La Salette 4u: 2014

Saturday, 27 December 2014

Holy Family

Pastoral Letter of Bishop Alan Williams, sm

The Feast of the Holy Family

(Please read and/or make available at all Masses on the weekend of the 27^th/28^th December 2014)

We gather together this weekend immediately after the great Feast of the Incarnation - the Birth of the Lord at Bethlehem. I know that many of you will today imitate the example of Saint Francis all those centuries ago and make a visit to the crib.

As we gaze at the scene from Bethlehem we can make some words of Saint Francis our own -

“We are mothers of Christ when we carry Him in our heart and body through divine love and a pure and sincere conscience and give birth to Him through a holy activity which must shine as an example before others.”

In October of this year many bishops and others gathered in Rome for an extraordinary Synod on the Family- the theme was the Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the context of Evangelisation. At the end of that Synod Pope Francis spoke to the whole Church -

“We have one year to mature, with true spiritual discernment… with the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph.”

Next October there will be a further Synod on The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and in the Contemporary World.

As we prepare for this next Synod the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales are inviting all of us to reflect on the Gift of Marriage and Family Life.

The short document The Call, the Journey and the Mission will be widely available on Catholic websites and, I hope, in Parishes.

In the document there are suggestions for scripture readings and statements of our Catholic beliefs about Marriage and Family Life. Our reflections should always take place in the context of prayer. Only then can we make the words of Saint Augustine our own -

“From now on live in the harmony of peace, adhere to unity, acquiesce in charity, yield to the truth.”

In the Gospel of today’s Mass Simeon takes Jesus in his arms and looks at Him. As he prayed Simeon spoke of the gifts received by those who are close to Jesus. May these gifts- peace, light, salvation and many others- be given to you in abundance during this Christmas Season.

Pray for me as I will pray for you,

In Christ and Mary, +Alan, sm

Wednesday, 24 December 2014

Christmas

May the Lord attend your table!

Frs. Mariusz & Kris wish you all, a Holy, Healthy & Happy Christmas.

Saturday, 20 December 2014

so close..

The crib is ready, just waiting for baby Jesus. Only few days left to Christmas...

Saturday, 29 November 2014

Pastoral Letter

Pastoral Letter of Bishop Alan Williams, sm

First Sunday of Advent

Last Sunday’s gospel talked of the difficulty in recognising Christ in our world- “Lord when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or in prison?”

We can so easily forget God though he never forgets us. In the words of one Rabbi, “We are half-heartedly searching for God, but God is whole-heartedly searching for us.”

As we begin the season of Advent today we are called to be ever more aware of God’s search for us and our response. We need to look upwards to the gaze of God, “for only in his gaze is our future to be found” [Pope Francis].

Advent can be is a graced time of waiting for the coming of the Lord - our children delight in Advent calendars; in our churches we light candles in the Advent wreaths - but in today’s gospel Jesus urges us to stay awake, we must not be half-hearted or found sleeping.

Yet Advent competes with frantic and seemingly all-consuming preparations for the celebration of Christmas. We can be conscious only of unfinished tasks or the number of shopping days left. It is so easy to arrive at Christmas exhausted after all our efforts.

During the Sundays of Advent the scripture readings focus on the examples of John the Baptist and Mary - John’s ministry prepared the way of the Lord and in his personal life he was filled with the spirit of Jesus- “Christ must increase and I must decrease” [John 3.30].

“Hail Mary full of grace”- at Nazareth Gabriel, God’s messenger, comes unexpectedly; Mary is startled by the Annunciation and she questions, she ponders, but she offers herself totally to God.

When people are Christ-filled, like Mary, John the Baptist and so many other faithful disciples of the Lord, their lives are transformed and the Almighty works marvels for them.

Since being ordained as your bishop on the 1^st July I have travelled around the diocese and have met many of you in parishes and schools and elsewhere. Throughout the diocese great things are being done in the name of Christ through the faith and generosity of many people.

The opening prayer during today’s Mass asks that we might hurry forward to meet Christ who enriches us in so many ways.

I wish you a joyful and blessed Advent in Christ and Mary,

+Alan, sm