For those of us who grow up in a happy home many things in life can come easy. We are loved, we know it and we experience it. This is a great foundation for the future. So Jesus telling us, "to remain in his love," should be second nature to us. GOD IS LOVE.  And whoever remains in love remains in God. Do you believe in God?  Are you a lover or a fighter? Does tension surround you, are you easy to live with, or is there disturbance wherever you go? Maybe for some love is a confused word, overused and little understood.  Why? Because it is self love. The dying prayer of Jesus, "Father may they be one.  Father may they be one in us.  As you are in me and I am in you, may they be so completely one, that the world will know it was you who sent me." Yes that the world will know that the only way is love. Jesus tells us that He has consecrated us in the TRUTH, his truth, that we may be faithful. We await the Holy Spirit to come this week and teach us everything. These next few days are a special time of prayer to be open to the Holy Spirit and let Him lead you. If you have been born into violence and division you have my full sympathy, but there is still a way forward. It is a greater challenge, yes and more difficult, but God loves all his children equally and you deserve all the more credit in your struggle. Find a trusted friend.  If I can be there............?   

If you want a friend; be a friend! If someone said to you, you are my best friend, wouldn't you be really chuffed? We all like to be friends and we all like good friends; the type that won't let you down. We really should be over the moon; Jesus has called us his friend. With a friend in Jesus, we surely are made up. And because we are his friends He has told us everything He has learnt from his Father. Yes! Friends do not keep secrets from each other. As He says, He wants our joy to be complete. Pause for a few moments and think what Joy you experience in your life right now? Imagine the sheer peace of knowing that Jesus wants the best for you. If you want to make that joy even more real, help the Lord:- "To reveal his saving power to the nations." Giving love away is the way to increase it in our own heart. Truly it is in giving we receive. Enjoy being an active missionary.

Hello everybody, hope you are all keeping well. During the pandemic many people did great work not only in the country as a whole, but here in our own parish.. A very sincere thanks to all. Hopefully, with fingers crossed and prayer, we are on the recovery road, but still observe the necessary restrictions. Here in St James’ your faithfulness to weekly mass, from the beginning has been encouraging. Others have been more cautious and kept their distance. I would encourage you to read what our bishops said recently:- “At this moment, then, we need to have in our sights the need to restore to its rightful centrality in our lives the Sunday Mass; encouraging each to take his or her place, once again, in the assembly of our brothers and sisters. We face the task of seeking to nurture the sense of Sunday as ‘a weekly gift from God to his people’, and something we cannot do without; to see Sunday as the soul of the week, as giving light and meaning to all the responsibilities we live out each day; to see the Sunday Eucharist as food for the unique mission with which we have been endowed.” Today’s Gospel where we see Jesus as the vine and He Himself tells:- "Cut off from me you can do nothing." Please it would be great to see you all again and do encourage each other. As Cardinal Nicholas says:- "It's time to put Mass back in the heart of our lives." Lots of love and prayers.

Today is very much my feast day. I hope it is not presumptuous of me to say so and align myself with the great good shepherd, Jesus Christ. But then it was he who called me. If it were not for Him I would not be where I am today. 49 years ago He called me, why I genuinely do not know. But then He did call a lot of strange people. On my ordination card I wrote, "By the grace of God." And 49 years later I see no reason to change it. I have survived for 49 years by the grace of God. I am sure many of you feel the same way about yourself, that yes God has been very good to you. It is good to be grateful. As Paul says, "Who can know the mind of God?" Because of Archbishop Bowen I have been blessed with a very fruitful ministry: Five different parishes in Southwark, Balham, Gillingham, Sydenham and Rotherhithe.. Five years with the Catholic Missionary Society in Hampstead...a kind of hit squad going around the country, 12 of us. Seventeen years in Maasai land, Kenya with lions and elephants for breakfast and now, believe it or not, so far, eleven years in sunny Peckham Rye. I pray I'll make my fiftieth. Would I do it all over again...? Probably a silly question, but I certainly have enjoyed my life, I am still enjoying it and if I may say so; "The Lord is a great boss." I trust He finds me a worthy servant. Deo Gratias. Life is too short to argue.

