Dear Brothers and Sisters,

There is so much in the gospels of St. John. Today Jesus declares that he is the LIGHT of the WORLD. He it is who throws light on all human behaviour; He it is enables us to see the right way forward in our lives. He it is who saves us time effort and struggle in our daily lives. What we have to do is LEARN. LEARN to walk in the LIGHT of the LORD.

Have a good week,
Fr. Richard

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

For the next three Sundays the gospels are from St. John. They concern the woman at the well in Samaria, the man born blind and the raising of Lazarus. They are extremely engaging gospels and well worth looking at beforehand. Jesus is staking a claim to godhead; the scribes and the Pharisees do not like this very much. Jesus it seems will usurp ‘their’ power, ‘their’ influence; ‘their’ authority. They are living a lie; Jesus is the TRUTH.

Very often we live the lie rather than live in the truth, when we give undue credence to “the world”. Jesus shakes the foundation of the Pharisees’ belief. I hope that he shakes yours too and that you will have to give more credence to Him who claims to be the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE.

Have a good week,
Fr. Richard

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Every year we listen to familiar gospels but from a different perspective. We are a year older, we have more experience of life, we begin to hear the voice of God in a different way. If we allow ourselves, God will gradually transform us. In the Transfiguration a veil was lifted from the eyes of Peter, James and John, and they saw more clearly who Jesus was. Let us pray that the veil may be gradually lifted from our eyes, and that we may see Jesus as God’s gift to us; to befriend us, to fulfil us and to enable us to love one another as He has loved us.

Have a good week,
Fr. Richard

Click here to see a little slideshow from Irena who asked me to pass this set of photo’s on to people. It’s a nice little memento for those who attended and possibly for those who missed it too.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Living in the Northern Hemisphere we are fortunate that our seasons correspond to the rhythm of the Church year. Indeed ‘Lent’ is the Old English word for Spring – the season of the lengthening of the days. We talk of spring cleaning our houses. There is a proliferation of botanic life in our countryside and gardens. To coincide with the spring cleaning of our houses the season of Lent is a time for de-cluttering our lives. As you get rid of the junk in your homes and gardens, get rid of the junk in your ways of thinking. Repent for the Kingdom of God is near.

Have a good week,
Fr. Richard

'Travelling Tales' by Brother Michael Bartlett OGS
Thursday 6th March at 7.30pm in the Meeting Room.

Brother Bartlett will talk about his work, life and interests.
He has entries in The Guinness Book of Records and
was featured on BBC Record Breakers.
You are all welcome, please bring your friends.