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Fr Peter’s message

Dear Parishioners & Friends of SS Joseph & Swithun,  It is lovely that at long last we are able to open the church doors again and I am able to greet parishioners as they enter for private prayer. As you know, Parish Masses must now be celebrated by the priest alone, without servers, readers or choirs.…

A Christian reflection on tribulation

By Deacon BARRY MELLISH 

The following was sent to me by a friend who is a priest. It relates to the current tribulations that we are all facing. It is in the form of short statements that give us – or least me – something to think about. The last line is a great summary: God is nudging us in our current predicament to focus on who and what is important, inviting us to be creatively present to others and to ourselves. Real Presence.

What if she had said ‘No’?

The question may strike you as irreverent. How dare I suggest that the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven, Tower of David, and all the other titles, could have left us in the lurch like that? But what if she had?

Modes of encounter with Christ in his people

Pope Benedict XVI has given us a truly memorable phrase: “There is nothing more beautiful than the encounter with Christ.” Specifically, in the celebration of Mass, we meet him in his people, in his Word proclaimed, in Holy Communion shared, and in the Minister presiding.

Homily – Fr. Cyril Elkington

My dear friends in Christ. I count it a great honour to have been invited by dear Father Cyril to preach the homily today. Not leaving anything to chance he prepared his obituary except of course the date of his death.  This is printed on the back of the Order of Service. “Remember me as…

We are what we eat – the ingredients of a spiritual sandwich

By EDMUND ADAMUS, Director, Office of Marriage and Family Life – Diocese of Westminster

Those of you who have been receiving and reading these weekly ‘thoughts for the weekend’ reflections since the beginning, may recall that I stated the original purpose of them was an opportunity, week by week, in between the Extraordinary Synod on the family (2014) and the Ordinary Synod on the family (2015), to focus some attention on the spirituality of Christian spousal love and family life.