A hidden disability of a different kind

A few days ago a friend, who volunteers in a care home, told me that she had been asked to become a fulltime member of the home’s staff. “Some jobs are not filled and we have sick leave and holidays to contend with, so we really are short-staffed at the moment,” she explained.

“The thing is, I love the residents, and get on well with colleagues. But,” she continued, “the truth is. I really don’t want to do it. Not fulltime. I only volunteered until I could go back to work in my ‘proper’ job, once it’s safe to do so…. At the same time, I couldn’t let them down. So, in the end, I said I’d do it.” She paused then said, “I didn’t sign up for it, but I guess he has better plans than mine.”

‘He’ is not her manager (who’s a woman), nor her husband or partner (she has neither). It’s God. Her faith is such that she always prays to discern what God’s intentions may be before taking any major decision. This humility and ability to put aside one’s own wants and listen for our Saviour’s wishes are not necessarily easy to see, including in ourselves– a kind of hidden ability.

This was on my mind when I watched a TV news item about the way some people have been abused and insulted for not wearing face masks in shops. The victims here are people with hidden disabilities conditions that have no physical appearance, but which mean that wearing a mask can prove impossible or harmful. It struck me that these incidents indicated another hidden disability – a spiritual one, when people, possibly out of fear, cast aside the tolerance, generosity of spirit and willingness to help others that they might normally offer.

Hidden spiritual abilities and disabilities characterise every one of us, whether we are aware of them or not. Let us fight our fears through repentance, humility and prayer that discerns God’s will, and our hidden spiritual disabilities shall be vanquished, as we rejoice, like my friend, in serving Him.
                                                                                  TC

“They should practice the seeing of God’s presence in all things, in their conversations, their walks, in all that they see, taste, hear, understand, in all their actions, since His Divine Majesty is truly in all things by His presence, power and essence. This kind of meditation, which finds God our Lord in all things is easier than raising oneself to the consideration of divine truths which are more abstract.”
                                                      ‘St Ignatius Loyola, The Letters of St Ignatius Loyola’ William J Young

This is a classic expression of one of the foundational themes of Ignation spirituality – that God is to be found in all things. Note the practical element of this theme - that it is easier to understand and more useful than more abstract prayer.

Today, we could pay particular attention to finding God in two places that Ignatius mentions – in conversations with others (e,g. after Mass) and in walking from place to place (e.g. from home to the shops or in the garden).
                                                       Source: “An Ignatian book of days” Jim Manney • Loyola Press 2014

Pope Francis has established 1 September as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, encouraging the Catholic community around the world to pray for our common home.

The day is inspired by Pope Francis' landmark encyclical Laudato Si’, which calls on "every person living on this planet" to care for our shared Earth.

He calls us all to celebrate this opportune moment to “reaffirm [our] personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation, as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live.”

The World Day of Prayer is another opportunity for us to connect with our creator God and allow the Lord to redefine our relationship with the environment: from one of consumption and control to one of care and protection.

There are many ways to respond to Pope Francis’ call to care for the gift of God’s creation – why not take some time out of your day on 1 September to walk in your local park or take a few moments to thank God for the flowers growing in your garden? For more ideas go to https://cafod.org.uk/News/UKnews/Celebrate-World-Day-of-Prayer

August 15th is the usual day for celebrating Our Lady’s Assumption, a Holy Day of Obligation.

There are some who still scratch their heads over the veracity of this event, although it was made dogmatic by Pope Pius XII in 1950 in the bull Munificentissimus Deus. As dogma, we are obliged to believe in it.

What does it mean for us on our daily journey towards God?

According to Pope Benedict XVI:

“By contemplating Mary in heavenly glory, we understand that the earth is not the definitive homeland for us either, and that if we live with our gaze fixed on eternal goods we will one day share in this same glory and the earth will become more beautiful.

Consequently, we must not lose our serenity and peace even amid the thousands of daily difficulties. The luminous sign of Our Lady taken up into Heaven shines out even more brightly when sad shadows of suffering and violence seem to loom on the horizon.

