“Pope calls for prayer and fasting for Afghanistan

"…Pope Francis called Christians to show solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, especially women and children, the victims of violent attacks in recent days. ‘Let us continue to assist those in need,’ he says, ‘and pray that dialogue and solidarity may lead to peaceful and fraternal coexistence.’…

“Pope Francis said: ‘in historical moments like this we cannot remained indifferent,’ and for Christians it is a duty to respond.  ‘For this reason, I appeal to everyone to intensify prayer and practise fasting: prayer and fasting, prayer and penance. Now is the time to do it.’

“He concluded: ‘I'm serious: Intensify prayer and practice fasting, asking the Lord for mercy and forgiveness.’"

                          (With permission) Aug 31st 2021, Independent Catholic News  [Source: Vatican News] 

                                                                                              https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/42943

“… Pope Francis praised the work of researchers and scientists in producing safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines.

“’Thanks to God’s grace and to the work of many, we now have vaccines to protect us from Covid-19,’ he said ….

“He added that vaccines ‘bring hope to end the pandemic, but only if they are available to all and if we collaborate with one another.’ [italics added]

“Vaccination is an act of love

“… Helping other do the same, he said, is also an act of love. “Love for oneself, love for our families and friends, and love for all peoples. Love is also social and political.”

“The Pope noted that social and political love is built up through ’small, individual gestures capable of transforming and improving societies.’

“’Getting vaccinated is a simple yet profound way to care for one another, especially the most vulnerable,’ he said.

“Pope Francis then prayed to God that ‘each one of us can make his or her own small gesture of love.’

“’No matter how small, love is always grand,’ he said. ‘Small gestures for a better future.’”

                                  (With permission) Keith Morris, August 20th , 2021, The Diocese of East Anglia https://www.rcdea.org.uk/pope-francis-calls-getting-covid-jab-an-act-of-love/ [Source: Vaticannews.va]

“The Rt Rev Terence Drainey, Catholic Bishop of Middlesbrough, has joined 14 senior North East church and faith leaders in an open letter calling on the Government to make the £20 uplift in Universal Credit permanent.

“In response to the pandemic, the Government 'temporarily' increased Universal Credit by £20 in April 2020, and extended the uplift by six months in the 2021 spring Budget. The Chancellor is moving forward with plans to end the uplift in October.

“Bishop Paul and the other signatories of the open letter have joined a growing coalition of secular and faith groups urging the Government to reconsider.”

                                                                   (With permission), Aug 17th 2021, Independent Catholic News 

                                                                                             https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/42853

“The Lay Community of St. Benedict is hosting a Virtual Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, with different guides, starting on Monday, 6 September and every Monday until 1 November at 7.30 pm for 40 minutes. Each session will include: a Pilgrim Prayer. Scripture Reading for the specific place. Verbal introduction with visuals. Feedback from fellow pilgrims. Prayers or short Liturgies and a Pilgrim Blessing.

“Pilgrims will be visiting the following Holy Sites: -

6 September Ein Kerem-Nazareth with Fr Tom Grufferty

13 September Nazareth-Bethlehem with Jacky Chong.

20 September Baptism/Galilee with Sue & Walter Essex

27 September - Bethsaida: Mt Tabor/Cana with Bridie Stringer

4 October Jericho/Masada/Good Samaritan with Chris Bryden

11 October Bethany/Jerusalem - Sara Oliver.

18 October Passover Supper/Agony in the Garden/Trial of Jesus - Margo Price

25 October - The Way of the Cross. Crucifixion and Death with Vivienne McCabe

1 November Holy Sepulchre/The Garden Tomb/Ascension with Jacky Chong/Tom Grufferty.

Join the Virtual Pilgrimage here: www.lcsb.uk/pilgrimage “

Recordings are available on the website a day or two after each session.

                                   (With permission) Fr Tom Grufferty, Aug 29th 2021, Independent Catholic News                                                

                                                                                           https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/42926

“Pope Francis sent a message to the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres on the occasion of the UN Pre-Summit on Food Systems, which [took] place in Rome from 26-28 July.

