Category: Fr Rory Writes

“Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love”.

How often and how constantly we make this prayer.  As we return once again to the great Feast of Pentecost, it is a time to refocus.  The Synod invites us to make a fresh start, guided by the ministry and life of Jesus.  “By their fruits you shall know them, good trees bear good fruit”.

From time to time I have heard stories of priests making predictions years ago, that the number of priests would decline.  By the beginning of the new millennium there would be many less priests.  I would have to say I could see all the signs that this would take place.  When I first entered the seminary, over fifty years ago, this was a time of great inspiration.  The Second Vatican Council had just taken place.  Pope John XXIII made the statement “that it is time for the church to open its windows, and let in the light”.

Pope Francis frequently returns to this.  I began writing this before this evenings very important meeting that will please God, prepare our way for a journey together with good purpose.  The opening prayers had been prepared laying the foundations in place.

Thanks be to God for our meeting and for all who attended.  There was a lot for our attention, and one contribution was an outline of what had been proposed by Our Lady of Ransom.  I look forward to the presentation of the minutes from our meeting.  The opening prayer was an indication that we can grow and develop our life of prayer and service.  There was a lot of material presented and questions raised during this meeting; a sign that we are a work in progress.

The centre and the heart of our lives is Sunday Mass.  This provides the central structure and nourishment for our faith.  The preparation and the presentation of the liturgy will be crucial to our development or not.  Having just to turn up to Mass, will continue to bring about our decline.  There is no quick fix solution, but working together has the potential to be effective, creative and inspiring. 

Just a moment to focus our attention to the essential ingredients:

a) Gossip from our parish, with all its potential for good news,

b) Prayer, nourishment, caring for the needs of our parishioners, growth in faith and renewal of life.

“Go out to the whole world Mk16:5”

                      “Proclaim the good news to all creation”.               

This is the final parting message from Jesus to his disciples for all ages, as He ascended into heaven.  But while on earth living like one of us He revealed the reality of what it means and what it entails, “no bed of roses”.

When I left my family home in order to do this; it had become enshrined in the expression “no cross, no crown”.  This is a great constant in all our lives and of my family.  The years of preparation had embedded this in my life.  His final instructions compelled His Apostles and His Mother Mary to return to Jerusalem.   They prepared to watch and pray because they were faithful, the Holy Spirit came down upon them and this is the great legacy of Pentecost.  It is important for us each year that after the Feast of the Ascension, we likewise “watch and pray” in preparation for the Holy Spirit being poured out upon us.  We may be more open and prepared for the Holy Spirit to be more active and at work in our lives.

This year gives us the opportunity to work together, to build up and renew our parish communities.  The Synod, and now our parish response is truly important.  As we receive reports from other parishes and churches, the continuing scandals in the churches, we must really raise up our hearts and minds to be refreshed and refocused.  It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us, that we can change and respond by really working together.  A start has been made, and one sign of the fruits that it can bear, was the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation with Bishop Richard, on Sunday at Our Lady of Ransom Church.  Our 10 candidates and their sponsors, Mary, Sandra and all those who helped, left us with an inspiring moment, and a very happy occasion to celebrate and remember.

Please God, may your Holy Spirit be at work in us, and let us all say Amen to this.

Time to concentrate all our attention.

In the natural order of creation, one of the loveliest times of the year is when there is a flurry of blossoms.   It quickly gives way; but is still a most crucial time for the resulting harvest.  The blossoms give way to the emerging fruit, so a time of great importance.

In the life of the spirit, it is the same process.  From the life of Christ when His work was accomplished upon the cross, the first words then began to emerge “Christ is Risen”.  Rumours began to spread.  The stories in the scripture at this time are so revealing.  The more they develop they shed light,  but also reveal the mystery.  Why?

I always remember (an early introductions of what it means to be a priest) being awakened in the early morning by someone shouting outside the church, very shortly after Holy Week “demanding that He would come out and fight, why was He Hiding?” .  I could hear what was being said – why does He not reveal Himself clearly.

For those who were chosen to experience His Ascension into Heaven, this was an incredible grace.   The instruction that follows are of the greatest importance to all of us.  The apostles returned to Jerusalem to watch and to pray, essential now for us.

So during the coming week with our focus upon the Feast of the Ascension; there will be a vigil mass on Wednesday evening (25th) at St Wilfrid’s at 7pm, and the 10am mass will be at St George’s church for all the parish. 

Our next open meeting for our parish will be Tuesday 31st May at 6pm in St Wilfrid’s Church, beginning with May devotions and setting the ball rolling with plans for our future.   The Synod questionnaire and now our continuing response to all the questions raised, and the statements that followed are very helpful. 

“With the help of God”

Yes, with the help of God we will do better; and so let us rely more upon that help.  We had a very good get together with those who attended our first meeting in response to the issues raised by those who responded to the Synod questionnaires.

The reality of the age profile of the priests now in the church here in England and Ireland is beginning to be recognised and acknowledged.  A great concern is the number of churches closing, and being sold; with this becoming a threat for other churches.   For years our response has been too superficial, and of no help or benefit for a good outcome to the problems that are real.