We may be sure of it: from on high, Mary follows our footsteps with gentle concern, dispels the gloom in moments of darkness and distress, reassures us with her motherly hand.

Supported by awareness of this, let us continue confidently on our path of Christian commitment wherever Providence may lead us. Let us forge ahead in our lives under Mary's guidance.”
                                                                                [General Audience, August 16, 2006].
                                                                                                                             TC.

This day celebrates one of the great mysteries of Christ’s life and mission. He took his three ‘core’ apostles. Peter, James and John, up a mountain (believed to be Mount Tabor) to pray with him. The apostles did what seemed to be a regular thing – they fell asleep while The Lord prayed! They awoke startled to find Jesus in conversation with Moses and Elijah. After the shock of recognising these Patriarchs of Israel, Peter suggested that he build three tents for them and Jesus, no doubt to protect them from the heat of the day. But Moses and Elijah were about to leave. At that point the apostles entered a white cloud and a voice told them who Christ was – the Son of God.

Christ did nothing without a purpose. His intention here was to bolster the apostle’s courage before his passion and execution. By selecting these three apostles he chose a small team whose combined talents would provide strength to all his followers in the dark days to come: Peter, a strong, if hasty, leader, not afraid to speak truth to the power of the Sanhedrin; James, an organiser who would establish the structures and disciplines of the early church; and John, the mystic who would illumine and inspire the early church’s faith and vision of Christ the King.

Between them they would be able to explore and explain this mystery, after Christ’s resurrection; how Moses represented the Law of the Old Testament; how Elijah represented the prophets and, thereby, God’s promises to his people. Most of all, the meeting with Jesus represented the convergence of the Law and the Torah with Christ’s Mission as the Messiah.

Sea Sunday – our annual celebration of the work of the Mission to Sea Farers. Seafarers need our help because they are often working in dangerous conditions, with no one else to turn to. The Mission’s chaplains support both men and women they support in 200 ports, and tailor their help to each and every one of them.

The Mission provides:

• Ship visiting
• Transport run
• Seafarers’ Centres
• Justice and welfare cases
• Christian services
• Christian materials

As you can see, the Mission undertakes massive amounts of work to support seafarers. It depends on donations to continue and expand this effort. You can help with a donation. Do this by sending $5 or to our Parish Treasurer who will forward it to the Mission. For details of how to send, use the same method as for your weekly offertory donations. See overleaf for details.  

For more information about the Mission to Sea Farers go to https://www.missiontoseafarers.org/sea-sunday 

Latest Statistics

• Ship Visits 70,600, meeting 353,000 seafarers
• Centres 673,000 visits to 121 Centres
• Transport 439,000 used Mission vans

There is something desperately dull about the prospect of week after week of green vestments stretching into the future. But then, all human life is like that. After the party, or the holiday, or the exam success, we come back in the end to the old routine of putting out the rubbish and making sure there will be milk for breakfast tomorrow.  Ordinary Time is repetitive for a purpose and the green vestments signify something immensely important to us. The colour green symbolises hope, just as the burning fire of love is symbolised by red. Green is the colour of growing things, and hope, like all that grows, is always new and always fresh. 

Liturgically, green is the colour of Ordinary Time because it is the season in which we are being neither especially penitent (in purple) nor overwhelmingly joyful (in white). Instead, the Spirit, having come down on us, is now living in us and acting through us. This offers a different kind of excitement from that of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost – not so much one of bustling about arranging celebrations, but quiet and thoughtful actions to grow our faith and allow the Spirit’s presence within us to give us a sense of God’s enduring love for us. It is a time too to look around and take time to savour the wonders and beauties of creation, now when Spring becomes Summer and the countryside flourishes in all its God-made glory.  

As Gerald Manley Hopkins put it in Pied Beauty:  

Glory be to God for dappled things -
  

For skies of couple-colour as a brindled cow;
 

For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
  

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
  

Landscape plotted and pieced-
fold, fallow, and plough;  

And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.  

