175 YEARS:

I am conscious that in last week’s bulletin I noted the Mass at the Cathedral last Wednesday was marking 150 years of service from the Sisters of Notre Dame in Liverpool. In fact it is 175 years since Fr Nugent invited them to come and teach the poor children in the inner city. As Archbishop John was outlining the story in his homily, I began to make a series of connections! Of course, we too are marking the 175 years since the Redemptorists came to Liverpool in 1851. Perhaps, we could include this as part of our celebration in honour of  St Gerard in April. And just for good measure, you may like to know that it was the Redemptorists who first invited the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to this country to work with them in Clapham in the 1840s!

The Mass on Wednesday was a wonderful occasion, as were the Baptisms and Confirmations of Chelsea and Maeve in Hope University Chapel later in the day. Maeve plans to be with us for the Easter Vigil when we will receive Amanda and Lynnette into full communion with us. They all took part in the ‘Journey in Faith’ for our Family of Parishes at St Mary’s over recent months. Perhaps, we could now begin to think of others who may be interested in becoming part of our Christian family in the future and sow some seeds as we look forward to the next programme that will be launched in the autumn.

HOLY WEEK:

I pray that everyone will receive some special blessings during the most significant week in the Church’s calendar. Please note the one change to the timetable from previous years: the Mass of the Lord’s Supper will be at 7.00pm on Maundy Thursday.

Please do take your bulletins with you and keep them on display in the home to guide you through the week.

 SOLEMNITY OF THE ANNUNCIATION:

Wednesday is our Patronal Feast and Fr Andrew will lead the lunchtime celebration. Occasionally, if Easter is very early, this Feast is postponed until after Easter when it is easier to make more of the occasion. And, indeed, this year it is further complicated for me by virtue of the fact that St Julie’s School is celebrating its 150^th Anniversary with a Mass at the Cathedral and then in the evening, the Archbishop will again be in action across the road at Hope University, baptising our catechumen student, Maeve at 7.00pm. So, please pray for our parish, for all the catechumens and candidates who have taken part in this year’s Journey in Faith and for St Julie’s School. It is just good to know that there is so much for which to give thanks to God. At the same time we will always be faced with coping with the sadness of suffering and death and the recent loss of a young teacher at St Julie’s also calls for our prayers at this time.

 THE COUNTDOWN TO EASTER:

Once we reach this stage in Lent I feel that we are counting down to Easter with the special celebrations of the Sacraments of Anointing and Reconciliation to help us complete the journey. As I write I am looking forward to the lunchtime Mass today when we will anoint all who wish to receive the Sacrament of the Sick. For those of us who are experiencing the challenges of old age, it is a consolation to remember that all our sufferings can be united with Christ’s Passion and Death and, in a very real way become part of the Lord’s redemptive presence in our troubled world. Likewise, when we receive absolution in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we contribute to the healing of all the division, bitterness and hatred in the world. I never tire of reminding myself and you that these Sacraments are surrounded by the Peace that Christ promised only he can give us. Therefore, may I once again encourage you to avail of these opportunities.

Once again, we will keep the formula for the Reconciliation Services very simple. Once we have reflected and prayed together, there will be an opportunity to receive absolution without fuss: you simply present sharing whatever you wish and Fr Andrew and I will give you absolution. For those who wish to spend a little more time with the confessor, then afterwards we will make ourselves available along with Fr Michael Henesy who will already be occupying one of the confessional rooms.

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION SERVICES

MONDAY, 23 MARCH: 11.00AM AND 7.00PM

 THE REDEMPTORIST COMMUNITY:

Last weekend Fr Jim Casey had a health setback and was admitted to hospital for a few days. He is back with us but is the fifth member of the community now being supported by our wonderful team from ‘Different Care’. I know we can depend on you for your understanding, patience and support as we navigate the coming weeks and all the demands on our time and energy they may bring.

RELIGIOUS CONNECTIONS (MOTHERING SUNDAY)

In the midst of our Lenten efforts, we may take a breather this Sunday. Unlike St Mary’s we do not have rose vestments, but we will accept the Church’s invitation to remember that even as we focus on the need to renew our lives and deepen our faith we can rejoice and be joyful. The fact that today we are invited to show our appreciation for our mothers has a profound religious connection. Traditionally, this was the day when Christians tried to visit the church of their baptism or their ‘mother’ church. In the modern world, when so many of us live miles away from our mother church, this may not be physically possible, but spiritually we can reflect that when we were baptised we received a second birth and were filled with the new life of the resurrection: eternal life.