“Pope Francis [said] this important meeting ‘highlights how one of our greatest challenges today is to overcome hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition in the era of Covid-19.’

“This pandemic, he adds, ‘has confronted us with the systemic injustices that undermine our unity as a human family,’ while the poorest and the Earth itself ‘cries out for the damage we inflict on it through irresponsible use and abuse of the goods God has placed in it.’ …

“He denounces the ‘scandal’ of hunger in a world that produces enough food for all people, adding that it is a ‘crime that violates basic human rights.’

“Pope Francis underlines that it is everyone's duty to combat ‘this injustice through concrete actions and good practices, and through bold local and international policies.’ …

“Pope Francis notes, ‘If we want to maintain a fruitful multilateralism and a food system based on responsibility, justice, peace and unity of the human family is paramount.’…

“Concluding his message, the Pope underlines that …, ‘we have a responsibility to realise the dream of a world where bread, water, medicine and work flow in abundance and reach the poorest first."

“Finally, Pope Francis expresses the hope this meeting for the regeneration of food systems will ‘set us on the path to build a peaceful and prosperous society, and sow the seeds of peace that will allow us to walk in true fraternity.’"

                         (With permission), 27 July 2021 in Independent Catholic News, [Source: Vatican News]    

                                                                                               https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/42709

“Wherever we live, we can choose to make time and space for the sacred. We can make room for God. “Room for God is a new resource for you and your home – to help you find God in every one of your rooms.

“One room at a time, and at your own pace, you can:

– listen to how God is with you throughout the day

– reflect on your concerns more freely

– discern some decisions more clearly

– try out a variety of spiritual practices

– value the power of silent meditation

– experience God everywhere and not just in church

“Take a look at [excerpts from a] sample chapter on the Kitchen … .

“God in our Kitchen 

“’One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’(Matthew 4.4) 

“Our kitchens are central to our existence, since they are where we prepare all our food. For many people the kitchen is also where they eat their meals. Kitchens are where we chat by the oven or at the fridge door, and catch up on the day while cooking or washing up. Kitchens are where we make our children’s treats, pour a glass of wine or stir the late-night hot chocolate. Kitchens are our compass for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and all the snacks in between.

“’Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart.’ (Ecclesiastes 9.7) 

“The Bible has much to say about food and fellowship, as these are what build communities. Both the Old and New Testaments frequently describe the physical food we need to eat and the spiritual food we need to live. Our bodies are an intrinsic part of our faith and relationship with God. Jesus regularly ate with his followers, even after his death and resurrection. And it was through Christ’s Last Supper with his chosen disciples that he modelled the ultimate meal that we would repeat for evermore in our church communities – the Eucharist.”

                                                                              With permission, The God Who Speaks, 29 th July 2021, 

                   https://www.godwhospeaks.uk/the-god-who-speaks/focus/sacred-space/room-for-god/

More information on the rich contents reaching each room in your house is available in the paperback Room for God. 

Visit the Bible Society webpage at https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/products/room-for-god/. The book is available for purchase via that webpage for £3.99 and forms part of the Bible Society’s August focus on ‘Sacred spaces and places’.

“Talks by Sr Gemma Simmonds from Cambridge and a new series on women of the Bible are part of this summer’s offering from the God Who Speaks.

“Sr Gemma Simmonds is from the Congregation of Jesus in Cambridge will be one of the speakers at a summer school organised by the Society of St Gregory.

“The event, which focuses on liturgy and music, will run from August 4-6, via Zoom. This year’s theme is ‘The God Who Speaks: Celebrating, living and sharing God’s Word’.

“Sr Gemma, who is part of Our Lady and the English Martyrs parish, will be joined by Sr Margaret Atkins, Fleur Dorrell, Bob Hurd, Nicholas King SJ, David McLoughlin and Dan Schutte. The speakers will explore all the different ways that God speaks to us.

“Bishop Peter Brignall, the initiator of ‘The God Who Speaks’, will introduce the two days of prayer, contemplation, discussion and debate, and there will be liturgies with music.