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
  

Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
  

With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
  

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
      

Praise him.  

Also it is an opportunity to reflect that: 

Now joy-filled Easter                                     

                           and Pentecost are done,  

we hear, question and once more                                      

                           learn who truly is this Son,  

remembered, made real, honoured                                      

                           through the unvarying rite  

of Ordinary Time, whose                                      

                          constancy shapes, guides our sight  

towards Advent, Nativity and                                      

                          Lenten eager expectation. 

This plain Time’s virtue lies not                                      

                          in tedious repetition: 

its rituals reveal threefold God’s                                      

                         eternal dance of loving care  

through which we, ordinary folk,                                      

                         everlasting joy may share.

                                            From ‘Ordinary Time’ • Tom Caple 2018

Now is Ordinary Time in the Church’s Calendar, at a point in which, in our daily lives, things are anything but ordinary!  This period of loss and deprivation is a time of grief. Many grieve for the loss of loved ones and close friends; others grieve that they cannot be with or touch relatives; others grieve for the loss of ‘liberty’ under current rules; yet others grieve because the dangers of covid-19 remain a hidden threat .  

Grief, in short, is not confined to deaths and funerals. Now is the time to show how we can cope with grief by our faith in God’s love. Here are some steps in controlling grief and transforming it into a gift of love.  

1. Practising humility Opportunities to grow in humility tend to come by letting others into our grieving lives; such as unexpected weeping to a compassionate stranger or permitting a neighbour to clean our house.  

2. Surrendering to God willingly all our needs Having a heart and mind that is open and willing to hand over our wants and needs into God’s hands.  

3. Listening for and accepting God’s answer It does not mean we no longer care about our circumstances, only that we surrender our needs, cares, and concerns without expecting a specific outcome to our prayer.  

4. Coping with the apparent absence of God When feeling as if God has forsaken or abandoned you; feeling spiritually dry or alone, you persevere courageously in trusting God’s love.  

5. Showing Confidence in God’s Timing When you are feeling empty, exhausted, possibly abandoned by God and others – cultivate gratitude. Think of all the ways God has blessed you. Then, thank Him for what He is doing in your life. In this way we make everything a holy gift that He, in turn, moulds into healing, strength, and peace for us.  

6. Preparing to accept what the future may bring When we pray without expectation of a certain outcome, then we will accept that our pain may not be taken away from us. Instead, it may be transformed into deeper love for Jesus, whose deep love in turn is given to us.  Suffering and loss do not define us; they teach us how to love in a deeper and more meaningful way.                                                                                         

                                                                           TC

The Church celebrates Pentecost, one of the most important feast days of the year; it brings the Easter season to a close and celebrates the beginnings of the Church. This day is the Church’s birthday.  Pentecost is the celebration of the person of the Holy Spirit coming upon the Apostles, Mary, and the first followers of Jesus, who were gathered together in the Upper Room. A “strong, driving” wind filled the room where they were gathered, and tongues of fire came to rest on their heads, allowing them to speak in different languages so that they could understand each other. It was such a strange phenomenon that some people thought the Christians were just drunk - but Peter pointed out that it was only the morning, and that the phenomenon was caused by the Holy Spirit.  

People have scratched their heads over the gift of tongues that were bestowed to those in the Upper Room. However, gifts from God are have a subtlety beyond their appearance. This gift was more than the capacity to communicate with others. Those who were there were from many lands within the Roman Empire and outside, so the presence of people speaking different languages, as well as the common languages of Latin and Greek (and, for many, Hebrew) should have been no surprise. What did surprise, especially those not directly involved, was what was being said and understood.  

