Llandudno -
Our Lady Star of
the Sea
Parish Priest: Fr Antony Jones STL - Telephone: 01492 860546 [Email]
Sunday, March 25th, 2007 - Lent 5 (C)
Parish Priest: Fr Antony Jones STL - Telephone: 01492 860546 [Email]
Sunday, March 25th, 2007 - Lent 5 (C)
Dear
Parishioner,
The Priests will be available after the services for those who would like to speak with them.
Monday: Our Lady Star of the Sea - Fr John Toole
Tuesday: Holy Family, Llandudno Junction - Fr Jo. Daly
Wednesday: St Joseph’s, Colwyn Bay - Mgr James Fealey
Thursday: Convent Church, Old Colwyn - Fr Antony Jones (with Bishop Edwin present)
Friday: Good Shepherd, Llanrwst - Fr Damien Grimes
You would never imagine that a new oil-filled radiator would be complicated. The instruction booklet tells you to read the instructions carefully. I had to read them carefully over and over again. And still I am not so sure – it’s a digitally controlled one, you see.
So, in order to get the best out of it, namely that it will have a long and happy life and that I will come to no harm by using it, I must read the instructions carefully and put them into practice.
Now I am sure you realise that I am not telling you this so that when you come to buy yourself a new radiator you will know what to do. No, I have a different purpose.
This week we hold our special Deanery Penitential Week. As you see over the page, there will be a short penitential service every evening of the week in one or other of the churches of the Deanery. You are well familiar with this arrangement; we have been following it now for two years, in Advent as well as in Lent.
What I want to say to you today is that we all need the Sacrament of Confession – if we didn’t, Christ would not have given it to us. But do we appreciate it enough? Well, that’s another question. Do we use it enough? To my mind, no.
We have been considering throughout Lent the way things and circumstances have a habit of tying us down, depriving us of something of our inner freedom. We considered how a wrong idea of God, as someone who breathes down our necks threatening thunderbolts, a heavenly traffic warden, can also wreck our freedom, since we go about in fear and anxiety. But we must add to these the fact that sin ties us down too, belittles us, demeans us and robs us of that joy possessed by the children of God. We need to know for certain that our sins against Almighty God are forgiven, blotted out. We need, for the sake of total assurance, to hear Christ himself say to us, My Child, your sins are forgiven; go in peace. Only in the Sacrament of Confession can this happen.
Now what about that radiator? Well, it’s pretty obvious, really. We too have an instruction book written by our maker, and that instruction book is the Ten Commandments. Like all good books, it has gone through a second edition, edited this time by Christ Himself. He is our Maker; he knows how we work; he knows what will ensure that we gain optimum results. The optimum results of the radiator are that it works as it should and lasts a long time. The optimum results with regard to us are that we work as we should, namely become truly human and truly free, with eternal life to look forward to.
Christ knows better than we do what is good for us. It is up to us to read and reread the instructions carefully. To listen to his word; to do what he says is right, not what we capriciously decide is right for ourselves. And when we fail, we go back to Him for pardon and a restart.
Lent is the time for such a restart; Lent is the time for seeking pardon for our sins, for seeking our deepest freedoms, for pondering whether we are living our lives according to the rule book. Please come to one of these penitential services during the week. The service here at Our Lady’s is on Monday at 730pm.
If you haven’t been to confession for ages, then take the bull by the horns and come now. You will be amazed how easy it is and what joy it will give you. No need to remember all those prayers and formulae we learned as children. No need to remember all your sins. Just remember that Christ is there, waiting for you. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Anyone who opens to me, I will enter and share his meal with him. And then you will be free - your sins forgiven and blotted out, and the guilt that goes with them. Free, really free, free with the kind of freedom that God wants you to enjoy, the freedom St Paul describes as the glorious liberty of the children of God. And when I say to you Have a Happy Lent, this is exactly what I mean.