With all my heart and soul I pray to God that this Synod will provide a great opportunity.  I recall the great hope with which the 2nd Vatican Council was received.  Equally there were many who were hostile to it.  Life does not change, and so I am becoming more realistic.   The first thing I can do in my response is not to set my hopes too high.  Also to become more responsible and in the best possible way to help so that we can achieve the best possible outcome.  Please God, St George’s church and St Wilfrid’s will flourish through God’s grace at work in us.

Structures have a good purpose and we made a good first response to the question raised by those in our parish to the Synod Questionnaire.

I brought to our attention some structures that worked very well in our past.  The St Vincent De Paul Society and something parallel with this for the ministers of the eucharist.  The Legion of Mary as a structure in support of the readers.  Also many others as for preparation for the sacraments; for the liturgy for ecumenism.  Beginning with core groups, identifying first points to help progress our response and in time our leaven groups will be up and running again.  “Fit for purpose”.

“Incredible”

When I look around the grounds and church I am truly blessed.  Gratitude, especially to Lulu and all who help me in the churches is extremely helpful.  I hope I can do better to help our parish to continue to develop and grow.

I have had to respond a lot to the needs of our time, and listening to people in real need who get in touch either calling at the door or on the phone, this has been demanding.  Watching the news coming from the war and destruction that is happening in the Ukraine; after two years of the pandemic means that we are all more brittle, and living with greater stress.  I am very blessed by all the help and support, and the Easter Services have been a great blessing.  Following on our response to the Synod, our meeting on Tuesday evening was very encouraging.  So let us continue to pray constantly and never lose heart.

What is truly incredible is this season of God’s grace.  After the crucifixion of our Devine Lord, the early disciples i.e. the church was in a great state of confusion and distress.  As the stories of the resurrection began to circulate there is a change.  More stories emerge that begin to show them how they should respond.  Let us too become more prepared to respond and progress as the Synod continues to happen.  Soon we will be celebrating the Feast of the Ascension, and the time that follows is the greatest time in the whole year “When the day of Pentecost came the disciples were gathered”.   At the time when I was ordained there was a great Pentecost Renewal and I had some great experiences a that time.

So please God, there will be a reawakening and renewal as we recover again after the pandemic.  I look forward to the minutes of our parish meeting, hoping to see the initial development from seeds that were sown, alongside the other analogy of the fresh foundations that are being laid, so it is a truly important time and at the heart of it prayer.  “Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts of your faithful and fill us with the fire of your love”.

To be continued.

Again and again I return to what is most important “PRAYER”.

Abba Father please send your Holy Spirit, come Lord Jesus live in me.

The reality of life is often focused upon trials, and from my home when I was growing up came the response “These are the trials through which we triumph by the power of Him who loves us”.

After two years of the pandemic, which has made us all very brittle, my hope was that it would be ending and that things would feel very much better.  Some things are very much better, it is very much easier to travel.  This illness though very serious is not as fatal as it was in the beginning.

In the life of our parish we have the challenge of life, now focused by the shortage of priests.  So we need to grow and develop as a parish community that does not rely upon having priests, this will entail the care of the elderly, responsibility for ecumenism, the constant care for mass and the sacraments, payments for maintenance of church and property, funding for the administration and financial needs of the parish.  There will be other responsibilities.  We have an important opportunity to develop and grow in response to these requirements.  With the help of God a very important meeting will take place for our parish communities at 6pm in the Presbytery (or in hall if needed) on Tuesday 3rd May.  This is following up upon the work that was done in response to the Synod.  It is providing a firm foundation and a real challenge.  A early comment “there is no support after Baptism or any of the other sacraments”.

Helpful to all our work will be “Core Groups” to identify and to commit to helping with the identified challenge in order to provide for a good outcome. 

On the horizon are projects for celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee, our Centenary Year at St Wilfrid’s, with the first class work that has taken place at St George’s in their confirmation preparation program.  With the help of God we may bear fruit, fruit that will last.  Let us continue to plant seeds and nurture those already beginning to grow.

With gratitude, real gratitude.

The Easter celebrations were a great blessing.  The meaning, the hopes they bring in marked contrast with the normal news we hear.  Receiving the Holy water, the Easter cards, the messages; so many.  “Let us greet the Risen Lord with thankfulness and joy”.  A good foundation upon which to place our hopes and expectations.

On the horizon is the Feast of the Ascension, but above all, Pentecost our firm foundation upon which to build.  The preliminary work that went into our response, the call for a Synod to help renew the life of the church.  I am really grateful for the work that has gone into this, and now the intention to develop our response.  Part of that response is to be ready for new offers of help and effectively use the help we can get.

“Unless a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies it remains a single grain”. But when the most special grain of all fell  upon the ground, so this Sunday with all our hopes coming alive again we join once more with the crowd, when on that most special of occasions of all when Jesus entered into Jerusalem triumphant, but humble riding on a donkey. The plot was set for the most important occasion of all. It commences the process that will end with his crucifixion and death, giving rise to an early awareness beginning to grow among his closest disciples that this was far from the end of the story.

