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- Written by Edoardo Albert
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FR ANDREW WRITES
In our Gospel this weekend, Our Lord is asked, “will there only be few saved?” Jesus doesn’t get into the numbers game but instead says simply, “Try your best to enter by the narrow door.” The point about the door to heaven being narrow is not that it reduces the number who may enter but rather that it changes the way in which we may enter. To get through a narrow door we have to slow down, there’s no charging the gates of heaven, we must slow down and proceed with care, there’s a certain humility needed to enter through a narrow door. And we may have to shed some baggage, shed attachments to the things of this life. And to get through a narrow door we need to be slim, not physically slim, but spiritually slim. In other words we need those disciplines of prayer and penance and charity that keep us in spiritual shape. And then we may enter humbly through the narrow door and take our places at the feast in the kingdom of God.
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- Written by Edoardo Albert
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‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already!’
FR ANDREW WRITES
Sometimes Jesus can surprise us, even shock us in what he says. In the Gospel this Sunday he does just that. He says that he has come to bring fire to the earth, division and not peace. So what happened to gentle Jesus, meek and mild? Here’s the point, the fire that Jesus comes to bring to the earth, to our lives, is the fire of love for us which burns in his Sacred Heart. Jesus is on fire with love for us and he wants us to burn with love for him. To really love involves making a choice. To really love Jesus means rejecting anything that gets in the way of that love and choosing him above everything. This is the division that Jesus brings. The Sacred Heart of Jesus on fire with love for us invites us to make a radical choice of love.
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- Written by Edoardo Albert
- Category: Newsletters
FR ANDREW WRITES
The holiday season is very much upon us! I have just returned from my summer break and now Fr David is off on his. During August we welcome Fr Michael Quaicoe who is helping us out during his holidays from his studies in Rome. Whether you are jetting off to somewhere exotic or just having a rest at home, it’s important to have a break. Holidays are a great opportunity not just to rest our mind and body but also to refresh our souls. When life is a little quieter we can rediscover simply how to take to delight in the Lord, to enjoy His presence, in the mass, in the tabernacle, in our prayer and in those we meet. After all, when this life is over and all our plans and frantic activity are finally ended, there will be only one thing to delight in, only one thing to love and that is God. Learning to delight in Him now helps to ensure that we will be able to enjoy His presence for ever. Happy holidays!
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FR ANDREW WRITES
This Thursday we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Assumption of Mary teaches us something very important about our lives as Christians. Throughout her life, Mary united herself with the mission of Jesus her Son, including and especially in his suffering and death in which she shared with all the compassion of a mother. Because of this, at the end of her life, God ensured that she remained closely joined with her Son in heaven. From heaven she continues to cooperate with her Son’s saving mission by praying for us.
We must imitate Mary, we must unite ourselves to Jesus, including and especially in pain and suffering. We can make an offering of any suffering we experience, joining it with that of Jesus for the salvation of souls. And because it is union with Christ in his saving death that brings about union with him in his resurrection, this is how we will follow where Mary has gone before us, to the eternal bliss of heaven.
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FR DAVID WRITES
Today we welcome back Fr Mark who will help celebrate some of the Masses. Fr Mark has just returned from the Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes where he served as chaplain to the young people. Deacon David has gone on his break and will return at weekends in September. I will begin my summer holidays this week. Fr Andrew will be in charge of the parish and he will be helped for the month by Fr Michael Quaicoe. Fr Michael was until recently an assistant priest at Westminster Cathedral and is now mostly based in Rome where he is completing his doctorate in Canon Law. I am grateful to him for his help and I know we will all make him feel most welcome. Finally, many thanks for your generosity last weekend in giving so generously towards Mary's Meals. I pray that you may all have a blessed and safe summer.