Sunday February
19th
2006
Dear Parishioner,
Today, I want to quote to you a very inspiring passage from the Holy
Father’s latest Encyclical: God is Love, and encourage you to spend
some time pondering it. But before that, let me remind you of two
events taking place in our parish this week.
The spring garland
This is the name Vera Heade has chosen for the evening of music and
poetry she has arranged for Friday. The main event will take
place in the church, but will be followed by a cheese and wine party at
Stella Maris. We have never had, as far as I know, any
fund-raising event quite like this before. It promises to be
fascinating and I hope you will give it your support. Tickets are
available after all the Masses this week-end and I am sure you will
feel in the end that you have spent your money wisely. So support
Vera and support the church.
Holy hour
On Saturday afternoon the Diocesan Vocations Team meets at Stella
Maris. Its meetings have always been preceded by a Holy
Hour. At the last gathering it was decided that invitations to
this Holy Hour be sent to the priests and faithful of the entire
Diocese so that we could all have the opportunity of coming together to
pray for
this all important intention. This time, therefore, the Holy Hour will
take place in church at 3pm, to which I heartily encourage you to
come. It will be followed by tea and biscuits at Stella Maris, an
opportunity to meet like-minded fellow Catholics.
DEUS CARITAS EST – GOD IS LOVE
Please ponder this powerful passage from the Pope’s Encyclical.
Read it once, twice, many times. Take it with you to prayer:
“The proper way of serving others leads to humility. The one who
serves does not consider himself superior to the one served, however
miserable the other’s situation at the moment may be. Christ took
the lowest place in the world – the Cross – and by this radical
humility he redeemed us and constantly comes to our aid. Those
who are in a position to help others will realise that in doing so they
themselves receive help; being able to help others is no merit or
achievement of the own. This duty is a grace. The more we
do for others, the more we understand and can appropriate the words of
Christ, ‘we are useless servants’. We recognise that we are not
acting on the basis of any superiority or greater personal efficiency,
but because the Lord has graciously enabled us to do so. There
are times when the burden of need and our own limitations might tempt
us to become discouraged. But precisely then we are helped by the
knowledge that, in the end, we are only instruments in the Lord’s
hands; and this knowledge frees us from the presumption of thinking
that we alone are personally responsible for building a better
world. In all humility we will do what we can, and in all
humility we will entrust the rest to the Lord. It is God who
governs the world, not we. We offer him our service only to the
extent that we can, and for as long as he grants us the strength.
To do all we can with what strength we have, however, is the task which
keeps the good servant of Jesus Christ always at work: ‘The love of
Christ urges us on’ (2 Cor 5:14)”
Our Holy Father concludes this outstanding Encyclical with this prayer:
Prayer of Pope Benedict:
Holy Mary, Mother of God, you have given the world its true light,
Jesus, your Son, the Son of God. You abandoned yourself
completely to God’s call and thus became a wellspring of the goodness
which flows forth from him. Show us Jesus. Lead us to
him. Teach us to know and love him, so that we too can become
capable of true love and be fountains of living water in the midst of a
thirsting world.
God bless you,
Fr Antony Jones.