“Further details, and online booking, are available on https://www.ssg.org.uk/summer-school-2021/

“Meanwhile Natalie Orefice, Advisor on Parish Evangelisation in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, has begun a monthly podcast series on Women in Scripture. To learn what biblical heroines have to teach us about faith, doubt, love, betrayal, birth, death, wealth, famine, hope, families, infertility, peace, war, joy, poverty, leadership, power and prayer, you can listen in on birminghamdiocese.org.uk/women-in-scripture.

“This month’s general focus for the God Who Speaks is the family, and you can find more resources on godwhospeaks.uk/focus/year-of-the-family.”

                                              (With permission) Eldred Willey, 20 July 2021 in The Diocese of East Anglia

                                           https://www.rcdea.org.uk/the-god-who-speaks-through-the-voices-of-women/

“Pope Francis [recently] reflected on the … Gospel (Mk 5:21-42) which shows that Jesus goes beyond our sins and prejudices to heal our heart from the wounds and mistakes of the past.

“‘Jesus lets Himself be touched by our suffering and our death,’ [Pope Francis] said, …

“The Pope pointed out that the ‘most serious illness in life is a lack of love, and not being able to love.’” [italics added]

“The Pope lamented that we … seek useless remedies for our lack of love, throwing ourselves into vain searches for success and money, even looking online.

“Pope Francis encouraged everyone to "let Jesus look at and heal your heart." …

“If we have already experienced His gaze, then we should turn to those around us who may feel wounded and alone to show them love.

"’Jesus asks you for a gaze that does not stop at the outward appearance, but that goes to the heart: a gaze not judgmental, but welcoming,’ he said, ‘Because love alone heals life.’"

                                          Independent Catholic News, https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/42513 

                                                                                                                       27th June 2021 (With permission)

“is one of the great gifts that life gives us. Being able to count on friends, during good times as well as bad, is a gift from God…. Let us extend a hand and listen to others so we can work together for the common good.  Share this message of Francis … with friends … and people who aren't friends yet.”

                                                 With permission, ICN, 30 Jun 2021 from Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network.

… and closed mindedness that comes from habit. Be open to being amazed at God's surprises, he says, and God's "humble and hidden presence in daily life."...

Reflecting on last week’s gospel message, “(t)he Pope warned that if we let the ease of habit take over in us, it can lead to a ‘dictatorship of prejudice’ where we close ourselves to novelty and the possibility of being amazed. We see this in our daily lives when we gravitate toward experiences or people who only conform to our ideas and world view, he noted. This can affect us in our faith life as well, where we can think we know everything about Jesus and have it all figured out. The Pope warned, however, that ‘without openness to what is new and to God's surprises, without amazement, faith becomes a tiring litany that slowly dies out’. (Italics added)  He stressed the importance of allowing ourselves to be amazed, which is the natural reaction to a true encounter with the Lord.”

                         With permission, ICN, https://www.indcatholicnews.com/ 4 Jul 2021 from Vatican News.

“Cambridge-based Radio Maria England has been awarded a grant to look at the relationship between science and faith through the Scientists in Congregations programme.

“The programme is run by Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science (ECLAS). Radio Maria England is among one of 22 churches and organisations in England and Wales to receive grants totalling £400,000, to be used over the next 18 months on a creative, public-facing project….“Radio Maria England will be rebroadcasting the first season of Science and Faith on Saturdays at 13:30 and Thursdays at 16:00 through the summer. The show is also available as a podcast.

“You can listen to Radio Maria England on radiomariaengland.uk/how-tolisten-to-us, on the Radio Maria World Family app for smartphones and tablets and on DAB/DAB+ radio in the Cambridge and London areas. Podcasts are available through Anchor, Spotify, Apple podcasts, Overcast and other podcast providers.” 

