lives.

“So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.” Clearly Jesus did not know the time when the world would end. What he did know though is that we should be prepared and spiritually awake for that time. So in the words of the scout movement “be prepared.”

ALL SOULS

2011-11-04T10:24:00.002Z

Yesterday we celebrated the feast of all saints. We remembered all those holy men and Women who have gone before us who are now with God. Today we pray for those people who have also died but their pilgrimage to God is not yet over. They are in the place of purification sometimes known as Purgatory. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.”

So as we hear in the preface of the Mass today that for your faithful people life has changed not ended.

Today and during the month of November we pray for those who have gone before who still need our prayers. And so the holy souls depend on the prayers of the whole Church not just the earthly church but also the communion of saints. At Mass we join their prayers with them. This is why it is important to pray and remember the dead. This is why it is important to go to the grave side of those who we loved to pray for them during this month of November. They rely on our intercession our prayers “because it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead so that they may be loosed from their sins.”

So let us this month of November take a breath and pause for a while. Take some time to remember but also to pray for our beloved brothers and sisters who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith.

Eternal Rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

ALL SAINTS

2011-11-02T07:54:00.000Z

Today’s feast celebrates all those holy Men and Women who have gone before us who have never been formally canonised. The feast dates back to the beginning of the seventh century when the Pope consecrated the Pantheon in Rome, which was a pagan temple. There was a legend that the bones of the Martyrs and others buried at the catacombs were re-buried under its floor.

And so the Church celebrates and thanks God for their personal witness to the Gospel.

So what is a Saint? I want to use a piece that the Holy Father used when he was here in September last year as he spoke to the pupils at St Mary’s Collage Twickenham.

When I invite you to become saints, I am asking you not to be content with second best. I am asking you not to pursue one limited goal and ignore all the others. Having money makes it possible to be generous and to do good in the world, but on its own, it is not enough to make us happy. Being highly skilled in some activity or profession is good, but it will not satisfy us unless we aim for something greater still. It might make us famous, but it will not make us happy. Happiness is something we all want, but one of the great tragedies in this world is that so many people never find it, because they look for it in the wrong places. The key to it is very simple – true happiness is to be found in God. We need to have the courage to place our deepest hopes in God alone, not in money, in a career, in worldly success, or in our relationships with others, but in God. Only he can satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts.

I think that these words can also apply to use no matter how old we are. Our vocation is to become saints to be day by day conformed into the likeness of God To be whole We grow in holiness not only by our own efforts and merits but by being united into the Body of Christ, the Church.

ALL SAINTS

2011-11-02T07:51:00.001Z

And so the Church celebrates and thanks God for their personal witness to the Gospel.

So what is a Saint? I want to use a piece that the Holy Father used when he was here in September last year as he spoke to the pupils at St Mary’s Collage Twickenham.

31st Sunday of the Year A

2011-10-30T18:28:00.000Z

Lord it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror
'cos I get better looking each day to know me is to love me.
I must be a hell of a man. O Lord it's hard to be humble
but I'm doing the best that I can.

This could be the song of the Pharisees in today’s Gospel. The Pharisees had a reputation of putting lots of burdens on people regarding the law and thinking that they were humble when in fact they were no humble at all. They saw themselves as perfect and others as worthless. Jesus could not stand religious hypocrisy and this false sense of humility.

So what are the signs that we need to watch out for. Jesus points to three things. They do not practice what they preach. They demand more of others than they do of themselves. They crave attention and are caught up in the trappings of honour. They are focused on self and not on others or God. It becomes a fundamental religion so it becomes a set of principles and laws rather than worship of God which is what we are made for. And I am aware that today some priests of the Church put unfair burdens on people or do not practice what they preach. Or get caught up in the position they hold and willed authority over people.

To be humble then is to try our best to be authentic. To practice what we preach, live for others and not for ourselves. To put others first and ourselves last. And if we have a position of authority not be caught up in the trappings of that authority and try our best to be a servant for others.

The other way to find a meaning of humility for ourselves is to look at the opposite of it which is pride. This leads me back to the song I quoted at the beginning. It is full of pride and self praise seeing ourselves as better than others. It is the look at me cultures the culture of self: Where I am the centre of my own universe which is a very dangerous place to be. A place where we seek glorification, praise and we do this sometimes without thinking. For example when we have done something that we found to be good we may say to another “What did you think about that?” Seeking an instant hit of praise to give ourselves a quick fix. We put ourselves first before God. I know I fall into this trap quite often.

IF we find ourselves getting like this, and trust me we all do sometimes let us look at the example of Jesus himself. Here was a man who washed the feet of his disciples, listened and acted upon what he heard. And put God at the centre of our lives. He was a man of prayer and allowed himself to be used by God even to accepting Death.

I am lastly reminded of a story from Henri Nouwen an outstanding spiritual writer. He was sensitive to the lack of appreciation or attention he was getting. In the midst of one of these moments he remembered the advice given by Mother Theresa “When you spend one hour adoring your Lord and do anything you know to be wrong, you’ll be fine” He later confessed “She punctured my big balloon of complex self-complaints and pointed me far beyond myself to a place of real healing” Anyone who exults themselves will be humbled, and anyone who humbles self will be exulted.

The internationally renowned priest and author, respected professor and beloved pastor Henri Nouwen (pronounced Henry Now-win) wrote over 40 books on the spiritual life. He corresponded regularly in English, Dutch, German, French and Spanish with hundreds of friends and reached out to thousands through his Eucharistic celebrations, lectures and retreats. Since his death in 1996, ever-increasing numbers of readers, writers, teachers and seekers have been guided by his literary legacy. Nouwen’s books have sold over 2 million copies and been published in over 22 languages.
Born in Nijkerk, Holland, on January 24, 1932, Nouwen felt called to the priesthood at a very young age. He was ordained in 1957 as a diocesan priest and studied psychology at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. In 1964 he moved to the United States to study at the Menninger Clinic. He went on to teach at the University of Notre Dame, and the Divinity Schools of Yale and Harvard. For several months during the 1970s, Nouwen lived and worked with the Trappist monks in the Abbey of the Genesee, and in the early 1980s he lived with the poor in Peru. In 1985 he was called to join L’Arche in Trosly, France, the first of over 100 communities founded by Jean Vanier where people with developmental disabilities live with assistants. A year later Nouwen came to make his home at L’Arche Daybreak near Toronto, Canada. He died suddenly on September 21st, 1996, in Holland and is buried in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
Nouwen believed that what is most personal is most universal; he wrote, “By giving words to these intimate experiences I can make my life available to others.” His spirit lives on in the work of the Henri Nouwen Society, Henri Nouwen Stichting, the Henri Nouwen Trust, the Henri J. M. Nouwen Archives and Research Collection, and in all who live the spiritual values of communion, community and ministry, to which he dedicated his life.

2011-10-15T09:04:00.000+01:00

Twenty Ninth Sunday of the year

In today’s Gospel Jesus poses the Question that many people in pubs right across our land and at dinner tables tell us that we should never do and that is to mix politics and religion. They are in one sense poles apart and yet they are linked also. We live in a world where Politics and Religion sit side by side sometimes not very well. As a Catholic Christian how do we respond to this? Well I think that we have a very clear answer in today’s readings. In the Gospel today we see that Jesus is asked a question about politics and especially tax. Jesus gives a very clever response he realises he is trapped so he says “Very well, give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God”

Religion and Politics live in harmony together we cannot take one away from the other. We are called to be responsive to both society and to God. We have a responsibility to both and our following of God must inform our decisions about politics and especially what political party we chose to vote for.

Through our religion and our way in the world we are called to be responsible citizens in the place of whom we live in. We have a responsibility to inform ourselves of the politics of the time and of those who live around us. When the Pope visited England last year and spoke to the Houses of Parliament in the Historical surroundings at Westminster Hall he spoke about the role that politics and Religion were linked together he says about politics that: “It is a two-way process. Without the corrective supplied by religion, though, reason too can fall prey to distortions, as when it is manipulated by ideology, or applied in a partial way that fails to take full account of the dignity of the human person.”

So next time we watch Question time or think about what party to vote for we should take these words by the Pope and meditate on them. In our Judgement we should not think about single issue politics which I feel is quite dangerous. When we look at single issue politics we fail often to look at the whole picture. So we should look at the policies that they are promoting and “take full account of the dignity of the human person” as it says in the Bishops conference statements leading up the 1997 election this means to look at those who are venerable in our society to look at the common Good of all people.

2011-10-09T17:07:00.000+01:00

Twenty eighth Sunday of the year

There was a wonderful programme a number of years ago called Keeping up appearances. If you remember Hyacinth Bucket was the archetypal snob. Who was always trying to get the great and the good the well off and those who were socially acceptable to her “Candle lit suppers?” She would spend most of the programme trying to get people to them. It is always blighted by her rather scruffy and unkempt in laws who are constant embarrassments to her.

In today’s gospel we are invited to a wedding feast. In Jewish imagery the King is an image of God and the great feast is a popular Jewish image for the joy of the life to come. As we heard in today’s first reading: “On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will prepare a banquet of rich food and a banquet of fine wines.” When the banquet is prepared he sends his servants who are the prophets out to inform the people that they are invited to this banquet but they refuse to come. The invited are the chosen people.

Matthew writes his Gospel after the destruction of the Temple and the Holy City by the Romans in AD 70 so he would have seen the consequences of the actions of the Jewish people in very real terms.

So what about the Parable for us today? We are invited to the banquet of the Lord the Mass. It is here on the Sunday celebration that we are invited by God to that union with him. We are invited to enter more deeply into the mystery of his love and the death and resurrection of Christ. Through the Mass we get a glimpse of Heaven as the bread and wine is transformed into the Eucharist Christ truly present. It is Heaven on Earth for in the Eucharist we see God’s Glory.

Sometimes we don’t fully understand how wonderful and magnificent this is. And so, and we all do it, look for a quick Mass complain about the Hymns sung or the style of the priest. We look at the Mass as a fast food outlet to get it over and done with for another week. We moan when it is too long or too short. We reduce the Mass to some sort of service provider and the priest looks at his congregation as customers trying to please as many as possible.

