THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION:

My thoughts above lead me to reflect with you again about the Sacrament of Confirmation. I remain concerned that so few of those who receive Holy Communion in Year 4, fail to come forward for Confirmation in Year 8 or above. Somehow, in spite of the best efforts of so many, the programme of preparation seems to have run into trouble again this year with the date being offered proving unsuitable for at least one or two of the few candidates we have. The fact that this situation has been referred back to me by the Diocese seems to suggest that I am expected to find a solution. Accordingly, once again I am taking the bit between the teeth and inviting anyone of any age from Year 8 upwards in both our parishes who wants to be confirmed and for whom the present arrangements are not satisfactory, to come and see me and we will work out a simple programme of preparation and find a date in the autumn convenient for you and one of the Bishops. I will do some consulting in the next few days and give you a date and a time when we can have a short meeting before the end of term.

PENTECOST:

WE REJOICE in the Gift of the Holy Spirit as we celebrate Pentecost this weekend. I REJOICE that I have lived to realise that the Holy Spirit is not an added extra whom we receive at Confirmation, but the one who makes everything happen. When I was confirmed at the age of about 12, I was under the impression that this completed the set: Jesus had come to me in Holy Communion and now the Holy Spirit was coming as well. I had little or no awareness that it was the Holy Spirit who had made it possible for Jesus and his Father to come and make their home with me, firstly at my Baptism and then when I received my Communion; little or no awareness that it was because the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary that Jesus was born into our world and that now it is the Holy Spirit who makes Christ present in all the Sacraments, so that the LORD can unite us with His Father in Heaven; little or no awareness that Jesus and the Father are One and that we are called to be one with them.

Perhaps this will help you to understand why I keep returning to this theme and stressing that it is the Holy Spirit who make things happen for us. Just reflect on how we prayed that the Cardinals would be INSPIRED by the Holy Spirit to elect the Pope God wants for us at this time. And, of course, those of you attending the First Communion Masses in both parishes are aware of how I repeatedly stress that it is the presence of the Holy Spirit overshadowing the assembly and the gifts of bread and wine who makes it possible for Christ to feed us with his very self.

EXPAND YOUR VISION OF GOD:

In preparation for our recent clergy away day at Freshfield, we were asked to look back on our vocation. The instruction was: “Recall your vocation story – remember how it felt – relish and savour it – be ignited by it anew.” I was moved to go back to the book I had published in 2009: Take Heart: Expand your vision of God. This was the fruit of looking back on my vocation at that time, almost forty years as a priest. Now it is getting close to fifty-five years. I am not sure I would use the verbs “relish and savour” in recalling all my experiences because it has been largely through the periods which I didn’t relish and savour that I believe I have learned more about the Lord and myself. The paradox of the Cross overshadows all our lives and the longer I live, the more I ponder the mystery of the Cross being the ultimate triumph: the moment the Lord broke through all our suffering and sadness and won new life for us in his Resurrection and Ascension. My experience has certainly taught me that working through the darker times has enabled me to expand my vision of where I can find and encounter God and be reignited.

Dare I mention football? I was reignited last Saturday afternoon as Sunderland unexpectedly clawed their way back into the Premiership. The new word in football’s vocabulary is “transition”: teams’ ability to turn defence into attack and there were two dramatic moments of transition late in the game that sent Sunderland into their seventh heaven. The Church is certainly in a period of transition and so is our understanding of priesthood and how we exercise our ministry. Discerning the moments when to seize the opportunity is not always easy, but we were reminded in Freshfield that patience is a great virtue and everything takes time. As priests we need the friendship and support of one another, but we also need all of you to accompany us as we accompany you.

You know I love looking for connections: I am happy to think that it was not by chance that Andrew Burns and I went to the Novitiate in Perth on the Feast of the Triumph (Exaltation) of the Cross in 1964!