Happy Easter again! Hope you are all still enjoying the resurrection in your own life; that things are moving forward and upward. Don't forget God is good. Trust Him, Love Him, believe Him and let it go to Him.
These weeks of Easter we see Jesus moving all over the place looking for his Apostles. Last week after one week he revisited the apostles to specifically see Thomas whom he had missed the first time. He goes to Emmaus to find two more. He went down to the Sea of Galilee to find the others who were making a very bad hand of fishing. He was searching them out because they had all lost the plot and were going back to what had been "normal" for them, with what they were familiar. He showed them that there was no going back. Life with the Risen Christ was now going to be different and so it was. They all took on the challenge of living the message and all, like the master Himself lost their lives. At this time and always Jesus is seeking you and I out. We think we are seeking Him and that He is being elusive. But we are the ones being elusive, we don't do our homework. Each time the Gospels tell us that Jesus had to explain to them the meaning of the scriptures, beginning with Moses etc. We too need to be familiar with the scriptures, to spend time with them. Only last Sunday a person asked me “What is the best way to read the bible”. And I said...."Yes! Follow the Sunday readings and prepare your mass. There you too, will find the Risen Christ”.

Happy Easter again! Yes happy Easter, because Easter is not a day, it is a life. We are an Easter people, so every day is an Easter day. A day when we are positive, resurrected and happy that God is on our side. Stay close to Him. So, happy Easter again! The pandemic has isolated us and kept us apart. But congratulations, here at St James most of you were in church over last weekend. It was great to see you all. Stay with it. If we take a few of the Easter Gospel stories; Thomas went off home and cut himself off from the gang/church. Peter and another went back home to Emmaus and lost heart. And I'm sure the rest of them slunk out of Jerusalem, quietly, hoping they would not be noticed. The church could have died. Easter 2019, I "celebrated" if you could call it a celebration here in church on my own. I could have thrown in the towel. Faith is not a private affair. As St John Paul told the young people in Cardiff, "a private, personal and individual approach to our faith is not Christian and comes from total distorted view of Christianity." So the coming together last weekend was a real joy and I hope a real faith builder for all of us. We need each other, so let's stay together and build our parish into a parish to be proud of. Thanks. Thanks again to all who helped in any way with the liturgies over the Easter period. You did a great job under difficult circumstances. Also thanks for all you gifts, financial and otherwise and your well wishes. St James's is great. Be blessed.

"Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ has come again." I hope you have met Him. Celebrating the greatest weekend in the church. Thursday at the Last Supper Christ must be very worried about the future of the Father's Kingdom. Peter whom He has chosen to be leader is about to betray Him. Judas will do the same with a kiss. At the supper the apostles are having a seminar about "who is the greatest." In the garden his three best friends are found snoring. At the cross they all run away apart from John and the three women. Why Jesus did not put women in charge, I will never know? Ladies take a bow. And we call it all Good Friday? We now make a quick transition to Easter, forward and upward. Again the women are to the front. They are the first ones to see New Life. Again I ask, why did Jesus not put women in charge, I will never know? The men don't seem to get it??????? The women wait, they expect, they hope they desire, they long. And they understand. Were they in Love? From Death to Life. From lack of forgiveness to total forgiveness. From selfishness to generosity. From negativity to positivity. From lies to truth. From hate to love. From COVID 19 to memories.

This week as we celebrate the passion of the Lord, I am sure many of you feel you are having your own passion, some more severe than others. Let us all keep each other in our prayers and as I have so often said here, "Do not suffer alone." Many people have come to have a chat, outside, in church or wherever and I do believe, we all are the stronger for it. No magic solutions but like Jesus on the way to Calvary met different people: Veronica, his mother, the women of Jerusalem, Simon of Cyrene, even the soldiers; all different encounters, some brutal, some helpful and others helpless, but caring. We probably all feel a bit like that today, helpless but caring, just don't do it alone. Jesus on the cross could not even give himself a drink; helpless but caring. It was then He saved you.

Hope you are all keeping well? I said before and I say again, "Don't suffer alone." Please God the end is in sight. And hope springs eternal. Easter is a way of life and not just a day. We are now moving towards Good Friday and Jesus is reconciled to the fact there is no turning back. The only way out now is through the Cross. "Now the hour has come." St Paul says something similar;- "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, all that is left now for me is the crown of glory." Pick up my trophy. I hope when my time comes I can share in the above sentiments and make them my own. Such a noble way to face death.

