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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…

Dearest friends, Autumn is now well and truly with us. The excitement of the new term has died down, and the reality of the coming darkness of winter is slowly edging into our awareness.  There’s been a lot of change in the past five months (October marks my sixth month with you) and I wanted to assure you that there should be no more changes in the near future.  After two very good PCC meetings this week it’s clear that…

Dearest friends, The new pew sheet appears to have gone down broadly well. I hope that you have taken up my call to take them home and read the inside – there’s always something to say, something to do, and something to pray for. Please also note the prayer intentions for each day. This Sunday marks our first 5th Sunday Joint Service. You’ll have noticed a particular drive from myself to find ways for us to work together. We are…

Dearest friends, Welcome to our new-look combined email and pew sheet sheet. You’ll immediately notice some differences – for a start, the front page of the printed pew sheet will now marry the information in the email- and you’ll also notice that it’s the same email AND pew sheet for both St. Luke’s and St. John’s. I think this is a wonderful opportunity to share in the ministry of Jesus across our parishes, and I pray you’ll find it helpful.…

Dear friends, This week marks an important moment. As well as launching our website (www.slsj.co.uk) we’re also launching our new joint newsletter via email. This weekly email will contain all the notices from both churches and both pew sheets. I’ve decided to do this after I accidentally sent all those at St. Luke’s the weekly news for St. John’s. People were really keen to see what was happening and asked if they could see it each week – it occurs…

Dear friends, I want to start by saying a sincere thank you to you all for your kind messages of sympathy and support following the news of the sudden death of my father in law. Catherine has found your love and care to be a great support, it’s really shown what a loving family we are here. It’s been a strange start to the new term, but one centred in love, and for that I’m truly grateful. This Sunday we…