Author: Jacky

Fr Rory Writes

It is good to pause: ………….   The new announcement from our Prime Minister leaves us with a lot to think about …….. and to hope and pray for. 

The nature of the virus does call for a lot of isolation, but life, is very much designed for the opposite, to be lived together and shared.  This is passing us by.   Yes, there is a need for a grieving process, particularly for the many elderly and vulnerable who have been so badly affected, because their care cut them off from family members which is particularly appreciated.   It is essential to keep in close contact with our friends, old and new.

Fruits of pausing:  After our pause, we look forward to bearing more fruit., fruit that will last.

Stewardship:  We are coming to realise the value that this brings to the church, and so we are most grateful to those who have stepped forward.  Because of their work, we appreciate the value of welcomers, which we have experienced in the past and hope for the future. This is very much a valuable service.

Cleaning:  Not the most appealing task, but certainly one of the most beneficial, caring for people is at the heart of the service that we bring, so we are very much in the need of help – yes – Help.  We look forward to developing all our ministries, strengthening our sense of community, working better together so we may enrich our shared experiences.

Fr Kieran is looking after our Masses this weekend and we are glad and grateful to have him.

I am looking forward to an outing co-ordinated by the Children’s Liturgy at St George’s, I have very much benefited by and enjoyed outings with them in the past.

A Huge Sincere Thank You

A Huge Sincere Thank You To:  Our beloved Fr Rory, Sophie, Lawrence, Loretta, Maeve, Jackie, Bob and to the magnificent Bagpiper, Ivan Brooks, Anna & Karen at C.P.J.Field Undertakers, and to everyone who sent cards and helped in giving my beautiful Mum a magnificent Requiem Mass send off at St Wilfrid’s Church on Tuesday 25th August 2020.    To celebrate my beautiful Mum, Mrs Margaret McLean Westcar, wonderful 90 years of her beautiful, happy fulfilled family life.   Thank you xx and God bless you all xx love from Gary Westcar and his family xx

Fr Rory Writes

Our Way Ahead

Providence provided me with this prayer for it::-

Heavenly Father, give us the bravery of St George, to stand up for the truth and the glory of God

that we have seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

Give us the strength to overcome, in our lives and in the world,

all that is contrary to your rule of justice and love.

Help us to be good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind; Let the oppressed go free, and proclaim the good news of God’s favour and Jubilee

Amen

The RCIA:  Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.  Many years ago there was some initiative to place this at the heart of Catholic Life in our parishes.  Professor Fr Seamus Ryan was a great proponent of this when we were in our seminary, and in my early years as a priest this was a key focus for me; something very worthwhile to bring to the parish.

After my early years as a curate I was happy to be appointed to a parish team ministry in St Pauls Parish, Haywards Heath.  But within a couple of years of that appointment, the diocese introduced the Renew Programme, which also clashed with a newly introduced endeavour to have a structured process in place to develop ecumenical dialogue, and to improve working relationships between the churches.  Unfortunately the Renew Programme and process was very patchy at best.  After a number of years it became very clear that we did not have the support of our Bishop, and so the team ministry sadly came to an end.

Please God, the coronavirus will come to an end and the situation that we will be left with will be very challenging indeed.  In the wider context there is reason for real anxiety about how many will return to church, and at this time, there is an expectation that it will not be in the same numbers.  I also believe in other situations the numbers will be larger..

Our way ahead is now what we might call “the new normal”.  Our children are back at school and many are very pleased to be back.  The next horizon I would normally highlight  is the Feast of Christ our King;  the end of the church’s year.  In time I believe this will become a great Feast Day, but certainly not this year.  So our next highlight will be Christmas.  I do not expect that  things will have recovered enough by then so that we will be able to gather together to celebrate Christmas.  But I do think it presents us with an important opportunity to develop our liturgies so that they will become a greater blessing and help us to grow as communities of faith.  In fact, please God, a real bonus, a fresh life line that may bring us great blessings in the future.  The reality of the coronavirus guidelines has given great emphasis to being over seventy.  This calls for a true sense of discernment and this must get mature positive consideration.  The fruits of this discernment process, like all others is in the outcome.  So with gratitude for all that the over seventies have contributed, which calls for a new generation, let us all bear great fruits; fruits that will last.