We are challenged then to go deeper into the mystery of the Eucharist we come to meet Christ himself who is just as present as he was to his disciples. This is why we come to Mass, this is why it is important this is why it is here that the Mass is heaven on earth.

There is another part of the Gospel that since I preached this some people do not understand and that is the last bit about the man who did not have the wedding garments on. One explanation that I was given is that at these events at the time of Jesus people were given garments to wear. This man did not have a garment and so was not part of those who were invited in with the second wave of guests. And so he was expelled from the feast.

This book has really inspired me on the Mass and very easy to read you should give it ago

2011-10-09T16:59:00.001+01:00

Twenty eighth Sunday of the year

Matthew writes his Gospel after the destruction of the Temple and the Holy City by the Romans in AD 70 so he would have seen the consequences of the actions of the Jewish people in very real terms.

This is the Book that I have just read on the Mass which is fantastic

Twenty Seventh Sunday of the Year a

2011-10-03T12:29:00.001+01:00

This parable when first heard by those listening would have angered and also shocked the listener. For what we have is a parable about how the Jewish people had treated the prophets in the past. They were sent by God to give the Good news of salvation to the people of Israel. Each of them were rejected and despised. Lastly after sending the prophets he sent his only Son and what we see is anger and a violent rejection of Christ. This parable became true with the death of Christ. This parable then was telling the Jewish authorities what was going to happen to him.

Sadly this rejection of Jesus and of Religion is also present in our country today. We have seen the dramatic fall in numbers coming to the Church and many people are actively against any forms of organised Religion. They see it as a hindrance to personal freedom and even actively opposed to it. We saw this is the lead up to the Papal visit last year. Where people such and Peter Tathell, Stephen fry led us to believe that the visit and organized religion is something that people don’t want in their lives. So what do we do when we don’t have a religion we make one up we turn other things into a religion as a counter sign to rejection of Christ and religion. So we have football, money the pursuit of power, drink and drugs to fill in the gaps and make them into religions.

Even political systems try and fill in the gaps of society by giving us the " Big Society" idea. This is OK in itself but it needs to have bite and teeth. It cannot be something to fill in the gaps because there is no money.

The rejection of Christ then is actually a rejection of Religion and the core values that goes with it. In a recent programme to mark the Jewish New Year Lord Jonathan Sacks points out that the breakdown of society and an authentic value system is because there is a rejection of Religion. He looked at the family as important aspect, how we treat each other in the wider society so respect and seeing each person in the image of God and lastly to learn and our respect for the old and vulnerable in society.

We I feel as a Catholic community hold the same value system. The family, the domestic Church, is vital in the handing down of the message of Jesus. It is here that we put Christ of at the corner stone so how can we do this practically maybe by praying a grace before meals or spending time as a family in prayer. We can respect others and see the image of God in other people by curbing our tongue when gossip start by seeing everyone as God’s work of art. With the respect of the vulnerable in society maybe spending time visiting or doing some work of charity or simply praying for those who are finding life difficult.

One way in which we can help in this is by looking at ourselves as it says in Paul’s letter this weekend we need to be careful that we don’t reject Christ by what we are reading or looking at. To discover what is beautiful and enjoy God’s creation So that our whole lives becomes a way of praising God: This one of the ways that we can produce the fruits of the Kingdom.

Below is the link to the program I mentioned in the Homily

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b015d4pt/Whats_the_Point_of_Religion/

Twenty Seventh Sunday of the Year a

2011-10-03T12:20:00.001+01:00

New Bishop

2011-09-18T20:05:00.000+01:00

I thought I would share with you the process that the Brentwood diocese are going through to discern a new Bishop

1) Appointing a New Bishop

Bishop Thomas, having celebrated his seventy fifth birthday recently, has submitted his resignation to the Holy Father. Once this has been accepted a formal process of consultation begins. The final decision is taken by the Pope. The Vatican Department responsible (The Congregation for Bishops) will give him the names and dossiers of three possible candidates – this called a ‘terna’. This short list is prepared in consultation with the Papal Nuncio. Over the coming months he will consult widely and send in the results together with his personal recommendation of three names.

The Nuncio plays crucial role. He will consult Archbishop Vincent Nichols and the other Bishops of Westminster Province, the Diocesan College of Consultors – the Bishop’s advisory body – and some other clergy, religious and lay people.

What part can you play? The Nuncio needs not just individual names but advice and information on the needs and priorities that will face a new Bishop so that he can weigh up the qualities of those whose names are put forward. Any individual can write directly to the Nuncio but the advice is that groups should channel their submissions through the College of Consultors. The Diocesan Chancellor, Mgr Gordon Read, will act as secretary to the Consultors and you should write to him or to the Nuncio, marking the envelope ‘Confidential’. It is likely that the consultation process will take about three months starting from September.

His Excellency Archbishop Mennini

54 Parkside

Wimbledon

London SW19 5NE

Mgr Gordon Read

The Presbytery

Church Street

Kelvedon

Essex CO5 9AH

Please also commend to your personal prayer and the prayer of the parish community the whole process that we will embark upon with regards the choosing of a New Bishop for the Diocese of Brentwood. Please use the Prayer Cards distribted to all parishes recently, and perhaps, even include the prayer every week in your Parish Newsletter

On Sunday 9th October, The New Feast Day of Blessed John Henry Newman, there will be a Holy Hour in every Parish throughout the Diocese of Brentwood to pray for Process of choosing and the Intercesion of a New Bishop for the Diocese. Each parish will make their own arrangements, re. time etc. Please encourage as many of the faithful people of God as possible to attend, and for for this very important intention. We will be seen to be united in prayer and faith in this most important taks ahead of us.

2011-09-18T13:33:00.000+01:00

25^th Sunday of the year A

When the Pope had finished his visit to the U k it was reported that someone asked him how he felt and he said that it was like having “Fresh Wind in Our sail.” The Catholic Church of England and Wales have taken this short phrase for the theme of this week being Home mission Sunday. Often we have an idea that the mission is elsewhere but it actually begins with us at this very moment in the diocese of A &B and here in our own town of Bognor Regis.

This Fresh Wind could be the Holy Spirit a renewal of faith and for some a home coming back to the Church. IF you are one of these then you are very welcome indeed and it is great to see you here we have missed you very much. For most of us though the events of last year many have re affirmed our love Jesus Christ and felt encouraged by the support of others around us.

But whatever it is the mission starts with us, and our encounter with the person of Jesus. This encounter takes many different ways but we encounter him every time we come to Mass in the Blessed Sacrament we encounter him in the love shown by others, St Vincent de Paul describes how he would encounter Christ in the poor and those on the fringes of society. Maybe for some of us our encounter is just starting and we want to find out more then I encourage you to have a think about our Emmaus programme which is on the front of the Newsletter (but don’t read it yet you can wait until after Mass)

The one way that we can encounter Christ in a very special way is one I think is sadly underused and that’s in the sacrament of Reconciliation. We need to as it says in the first Reading “Seek the Lord” and in the Psalm we here that the “Lord is close to all who call him” So we are encouraged to seek the Lord and call on his mercy and forgiveness. For the sacrament is not an encounter with the priest but an encounter with the person of Christ. We prepare to meet him a time of examination of Conscience and then acknowledge our sins and actually speak them.

The sacrament of reconciliation feels like today a forgotten sacrament. There are many reasons for this. Maybe some people feel that they can speak to God directly about their sins and so don’t need the sacrament. Others feel embarrassed or they find that they find it difficult to acknowledge their faults and failings. Some people have had a bad experience in the confessional and so don’t go. Whatever the reason we need the experience of speaking our Sins out loud to another person and not feel judged: To feel his love and peace in our lives.

Any physiologist will tell you that it is better to say something out loud rather than keep it bent up inside. And so the Church recognises this and gives us an opportunity to speak out loud what we our failings have been in a safe and no judgemental environment. For Christ to hear where we have been and where we have failed enables us to deepen our relationship with Jesus.

Maybe by going to the sacrament of reconciliation to experience his grace in a special encounter with Christ will encourage us to put fresh wind in our sails: To experience his love afresh and renew us so that we can then speak to others about the love of God.

One Year since the Papal Visit

2011-09-18T13:30:00.000+01:00

Bishops issue message a year after Pope’s Visit

Catholics called to help build communities and the renewal of Church and society with courage and faithfulness

Bishops from England and Wales have called on all Catholics to be confident, faithful and courageous in playing a full part in building a better future for all in this country, especially during these difficult times of economic and social turbulence.

The call comes on the first anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s historic State Visit to the UK during which he helped many to recognize that “faith is not a problem to be solved, but a gift to be discovered afresh”. Polling undertaken immediately after the Pope’s visit showed that the majority of the country agreed that there is a place for God and religion in public life.

Reflecting on the Pope’s call for all to discover the definite service that God has called all of us to give, the Bishops have set out their priorities for the Church over the next five years. The Bishops state:

“Following the wonderful example Pope Benedict has given us, in our mission we must be gentle but also confident in manifesting the ‘beauty of holiness’... faithful in proclaiming the ‘ splendor of truth’... courageous in testifying to ‘the joy and freedom born of a living relationship with Christ’.”

Following the re-establishment of Friday abstinence as a common act of witness and of solidarity with those who are in need or suffer and as an expression of our vocation to follow Christ who sacrificed his life for the good of all humanity, the Bishops called on all Catholics to witness publicly to their faith with renewed confidence and to assist in all of their activities to work together for the good of the community at large.

The Bishops conclude:

“On Home Mission Sunday, the anniversary of the Holy Father’s visit to our country, we renew our faith in the power of God to lead us through the difficult times faced by our nation and by our world. Confidently Catholic we look forward not anxiously or fearfully, but with renewed hope and courage. We invoke God’s blessing on our country and on our world.”

