Newsletter- 4th Week of Ordinary Time
Dear Parishioners
It is good to be back in the parish again after a lovely short break staying firstly with my mother in Southwell and then with my sister and her family in Cheshire. Despite the awful weather it was a very relaxing time away and good to catch up again with some of my family.
This weekend on the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time we hear as our Gospel Reading the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which is found in Matthew’s Gospel. The form of the Beatitudes found here is not unique to Jesus. Beatitudes are found in the Old Testament, in the psalms, and in wisdom literature, for example. They are a way to teach about who will find favour with God.
We quickly note in this Gospel Reading that the people whom Jesus calls “blessed” and “happy” are not people we might normally think of as blessed or happy . . . the poor in spirit, the meek, the persecuted. This Gospel is one of reversals. Jesus’ blueprint for happiness reflects little of what the world might call happiness.
“Blessed” is sometimes translated as happy, fortunate, or favoured. In other words, Jesus is saying that divine favour is upon those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are persecuted. This news might have been welcome—and surprising—to the crowds who heard Jesus that day just as it can still surprise us today in our modern world.
The Beatitudes can be understood as a framework for Christian living. Our vocation as Christians is not to be first in this world, but rather to be first in the eyes of God. By referring to the good things that the faithful will experience, Matthew reminds us that those who act in the manner described in the Beatitudes will always find their reward with God and they will live more happily and at peace in themselves.
Racial Justice Sunday 2026 – This weekend the Church keeps Racial Justice Sunday. The theme for 2026 is: “Whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:21): Promoting Racial Justice in our Parishes. We are lucky in our own parish here in Grantham to have a wonderful and eclectic mix of people of all ages and backgrounds making up our parish family, drawn from a wide variety of cultures and nations from around the world. Whilst we share as Catholics in the unity of our faith we also have so much to learn and experience from one another’s different cultures and traditions.
Where racial justice is concerned, we must never tire of repeating what has been said before, and we must always seek new ways to convey our message. Racial Justice Sunday 2026 is devoted to the promotion of racial justice in our Catholic parishes across England and Wales and society and this Sunday encourages each of us to be more conscious of the need for justice in all its forms.
Living as we do now in an increasingly tense climate, it is imperative I think that we all listen to, and learn from, the experiences, challenges and opportunities encountered in the mission of promoting racial justice in our Catholic parishes today. Our parishes should be places where we can all truly grow in ever-deeper knowledge and love of each other, ourselves and God.
White Flower Appeal 2026 – This weekend we have a retiring collection after all our Sunday Masses for the work of SPUC and the White Flower Appeal 2026. The Society for the Protection of Unborn children (SPUC) and Pro-Life witness is being restricted now more than ever before; please be as generous as you can to help SPUC defend unborn babies and their mothers. Information is also available in the entrance to the church from SPUC regarding the White Flower Appeal 2026 and all they are doing to campaign for Pro-Life witness.
Monday 2nd February – The Presentation of the Lord – ‘Candlemass’ – 2nd February
This Monday we keep the Feast of The Presentation of the Lord. Mass will be offered in the parish at 11 am with the traditional Blessing of Candles at the start of Mass.
The Church will be open for private prayer until the early afternoon. It is also the day designated as a special day of Prayer for Consecrated Life. Do keep in your prayers all who are discerning a vocation to the Religious Life and all who continue to live out their vocation in the Consecrated Life. Pray too for all the Religious whom you may have known throughout your life, especially those who may have inspired and supported you in your faith journey.
Tuesday 3rd February – The church will be closed and there will be no Liturgies celebrated in church today as I shall be taking my day off.
With prayer and best wishes for you and for your families during the week ahead
Your parish priest and friend,
Fr Jonathan
2026 1st February – Newsletter – Download