Returning to the sadness of the end of our priests’ team ministry, which I had hoped would lead to great development in the life of our parish then, through a focus being placed upon eucharistic communities.  As priests we had particular responsibilities.  One of my responsibilities was for baptism.  I visited the families who requested to have their child baptised.  It soon became clear that for some their motive was to get their child into catholic schools.   I tried to make clear the true nature of baptism with its need to nurture the life of the spirit, the life of faith, explaining that this was parallel with the natural daily nourishment that is needed for our physical bodies to develop and grow.  This always raised the question of belief and the challenge that is brings.  This remains at the heart of our life of faith.

I recently visited a lady who has just celebrated her 90th Birthday.  Still with some lockdown limitations, it was the best birthday celebration of her life.  Her more immediate family were able to gather, and one niece had made special arrangements so that family members from all over the world were able to greet her. They could all join together in singing Happy Birthday and sharing great greetings with one another.  This is indicative of just a moment of inspiration that can be shared together for the future.  Forty year ago; when I was a curate, I was given the responsibility for an outside church.  We had developed preparation for the weekend Mass.  We were especially blessed with a young mum who had a great gift to be a cantor.  This helped greatly, and also the use of the new ministries of the eucharist and the word was very fruitful.  Unfortunately I had to move on as a curate and the priests brought this preparation to an end.  Four years after this, my next experience was the team ministry, so options and choices were getting scarce.  Providence provided that I spent the next 10 years on an ecumenical project.   Please God, we may all share a new project, that is very fit for purpose.   For our time each Parish needs to become a “Community of faith”.

Now we will pause with the question “How?”

Deacon John Writes

The common theme of the readings for this weekend is God’s command concerning our spiritual responsibility and individual accountability for others in our families, parishes and community.

“Take the time to do what you need to do and do it now!” That is surely the best advice on what action to take if you have been hurt by someone. The hurt may have been intentional or may have been unintentional. Whatever the rights and wrongs the important thing is not who is right or wrong but to find a way to keep that relationship. Who will take the first step to heal the situation, me or the other person, is something we can all do – the best time to take that step is today! Do not delay.

There is a story called “The Carpenter” which illustrates how to promote mutual and forgiving love in any community. There were two brothers on neighbouring farms who fell into conflict where for many years they had worked together sharing resources. This conflict turned into a major discord which resulted in weeks of silence and absence of any sharing. One day one of the brothers heard a knock on his door and a man with a carpenter’s toolbox was there. He said “I need some work i hope you might have some work for me here which I could do.”

“Well as a matter of fact i do have a job you could do. You see that ditch over there. I want  an 8 foot fence built so that I won’t have to look at my brother’s farm across there any more. He constructed the ditch there just to spite me.” The carpenter thought and then said “I understand what you are saying and I am sure I can do a job that pleases you. Just give me the materials and I will do it today for you.”

The brother said “Alright”, showed him where the materials were and went off to the town for a meeting. When the brother returned that evening he found the carpenter just finishing the work, but there was no fence, he had built a bridge across the ditch. It was well made, sturdy and with handrails along the sides. At that moment he saw his brother coming on the bridge with his hand reaching out to him and saying “Well done for building this bridge between us after all I have said and done.” The brothers met in the middle and joined hands. They turned to see the carpenter putting his toolbox on his shoulder, about to go. “No, wait! Stay a few days. I’ve a lot of other projects for you”, said the brother who had asked him to do the work. 

“I’d love to stay on”, the carpenter said, “but I have many more bridges to build.”