The anniversary of the State Visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the UK is being marked by a Mass of Thanksgiving at Westminster Cathedral at 1500 on Sunday 18 September. The Mass will be attended by those who made a particular contribution to the organization of the Visit. All of the Bishops of England & Wales, along with all seminarians, will attend remembering the historic meeting of the Holy Father with the Bishops and seminarians at St Mary’s College, Oscott, on 19 September, 2010. Her Majesty’s Government will be represented by officials headed by Simon Martin, the Director of Protocol for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, accompanied by the Ambassador to the Holy See, Nigel Baker. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of England will be represented by the Bishop of St Albans.

ESSAGE FROM THE

CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF ENGLAND AND WALES

ON THE OCCASION OF THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE VISIT

OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI TO THE UNITED KINGDOM

18 SEPTEMBER 2011

A PILGRIMAGE TO THE HEART OF THE BRITISH PEOPLE

On this anniversary of the momentous Visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom, we recall the excitement, vision and hope that stirred in the hearts of so many who watched or took part in those historic events. Many experienced the Visit as a powerful encounter of God’s love and a welcome response to the “deep thirst there is among the British people for the Good News of Jesus Christ”[i].

Only a few days after returning to Rome from the UK, the Holy Father spoke movingly of the importance of the Visit:

“It was an official Visit and at the same time a Pilgrimage to the heart of the past and of the present of a people rich in culture and faith, as is the British people. It was an historic event that marked a new and important phase in the long and complex relations between those peoples and the Holy See....in the four busy and very beautiful days I spent in this noble land I had the great joy of speaking to the hearts of the inhabitants of the United Kingdom and they spoke to mine, especially with their presence and with the testimony of their faith. Indeed I could see how strong the Christian heritage still is and how active it still is in social life at every level. British hearts and British lives are open to the reality of God and there are numerous expressions of religious feeling that my Visit has made even more visible.”[ii]

A VISION FOR THE CHURCH IN OUR LAND

Mindful of the need to “proclaim the Gospel afresh”[iii], Pope Benedict presented a vision and direction for the Church in our land. This vision challenges each Christian believer, “in accordance with his or her state of life”, to work “for the advancement of God's Kingdom by imbuing temporal life with the values of the Gospel”[iv]. Inspired by the teaching of Blessed John Henry Newman[v], it directs the Church on a journey where, “each of us has a mission, each of us is called to change the world, to work for a culture of life, a culture forged by love and respect for the dignity of each human person”[vi]. All of this, the Holy Father reminded us, can only be attained “By letting the light of faith shine in our hearts, and by abiding in that light through our daily union with the Lord in prayer and participation in the life-giving sacraments of the Church”[vii].

What this vision encourages us to seek and hope for is the renewal of Church and society through the mission, teaching and witness of all the Christian faithful. Pope Benedict has helped many to see that faith in God is not a problem to be solved but a gift to be discovered afresh. By his gentle, courteous, humble and open-hearted approach, the Holy Father models for us a way in which we can share this vision with others. By our gentle, courteous, humble and open-hearted living of the Christian faith, we too can proclaim the Gospel through the “beauty of holiness”, “the splendour of truth” and “the joy and freedom born of a living relationship with Christ”[viii].

In setting out this vision, the Holy Father also reminded us that we must be realistic in our understanding of contemporary society and the world around us. The financial crisis which Pope Benedict spoke of a year ago and the suffering of long term unemployment which has caused so much hardship to countless individuals and families, is still very much with us and its end seems a long way off. The effects of the global economic emergency, the desperate living conditions which millions of people face all over the world, the lack of hope and the profound crisis of faith within our society, form the context in which this vision is presented. Nevertheless, Pope Benedict reminded us that it is precisely in times of “crisis and upheaval” that “God has raised up great saints and prophets for the renewal of the Church and Christian society”[ix]. All the Christian faithful should then reflect on and, seek the graces for, the particular “definite service”[x] that Almighty God is calling us to give.

THE NEW EVANGELISATION

A significant part of our continuing reflection on the Holy Father’s Visit and the vision he presented to us will involve next year’s XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome. This Synod will have as its theme: ‘The New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Christian Faith’.

After his Visit to the UK, Pope Benedict explained that: “In addressing the citizens of... (the United Kingdom), a crossroads of culture and of the world economy, I kept in mind the entire West, conversing with the intellect of this civilization and communicating the unfading newness of the Gospel in which it is steeped. This Apostolic Journey strengthened a deep conviction within me: the ancient nations of Europe have a Christian soul, which is one with the ‘genius’ and history of the respective peoples, and the Church never stops working to keep this spiritual and cultural tradition ceaselessly alive”.[xi]

That statement links the urgency of the New Evangelisation with the vision and challenge presented by the Holy Father during his Visit. The Christian faith has ancient and deep roots in our lands. It has formed our nation and continues to play an important role in forming many aspects of our national and cultural life. It has a voice and a resonance which find a home in many a heart of those within our land who would not necessarily call themselves Christian.

Yet, as Pope Benedict stated: “No-one who looks realistically at our world today could think that Christians can afford to go on with business as usual, ignoring the profound crisis of faith which has overtaken society, or simply trusting that the patrimony of values handed down by the Christian centuries will continue to inspire and shape the future of our society.”[xii]

The challenge of the New Evangelisation is then, ‘how’ we “work for the advancement of God's Kingdom by imbuing temporal life with the values of the Gospel”[xiii] and “present in all its fullness the life giving message of the Gospel”[xiv].

THE WORK AHEAD

Over the past year, we the Bishops of England and Wales have reflected together on the Holy Father’s ‘Pilgrimage to the heart of the British people’ and the vision he presented. We have considered the challenge he issued to the Church, to proclaim the Gospel, “which liberates our minds and enlightens our efforts to live wisely and well, both as individuals and as members of society”[xv]. Together with the Church throughout the world, we are determining the demands of the New Evangelisation.

We have begun to formulate how the mission, teaching and witness that we must give will be expressed strategically in the priorities, aims and objectives for our work as a Bishops’ Conference over the next three to five years. These priorities will shape our work as a Bishops’ Conference, determining our use of scarce resources and offered in support of the mission of every diocese in England and Wales.

Integral to this work is recognising the importance of being confident, faithful and courageous in our mission, teaching and witness. Following the wonderful example Pope Benedict has given us, in our mission we must be gentle but also confident in manifesting the ‘beauty of holiness’, a beauty which can lead the heart of every person to an intimate knowledge of Christ[xvi]. In our teaching, we must be courteous but also faithful in proclaiming the ‘splendour of truth’ through “the witness of lives lived in integrity, fidelity and holiness”[xvii]. In our witness, we must be humble and open-hearted but also courageous in testifying to ‘the joy and freedom born of a living relationship with Christ’.

In respect of our mission, our first priority area of work will be: ‘To proclaim the universal call to holiness in Christ - by promoting a culture of vocation within the corporate identity of the Catholic Church, marked by a confident Catholic faith’; in relation to ‘teaching’, the second priority area of work will be: ‘To proclaim Christ and his Gospel as saving truth – by fostering and encouraging a culture of dialogue and solidarity’; and in terms of witness, our third priority area of work will be: ‘To proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God - by serving and witnessing to the whole community, especially by supporting marginalised and vulnerable people’.

Within these priority areas we have already identified a number of aims and objectives:

We have re-established Friday abstinence as a common act of witness and of solidarity with those who are in need or suffer and as an expression of our vocation to follow Christ who sacrificed his life for the good of all humanity.

We are actively encouraging lay Catholics to witness publicly to their faith with renewed confidence and to communicate a culture of vocation to a wide audience.

We are creating a national vocations framework, offering discernment opportunities to all, not only to ecclesial vocations but also to marriage and other forms of lay witness[xviii].

We will continue to encourage the programme we have begun of ‘deepening social engagement’ to bring greater coherence, support and visibility to the Church’s evangelising witness through the development of ‘Caritas’ within England and Wales.

We will foster opportunities to “build bridges of friendship to other religions, to heal past wrongs and to foster trust between individuals and communities”[xix] by building on the unique and inspirational encounter between people of faith and representatives of other religions which took place during the Holy Father’s Visit.

We will work with other Christians and people of other religions to identify the areas of greatest need, at home and abroad, so that we can come “together in concrete forms of collaboration, as we apply our religious insights to the task of promoting integral human development, working for peace, justice and the stewardship of creation” and to work “together for the good of the community at large”[xx].

We will strengthen our communication of the work of the Church through the use of new technology and build partnerships with appropriate media outlets to build on the vision of the New Evangelisation for the transmission of the Christian Faith.

CONFIDENTLY CATHOLIC

In coming to the UK, the Holy Father “...wanted first and foremost to support the Catholic Community, encouraging it to work strenuously to defend the immutable moral truths which, taken up, illuminated and strengthened by the Gospel are at the root of a truly human, just and free society.” He also wished “...to speak to the hearts of all the inhabitants of the United Kingdom, excluding no one, of the true reality of man, of his deepest needs, of his ultimate destiny.” [xxi]

We believe that the ‘beauty of holiness’, the ‘splendour of truth’ and the ‘joy and freedom born of a living relationship with Christ’ can still speak powerfully to the hearts of the people of our country. This is the inspiration for our work ahead.

On this Home Mission Sunday, the anniversary of the Holy Father’s visit to our country, we renew our faith in the power of God to lead us all through the difficult times faced by our nation and by our world. Confidently Catholic, we look forward then not anxiously or fearfully but with renewed hope and courage. We invoke God’s blessing on our country and on our world.

[i] Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Bishops of Scotland, England and Wales, Oscott College, 19 September 2010

[ii] Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, Saint Peter's Square, Wednesday, 22 September 2010

[iii] Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Bishops of Scotland, England and Wales, Oscott College, 19 September 2010

[iv] Pope Benedict XVI, Address, Hyde Park Vigil, 18th September 2010

[v] Blessed John Henry Newman, Meditations and Devotions, "Meditations on Christian Doctrine", "Hope in God—Creator", March 7, 1848

[vi] Pope Benedict XVI, Address, Hyde Park Vigil, 18th September 2010

[vii] Pope Benedict XVI, Address, Hyde Park Vigil, 18th September 2010

[viii] Pope Benedict XVI, Homily in Westminster Cathedral, 18th September 2010

[ix] Pope Benedict XVI, Address, Hyde Park Vigil, 18th September 2010

[x] Blessed John Henry Newman, Meditations and Devotions, "Meditations on Christian Doctrine", "Hope in God—Creator", March 7, 1848

[xi] General Audience, Saint Peter's Square, Wednesday, 22 September 2010

[xii] Pope Benedict XVI, Address, Hyde Park Vigil, 18th September 2010

[xiii] Ibid.

