Category: Fr Rory Writes

“Following the synodal path”

We have been following the synodal path that Pope Francis has proposed so that the church may be able to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying.  I am confident that our work has been fit for purpose.  Returning to my constant sources of reference; in the building, the greatest work is done while outlining the plans and building the foundations, with the least to show for the work that is done.  It’s the same way with farming or gardening.  So please God, there are good signs that progress is being made and we can have confidence that things will continue to develop.

The first meeting of our parish council has been arranged and with it initial discussions of our way ahead. The role of ministries will be very important, also an awareness of how to work with surrounding parishes.  An appreciation of progress made by children’s liturgy and particularly the sacrament of confirmation and how we reach out to youth.  As we go on we can be more attentive to other responsibilities that will help our church to develop and grow.

Looking forward to my next trip home.

With our activities for the year coming to an end, a certain “thanks be to God”.  This time last year our focus was on our preparations to celebrate our centenary year at St Wilfrid’s, which worked out very good.  Hard to credit that was a year ago.  Our focus this year is our parish council and the options and opportunities it presents.

Deacon John has been a constant source of help  and I am sure it will remain a great help.  He raised the question, while Fr Rory is away, who should write his piece?  he suggested that the parish council could do this, this time.  This is very much in keeping with the preparation of our prayers of the faithful, which provided us with a distinct blessing over the months and years.

‘Beautiful Food’

Our outing on Monday morning to Staverton Nursery.  I really enjoyed their food, and I was very impressed by the way they run this enterprise.  What is on offer is excellent, top of the range with an almost limitless supply of trees, shrubs and flowers; although all quite expensive, so it is only those who are serious about their shopping are catered for.  There was not a lot of seats for lounging about, hence I was impressed with the food, I even had some left over for my supper.  If you wanted to socialise you would be better going to a restaurant.  So obviously when the fire destroyed the building they have re-scheduled it very purposefully.  We reduced our allocated time, and I truly      appreciated and enjoyed our outing.  Sincere thanks; as Annette did her mum proud by looking after us in the way that only Joan can do.

How about our own affairs, how fares our parish communities?  Two outstanding events.  First our Corpus Christi, sponsored walk, and then last week our young people who celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation at the       Cathedral.   Signed by the Holy Spirit, to rise as a new generation; backed up by all the hard work that has taken place over the last couple of years.  Our parish council is beginning to emerge, we can truly look forward to the work that they will do for our future.  My Sister Mary’s book “Love Speaks” provides more beautiful food, divine nourishment.

Margaret Nevill, when she returned the book she said “Thanks so much, Father; so well researched and beautifully written”.

A moment of special inspiration and grace from Deacon John’s Homily Sunday last,  ‘The Feast of Corpus Christi’.

Apollo 11 landed on the moon on Sunday, July 20, 1969.  Most people remember astronaut Neil Armstrong’s first words as he stepped onto the moon’s surface: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.  But few know about the first meal eaten on the moon.  Buzz Aldrin, the NASA Astronaut had taken aboard the spacecraft a tiny pyx provided by his Catholic priest.  Aldrin sent a radio broadcast to Earth asking listeners to contemplate the events of the day and give thanks.  Then, blacking out the broadcast for privacy, Aldrin read, “I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit”.  Then, silently, he gave thanks for their successful journey to the moon and received Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, surrendering moon to Jesus.  Next, he descended on the surface of the moon and walked on it with Neil Armstrong.  Aldrin’s actions remind us that in the Lord’s Supper, God’s children can share the life of Jesus from any place on Earth, even from the moon.  God is everywhere, and our worship should reflect this reality.  Buzz Aldrin celebrated that experience on the surface of the moon.  Thousands of miles from earth, he took time to commune with the One who created, redeemed, and established fellowship with him.

A very updated, well fit for purpose replacement for the Corpus Christi procession was our sponsored walk with our shared beneficiary, Foodbank.  The great turn out from the candidates for confirmation which takes place this Sunday at Arundel Cathedral was their energy and gift for life.  A new generation for our future is required.

Our Sponsored Walk Today

With the help of God, our walk will do me and indeed all of us some good.  My ability to ask for sponsorship money does not bode well for its financial outcome; but its social value is of great importance.  Quite a number of key        persons for our cause are away, but hopefully it presents an important opportunity for our parish communities to reach out.