CHANGING TIMES IN OUR INLAND FAMILY OF PARISHES:

Last weekend I shared the message from Fr Ron Johnson, the Dean, about the new arrangements for the inland group of parishes in South Liverpool, which will come into effect in the autumn. I am grateful for the gracious way in which everyone has received the news that the Redemptorists will no longer take responsibility for St Mary’s. After fourteen of the most rewarding years of my life, it was with a heavy heart that I had to admit that we could not guarantee an extended commitment into the future when discussions began. During the coming weeks we will look for ways to ensure a smooth transfer of responsibilities, and, of course, the vision for the future is that we should continue to look for ways of pooling our resources for the good and benefit of all.  

If you did not hear the announcement and would like to read it, the text is available here.

FIRST COMMUNIONS:

I wish to congratulate Trish Brophy and her team, including the musicians at the Masses, on another remarkable achievement in preparing and celebrating with our seventy-one candidates and their families this year. I do not underestimate the amount of work that goes into the whole process from the evening when we meet the families in the autumn to the five celebrations that have just taken place. On behalf of the whole parish: A HUGE THANK YOU.

THE INSTALLATION OF ARCHBISHOP JOHN SHERRINGTON:

At noon on Tuesday our new Archbishop will be installed at the Metropolitan Cathedral. Once again, we assure Archbishop John of our prayers and good wishes as he assumes his new responsibilities to serve the Archdiocese. We are particularly pleased that Harriet Paes will be reading a Bidding Prayer at the Mass, representing the Junior Justice and Peace Group of our parishes. I would like to remind all our young people that they are welcome to join and enjoy the variety of interests the members pursue, alongside their considerable efforts to become better informed about how they can support a whole host of charities.

ASCENSION DAY:

We celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension on Thursday and as usual we will have the extra Masses in the hope that as many of you as possible will be able to celebrate this wonderful Feast: Jesus, resurrected from dead, going before us to prepare the place he has promised us in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Vigil Mass at St Mary’s: Wednesday at 7.00pm;

Mass in both parishes at noon on Thursday;

Evening Mass at Bishop Eton on Thursday at 7.00pm.

THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE:

As we rejoice with our children making their First Holy Communion over the coming weeks and reflect on what an important moment it is in their life’s journey, we might find time to continue to reflect on our own journeys. I find it helpful to use the notion of life as a pilgrimage, not least because today we are being asked to build an understanding of a synodal way of living as the Christian community: journeying together with Christ and each other towards our ultimate goal: the Kingdom of God. We hear happy reports from the pilgrims in Italy, praying for us at the places where the Redemptorists started their journey in the service of the Lord in the middle of the 18^th century. Pilgrims have to be adaptable and ready to cope with all they may encounter on the way and this weekend we are being invited to prepare for some significant changes in the way our Family of Parishes will be structured and served from the autumn. Change is often difficult, but it also provides new opportunities for us to be graced, remembering the promise of the Lord: “I will be with you always”

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION:

This weekend and next weekend we rejoice with our children who will make their First Holy Communion at Bishop Eton. The same will be true for the children of St Mary’s over the first two weekends of June. It is a momentous occasion for them and their families, and we surround them with our prayers and good wishes. We pray that the day will provide them with a memory that they will treasure for the rest of their lives, but more importantly build the platform from which their knowledge and love of Jesus will grow and flourish. With all my heart I beg their families to reflect that the Eucharist, the Mass, is God’s ultimate gift to us to sustain throughout our lives. The tradition of Sunday Mass for Catholics identifies us and reminds us that from the earliest days of Christianity, Sunday replaced Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, because it was the day of the Resurrection. The Eucharist is the great sign of Christ feeding us with himself, making us the Body of Christ, empowering us to bring his redeeming love to others as we are sent forth with the words: “Go forth in peace, glorifying the Lord with your lives”.

BATTERIES RESTORED:

I enjoyed a few days away this week and look forward to the busy programme that lies ahead in the next few weeks. It has been a momentous week with all the significant global events and commemorations. We were reminded on VE DAY that good can triumph over evil and, as Christians, we live with the ultimate conviction that it has definitively done so in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Enjoy the rest of the Easter Season.