From Archbishop Wilson

It was faith in God, and fidelity to God’s word, that enabled Abraham and Sarah to believe God’s promise. It was faith in God, and fidelity to God’s word, that made Our Lady and St Joseph capable of cooperating so uniquely and beautifully with God’s purpose for their lives and our salvation. It is our Catholic faith that gives identity and meaning to the Sacrament of Marriage and to family life as the domestic church. The family, in the closer and wider senses, remains the most important building block of the Church and of society. When the family flourishes, the Church flourishes. When the family flourishes, society flourishes. Catholic faith is intrinsic to our understanding of marriage and family life, supported by our parishes and schools.

I have been privileged over the past year to witness so many inspiring examples of husbands and wives, with their children and extended families, living and celebrating their Catholic faith, passing it on, and making it central to their day-to-day life. We know that every family has its difficulties. Sometimes, sadly, we also know there is breakdown, both in marriage and in family life. To anyone who is wounded by damaged or broken relationships, please know that the Church is your home, a compassionate ‘hospital’ of healing and mercy. I want to say a very sincere ‘thank you’ to every family which forms part of our Archdiocese. Thank you for your commitment to your faith and for making your homes holy places where the values and virtues of the Holy Family of Nazareth are put into practice.

FR JACK

"Make A Straight Way For The Lord."

Then you will be in the light. This is the call of Christmas. Make a straight way for the Lord. 

How do I make the way straight?

What kind of person am I? 

Is my life straight? 

Am I gravitating towards Christ?

Am I helpful, kind, generous, forgiving, understanding? Then when I straighten my life, I am making the way straight for the Lord.  When I straighten my life, and you straighten your life and everyone else straightens their life.  The kingdom will truly reign in our midst.  We are not talking about mountains and valleys.  But about you and I.

"O come, O come Emmanuel,"  this hymn is a great Christian prayer.  It is a call on God to come and save, rescue me.  In the fifth century there was a heresy which was condemned by the council of Ephesus. This was the heresy known as Pelagianism which says I can save myself and don't need Christ. Sadly there are people today who still think they can save themselves. To the point whereby I say,  "some people do not need Christ or his saving work."   They believe they are getting to heaven by their own efforts. The AA (alcoholic anonymous) talk about the need of a greater power outside

themselves.  They have got it right.

For us it is Christ.

First Sunday of advent and our thoughts turn to Christmas.  Is that Christ, our shopping, or pressure, or embarrassment

or lack of money, or eating or drinking or Santa or........A thought...

"When God becomes absolute in our lives, consumer goods become relative."

This Tuesday we start with confession with a number of priests.

1. If it is over a year since I have been then I need to go.

2, Do I have a concern for the hungry, poor, homeless, housebound, or strangers.

3. Am I serious about my relationship with God, others, mass or is it all a bit hit and miss.
4. If I am married, am I married in the church?
5. As a parent, do I pray with my children every day?  Lead by example.
6. Work... do I work honestly and treat others fairly.  Employers or employees.
7. As a child of the universe do I have concern for the environment.
8. Am I a good member of the family of St. James. Do I pull my weight.
9. Do I respect my parents, children,

 teachers?

10.How about pride, anger, laziness, drunkenness, obesity, drugs, porn, jealousy?

From a baby to a king but not only a King but King of the Universe. Sounds awesome but the more important part of it is that He wants to be King of our Hearts. It is here that the King truly wants to reign. We may have very mixed and confused images of kings. They exist outside of us, but this king wants to live within us.  When I live for others, for my husband or for my wife, for my children or my parents, for my parishioners or for each other, for the poor or the stranger, then I am not far from the Kingdom and the King reigns within me. When I am a person of integrity and honesty, generosity and cooperation then the King reigns within my heart.  When I cooperate with the word of God that is called grace and I swim in a sea of grace.  Now that is an awesome thought. I hope you have had a very fruitful liturgical year as a member of the family of St James and that you also found fulfilment in your own contribution.

I hope many of you have found the perfect wife.  But I also hope many of you ladies have found the perfect husband.  If we live for the others

either as a wife, husband, single person or priest, then I believe we will not be far from the Kingdom. The story of the talents is very much about using our gifts, again for others.  The central tenet of our faith is the incarnation,  that God became man, flesh and blood.  This is revolutionary stuff.   God walking among us, what worries me as a priest is that we are trying to find him in words.  Talking, preaching, words, words, words.  texting, emails even praying.

Do I have a love of the truth? Do I try to find out the truth about my faith or do I just go along with the news and attitudes of the day?  The first reading tells us about people who have a love for the truth, always seeking it out through reading or talking to someone who is in a position to guide them. Jesus does not spare his words in the gospel and we need to understand them. He talks about the virgins.....five were wise and five were foolish. And that could be any man, woman or child.  Wise ones and foolish ones.  So, make an effort to check things out.  Don't build your world around yourself.

