Category: Fr Rory Writes

Hail Mary, full of grace the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

The Parish Council Meeting on Tuesday evening went very well; please God, it is preparing us as well as possible for our future.  At the heart of this is the need to become communities of faith.  In order to do this the ministries of the church are most important.  We will establish a structure to develop these ministries.  Clearly this calls for a syllabus and a time frame to be established, so that all can play a full part in the life and liturgy of the church. 

I just received a letter from Bishop Richard confirming that Fr Kevin Dring has been appointed as Moderator of the Moderated Parish for the communities currently making up the Eastbourne and St Leonards Deanery.  I know you will join with him in continuing to develop the Pastoral Plan across the communities involved.

Just a lovely, lovely hour on a Saturday morning with Adoration and Veneration of the Blessed Sacrament,

and available to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, a time of grace and peace. 

Time is flying by, but thanks be to God for Holy Week and Easter.  It is a loss to see the Garden of Remembrance  installed at the Altar sliding away.   So our greatest care is the Ascension with Jesus returning to His true place in our Fathers House in Heaven.  As these signs and symbols of a great season move on, it is essential that we focus upon this time; the most important time in the whole year.  The words of Jesus; ‘It is good for you that I should go back to the father,  because when I go I will send you the Holy Spirit’.  Good preparation to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit, must be the most important thing for all of us.

Then down the road is my Golden Jubilee year.  I look forward to its celebration.  The date chosen has been the second Sunday in July, which is the 14th.  Most important to it will be our return to the sponsored walk which got off again to a good start last year.  As we have two churches making up our parish community it is essential that both should celebrate the occasion and have a positive energetic experience.  An experience of grace, good stories to tell, an achievement to remember and so the emphasis is on all that can be done together now that in the near future there will be a real shortage of priests.  God willing I am hoping to soldier on for a time.

Hail Mary full of grace, The Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, Blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

We represent last weeks window because it is so fit for purpose.  Why the Hail Mary? Because it is absolutely important to realise that salvation has come down from heaven, that the Kingdom of darkness has a prevailing effect in our world.  So the Son of God, Jesus, came down from heaven to restore fallen mankind, that is why Deacon John’s presentation last week is so helpful, so important.  Nourishment, that is so important for our bodies;  is vitally          important for our spiritual life.

Let us have the courage of our Christian convictions to share our Faith as St Thomas did, and to recognize the “nail marks.”  We are not to keep the gift of Faith locked in our hearts, but to share it with our children, our families and our neighbours, always remembering the words,: “Every believer in this world must become a spark of Christ’s light,” spoken by Pope St. John XXIII. “We all have scars from our own Good    Fridays that remain, long after our own experiences of resurrection.  Our ‘nail marks’ remind us that all pain and grief, all ridicule and suffering, are transformed into healing and peace in the love of God that we          receive  from, and extend to others. The “nail marks” of Jesus are all around us in the lives of those living out their own Calvary’s.  Jesus calls us to be willing to place ourselves in the pain and struggle of others and bring the joy and peace of Easter into hearts, entombed in winter cold and darkness.”

Hail Mary full of grace, The Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, Blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Having celebrated the event of Easter we look forward to experiencing the fruits of the Holy Spirit when we celebrate Pentecost.

Deacon John has provided a focus for our preparations:-

Let us have the courage of our Christian convictions to share our Faith as St Thomas did, and to recognize the “nail marks.”  We are not to keep the gift of Faith locked in our hearts, but to share it with our children, our families and our neighbours, always remembering the words,: “Every believer in this world must become a spark of Christ’s light,” spoken by Pope St. John XXIII. “We all have scars from our own Good Fridays that remain, long after our own experiences of resurrection.  Our ‘nail marks’ remind us that all pain and grief, all   ridicule and suffering, are transformed into healing and peace in the love of God that we receive  from, and   extend to others. The “nail marks” of Jesus are all around us in the lives of those living out their own Calvary’s.  Jesus calls us to be willing to place ourselves in the pain and struggle of others and bring the joy and peace of Easter into hearts, entombed in winter cold and darkness.”

Looking forward to and preparing for Holy Week,

actions speak louder than words.

Deacon John Writes:

Holy Week starts on Palm Sunday and I suggest a special activity for the last days of Lent – Holy Week:

Palm Sunday: Come to Stations of the Cross and Benediction today – St George’s 3pm.

Monday: Determine one way that you will help the poor this week.

Tuesday: Spend the day offering positive compliments and thoughts.

Wednesday: What have you been putting off during Lent? Do it today.

Thursday: Decide in what small way you will serve others.

Good Friday: Attend a Good Friday service.

Holy Saturday: Before sleeping tonight offer a prayer of gratitude for the gift of eternal life.

Easter Sunday: Do at least one act of kindness today.

Easter blessings in abundance to you all. Deacon John and Fr Rory.

I suspect that many of you do not see an item that our Bishop writes every week on the Diocesan internet site. I have, therefore, included some of it in our newsletter this week as Fr Rory has asked me to write for a couple of weeks.

