Ninety Years Young

Happy ninetieth Birthday, Des, and thank you for all you have done and continue to do for our community at St Wilfrid's.
God bless you.

Happy Easter

Tell us, Mary: say what thou didst see upon the way.
The tomb the Living did enclose;
I saw Christ's glory as He rose!
The angels there attesting; shroud with grave-clothes resting.
Christ, my hope, has risen:
He goes before you into Galilee.
That Christ is truly risen from the dead we know.
Victorious King, Thy mercy show!

With Christ in death and resurrection

"If in union with Christ we have imitated his death, we shall also imitate him in his resurrection... But we believe that having died with Christ we shall return to life with him."

I know that many of the people who crowded into St Wilfrid's yesterday afternoon had a profound sense of being with Christ in his death. As we move into Easter may we have a strong sense of being with him in his resurrection.

As the world goes dark this evening, St Wilfrid's will be filled with light and life.

See you at 7.15!

Reflection for Holy Saturday

His cross stands empty in a world grown silent

Through hours of anguish and of dread;

In stillness, earth awaits the resurrection,

While Christ goes down to wake the dead

He summons Adam and his generations,

Brings light where darkness endless seemed;

He frees and claims His own, so long held captive,

Who, with the living, are redeemed.

With God the Father and the Holy Spirit,

Give praise to Christ the crucified,

Who, through the ages, seeks to save his lost ones:

The sinful men for whom he died.

Empty Tabernacle, Empty Fonts

I have just emptied the tabernacle and holy water fonts in preparation for the Triddum. If Jesus had not died and risen again there would be no sacraments, no hope, no eternal life. This Lent I have been reading a book by Pope Benedict XVI. It is called "Journey to Easter" and consists of Lent retreat addresses he gave long before he was Pope himself to Blessed John Paul II and his household. As I emptied the fonts, and moved the Blessed Sacrament from the tabernacle I thought of these words from the book:

The Supper without the Cross, the Cross without the Supper, would be void, but the two without the Resurrection would be the wreck of hope. The image of the pierced side, fount of water and blood, is also the image of the Resurrection, of love stronger than death. In the Eucharist, we receive this love – we receive the medicine of immortality. The Eucharist guides us to the fount of true life, of invincible life, and shows us where and how true life is to be found – not in riches and possessions, not in having. Only if we follow Jesus on the way of his Cross, do we find ourselves on the road to life.

Something to think about

I came across this post on a Catholic blog. It struck me that it might be worth posting a link here in case someone who reads this finds themselves in the sort of place that the writer did some twenty years ago.
If you have somehow lost your way, lost your faith, or simply fallen away from the practice of it, a warm welcome always awaits you at St Wilfrid's. You are especially welcome at any of the special services over the next three or four days. You will find all the details as well as confession times in last weekend's newsletter.

Newsletter for Easter Sunday and Easter 2

Click here to read the double edition of the Newsletter.

May we all keep these days holy, and rejoice in the resurrection of the Lord.

Palm Sunday and Holy Week

It was strange to celebrate Palm Sunday with so much snow outside. One parishioner said that if our Lord was entering Jerusalem in those conditions, it would have been more useful to spread salt than palm branches! Although the Saturday evening congregation was much reduced, I was amazed by the number of people who managed to fight their way through the snow to get to Mass on Sunday morning. We had a procession, though inside the Church rather than outside and the liturgy of the day was celebrated with love and devotion. Thank you all  who braved the elements to enter Jerusalem with the Lord.

If you were unable to make it through the snow to Mass yesterday, you will find the newsletter with details of the Holy Week Services here. I look forward to welcoming you to the lovely liturgies on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Lastly this made me laugh - it would never happen at St Wilfrid's of course!

Two Popes send greetings to new Archbishop of Canterbury

Today the new Archbishop of Canterbury will be enthroned in Canterbury Cathedral. Before his retirement, Pope Benedict sent greetings to him, and Pope Francis has also sent him a message for the occasion. You can read both messages here. On the eve of his passion, our Lord prayed that all his followers might be one. May that be our prayer today.

Newsletter for Holy Week

Click here to read the Newsletter for Holy Week.
Let's keep the Great Week well, staying with Jesus on his journey through suffering and death, to resurrection and new life.

Pope Francis on the Eucharist and the Priesthood

Our new Holy Father, as Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires, reflects on the Eucharist and the Priesthood.

Homily of Pope Francis.

In his homily Pope Francis has spoken of tenderness and hope. He has told that power, including the power the Pope exercises as successor of Peter, must be exercised through service. He spoke of Joseph protecting Jesus and Mary, and now protecting the Church. We in our turn must protect the poor, the most vulnerable and the whole of creation. Read the whole text here.

Inaugural Mass of the Pontificate of Pope Francis

The Mass to inaugurate the Pontificate of our new Pope, will take place on Tuesday, 19th March, in St Peter's Square. It will be broadcast on BBC 1 with the transmission starting at 8.15am, and the Mass itself at 8.30am our time. You can  find the transmission from Vatican Radio/TV on this website which I have found the most convenient way to follow live events in Rome over the last week or so. EWTN will also carry the transmission from Vatican Radio/TV from Rome live on that morning.

You can find the Mass Leaflet here. It has an English translation of the text of the Mass on the pages opposite the Latin text.

Bishop Malcolm's Pastoral Message on the Election of Pope Francis

Click here to read the message from the Bishop read at Mass this weekend.

Newsletter and Supplement for 16/17 March - Lent 5(C)

Click here to read this week's newsletter, and here for a supplement which gives a basic biography of Pope Francis, and some prayers for him. Above all, please use the prayers.