A few weeks ago Paul told us that when the word came among us it came,"as power, the Holy Spirit and utter conviction." Today Paul tells us that "God's message is God's message and not some human thinking; and it is still a living power among us who believe it. When we hear the word on Sunday and the reader ends, "This is the word of the Lord."  We should shout out, "Thanks be to God" with power and utter conviction. That God has truly spoken to us.  God Himself, it is an awesome thought and we really need to get into it and feel it, Yes God has spoken to us. The word of God is alive and active. The key answer to all of this is humility.

Amazing to think that the Book of Exodus written 27 centuries ago, could still be so relevant and important today.  And we still need to talk/preach about it.

So simple we could miss it:-

Do not molest or oppress the stranger.

Do not use harsh words with the widow or the orphan.

Do not demand interest.

If you borrow someone's cloak, give it back before sundown.

We do not have an eternal home, we are all passing through, getting off at the next stop.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE US TO LEARN?

Which do you prefer?

The power of love or the love of power.

On my phone profile I have written

Love Changes Everything"

And I truly believe this. Start from a loving point and end on a loving note.

It has all kinds of benefits. Lower blood pressure, nicer person, less hassle. more accommodating and the list goes on.

Why did Jesus advocate it so much?  He knew the way forward, He knew what was good for us.

Paul even nails it in today's second reading.  "the Good News came to you not only as mere words , but as power and as the Holy Spirit and as utter conviction."

Take the power of love to your heart  and do not be emotionally numb  but emotionally alive.  (Last week’s homily.)

Today Isaiah talks about the great banquet in heaven.  It is a usual reading for a funeral.  Sadly people usually forget the reading before it, which we had last week, about the beautiful vineyard (the world) that the land owner leased out to tenants.  They failed to produce fruit and so they were thrown out of the vineyard.  The vineyard was leased to others.  The vineyard is the church/world and everything was provided.  But they did not cooperate with the generosity of God.  We have got to cooperate with the graces (church, sacraments, prayer, love of all etc.)  God has given us.  When we cooperate with these graces we flourish.  When we don’t we turn in on ourselves.  In hope we pray for the salvation of all but we can’t be presumptuous..

"Those to whom much is given, much will be expected." We have been given the best of everything.  The truth of the Gospel given to us by God Himself.

Used properly we certainly should get to heaven. The labourers in the vineyard were given everything to produce a great harvest.  But sadly they failed.  Don't be like them.  Paul as ever spells out a receipt for happiness in life.  "Finally brothers and sisters fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honour, everything that can be thought virtuous 

or worthy of praise. Then the God of peace will be with you."  The power of positive thinking.

Good to go away and have a break and The Gospel today is so obvious that we almost ignore it.  Our life as Christians is about what we do and not what we say.  This is why Jesus is promoting the tax collectors and sinners.  They may not profess much by the way of faith but often by their actions they may be streets ahead of us.  Any wonder then that Jesus had so much time for tax collectors and sinners.  Not the Pharisees who always felt superior by their attitude but their actions do not confer.  Paul gives us a great guide and tells us be united....in your love, in your common purpose and in your mind.  Just like Jesus' prayer...."May they be one as we are one."   so that the world may believe.

Good to go away and have a break and The Gospel today is so obvious that we almost ignore it.  Our life as Christians is about what we do and not what we say.  This is why Jesus is promoting the tax collectors and sinners.  They may not profess much by the way of faith but often by their actions they may be streets ahead of us.  Any wonder then that Jesus had so much time for tax collectors and sinners.  Not the Pharisees who always felt superior by their attitude but their actions do not confer.  Paul gives us a great guide and tells us be united....in your love, in your common purpose and in your mind.  Just like Jesus' prayer...."May they be one as we are one."   so that the world may believe.

Let's be clear .... many of us find today's gospel hard to stomach.  Probably downright disagree with it.  We often do not find such generosity and when we see it we consider it downright reck-lessness. Why should we help all those immigrants, other brothers and sisters by another name? You can't see a doctor, the NHS is clogged up, can't get an appointment. Yes, "Our thoughts are not your thoughts. Your ways not our ways.  (Isaiah)  All very difficult to take.