[xiv] Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Bishops of Scotland, England and Wales, Oscott College, 19 September 2010

[xv] Pope Benedict XVI, Homily in Westminster Cathedral, 18th September 2010

[xvi] Cf. Pontifical Council for Culture, The Via Pulchritudinis, Privileged Pathway for Evangelisation and Dialogue, 2009

[xvii] Pope Benedict XVI, Address, Hyde Park Vigil, 18th September 2010

[xviii] The number of those applying to enter seminaries reached a ten year high in 2010 and this upward trend appears set to continue. Since the Holy Father’s Visit, there has also been an increase in the number of women approaching religious congregations.

[xix] Pope Benedict XVI, Speech to Representatives of Other Religions, St Mary’s University College, Twickenham, 17th September 2010

[xx] Ibid.

[xxi] General Audience, Saint Peter's Square, Wednesday, 22 September 2010

Ordination

2011-09-15T22:24:00.001+01:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/catholicism/6148556848/in/set-72157627672217694/

This is a link that takes to the flicker page of the Ordination of Bishop John Yesterday at Westminster Cathedral

24th Sunday Year A

2011-09-11T20:55:00.001+01:00

I have heard it said many times that we have lost oursense of sin in the Church. We don’t talk about it anymore but then I did alittle bit of research and had a think about the Mass something that we are sofamiliar with. We have so many references to sin but also our need for God’sgrace all the way through the Mass. At the beginning of the Mass we are askedto remember where we have gone wrong throughout the week. We look at it againin the Our Father, the Eucharistic prayer the Lamb of God.

And the reason I think that the reason why we focus on itso much is because the Church realises that it is such a difficult thing to doand to acknowledge. We all go into justification mode when it comes torealising that we must forgive and acknowledge our own faults. Peter asks Jesushow many times he should forgive my brother. He asks at least 7 times and Jesusreplies not 7 times but 77 times. Seven being the perfect number Jesus says tohim that you need to carry on forgiving all the time.

So how hard is it to forgive? In a word: very. I am surethat you are aware that today is the 11^th September and two yearsago this day we were witnessing the horrific attack on the Twin towers inAmerica. One could argue quite successfully that this is an unforgivable crimeagainst the innocent and there have been other such crimes in our history ofcrimes against the innocent. And yes sometimes it is hard to forgive.

I remember once that I asked people to pray for Bin Larden. And this is very challenging. We should pray for all sinners after all we pray for each other. Prayer is at the heart of forgiveness and over comes our anger and purifies our heart.

In oneway or another every one of us sitting here are shaped by what happened 10years ago As St Paul tells us that the “ Life or death of each one of us has aninfluence on each other” Our thoughts and our attitude are shaped by thoseevents in New York. And yet these people who did this crime are our brothersthey are children of God. Yes what they did was horrific but we should neverlose sight of God’s love and compassion.

And this is the challenge we are set by today’s Gospel toforgive but how? I remember a few weeks ago I challenged people to think thatwe should pray for Bin laden when we discovered that he had died. Someone toldme that this news had got about the town and that some people were outragedthat we should have the audacity to pray for such a man. GOOD. This is exactlythe challenge of the Gospel. This is what Christ means. IF we find it difficultto forgive and yes we do we should ask the Lord for help. Offer that personover to him. Let him take the strain ask God for help in this impossible task.

2011-08-22T16:02:00.000+01:00

The Lord directly questioned the Twelve: "But who do you say that I am?". Peter spoke enthusiastically and authoritatively on behalf of them all: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God". This solemn profession of faith the Church continues to repeat since then. Today too, we long to proclaim with an innermost conviction: "Yes, Jesus, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God!". Let us do so in the awareness that Christ is the true "treasure" (Mt 13,44) for whom it is worth sacrificing everything; he is the friend who never abandons us for he knows the most intimate expectations of our hearts. Jesus is the "Son of the living God", the promised Messiah who came down to earth to offer humanity salvation and to satisfy the thirst for life and love that dwells in every human being. What an advantage humanity would have in welcoming this proclamation which brings with it joy and peace!

"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God". Jesus answers Peter's inspired profession of faith: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven". This is the first time that Jesus speaks of the Church, whose mission is the actuation of God's great design to gather the whole of humanity into a single family in Christ. Peter's mission, and that of his Successors, is precisely to serve this unity of the one Church of God formed of Jews and pagans of all peoples; his indispensable ministry is to ensure that she is never identified with a single nation, with a single culture, but is the Church of all peoples - to make present among men and women, scarred by innumerable divisions and conflicts, God's peace and the renewing power of his love. This, then, is the special mission of the Pope, Bishop of Rome and Successor of Peter: to serve the inner unity that comes from God's peace, the unity of those who have become brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.

2011-08-21T16:09:00.000+01:00

This will be my last post for a few weeks as I am on holiday from Monday

The twenty first Sunday of the Year

I remember when I was going to Rome in May one of the things that struck me more than anything is the magnificence of the Vatican especially the Church of St Peter. I was struck by its beauty and grandeur. As I wondered around the Church I began to get the idea that I belonged to a Church that was way bigger than the Church we have here in Bognor. We profess in the creed that we belong to the “One Holy Catholic Church”: A Church that is not a democracy, and has Benedict at his head as the Chief shepherd of the Church here on earth. It is a church that has stead the test of time and has gone through many different changes and has tried to answer the question “Who do people say the son of Man is?” And because the Church is made up of broken individuals it has got it wrong sometimes both in it treatment of people and groups. The abuse of power has been something that both those individuals and the Church have to deal with.

And, then what happens is that people either leave the Church and get angry without really looking at the wider picture. The classic statement is “I used to come to Church but I got angry with. . .” and then go into some sort of hurrah about what they feel is exactly wrong with the Church.

And this is not just with the wider Church but also with the local Church. I think that we are all guilty as charged. I myself find saying exactly this “The thing

that’s wrong with the Church is …”

But, this is a wrong attitude because the Church is us. We are the Church just as much as those who make the decisions in Rome. And together with the Church we are asking ourselves the question that Jesus asked his disciples almost two thousand years ago. “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

In one sense it is an impossible question to answer because we are always answering that question all the time for ourselves. Every day we need to ask this question who is Jesus for us? How does he affect my decision making? How does my relationship with Jesus affect me as I journey thorough life?

2011-08-14T22:41:00.000+01:00

The Assumption

The Gospel we have heard today is one that the Church Sings and Praises every day in its evening prayer. It is probably one of the most recognizable pieces of scripture but what is at the heart of the Gospel. It is one of Mary’s proclamations of faith. How does she do this? She does this with the whole essence of her being. Her Soul Praises God and her Spirit rejoices. She recognizes that the Lord has done great things for her and through the words of the Gospel writer we see the whole salvation history proclaimed as Elizabeth listened. There must have been much excitement between these two women because here was Elizabeth who we know to be barren and her Baby soon to be John the Baptist leapt in her womb and Mary probably a young girl of 14 had been given a great gift of life too. But also there must have been great bewilderment and anxiety about the future. And maybe this is why they met up. Both these women were out casts of society Elizabeth had to live in a cave because she was too old to have baby and it would have been frond upon by her village. And Mary maybe would have been driven out the town because she was an unmarried mother. We often get romanticised image of this scene and yet the reality is very different. And yet in the mist of all this they were able to praise God.

They show us a great truth about our faith. They tell us that among all the confusion of life we still can find time to praise God and share it with others.

But this Gospel is also one of challenge for us who listen today. We see many who are hungry today they are not just physically hungry like those who live in the horn of Africa and it is gratifying to see so may people helping out with food and money especially from this parish but there are also those who are spiritually hungry. These people can be harder to help. We have seen in our own country this week that we live in a fractured society that is calling our fro some sort of meaning. Where there is fear and lack of understanding there is violence and hatred,. There seems to be in many a lack of social concern. I don’t think that this is a new thing. I think that it has always been there. But, because of our modern society where things appear on our TV sets as they happen to can appear that we live in a more violent and unstable society. Bad news sells.

We all need to be constantly fed with the Gospel. We can all come to a better understanding of who Jesus is for us. Mary at this point in her life must have wondered what was going on and what would happen to her and her Son. Yet we know that great marvels were worked for her.

So we have seen that Mary, with all the problems of her own life, a single Mother, a social outcast was still able to praise God. She fed herself with the Word of God and trusted in her Son.

Let us pray to Mary that we too may get to know her Son better. That we can be fed daily, with his words and sacraments. Let us also put our country into the loving hands of our Lady. One of the ancient titles of Mary is that of England her Dowry. Let us again ask for her prayers for our country and all who live in these isles.

Mary Queen of peace: Pray for us

Mary Assumed into heaven: Pray for us

Feast days

2011-08-09T22:10:00.002+01:00

National Calendar for England

Feasts

The bishops have received the recognitio of the Holy See for their decision to raise to the rank of feast:

The English Martyrs — 4 May
St Augustine of Canterbury — 27 May
St Gregory the Great — 3 September
St Thomas Becket — 29 December

2011-08-08T09:31:00.000+01:00

The 19^th Sunday of Ordinary Time A

For some reason when I read this Gospel these words came to me:

When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.

At the end of the storm
There's a golden sky
And the sweet silver
Song of a lark.

For the most astute of you and football fans you will know that this is the Anthem of Liverpool football club. But, it makes a good point about today’s Gospel.

Peter focus is on Jesus and looks at him. Without thinking putting his faith in Jesus he walks on the water and heads towards the boat. At this point because he has put his faith in Jesus he has not recognized the storm that is around him. As soon as he noticed that there was a storm around him he realised what he was doing and Jesus helped him out.

