Message from Canon Kristian

Dear Brothers and Sisters

This Sunday is the last Sunday before the Holy Season of Lent begins on Wednesday, when ashes will be distributed during Mass as a tangible sign acknowledging our human frailty before God, our need for God’s compassionate forgiveness and our desire to set out once again on a journey of interior spiritual renewal.  Due to the need to avoid the spread of the virus through touch, the ashes this year will be sprinkled on the head of each person rather than used to mark a cross on the forehead.  Please note that there will be three Masses celebrated on Ash Wednesday:

• St James at 10.00am and 6.00pm
• St Boniface at 12noon.

The continuing restrictions on movement and gathering will obviously impact on our observance of Lent as a parish on the liturgical and community levels, but it is important that we undertake  and live whatever Lenten discipline we adopt as individuals in union and in communion with each other, remembering that the path of conversion and purification is not only a personal one, but one we also take together as a community and as a part of wider society.  Sin is not only personal, it is also structural, that is, embedded in social and political attitudes, the policies and decisions of our own country and of the international community.  Prompted and aided by the Spirit, and assisted by the traditional Lenten practices of fasting, almsgiving and prayer, we are called to enter with courage into that “secret place” within us, into the “heart space”, where we come face to face with who we really are before God. There we open ourselves up to the transforming grace of that encounter, which dismantles bit by bit the disfigured “false self” that we have created of ourselves in order to reveal our “true self”, God’s “work of art” to use that beautiful expression of St Paul (cf Ephesians 2:10).  This willingness to face the conflicts that are present – but so often kept hidden – in the depths of our being not only allows the grace of God to resolve and heal them, but this reconciliation also and inevitably overflows into our relationships with others and with the created world of which we are a part (cf Mark 7:14-23, James 4:1-12).  Our Lenten journey is a process of “letting go”, of “emptying oneself” after the pattern of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity, that we might share in his divinity (cf Philippians 2:7-8; the Prayer of the Commingling of Water and Wine at Mass).  This generosity of Christ towards us – Christ who, although he was rich, became poor for our sake, so that we might become rich through his poverty – must become the measure of our generosity and of the genuineness of our love and concern for others (cf 2 Corinthians 8:7-9).

As well as being the Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, on this day, 14 February, the Church also commemorates the feast day of the brothers Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius, the Apostles to the Slavic Peoples and Co-Patrons of Europe.  Society around us also celebrates this day as “Valentine’s Day”, with its hearts, flowers, chocolates and cherubs with bows and arrows of love!  I suspect that the vast majority of people no longer see any connection with the ancient commemoration of Saint Valentine on this day.  He is the Patron Saint of the Italian city of Terni, where he became Bishop in AD 197.    During his years of ministry, he was renowned for his devotion to those in need, for working miracles and for healing the sick.  Like many of the early Christian community of that era, he suffered persecution under the Roman Emperor and is believed to have been martyred for the Faith on 14 February 245. His tomb in Terni soon became a place of pilgrimage, eventually being looked after by Benedictine monks.  It was the Benedictine monks who spread devotion to St Valentine as they set up monasteries all  over Europe in the Middle Ages.  There are a number of legends connected with St Valentine which acted as a basis for his association with “young love”.  For example, it is said that he secretly married young Christian couples so that the men would be exempt from conscription into the Roman Legions.  Apart from these legends, there are others who take the view that St Valentine’s Day “christianised” a pagan festival which was held on this day (a practice of the early Christian missionaries which was not uncommon ) and which celebrated the first signs of the return of spring – the budding of flowers and the mating of birds.  Whatever the truth of all this, it is clear that, as Christians, we see in the ministry and martyrdom of St Valentine a witness to a love of self-sacrifice, a love which finds its ultimate basis and meaning in the Sacrifice of Christ, who “loved us to the end” (cf Eucharistic Prayer IV), which has little to do with the expressions of ephemeral romantic love on show today.  It is the love of total self-gift and self-giving which we celebrate today, not only in the lives of married couples, but in the lives of all who gives themselves fully in love of others.

A very practical way in which we can show that self-giving love is to take part in parish “Walk for Water” to raise funds for CAFOD, either by donating via the JustGiving page given in the Newsletter or by joining the “Parish Team” and working together to walk the 400,000 steps during Lent.  It doesn’t matter how many steps you can offer – it can be as few or as many as you feel able to do – just let Jane Trott know by email that you would like to become a member of the Team so she can keep a running total of the steps done.  The more we have on the Team, the less steps each of us will need to do.  Let’s make this a real parish effort!

Along with the Newsletter Monika Manser has provided us with two guides to contemplative prayer using our imaginations – one for the Gospel for this Sunday (“Be Cured”) and one for the Gospel on Ash Wednesday (“Prayer, Almsgiving, Fasting”).  I thank her for her generosity and commitment in offering these helps to prayerful meditation on the Scriptures each week. You can find these on the parish website under the Resources section.

As we are still in “lockdown”, the usual Coffee Morning on Zoom will take place on Thursday at 11am.  EVERYONE is welcome to pop in, even if only for a few minutes.  The access details are available from the parish office.

Please continue to remember the sick and vulnerable members of our parish in your prayers.  Also, please pray for the repose of the soul of Mary Walker, who died during the week.  Before the deterioration of her illness, she was a committed member of the parish and was known to many of you.  Do keep her husband, Geoff, in prayer too.  He has cared for Mary with incredible devotion for many years and will miss her greatly.

I wish all of you a positive and fruitful Lenten journey towards the celebration of the Easter Mysteries.

You all remain in my prayers

With every blessing

Canon Kristian