Here is a mystery. What was said? One clue is that these were followers of Jesus, some well-established, others new converts. What the Holy Spirit must have made clear to them was the language they should use in Jesus’ name and therefore in God’s name. God is love and Jesus offered his love to all, freely and fully. The Spirit filled the apostles and followers with understanding of what and how to speak the language of love – Christ’s mission. And this is a new language, one rarely heard before in the pagan world. Live not in fear, captives of greed and oppression, but in the  knowledge of the freedom Jesus has won for mankind: “God asks only that we return his love. “  

No wonder the stupefied observers thought the apostles and followers were drunk. They were: but with the new understanding of what their beloved Christ was asking of them.                                                                                                                     

                                                                                  TC.

What is it?  

World Communications Day was established by Pope Paul VI in 1967 as an annual celebration that encourages us to reflect on the opportunities and challenges that the modern means of social communication (the press, motion pictures, radio, television and the internet) afford the Church to communicate the gospel message.  

Where did it come from? 

The celebration followed the Second Vatican Council, which realised it must engage fully with the modern world.   

Why it is celebrated every year?

In setting it up on Sunday 7th May 1967, less than two years after the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI wanted to draw attention to the communications media and the enormous power they have for cultural transformation.  

Engaging with the communications world

Increasingly aware of the world as a global village and the power of the media as a free market place for philosophies and values, the Church has sought to be in there with its message and to use the media to proclaim the values it sees are beneficial for human development and for the eternal welfare of people.  

Analysis and action

Two important documents of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications – Communio et Progressio (1971) and Aetatis Novae (1992) have presented an analysis of the world of the communications media and made recommendations for the Church’s action. 

This year Pope Frances has a special message:  “I would like to devote this year’s Message to the theme of storytelling, because I believe that, so as not to lose our bearings, we need to make our own the truth contained in good stories. Stories that build up, not tear down; stories that help us rediscover our roots and the strength needed to move forward together. Amid the cacophony of voices and messages that surround us, we need a human story that can speak of ourselves and of the beauty all around us. A narrative that can regard our world and its happenings with a tender gaze. A narrative that can tell us that we are part of a living and interconnected tapestry. A narrative that can reveal the interweaving of the threads which  connect us to one another.:                                     

                                                                     Message from His Holiness Pope Francis  

Get the whole of Pope Francis’ Message from http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/communications/documents/papa-francesco_20200124_messaggio-comunicazioni-sociali.html - it’s a good read!

Those who have visited the Holy Land and seen the Shrines and other holy places will probably have been to Bethany on the Mount of Olives and seen the place from where Christ is said to have ascended into heaven. This place of wondrous joy is also remarkable because one can see, it is claimed, the print of Our Lord’s foot in the ground. I can’t remember whether it was the right or left foot. What was remarkable was that it was about 20 inches long!  It is things like this that can undermine religion and the faith on which it is built. It can disillusion those who have a literal  view of the events described in the Bible. It can confirm the scepticism of those who reject Christianity or, indeed, all religions. It can encourage a pick-your-own attitude to belief, making it adapted to individuals’’ preferences, rather than embracing the whole rich and rewarding scope of faith, and the teaching of the Church.  

I doubt there are many people who believe that Jesus had 20” feet. Equally it would be no surprise to find that the majority of Christians dismiss the ‘relic’ as, at best, a misunderstanding, and, at worst, a trick to squeeze a bit more money from tourists. Both reactions miss the point, because this is a symbol, rather than a true representation of our saviour’s anatomy. Whist we can be aware of symbols (such as road signs) we are used to interpreting them for their relationship to the ‘real’ world. We think we see a representation of an outsize foot and respond by reference to our understanding of foot sizes that humans have. That’s understandable, but irrelevant. In terms of faith and what we believe, we need to ask what it could mean to have such an image before us. Perhaps it is meant show, not how big, but how great God is, or how powerful Jesus was – or both.  

