Category: Fr Rory Writes

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,                Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Pray and pray constantly and never loose heart

As we begin a new year with the visit of the Relics, and a very important fruitful meeting with leaders from our two communities at St George’s and St Wilfrid’s.  Please God, we are off to a great start.  A true sense, I hope and pray we have very dedicated hard working core members of our faith communities ……. With a constant underlining true sense we need more persons to step forward and help, my constant prayer is that we are on our way with the help of God.

“By their fruits you shall know them,                    Good trees bear good fruit”

A constant saying as I was growing up, the family that prayed together, stayed together, but it also acknowledged that this does not act as the guarantee that there would be no crosses or afflictions. There is no guarantee of a trouble free life, but yes, there are aids to overcome them. 

The Knights of St Columba National Relic Tour, is a God sent opportunity and our highest priority to experience graces and blessings. A grateful heart to those who have laboured to prepare for this event, with the time and effort spent.  Let us embrace this event with prayer full hearts, and a good sense of hope that it will bring great blessings and the strengthening to be faithful witnesses through the important weeks and months to come.

             “A most special time             The Sabbath Day”

A day of rest.  Through the ages the Sabbath Day has received different guidelines on how it is best to celebrate it.  So it is good to pay attention for this time of rest as we enjoy our holiday season.

A big thank you to Bob and Madeleine Waters for their great contributions to us over the years.  An opportunity to express gratitude as we host the sacred relics, St Andrew – Apostle, Patron of Scotland, St Columba of Iona and St Margaret of  Scotland.

It is good for me to take this time to thank you all for the work we share for our communities, and as we enjoy our holidays we share a great sense of thanks to God’s providence in our lives.   With the help of the holiday season we will respond to the challenges that face us as we begin a new year.

Special Visitors

Each year we have special and interesting visitors attending our mass during the summer time.  From the very gifted man, who sings in concerts at Glyndebourne, others having very interesting stories from our past, leaving us enriched treasured memories remembered of celebrations and sorrows for sad losses.  Please God, all strengthening and supporting us on our journey.

This year we now have a visit from the National Relic Tour, Wednesday 27th August.  Organised by the Knights of St Columba, bringing the relics of three Saints; St Andrew – Apostle, Patron of Scotland, St Columba of Iona and St Margaret of Scotland.  Hoping that it will be a profitable, enjoyable and memorable occasion.  Please give it your best attention and response.

Deacon John Writes:

On Monday we heard the parable of the mustard seed and yeast. Jesus explains how the Kingdom of God grows within us by the power of the Word we hear and power of the Holy Spirit. When we allow his Word to take root in our hearts, we are transformed and made holy by the power of the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us. The life-principle in a small mustard seed enables it to grow into a large bush by a slow but steady process. The microscopic yeasts within a small piece of dough transform it into soft and spongy bread- yum!   hristianity had a small beginning, like a mustard seed or yeast, with Jesus and a band of twelve apostles in a remote corner of the world. But through the power of the Holy Spirit living in individual Christians, Christianity has become the largest religion in the world, spreading in all countries taking in all races of people. We need to act like yeast, influencing the lives of others around us in a similar way that  Christianity in the past transformed the treatment of women, children, slaves, the sick, and the poor by the power of the  Gospel. We Christians, in our time, have the duty to transform the lives of people around us by our  lives, led according to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Deacon John Writes:

This week brings me to the last instalment of the Deacon John writes about food:

We have had three examples recently where meals have been the feature. The first was in May when we had the wonderful party celebrating my 90th Birthday.  So many came to the celebration and the food was scrumptious – a       memorable occasion. The second special event was the party for Canon Paul Jennings on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his ordination as priest – a real example of Service to the Lord.  The third was what has become a regular   party after Mass on the last Sunday of the month. Each month it is for a different charity and is much appreciated both by those who attend it and by the recipient of the proceeds.  These are just three examples of the benefits of meals in the life of the church. I hope that in the coming weeks and months there will be many more events where we show hospitality to the world around us. This is a very important part of our being in this world.   

Deacon John Writes:

Last week I used an article from a diocesan newsletter. This week is a follow-up on that:

Luke’s Gospel in particular, has many accounts of Jesus and his disciples visiting the homes of the people they met and eating with them. In Luke 5 you will find the story of Jesus eating in Levi’s home and sharing it with his friends – tax collectors and sinners. In Luke 7 a sinful woman anointed the feet of Jesus at the dinner table so showing the host, a    Pharisee, up for his lack of hospitality. There is another occasion in Luke 10 where Martha and Mary show us the importance of spending time with our guests, not rushing around being the busy host. In Luke 11 we hear about Jesus dining with the Pharisees and lawyers and he rebukes them for their hypocrisy. There are more examples in Luke 14, 15, 19, 22 and 24 which I will leave you to look up for yourselves. They are all well-known examples involving a meal.

Deacon John Writes:

The following is based on an article found in the diocesan newsletter last week:

The kitchens in our homes are surely the centres of our family lives. They are where we prepare the meals that we eat and in many cases they are where we sit down to eat. I am sure you have had many conversations with family by the oven door or during the    clearing up and washing up or stacking the dishwasher. They are frequently where the events of the day are recalled and discussed. They are also the place where treats and night drinks are prepared. Think for a moment about all the meals that have been prepared there, plus of course the snacks in between the main meals. Do we realise that the Bible has much to say about food and fellowship as so many events happen around food and the building of communities. Both the Old and New Testaments frequently describe the food we need to eat for our living as well as the spiritual food we also need for our well-being. Jesus regularly ate with his followers both before and after his death and resurrection. It was, of course, through the Last Supper event with his chosen disciples that he set up the meal that is still celebrated here in this community and in all the communities all over the world – the Eucharist.

New Parish Update:

I want to update you on where we are in the journey towards becoming a New Parish, joining together all the 8 parishes of our Eastbourne – St Leonard’s Deanery. There have been, over the past 6 months, fruitful meetings of a Parish Leadership Group of the clergy and some lay reps from our parishes. There have also been plenty of meetings with the Diocese and those involved across the other Deaneries in this process. Our 11 Deaneries will become 11 large parishes in the coming months. We have realised as the months have passed that this is a “long haul” journey, not a sprint, that must not be rushed but instead, step by step and with everyone playing their part, we can build together a vibrant and mission centred “Community of Communities”. We are now ready for more concrete work to be done and will begin in July working in 2 X Hub Leadership Groups, at the 2 ends of what will be the New Parish (Eastbourne and St Leonards). These Hub Leadership Groups, clergy and lay reps from each church, will work with you all in implementing changes that will allow us to use our many good resources in a way that best serves everybody, and also reaches out to those many people who are searching for Christ and faith. The first 2 important areas we are working on, ready for the autumn, will be [1] coordinating a joined-up approach to our Sacramental Programmes (Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, RCIA etc), and [2] working on coordinated new Hub Mass Schedules that provide all our churches with a better thought-out and sustainable range of Mass times. In the coming days we will be launching a New Parish Website that will provide lots of detail of what’s happening and how you can be involved [https://eastbourne-stleonards.org.uk]. Please continue to keep all this important work in your daily prayers.   Many thanks. Fr Kevin Dring (Moderator – on behalf of the Clergy Team)

“Most important thing for our future.

Sure foundations for what we build”.

This week I present you with a clean sheet.  It represents the space in which our future story will or maybe told.

So far so good, but now the most important time is here, and please God, we will have a great story to tell.

Most important, let us work and pray.