Christmas

Fr Mariusz & Fr Kris wish You, your Family, and Friends, 

a Holy, Healthy and Happy Christmas.

Advent

Pastoral Letter for the First Sunday of Advent

(Please read and/or make available at all Masses 

during the weekend of the 2/3 December 2017)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In today’s first reading the prophet Isaiah speaks in desperation to a people exiled from their homeland - they cannot worship in the temple and they have been sinners, even rebels, against God.  The prophet prays for his people, “Oh that You would tear the heavens open and come down!”

In Christ the prayer of Isaiah finds its fulfilment. During Advent Christians remember with deep joy and gratitude the coming amongst us of the Son of God. 

The keynote at the beginning of every Advent is the urgent need for vigilance. In today’s Gospel our Lord tells us, “Be on your guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come”.

During Advent our Sunday readings will focus on the witness of John the Baptist and Mary the mother of Jesus:-

-For John the encounter with Jesus Christ has immediate and life-changing consequences.  On meeting Jesus John says, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. John then gives up his own ministry to follow Jesus - “He must increase and I must decrease.”

- For Mary her total openness to the will of God means that she will be known as, ‘the First Disciple of the Lord’ (Pope St John Paul II), and ‘the Great Believer’ (Pope Emeritus Benedict).

Isaiah longed to do the will of God and see God’s kingdom on earth.  When the first Christian disciples met Jesus - the Way, the Truth and the Life - they saw with great certainty what they needed to do and in whose company they needed to travel.

Since Lent 2016 Stewards of the Gospel and their helpers have been active in every parish; they have worked alongside parishioners, clergy and other members of the diocese to develop a vision for our future rooted in the will of God.

After much reflection and discussion in meetings throughout the diocese the First Formal Proposal for the Renewal and Restructuring of Our Diocese has been completed.  Nothing is set in stone and more dialogue, prayer and discernment must follow - we can be bold in our shared vocation as followers and companions of Jesus Christ. 

Isaiah, whose intuitions of Christ led Saint Jerome to call him ‘the evangelical prophet’ gives a wonderful prayer for those who long to discern the will of God-

You guide those who act with integrity and keep your ways in mind.

Lord, You are our Father;

we the clay, You the potter,

we are all the work of your hand.

When I began the Stewards of the Gospel initiative I was guided by the words of Pope St John Paul II who called for the development of “Consultation and the collaboration of the lay faithful, women and men” including “dialogue and discernment as well”. Pope Francis also encourages us - “The faithful very often respond as best they can to the Gospel amid their limitations and are capable of carrying out their own discernment in complex situations” (Amoris Laetitia n37).

With great confidence I continue to entrust the future of the diocese to the care of our Lady of Lourdes who 'because she was 'full of grace' knew that nothing is impossible to God.

Yours in Christ and Mary,

+Alan Williams, sm

Bishop of Brentwood

inspiration

La Salette story

Summer Camp

Our short video report from summer camp.

Easter

He is risen ! Alleluia!

Frs Mariusz, Kris & Luke, 

wish you and all your Families & Friends, a Holy, Happy & Healthy Easter!

Aylesford to Canterbury

Our Parish and Mile End on pilgrimage to Canterbury.

pastoral visit

Bishop Alan  made a pastoral visit in our parish and administered the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Congratulation to all confirmed. 

Lent

Pray, fast, give...

100 years

Pastoral Letter on The Centenary and Future of Our Diocese

(To be read/made available at all Masses on 11/12 February 2017)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This weekend we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes the principal patron Saint of our diocese.  We are also beginning our centenary celebrations marking the establishment of the new diocese of Brentwood by Pope Benedict XV in 1917.

The diocese of Brentwood began during the First World War and most of us today cannot imagine the enormous pressures and challenges of those times.  Yet Pope Francis has called us to reflect on the challenges of our present time -  'The hearts of many people are gripped by fear and desperation... The joy of living frequently fades, lack of respect for others and violence are on the rise, and inequality is increasingly evident.  It is a struggle to live and, often, with precious little dignity' (Evangelii Gaudium 52).

Pope Francis speaks of 'today's vast and rapid cultural changes' and it is very clear to me that these changes will continue to accelerate.  However my Christian faith also gives me great hope - 'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever'  (Hebrews 13.8).

In every generation there are choices to be made - in today's Old Testament reading God's people are encouraged to choose life not death.  In the gospel Jesus urges his disciples to choose the kingdom of heaven rather than sin.  At Lourdes Bernadette had to choose whether to return to the grotto and listen to the Lady or to walk away. 

As we make our choices in today's world Pope Francis asks us to read the signs of our times.  We are called to an 'evangelical discernment'... the approach of a missionary disciple'.  In the words of the Holy Father, 'This involves not only recognising and discerning spirits, but also - and this is decisive - choosing movements of the spirit of good and rejecting those of the spirit of evil' (EG 51).

It is clear to me that we now need to make important choices for our own diocese.  Pope Saint John Paul II almost thirty years ago urged dioceses to embrace, 'Collaboration, dialogue, discernment...and consultation of the lay faithful, women and men'.  Pope Francis takes up this challenge and points to a way forward - 'A proposal of goals without an adequate communal search for the means of achieving them will prove illusory ... The important thing is not to walk alone, but to rely on each other as brothers and sisters, especially under the leadership of the bishops, in a wise and realistic pastoral discernment'.

As we celebrate our Centenary and seek to move forward I ask all of you to pray for the Catholic life and witness of our diocese and especially to support the Stewards of the Gospel initiative -

1. Be as active and involved as you are able - be 'generous and courageous without inhibitions or fear'  (cf EG 33).
2. Please pray for our diocese as it moves into the next hundred years - pray for our parishes, our schools, our communities and our stewards of the gospel.
3. Pray for the clergy of our diocese - Be grateful for the generosity and sacrifice of our wonderful priests; despite inevitable frailties they bring the real presence of Christ among us.
4. The first disciples lived in uncertain and even chaotic times yet they chose Christ.  I invite all young people to consider carefully how God is calling you.  Only the good news of Jesus speaks fully of the deepest truths of God and also reaches the depths of our humanity.
5. Please take home and read your copy of Shaping our Future- Stewards of the Gospel.  Use the prayer on the back page and learn from Saint Bernadette's journey into discipleship - 'I rubbed my eyes thinking I was making a mistake... I knelt down... I tried to make the sign if the cross... After that I was no longer afraid'.

I entrust the future of the diocese to the care of Our Lady of Lourdes who because she was 'full of grace' knew that nothing is impossible to God.

Yours in Christ and Mary,

+Alan Williams, sm,

Bishop of Brentwood