Fr. Graham Writes: 3rd December 2023
Webmaster • December 3, 2023
This might sound a little strange, but Advent seems late this year. It isn't, of course. There are still four Sundays in Advent but the Fourth Sunday of Advent is Christmas Eve. So, if you follow the liturgical calendar rather than dates, then, despite its regularity of being 25th December every year, Christmas might catch you by surprise too!
We might be slow to start but we must be alert. In fact, the spiritual life is all about being alert and attentive to the things of God and the presence of God among us. Jesus tells us to "stay awake". He repeats it four times in as many verses. I think He is trying to tell us something. Perhaps we have become "drowsy" while we are waiting for Him to return (as He will), losing patience, or losing our focus. We might have allowed ourselves to be distracted and taken our eyes off of Him through compromise or lack of prayer (acedia). We might even have fallen asleep and become shut off from Him, sleepwalking into nothingness. The Advent season is about "waking up" and being roused from our spiritual lethargy. The asperges (sprinkling with holy water) reminds us of our baptism and where it all began. It also points to where it will end: gathered at His right hand next to our Father.
May God bless you all for a blessed Advent
Fr Graham
This is the most important and beautiful weekend of the year for Catholic Christians. The "three days" of the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday & Holy Saturday) give meaning and purpose to our lives. There is no emotion that we experience in life that is not experienced by Jesus in His passion, death and resurrection. We know that we have a God who understands, empathises and shares in our human condition and He brings us to share in His divinity. If you want to know how much God loves you, then look at Jesus on the cross. He is a man and He is still God. If you want to see the power of God then look at Jesus risen from the dead. He is still a man and still God. Our liturgical celebrations are not a performance or a way of enacting something in the past. They are sacraments and they share in that which they present. There is an "outward, physical sign which imparts an inward, spiritual grace." We really share in the events of this week with Jesus as we are present with Him in the liturgical services. We receive His life changing grace. We are changed from death to life, from mortal to immortal. "He is not here, He has risen!" Likewise we share in the grace of the Divine Mercy Novena which appropriately begins on Good Friday - the "Fountain of Mercy" flows from the side of Jesus. Saint Faustina wrote in her diary what Jesus said to her about this novena: "I desire that during these nine days you bring souls to the fountain of My mercy, that they may draw from there strength and refreshment and whatever grace they have need of in the hardships of life, and especially at the hour of death" (Diary, 1209).
Worthing Deanery Justice and Peace Group are having a Mass for Peace to highlight the conflicts going round on around the world. It will be held at St Michael's, Hayling Rise BN13 3AL on Thurs 24th April at 6.30pm. There will be a display and refreshments in the parish centre afterwards. All are welcome to join us. The service will be live streamed for those not able to attend. Lifts can be shared - please speak to Robin Olivier or Carolyn Fuhrmann.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, This Sunday, as we gather for the Palm Sunday celebration, our Holy Week begins. The joyous message that greets the Messiah as he enters Jerusalem must, surely, bring hope to a world in which so many of our brothers and sisters are suffering the effects of conflict, injustice and the impact of natural disasters. As we enter Jerusalem in the celebration of the Palm Sunday Liturgy, let us take with us in prayer our brothers and sisters across the world. In our prayer, in our lives, let us seek to walk with them in their suffering as, in the coming days, we spend time with the One who is the Suffering Servant. As the Passion is read this Sunday, let us make every effort to walk with Jesus in every step that he takes. In the days to come this week, I invite you to take parts of the Passion account and make use of them for Lectio Divina. This prayerful reflection on the sacred text will bring the words of the Gospel to a place in the heart, where we listen in faith to the One who calls us to be His. The more we dwell in the Gospel, the more we dwell in Christ, in the One who suffered, died and rose again for us. May God bless you all, + Richard
Shoreham churches are having a Walk of Witness on Good Friday; we will be meeting as usual on the footbridge at 10.50, and then going on to St. Mary’s for a short service at 11.15. I suggest St. Peter’s walkers meet outside the church, and leave at 10.20. If you have any questions please contact me robinolivier86@gmail.com / 07732 707311
The flowering of the cross is a Western Christian tradition. Dating from the Sixth Century, it is practised at the arrival of Easter, in which worshippers place flowers on the bare wooden cross. The barren cross, a reminder of Jesus’ death, is transformed into an Easter symbol representing the new life that emerges from Jesus’ death on Good Friday. We would like to invite you to bring a flower on Easter Sunday, to place onto the cross, while saying a silent prayer (prayer cards available).