I have not meant many people who have walked on water but there is a parallel with our own lives. We can often be walking over many storms of life and the sea devours us if we are not careful but, we feel the strength of the storm. A natural response for all of us is that when things seem to go wrong in our lives and the storm clouds gather we can then have doubts about God. We tend to lose focus on the world. We lose some faith in Christ. And so because of the noise of the storm around us because we are battling against the elements we cannot hear the voice of God.

And the natural response is to run as far away for it is far easier than facing the storm. We lack courage and faith.

So in these storms of our lives how do we keep focused? Well we can get a few clues from Jesus himself. We discover that Jesus went off to a lonely place to pray: To be alone and recharge the batteries rather than rushing all the time. To remember a grace filled moments to enjoy and bask in the Sunshine and warmth this gives. To see each moment as a sacrament: the sacrament of the present moment listening to the voice of God at that time at that space keeping the focus in the one who loves us and says “My dear Child I love you very

Prayer Request

2011-07-31T07:58:00.000+01:00

I do not have a homily this week I have though a special request for prayers:

Matthias is my 10 yr old nephew who has been fighting cancer for about 18months please could you circulate the prayer below from my parents in the most appropriate way to as many as is possible.

This is a prayer that we would like to be said by all who do everyday. it is for Matthias's surgeon who will be operating on him in a few weeks time. His name is Mr. Murphy.

God be in his head and in his understanding,

God be in his eyes and in his looking,

God be in his hands and in his working.

we ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

So Please pray for him and his family and all those involved in his care

New Bishop: who taught me at St Johns

2011-07-28T22:13:00.000+01:00

Pope Appoints Auxiliary Bishop to Diocese of Westminster

posted on 30 June 2011

Fr John Sherrington

Pope Benedict XVI today has appointed Father John Sherrington as Auxiliary Bishop for the Diocese of Westminster.
The Episcopal Ordination of Bishop-elect Fr Sherrington will take place on Wednesday 14 September at Westminster Cathedral (the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, Westminster), London SW1.
Fr Sherrington, 53, was ordained a priest for the Nottingham Diocese in 1987 and has been parish priest for the Good Shepherd Parish in Nottingham for the past two years. In addition to various diocesan curial responsibilities, Fr Sherrington has also assisted the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales on ethical issues and was a part of the working party for the Bishops’ Conference document ‘Cherishing Life’ (2005).
After a degree in Mathematics from Cambridge University and two years working for Arthur Andersen Management Consultants London, Fr Sherrington was accepted by Bishop McGuinness for the Nottingham Diocese and joined seminary at All Hallows in Dublin. He later gained an STL in Moral Theology from the Gregorian University in Rome and lectured in moral theology at All Hallows in Dublin and then at St John’s Seminary in Wonersh, Guildford.
Fr Sherrington said: “I feel very humble at being appointed Auxiliary Bishop for the Diocese of Westminster. I feel an excitement about the opportunity and a fear of what is expected. I know that I will need to rely on God’s grace more deeply than ever before and to cultivate my life of prayer. I will use my gifts to the full and to the best of my ability.”
“I hope that I can help people to know more deeply that they are loved by God, who calls them in their hearts to serve others. I would like to communicate the hope of the gospel to those in distress and need.”
“I look forward to working in the Diocese of Westminster. I will miss Bishop Malcolm and the priests of Nottingham as well as my parish, and the people who have cared for me, loved me and supported me in my priestly ministry. I look forward to working with Archbishop Vincent, his auxiliaries Bishops Alan and John, the priests and people in the Diocese.”
The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, said: “I am very grateful to the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, for appointing Fr John Sherrington as Auxiliary Bishop to this Diocese of Westminster. Bishop-elect Sherrington is a priest of wide experience, fine abilities and a generous, graceful nature. I welcome him most warmly as will every member of this Diocese. He will also be a much-valued member of the Bishops' Conference. I thank the Diocese of Nottingham and I am sure that its people and priests will continue to support him with their prayers.”
Biog of Fr John Sherrington
Born 1958 Leicester, within the Diocese of Nottingham
Brother Michael married to Sarah
Parents Frank and Catherine both deceased
Third-level education
St Thomas More Catholic Primary School Leicester
Wyggeston Boys’ Grammar School Leicester
1997-1980: BA University of Cambridge (Mathematics) Queens’ College
1980: Pilgrimage to Lourdes with ACROSS and the Jumbulance which I see as very important in my journey to priesthood as well as subsequent pilgrimages to Lourdes
1980-1982: Worked for Arthur Andersen Management Consultants London
1982: Accepted by Bishop McGuinness for Nottingham Diocese, although I had worked in London I felt called back to my home diocese to serve
1982-1987: Seminary formation at All Hallows College Dublin
13 June 1987: Ordained Priest for the Diocese of Nottingham
1987-1988: Assistant Priest, Diocese of Nottingham, Ratcliffe on Trent near Nottingham, first introduction to mental health care in large hospital and also Youth offender Institute
1988-1990: STL Gregorian University, Moral Theology
1990-1998: Lecturer in Moral Theology, Formation Work All Hallows College, Dublin
This also provided the opportunity for summer pastoral work in Los Angeles (three times) and twice summer teaching at a Vincentian Seminary in Quezon City Philippines
1998-2004: Lecturer in Moral Theology, St. John's Seminary, Wonersh, Guildford UK and for some time Director of Studies
2005: Member of the Bishops' Conference Working Party writing Cherishing Life
2004-2009: Parish Priest, Our Lady of Lourdes, Derby
Also part of the chaplaincy team for the Mental Health Trust and Acute Trust
Member of the Bishop's Council and Episcopal Vicar for Derbyshire
Chair of the Diocesan Board of Commissions
Chair of the Marriage and Family Life Commission of the Diocese
Member of the British Catholic-Methodist Committee
2004: Appointed to the British Order of Malta Bioethics Committee
Member of the Bishops' Conference Healthcare Reference Group
2009: Parish Priest, Good Shepherd Parish, Nottingham
Since 2004, member of various hospital ethics committees, Boards of School Governors, and the University of Derby Research Ethics Committee

17th Sunday of the year a

2011-07-24T17:46:00.000+01:00

There are many different themes in this Gospel today and it will be impossible to really share them all with you today but I want to focus on and explore the first small parable the Parable of the treasure in the field. When reading this particular parable I asked myself some questions which I would like to share with you and the thoughts that I had about it. My first question is what is the treasure?

We could see that the Treasure is the presence of God within. We know that God is always with us through the good times and bad times. But just like treasure it does sometimes take a long time to find it. We search and search we look but we do not find him. We are like those beach comers who try our best to find that hidden treasure but we get frustrated because it is well hidden. So how do we awaken the treasure within?

The first thing is to discover ourselves and what our own gifts and talents are what is our treasure what can we give that helps the Kingdom of God to grow and flourish. When we have found that treasure then we need to use it for the glory of God. We need to use it. The other way that we can do this is by prayer. We discover God in the silence and the peace of our hearts allowing God to speak to us.

The other thing that we need to realise is that the treasure ultimately is our selves and how we might be able to help in bringing the Kingdom of God here on earth. I learnt this many years ago when I was working with the Homeless. I as a young 18 year old wondered what I could give to the homeless where I was working. I hated it for a long time then I realised through the help of others around me that all I could give was myself the gifts and treasure that God had given me. As soon as I realised this I became a lot happier in my work. We need to continue always to discover the treasure that is deep within.

When we look at the Story of the Dragnet we could see this as an image of the Church as it goes into the sea and brings up many kinds of things. These things are us all different shapes and sizes and ages making up the universal Church and giving it life. We are those shapes and sizes we in our brokenness make up the universal Church. But, yet often we feel that we are not worthy and that we have to be saints in order to enjoy the love of God. This is so far from the truth Oscar Wilde once said “Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.” The Pope reminded the young people when he was here last year that we all have the potential to be saints. We need to acknowledge that we who are sinners have the potential to be saints each and every one of us. Pope Bendict went on to say this to the young people and can also be a word of encouragement for us as we seek our treasure it can only be sort through the love of God:

“Not only does God love us with a depth and an intensity that we can scarcely begin to comprehend, but he invites us to respond to that love. You all know what it is like when you meet someone interesting and attractive, and you want to be that person’s friend. You always hope they will find you interesting and attractive, and want to be your friend. God wants your friendship. And once you enter into friendship with God, everything in your life begins to change.”

16th Sunday of the year

2011-07-17T17:16:00.000+01:00

A number of years ago I was supplying in a parish down near Margate. I was not in clericals because I was on holiday myself. As I came into the Church to pray before Mass I planted myself at the back of the Church. As I sat there praying I was aware of someone hovering by the side of me. Then I got a tap on the shoulder “That’s my seat” she said although the Church was still quite empty I got up and moved. After a while I got out of my seat went to put on my vestments and started Mass. I looked at her and you could visibly see that she was quite upset. After Mass she came up to me and said “If I had known it was you I would not have asked you to move.” I told her that she should never do that at all even if they are not a priest.

You may be quite upset and even shocked with this story but it is not uncommon. I have witnessed this in this Church among this community. I have been both shocked and angry that this is happening where we are meant to be a community that builds the Kingdom of God by our love for each other and yet we do the opposite.

If that was you I wonder if you would ever darken the Church again. You may think that these people talk about welcome and the kingdom of God and they don’t do what they preach. We don’t know the story of those who have come into the Church. They may be people who are broken and need to find a place of warmth and welcome and yet what they find is something completely different. We need to be people who sow good seed in the ground in our relationships and in our love for each other. This means installing a spirit of welcome in our community so that seed that Kingdom may grown here.

I know that we are creatures of habit and we often sit and talk to the same people, but let’s try and do something different. Let’s today talk to someone who is different let’s welcome the stranger, let’s install a spirit of welcome here in the Church.

One of the biggest problems that we face here in this parish is the fact that we are a large community and I discovered this week we have only a small amount of people who are welcomers. This is a very important ministry and is vital to the whole of the Mass. We need more and we also need everyone here to play their part.