As we take part this week in these sacred events, it is with a great desire to do our best, but above all that we too will become parts of the fruit that will last, and that we will bring life to our Parish and all our communities.

“Holy Week is on our doorsteps”

Please God, we are now ready and looking forward to celebrating this most important event.  Salvation that has come from on High.  The Son of man, Jesus; who is also God’s only Son; intervened in our lives for the sake of our salvation.  The cost was high, revealed to us by the way to calvary.  The station of the cross helps us to give our careful attention to Jesus, so that we can with the help of the Holy Spirit transform our lives.

For me the pandemic; now this dreadful war among wars reveals an unavoidable fact … the realms of evil.  Unfortunately much of my faith is a response to this hard fact.   We begin each year, highlighted by lighting the first advent candle, the candle of “hope”.  This has opened my eyes greatly to the value of “the celebration” of mass.  During this last couple of years I have found it remarkably helpful. 

We had the severest lockdown and on occasions celebrating mass on my own.  The immense peace when celebrating the sign of peace.  We are very blessed by our two churches because they present a remarkable sense of peace.  We must do our best, our very best that our churches will continue to remain open, and blessed with loving communities of faith.  I am fearful that not all our churches in the diocese will survive.  Bishop Richard brought this to our attention at the very beginning of his ministry, when he introduced an immense consultation “with the focus on our diocese and our churches; what life in the church will be in 2030”.  This was because of the age profile of the clergy, and the first focus was how the ministry of our priesthood would be like in 2024.  Now the implications at this present time are sobering, especially if we place the emphasis upon the number of priests; and what they can do.

What we can do – Our response to the Synod maybe very helpful in this. 

What we must do, helped through the Liturgy to well celebrate the events of our faith.  Let us begin with “Palm Sunday” truly embracing that moment when Jesus entered Jerusalem, triumphant and riding on a donkey.  In our seminary a very inspiring priest who highlighted this event from scripture “if our hearts are that hard and we do not respond, then the rocks and the trees will cry out with gratitude”.  The procession should have great importance.

At Easter we celebrate the waters of baptism, in which we are washed and made clean.   Sacramentals in the life of the church bring to our attention the grace of the sacraments that we receive and re-establish the greatness of God’s grace.  The custom of having Holy Water in the house and in cars, a sign of the importance of God’s grace in all our lives and activities.  It highlighted also the need for God’s protection.

In preparation for Christmas and Easter the priests spent hours in the confessional.  The sacrament is true and can be very fruitful.  Through the ministry of the church God grants to you pardon and peace.  Now that we have ministers of the Eucharist at Holy Communion, I will be available for the Sacrament of Reconciliation at this time.  Please make your best preparation and come to celebrate this sacrament.  This valuable ministry gives us the opportunity to celebrate the great sacrament of peace and then to receive our Divine Lord in Holy Communion.

Our journey through Lent is speeding by.  The changing hour of the clock is a clear sign that it is nearly over.  It is a very special time of grace if we are faithful to our Lenten journey.  The way of the cross, the stations of the cross have a most important role to play.  Each year, one of my very strongest memories is my dad making the stations of the cross after mass during Lent, because he had much suffering in his life.  It is a very fitting memory when aligned with the hope “after this our exile will be a welcome to our true home in heaven”.  We now have the stations of the resurrection at St Wilfrid’s, once when I was doing the rounds of the stations they merged for me at the 13th station “Jesus is taken down from the cross”.  This became a real sign of hope when my eyes turned to the station of the resurrection “Mary and the Apostles pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit”.  The disciples set about preparing for Pentecost “little did they know then what was in store for them”.  The Holy Spirit came upon them “in tongues of fire”.

At the same time it revealed a thought, maybe an attitude on my part “the day of Pentecost never came”.  When I was first ordained the Pentecostal movement, with marriage encounter Taizé and its prayer seemed to be flourishing with a promise of great things to come.  So after my first parish I had a minor sabbatical, a great window of experience….  most of it spent in America, where there was a lot of good experiences in the life of the church.  Now, in the light of our present experience, I feel the institutional church did not embrace the “Spirit of the times”.  After the 2nd Vatican Council with the closing of so many seminaries, and a closing of hearts to so many, promising sighs of spring.  Now I look forward to new life, the Synod opens the way if it is allowed to bring new life, a new Spring.  Remember seeds take time and the right environment to prosper and grow.  Please God, this will happen for us this Spring.

The second failure is actually two fold.  We have received “Missio” The Red Boxes, which over the years has played a good part in our “giving” and supporting new life in the church.  The material stimulate new hope “build a vibrant catholic church for the future”.  Also, the material used by St George’s church for confirmation preparation “The Alpha” youth discussion guide.  Hearing words of Deacon John’s excellent way of the cross, with the richness of the story, the script, the seeds are there.  It calls for the response.  So members in attendance were very disappointing.  Sincerely this time last week I had intended to attend, but a circumstance from the pandemic turned up and took priority.  It was something important ….  So prayers for guidance and who can give the best guidance “only the Holy Spirit”.  Let us this year prepare for Pentecost.