Today we join with the whole Church
in celebrating the Risen Christ.
Our song is ‘Alleluia’.
We rejoice with those who have received new life through Baptism
and our hope is that their new faith will touch us all.
We have now made all the arrangements for the removal of the ceiling panels and the cleaning of the walls in the church. The work on the ceiling will begin on 8th April and we expect that it will take about two weeks. We will then begin the cleaning of the walls as soon as final arrangements can be put in place. This second job will take about six weeks.
While the work is going on it will not be possible to use the church on weekdays. Weekday Mass will be celebrated in either St Mary’s Hall or St Elizabeth’s Room. There will be notices at the church entrances and in the weekly newsletter with the details for each day. Funerals will have to be celebrated in St Elizabeth’s Church in Cookham. We hope, even though there will be some difficulties, to be able to celebrate Sunday Masses in St Joseph’s Church.
We have decided to have both First Communion Masses in St Elizabeth’s Church because at that time we expect that part of St Joseph’s will be out of action with scaffolding. For weddings we hope that we will be able to make sure that everything will be not be too inconvenient.
I hope that people will be understanding and tolerant during this work and recognise that there is no ideal time to work on a building that is in regular use. We have to accept a time when contractors are available.
Today, Palm Sunday, marks the beginning of Holy Week. All begins in glory with the Procession of the Palms, leading on through Good Friday, to the real glory of the Risen Christ on Easter Morning. The Reading of the Passion sets the tone for the week. We need to return to the different parts of that narrative as the week moves on. I would ask you all to try and make the week what the name suggests a ‘Holy Week’, travelling with Jesus on his final journey. The highlight of the week is the Easter Triduum, the Mass of the Last Supper on Thursday, the Liturgy of the Cross on Friday and the Easter Vigil on Saturday night.
The Triduum is one ceremony, one part leading on to the other. That is why it does not make any sense to go to one or two of the ceremonies and not to go to all three. Neither does it make sense to have more than one Triduum within the Parish. The Triduum should see the entire Parish united together as one. This year I ask you all to make a special effort for the Triduum where we are all gathered together and all seen to be working together.
The Mass of the Last Supper: Here we do what Christ did when he celebrated for the last time. The central part of this Mass is the Washing of the Feet. Just as Jesus got down and washed the feet of his disciples we too should be of service to one another. Service is more important than doctrine and is the test of our faith.
The Service of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday: This is a very unusual ceremony because we focus on the Reading of the Passion and the Cross: the Cross as a sign of victory rather than failure. It was through the Cross that led to the victory of Easter Day. This is the only day that Mass is not celebrated.
The Easter Vigil: This is the highlight of the whole liturgical year. We move from darkness into light, from a life of sin to new life in Christ, from sadness into deep joy. We listen in joy to the Easter proclamation, we renew the promises of our Baptism, we welcome the new members who have just been Baptised and in a special way we join with them in sharing the Eucharist.
I am looking forward to the Triduum. My hope is that we can all celebrate in a special way together.
Last Friday and Saturday I attended the Diocesan Pastoral Council in Park Place. Always when I attend such events I go with mixed feelings because there is more than enough to do here in St. Joseph’s and I should be getting on with it. But on the other hand we belong to a diocese and it is important to play some part at that level as well. I find it stimulating and encouraging meeting people from other parishes, to see that their problems are very much the same as ours and it is helpful to see how different people approach the same issues. This time there were three main topics.
A Clergy Formation Report has been prepared on the needs of the clergy of the diocese and one of the big things that the report highlighted is the need for ongoing formation of the clergy. There are lots of options that can be made available and these need to be tailored to be suitable to the needs of each individual. Bishop Crispian has appointed Fr. Paul Townsend to work full time in clergy formation. His task will be to care for the clergy and try and ensure that they are all fully equipped and motivated to be able to provide a proper service in the complicated world in which we live. When we talk about clergy formation the question is then asked what about the formation of the people in our parishes?
Challenge 2002: This is a gathering of the young people of the diocese in St. Peters School, Bournemouth. There are still many details to be worked out such as the age range. The present suggestion is 11-25 but many of us felt that is far too wide an age gap and that it would be better to have the day confined to young adults. It does look like a very exciting day and I hope that we will have a group from this parish availing themselves of the opportunity of meeting other Catholics from around the diocese.
Deanery boundaries: The whole area of the effectiveness of deaneries is being looked at the moment. Many deaneries work very well and do a lot of activities together, others do not seem to do very much. It tends to be the urban areas that work best. The rural deaneries like East Berks do not seem to have very much in common. Maybe a different clustering needs to be looked at. Where local parishes work close together the deanery would be more effective.
Our Gospel today again comes from St. John. It is the account of Jesus giving sight to the man who was born blind. St. John makes a play on the word blind. We all know what physical blindness is even if we find it very difficult to understand what it must be like to be blind, especially if it is blindness from birth. Modern medicine has done a lot to relieve the plight of those who suffer from disease of the eye but there are still sadly some that suffer loss of eyesight. Unfortunately in some parts of the world many more people suffer because of lack of resources or rather our unwillingness to share our expertise.
