Newsletter- 24th Week of Ordinary Time
Dear Parishioners
It was good to be back in the parish this week after a restorative 10 days away in Kefalonia. My holiday did much to recharge my batteries and I had the opportunity to really relax and unwind. My sincere thanks to Fr John and especially to Alan for making this time away possible.
Note of Thanks: I must confess though that I was feeling a little flat on Wednesday morning, a return to the normal round of duties after a wonderful time away! I was overwhelmed therefore to be greeted in the sacristy by the cornucopia of gifts and beautiful card signed by so many parishioners and with such generous and heartwarming messages inside! I am truly humbled by your kindness and generosity to me. Whilst I had not forgotten it was 5 years ago on the 28th of August that I came here as your parish priest, I did not expect you to remember or mark this occasion! It is I who must thank each of you for these past five very happy years living and ministering here in your community. I have learned a great deal along the way, and I continue to be immensely grateful for the opportunity to serve our parish here at St Mary’s. I know I am not always the easiest person to live alongside, I am immensely human, and I know I have many glaring human weaknesses (all of which you will have discovered over the past five years!) but my time here has been some of the happiest years of my ten years as a priest. Thank you for marking these past five years in such a thoughtful and kind manner and let us hope and pray that the Lord and the bishop too will give us a few more years together! With my sincere thanks to each of you.
‘The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and rich in mercy’ – The readings for this Sunday – 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time – remind us again of God’s boundless love and compassion. God’s unconditional love for us, and the sacrifice of Jesus’s death, mean there is no limit to the mercy we receive; nor can there be to the compassion and forgiveness we must show to one another.
The First Reading from Sirach exhorts us to avoid resentment, anger and hatred, and live by God’s commandments. Showing true forgiveness and having compassion for others, whatever the hurt we have experienced ourselves will set us free. The Psalm is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. We are reminded that we are not treated according to our sins: we always receive the unimaginable depth and breadth of God’s unconditional love and forgiveness. In the Second Reading, St Paul teaches the Romans how the life we live influences those around us. We belong to Christ, Lord of the dead and the living, and it is through the way we live and die that we lead others to him. The Gospel parable of the merciful king and his unforgiving servant reiterates the key message that we must love and forgive others because of the love and compassion God has shown us, despite the depth of our many human weaknesses, inconsistencies and sins.
This week, perhaps we can pray for those who are unable to forgive or for those to whom we ourselves are struggling to offer forgiveness. We think of those whom we may know who remain trapped in the cycles of bitterness and division, as we pray that the Lord will give to each of us the grace to forgive one another in the same way that we are always forgiven by him.
Education Sunday – At all our Sunday Masses this weekend we keep Education Sunday. We welcome Miss Sara Tyers, the Head Teacher of St Mary’s Catholic Primary School to Mass on Sunday morning. She will be saying a few words at the end of Mass today. In addition, on Sunday morning pupils of St Marys will be assisting with the Offertory. The young pupils of St Mary’s are encouraged at all our Masses this weekend to come in their school uniform. I know you will make them and their families very welcome here. We pray particularly this weekend for our Diocesan Education Department and for all who work and study within our Catholic Schools throughout the Diocese of Nottingham. We remember too all our young people from the parish continuing with their education especially those leaving our community to go on to College and University. We ask a special blessing upon them and a renewed sense of the importance of a living faith for their futures and in their lives.
With my prayers for you and for your families during the coming week ahead,
Your parish priest and friend,
Father Jonathan
2026 13th September – Newsletter – Download