Fr Tim

Weekly messages from Fr Tim.   When Fr Tim is away Fr Maurice's message will be added to this section.

LEARNING SOME LESSONS:

All who watched even some of the Queen’s funeral, no matter what their feelings about monarchy might be, must surely agree that it was the most remarkable demonstration of what can be achieved with careful planning and meticulous attention to detail. This country does have a unique place in history when it comes to pageantry and ceremony, and it is surely something of which we can rightly be proud. I have often shared with you my natural instincts when it comes to tidiness and good order, and yet I have also had to learn to accept that it is not always possible to escape the mess which surrounds all our lives.

Often, we have to accept that there is no obvious solution to the problems that beset us. Accordingly, we need to be patient and seek to discern the way forward. I was deeply struck by the quotation from the Queen’s Christmas message in 2002 and which I quoted at the Mass last Monday and in my Thursday message: 

Each day is a new beginning.

I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right…

To take the long view.

To give of my best in all that the day brings.

And to put my trust in God.

What a wonderful way to approach each day of our lives and I am particularly taken by the importance of taking ‘the long view.’ My thanks to those of you who have already taken initiatives. We are building up a group of short introductions to many areas of parish life and these will be available on the websites.

Originally, we had planned in Bishop Eton to hold an open meeting next Tuesday, but my instinct is that we are not quite ready for that. However, there are a few areas where an early response would be helpful:

  • Cover at the front door of the monastery. Many of those who faithfully undertook this task over the years are either no longer able to do so or have gone to their eternal reward. Anyone interested in helping, please contact Hayley in the parish office.
  • Ministers for Funerals: this ministry, initiated by Archbishop Kelly, has proved a wonderful support in both our parishes. Effectively, we now have just one minister in each parish. Anyone interested to doing the necessary training please contact the parish offices.
  • The Journey in Faith or an Alpha Course: either would be a wonderful way of welcoming those interested in joining our parish communities. I would like a discussion about the pros and cons sooner rather than later. Again, anyone interested in helping, please contact the parish offices.

Elizabeth Parsons, whom many of you know, is now the Training Co-ordinator for Pastoral Development in the Archdiocese and has offered to help in whatever training programmes we may need.

My final thought in this long message is I think we have a number of examples in our two parishes of how things flourish with large teams of people, once the objective is clear. To offer you but two: The Dementia Programme at St Mary’s; the welcome of our wonderful Syrian Family in Bishop Eton.

FURTHER REFLECTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

HELPERS ON EVERY FRONT

This leads me neatly to my fond hope that we will continue to show our love for one another by the way we continue to pool our gifts and resources in the rebuilding of our parish communities after the pandemic.

From this Sunday we should have established an altar servers’ rota for the Sunday Masses at Bishop Eton and I hope that by the following weekend we will have the same in place at St Mary’s.

Meanwhile, conversations are taking place about the various possibilities, and I rather like the suggestion that eventually we have in place a large pool of people who have volunteered to help wherever they are needed!

USING OUR GIFTS; POOLING OUR RESOURCES:

The Mass attendance across both our parishes is noticeably increasing and I sense a desire to revitalise our liturgies and our communities. I have been encouraged by the response to my message last weekend and already practical suggestions are emerging about how we can disseminate information and invite people to become more involved.

We will take it step by step, but already the teams working on the Live Simply CAFOD programme have joined forces and will be speaking to us about their plans in the coming weeks, beginning this weekend at St Mary’s.

THE REDEMPTORIST COMMUNITY:

My thanks to Fr Andrew and Fr Maurice for keeping everything running smoothly during the past couple of weeks. Please pray for Andrew, who has surgery this Thursday, which should make life more comfortable for him. He has come through a lot in the past couple of years. Fr Maurice has had to dash to Ireland for the funeral of an uncle who died a few days ago. He returns to look after an Associates’ Weekend in Birmingham this weekend.

A FRESH START:

The schools return this coming week and I sense that this is an opportune moment for us to come together and re-energise one another, and thereby ensure that our parishes continue to flourish at every level.

In the coming weeks I hope that as many of you as possible will reflect on how you may be able to help and will volunteer to plug the gaps that have been left in the wake of the pandemic. Areas which immediately spring to mind are:

Children’s Catechesis

Especially the First Communion Programmes: we will probably introduce a wholly new programme in both parishes.

The Journey in Faith:

Finding imaginative ways of welcoming those who may be interested in joining our communities… maybe looking at the ALPHA course.

Ministers of Holy Communion:

Ensuring that all those who are housebound are regularly looked after.

Our Liturgies:

Reflecting on how to ensure that we have a variety of liturgies which help people of all ages to experience the wonder of God’s presence: the music ministry needs thinking and talking through! And, of course, we will be training up our altar servers to resume their ministry.