Finally I read the following short story recently, told by a man called Roy A. Burkhart.  Once a boy went out of his home to do something that his parents felt was wrong. He was involved in an accident and lost both legs. It was a terrible blow, but the father told me one of the most beautiful stories I have ever heard. He said, “When his mother and I saw him in the hospital cot lying there aware that he had lost both legs, he said, ‘Will you forgive me?’ We both ran up and hugged him and said, ‘Of course; we have already forgiven you.’ And he answered, ‘Then I can live without my legs.’ ” 

Ministry of Consolation

Ministry of Consolation:

Bishop Richard initiated a new Ministry late last year, and requested volunteers from the various Parishes in the Diocese, with the help of his Marriage and Family Advisers, to come forward for this Training Course  – the new Deacon Simon South for this area  who was also working for the Bishop in the Marriage and Family Adviser capacity, has been running this course in conjunction with The Bishop who employed Kathy Quint ,  a Professional Counsellor and Therapist, who was brought in to run this course – she is a Christian, and  she writes many papers and courses for various large organisations.  She also sometimes runs a course herself – which she did for our Diocese.

Bishop Richard writes –

‘If you have been affected by the loss of a family member or close friend and would like someone to talk with or to jut listen, please speak to your Parish Priest who can put you in touch with one of our Bereavement Supporters.

We have people within our Parish who have been trained to support you through your bereavement journey either in person or via the telephone.  This support is free of charge as a Ministry of Consolation in the name of Our Lord who comforts us all in our sadness.’

Our local Ministry of Consolation person is Sue Longridge, and she is happy to speak to anyone who needs just that person to listen, without any judgement, to anyone who is experiencing any difficulties.  Please feel free to call her on 07921 152444.

Deacon John Writes

I recently read the following item which I thought you might like:

“On those occasions when we ask ourselves questions like: Why should I bother? Why am I doing this? What about me? it may help to remember that it is by what we do, rather than by what we say, that we show whether or not we have the right answer to the question of Jesus: “Who do you say I am?” In our struggles each day to decide what to do, here are two statements that are worth remembering. The first is by Jesus, who once said: “If you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it.”

That was put in different words by Albert Schweitzer. By the time he was 30 he could have spent the rest of his life as a theologian or an organist. Instead he decided to become a doctor, and go to Africa, where he spent most of the rest of his life, until his death at the age of 90. He planned to spread the Gospel not by the verbal process of preaching, but by the example of his Christian work of healing. In 1952, at the age of 77, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his philosophy of Reverence for Life. He once said: “I have always held firmly to the thought that each one of us can do a little to bring some portion of misery to an end. One thing I know, the only ones among you who will be really happy, are those who will have sought and found, how to serve.

(Rivendellsfoodforthought)

Fr Rory Writes

              Moving On

With plans in place for our children to return to school, for the need to improve the economy and indeed the needs of daily life, there is  an important need to develop a sense of returning to life. There is still a long way to go, so care and caution are the order of the day, but The power of the positive is truly important.

We need to get back to a normal way of life. 

Our return to Mass is, please God, beginning to settle down and hopefully falling into a pattern. Like most parishes we have an important  requirement for persons under seventy years of age to meet the criteria for stewarding and cleaning. We are therefore asking younger people to offer their services to help our parish.

As Students are returning to their studies and others returning to work, this is now a very urgent need.  Our desire and our blessing to celebrate Mass has its own importance, and with so many elderly people (which includes me) who are careful, responsible persons, there is a call for  greater support from the younger generation. Then we can be more at ease knowing that we can continue to gather to celebrate Mass.

We must turn to the future with hope, but reality is now making its presence felt.  The fact is that the church is in a very weak state of being. The wonderful opportunity that was presented to the church was not availed of and the closure of  so many  seminaries   – ignored by those in authority –  has left us with a very critical situation to respond to.  I hear it said, and by priests, that after the coronavirus there will not be a major return to church, and that we will have to develop a different approach  to life in our churches. Mass will always be at the heart of it, but how and in what way it will be celebrated will make a truly important difference to the future of our lives.

So consistently two things.  The first is a relationship with Jesus through the church and our faith.  At the heart of this is in preparation for Baptism and First Holy Communion, “I belong”, this is the most important book and is the foundation.  The strength of this foundation is everything.  And the second is Nourishment.   How we nourish our physical bodies determines our health and our wellbeing.  This is equally vital to our spiritual lives, so it deserves all the care and attention we can bring to it.