Posts from 2024

Dearest friends, As we approach the end of the calendar year we also approach the beginning of the greatest story ever told.  I’ve always enjoyed the dichotomy of the start of something new and wonderful in the birth of Jesus, and in the ending of something in the calendar year. It provokes thoughts of new beginnings and new starts, it encourages us to consider how we live our lives and where we may look to re-direct our lives in the…

Dearest friends, As we enter this final week of Advent all can seem rather busy. There are concerts, carol services, jobs to be done. There are presents to buy, people to see, and food to get in. Who has time for all this Christmas nonsense! It’s easy to get caught up in the business but we must remember that Advent offers us an opportunity to find PEACE.  Jesus tells us that His yoke is easy and His burden light. He…

Dearest friends, This week I’ve had the deep joy of discussing a Rule of Life with two of our parishioners. They are both women of deep faith who will be renewing their Rule of Life at Mass at St. Luke’s this Sunday. There are many ways of answering God’s Call in our lives and Advent is a fine time to consider what that may be. It could be a calling to serve as a Deacon, to live a life consecrated…

Dearest friends, The team behind the Live Nativity at St. Luke’s on Christmas eve met this week and we need your help! We’re going to have five ‘stations’ outside St. Luke’s and we’d like to invite you to volunteer to build and run one of these stations. They are: A script will be written and provided, but we’d really like to invite you to own each station and make it as you see fit. We’ll walk around the stations as…

Dearest friends, Next Sunday we are going to be treated to a wonderful talk by The Rev’d Dr. Chris Moore on the gospel of Mark. Over the last season we have been reading through the Gospel of Mark and this talk will pull together many of the threads we’ve been talking and praying about – but more than that – Rev’d Chris will put them into the context of the day. He will lead us through an understanding of why…

Dearest friends, It may seem odd to think of pilgrimage as a Holy Habit. It’s very unlike the things we talked for the last two weeks – small, gentle, prods that encourage us to think about Jesus in our day to day lives. But, over the years I’ve found regular pilgrimage to be a life giving source of understanding and questioning on my journey with Christ. I tend to go on pilgrimage with my dear brother Fr. Sam Cross. We…

Dearest friends, I’m very much looking forward to our Holy Habits course this Thursday. Last week I told you about the first week – bodily prayer, why we cross ourselves, and why that’s important.  Next week (14th) we’ll be talking about Gratitude. Gratitude is a tough old habit, but it is a habit we learn. It’s important that we don’t confuse gratitude with joy, or happiness – or indeed happiness with joy! No, gratitude is a spiritual discipline that has…

Dearest friends, This week sees the start of our pre-advent course – Holy Habits.  It’s a four part course designed to help us understand the habits that we have picked up over the years and also to suggest some new habits that may help deepen your faith, or at least open some new questions in your mind. The course is split into four evenings. The first evening concentrates on identifying what a Holy Habit is – and we start with…

Dearest friends, Praying for the dead, what’s the point? Some will tell you that praying for the dead is simply an exercise in futility. The person you are praying for is already dead, they’ve lived their life and presumably made their own decisions about that life, their actions and most importantly – their faith in Jesus Christ. What more can we do now they are gone? The simple truth is that we know God is merciful. In multiple parts of…

Dearest friends, This week we celebrate the patronal festival of St. Luke’s. A patronal is a moment to celebrate the parish and all it has achieved. It’s a joy that we’re able to celebrate it with our brothers and sisters at St. John’s and enjoy each others successes. St. Luke’s has a welcoming heart. I’ve seen and heard time and time again how someone who was lost has somehow found their way back to faith within the community of St.…

Dearest friends, On Monday I travelled to London to teach ordinands (people training for the Priesthood) about Catholic Spirituality.  I always love teaching this course and I enjoy the reaction to the discovery that whilst Faith is our search for understanding and our relationship with God – Spirituality is the HOW we walk on that journey. Both of  our churches enjoy incense, candles, bells, vestments, and other things that lift our experience in worship to be as close to heaven…