This time of the year celebrates five great events and mysteries of our Faith: Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, The Most Holy Trinity and the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The truth of each lies in what we are asked to believe and the strength of our belief is to be found in what the Church teaches, and our reflections on the meaning of these events. For example, why should God visit the apostles in the person of the Holy Spirit to ensure they understood their missionary role? What is the significance of the fire at Pentecost? Reflecting on these things and reading about them can help us understand both their actual and symbolic roles in our Faith.                                                                                                      

                                                                                     TC

At the end of the fourth century, a woman named Etheria made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Her journal, discovered in 1887, gives an unprecedented glimpse of liturgical life there. Among the celebrations she describes is the gala procession in honour of his Presentation in the Temple 40 days later—February 15.

This feast emphasizes Jesus’ first appearance in the Temple.

The observance spread throughout the Western Church in the fifth and sixth centuries. Because the Church in the West celebrated Jesus’ birth on December 25, the Presentation was moved to February 2, 40 days after Christmas. At the beginning of the eighth century, Pope Sergius inaugurated a candlelight procession, which has become part of the celebration, giving the feast its popular name: Candlemas.

After celebrating the Nativity of our Lord, with its splendour in both the Church and the popular culture, it would be easy to overlook the significance of this feast. Yet Joseph and Mary’s presentation of the baby was no pro forma event. They did this to conform with the Law and in doing so God enters the Temple. The words of the prophet Malachi are fulfilled in the poor parents presenting their firstborn son along with their humble sacrifice of two turtledoves.

Simeon and Anna, having spent their lives in prayer and waiting in the Temple for the Messiah, have their ‘moment’ with the glorious Nunc Dimittis of Simeon. With Candlemas we celebrate the coming of the Light of the World. But a shadow also passes. Simeon not only proclaimed that he had seen his salvation, but also told the Mother of our Lord that her share would include a sorrow-pierced heart.
                                                          TC 

“The feast of the Epiphany, one of the most beautiful of the liturgical year is rich in content and meaning. We let its glow shine forth to penetrate our hearts, as we continue to contemplate the mystery of Emmanuel, who came to dwell among us.

“Though [Christ’s} birth is the focal point of our Christmas celebration, there is another birth, more intimate and personal, of which the Fathers of the Church often spoke. It is the spiritual birth of the Son of God in the hearts of those who desire and welcome Him. ……..

“The mystery of Bethlehem is renewed each year, each Christmas, each day, in the innermost parcels of our hearts where Jesus seeks comfort and shelter. It is in our hearts that he seeks to make a permanent dwelling, revealing to us the meaning of His words in the Gospel. There, He teaches us how to pray and call upon His name. It is also in our innermost hearts that He shows us the Father’s face, for ‘he who sees me, sees the Father.’  Finally, He comes to this innermost part of ourselves, the most intimate of sanctuaries, when we receive Him in the Eucharist. It is there that He remains, as he did in the crib in Bethlehem, and in the arms of his Mother, waiting for our silent love and adoration.”
                                 Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourette OSB

“In its genuine simplicity, the nativity scene reminds us it is not the quantity of things that counts in life, but the quality of relationships. Drawing our gaze to God, who is poor in possessions and rich in love, it recalls us to what is essential.”
                                  Pope Francis 30 December 2019

“John had done a great job of preparing the people for the coming of Jesus. St. Matthew records that “Jerusalem and all Judaea and the whole Jordan district made their way to him, and as they were baptized by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins,” (3.6) In the harsh solitude of the desert John had made the people ready for what would be a life-changing encounter with Jesus.

“The Baptist was such a success story that in order to deflect celebrity status away from himself he had to tell the crowd there at that very moment and in their very midst was one “who comes after me is more powerful than I, and I am not fit to carry his sandals,” (3.11).

“Never for a moment did John expect that Jesus would join the crowd in seeking to be baptized by him! John vehemently objected, “It is I who need baptism from you, and yet you come to me!” The reply of Jesus was even more emphatic, “Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that uprightness demands.” For Jesus it would have been utterly wrong for Him to stand as an aloof spectator to what was most obviously a God-inspired dramatic occurrence.

