As we move into Tier 3, Masses will continue to be celebrated as normal, however, the parish office will now be closed until further notice.
Our thanks to the families of Maureen Deb and Theresa Bearn for their generosity and thoughtfulness for the kind donation of £1,000 each in honour of the memory of Maureen and Theresa.
May God bless you and may their souls Rest In Peace and Rise In Glory. Where possible the First Saturdays will be celebrated as follows:
12-3pm - Church Open for Adoration of The Blessed Sacrament 12-12:30pm - Sacrament of Confession available. What does ‘conversion’ mean? First, he reflected on the meaning of the word “conversion”. “In the Bible it means, first and foremost, to change direction and orientation; and thus also to change our way of thinking,” he said, explaining that “In the moral and spiritual life, to convert means to turn oneself from evil to good, from sin to love of God.” The Pope said it is what the Baptist was teaching, when he “preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” in the desert of Judea. Receiving baptism, he explained, “was an outward and visible sign of the conversion of those who listened to his preaching and decided to do penance.” He also noted that the baptism occurred with immersion in water, “but it proved worthless if there was no willingness to repent and change one's life.” Conversion, Pope Francis said, involves suffering for the sins committed: “the desire to free yourself from them, the intention to exclude them from your life forever.” And to exclude sin, he continued, it is also necessary to reject everything that is linked to it: “the worldly mentality, excessive esteem for comforts, for pleasure, for well-being, for wealth.” Detachment from sin and worldliness Once again, he said, the example of this comes to us from today's Gospel in the figure of John the Baptist: “an austere man who renounces excess and seeks the essential.” This, the Pope said, “is the first aspect of conversion: detachment from sin and worldliness. The other aspect of conversion is the search for God and his Kingdom.” He explained that the abandonment of comforts and a worldly mentality is not an end in itself, but is aimed at obtaining something greater: “the Kingdom of God, communion with God, friendship with God.” He reflected on the fact that this is not easy “because there are many ties that hold us close to sin: inconstancy, discouragement, unwholesome environments, bad examples.” Pope Francis said that at times “the push we feel toward the Lord is too weak and it almost seems that God is silent.” His promises of consolation, he said, seem far and unreal to us, like the image of the caring and attentive shepherd, which resonates today in the Reading from Isaiah (40:1-11). Conversion is a grace So, the Pope said, it is easy to fall into the temptation of saying that “it is impossible to truly convert, and instead of converting from the world to God, we risk remaining in the 'quicksand' of a mediocre existence.” “What can we do in these cases?” he continued: “First of all, remember that conversion is a grace, hence, to be asked of God with fortitude.” And he invited believers to open themselves up “to the beauty, the goodness, the tenderness of God,” leaving what is “false and fleeting for what is true, beautiful and everlasting.” Pope Francis concluded recalling that on Tuesday we celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception and prayed to Our Lady to help us “to separate ourselves more and more from sin and worldliness, in order to open ourselves to God, to his Word, to his love which restores and saves.” World Gifts, CAFOD's range of virtual gifts, make a real difference to families living in poverty across the world. While we have the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown here, we can still be good neighbours to our sisters and brothers overseas by giving World Gifts as Christmas presents to family and friends. The Keep Clean Kit gift for £6 and the Vegetable Garden gift for £10 are just two gifts that will help vulnerable families affected by the pandemic to protect and feed themselves. Let’s spread joy and hope around the world this Christmas. Visit cafod.org.uk/worldgifts. |
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