Llandudno -
Our Lady Star of
the Sea
Parish Priest: Fr Antony Jones STL - Telephone: 01492 860546
Sunday, October 28th 2007
Thirtieth of Ordinary Time (C)
Parish Priest: Fr Antony Jones STL - Telephone: 01492 860546
Sunday, October 28th 2007
Thirtieth of Ordinary Time (C)
Brothers and sisters in Christ,
I have been here just over a month now and am enjoying my time here so far. I would like to thank you for the warm and friendly welcome you have given me since I arrived in Llandudno. It is very encouraging to begin my ministry in this community. I am settling in well but am still finding my way
around and get lost from time to time when I am going about the parish. The years I spent in the seminary I believe have prepared me well for life in a parish. However it is now that learning takes on a different dimension as I put into practice what I have been taught. Theory has now become a lived reality. My formation even though very difficult at times has been a great blessing. Those involved in my formation were dedicated and well qualified in their respective fields. I was especially inspired by their love of Jesus and their commitment to him as disciples, also their commitment to prayer and the
proclamation of the Kingdom of God.
For the present it is here with you that I will seek the Lord Jesus and hopefully with you will be drawn closer to him. First and foremost I am like yourselves a disciple of Jesus and am in much need of his compassion and love. Also God has called me to serve him and his people in a particular way, which at the moment is as a deacon on the way hopefully to priesthood. It is with much confidence in God's grace that I do this, because I know of my own efforts I could not do it. God is extremely generous if we allow him to be.
God is very much at work in the world, his Spirit is alive and active and will continue to be so until the fulfilment of the Kingdom, when all things will be under God's reign. This is, I believe a cause for great joy and hope. There is too much concentration on success and numbers, which is in my view a cause for disappointment in many peoples lives. Yes, there are less vocations to the priesthood and religious life and there a fewer people attending mass. But if we read the gospels we can see that many of Jesus' followers left him and those that remained with him, the apostles, abandoned him when he was arrested and executed. Later after he had risen they believed and even gave their own lives for the gospel. These early followers of Jesus, even the twelve were ordinary people just like ourselves, they had their own faults and failings. The Lord himself at times had difficulty with them, with their lack of understanding and at times lack of faith. They were not super-human, nor were they privy to some secret knowledge only for the few. What is important is not what we know, but who we know. Knowing Jesus is more important than anything else. That is why it is important to persevere in prayer as this is the means in which we come to know him who is the way, the truth and the life. We are not called to be successful, but to follow him who gave his life for us. I offer for reflection the words of Carlo Carretto:
'Behold, I am your God, says the Lord. And to be my God, means he is my Father, that he is the root of my existence, that he is the Lord of heaven and earth, that he is the absolute, that he is the saviour, that he is my End and my AIl.
'If God is my God I fear nothing. I put my trust in him. I let myself go. He is the God of the impossible. 'If a seminary shuts down, it never enters my head to wonder whether or not there will be a priest to give me Holy Communion.
'If the Vatican were put up for sale, I shouldn't worry or think that everything had come to an end and that God had been vanquished by the forces of evil.'
The Lord be with you and bless you.
Andy
Revd Andrew Roberts (Parish Deacon).
I have been here just over a month now and am enjoying my time here so far. I would like to thank you for the warm and friendly welcome you have given me since I arrived in Llandudno. It is very encouraging to begin my ministry in this community. I am settling in well but am still finding my way
around and get lost from time to time when I am going about the parish. The years I spent in the seminary I believe have prepared me well for life in a parish. However it is now that learning takes on a different dimension as I put into practice what I have been taught. Theory has now become a lived reality. My formation even though very difficult at times has been a great blessing. Those involved in my formation were dedicated and well qualified in their respective fields. I was especially inspired by their love of Jesus and their commitment to him as disciples, also their commitment to prayer and the
proclamation of the Kingdom of God.
For the present it is here with you that I will seek the Lord Jesus and hopefully with you will be drawn closer to him. First and foremost I am like yourselves a disciple of Jesus and am in much need of his compassion and love. Also God has called me to serve him and his people in a particular way, which at the moment is as a deacon on the way hopefully to priesthood. It is with much confidence in God's grace that I do this, because I know of my own efforts I could not do it. God is extremely generous if we allow him to be.
God is very much at work in the world, his Spirit is alive and active and will continue to be so until the fulfilment of the Kingdom, when all things will be under God's reign. This is, I believe a cause for great joy and hope. There is too much concentration on success and numbers, which is in my view a cause for disappointment in many peoples lives. Yes, there are less vocations to the priesthood and religious life and there a fewer people attending mass. But if we read the gospels we can see that many of Jesus' followers left him and those that remained with him, the apostles, abandoned him when he was arrested and executed. Later after he had risen they believed and even gave their own lives for the gospel. These early followers of Jesus, even the twelve were ordinary people just like ourselves, they had their own faults and failings. The Lord himself at times had difficulty with them, with their lack of understanding and at times lack of faith. They were not super-human, nor were they privy to some secret knowledge only for the few. What is important is not what we know, but who we know. Knowing Jesus is more important than anything else. That is why it is important to persevere in prayer as this is the means in which we come to know him who is the way, the truth and the life. We are not called to be successful, but to follow him who gave his life for us. I offer for reflection the words of Carlo Carretto:
'Behold, I am your God, says the Lord. And to be my God, means he is my Father, that he is the root of my existence, that he is the Lord of heaven and earth, that he is the absolute, that he is the saviour, that he is my End and my AIl.
'If God is my God I fear nothing. I put my trust in him. I let myself go. He is the God of the impossible. 'If a seminary shuts down, it never enters my head to wonder whether or not there will be a priest to give me Holy Communion.
'If the Vatican were put up for sale, I shouldn't worry or think that everything had come to an end and that God had been vanquished by the forces of evil.'
The Lord be with you and bless you.
Andy
Revd Andrew Roberts (Parish Deacon).