We have been entrusted to build the Kingdom of God here on earth after all we pray it every time we say the Our Father we pray “ Your Kingdom come your will be done.” This means that we need to do the will of Jesus and learn to bring his Kingdom here on earth and it starts in our parish here today with a spirit of prayer and action. For we might pray as we do for the Kingdom but we must also put that into action

2011-07-13T14:51:00.000+01:00

Vatican newspaper says Harry Potter film champions values

A scene from last year's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1." (CNS/Warner Bros.)

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The last battle of the almost-grownup Harry Potter may be too scary for young viewers, but it champions the values of friendship and sacrifice, the Vatican newspaper said.

"The atmosphere of the last few episodes, which had become increasingly dark and ominous, reaches its pinnacle," said one of two reviews of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" printed July 12 in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.

The darkness "may disturb younger audiences," said reviewer Gaetano Vallini.

"Death, which was a rare occurrence (in the previous Harry Potter films) is the protagonist here," which is another reason the film may not be appropriate for everyone, he said.

"As for the content, evil is never presented as fascinating or attractive in the saga, but the values of friendship and of sacrifice are highlighted. In a unique and long story of formation, through painful passages of dealing with death and loss, the hero and his companions mature from the lightheartedness of infancy to the complex reality of adulthood," he said.

Young people introduced to Harry Potter through the seven books by J.K. Rowling and the films based on them have grown with Potter and his friends, Vallini said, "and they certainly have understood that magic is only a narrative pretext useful in the battle against an unrealistic search for immortality."

In the second review, Antonio Carriero reaffirmed one point Vatican reviewers have made since the Harry Potter books first appeared in Italian: The story captured the imagination of millions of children around the world and got them reading books.

And, he said, the saga championed values that Christians and non-Christians share and provided opportunities for Christian parents to talk to their children about how those values are presented in a special way in the Bible.

Potter's archenemy, Lord Voldemort, "does not represent Satan, as it would be easy to think, but is a man who has made bad choices in his life," Carriero said.

Voldemort has chosen not to love others and sees himself as the center of the universe, he said.

Carriero said Voldemort is like many modern men and women who think they can do without God and without others, they don't believe in heaven, and yet they are the most frightened of dying.

"Eternal life is reached through death, not without it. And Harry Potter, although he never declared himself a Christian, calls on the dark magician to mend his ways, repent for what he has done and recognize the primacy of love over everything so he will not be damned for eternity," he wrote.

The "Deathly Hallows" demonstrates that "from the pure of heart like the young Harry, ready to die for his friends," come big lessons, Carriero wrote.

The film also teaches that "it's possible to change the world. It is Harry, with his inseparable friends, who demonstrates that it is possible to vanquish evil and establish peace. Power, success and an easy life do not bring the truest and deepest joys. For that we need friendship, self-giving, sacrifice and attachment to a truth that is not formed in man's image," the review said.

I have always loved these books and films and I thank God that the Church recognizes the values of this series and I urge you that if you have read or seen these books then read and watch they are great entertainment

2011-07-12T16:55:00.002+01:00

Bishop Michael Evans dies peacefully after long illness

Requiescat in pace

Bishop Michael Evans, Bishop of East Anglia, died peacefully on 11 July at the age of 59. Six years ago he was diagnosed with advanced and aggressive prostate cancer, and continued his ministry throughout his treatment. Although his engagements were limited from early 2011 as his condition deteriorated, he continued to work up until his admission to hospital. In his last months he was much in the thoughts and prayers of the people of his diocese, as well as those of family, friends and his fellow Bishops.

Archbishop Peter Smith, Archbishop of Southwark, said, “Bishop Michael will be very much missed by so many people in the Archdiocese of Southwark and the Diocese of East Anglia - family, friends, laity, religious and clergy. As a priest of the Archdiocese, Michael was totally committed to his priestly ministry both as a pastoral priest and Professor of Theology for many years at St. John’s Seminary. Having known him as a fellow student, a friend and brother priest involved in the formation of future priests, I was delighted when he was appointed as the third Bishop of East Anglia. There Bishop Michael continued that dedication, emphasising the Bishop’s role as a teacher of the faith and spending himself in building up the Diocesan family of East Anglia. He was unstinting in using his time and great talents in the service of the clergy, religious and people of the Diocese. Even during his long period of ill health, although increasingly restricted in what he was able to do he refused to give up. I have no doubt that he will be greeted by the Lord he served so faithfully, with the words: ‘Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the Kingdom prepared for you.’”

In January 2011 Bishop Michael Evans broke the news to his diocese that he had been told he did not have long to live. In the statement 'Waiting in Joyful Hope' he said:

“Rather than resign, I would like to continue among you as your bishop and the father of our diocesan family until this stage of my life ends. I do not know how long that will be. I am most grateful for the ways you have cared for and so prayerfully supported me in recent years. You remain very much in my thoughts and care.”

“As I live now under the shadow of death, my prayer is very much that of St Paul that I may know something of the power of Christ’s resurrection and a share in his sufferings, trusting that the Lord is with me. I pray that even now I can joyfully witness something of the good news we are all called to proclaim.”

Michael Evans was born on 10th August 1951 in South London, and moved to Whitstable in Kent when he was five. He attended St Mary's Catholic Primary School there, and went on to Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys in Canterbury where he gained A-level passes in French, History and Latin. He went straight from the Sixth Form to study for the priesthood at St John's Seminary, Wonersh, near Guildford in Surrey.

He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Southwark on 22nd June 1975, and spent two years as assistant priest at St Elizabeth's in Richmond, Surrey. From 1977-1979 he studied for a Master of Theology degree at Heythrop College, University of London, and then returned to St John's Seminary for eight years as lecturer in Christian Doctrine. While there, he was also chaplain to St Teresa's Convent School in Effingham, Surrey.

From 1985-1987 he was Vice-Rector at the seminary, with the then Monsignor Peter Smith (now Archbishop of Southwark) as Rector. From 1987-1993, he was a university chaplain at the South London Universities Chaplaincy, returning to the seminary from 1993-1995, once again as lecturer and Vice-Rector. He was one of the two assisting priests at Mgr Peter Smith's ordination as Bishop of East Anglia in May 1995.

From 1995 until 2003, Canon Michael Evans was parish priest of St Augustine's in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, a thriving parish with a Sunday Mass attendance of 1300 and with many young people actively involved in its life and worship.

He was appointed Canon Theologian of the Archdiocese of Southwark by Archbishop Michael Bowen in 1996, and had many other responsibilities. He was a regular writer of articles and pamphlets on theological issues.

Ecumenical dialogue was always an important part of his ministry. From 1991onwards, he was a member of the British Methodist/Roman Catholic Committee, and in 1997 was appointed by the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity to be one of the eight Catholic members of the International Joint Commission for Dialogue between the World Methodist Council and the Roman Catholic Church. Every year for over twenty seven years he spent a week's retreat at the ecumenical community at Taizé in France, and as a bishop invited young adults from the diocese to accompany him there each year.

From 1989-2003, he was a member of the Catholic Bishops' Conference Committee for Priestly Formation. From 1995-2003, he was chairman of the Archdiocese of Southwark Justice and Peace Coordinating Committee.

Of all these various roles, Canon Evans said of being a parish priest for seven and a half years: "This is the ministry I have loved most!" Much of his priestly ministry was spent working with young people, especially older teenagers and young adults.

On Friday 14th February 2003 Pope John Paul II appointed Canon Michael Evans as the Bishop of East Anglia. He succeeded the Most Reverend Peter Smith. In the presence of His Excellency Archbishop Pablo Puente, Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain; His Eminence Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster ordained Canon Michael Evans as the third bishop of East Anglia at the Cathedral Church of St John the Baptist, Norwich on Wednesday 19th March 2003. Most Reverend Peter Smith, the Most Reverend Michael Bowen, and many other bishops and friends were present along with Canon Evans’ mother and sister.

The appointment of Canon Michael Evans kept up the connection between East Anglia and the Archdiocese of Southwark. The first two bishops, Bishop Alan Clark and Bishop Peter Smith, were both priests of that diocese.

Among his more 'secular' interests, Bishop Michael listed being a fervent life-long supporter of Leeds United Football Club, and having a great liking for the music of Shostakovich. He also had a great interest in Cambodia. His past parish was twinned with the Catholic community of Kompong Thom in Cambodia.

After becoming a bishop, he was appointed chairman of the Bishops' Conference Committee for Christian Unity, and was elected as a member of the Standing Committee of the Bishops' Conference. He was also one of the four Christian co-Presidents of the Christian-Muslim Forum established by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was a member of both the British Methodist/Catholic Committee and the International Joint Commission for Dialogue between the World Methodist Council and the Roman Catholic Church.

Bishop Michael Evans died peacefully in hospital on the evening of 11th July supported by the prayers of many, after continuing to serve in his diocese as his illness worsened. Requiescat in pace.

2011-07-12T15:27:00.001+01:00

15^th Sunday of the Year

A number of years ago I was doing a course in Margate with priests and religious all over the world. One of the things that we really looked at was the use of story and image in preaching and also what was described as the “Lost art of listening” It seems to me that in our modern era we have lost both these things. The reason is that we have become self absorbed and only looking at our own world rather than anyone else’s. We have become a self absorbed society. Our favourite word is “I.” We use it all the time “I don’t like that. It does not suit me. You made me angry” Some of these statements are so wrong. How can anyone make you angry apart from yourselves?

Because of this self absorption the words of the Gospel ring home as true. Let us listen again to what Jesus has to say:

“ For the heart of this nation has grown course, their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes for fear they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and be converted and be healed by me”

There seems to be a need to get back to basics to practice hearing again. Practice being silent and really understanding what God is trying to say to us and get to know who they really are. Our minds and hearts are like what the sower is sowing. Sometimes because of our own issues with the Church or with the world we do not hear the voice of God and so nothing flourishes. And in fact because we have shut ourselves out we are frightened of what we might learn about ourselves and God. We put up defences like humour or being passive aggressive in order to safe guard ourselves. Or we get very enthusiastic about one thing or another and then the weeds like dementors in the Harry Potter movies suck all the life out of them and we lose hope. Then there are those times when we really hear the word of God and we get it and it dwells deep within our souls and it gives us life. And we grow deeper into Christ’s love. I suppose the thing is that this does not happen very much and so we need to hold on to these times of life and acknowledge the graces that have been given to us.