Divine Mercy Novena: starting on Good Friday We will begin The Divine Mercy Novena on Good Friday, nine days of prayer in preparation for the feast on Sunday 27th April. You can follow the Divine Mercy Novena using the leaflets we have in the church porch, or a good online resource is PrayMoreNovenas.com to get a daily novena prayer sent to your inbox or ask Patsy at patsydaniels@gmail.com to send you details. What is Divine Mercy Sunday? Jesus made a promise to us via St Faustina that the person who receives the Eucharist in a state of grace on the 8th day of the Octave of Easter (the Sunday after Easter) now known as Divine Mercy Sunday will have all sins and punishment forgiven, if he asks for It. This equates to a second baptism, as stated by Fr Chris Alar a Marian father at the Divine Mercy shrine in Massachusetts in this 3.5 minute video . He suggests we say the following words or something similar when we return to our bench after receiving Holy Communion: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, You promised St Faustina that the soul that has been to Confession [I have] and the soul that receives Holy Communion with trust in Divine Mercy [I have] will receive complete forgiveness of all sins and punishment. Lord, please give me this grace. Jesus I trust in You.” This feast incorporating this most generous of gifts was inaugurated by St John Paul Il in the year 2000 when he instituted Divine Mercy Sunday.
Please note the times below:
Our parish is coming together, with people from all over Adur Valley volunteering to help with the services. Thank you to all who have offered lifts to people coming from Steyning and Upper Beeding. Please sign up (at CTK) or let the office know if you need a lift. I urge any parishioners from Shoreham who are able to, to please not park in our car park, so we can save the spaces for those that need them. I am looking forward to celebrating as a united parish of Our Lady Queen of Peace. All are welcome. Office contact details: Email: adurvalley@abdiocese.org.uk / Telephone: 01273 452654 (please leave a message on the answer machine).
How has Lent been? However it has gone, now is the time to refocus our attention or to start again. We may have failed many times or even given up with our Lenten observances of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. But perseverance is key in the Christian life and so we begin again. This is Holy Week. It is a good place to start again. The point of Lent is not to make us feel holy, but be holier. To be holy is to be with God. It rarely feels the way we think it should and it is not always visible. To become holy means dying to self, letting go of my will for God's will. We can do this voluntarily, but God often has away of encouraging us outside of our control. The way to holiness has to pass through many crosses. We will listen to the Passion of Jesus twice this week. (Be careful who you shout for!) The Passion always leads to the cross and to the death of Jesus. It is God's way, not ours. To die to self is to live for ever and for everyone. To desire nothing but God. This death leads to resurrection not emptiness. This year the Triduum will be celebrated as a whole parish. I hope, despite the change and difficulty, many will come together to share in the experience of the celebration of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. In doing so we seek to be united in the Lord. If, like me, you have had a bad Lent, then I hope you had or have a good confession and realise that Jesus loves you more than you can imagine or hope and always more than we expect. Maybe that is the purpose of Lent? With my prayer for a blessed Holy Week. God bless you. Fr Graham
Thank you to all who came to the Triduum talk last week. As we look forward to the liturgical celebrations of those "three days" in Holy week, we recall the beginning of the Good Friday service when the Priests and ministers lie prostrate on the ground. It is an act of total submission and humility, consenting to the will of God. This act is also repeated at ordinations and profession of vows. I think it should also be considered for marriage and Confirmation too! Jesus wrote with his finger "on the ground" when a woman was set before Him. It was a double trial. What was Jesus doing? Perhaps He was praying and looking into the hearts of all the accusers. He knew that they were as guilty as the woman. We all are. We are all sinners, who need to be saved by God. We are all made of the same stuff of the ground: "earth to earth, ashes to ashes", and we all return to dust. We are made from nothing and then we go to God. All this takes place at the Mount of Olives. Jesus will return here after the Last Supper to pray and be arrested. He will be faithful to God and He will be condemned for us. Jesus was probably prostrate on the ground when He prayed in great anguish. He was totally submissive to the will of God the Father, even to the cross, so that we might not be condemned but have eternal life. "Go and from now on sin no more". With my prayer for you every day as we approach Holy Week. God bless you. Fr Graham