(- all these words I have written are not from my own reflections but are from what I had read or heard from wise friends -)

One of our young parishioners, Arlene, has prepared this reflection to help children pray the Way of the Cross.

1. Jesus is condemned to death
DEAR JESUS,
PLEASE HELP US TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT, EVEN WHEN IT IS THE MORE DIFFICULT CHOICE. HELP US NOT TO JUDGE OTHERS IN A BAD WAY AND PROTECT THEM FROM BEING BULLIED.
AMEN
2. Jesus carries his cross
DEAR JESUS,
HELP US NOT TO BE LAZY OR AFRAID WHEN WE MUST DO SOMETHING DIFFICULT. GIVE US THE STRENGTH TO CARRY ON AND TO BE BRAVE EVEN WHEN WE NEED TO DO IT ON OUR OWN.
AMEN
3. Jesus falls the first time
DEAR JESUS,
WHEN WE FAIL IN OUR STUDIES AND THE WORK WE MUST DO AND WHEN WE FEEL LIKE GIVING UP, PLEASE GIVE US THE STRENGTH TO GET BACK UP AGAIN AND NEVER GIVE UP TRYING.
AMEN
4. Jesus comforts his mother
DEAR JESUS,
PLEASE HELP US UNDERSTAND OUR PARENTS’ LOVE FOR US AND TO ALWAYS LOVE THEM BACK.
AMEN
5. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry the cross
DEAR JESUS,
GIVE US THE COURAGE TO STAY STRONG, EVEN WHEN WE FEEL ALONE. HELP US TO HELP OTHERS WHEN THEY FEEL ALONE TOO.
6. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
DEAR JESUS,
LET US BE KIND AND HELPFUL TO OTHERS ON THEIR WAY FORWARD ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE STRUGGLING WITH ILLNESS, OR SADNESS OR LONELINESS.
7. Jesus falls the second time
DEAR JESUS,
GIVE US THE PATIENCE TO BE KIND TO OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS ALWAYS, AS WELL AS OUR FRIENDS AND OTHER FAMILY.
AMEN
8. Jesus speaks to the women of Jerusalem
DEAR JESUS,
HELP US TO BE CONSIDERATE ABOUT OTHERS, EVEN WHEN WE OURSELVES ARE UPSET, AND TO ALWAYS BE KIND.
AMEN
9. Jesus falls the third time
DEAR JESUS,
HELP US KNOW OUR WEAKNESS, SO THAT WE CAN BECOME BETTER PEOPLE, AND GUIDE US TO THE LIGHT.
AMEN
10. Jesus is stripped and laughed at
DEAR JESUS,
GIVE US THE WISDOM NOT TO MAKE FUN OF OTHERS AND SAY BAD THINGS OR DO WRONG THINGS THAT COULD HURT OTHERS AND GIVE PEOPLE THE WISDOM NOT TO HURT US.
AMEN
11. Jesus is nailed to the cross
DEAR JESUS,
HELP US TO SEE THE PAIN WE HAVE CAUSED OTHERS AND GIVE US LOVE AND CARE SO THAT WE DO NOT TO HURT THEM AGAIN.
AMEN
12. Jesus dies on the cross
DEAR JESUS,
HELP US FORGIVE THOSE WHO HAVE HURT US AND HELP US LOVE THEM AS YOU LOVE US.
AMEN
13. His mother holds Jesus in her arms
DEAR JESUS,
LIKE MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS, HELP US TO KEEP IN OUR HEART ALL THOSE WHO HAVE DIED AND LET US REMEMBER THEM IN OUR PRAYERS.
14. Jesus is placed in the tomb, and we look forward to Jesus’ resurrection at Easter
DEAR JESUS,
PLEASE GIVE US THE HOPE AND FAITH WE NEED TO FOLLOW YOU IN EVERYTHING WE DO.
AMEN

2nd Sunday of LENT (A)                                                                                                    5th March 2023

What a wonderful moment this is for the disciples chosen to witness the event of the Transfiguration but they are so overwhelmed that they had to cover their eyes. We too are filled with awe when we realize that we are in the presence of God and we are bewildered by this immense mystery which Matthew – calls a bright cloud. Overcome we are almost forced to declare, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof…” So, it should be. But, then that voice, “…Listen to him.” And the reassuring touch of Jesus lifting us, “Stand up,” he says “do not be afraid” and our eyes meet his gaze and even though we don’t fully understand, we dare to enter the mystery of his death and Resurrection.

