Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Birthday of St John the Baptist.  He has always been regarded as one of the very greatest saints of the Church and his church in Rome, St John Lateran, is the Mother Church of the world.

Apart from Our Lord ( 25 December) and Our Lady (8 September) he is the only saint whose birthday, in the normal sense of the word, the Church celebrates.  Usually, by birthday, the church means the day of death, the day we are given the fullness of life in the presence of God.  But for John, we celebrate his birthday in the normal sense of the word.  Why?  Because, unlike the rest of us, when he was born he was already freed from Original Sin.  This is indicated in the Scriptures by the fact that he leapt for joy in his mother’s womb at the sound of Mary’s voice greeting Elizabeth.

May this great saint pray for each and every one of us that we may be as true and resolute as he was in his witness and obedience to Christ.

Today we begin what the Parish Council called for, our Campaign for Volunteers to join and strengthen our parish groups and organisations.  The Parish Council decided to kick off with the group most in need of new members, and that was recognised as the Guardian Angels Society, or GAS for short.

You will remember that in a recent Newsletter I spoke to you about the need we have in the parish to cover all the work that Sr Jennifer is presently doing.  Thus I told you that Mrs Marie Crossland and Mr Stephen Watson are now trained up in the work of promoting and looking after the wonderful team we have of Altar Servers.

For this reason we decided to change the constitution of GAS to make it solely responsible for the visitation of the Hospital.  No Christian Community is worth its salt if it fails to care for and visit the sick in its midst.  The Special Ministers and myself with Holy Communion, the SVP with practical help and social visiting, ensure that the sick and housebound of our parish are cared for as fully as we are able.  That leaves the sick in the hospital.

For the past month GAS has been visiting the hospital – not just the Catholics there, but every patient.  Each member has visited a full ward every week.  This is essential work but heavy.  The only way the workload can be reduced is by more people volunteering to join the Society.  So today we, parish priest and parish council, appeal to you to volunteer for this work.

The hospital visitation is also important because it reveals to us who the Catholics are among the patients.  The days have long gone when you could ring up the hospital for a list of Catholics.  Now, because of the new privacy laws, they will not tell you.  The only way to find out is to visit everyone.  In doing so, we often come across people who have been away from the Church for some time and are in real need of the Sacraments.  When I am thus informed, I visit with the Sacrament of the Sick.  Sr Jennifer takes Holy Communion to the known sick in the hospital every week.

So volunteers are needed for two reasons.  First, because it is the duty of a Christian Community to care for the sick in its midst.  Second, because it is the only way we can get to know who are the Catholics there and who it is that need the Sacraments.  Please volunteer.

If you would like to give GAS a go, then contact me, or, after the Masses today, go immediately into the Crying Room (or, more correctly, the Chapel of Reconciliation) where you will meet a couple of the current members of GAS who will explain their work to you in further detail.

The Family Day at Pantasaph this year is on Sunday, 8 July.  Refreshments at 1130am; take your own picnic; fun and games; Mass with the Bishop at 3pm in the Padre Pio gardens; free barbeque at 415pm.  A great day-out for all the family.  Make your own travel arrangements.

UCM MASSES:  9 July and 1 October.  730pm, Stella Maris