God bless you,
Fr Anthony Jones
PENITENTIAL SERVICES THIS WEEK –
EVERYONE OF THEM AT 7:30 PM
AND EVERYONE OF THEM SHORT
EVERYONE OF THEM AT 7:30 PM
AND EVERYONE OF THEM SHORT
The Priests will be available after the services for those who would like to speak with them.
Monday: Our Lady Star of the Sea - Fr John Toole
Tuesday: Holy Family, Llandudno Junction - Fr Jo. Daly
Wednesday: St Joseph’s, Colwyn Bay - Mgr James Fealey
Thursday: Convent Church, Old Colwyn - Fr Antony Jones (with Bishop Edwin present)
Friday: Good Shepherd, Llanrwst - Fr Damien Grimes
_______________________________________________
"Thank you for
choosing this
radiator. To get the very best out of your new radiator, it is
advisable to read these instructions before using it. This will
ensure that you gain optimum results and use the appliance safely."
You would never imagine that a new oil-filled radiator would be complicated. The instruction booklet tells you to read the instructions carefully. I had to read them carefully over and over again. And still I am not so sure – it’s a digitally controlled one, you see.
So, in order to get the best out of it, namely that it will have a long and happy life and that I will come to no harm by using it, I must read the instructions carefully and put them into practice.
Now I am sure you realise that I am not telling you this so that when you come to buy yourself a new radiator you will know what to do. No, I have a different purpose.
This week we hold our special Deanery Penitential Week. As you see over the page, there will be a short penitential service every evening of the week in one or other of the churches of the Deanery. You are well familiar with this arrangement; we have been following it now for two years, in Advent as well as in Lent.
What I want to say to you today is that we all need the Sacrament of Confession – if we didn’t, Christ would not have given it to us. But do we appreciate it enough? Well, that’s another question. Do we use it enough? To my mind, no.
We have been considering throughout Lent the way things and circumstances have a habit of tying us down, depriving us of something of our inner freedom. We considered how a wrong idea of God, as someone who breathes down our necks threatening thunderbolts, a heavenly traffic warden, can also wreck our freedom, since we go about in fear and anxiety. But we must add to these the fact that sin ties us down too, belittles us, demeans us and robs us of that joy possessed by the children of God. We need to know for certain that our sins against Almighty God are forgiven, blotted out. We need, for the sake of total assurance, to hear Christ himself say to us, My Child, your sins are forgiven; go in peace. Only in the Sacrament of Confession can this happen.
Now what about that radiator? Well, it’s pretty obvious, really. We too have an instruction book written by our maker, and that instruction book is the Ten Commandments. Like all good books, it has gone through a second edition, edited this time by Christ Himself. He is our Maker; he knows how we work; he knows what will ensure that we gain optimum results. The optimum results of the radiator are that it works as it should and lasts a long time. The optimum results with regard to us are that we work as we should, namely become truly human and truly free, with eternal life to look forward to.
Christ knows better than we do what is good for us. It is up to us to read and reread the instructions carefully. To listen to his word; to do what he says is right, not what we capriciously decide is right for ourselves. And when we fail, we go back to Him for pardon and a restart.
Lent is the time for such a restart; Lent is the time for seeking pardon for our sins, for seeking our deepest freedoms, for pondering whether we are living our lives according to the rule book. Please come to one of these penitential services during the week. The service here at Our Lady’s is on Monday at 730pm.
If you haven’t been to confession for ages, then take the bull by the horns and come now. You will be amazed how easy it is and what joy it will give you. No need to remember all those prayers and formulae we learned as children. No need to remember all your sins. Just remember that Christ is there, waiting for you. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Anyone who opens to me, I will enter and share his meal with him. And then you will be free - your sins forgiven and blotted out, and the guilt that goes with them. Free, really free, free with the kind of freedom that God wants you to enjoy, the freedom St Paul describes as the glorious liberty of the children of God. And when I say to you Have a Happy Lent, this is exactly what I mean.
God bless you,
Fr Anthony Jones