At the time of Jesus many suffered from spiritual blindness, they did not want to accept Jesus even though all the signs pointed to him. They only saw the world from their point of view and they did not want to see beyond that.
Sadly our world today is no different even though we have more knowledge and information than ever before. We do not seem to be able to translate that knowledge into wisdom. The result of this is that we have a divided world. Nation is divided against nation and within each nation community is divided against community. If only we could see as others do then how different things would be.
Today as we reflect on this Gospel we should give ourselves an opportunity to look at our own blindness and open our eyes to the needs and thinking of those around us. This would be a small step in building a better world.
The Road to the Priesthood For the past few Friday evenings we have been exploring with Br. Damian how one becomes a priest. The first thing that we looked at is our understanding of the Church to which we belong. If we don’t understand the Church then we have no chance of understanding the priesthood. The teaching on the Church is to be found in the documents of Vatican II and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Vatican II defines the Church as the ‘People of God’. "At all times and in every race, anyone who fears God and does what is right has been acceptable to him. He has however willed to make all men holy and save them, not as individuals without any bond or link between them, but rather to make them into a people he called together, a people from every race who are one not according to the flesh, but in the spirit."
We are all called to be part of a community, a living community. We know that any community will not develop and grow unless it has lots of active members. We also know that in the Church we have far too many inactive members. People who want to take, rather than play an active part. We all need to see the priesthood as a ministry among ministries rather than the only ministry. We all start off as Members of the Church through Baptism. If we look at the Church as a community then we need to accept that we have different roles in that community and even as we go through life we take on different roles. The young need to be cared for, adults take the main burdens of the community and the elderly very often need to be cared for as well. The priest is called from the community to do many different tasks but mainly to celebrate the Eucharist. Once a man is ordained a priest he is a priest for life. The priest is a Christian for himself and a priest for the service of others.
On Saturday 16th February we had the celebration of the Rite of Election at St John’s Cathedral, Portsmouth. Bishop Crispian received on behalf of the Diocese those who will receive the Easter Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist. They now come back to the parishes to finalise their preparation. Lent for them is a time of purification and conversion. It will end the long years of waiting and praying and trying to make up their minds. From our Parish we presented Sherri Sheehy and Kay Ondore. They will both be received into the Church at the Easter Vigil. We also have four children who are preparing for Easter Baptism.
As a Parish we need to support those who are preparing for Easter, we need to befriend them, make them feel welcome and at home in the Parish and Church. We need to pray for them so that they will receive God’s grace to guide them at this special time.
What about ourselves? What should we be doing? We should also be going through a conversion experience; changing our way of life; making Christ central in our lives; making time for prayer in our day. We cannot lead others to Christ unless we know Christ ourselves. For all of us Easter should be a time of great celebration and joy and to make it such we need to prepare.
“God is always faithful to those he calls: now it is your duty, as it is ours, both to be faithful to him in return, and to strive courageously to reach the fullness of truth which your election opens up before you.
My dear godparents, I now ask you to place hand on the shoulder of the catechumen in your care. You have spoken in favour of these catechumens: accept them now as the chosen of the Lord and continue to sustain them through your loving care and example, until they come to share in the Sacraments of God’s life.”
(Prayers from the Rite of Election)
Last November we had an Open Meeting to discuss the proposal to remove the covering over the wooden ceiling in St. Joseph's Church. At the meeting we were asked to do some more investigation before going ahead. This investigation has now been completed.
We have removed some of the panels so we can now see the state of the wooden ceiling. I was delighted to see that it is in such good condition. All the ceiling will need will be a spot of stain where the nails are removed. This can be done as the panels are taken down.
The Building Control Department of the local council have confirmed that there are no regulations concerning the removal of the panels.
The Fire Officer has confirmed that he would welcome the removal of the panels because the hard ceiling would be less vulnerable to fire.
Our Heating Consultant assures us that the removal of the panels will not greatly effect the heat in the church. At the moment there is a small loss of heat through the ceiling. Taking away the panels will slightly increase that loss but by only a minimal percentage and nothing that would be noticed in the main body of the church.
Only about ten people came to the Open Meeting and I think it is fair to say that they were mostly against the project. However their objections have been professionally addressed and the majority of people who have spoken to me welcome the removal of the panels. I now think that it time to make a decision and move on.
I am proposing that in April we remove the ceiling panels. We will then be able to go ahead and clean all the walls in the main body of the church in the same way the Sanctuary has been cleaned. At the moment I am not sure when the contractor will be available to do this work, as it will take six or seven weeks to complete. My hope is that people will support this decision and that we can move forward and present our historic church in the best possible way.
Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Lent is an opportunity for us all to prepare for Easter. The traditional discipline of Lent has been prayer, fasting and almsgiving. It is left to each one of us to decide what we do and how much we do.
As a Parish we provide the opportunities for people to enter into the spirit of Lent. From this newsletter you can see the extra prayer opportunities: adoration on Friday mornings, evening service on Sundays and Stations of the Cross on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Readings during Lent are all very special and form the basis for the Lent Journey and whether we come to Mass or not it would be great if we could all follow these Readings every day. My hope is that each person will try and do something extra every day but not to try and do everything that is available in the church.
