CHURCH OPENING:

Throughout my time as parish priest, it has been a joy to be able to leave the church open for prayer all day every day. However, for the next couple of months this will not be possible because of the work taking place on the wall and window around the entrance to the building. I am sure you will appreciate that access through the Hughes Room would leave us somewhat vulnerable, so we have decided that from this Monday the church will open via the Hughes Room at 11.30am each day in preparation for the Mass at noon and will close when everyone has left after Mass.

Likewise, on a Wednesday evening the church will open for the Novena at 7.00pm and close after the service. It will remain open as before throughout Saturday and Sunday.

MEETINGS – A CRY FROM THE HEART:

For most people meetings are a constant feature of life and they do provide us with the opportunity to pool our ideas and hopefully make wise decisions. Please pray for Andrew and for me as we continue to respond to all the meetings we are expected to attend. During this past week we have both been in London for our Provincial Council meetings. They went well and were fruitful. Andrew is also our Provincial Bursar and is engaged in all the extra financial meetings that are necessary to balance the books and ensure that we use our diminishing funds wisely. Of course, I have the Deanery Conferences (there is one this very Friday afternoon!) and the meetings required by the Archdiocese and the needs of the parish, and we both have all the added requirements to keep up to date with safeguarding and health and safety issues. We are coping, but at times it is difficult to prioritise everything successfully, especially in the face of the needs of our aging community. We are grateful for your prayers and understanding.

CONTINUING OUR FOCUS ON THE EUCHARIST:

Last Sunday’s special celebration with our reception children was a blessed occasion and now we will turn our attention to Year 4 and the children who will be preparing for their First Holy Communion early next summer. Once again I want to use the opportunity to encourage everyone to reflect seriously on how best we can support the children and their families so that the wonder of what God is offering us is not submerged beneath the focus on all the arrangements for the day itself. I am confident we can achieve this and ask the prayers and support of the whole parish in this venture. You know that I have a special affection for the French Jesuit, Fr Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who died on Easter Sunday in 1955. His wonderful poem, The Mass on the World, provides us with a perfect focus for all our prayers. Put simply, he sees all our work as a gift we can bring to the Lord and place on the altar in the form of the bread that will be consecrated into Christ’s Body. And then similarly he sees all our suffering as represented in the chalice which will be consecrated into Christ’s blood. Such a vision enables us to unite with the work of everyone and the suffering of everyone in our world. The more we reflect in this way, the more likely we are to see the importance of the Mass as the source and summit of our Christian lives.

FR JOSEPH MUSENDAMI CSsR:

A huge thank you to Fr Joseph who has been with us for the last month. He has been a delight to have in the community and an enormous help. This weekend he is on supply in St Helens and Thursday returns to Rome to continue his studies.

WELCOME TO OUR RECEPTION CLASS:

I have met our reception children, and they have been introduced to Freddie Freckles. As always it is a delight to share the joyful atmosphere of their classrooms, and I stand in sheer admiration of their teachers. This Sunday the 10am Mass will be the occasion to offer a special welcome to the children beginning their school careers at Bishop Eton.

I am using the occasion to begin a gentle exploration of the fact that the Mass, which is described by the Second Vatican Council as ‘THE SOURCE AND SUMMIT OF OUR CHRISTIAN LIVES’, is the key to keeping our community of faith united and vibrant. Young as they are, if, in due course, they become familiar with the church and feel the warmth and welcome of our community, they will get a glimpse of the all-embracing love of God. Meanwhile, I have already had a meeting with the staff of the school, and my hope is that during this term we will explore this message with all the children and their families, and, of course, in a special way with those who wish to make their First Holy Communion next summer.

SO MUCH FOR WHICH TO BE THANKFUL:

Sadly, but understandably, we often dwell on the things which distress or worry us. However, in these last couple of weeks I have been simply overwhelmed with so much goodwill and kindness in both parishes that I can think only of how much goodness and beauty there is in the world as well. And this was crowned as I was mesmerised, reading a book that had given to me as a farewell present from St Mary’s. It is entitled, Just Trust Life: A Journey with Teilhard de Chardin. As some of you know, I built my final homily around this extraordinarily gifted Jesuit priest who died on Easter Sunday 1955. The book by Christine M. Tracy details how the writings of this man, who endured a huge amount of suffering in his life, transformed all her sufferings and troubles and enabled her to see the providence of God in the evolution of the world and the cosmos.

So I just wish again to say ‘thank you’ to you all for being part of my unfolding story and enabling me to see the wonder of God as I enter my eightieth year on this earth!

THE FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE CROSS:

You know how I love to look for and make connections and the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross has been a significant date in my faith journey. To begin with Andrew and I went to the Redemptorist novitiate on Monday 14 September 1964: accordingly, not only do we mark 61 years with the Redemptorists today, but on the Feast of St Gerard, next month, we celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of our Profession of Vows in the Congregation. Over the years I have become more and more conscious of the significance of this Feast.

On good Friday we are in no mood to rejoice in the mystery of the Cross, but today the Church invites us to reflect on the fact that the Cross is the ultimate triumph of Christ. He breaks through the barrier of death and in the Resurrection assures us that our deaths and all the suffering of the world are likewise conquered. And another precious memory for me is that I was with Fr Anthony Hodgetts as he died in Woolton Hospice at 10.00pm on Sunday 14 September 2008. Fr Tony had accompanied me on my Redemptorist journey from the time I met him at Hawkstone in 1960 when I attended my first Vocations Meeting here at Bishop Eton in Easter Week that year. And for good measure, Fr Andrew happened in attendance at that some meeting!

FORGING A DEEPER PARISH-SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP:

One of my priorities now will be to continue to work closely with Bishop Eton School as we centre our attention on the fact that we are a eucharistic community. In its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, the Second Vatican Council stressed the fact that the Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our spiritual lives. We are blessed in being able to keep our church open every day and now we are able again to have a daily Mass, we have a wonderful opportunity to reflect on what this teaching means and how we live it. This also provides us with a wonderful opportunity to serve our Families of Parishes and the wider community.

A FOND FAREWELL:

Last weekend was an emotional challenge for me, but I have written a short last note for the St Mary’s bulletin, thanking all the parishioners for the remarkably gracious way they made my final weekend there so memorable. Truly, I count these last fourteen years as parish priest of both parishes as a bonus from the Lord. They have greatly enriched my life. Now I look forward to the future as I continue to serve Bishop Eton along with my confrères in the Redemptorist community.

BULLETIN FORMAT:

Hayley has explained the change in the format of our (paper) bulletin. This is to facilitate its production when she may be on holiday or unavailable and we have to outsource its production at St Mary’s. Another perfect illustration of the Family of Parishes working together!