“John, therefore, went ahead in baptizing Jesus. Righteousness had demanded this. In so doing the Baptist had been given a glimpse of what it meant for the Son of God to become the Son of Mary - one of us, a member of the human family, a child of Adam. In this John had received a hint of how it would be throughout the ministry of Jesus.

“Ordinary people would realize that whatever Jesus had done for them and for others, whatever Jesus had said to them in his inspiring sermons and in his kindly chatting to them, had come from ‘one of them.’”
                                                                           Extract from a homily by Fr Peter Clarke OP

Laetare is the Latin for Rejoice and comes from the first words of the Introit at Mass - Isaiah 66:10-11, which begins "Rejoice, O Jerusalem" and continues "Rejoice with joy, you that have been in sorrow". 

Today, the Fourth Sunday, has been viewed traditionally as a day of celebration tinged with sadness, coming in the middle of Lent when Easter is in sight and Lenten austerity can be lessened briefly to encourage people to continue with the discipline of penance. So the purple of Lent is put aside and rose vestments are used instead. 

In fact ‘Rose Sunday’ is another traditional name for this day, although by far the most recognisable name is ‘Mothering Sunday’ - not, note, “Mother’s Day”, which is a modern commercial invention.

Mothering Sunday got its name during the Middle Ages, when people were expected, at this time in Lent, to go to mass at their ‘Mother’ church; i.e. where they were baptised, or their parish church or their cathedral (a cathedral being the ‘mother’ of all the parish churches in a diocese).
In later times, Mothering Sunday became a day when domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother church, usually with other family members. It was often the only time that whole families could gather together, since on other days they were prevented from doing so by conflicting working hours. Today is not much different. 

As for “Mother’s Day”, my mother got it right: she would always say
”Why one Mother’s Day? Every Day should be Mother’s Day!!”
                                                         TC

Easter is the greatest and the most important feast in the Church. It marks the birthday of our eternal hope. "Easter" literally means "the feast of fresh flowers." We celebrate it with pride and jubilation for three reasons:

1. The resurrection of Christ is the basis of our Christian Faith.
2. Easter is the guarantee of our own resurrection.
3. Easter is a feast which gives us hope and encouragement.

Why do we believe in the Resurrection of Jesus ? 

1. Jesus himself testified to his Resurrection from the dead (Mark 8:31; Matthew 17:22; Luke 9:22).
2. The tomb was empty on Easter Sunday (Luke 24:3).
3. The initial disbelief of Jesus’ own disciples in His Resurrection, in spite of His repeated apparitions, serves as a strong proof of His Resurrection. Their initial disbelief explains why the Apostles started preaching the Risen Christ only after receiving the anointing of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
4. Neither the Jews nor the Romans could disprove Jesus’ Resurrection by presenting the dead body of Jesus. The persistence of belief in the resurrection amongst Christians over more than two millennia, despite persecution and heresies, shows that the evidence that the Resurrection is convincing enough for many different peoples, in many different cultures and circumstances. Other beliefs and assumptions have come and gone, but not this, the reason why Jesus, Son of God, suffered for us.

Jesus has just ascended to rejoin his heavenly Father. Christ, of course, was not abandoning his followers. He went to fulfil his promise to send the Holy Spirit to comfort, guide and inspire us in the mission Jesus has set us - to bring all to Him and to the path to heaven.

The Holy Spirit is not an “add-on”, a worthwhile bonus to the wonders of Jesus. St Basil the Great wrote:

“All living things turn to the Holy Spirit in their need for holiness. … The Holy Spirit … extends his own light to every mind to help in its search for the truth.”

This is what those in the upper room that day experienced - not just a capacity to communicate with their world, but the insight, wisdom and language to bring forth the Good News. And the Holy Spirit offers us the same gift - not a Berlitz course in a foreign language, but a far more exotic tongue - the language of love and salvation. 

