Fr Rory Writes

Please God, for this weekend.  It is the Feast of Christ the King, youth weekend; but normally known as the 34th week of the year, and the end of the churches year.  So next Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent.  I have long believed that this Sunday should evolve to become one of the Great Feasts like Christmas, Good Friday, Easter and Pentecost, and in the end, the greatest Feast of all when “Christ returns in glory”.  This Sunday we will celebrate it to the best of our abilities with a special celebration of First Holy Communion at St George’s, a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Now it is important to highlight events for Advent.  After harvest time, the most important gift we are left with is seeds, to be sown to provide for the year; and years to come.  Pope Francis has called for a special Synod, to respond to the life of the church at this time.  The time for this consultation has been extended and its importance is really great.  Through real prayer and effort I hope we will address this

For the Four Sundays:

First Sunday:  “Call to Synod”.  Ideas on how we might address this most welcome.

Second Sunday:  “The ministries of the church”.  How they enrich and develop the life of our church.

Third Sunday:  “Be reconciled to God”.  Confession as I knew it and spent hours at this time in the confessional box when I was first ordained.

Fourth Sunday:  “Hope, Aspiration, Visions”.  For the community, local church ecumenism and gracefully challenging those who have high office in the life of the church.