Lenten Diary updated throughout the Season.

This year Lent started with Mass at Mayfield girls school. The sea of faces that stood infront of me reminded me that we all approach this season differently. Some people do the same thing every year like some sort of ritual that never changes with age or circumstance, others try and do too much and so stumble after the first Sunday of Lent. Others try and do something different and therefore challenge themselves to do something extra helping or in prayer. Whatever we do Lent is about getting closer to the one who made us and loves us. It is a time to look at ourselves and our relationship with God.

Deciding what to do should not be so taxing that we fail very quickly but it should also not be so easy that it does not impact on our lives. Also it should be something that changes us not just for the of lent but for the whole of our lives. A simple example of this is that I gave up sugar in Coffee and tea and never went back to it at the end of the lent. There is another danger in lent that we do what we do for ourselves and not for God and for others in our alms giving. Our focus as Christians should also be to the other and not on ourselves.

Last Thursday I had the privilege to hold the hand of  a dying priest friend as I sat there and prayed with him I was taught a powerful and wonderful lesson that we are all connected by being Children of God and that our journey here on earth is a journey to be the Lord. Lent helps us focus on our destiny with the Lord and is a good time to refocus our efforts and rededicate ourselves to Jesus.

Lent therefore is a happy season because we are by our efforts of fasting charity and prayer to come closer to the lord. What better way to spend our time?

2nd March 2017

I went for a walk today as the weather was so lovely. I was impressed with the silence and the stillness of everywhere. One of the things I also noticed was the fact that everything is waiting to come out Spring is waiting patiently to come out. The temptation is to want it now rather than waiting for the beauty that is just around the corner of new life. We can say the same for Lent. It is a time for a spiritual spring clean where through the works of charity, prayer and penance we are made new and our own beauty has an opportunity to shine for the whole world to see. So enjoy Lent and the beauty of God's creation for all to see.

3rd 4th 5th March

To see what the good things the Lord has done for us is sometimes hard in this busy and complicated world. So lent gives us the perfect opportunity to make time for jesus in our lives. Maybe today we can make that room and challenge ourselves to find a bit of time with the Lord.


1st Sunday of Lent

So, we have started our Lenten journey. So far so good. I suspect that most of you have now chosen what you are going to be giving up over this period. I suspect that most of you are doing well especially if you have given up chocolate or sweets or like our prime minister Salt and Vinegar Crisps. But, we must remind ourselves that we are only at the start of Lent. So, we attack everything thing with such enthusiasm. There will come a point when it gets more difficult where Temptation comes and creeps its ugly head. Where we go to the cupboard and the thing that we have given up is almost calling out to us. Our enthusiasm dwindles and sometimes dies. We let Temptation get the better of us. We are like Adam and Eve in today’s readings we give into Temptation.

Adam and eve had it all they would want for nothing because of what had God had given them. All they had to do was not to eat the fruit of the tree. You can almost imagine them talking about what might happen if they ate from the tree. In the end through help they gave into that Temptation. Like Adam and Eve Jesus was also tempted by the devil. This temptation for Jesus was real and had to be strong not to give into the Temptation placed before him. How much easier would it have been to just give in. For Jesus, it was a choice between good and evil it was a choice of doing his own will or the will of God. Here we see the fundamental difference between the first reading and the Gospel. Adam and Eve followed their own will and did not listen to God where Jesus followed the will of his Father.

If we want to give up smoking or reduce our drinking one of way of doing it is to seek people who have struggled themselves and then they can help us with what we are going through. When we are Tempted, we can draw inspiration from the Lord we can ask for his help knowing that he has been there and won. As I was praying and thinking about this homily this weekend I was praying as I do everyday the Lord’s prayer. As I was praying the prayer that I have prayed all my life I came across a problem. It is the line “lead me not into Temptation.” I was disturbed by praying this line. How can a good God lead me into temptation? So, I went back to the original text in the Gospels In, Matthews version it states “And do not put us to the test.” This for me helped me greatly. It shows that our Father in heaven does not give us anything that we cannot cope with. It is a plea to the Father to help us in trials that come our way.

The other theme of the readings today is the theme of sin. We know that we will be led into temptation and often we give into it and that is called sin. We know that we are sinners and as the psalmist expresses that we need to fall upon the mercy of God. We know that we are children of God and so we need to fall on the mercy of God and ask forgiveness when we have given into temptation.

Lent is the time to turn back to the Lord and come to the sacrament of reconciliation to hear Jesus words of forgiveness and love. If you have not gone to the sacrament for a long time maybe because of being scared or not sure what to say, Maybe it is this year that we can be brave enough to return to the lord and come to the sacrament of reconciliation.

1st Week of Lent

This week I have been in York with the family. As I was walking around the great Minister building I was reflecting on the image of heaven. Here in this most beautiful of buildings I am reminded of trying our best to bring a little bit of heaven here on earth by our attitude and our service to others. We may never really know the good we do here on earth just by being who we are and learning to be more like Christ everyday. Lent is that opportunity to explore that in ourselves and come closer to him. 

2nd Sunday of Lent

The Transfiguration gives us a glimpse of the glory of God we like the disciples find it wonderful to be here especially when we are faced with Jesus. Exposition of the Blessed sacrament is a wonderful example of sitting with Jesus and being with him. To listen to him as we pray in this unique way is a wonderful way to spend an hour So maybe we can find a time over Lent to visit the Church even when we are passing and spend a few minutes in front of the blessed sacrament either in the tabernacle or in exposition. Seek the Lord he is waiting patiently for us.    