                                            (With permission) Eldred Willey, July 24, 2021, The Diocese of East Anglia         

                                     https://www.rcdea.org.uk/radio-maria-wins-grant-to-explore-science-and-faith/

“Happiness is hard to define precisely. …… [Happiness] is not something that we can make with our own hands; it is not at our service. It can only be embraced when it appears at the most unexpected moment. … Aristotle identified happiness with contemplation because, in this activity, we participate in the life that is proper to God. … ‘Such a life will be superior to the human condition: in fact, it is not in as much as we are human that we will live this way, but in as much as that which is divine is present in us.’ Every activity is a way of reaching this fullness, the true motor that constantly accompanies us and allows us to feel alive, fulfilled. Ignatius of Loyola called this final destination “the feeling and enjoyment of things interiorly” (Spiritual Exercises, n.2). … …

The modern mind has sought to make happiness a right available to everyone; in this way, it has progressively grown further away from its horizon, even speculative, to the point of disappearing. ….. Take, for example the novel, “Brave New World” by A. Huxley. In this novel, the writer imagines a world where technology allows the realization of any desire, an extraordinary abundance of goods, capable of guaranteeing wellbeing. Nevertheless, there has not been a growth in happiness: the increased tenor of life is paid for by the suppression of variety in personal characteristics, bringing about a dictatorship of technology. …..

The more one seeks to own happiness, the more it escapes and becomes unreachable. It is the parable of our times: we are too worried about ourselves and our own wellbeing, discovering ourselves to be ever sadder and less capable of living. As in the conquering of Jericho (see Joshua 6:1–22), happiness comes when we are busy doing other things that capture the heart; happiness overtakes us, as an added extra, as a free gift.”

       Giovanni Cucci ‘Happiness: A delightful foretaste of Eternity” La Civilta Cattolica 15 June 2021

This free gift is the product of love that is unconditional, the Love that God offers us, through Christ. See below for Part 2 of this reflection.

                                                                                                                                        TC

You may have forgotten this: the Church’s Catechism opens with a declaration that the desire for happiness is within each of us, central to our human nature:

“The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God, and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for,”

Catechism of the Catholic Church • Pocket Edition • Geoffrey Chapman pub.

Happiness, then completes us when we participate in the life that is “proper for God” and where “that
which is divine is present in us.” (Aristotle) as we read last week.

To shape the life we lead in order to pursue and achieve happiness, God has given us the Commandments. I suppose most of us grow up to regard the Commandments as the sort of thing our grannies would say to us when we were small and irritating “Don’t do that! Don’t go there! Don’t … Don’t …” In truth, the Commandments are much more positive, in their way, and much more respectful of humanity and kind in their intent than they may seem. In effect, they tell us to follow the path they describe – obeying and serving God and avoiding the traps and pitfalls that face us when pursuing happiness.

When Psalm 22 says “He guides me along the right path”, it could be referring to the purpose of the Commandments as a guide to finding and following God. Jesus, in his mission on earth, has provided detailed directions that support and work alongside the Commandments. These are the Beatitudes*, the eight ways of filling our lives with love derived from the love God offers us, each day. Together they provide practical guidance on meeting the Commandments’ requirements positively. Happiness, Jesus is saying, can be experienced in this life if our pursuit of it is from the heart, and is shaped by the Commandments and, in this world, filled with the actions and behaviour envisaged in the Beatitudes. Such can be for each of us a life that is “proper for God” and where “that which is divine is present in us.                                                                                                           TC

THE BEATITUDES
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,

     for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

It is, perhaps, too easy to treat Lent as a period of gloom as we follow the road to Jesus’ earthly death. True, it is a time for reflecting on Christ’s mission and sacrifice, together with our own relationship with God. But it is not a season for wearing sackcloth and ashes for 24 hours a day. It is a time for refreshing and developing our understanding of God’s love for us and for our role in His creation. Thomas Merton’s reflections on Life are helpful in increasing our knowledge of and faith in the world Christ came to save:   

“[Our] creation in the image and likeness of God proclaims that the creation was indeed a triumph of life. When God breathed into the face of Adam, everything in man came alive: not only his body, not only his mind, but also his spirit in which the image of God was hidden. And the image of God was live with likeness to God, that is to say with contemplation. …… God lived in him and he lived in God. ……. 

When we say that the creation of the first son of God was a triumph of life, we mean that every aspect of human living was exalted and sanctified at the dawn of man’s history. Man’s whole existence, not only in his relations with his own kind (Eve) and with the rest of the created world, were transfigured by divine insights and by an awareness of the inmost reality and value of everything that had come from the hand of God.” 