Love is a much loved word. But how much do we actually know about love, or more especially about the experience of being loved. I love football, chocolate, a good movie. Fine, these things make me happy, but not much more. I can live without them. So when we talk about the love of God........what does it do for me? Do I really feel empowered to do, to be something, do I feel energised. That's how I like to imagine my marriage, my wife/husband energise me, empowers me, encourages me to go on and do great things.It/she/he gives me inner strength. Often when I ask in church, "who is in love?" I can see some people who actually radiate joy and enthusiasm. They clearly are in love. That's like the love of God within us. I radiate power and joy..

Hope you are keeping well and not suffering too much because of the pandemic. Please don’t suffer alone.  Get in touch. It would be infantile to see the cleansing of the temple in today’s gospel as just a tidy up operation only. Jesus was throwing out the whole notion of offering sacrifices of animals and buying your way into heaven. Now there will be one supreme sacrifice of Himself and the only way to tap into it is through Love. “He offered himself once and for all.” Share in his love and share that love with the rest of the world. Get rid of the clutter in your own life that comes between you and God.  Prayer/Screen.  Accumulating/sharing. Selfish/helping, Happy/grumpy, Forgiving/unforgiving. Time/busy, Money/generosity.  The clutter is endless.

Go up your own Mount Tabor with Jesus and your two best friends.  Imagine the impossible and enjoy being cradled by the heat of the sun.  Enjoys the comfort of being cuddled by God. Enjoy the light wind on your face, the beauty of the mountainside and the sheer peace of just being away from everything.  Let your imagination go crazy. Tell Jesus about you and your thoughts and ask him how he is feeling.  Do wait for an answer.

Hi,

Hope you got off to a good start for Lent.  If not start again.  The Kingdom is within you.  You are the most valuable thing on this planet. Enjoy it.

Love and prayers, 

I hope and pray that you and yours are all ok under God’s protection.  I pray for you every day at the altar. Spring is in the air, the days are getting longer, many are vaccinated and the kingdom of God is within us and among us. Lent is on the horizon and again the call of the Gospel is, “REPENT.”  Mortification and penance are about being in charge of body and soul.  The thing is, if I am eating too much chocolate, drinking too much alcohol, munching too many crisps, consuming, too many biscuits, feasting on too many cakes and sweet thing, not bothering about others and their wellbeing, just basically being self-centred,   being lazy and careless with my prayer life, not bothering with mass/communion.   Then you are not in charge of your life. So repent, change your ways, get in control of your life, body and soul and be a divine person ruled by your head and God and not just following your basic instincts.

“The fever left her and she began to wait on them.”
In this time of pandemic let us wait on each other.
Please we are our brother and sisters keeper.  If there is anything we/I can do please talk or forever hold your peace.
Love and prayers,

Today is Racial Justice Sunday
The second collection today is to support the Catholic Association for Racial Justice who promote racial justice in our schools, parishes and wider society. Racism is a hateful vice in the heart of any man or woman.
We are all brothers and sisters made in the image of our Father.

*I AM THE "7%"*

_This is something we should all read at least once a week!!!!! Make sure you read to the end!!!!!!_

Written by *Regina Brett*, 90 years old, of the Plain b Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio_

*To celebrate growing older, I once wrote few lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.*

What a beautiful scene above by the sea of Galilee. Wouldn’t I love to be there in such a setting?  But I have been there.  That’s me standing in the background. An old photograph 2019 I think. What a most ordinary common question, “Where do you live?” How many times have we all asked? Then the wonderful invitation, “Come and see.” Jesus does not tell them, He actually brings them. Like in a supermarket, you ask where the malt loaf is and the staff says I’ll show you. Two things to notice:-

1.  They were just going about their daily work when they met Jesus.  Not in prayer, not in church.

2. He was prepared to spend time with them.

As you go about your life have your eyes and eyes open.  Spend time with people and you will see Jesus.

Christmas has come and gone but Jesus remains.  Don't pack Him off with the decorations.  Keep the joy and hope of the season alive. Brexit has come and gone we will see the fall out. And please God Covid will be gone in the not to distance future. Keep your heart up and your faith alive. Mass is still on as normal. Don't just dismass it as being oportune. Keep your faith immunity alive.

For all your gifts, financial, cards and otherwise. For your love, cooperation, friendship and support over the year,  I believe we have all grown stronger in the Lord.

Thank you for all you do for the building of God’s Kingdom here in Peckham Rye. May we grow stronger and more prayerful in 2021. 

Lots of love,