2nd week of Lent

The weather has been beautiful and we can start to see that the world has colour again and the trees are slowly coming back to life. This can be a little like us in our spiritual life we have now hopefully got into some sort of routine with what we are doing. This I think is the easy week of lent that we still have that spring in our step. As we get closer to the one who loves us by words of charity and good works and prayer and devotion let it be also in our a slow growth of love for the lord and who he is and means to us. 

3rd Sunday of Lent

Deep into the Palestine territory after a few Israelite road blocks you arrive at a town called Nablus. It is a place that does not get many foreign visitors and as you walk the markets you are a bit of a celebrity. In fact, the tour guide could not understand why we would ever want to put ourselves all through this journey to see this well. But although hard we had to see it. On the outskirts of this town is a monastery that holds Jacobs well. This ancient place with a fourth century fresco on the back of the woman sitting at the well with Jesus.

Jesus was tired and sat there and seeing a Samaritan woman asked for something to drink. But, to truly understand this Gospel we must look at some of the politics about at the time. First, Samaritans and Jews do not mix they had different options on where one should worship God for the Jews it was in Jerusalem and for the Sarmatians it was on a mountain not far from where this story takes place. In fact, there is still a small community still there.

So, for a Jesus to ask this woman for a drink would gone totally against normal convention. This encounter is not just about Jesus breaking the rules he is teaching us something quite important. So, let us look deeper rather than just the outer layer of the Gospel. When we are thirsty we have a drink of water or tea but we quench our thirst. But the deeper meaning is to dig deep to our need and thirst for God. This is the gift that Jesus was giving to this woman it a gift of himself. It reminds me of one of the psalms where it states that we thirst for God to drink of the water that God gives is that spiritual water that refreshes our soul but like the Samaritan woman sometimes we need draw deep to find it and sometimes because of the mess of our lives that we need to draw deeply to draw out what has always been there the living spirit of God that is in ourselves.

Notice also the way that Jesus entered her life. He did not go into the conversation from a position of authority but just gently asked her for something to drink. Notice that when she described her situation in life he did not judge her. She must have been a little bit of an outcast in the community. He gently listened and accepted. She was searching for love and happiness for a meaning to her life. Jesus through his gentle approach brought her to the realisation of what would give her true happiness and when he then let on that he was the one that she was looking for when he said “I am he” she recognized the thirst and how it was to be quenched. Through this encounter of the gentle Jesus telling her and teaching her she then could tell others about the nature of God and we are told that many believed and came to know Jesus.

In our world, today we come across many people who also thirst for Jesus they are one their own search their own journey of faith. All of them come from different places and have different needs and hurts. Some have had a bad experience of the Church or have been hurt by the Churches attitude or perceived lack of understanding.  Maybe some of you have had experiences of being challenged about your faith or had an experience where you were trying to tell people about your faith. We can learn from Jesus today that although we may want to be defending our faith we can get a lot further with bring people to the faith by being gentle and listening and more like Jesus in today’s Gospel of a compassion and gentleness. 

 Let us pray that we may be a community that reaches out to those who thirst for God and be a community that welcome and listen without judgement. 

21st March

The Solemnity of St Joseph

Today we celebrate St Joseph. We thank God for his faith in God that everything would be ok. It must have been difficult for him at times to hold it all together. This year I went to the National Gallery to see the exhibition on beyond Caravaggio. In the midst of the paintings there was a picture that showed the flight into Egypt. It was a picture of the Holy family resting during their long journey. Joseph looking very tired was asleep as Mary was breast feeding Jesus. You could almost feel in the picture the love of Joseph for his family but also his age and what a struggle it all was. This is very much like us we can get tired but we need to follow the example of St Joseph and be strong in faith and love of God.  

Holy Week

We now encounter Holy Week. But I want to first draw upon the last two weeks of Lent. For me they have been a bit of a trial. I have been in hospital for a few days for tests which went well. Thank you to the NHS. There are times when we have to let others and trust in them. This was the profound experience I had the few days that I was in hospital. I had to go under general which means that you put your trust and hope in the Doctors.  Sometimes we all need to let go and let God and put our trust in others which can be sometimes difficult. 

The other experience that I had this last few weeks is the confessional queue at Westminster Cathedral. I had never experienced such a lot of people waiting. It took about 1 hour and a half to get to the front. I reflected as I waited that sometimes we need to learn patience to meet the Lord that we also have to prepare ourselves well to also meet him. 

This is Monday of Holy Week and it is the most moving and intense time of the liturgical calendar. The first half we prepare for the last part of the week. We wait and we are if you like on a small retreat to enter into the mystery of God love for us. Have a blessed and good Holy Week so we can rejoice at the Resurrection on Sunday. Happy Holy Week and have a joyful Easter.   


Holy Thursday/Good Friday

Here we have the profound act of God's love for us. He washes our feet becoming a slave pouring water over our tired and worn out feet. He tenderly kisses them as a mark of this service we then witness the first Eucharist where he takes bread and wine and transforms them into his own body and blood. We then move to the garden and wait with the lord praying and being with him. The church is in darkness and stripped as we leave. Good Friday has that moment when we realise that God loved us so much he gave himself for ourselves. Naked and humiliated this tree becomes the place of deep love. The world is still on that Friday night we contemplate this act of love knowing that we can never thank him enough and then Holy Saturday we wait is silence the earth is still holding its breath anticipating Sunday.