A message from Fr John

Dear Friends

Good morning - let’s hope this bright clear weather holds our for a while.

I was speaking with a parishioner yesterday about the feedback from our meetings and the diocesan Mission Action Plan. She felt that this is a time for going back to our roots, for rediscovering for ourselves and the younger generations what it is that really makes us active members of the Body of Christ with an enthusiasm for the faith that will help to build our vision afresh. I agree!

And so, I think that, for each of us, nothing can beat going back to the Gospels, learning to the love the Jesus who loves us so much - just because he does! That surely is the whole meaning of Lent.

I think we would do well also to rediscover the deep wisdom of the Vatican Council which helped us to build a vision of Church which continues to nurture us. The paragraph below is the first paragraph from the Document on the Pastoral Constitution of the Church, Gaudium et Spes. It is as challenging now as it was 60 years ago.

The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of men and women. United in Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of their Father and they have welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every person. That is why this community realises that it is truly linked with humankind and its history by the deepest of bonds.

This surely is the foundation stone for building any vision - its roots go very deep indeed.

St Joseph, guardian of our parish in these days, pray for us

Every blessing