I am always impressed by Mary’s Meals.  As well as reaching more than 2.4 million hungry children every school day with our life-changing meals, we do everything we can to help in emergency situations.  It is thanks to your kindness that Mary’s Meals is a shining beacon of hope in dangerous and desperate times.  Already this year we have responded with urgency to the earthquake in Syria and the cyclone in Malawi.  We are also providing emergency aid to people in Tigray, a region in Ethiopia that was locked in brutal civil war for two years from November 2020.

Our Mary’s Meals family longs for the day that it is safe for classrooms to reopen so that we can return to serving our school meals to children as they learn.  In the meantime, your donations to our Crisis in Ethiopia Appeal will enable us to keep doing all we can to bring hope to the people of Tigray as they try to rebuild their lives. 

Thank you for all you do for the world’s poorest children.

‘Our Sponsored Walk’

Is coming at a most opportune time.  I have to confess I really need the exercise, and must benefit from it.  At the   moment the amount of exercise that I take is pathetic.  I could say that at one time I made a real effort to keep fit enough.  Now my car provides too much of my comfort zone.   This is a chance to get back into my stride.  The walk will provide a good challenge and become a real marker for my future exercise endeavours.  Getting sponsorship is more of a challenge.  I am being encouraged to get sponsorship, but  I also know that many are constantly giving in support of the activities that are taking place at this time.

Finance is becoming more of a challenge and careful decisions are very important.  Maintenance, health and safety requirements, child and vulnerable adult protection are going to be a heavy essential expense in parishes in the      future.  So it is important, like our kindred cause “Foodbank” similar charitable causes must remain a constant on our horizon.

              The Feast of Pentecost

                            “Once more the day of Pentecost has come”             

With it is the awareness that actions speak louder than words, praying in tongues is a real gift of the spirit and has great benefits.  Expectation, wanting to act in the light of the spirit are steps to revive and strengthen faith.            Communication, sharing our hope and expectations, a most important step in the right direction.  This Sunday we will share our names at St Wilfrid’s.  We have done this previously, and will bear fruit in our parish.  We will continue to develop and grow our plans for the future.

On Wednesday at 6pm we will have a parish council meeting, that will be of benefit for our future.  There are good ideas with important plans to structure, support and bring to fruition suggestions that are being made.  In time it will form a fruitful coherent strategy.  This evening I will be attending an overnight stay, and will be involved with Bishop Richard and the plans that are being formed for the Diocese.  So this is a time of importance for a real alive active   parish community to develop and grow.  Some have already engaged; preparation for our liturgies, children’s liturgy, social activities and our parish sponsored walk are preparing the way for an active living and sharing of faith.      Streaming will come to play an important part in this, as with our website, the way of things for the future.

‘As Good as Gold’

and with the help of God, far more valuable.  We had our first parish council meeting to lay out the tasks and responsibilities.  To focus our care for our parish and with the help of God “bear fruit, fruit that will last”.  Jesus could not be clearer “by their fruits you shall know them, good trees bear good fruit”.

For years now there has been question marks about the number of priests that are available to serve in our parishes.  An honest assessment is that in the prevailing circumstances a great shortage, not likely to change any time soon.  Now with the help of God, we will respond to our present circumstances and the Lord will provide.

Two thousand years ago, the church was in exactly the same situation, coping with the circumstances of their time.  One idea they came up with was deacons, God’s grace always works in other ways.  The greatest obstacle always is human nature effected by the sin of Adam.

With the Help of God

Our initial meeting of our parish council got off to a good start on Tuesday evening in the church.  Its role and above all its responsibility will be of great importance and will please God, be a great gift, very beneficial for our parish in the years to come.  The awareness that a body is made up of many parts, but working together is most beneficial; hence please God, core groups will enable this to bear fruit.

This coming Thursday to the Feast of the Ascension, with its focus upon the words of Jesus “It is good for you that I should go, for I will send the Holy Spirit, hence Feast of Pentecost” the most important event in the life of our church.

Another very special event, but this time a very happy one.  I received a copy of my sister Mary’s second book that has just been published “love speaks”, a very beautiful book full of hope and promise.

From the editor:

Love Speaks is a timely book, appearing at a time when all God’s people are asked to embark on a spiritual journey marked by two important elements: listening and sharing.  This journey is the synodal path that Pope Francis has    proposed for our times so that the Church can listen profoundly to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us.  However, an aspect of this listening which can too often be neglected is attentiveness to the inner voice in our own hearts, that still small voice of the Spirit in us.  Our author has shared generously the fruits of such attentive listening and by so doing invites us to ponder the words of love that sustains our journey in the spiritual life.