25TH FEBRUARY 2023

THE TEMPTATION IN THE WILDERNESS
1. We often allow ourselves to be fed with junk food dished out on social media, gossip and ‘small talk’, information that is harmful and we swallow it and it governs the way we behave.
2. We also put our trust in promises given in advertisements to make our lives comfortable often tempting us into a life of wasteful consumerism yet Jesus tells his followers that some discomfort is necessary to open our eyes to those in need. “…my yoke is easy and my burden light”, implying that he is willing to suffer discomfort if that will bring comfort to others. He asks us too to pick up the uncomfortable cross and follow him.
3. Finally, we often want to be the ‘peacock’ on the pedestal so we are tempted to worship anything or anybody in order to be popular.
Obeying the Ten Commandments (Decalogue) and following the Beatitudes, let us pray that we will be sustained only by the truth, avoid anything that only makes us feel good. May we learn to scrutinize carefully what is presented to us in this world.
Make time today to sit at table with your family and friends and discuss how the Temptations of Jesus in the desert can teach you how to avoid giving in to what gives only you pleasure and not joy, what makes you popular but not true to your self, and possibly talk about how you can be of better service to one another.
Come out of the wilderness and have a lovely day in each other’s company!

20TH FEBRUARY 2023

St. Augustine wrote: ‘You have made us for Yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they calm down in You.’

That’s a whole Lenten meditation. It’s a whole lifetime’s endeavour. May I pick up some of the words, just three actually… and then some words behind the words.

  1. ‘for’ Yourself. The word indicates not just the Person you are seeking (God) but the movement towards that person. ‘For’ means ‘towards’. You are not there yet. But you are on the way….in the right direction.
  2. ‘restless’. Literally, ‘un-quiet’ or disturbed. Lent is about un-un-quieting, disturbing the shallow, mindless monotony of life and venturing into the deep uncharted mystery of God.
    One form of unquiet is external: contradictory preoccupations that disturb your peace of mind.
    Another form of it is internal: it is your own refusal to rest in anything except what you have decided you want – that is usually called ‘desire’ (in fact, it is usually plural – ‘desires’).
  3. ‘rest’. It means being one, being whole, being unified, being integrated. [Not quite the same as being alone!] It is about the body and soul working together. The opposite is having two faces (you pick which one to show others according to who they are and who you want to be for them at the time). Call it being two-faced. The Hebrews called it having ‘a heart and a heart’, or a heart and another. The struggle lies in getting rid of the façade. Only one body, one heart, one mind, one soul. Only one in perfect union. That is our goal. The remedy is simplicity – not being a simpleton, but not being sophisticated either. Just being. Which is the same as being just.
    (I found this meditation somewhere long ago and I share it with you)

FEAST OF ALL SAINTS 1st November 2021
1ST JOHN 3:1-3 (Like Father like Son)

Jesus is often known as the Son of the Father.
He himself says, “I come to do the will of my Father” and “My Father and I are One”.

In the second reading John focuses on union of God’s children to God himself.
He makes the claim that we are God’s offspring, and therefore we honour him with a loving title: “Father”, “Papa” or as young people in England might say “Daddy”
A child sometimes looks incredibly like one of the parents and sometimes not only in looks but also in thoughts and actions.
I remember my youngest brother walking behind my father with his hands behind his back and a stick in his mouth…my father smoked a cigar…not exactly what one would be proud of or want their children copy!
Jesus is more explicit in what he wants his disciples to do. At the last supper Jesus washes and wipes the feet of his disciples, then he tells them to, “Copy what I have done to you” – implying that he is imitating the actions of his Father.
To be one with Our Father means that you learn to be son or daughter by imitating Jesus in prayer, but you also show the qualities of God in your actions by practicing God’s generosity in the giving of himself in service for all with justice and mercy. As sons and daughters you learn to do the same to your parents, spouses, children and like Our Father – to all who call out to you in desperation.
If you are close to Him in this life and more completely like Him in the next. Saint John says, ‘We shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is’, and this means that when you catch the Father’s loving gaze at the end of this life he will overwhelm us with such love that like Jesus we too will be one like him. (This is what it should be like whenever we receive the Sacrament of Communion).
We believe that all good people are marked with the Father’s love and we pray that our own loved ones are part of the great company described in the Book of Revelations (Chapter 7ff) as we gather at the place where we have buried their bodies or ashes.
On this day of great celebration we look forward to the life promised to us. May your friends always remember with love the life you offered them in union with Our Lord.
Let it be that way.