What people do about fasting I think is up to each individual. But I hope that you will all try and do something.
Our obligation in almsgiving is covered by our Lenten Project. We have a great tradition in this Parish of being very generous to the charities, I am sure that it will be the same this year. There are a variety of events being organised. I hope that they will be well supported. We will also have a second collection every Sunday, which will go towards the Project.
We start on Wednesday and I hope that all of us will make a big effort from Day One.
Wednesday 13th February is
Ash Wednesday
There will be Mass at 10.00a.m. and 7.30p.m.
The title for today’s ceremony is a long one, quite a mouthful in fact. However it is a special day for me and I hope for the Parish. For the past few years I have been studying for Ordination. In many ways it is a time of great growth and development. It is a time when I had to think long and hard about the whole idea of God’s call and my response; it was also a time of study, exams and psychological assessments.
No matter how much I feel ready to proceed to Ordination I have to be called forward by the community and the leader of that community, the Bishop. The Rite of Admission to Candidacy is celebrated when there is clear evidence that the aspirant’s properly formed intention has sufficiently matured. I have to be ready to make the commitment of intention to receive Holy Orders publicly in the presence of the gathered people of God, the people to whom I will be of service as a Minister of Word and Eucharist.
Today I become a candidate for orders and today the community is asked to make the journey with me in preparation. It is not only about me, it is about the community coming together and celebrating a particular ministry, celebrating my journey but reminding us all of our own journey towards God.
May I again thank you all for your continued support, friendship and prayers.
Brother Damian
Since Lent starts so early, on Wednesday 13th February, we have little time to plan our Lenten Project. I would therefore ask you to take special note of the attachment to this week’s newsletter and see what part you can play in this year’s Project. Over the years St Joseph’s Lenten Project has been one of the biggest in the Diocese. This has been no accident. It has meant careful planning, generous giving and a lot of hard work.
So today I am asking each one to think what you can do. What event can you help with? We need the calendar of events to be put together quickly so that the dates can be put in diaries. The Lenten Project belongs to all the Parish. We should all play our part so that when Easter Day comes we can feel that the grand total will be made up of contributions from every member of the Parish. I am sure that none of us would be happy with ourselves to see a large total but nothing from us.
The week of Prayer for Christian Unity began on Friday 18th January. It is a call to us all again to place Christian Unity as an important item on our prayer agenda. In our lifetime great progress has been made. Much of the hostility of the past has disappeared and gradually we are learning to understand each other a lot better. We have also discovered that we can learn so much from working with other churches.
Because great progress has been made some of our catholic people feel that we are now in fact all the same, it no longer makes any difference and we can now go to any church we like. This mentality does a disservice to our catholic church and the whole cause of unity because it ignores the fundamental differences that do exist between the catholic church and other denominations. It leads to indifference and undermines the truths we believe in. It is better to be honest and recognise the reality and see how we can work within these limitations.
We have among all the churches many that play no active part in church unity. “We are all right as we are” they say. This mentality means that a lot of our energies are lost and we are all the poorer for that. We have at the moment to be also aware of people who profess a different faith from us. We need to explore areas that we have in common and look for ways in which we can improve understanding and friendship.
My hope is that this year our week of prayer will involve many people from the parish and that all will keep the cause of unity in our prayers.
The Baptism of Our Lord.
Today we celebrate the Baptism of Christ. The
Feast gives us an opportunity to reflect on the
place of baptism in the Church and in our lives.
Christ Himself did not need baptism. He was
already in contact with His Father; He was
without sin. He was baptised so that He could
identify with our sinful humanity and redeem that
humanity.
For us baptism is different it makes us members of the Church, opening the way to all the other sacraments and the full celebration of the Eucharist. Clearly it makes no sense to receive baptism in isolation. Baptism is the beginning. It can only be received after preparation and it is a response to faith.
Most of us received baptism as infants so we are immediately faced with difficulties. Babies do not make decisions so someone else decided that we should be baptised. For those of us here today somewhere along the line we decided to make that baptism our own. As adults we have made a profession of faith. We have decided to be active members of the Church.
The trouble with our present practise is that we have tended to devalue the importance of baptism. For many people it is a question of getting the baby done. Maybe the opportunity to have a celebration with family and friends; there is nothing wrong with that. But baptism is far more, it is about faith. It is about membership of the Church. It is about growing up in the knowledge and love of Jesus.
I am sure that we as a Parish would not want to decide to only have adult baptism because we would loose out on the whole notion of dedicating the child to God and allowing the child to become a member of the church. But I am sure that we all agree that if we are to take baptism seriously then as a Parish we need to have a proper preparation. We need to reach out to new families. Families coming for baptism need to give themselves time and space so that they are aware of what they are undertaking
Contact Details
Parish Priest: Fr. Tom McGrath, Tel: 01628 783988
Parish Office: 01628 783988 Fax: 01628 776863 (Monday to Friday 9.am to 12 noon)
Parish Centre: 01628 636312 (Monday to Friday 9.30am to 12.30pm)