                                                                                The New Man Thomas Merton Burns & Oates 1962  

Lent can be a time when we mourn how Adam and Eve lost this divinity; but, much more important, we can reflect on how Jesus offers to restore these gifts of God. In his mission amongst us, in his suffering on the Cross, in his death and resurrection and his ascension, Jesus invites us to follow him to a life in paradise. This is the joy we can take from Lent. This is how we can mourn death and, at the same time, celebrate life, as we put our lives in the service of our beloved Saviour.

                                                                                                                                           TC

“What does it mean to live a spiritual life?

…… This life becomes a possibility when, by disciplines of solitude and community, we slowly create some free inner space in our filled lives and so allow God’s Spirit to become manifest to us.

“We live in a worry-filled world. we find ourselves occupied and preoccupied with many things, while at the same time feeling bored, resentful, depressed and very lonely. In the midst of this world the Son of God, Jesus Christ, appears and offers us new life of the Spirit of God. We desire this life, but we also realise it is so radically different from what we are used to. …. A hard struggle is required. It is a struggle to allow God’s Spirit to work in us and recreate us. But this struggle is not beyond our strength. It calls for some very specific, well planned steps. It calls for a few moments in the day in the presence of God when we can listen to His voice precisely in the middle of our many concerns. It also calls for persistent endeavour to be with others in a new way by seeing them not as people to whom we can cling in fear, but as fellow human beings with whom we can create new space for God.” 

                                                                                          Henri J M Nouwen “Making All Things New” 1991

“Mary’s Assumption into heaven has been a common belief since ancient times and musicians, artists and poets have always celebrated the Assumption of our Lady through their work. This belief was declared a dogma ex Cathedra in 1950 by Pope Pius the XII. And so Catholics around the world celebrate The Assumption of our Lady into heaven every year on August the 15th. The Assumption is a source of hope for all of us as we are all called to share in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

                                                                       With permission, The God Who Speaks, 29th July 2021, https://www.godwhospeaks.uk/the-god-who-speaks/focus/sacred-space/the-feast-of-the-assumption-a-reflection/

“In the Roman Catholic Church, the Transfiguration was once celebrated locally in various parts of the Catholic world on different days, including August 6, but was not universally recognized. In 1456, the Kingdom of Hungary repulsed an Ottoman invasion of the Balkans by breaking the siege of Belgrade. News of the victory arrived in Rome on August 6. Given the importance to international politics at that time of such battles between Christian and Muslim nations, in celebration of the victory Pope Callixtus III elevated the Transfiguration to a Feast day to be celebrated in the entire Roman rite.

“In 2002, Pope John Paul II selected the Transfiguration as one of the five Luminous Mysteries of the rosary.” 

                                                                                                                                       Wikipedia

                                                                                                         (Celebrated on 6th August)

At the end of Eastertide, we celebrate the Most Holy Trinity. We also call for the Trinity whenever we pray “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”. We are perhaps, so used to calling on the Trinity that we can forget that this is the most mysterious and difficult part of our Faith to comprehend. We believe in One God and that God is three persons – the Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit. If you don’t believe in the Trinity, you cannot be a Christian.

In his book “The White Tiger”, Aravinda Adiga’s main character boasts that “These christians only have three gods. We Hindus have millions!” This is an error that many non-believers make. We believe in one God and only one. That God is three persons – not different gods. But, others object, “That is mathematically impossible. Three into one won’t go, unless each is a third of what you call God.” “No,” Christians reply, “Each are equal in being the one God. Otherwise, Jesus would only be 33.333% of God. What would the rest of him be? And what about God the Father? As for the Holy Spirit, would his spare two thirds be spent in a walk-on part in Ghost Busters? So, this 3 in 1 must be wrong. After all, 1 + 1 + 1 =3!!!”

These objections fall over, because the wrong mathematics is being used. Instead think about 1 x 1 x 1 = 1! So, our belief in 3 persons in One God is not an impossibility. This, however does not take us very far in understanding the nature of God. We could never have a complete understanding, but we can get a sense of it by following Jesus, reading the Gospels and recognising that the Church has held, developed and proclaimed the truth about the Trinity since the fourth century.

The Bible tells us, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). As a Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit love one another completely and entirely. Love is truly the essence of God’s inner life. Jesus showed us this truth about who God is to reveal God’s inner life to us. God loves us and wants us to know him. God created us out of love, and we are created for love.

Faith in the Trinity, therefore, is not merely a doctrine but a dogma that shows us who God is and who we are as creatures made in his image.                                                            TC

On the Feast of Pentecost we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit on Christ’s followers, as they huddled, frightened and confused in the Upper Room. Pentecost is best known for the fire that struck the followers’ heads and for the Holy Spirits gift of tongues which gave them the ability to communicate with others, no matter what language they spoke. Jerusalem and the cities of the Holy Land at that times were market centres, where trade was conducted in goods from around the Mediterranean. The Spirit had not turned the Room into a Berlitz Language course! Christ had a much deeper reason for the gift of tongues, as this poem imagines it: 

A Gift of Tongues

In that room the world turned upside down. This was no gift of Greek or Latin nor any patois of the world then known, These were words familiar but forgotten, grammar and syntax learnt at mother’s breast, cast off, life’s first lessons unlearnt. New understanding burst into flame, excised crisp cynicism and terror’s fear, the dull language of despair and death displaced by a lexicon of love: -

a language to talk peace, abandon war; to join, in reconciliation, minds and bodies once used to slaughter; to win what’s worth the winning for all; to deploy the strong subtle syntax of forgiving; to give and accept clemency with humble compassion; to slough despair, put on hope; to put up with, and not to put down; to proffer a hand, withhold the fist; to offer words for unity, not croak apartheid; to sing love, drown out hate.                                                                                                        TC

See the announcement from the Vatican about the Pope's prayer initiative for May and a list of the shrines and intentions on the Prayer page, fourth section, of this website.  Click here.

Praise God in his kingdoms,

extol him in his honours

acclaim him in his splendour.

Make every effort to praise him justly 

when with assembled choirs

you sing to his honour!

Thus commences Johann Sebastian Bach’s Ascension Oratorio, a wonderful and devout piece of choral music, full of joy in Christ’s return to his Father and earnest, excited hope of meeting Him again. In this way it encompasses the whole meaning of the Ascension: it is not about mournful farewell, but the happy knowledge that Jesus does not leave us high and dry, but is both with the Father and us and will fulfil his promise to send the ‘Counsellor’ - the Holy Spirit – to advise and guide us.

Many remarkable things have been said about the Ascension, not least by those who deny it ever happened. It’s not surprising that there are doubters: the act of ascension sounds dubious and there are some myths about what happened. I remember being in Jerusalem many years ago and being shown the exact spot where Christ ascended. You knew it was the ‘lift off’ point, because he left his footprint on the ground. What I was shown was a hole in the shape of a 30” long foot and several inches deep, indicating that Jesus must have been 20’ high, at least.

Concern for proof that the Ascension happened is, in a sense, beside the point. If you accept what the Gospels say about it, that is sufficient. Why? Because it is a question of faith; that is, confidence and trust that something is true. Faith can be supported by our observations of the world about us and whatever evidence that can be got from the past. But it is no substitute for faith. When our confidence and trust rests in Jesus, our belief in what the Gospels say follows. Jesus’ size may be used as a metaphor for his greatness. The words of Bach’s Oratorio are the expression of feelings about the Ascension, not a historical account: but we can join in the joy and hope it expresses.                              

                                                                                                                  TC

Did you know that you can buy Grace from John Lewis for £34?

Of course, when we talk about grace, or include it in our prayers, we are not usually talking about perfume. We can name children as Grace, talk about someone walking ‘gracefully’, tut-tut at ‘disgraceful behaviour’ and regret someone’s ungracefulness. But it is entirely different when we pray Hail Mary full of grace. As Catholics, then, what do we mean by ‘grace’ in praying to Our Lady or in talking about the Grace of God? 

The Catechism is direct and transparent in explaining this to us. Here are the headlines:  

• “……. Grace is favour, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life.
• Grace is a participation in the life of God. …… by Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an "adopted son" he can henceforth call God "Father," in union with the only Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who forms the Church.
• Grace is a participation in the life of God. …… by Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an "adopted son" he can henceforth call God "Father," in union with the only Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who forms the Church.
• The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it. ……
• Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.”

                                                                     Catechism of the Catholic Church paras.1996 -1999 

Grace is given to us through baptism, reconciliation, communion and all the sacraments. It is a gift freely given. Why? Not because it is free, but, because of God’s love, we are worth it.

                                                                                                    TC

Lent is a pilgrimage and a partnership we embark on with God. He takes the initiative, we follow. …… Through the centuries, the Church tradition ……. [has] encouraged certain practices to encourage us along the Lenten Journey. They include:

1. Attendance at Lenten Services. These may be fewer this year because of Covid restrictions. However, we continue to have opportunities to attend Mass either in actual presence or virtually. The Liturgy of the hours is also helpful, especially because you can follow them on your own.

2. Making sufficient time for private prayer in conversation and partnership with God.

3. Daily reading of the Sacred Scriptures. If you have a missal, you have the daily readings and excerpts from the Bible in each mass.

4. Examination of conscience is extremely helpful for spiritual progress. Here, the daily reading of God’s Word is not just for hearing or reading – it must find application to our lives.

5. Works of Mercy cover almsgiving and action to help others in practical ways, from keeping company with those who are lonely to shopping for others, from praying for others to enabling others to keep in contact with family and friends. Small acts of kindness are do-able by everyone.

6. Self-control. Lent encourages us to practice control over our appetites. Traditionally this was focused on fasting and abstinence from meat. Fasting is still encouraged, but the modern era gives other and new ways of exercising control, such abstaining from watching TV, or tweeting and other distractions that the digital world offers. We can instead cultivate more time for God and helping others.

7. Silence – as we wrote last week

8. Daily ask for Jesus’ help in following Lent’s path to Easter; for example: St Ephrem’s prayer:

O LORD, Master of my life, grant that I may not be infected with the spirit of slothfulness and inquisitiveness, with the spirit of ambition and vain talking. Grant instead to me, your servant, the spirit of purity and of humility, the spirit of patience and neighbourly love. O Lord and King, grant me the grace of being aware of my sins and of not thinking evil of those of my brethren. For you are blessed, now and ever, and forever. Amen

9. Listening to Lent Music, such as the Passions by J S Bach, Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater, Handel’s Messiah, John Stainer’s The Crucifixion, James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross, the many recordings of Gregorian Chant, or Russian Chants (apex), Rachmaninov’s Vespers, The Carmelite Friars’ Timeless Echo. The capacity to make music is one of God’s most grace-filled and loving gifts to us. As a means of reflection or discernment, music forms a background and a source of contemplation.
                              Source: Blessings of the Daily Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourette
                                                                                                    TC

BEAUTIFUL SOUP, SO RICH AND GREEN  

WAITING IN A HOT TUREEN! 

WHO FOR SUCH DAINTIES WOULD NOT STOOP?  

SOUP OF THE EVENING, BEAUTIFUL SOUP!

                                                                       Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland 

Soup is simple. That’s what makes its appeal timeless. When young, the remembered fragrance of a warming soup on my way home from school made winter days that much more tolerable. the journey home that much more urgent, and anticipation of hunger sated that much more relishing. It was usually a soup rich in the flavour of winter vegetables, herbs and spices, or, on rarer occasions, a single vegetable, such as tomato or pea; rarer still was a meat soup.  

It’s no wonder that soup is an ever popular dish. Easy to make (yes, I know you can have really complicated concoctions, but let’s leave that to the Sunday Supplements), it has a virtue not present in every food – it is classless. Soup is welcomed by the richest and poorest of our communities, from castle dwellers to the homeless. Soup is the one dish which you rely on to unite a people and bring a community together.  

We now approach a season of the Church where soup comes into its own. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 17th . What better way of following the stages of Lent than a regular Soup meal on Fridays. It can fulfil obligations to fast, its promise can bring the family together (Covid restrictions allowing) and help with your response to CAFOD’s Family Fast Day. 

 Even if you can’t get the family (or friends) together at the moment, it would still be possible to share a virtual soup meal either digitally, via FaceTime, WhatsApp, Zoom or similar, or by simply agreeing that on a particular Friday you will have the same soup recipe at the same time. Soup unites and supports community, a worthy companion to real or spiritual communion.  

                                                                                                                         TC

PEA & MINT SOUP 

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4) 

50 g/2 oz/4 tbsp Butter 

4 spring onions, chopped 

450 g/1 lb peas 

600 ml/1 pint vegetable stock 

Salt and black pepper 

Small sprigs of fresh mint 

1 pint milk 

PREPARATION

1. Heat the butter, add the spring onions and cook on a low heat until softened – not browned.
2. Stir the peas into the pan; add the stock and mint. Bring to the boil. Cover and simmer gently until the peas are tender. Remove 3 tbsp of peas and set aside for garnishing.
3. Pour the soup into a blender, add the milk and puree until smooth, seasoning to taste.
4. Leave to cool, then chill lightly in the fridge.
5. When serving, garnish with mint and reserved peas.

-------------------  

SPICY CARROT SOUP 

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 6) 

1 tbsp Olive Oil 

1 large onion chopped

1.5 lb Carrots, sliced 

Spices:  1 tsp each coriander, cumin and chili powder

1.5 pints vegetable stock

Salt and black pepper to taste 

Sprig of coriander to garnish  

PREPARATION

1. Heat the oil, add the onion and carrots and cook gently, stirring occasionally. Add the spices, and cook gently for 1 minute, continuing to stir.
2. Stir in the stock, bring to the boil, then cover and cook gently for 45 minutes until the carrots are tender.
3. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth. Season to taste.
4. Return to the rinsed-out pan and reheat gently.
5. When serving garnish with the coriander sprig.

“We are God’s work of art”     Ephesians 2:10

A Message from SPUC – The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children
‘On 24 June 2020, MPs voted by a huge majority in favour of Dr Rupa Huq MP’s Ten Minute Rule Bill “to restrict demonstrations in the vicinity of abortion clinics”. The Bill comes up for a Second Reading in the House of Commons on Friday 25 September.
Sarah Olney MP is also introducing a similar bill on Friday October 30. …..
….. We are launching a petition calling upon the Home Secretary to uphold the right of peaceful, law-abiding pro-life citizens to save the lives of unborn children and to offer help to pregnant women directly outside abortion clinics…..’

• Please go to www.spuc.org,uk/SaveTheRightToSaveLives and sign the petition.
• Please share the petition with friends and family via email and social media.

---------------------------

“St Paul says that we are all the work of God. If we truly believe this and try to live by the apostle’s statement, it means defying all our preconceived notions about others and, above all, about ourselves. St Paul gives us a new way of looking at reality, a reality that now appears to our eyes as transfigured by the light of God and renewed in Christ.
Each element of creation is, therefore, changed and made different. We can no longer “act as usual”, as if nothing has happened. We are now in Christ, and each of us is a new creation bearing the image of God. Therefore, we must show utmost respect to one another and to ourselves, because we are all God’s handiwork.
This is not always easy to do. We are weak, and often struggle and fail. We must pray for the sort of faith that strengthens our resolution, so that the grace of God may act in each of us, according to God’s wishes. It is said of St Seraphim of Sarov that he addressed each person he met with the salutation, “Christ is risen, my joy.” He called each and everyone “my joy” because he saw in them the work of God. This is another saint who has much to teach us.”      

                                                                    Br Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourette: Blessings of the Daily

Pope Francis says:
“I wish to restate as firmly as I can that abortion is a grave sin, since it puts an end to an innocent life. In the same way, however, I can and must [state] that there is no sin that God’s mercy cannot reach and wipe away when it finds a repentant heart seeking to be reconciled with the Father.” (Apostolic Letter, 2016)
“Each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We have to encourage people to move towards what they think is good... Everyone has his own idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them. That would be enough to make the world a better place.”

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.

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.