Like every other institution which finds time to celebrate her founding pillars, today, the Church as an institution celebrates her own pillars upon which the Church was built. Saints Peter and Paul are regarded as the two pillars of the Church because of the great roles they played in the establishment of the Church of Rome which is today, the headquarters of the Catholic Church. Today’s celebration has a tripartite intention. The first intention is to remember and honour them for the great roles they played in the Church, especially in honour of their martyrdom. The second intention is to learn from their examples and the third intention is to ask for their saintly intercession. Though distinct in character and role, the Church celebrates these two Saints together to depict the unity that should exist between Christians irrespective of their differences.

The Eucharist is not an invention of the Church: it is a part of God’s plan of salvation from the very beginning: it is prefigured in the Old Testament, seen today in the food offerings of Melchizedek, priest king of Jerusalem associated with Abraham, choose bread and wine as the offerings. It is also revealed by the prophetic action of Jesus, in feeding the multitude, before he feeds the Church with the gift that is transmitted through the centuries. The Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ, is our communication with the Father, in the Spirit: it is the real presence in the Church’s ‘here and now’ of the eternal God; it is Covenant, Memorial and Promise, Meal and Sacrifice, the heartbeat of the Family of Believers.

We are trying a new platform for our livestream via Facebook live.  Click on the Facebook button on the right hand side of this page.  (You dont have to have a facebook account) if we are live you will see the video.

We arrive at the fiftieth day ‑ the completion of the Easter Season, and the completion of the Paschal Mystery: the Lord has died, is risen, has ascended to heaven and now gives birth to his Church, by sending the Spirit upon the apostles. This feast of the gift of the Spirit is so significant for us, because it marks the handing on of Jesus' ministry to the Church ‑ in the Church we are guaranteed the presence of the Lord, in his sacra­ments, in his ministers, in the Blessed Sacrament and in his Celebrated Word. It also marks the fulfilment of our thoughts about baptism throughout this season: the gift of the Spirit which we receive in Confirmation is the `seal' of our baptism, guaranteeing and confirm­ing all that baptism achieves.

Today, as I said in the previous post we are keeping as a special day of prayer, along with Christians throughout the world  "Thy Kingdom Come". At the end of Mass we will expose the Blessed Sacrament and take turns to keep vigil.

At 6pm we will sing the Evening Prayer of the Church and end with Benediction.  The Church will be open all day, so do come and pray if you are nearby!

My Apologies for the lack of blogs lately.  But as our Holy Father St Benedict Says "always we begin again"  so here we go!

For the last 2 years we have taken part in the Global prayer movement which is “Thy Kingdom Come, and this year is no exception.
 
Thy Kingdom Come is a global prayer movement that invites Christians around the world to pray for more people to come to know Jesus. What started in 2016 as an invitation from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to the Church of England has grown into an international and ecumenical call to prayer.

During the 11 days of Thy Kingdom Come, it is hoped that everyone who takes part will

• Deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ
• Pray for God’s spirit to work in the lives of those they know
• Come to realise that every aspect of their life is the stuff of prayer  

After the very first Ascension Day the disciples gathered with Mary, constantly devoting themselves to prayer while they waited for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Like them, our reliance on the gift of the Holy Spirit is total – on our own we can do nothing.

Through the centuries Christians have gathered at that time to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit. ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ picks up this tradition. Over the past three years more and more worshipping communities have dedicated the days between Ascension and Pentecost to pray ‘Come Holy Spirit’.
We are praying that the Spirit would inspire and equip us to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with our friends and families, our communities and networks. It has been amazing how many varied ways there have been in which people from every tradition have taken up this challenge. The effects have been remarkable.

It is our prayer that those who have not yet heard the Good News of Jesus Christ and his love for the world will hear it for themselves, and respond and follow Him. Specifically, we again invite each and every Christian across the country to pray that God’s Spirit might work in the lives of 5 friends who have not responded with their ‘Yes’ to God’s call.

On Pentecost Sunday (9th June) at the end of Mass we will expose the Blessed Sacrament, and I will be asking people to keep watch for at least half and hour until 6pm when we will celebrate Evening Prayer and conclude with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.   I encourage you to come and to invite someone to come with you to evening Prayer.

Today we begin our Holy Week journey.  This is a week like no other in the Church's liturgical year.  It can tiring, exhausting even.  We walk with our Lord this week, and we feel many emotions.  Joy and Sadness.  In all this we need to remember that we know the end of the story - the sadness we feel should not be for the horror of what happened but sorrow for our sinfulness.