Last week Bishop Richard wrote in his weekly E-bulletin on the Internet that Pope Francis inaugurated a Year of Prayer last Sunday calling on the faithful “to pray more fervently… and to experience the power of hope in God.” The Year of Prayer aims to help Catholics prepare for the 2025 Jubilee – which has the theme “Pilgrims of Hope” – and is dedicated to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer in our personal lives, in the life of the Church, and throughout the world. 

The Jubilee Year in 2025 will be a special time to pause and reflect; a time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation. People across our community of faith can learn more about the       upcoming Jubilee Year at the Jubilee website: www.iubilaeum2025.va.

“Jesus show us the way to the Father”

Bishop Richard has presented to us the outcome of the process of consultation to provide a pastoral plan for the future of our diocese.  This is now on the website and is available to all, and we are encouraged to study it.

I return to the most important focus of all “Jesus show us the way to the Father”.  I am greatly sad, and when I return to the sharing’s that were made at the beginning of the consultation concerning the life of the church after the 2nd Vatican Council.  Our responsibility to be aware of nearly all our seminaries closing, with a resulting shortage of priests, and our responsibility to God.   Jesus show us the way to the Father.  God our Father knows what is best.

A body is made up of many parts working together and very good work is being done to serve this.  Our celebrations over Christmas and our expectation for our future plans for working together is exactly what is needed.  Stephen and Martin are giving great leadership, and a most important date when we make our first step to meet our challenge is now announced for Sunday 21st January, 2pm to 4pm in St Wilfrid’s Church.  A very special and important date for our future.

“A saviour is born unto us, He is Christ Jesus our Lord”

As the psalm expresses;  “Though we walk through a valley of darkness, no evil should I fear.  You are there with your crook, your staff, with these you give me comfort”.  And we need that comfort.  We were fortunate in our seminary as I left full of hope that a new life of faith was possible.  My first introduction to parish life and the deanery meetings revealed how much of a challenge that was in store.  Yes, I could see signs that the writing was on the wall.  A sharp fall off in the numbers entering the seminary continued to take place.  A need to ask questions and to address the situation was required.

The focus of our celebration at Christmas is because our saviour Jesus has come into our world.  This brings light to our world, and we have been constantly blessed by the work that the children’s liturgy provides.  This work is            displayed in our windows and will hopefully find a good home on our website to provide the background to growth and development of the good news that they continue to present.  The parish carol service was a joyful experience, a  quality occasion.  The choir was remarkable and we were blessed by the quality of their performance.  The readings were very well presented by our younger generation and made for a memorable and special experience.  The hospitality in the hall is a continuing reflection of the efforts that are being made for us to grow together as communities.

Next year St George’s Church will be providing the hospitality for this event.  They will also facilitate our parish sponsored walk which has become very enjoyable and raises funds for good causes.  We hope to continue to support foodbank and the service that they provide, which is so important to many.  As we celebrate Christmas the essential is the news that has come into our world, and with the help of God it will bless our world and bless your Christmas, your home and your families this Christmas. 

I continue with my favourite focus; grace and peace, and please God, you may all have a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas.

“The Second Candle – The Candle of Peace”

Reader 1:  Light and peace, in Jesus Christ our Lord

All:  Thanks be to God

When I left our seminary the flame of hope was alive.  That hope has now became greatly tested.  In my heart I could then see the writing was on the wall for seminaries in Ireland.  My hope was established in team ministry.  In fact I was part of a team ministry at St Paul’s, Haywards Heath for a while.   We were well underway, focused upon Leaven Groups as part of each mass community and with the R.C.I.A. as an important guiding light to our liturgical year.  Then renew came and upset the apple cart.  As responsible priests we did our best.  We all gathered at the Brighton and Hove Godstone Football Grounds with Cormac our Bishop, for our diocesan celebration at the launch of Renew where we received an oak seed. We planted the oak sapling outside our church at St Paul’s, and it can now be seen as a thriving oak tree.  The secret is that the seed must be planted in order to grow.

Today our children’s liturgy remains on my radar as our greatest source of hope.  Sadly, especially in Ireland there are not many examples.  Once when in Dublin with my sister Mary and PJ, we went for the baptism of their grandchild. Their parish had a children’s liturgy, when I congratulated them as brave people, their response was in complete agreement.  Hope must go on.

This new year of Our Lord is now underway as we light the first candle “The Candle of Hope”.  We can accompany it with the thought “hope springs eternally”.  It’s on the foundations that we build; the value of life and the hope we have is dependant on the material that we build on.  A report which I read on the Synod has restored some real confidence in my heart ….. The Synod is a call for Catholics to become a new kind of church; a communion of baptised people walking together.

This has been at the heart of our work since we began to focus on our parish council.  So it is very appropriate following on the focus that Bob Waters has given us, that we put our best efforts into building up the ministries that will serve in the life of our church.  As we light the first candle, we begin with establishing the ministry of hospitality, as we will go on to grow a team of welcomers with again Bob’s experience as a Knight of St Columba, will be of benefit to help with its structure and service.