But thank God, you are reckless.  Here in the UK, a beautiful country, great climate, (we complain), plenty of food, security, we live in peace, sadly some people do not appreciate it.  So putting it simply, as Paul does:

"Is God glorified in you."

or

are you a miserable selfish complaining

_____?______ ?

"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

We may say the above prayer many times a day but still think we can go on not forgiving.  "Well, it is only one person," I hear you say.  Thank God you are not fighting with the whole world. But that is the one person you are meant to forgive.  Jesus did not say forgive most people. He meant everyone and that is a recipe for heaven.  But also very important, if I don't forgive, I may get a heart attack, probably shorten my life with the weight of the burden or guilt.

 Forgive and let go.

Enjoy the freedom of God's children

Forgiveness seems to be paramount in the ministry of Jesus.  In the Our Father when he teaches us to pray he tells us to forgive others if we want to be forgiven.

So forgiveness is a must.

I don't understand why people fall out in the first place.  Often when I am in a difficult situation, I find a great help is to say:-”I feel upset by what you said."

At least that gives the other person an opening.  But if I attack and say, "Why did you say that...."    Well then communication has broken down.

Of course this communication works both ways. If you have a quick/sharp temper pray hard.

Fr Jack

Good to go away and have a break and meet many friends.  A change, a rest, time for prayer and to view things from another angle.  always refreshing.  I hope you also got an opportunity to rest and be with loved ones.

Now good to be back with the familiar and with my family of St James again.  No deaths while I was away, Thank God.

Thanks to Fr Boniface for his work and you for taking care of him. He seems to have put on weight!!

Now back to all the usual.

If anyone would like a visit, or to come and discuss anything, you know where I am.

Today's Gospel challenges us to make decisions.  "If you want to be a follower................"

Not making, or not being able to make decisions in life can be very frustrating.  Because quicker than you expect things begin to  mount up and you can feel overwhelmed. This can be very frustrating, debilitating and annoying.  As I get older I find I am slowing down a bit.  But then the holiday gave me time to recharge.

Also with the Gospel.   We can drift on saying our prayers being good and never heading anywhere in our Christian life.  Make decisions about your faith and you will find it much more empowering.  As we start back the new academic year, find time every day, if only for 10 minutes to be quiet in the presence of God.

Fr Boniface

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Today Jesus reveals to His disciples His mission, which entails suffering grievously, dying and rising after the third day, something that Peter could not stomach. He calls Jesus aside and remonstrate with Him, telling him "God forbid, this cannot happen to you ". Peter completely misunderstands the mission of Christ, as perhaps could some of us. He cannot  accept a saviour who is weak, who will be humiliated and die, rather he expects the Messiah to be as powerful as the Roman rulers of that time, and he would be among the powerful ones since he is within the inner cycle. This expectation of Peter is the human way of thinking, not God's, who sacrificed His only Son Jesus Christ to suffer and die for us on the cross, a shameful death, and because of that human way of thinking Jesus called him satan.  Dear friends,  God has chosen a different path to save us and we can only share in carrying His cross in order to share in His glory, as the saying goes "there is no resurrection without good Friday". We have not to avoid the cross but rather to embrace and  carry it here on earth, losing our earthly selves in order to gain our true lives in heaven. So when suffering comes to us in different forms: sickness; death; loss of jobs, homelessness, wars and others,  let us accept them in faith aware that our master underwent the same. Endured in faith, the end shall be Joy in ChristJesus who endured a lot of suffering for our sake. May Christ Jesus continue to  strengthen us in carrying our daily crosses.  Secondly let us strive to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God and do before Him what is good, what is pleasing and what is perfect, total self giving to Him, that He welcomes us in His heavenly kingdom, Amen.

Fr Boniface

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

in the Gospel reading of today, Jesus asks his disciples who people know him to be, and the disciples mentioned the names of three very popular personalities at that time: John the Baptist, Elijah and Jeremiah. These are all mistaken identities based on their popularity. He then went on to ask the disciples themselves, who they know him to be, and Peter gave the true identity of Jesus, "you are the Christ, the son of the Living God", an answer for which Jesus was very happy and called Peter blessed because of this divine revelation. And because his strong faith has led him to know Jesus as the Saviour, Jesus would then leave in his hands the keys to the gate of heaven. True faith becomes the bed rock, the foundation on which the Church of Jesus Christ is built, a pathway to heaven.

Dear friends in Christ, our true identity of Jesus as the Messiah shall lead us to enter into heaven, for this divine revelation strengthens our faith and makes us live according to the Will of God. Jesus is indeed asking each one of us today the very same question "who do you say I am"?  The answer is deep in your heart! To me, Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. He is a friend with whom I want to be at all times, He is a perfect example for me to follow, a bridge between me and God the Father, Jesus is my whole.

Let us strive in faith and prayer to discover who Jesus really is in our lives: the Christ, the son of the living God, so that discovering this divine truth leads us to be with Our Father in heaven. Amen.