Dear sisters and brothers, I think we all love a good wedding; I know that I do. It’s so wonderful that the promise of new beginnings that go along with a wedding, the hope of what lies ahead, the love of two people for each other and – in our Christian context – the couple’s desire to put God at
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Dear sisters and brothers, Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of The Lord. This Feast marks the end of the season of Christmas and the beginning of ordinary time. Today’s feast is one of great joy for me personally. I have found that one of the greatest joys in my ministry thus far is celebrating baptisms. Indeed, I
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Dear sisters and brothers, Merry Christmas to you all, and may the festivities continue today – on the feast of the Holy Family – and all the way through to the feast of the Epiphany on 6th January. And may Deacon Liam and I take this opportunity to thank you for your great generosity in the many gifts that we
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Dear sisters and brothers, When we look back at the story of Christmas, we can often forget how enormous and momentous it was for the characters involved. We look back at everything through 2,000 years’ worth of Christianity, and it can all seem very straight forward, but for Mary, Elizabeth and so many others they were responding to God’s will
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pastoral letter Advent 2021[106675]
Dear sisters and brothers, This weekends readings, as we celebrate the second Sunday of Advent, are both, as you’d expect in this season, a call to preparation and a message of hope. Preparation for the coming of Christ and hope that his coming will liberate us. I found our first reading, from the prophet Baruch, particularly helpful. It gives us
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Dear sisters and brothers, Today the first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of a new liturgical year. In the increasingly secularised culture in which we live there is a danger that we might let the season of Advent pass us by. Indeed, as I watch television of an evening, I can’t help but notice how Christmas adverts seem to
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Dear sisters and brothers, As we celebrate the solemnity of Christ the King this weekend, we have to explore what the Scriptures mean when they use this title for Jesus, because in many senses the term has lost its meaning for us. We’re more used to prime ministers and presidents, and our own queen, probably the best known monarch in
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Dear sisters and brothers, As we near the end of the liturgical year, which ends next week with the Solemnity of Christ the King, with a new liturgical year beginning the week after with the first week of advent, our readings shift their focus towards the last things, that is to those things that will happen at the end of
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Dear sisters and brothers, Today’s Gospel is one of contrasts. The Pharisees are presented as being proud, greedy and self-serving, while the widow is presented as humble, generous and full of faith. Of course, this wasn’t true of all Pharisees, or of all widows, but the general picture presented of the Pharisees seems to reflect a sad norm of those
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