Today we complete the days of the Easter cycle - exactly fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus. Today we experience the descent of the Holy Spirit into our lives Today, he comes to reveal to each of us the hidden meaning of all that Jesus taught during his earthly years. “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.” John 14: 25-26)

Today, the Holy Spirit is given to us as he was once given to the Apostles: to understand with greater clarity and depth the teachings of Jesus. The gift of understanding is essential if we are to continue, in our own small way, the work of Jesus. The Holy Spirit descends upon the entire universe. We realise that he descends upon people of different places, races, cultures, tongues and times. He fills all things with the gift of himself.

Thus, today, both creation and the Church are renewed by the Holy Spirit who sustains all life.

Saint Seraphim of Saros never ceased to remind his disciples that, “The only purpose of Christian life consists in the acquisition of the Holy Spirit.”
                                         From Blessings of the Daily: Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourette

is the mystery of God within himself. A mystery in theology does not mean that something is unknowable, it refers to something beyond reason that is revealed by God.  This is an important point: We can talk and write about the Holy Trinity and we can say some reasoned and necessary things–things that are true, but as true as they are, they are always going to be an incomplete truth about God. A good image for this might be a beach: Imagine a sandy beach with the sand representing the whole mystery of God. One person could pick up a few grains of sand in his or her hands and in holding those few grains they would be holding true grains of sand. In other words, part of the mystery literally could be grasped. As hard as one might try, however, it would be impossible for one person to grasp all of grains of sand in his or her hands. Basically, we can grasp something of the truth, but not all of it – and that’s okay!  Humans are finite beings and trying to grasp the fullness of infinite truths is, quite simply, beyond us.

Well, from all eternity God existed both as one being but three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The masculine terms Father and Son are used, not because God is male or female but because they express the nature of a relationship between these two persons. Before there is anything there is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: The Father loves the Son with a perfect love and the Son loves the Father with a perfect love and the love which goes from the Father and Son is a perfect person: the Holy Spirit. The Greeks used a special word: ‘Perichoresis’ to describe this relationship. A good translation in English is ‘dancing’ From all eternity God exists as a perfect dance of love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To believe in God the Father, is to believe in God the Son and the God the Holy Spirit. It is to believe in a God who is communion of persons caught up in an eternal dance of love – and as Christians we called to share in that divine dance!
                                                                               Fr Luke

We celebrated this event on August 6th. In the Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration, we see the explicit desire on the part of the eternal Father to glorify his Son before he undergoes the sufferings of his Passion. For the moment the veil covering his divinity is lifted and, suddenly, Jesus appears clothed in unsurpassed beauty. He is luminous, translucent with the Father’s glory. The disciples present at the event instantly recognise the glory of God shining from that human face. From the mysterious, enveloping cloud, they hear the solemn declaration: “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Mt 17:5) This is the Father speaking, with nearly the exact words he spoke from on high at the baptism of Jesus. He bears witness to the fact that Jesus is the only Son of God, true God from true God, as we believe and assent in the Credo.

                                         From Blessing of the Daily Br. Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Laturette 

John Henry Newman (1801 – 1890) was one of the foremost churchmen and theologians of his day. He studied and then taught at Oxford University, and became the Vicar of St Mary the Virgin, the University Church; he was known for his intellect, his pastoral care, and his preaching.

A leading light of the Oxford Movement, which was seeking to move the Church of England in a Catholic direction, Newman left his considerable prospects and many friends behind when he converted to Catholicism in 1845, at a time when there was still widespread prejudice against Catholics in Britain.

Founding the first Oratorian community of priests in Birmingham in the late 1840s, he continued to write major works of theology and philosophy as a Catholic. He founded a university for Catholics in Ireland and, in 1859, The Oratory School in Edgbaston, Birmingham.

He was made a Cardinal in 1879 and he died in 1890.

Pope Benedict XVI beatified him in 2010.
Cardinal John Henry Newman is to be canonised after a second miracle in his name was confirmed by the Pope in February 2019. The canonisation (which has been welcomed by the Church of England) took place on October 13th 2019. It will make Newman the first English person who has lived since the 17th century to be officially recognised as a saint by the Church. 