Shrines

Making our Shrines more widely known and available.

Supporting our young people:

Developing the Justice and Peace Group.

Supporting the Administration:

We are blessed with highly efficient administrators in both parishes, but we need the additional support of those of you who help with the finances and so many other practical issues (including cover at the front door of Bishop Eton).

Revitalising our parish councils: 

The value of overseeing all these areas and more is the task of our parish teams and I hope we can begin to gather again to achieve all our aims and if you have any bright ideas on the above or anything else, please do not hesitate to bring them forward.

LOOKING BACK ON THE SUMMER:

I have had a good August, beginning with a couple of quiet weeks here in Liverpool and followed by a fortnight based at our Redemptorist House in Chawton. This gave me the opportunity to enjoy that picturesque part of the world, visit a few friends and celebrate my sister’s 80th Birthday with the family. I hope you have all been able to relax for a while during the summer. The weather has been remarkably settled, which has helped, although I realise we now need some rain to replenish the rivers and reservoirs. Hosepipe bans are the order of the day in the south, but by the time I headed back north the ground was a little less parched as a result of the showers that finally broke the weeks of drought that left everywhere looking like a desert. Of course, the drought is not the only problem facing us as we enter what threatens to be a very difficult autumn and winter. The ‘cost of living’ crisis threatens to disrupt all our lives. It is opportune, therefore, that teams in our two parishes are encouraging us to take to heart the CAFOD invitation to ‘live simply’ and I commend to you the events they are planning in the coming weeks.

FROM FR MAURICE 28TH AUGUST 2022

St Paul writes in the Letter to the Romans: ‘The life and death of each of us has its influence on others.’ (14:7ff)   We certainly experience the reality of Paul’s words when we lose a loved one in death.  However, it often extends to those who have died in tragic, horrific circumstances we come to hear of through the media.  Often they are unknown to us, but our hearts are touched deeply by the shock and the tragedy of these events.  The week the news has focussed on yet another horrific death in the local community; nine-year- old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in her own home in Knotty Ash - a completely innocent victim of a gangland shooting.

It is impossible to appreciate the sheer horror of the moment the gunman tried to force his way into the sanctuary of Olivia’s family home pursuing his intended victim; injuring him, her mum Cheryl, and fatally wounding Olivia.   Olivia was a pupil at St Margaret Mary’s, the local Catholic primary school.  Some of her pals described as, ‘Kind and funny’.  The media has also broadened its attention to the police investigation, appeals for information, and the apparent ease of access to guns in Liverpool.

This is explained because Liverpool is a major port, its geographical location, and with strong historical links to Ireland our nearest neighbour?   For me this element reinforces a long-held, negative stereotypes of this great city and its culturally diverse community which the city has worked so hard to shed in recent years. Yet, the vast majority of Liverpudlians are known for their humanity and great humour in the midst of adversity.   The horror and profound grief of Olivia’s Mum, her two siblings and family, is shared across the city, even the nation.   The spontaneous outpouring of love, compassion, and concern expresses another important truth of the Faith, expressed again by St Paul, ‘Where sin abounds, the grace of God abounds even more,’ (Rom. 5:20).  As I write, we hear on the news that a man has been arrested and charged.                                

Let us pray for the comfort and strengthening of Olivia’s mum, family, and school pals in their tragic loss.  For Olivia, she now enjoys that, Fullness of life promised by Jesus (Jn 10:10), in the home of her heavenly Father.   May she rest in the Lord’s peace.

HOLIDAYS:

I hope those who have had their holidays are suitably refreshed and those now on holiday or about to leave for a break will have a wonderful time. I am looking forward to leaving for the south on Monday and will return on Tuesday 30th August. Among the happy occasions while I am away will be my sister’s 80th birthday. Fr Maurice and Fr Andrew will hold the fort during this period

UKRAINE:

We continue to receive support for our confrères in Ukraine and they remain immensely grateful for your generosity. At the end of term, Much Woolton Primary School gave us a cheque for £568.38: another truly remarkable effort. Thank you.

PRAYER INTENTIONS:

Please remember in your prayers the Rev Deacon Ihor Mazur, a Ukrainian. He is preparing for his priestly ordination and, supported by Fr Taras Khomykch, will be staying at Bishop Eton this week.

I also ask you to continue to remember all those who are struggling with health problems, particularly those who remain housebound and we will continue to pray for Catherine Higgins, who has been so injured in a cycling accident.

ST MARY’S SANCTUARY:

The scaffolding has now been erected on the sanctuary at St Mary’s, so that remedial work may be carried out. This week scaffolding will also be erected outside to try and establish the cause of the problems. We hope and pray that it will not prove too extensive.