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

Pastoral Letter

New Year Pastoral Letter of Bishop Alan Williams, sm 

on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

Dear brothers and sisters,

I hope that the celebration of Christmas and our entering into the New Year bring you God's peace and many blessings.

In today's Gospel Saint Luke tells us how the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem brought astonishment and joy to the shepherds and to all who witnessed the coming of the Infant Saviour.  In the midst of this, 'Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart'.

Today we celebrate the Feast of Mary the Mother of God - a human being just like ourselves but uniquely filled with the grace of God.  Mary is our mother but also someone who shows us what Christians can become by the grace of God.

Pope Saint John Paul II called Mary The First Disciple of the Lord - the first to believe in the Gospel; Emeritus Pope Benedict calls her The Great Believer.  

Saint Augustine was so astonished at the grace of God revealed in the perfection of Mary's life that he said-

'The blessed Mary certainly did the Father’s will, and so it was for her a greater thing to have been Christ’s disciple than to have been his mother, and she was more blessed in her discipleship than in her motherhood. Hers was the happiness of first bearing in her womb Him whom she would obey as her Lord'.

Mary gives birth to the Redeemer at Bethlehem; at Pentecost she is in the midst of the apostles as the Church comes to birth.  When we witness to the Gospel as faithful disciples of Christ we also imitate Mary.  In Saint Augustine's words, 'By bringing others to birth in the same way, you have it in your power to become mothers of Christ'.

If we want to make progress as disciples of The Lord we can look confidently to Mary our Mother and Companion.  St Augustine tells us that we should imitate Mary in her discipleship and her Motherhood.

Mary gave birth to the Word of God; throughout her life she lived and breathed that same Word - 'Blessed are they who hear and do the Word of God' (Luke 11.28).  She continues to share this treasure in all ages and amongst all peoples.  

Mary, 'The Star of the New Evangelization', remains the model and inspiration for all of us.  Pope Saint John Paul II in his encyclical The Mission of the Redeemer, reminded us that evangelisation will always be, 'the first task of the Church'.  Likewise, in the 'Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium) Pope Francis insists that missionary outreach must be at the centre of all the Church's activities.

Next year we celebrate our Centenary as the diocese of Brentwood.  We can look back with great gratitude at the grace of God but we also need to dare to be brothers, sisters and, yes, mothers of Christ in the world in which we live.

We must seek new and creative ways of sharing the great treasure of our Catholic Christian faith in a world hungry for the justice and peace of God's Kingdom.  Every parish should now have a Steward of the Gospel and during the past year our Stewards have been praying and undergoing training for the great mission ahead.  Like Mary, Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church, we are called to be like Christ, think like Christ, feel like Christ and act like Christ in all that we do.

May The Lord give us many blessings in the Year ahead- for our families, our parishes, our diocese and our world.

Yours in Christ and Mary,

+Alan Williams, sm

Bishop of Brentwood

Christmas

May the Peace and loving kindness of God be with you in this season of grace, and uphold you throughout the coming year.We wish you and your family the blessings of peace and happiness this Christmastide.

invitation

We started new prayer group in our parish.  Come and worship every Wednesday at 7.30pm