Weekly News

Dearest friends, Just a week after we celebrate the decent of the Holy Spirit into the room filled with Jesus disciples we take a moment to praise and pray for a deeper understanding of the Holy Trinity. The Trinity pervades every aspect of our faith – it is one of the central planks of our faith – everything we do, everything we are sent out to do is done in the power of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit. It…

Dearest friends, As we approach the feast day of St. Boniface (June 5), I would like you to reflect on his inspiring life and how his example can guide us in living a good Christian life (as so many of the saints do).  Born around 675 in Wessex, England, Boniface dedicated his life to spreading the Gospel, earning the title “Apostle to the Germans.” His courage, faith, and missionary zeal offer huge lessons for us today. Saint Boniface’s unwavering commitment…

Dearest friends, 40 Days after His Resurrection Jesus was taken up into heaven. During these 40 days – just as we have been living them – Jesus spoke to many people, sat and ate with them, prayed with them, talked with them.  We have celebrated these 40 days together and we continue to do so – just as the disciples did all those years ago.  Luke tells us that after Jesus was taken up into Heaven,  ‘They worshiped him and…

Dearest friends, St. Dunstan was a renowned and well loved Archbishop of Canterbury (his memorial is on Monday this week). He was so loved that for the better part of two centuries he was easily England’s favourite Saint – and between him and St. Edmund – was a favourite to become the patron Saint of England. In the end of course England chose St. George, which makes St. David the only native of the country for which he is the…

Dearest friends, Our Lady of Fátima is a title given to the Virgin Mary following her apparitions to three shepherd children—Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto—in Fátima, Portugal, in 1917.  Between May and October, Mary appeared six times, delivering messages emphasising prayer, repentance, and devotion to God.  She identified herself as the “Lady of the Rosary,” urging the children to pray the Rosary daily for peace and to make sacrifices for sinners. The apparitions included three…

Dearest friends, May is here and with it comes the tradition of honouring Our Lady – not just for a day, or even a few days – but for a whole month. Buy why do we do this? The tradition goes back centuries, but as with many of the traditions surrounding Our Lady it found its modern form in the medieval period.  May was seen as a month in which the darkness of winter had finally been expelled and the…

Dearest friends, In the 1930’s a Polish nun called Sr. Faustina (now St. Faustina) experienced a series of visions of Jesus. Amongst her visions Jesus asked her to paint a very special image – an image of the Divine Mercy of God flowing from His Sacred Heart.  Her visions were centred around Jesus bringing her to a place where she could see the mercy of God at work in the world around her.  She wrote of her pain at her…

The Triduum What a beautiful beginning to Holy Week – congratulations on a hugely encouraging turn out at both parishes for Palm Sunday! Today begins the Sacrum Triduum, or Three Holy Days – of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the celebration of Easter. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper will be celebrated this evening at 7pm at St. John’s, and afterwards the Watch of the Passion will continue until midnight (although you are welcome to come and go as you…

Dearest friends, Palm Sunday has always struck me as a delightful and fun day. I can so easily get caught up in the expectation and the joy of the people of Jerusalem as Jesus enters the city.  I can see and hear the children as they run to meet him. This great teacher, this man who is God, Jesus who has given us so many signs and such wonderful love.  The noise, the smells, the hands held high waving palm…

Dearest friends, This week we have been enjoying the wonderful readings from Genesis giving us the first few chapters of the story of Joseph. (Genesis 37). It’s worth going back when you have a moment this week and reading the whole story (Genesis 37-46). It is a story where you can easily imagine Joseph asking the question ‘how much more of this can I take?’.  First he was sold into slavery by jealous brothers, then he was put in prison…

Dearest friends, It has been a terrific week in both churches as we have had an early taste of Easter Sunday with the celebration of school Easter services. At St. Luke’s we welcomed Haytor View Primary School – who sang us songs, read scripture, and explained why Easter was so important. At St. John’s we travelled the short distance to St. Catherine’s school in Heathfield, where once again the children sang, gave readings (and even some poetry), and explained why…

Dearest friends, Next Sunday we will be celebrating Mothering Sunday. It is a very old feast and comes on Laetare Sunday – a time in Lent when we take a moment to remember that we are already an Easter People, that we have already been saved, that we have already seen the resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ.  We take a breath and view the hard work we have undertaken so far, before girding ourselves for the coming weeks of…