There is also a problem today with the passive nature of our own lives. Sometimes we do not hear because we are busy waiting for God. We have become a consumer society and that has also happened with our relationship with God. Because of the constraints of society, because of the business of our lives, because we have so many distractions we have become dull in hearing and listening to the word of God. This has meant that we have then tried to water the faith down to fit it in with our lives we have become supermarket Catholics.

But, there is no need to be frightened about the Church’s teaching: trust. There is no need to turn away. There is no need to run as far as we can from the truth. For we have one who shows us the truth, we have one who gives us life abundantly and so if we allow ourselves to be open we can be healed we just need to learn to have the ears to hear his word.

2011-07-03T22:12:00.000+01:00

Homily for the 14^th Sunday of the year

It seems that in the modern era we have become far too busy. We have many different forms of technology where we make life easier and I put that in inverted comas. From the Internet to the mobile phone we can now have instant access to information and world events. These modern devices have been designed so that we many have a less busy life. But, in fact they have had the opposite effect.

We have become busier as a society and the affects are showing in the wider world. There are more people with health problems because of being too busy there burdens are too heavy for them to carry. So we need to find places and times where we slow down and learn to breath and ultimately find God.

In today’s Gospel we are told “Come to me all you who are over burdened and I will give you rest.” The one word that is contradictory to our modern way of thinking is the word “Rest.” To be at rest is not to be lazy but active listening and being with the Lord. The invitation by Jesus is to come and I will give you rest. To be with Jesus in Rest to come into contact with the Spiritual self to find rest in the Lord. If the burden feels to much too hard to carry then ask the Lord he has broad enough shoulders let him take the strain.

We need to have the courage to allow this to happen to allow ourselves to be at Rest with the Lord and to respond to the invitation to come. This invitation comes out of the Lord’s love for us. This love is gentle and a humble acceptance to be who we are in front of the Lord. He does not want anything else. Come as you are not how others or even what you might think God wants us to be. He loves us and has chosen us to reveal his love to us.

Now for the difficult bit: Here is comes. We need to accept this help we need to respond to the invitation to Come and rest in his love. We need to accept that God loves us and so we need to learn to accept and love ourselves. To give our burdens to God and allow his gentle hand helping us as we heard in the psalm “The Lord supports all who fall and raises all who are bowed down.”

2011-06-27T09:11:00.000+01:00

The Feast of Corpus Christi

There was a programme on a number of years ago called Sorry I think it was with Ronnie Courbet. IF you remember he was an older man still living with his Mother and Father? The famous line from that programme is that every time was “language Timothy” anytime he got something wrong.

We have to be careful with the language we use because sometimes like the sitcom we can confuse people. This is especially true with the Blessed Sacrament. Today’s feast celebrates the greatest gift Jesus gift of himself in his body and blood and so it demands the greatest respect and devotion As the CCC says “Because God is truly present in the consecrated species of bread and wine, we must preserve the sacred gifts with the greatest reverence and worship our Lord and Redeemer in the Most Blessed Sacrament”

The History of this feast day comes from the time when the Church was under attack in the Reformation it was to remind people of the importance and what the Church believed about the Blessed Sacrament. IT seems to me that it is just as important today. We need to be able to be able to use appropriate language about the Blessed Sacrament. We have in some hymns use inappropriate ways of expressing the mystery of the Eucharist. We have for example a version of the Lamb of God that states “In this bread and wine we share” after the Eucharistic prayer and the consecration which just confuses people and the whole situation. We must strive to use language that is appropriate to what actually happens during the Mass.

The other thing that happens is that our reverence for the Eucharist can be less than adequate. I remember once when I was giving out communion at a Mass for FHC a man came up and instead of saying Amen after I had given him communion said “Cheers mate” I know that this is an extreme but maybe we have times when we have a lack of devotion by not praying quietly and recognizing the presence of Christ here at Mass or in the way that we receive the blessed sacrament.

This week I had the privilege to take part in the Blessed Sacrament procession in the Cathedral and the castle grounds at Arundel. What struck me was that we were taking Christ into the streets and people were watching from afar and meeting Christ on the streets. The Pope has said that we should take Christ into the streets: this is what we did.

Today we can again rededicate ourselves to looking and how we may receive Christ and how we might live our lives knowing that we receive Christ on our tongues and how we by our example and devotion show it to others.

2011-06-13T22:13:00.000+01:00

I have also put this on my Blog this week from Larche Bognor Regis on the Beatitudes and it is very moving so Enjoy and watch

Pentecost Sunday

2011-06-13T22:05:00.000+01:00

Pentecost Solemnity

On the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ's Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given, and communicated as a divine person: of his fullness, Christ, the Lord, pours out the Spirit in abundance. (Ac 2:36)
On that day, the Holy Trinity is fully revealed. Since that day, the Kingdom announced by Christ has been open to those who believe in him: in the humility of the flesh and in faith, they already share in the communion of the Holy Trinity. By his coming, which never ceases, the Holy Spirit causes the world to enter into the "last days," the time of the Church, the Kingdom already inherited though not yet consummated.

We have seen the true Light, we have received the heavenly Spirit, we have found the true faith: we adore the indivisible Trinity, who has saved us. (Byzantine liturgy, Pentecost Vespers, Troparion, repeated after communion)

The Holy Spirit - God's gift

"God is Love" (Jn 4:8.16) and love is his first gift, containing all others. "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Rm 5:5)
        Because we are dead or at least wounded through sin, the first effect of the gift of love is the forgiveness of our sins. The communion of the Holy Spirit (2 Co 13:13) in the Church restores to the baptized the divine likeness lost through sin.
         He, then, gives us the "pledge" or "first fruits" of our inheritance: the very life of the Holy Trinity, which is to love as "God (has) loved us." This love (the "charity" of 1 Co 13) is the source of the new life in Christ, made possible because we have received "power" from the Holy Spirit. (Ac 1:8)
       By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear "the fruit of the Spirit: . . . love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."129 "We live by the Spirit"; the more we renounce ourselves, the more we "walk by the Spirit." (Ga 5:25)
       Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of heaven, and adopted as children, given confidence to call God "Father" and to share in Christ's grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal glory. (St. Basil, De Spiritu Sancto, 15,36)

Ends

Pentecost Sunday - Solemnity

Commentary of the day
Saint Ephrem (c.306-373), Deacon in Syria, Doctor of the Church
On the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, in S. Ephraem Syri, 25, 5, 15, 20, Oxford 1865, p. 95f.

"As the Father has sent me, so I send you"

The apostles were sitting there in the Cenacle, the Upper Room, waiting for the Holy Spirit's coming. Like torches they were present there, ready and waiting to be set alight by the Holy Spirit so as to illumine the whole creation with their teaching... They were there like farm hands carrying seed in their coat pocket waiting for the order to go out and sow. They were there like sailors whose boat is tied up in the harbor of the Son's commandment and who are waiting for the gentle wind of the Spirit. They were there like shepherds who have just received their staff from the Chief Shepherd of the fold and who are waiting for the flock to be divided among them.

«And they began to speak in different tongues as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.» O Cenacle, kneading trough into which has been thrown the leaven leavening the whole world! O Cenacle, mother of all the churches, who have witnessed the miracle of the burning bush (Ex 3). O Cenacle, amazing Jerusalem with a wonder far greater than that of the burning furnace which astonished the inhabitants of Babylon (Dn 3). The fire of the furnace burned all those around it but protected those in its midst; the flames of the Cenacle gather together those outside who wish to see them while bringing comfort to those who receive them. O fire, whose coming is word, whose silence is light! O fire, establishing hearts in thankfulness!...

Some people, who were opposed to the Holy Spirit, said: «These people have had too much new wine; they are drunk.» Indeed, you speak truly! However, it isn't as you think it is. It isn't wine from the vineyard they have drunk. It is a new wine that flows from heaven: a wine newly pressed on Golgotha. The apostles caused it to be drunk and thus they inebriated all creation. This is wine that was pressed on the cross.

Ends

CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY

PENTECOST SUNDAY

In the fiftieth day after Easter, the Apostles found themselves ‘all in one room’ in the Cenacle (Cfr. Acts 2:1) for the Jewish fest of Pentecost, which is the anniversary of the donation of God’s Law, the Torah, to Moses on Mount Sinai. None of them could possibly have foretold that, exactly on this day, the Lord would have fulfilled the promise that Jesus made many times regarding the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit. (cfr. Jn 14:16)

We are also called to remember that, along with the prodigious signs that occurred in that upper room, ‘there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven’ who could hear them each speaking in his own language, ‘of the mighty acts of God.’(Acts 2:5,11)

The Holy Spirit is essentially a great new gift, a new Law, that God made first and foremost to those that had persevered until the end. The Holy Spirit is a gift of grace that isn’t destined for a singular ethnic group, but is like the air, it must becommunicated to all men on the earth because if ‘you take away their breath, they die.’ (Cfr. Ps 103:29)

The meaning of the Lord’s urgent appeal to each of us becomes clearer after this fiftieth day, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ (Jn 20:21) We can clearly understand how it is necessary to ‘receive the Holy Spirit’ (Jn 20:21) in order to realise this mandate. To use the analogy of water which makes the earth fertile, the Holy Spirit makes the lives of Jesus’ disciples fertile, specifically strengthening them to fulfil their mission as ‘the particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose’ (1 Cor 12:7)

The adjective ‘particular’ brings us back to the beginning of today’s reflection. What does it mean for us today ‘to speak in different languages’ and what does the new Law that God has given to His nascent Church consist of? The Liturgy, that great educative channel and treasure of grace in the hands of the Church, clarifies these questions.