15th November 2020

Why don’t we call upon your name? Where is our faith and trust that you are on all the pathways we travel on? Sometimes we live as if that earthly life was eternal. We persist in our anger; we don’t forgive ourselves or others.
“Look upon me from the heights of heavens and visit me. Protect what your right hand has given”.
We look forward anticipating love, peace, which will fill up our hearts but we feel as if we had fallen into some washing machine and enter into a downward spiral – it is some kind of madness which doesn’t want to stop. “Only you, O Lord, have the means to stop it so that we can experience the knowledge of that which is most important”.
Keep watch, for it may be too late to say to someone that you carry him/her in your heart: “I love you”, “you are important in my life”. You won’t have time to visit your elderly mother or father. When you knock, you may not hear the “come in”, the phone will remain silent. The letter to your friend will be returned. You’ll be shocked to find out that your children have grown up and that you know so little about them. Maybe, you don’t remember anymore how the sun rises.
Your body is screaming with tense muscles, headaches, and neurosis of the heart. It screams, “Stop, keep watch, don’t mess up your life!” Deal at last with what is hurting you from within.
Love is what takes you over to the other side of life. In many guises, it leaves a mark of beauty on people. It gives strength and makes sense of life. That which you preoccupy yourself with today – what kind of meaning and memory will it have in a year’s time, in 5 years, 15 years? Do we look at people in a way which would enable them to recognise God? It is that kind of glance after which a person feels good, valuable, exceptional. That kind of glance has a creative power of becoming a true human being, slowly, with faults, but free and always returning.

Jesus keeps watch so that – if we only turn to him – he will heal; touch our feelings, our body, our thoughts, our spirit so that we can experience that which is everlasting.

8th November 2020

Today’s Gospel gives us a parable (Matthew 25;1-13), a story, for us to think about.
Here are my thoughts for what they are worth.

Jesus simply wants his listeners to think carefully about their own preparations to meet God at the great feast he has painstakingly prepared for them.
So, each of us will need to prepare by getting ourselves ready to meet him and to encourage others to get prepared for themselves.
Unlike the earthly bridegroom who was late and kept the bridesmaids waiting, Jesus is the one who is waiting for us and he will not close and bolt the door until we are safe. He does not get tired of waiting for us. Like the father in the story of the prodigal son he waits and waits and waits for everyone. The question is:
Do you love him enough to get ready for him?
Are you ready to greet him as he runs out to take you in?
How do you prepare? Well, you greet him as you prepare to receive the sacraments. That is why it is hard when you are deprived of this presence during these times. The fire has gone out, there is no light, there is no warmth. There is an absence. So in some ways you grieve because you are unable to meet Him at mass. You are unable to receive Him in the Eucharist. You cannot practice your faith in the way that you are accustomed to, through the sacrament of confession and all the other sacraments. You cannot baptise your children, at least not in the church at the moment. You cannot celebrate the sacrament of confirmation. It is difficult because you are deprived of Christ’s presence in the Sacraments, or so it seems.
However, don’t be afraid because in times like this God reaches out to you and reminds you that his presence is closer than you can imagine.
Stay awake, stand ready – you will see Christ. Look no further than your wife or your husband. When you got married, you became that sacramental presence to each other within the sacrament of matrimony and you said the words, …”for better or for worse,” I love you! What are you doing to support each other now? Don’t lose sight of these sacred words of gratitude: thank you, please, I am sorry, I ask forgiveness. These words make Christ’s presence real. Through these words we make Christ’s love present, but only if those words are genuine and spoken with tenderness.
What kind of relationship do you have with your children? God has given you the senses: touch, taste, sight, hearing, voice, smell. Do use all the gifts given to bring your children together, to show them, how much you love them. Be genuine in activating the gifts God has given you.
Young people, when you look to each other – how do you love and support to each other as brother and sister? When you are with your family and friends do you care for and deepen that relationship? Do you talk about things that matter rather than just making small talk? There must be something more if you value that relationship. How can you find the words to express what you feel for one another. Do you respect the dignity of others? or, do you use others in a selfish, negative way? that’s what enslaver’s did to vulnerable people, didn’t they? How do you encourage one another in growing up? It is within your relationship that Jesus’ sacramental loving presence is visible within family. 

I’m sure during this time of social distancing, many of you look out for your neighbours…those who are finding these times trying. There is a sacramental presence when you do something wonderful for those who are weak and vulnerable because you are doing it to Christ.
Look after the people God has given to you, because they are people who are waiting for you to arrive.
As someone told me not so long ago: don’t waste time in your relationship with others. The time you spend with them will be remembered and you will not look back and feel that they have gone, and the door is closed. Never! the door of love is never closed.
So brothers and sisters – I leave you with this Gospel passage: don’t say the mass is over thank you very much. I don’t need to think about it anymore. No, keep the Gospel alive. Let it sustain you, let it nourish you, let it be food for your heart, your mind your soul and your body today. Give thought to the wisdom of the God’s Word and stay awake and stand ready, because you do not know the hour when the Son of Man is going to call you. And he calls you because he wants you to be with Him. You have completed your work and it’s time to celebrate life to the fullest.

May Mary, the Morning Star, continue to shine brightly and may she protect you and keep you in her care.