Peter Blog a few random thoughts

So I arrived in the parish here at St Josephs and St John the Baptist on May 31st 2017. This is the date actually of my anniversary of ordination. I arrived to find that the parish was in the middle of the Alpha course. This excellent 10 week course of understanding and getting to Know Jesus a little more and seeking that all important relationship with the person of Jesus. Something that the Catholic Church has not always been good on. An essential part of the Alpha course is the day on the Holy Spirit or the weekend retreat on the Holy Spirit. This is really what the other times have been leading up too.  And to be perfectly honest was one of my least favourite parts of the Alpha course.  In the weekend or day away there is an opportunity to be prayed over. It is something that I try and avoid like the plague. So in light of what I have just said here is my story: On the day of the Holy Spirit day I could not make the whole day because of saying Mass in the morning, which I was p

Many people think that the Christian faith is something that is just a personal faith that it does not involve other people. You hear people say that “it is my faith and its nothing to do with anyone else.” It is almost as if the faith is something that only happens to them. But believing in something and believing in the person of Jesus is not a passive personal exercise It is a lived faith and alive. The words in the letter to the Hebrews comes home as true “ The word of God is alive and active.” The faith then is a doing word rather than a passive one.  We can see this quite clearly in the disciples today. When they were called by Jesus to follow they left everything that followed him. It was an active call in following Jesus. They encountered Jesus and were able to follow him to learn from him and be his disciples. They were called not to be passive in their faith but active. They were to be fishers of Men in other words to tell others about their encounter.  We are call