A message from Fr John

I hope you’re staying well and staying safe

Apologies for the Zoomed Mass and Benediction yesterday. Apparently it was a glitch at Zoom itself - nothing to do with us poor users. Hopefully today will go ahead as normal - what ever ‘normal’ means these days.

I’m used to living on my own in a generally quiet house but there is always plenty to do in the parish, schools, hospital and so on but these days when all is so much more restricted the silence is almost palpable - albeit that the traffic is a little busier. 

This silence is a great opportunity to listen to oneself and to listen to the abiding presence of God in our hearts and minds - time to think and pray. 

I am reminded of a little story from the Desert Fathers: 

‘Theophilus of holy memory, Bishop of Alexandria, journeyed to a famous monastery in Scete, and the monks there, coming together, said to their Abbot, Pambo, ‘Say a word or two to the Bishop, that his soul may be edified by this place.’

The abbot replied, ‘If he is not edified by my silence, there is no hope that he will be edified by my words’.

Enjoy what silence you can manage. And use this time to grow in understanding the fulness, the enormity, of God’s love for us - which is the obvious starting point for any love we might have for God and each other.

Let us pray for those who are sick:

Evelyn, Adela, Winnie, Sylvia, Sister Kevina and Mary

And for those who have died: 

Fr Peter, Michael, Roy, Alf, Malcolm, Elsie, Matthew, Anne, Stella, Chris, Kenneth, Carol Ann, Ingeburg, Winnie, Patricia M., Eileen, Maureen, Joan, Frank, Robert, Lynda, Cecilia, Lourdes, Dale, John, Eileen, Michael, Graham, Maria, Andrew, Gladys, Ellen, Patrick, Pauline, Michael, Alice and Mary 

St Joseph, patron of families, pray for us

Every blessing

Fr John