"I think to myself, 'I, too, could be here.’ That is, none of us can be sure that we would never commit a crime, something for which we'd be put in prison."

"We all make mistakes in life.  And we all must ask forgiveness and make a journey of rehabilitation so we don't make them again."

“It must be kept in mind that penal sanctions have the aim of rehabilitation, while national laws should consider the possibility of establishing other penalties than incarceration. In this context, I would like once more to appeal to governmental authorities to abolish the death penalty where it is still in force, and to consider the possibility of an amnesty."

"Losing our freedom is not the same thing as losing our dignity.  That is why we need to reject all those petty clichés that tell us we can't change, that it's not worth trying, that nothing will make a difference."

“Prisoners who are re-entering civic society ought not be punished anew by neglect, indifference or, worse, contempt.” 

If one’s work as a Catholic is not united to Christ Jesus, it is no longer the “mission” to which the Church is called, Pope Francis told a group of religious brothers on Monday 29tth October [2019].

“Let us not forget that the condition of every mission in the Church is that we are united to the Risen Christ as branches to the vine. Otherwise what we do is social activism,” the pope said Oct. 29.

“This is why I repeat to you the exhortation to remain in [Christ],” he continued. “First of all, we need to let ourselves be renewed in faith and hope by Jesus alive in the Word and in the Eucharist, but also in sacramental forgiveness. We need to be with him in silent adoration, in lectio divina, in the Rosary of the Virgin Mary.” 

On October 14th [2019] Pope Francis canonised Pope Paul VI (1963-78). Pope Saint Paul oversaw the Vatican Council, making numerous reforms. 

On October 14th, Blessed Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (1917 – 1980) was canonised by
Pope Francis. St Oscar lived almost all of his life in El Salvador.
On 23 February 1977, he was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador. Welcomed by the
government, many priests were disappointed, especially those openly supportive of
liberation theology. Progressive priests feared that his conservative reputation would
negatively affect commitment to the poor.

However, just 17 days after his appointment, something happened which had a profound effect on him. Fr. Rutilio Grande a personal friend who had been creating self-reliance groups among the poor, was assassinated. St Oscar later said: "When I looked at Rutilio lying there dead I thought, 'If they have killed him for doing what he did, then I too have to walk the same path.' Romero urged the government to investigate, but they ignored his request. Furthermore, the censored press remained silent.

He devoted the rest of his life to defending the vulnerable against the violence and cruelty of what became a Civil War. His sermons and broadcast speeches created many enemies in a country where assassination was commonplace. In March 1980 he urged soldiers who were Christians to keep to their faith and not follow orders to unjustly persecute and kill. The next day, saying mass at a hospital chapel, he was shot and killed. The revulsion and demands for justice raised by Salvadorans and the International Community have not yet led to the murderers being identified.

When he was beatified, Pope Francis said of him: "His ministry was distinguished by his particular attention to the most poor and marginalized.” Hailed as a hero by supporters of liberation theology, St Oscar, according to his biographer, Jesus Delgardo, "was not interested in liberation theology" but faithfully adhered to Catholic teachings on liberation and a preferential option for the poor, desiring a social revolution based on interior reform.

St Oscar agreed with the Catholic – and not the materialist - vision of liberation theology. A journalist once asked him: 'Do you agree with Liberation Theology' And Romero answered: "Yes, of course. However, there are two theologies of liberation. One is that which sees liberation only as material liberation. The other is that of Paul VI. I am with Paul VI… The most profound social revolution is the serious, supernatural, interior reform of a Christian. The liberation of Christ and of His Church is not reduced to the dimension of a purely temporal project. It does not reduce its objectives to … a material well-being or only to initiatives of a political or social, economic or cultural order. Much less can it be a liberation that supports or is supported by violence."

A Prayer
St Oscar Romero, pray for us that we too will model our lives on Christ and have the courage to face evil and work for justice.