The new Law that, on this Sunday, was consigned to us is God’s life that is love: a love that doesn’t have barriers, not even death, after it was defeated on the Cross. ‘He showed them his hands and his side.’ (Jn 20:20) It is a gift that takes us directly into the heart of God and that can only give us the necessary strength so that our hearts ‘light up with the fire of His love’ (Cfr Acclamation to the Gospel).

We are therefore called to desire and welcome the gift of the Holy Spirit because our lives, even before we say a word, become a comprehensible testimony in the eyes of the many brothers who have not yet experienced the joy of being a Christian. Renewed by Pentecost, they could also be ‘astounded and amazed’ and could say, ‘we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God’ (Acts 2: 7,11

Homily Notes for the Ascension of the Lord

2011-06-05T20:57:00.000+01:00

A Number of years ago I read two outstanding books. One was called Black Robe by Brian Moore and the other was called The Mission by Robert Bolt. Both these books and now films and they both speak of the missionary activity of the Church at that time with various degrees of success. One of the things that they focused on quite a lot was baptism and conversion for those who they came across. Their focus seems to have been to get as many baptised as possible without any really good catechesis.

Jesus tells us today to go out and make disciples of all nations and to baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This is a mandate that we need to take very seriously it is all our responsibility to proclaim the Gospel. In the new translation of the Mass one of the dismals is “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.”

So how do we respond and do this in today’s World. I think first of all we should learn from the past. Yes I think that it is important to baptise but I also think that it is quite important to do that with also teaching something about the faith that we believe. In the early Church they used the old and planted the Christian Church with it. An example of this is in the Church of St Clement in Rome where they placed a new Church on the Temple of Mithras. This was a clear statement of intent by the Church but also a clear understanding by the Church that they had to work with where people are.

So they evangelised by looking at the world and trying to get into the mindset and working with it. This may mean that rather than fighting against some of the trends that have perpetrated our world today we can use it. I have been interested for a long time in looking at the idea of using social networking as a tool for evangelisation and blogs as a way of getting information out.

But there seems to me a grave danger if we rely on these forms of communication. Again let us look at the past for our inspiration. We read all through history from the Bible onwards that people have been inspired to be Christians by the personal contact of one with faith and sharing our personal experience of how Christ is working in our lives.

So what does that mean for us? Well I think there are a few challenges and things we have to do.

First of all we need to know our faith in order to announce it to the world. This means by reading and trying to understand what the Church is teaching. It is important that even if we don’t agree with what the Church maybe doing we need to come to understand it. Secondly we need to be people of prayer understanding where the Lord wants us to be. Thirdly we need to be happy in our faith if we constantly complain about the faith and the Church what it is doing or is not doing then we will not attract anyone we may even drive people away. But ultimately it is about personal contact and saying to people “Come

and see” and giving that invitation to experience God’s love in their lives.

A few notes on the Books that I have mentioned in this Homily:

Black Robe is the powerful tale of a Jesuit missionary's struggles with the fierce natives of an unforgiving land—and with the heavy burden of his own unforgiving conscience. Set in seventeenth-century Canada—an untamed country claimed by the French, controlled by the Jesuits, but belonging to the natives—Father Laforgue sets out on his mission sustained by his faith and his dreams of martyrdom. He is severely tested by the demands of the wilderness, his encroaching deafness, and the temptations of the flesh, but, ultimately, his is a story of survival and triumph. Black Robe is a tale of adventure and defiance, faith and betrayal, passion and perversity. And, above all, it is a tale of the survival of the human
spirit.

Robert Bolt was born in 1924. He was teacher until his first novel Flowering Cherry, which was successfull came out. His greatest success was A man for all Seasons.
In 1961 he began the work with David Lean on Lawrence of Arabia. Their films together included the award winning Doc Zhivago and Ryan´s Daughter.
1977 appeared his film State of Revolution After a long period of illness he began to work for the screen in 1984.The resulting film was \"the Bounty\".
Then he began to work at his latest work with Robert de Niro and Jeremy Irons:The Mission
The Mission plays in Paraguay. It is placed in the 18th century in Asuncion
Before I begin with the story, I want to introduce you to some important people:

Rodrigo Mendoza
He is the maincharacter of the story
He was born in 1710 in Cádiz. His mother died when he was four, and his father, in 1924 when Rodrigo was fourteen His father died in 1924, when Rodrigo was fourteen.
He has to keep his brother, a challenge for a fourteen year old boy. That forms his character. He get´s rough and ready for every challenge which would come.

Felipe Mendoza
He is the brother of Rodrigo. Felipe has a good character and is well educated.
Carlotta

The daughter of Don Cabeza
who is an unscrupulous slave trader. This trade made him great and influential.

Father Gabriel
Superior of the Mission San Miguel. born in Ireland. When he was eighteen he started a riot and killed a person, was arrested and then they let him free with the condition that he leaves Ireland.
Afterwards he started a new career with the Jesuits order, was sent to Asuncion and started 200 miles up the river a new Mission the mission of San Miguel.
Altamirano, Father Ribero

the heads of the Jesuits Order
Hontar

An important local politician
Gaspacho
A negro. The number one enemy of Mendoza
Tiberio and Victorio
slave traders they work together with Gaspacho
Guaranis
They´re living in the rain forest. Slave traders catch this natives to sell them as a special kind of servants called encomiendas to the influential people.

After the death of his father Rodrigo Mendoza sells his boat . He gets enough money to pay for the school of Felipe. Then Rodrigo works on a ship which is on a journey to Santa Fe
In Santa Fe a Senhor Palacio takes him for one Dinero for his work to Asuncion. he does´nt pay and disappears.
Rodrigo finds work as a slave trader. He works with Gaspacho, Tiberio and Victorio, who catch Guarani and sells them as encomiendas
Victorio who is the leader of the Expedition doesn´t pay. So Rodrigo kills him.
Nobody, except Gaspacho knows that he has done that. It is evident that Gaspacho is now dangerous for Rodrigo but Gaspacho disappears before Rodrigo can do anything against him.
He is now the leader of the expeditions and earns enough money to keep Felipe for the next years. He buys a villa and makes a few Expeditions for Don Cabeza. Years leave and Mendoza sends Felipe to Europe with a tutor.
Gabriel who leads the Mission of San Miguel discovers natives above the falls of Iguacu, which are 300 miles up the river from Asuncion and only 100 miles away from the mission
Gabriel begins to teach them . Only a few weeks later they build a church.
and he founds a new mission the mission Upper Paraná.
One months later comes Mendoza with conquistadors. He takes 5 Guarani with him.
Gabriel who wants to have them back consults
Father Ribero in Asuncion and the father signs a paper which says that the whole surroundings at the falls of Iguacu belongs to the Jesuits Order
In the meantime Mendoza in Asuncion falls in love with Carlotta.
Felipe returns from the journey.Carlotta soon likes Felipe more than Rodrigo and so the brothers have to fight for the love of Carlotta. Felipe, who does´nt know how to handle a weapon dies.
Rodrigo now thinks about his life and in his mourning he turns to the church. Gabriel takes him to the new mission and he finds an new sense of life. He becomes a lay brother and everybody in the mission likes him although he has catched five Guaranis
Meanwhile in Asuncion
Don Cabeza, and Hontar, the politician wants to occupy the land around the mission, thinking that there is gold in the missions
So they consult Altamirano the head of the church and Ribero.The greadiness for gold wins and so Altamirano who knows that he works against his own people

gives the Order to destroy the missions
Altamirano wants to save the life of Mendoza and Gabriel and orders them to come back to Asuncion, They refuse.
Don Cabeza sends an army of conquistadors to the missions. Among the conquistadors there is also Gaspacho the enemy of Mendoza. the conqu. destroy the mission of San Miguel and kill all the natives.
Afterwards the conquistadors march to the mission Upper Paraná. The Guaranis want fight and so Mendoza who has vowed that he will never fight must teach them how to handle a weapon
The following battle ends into a massacre.While the battle goes on Mendoza faces Gaspacho but before they can fight somebody shoots him in his back. Gabriel seeing this runs towards him and was killed by Gaspacho
Weeks later the search for gold begins, ending one week later, everything is over. The search has ended. Nothing has been found

2011-06-04T10:33:00.002+01:00

Ascension of Jesus Christ Solemnity

No one has ever ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven "Today our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with him.

        Listen to the words of the Apostle: If you have risen with Christ, set your hearts on the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth. For just as he remained with us even after his ascension, so we too are already in heaven with him, even though what is promised us has not yet been fulfilled in our bodies.
Christ is now exalted above the heavens, but he still suffers on earth all the pain that we, the members of his body, have to bear. He showed this when he cried out from above: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? and when he said: I was hungry and you gave me food. Why do we on earth not strive to find rest with him in heaven even now, through the faith, hope and love that unites us to him?   While in heaven he is also with us; and we while on earth are with him. He is here with us by his divinity, his power and his love.
        We cannot be in heaven, as he is on earth, by divinity, but in him, we can be there by love.  He did not leave heaven when he came down to us; nor did he withdraw from us when he went up again into heaven. The fact that he was in heaven even while he was on earth is borne out by his own statement: No one has ever ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven. These words are explained by our oneness with Christ, for he is our head and we are his body. No one ascended into heaven except Christ because we also are Christ: he is the Son of Man by his union with us, and we by our union with him are sons of God.

So the Apostle says: Just as the human body, which has many members, is a unity, because all the different members make one body, so is it also with Christ. He too has many members, but one body. Out of compassion for us he descended from heaven, and although he ascended alone, we also ascend, because we are in him by grace. Thus, no one but Christ descended and no one but Christ ascended; not because there is no distinction between the head and the body, but because the body as a unity cannot be separated from the head."
From a sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop (Sermo de Ascensione Domini, Mai 98, 1-7: PLS 2, 429-495)

          Prayer
God our Father,
make us joyful in the ascension of your Son Jesus Christ.
May we follow him into the new creation
for his ascension is our glory and our hope.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Prepared by the Spiritual Theology Department of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross