Dear Parishioners Today on Palm Sunday we begin our journey through Holy Week towards Easter. In Holy Week we think about the passion, death, and resurrection of Our Lord. We are not merely recalling historical events. We are not just enacting a pageant with no meaning. We are remembering and reflecting on these events in […]
Dear Parishioners Today in the Readings at Mass we have a sense of the Past and the Future. Letting the past be the past and the future be the future. In the First Reading the Jewish people have been in exile for years. By now, nostalgia has taken over. They look back wistfully to their […]
Dear Parishioners The 4th Sunday of Lent is traditionally called Laetare Sunday. Laetare is the Latin word which means “rejoice.” A sense of rejoicing runs through all the prayers and readings at Mass today. We gain a sense of Gods light, love, mercy and truth. The Parable of the Prodigal Son is proclaimed in the Gospel today, and through […]
Dear Parishioners Lent is a time of conversion of heart, a time to reorientate ourselves towards God and permanently towards the good to be found within each one of us. The parable of the barren fig tree which Jesus recounts in the Gospel for this Sunday adds a dose of realism to our need for […]
Dear Parishioners Mountains are important places in Sacred Scripture. Today’s Gospel reading is about Mount Tabor, the mountain of the Transfiguration, which we can call the mountain of worship. Here Peter, James, and John had a startling experience as Jesus’ face and clothes changed and Moses and Elijah flanked him. Then came the voice of […]
Dear Parishioners On Ash Wednesday we began our Lenten journey together. During these 40 days we are remembering the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert, the temptations he experienced there and his time of prayer and fasting. Lent is a time for each of us to become more deeply aware of our faith […]
Dear Parishioners On Wednesday of this coming week, Ash Wednesday, Lent begins! I will be celebrating Mass with Imposition of Ashes at St Mary’s School at 9.30 am that morning. This is open to all parishioners who may wish to attend. In the evening, we shall have a Parish Mass with Imposition of Ashes at 7 […]
Dear Parishioners This weekend the Bishop has issued a Pastoral Letter to be read out in place of the Sunday Homily at all Masses celebrated for the Seventh Sunday of the Year. I gather that Bishop Patrick’s letter to us will touch upon the Diocesan Synodal Process. Looking ahead to later this week, on Tuesday 22nd February – the […]
Dear Parishioners Today in the Sunday Gospel Reading at Mass we hear dramatic and challenging words from Jesus found within the “Beatitudes.” We are reminded that if we look for spiritual strength, eternal life, inner healing, full happiness in the wealth we have, we shall be disappointed. Wealth does not insure happiness, a faithful marriage […]
Dear Parishioners When we hear the word “convert”, we usually think of someone who goes from belonging to one faith to joining another or from one Christian denomination to another. But “conversion” has a wider meaning that applies to every believer and that is the sense of a spiritual “awakening.” Our spiritual life can drift […]