Throughout Lent we do our best to prepare to celebrate this mystery at Easter, and, of course, baptism again takes centre stage with renewal of our baptismal vows. Our liturgies during Lent are designed to help us look back on the story of our lives and see how the grace of God is transforming us and enabling us to grow in love, understanding and compassion. Last Sunday, with the story of the Samaritan woman by the well, we were reminded that the water Christ offers – the ultimate symbol of life – would well up inside us. Today we are asked to reflect on how easy it is to be blind to what is really going on.

I pray that the Lord will open your eyes and my eyes to what is going on in our lives and help us to see and experience his loving and saving presence so that his joy may break through the sadness and the struggles.

TO ALL OUR  MOTHERS: HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY.

 COMINGS AND GOINGS:

I shall be away at the beginning of this week for Provincial Council meetings in Scotland. Fr Andrew is staying behind. The situation in the community is somewhat fragile and we feel it would be unwise for both of us to be away at the same time. That said, we need to prepare for the fact that Fr Andrew’s operation is now scheduled for April 1st, which is the middle of Holy Week, so we will need to cut our cloth accordingly for Holy Week and Easter.

 THE CHURCH AND POLITICS:

It is not unusual to hear politicians insist that church men and women should confine themselves to spiritual matters and not meddle in politics. Since politics has to do with public life and includes how we can influence the way we are governed, the suggestion that our heartfelt beliefs should not enter into the equation seems to me – and I hope to you – absolutely absurd. However, I believe one of the more disturbing aspects of this tragic war in the Middle East is the way Christianity is being portrayed by some leading American politicians and I think it is noteworthy that Pope Leo is clearly distancing himself from them. And herein lies another interesting political factor, namely the internal politics of the Catholic Church. This week’s Tablet has an interesting article by Austen Ivereigh, which is entitled Secrets of the Conclave. He highlights the tension which continues to surround our understanding and interpretation of the documents of the Second Vatican Council. I make no secret of the fact that I am a child of the vision of that remarkable Council and there is no doubt that Pope Francis, in pointing us to a synodal way of thinking and acting, was encouraging us to live out that vision more fully than we have to date. The television documentary to which I drew attention a couple of weeks ago, The Secret of the Conclave, seemed to me to demonstrate that the Holy Spirit had inspired the Cardinals to elect a successor to Francis, who would bring his own very different but special gifts to this project: a cradle Catholic, born and brought up in the United States but immersed in the South American Church and with vast experience of the Church all over the world.

Archbishop John has begun his time among us calling on all the parishes of the Archdiocese to prepare an audit, so that we can more effectively assess the issues we should be addressing. I am immensely grateful to John Elcock and his small team for preparing a questionnaire for our parish. This is being made available at all the Masses this weekend and will be explained at the end of the Masses. I beg you to show some interest and respond accordingly.

 CELEBRATION OF ST GERARD (SATURDAY 25 APRIL):

Plans are well in hand for the celebration day commemorating the 300th anniversary of the birth of St Gerard Majella in April.

There were sixteen of us pooling ideas: a thoroughly encouraging experience. A timetable is being prepared and will include a series of blessings for expectant mothers, mothers and babies and of course whole families. Relics of  St Gerard will be available for veneration throughout the day, which will include Mass at midday led by Archbishop John, and later in the day Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The day will conclude with a Taizé Service of Prayer.

Please put a note in your diaries and spread the word. 

 PUTTING THE JIGSAW TOGETHER:

You know that one of my favourite images is imagining the story of our lives as a jigsaw and the struggle we sometimes have in fitting the various elements and experiences together so that we can see clearly the picture of how God is guiding us towards our fulfilment. In the past week I have had a few precious moments when the Lord has helped me slot a couple more pieces into place.

The two funerals at the beginning of the week were particularly significant. Myron Jones was a Welsh Presbyterian but was at home with us in the Catholic Church and the celebration was a wonderful reminder that we are making real progress ecumenically. Patrick Doran was a man of deep faith, moulded in his Irish heritage and it was with a member of his family that I had one of the most remarkable experiences of my Christian and priestly life: one of those moments when I speak of the Lord tapping us on the shoulder and reminding us he is there.

I hope and pray that during this Lenten season you will be able to find time to reflect on the story of your lives as well, so that by the time we come to the Sacred Triduum at the end of Holy Week we will all be in a position to reflect that the picture is becoming clearer. Ultimately, it is only when we can see everything in the light of Easter and the mystery of the Resurrection that things truly become clear.