Church Schedule

Masses

Private/Individual Prayer only

Wednesday: 10am - 12noon

Friday: 10am - 11am,
6pm - 6.45pm

Saturday: 10am - 11am

Sunday: 4.45pm - 5.45pm

​Monday & Tuesday:
9:15 am

Wednesday: 7:30 am, & 12 noon

Thursday: 9:15 am

Friday: 9:15 am & 7 pm

Saturday: 9:15 am & 6 pm

Sunday: 9 am, 11 am (also livestreamed), 6 pm

Parish Message

20th June 2021

A New Mission for the Church

In today's Gospel we hear of Jesus's power over creation, as he calms the howling wind and crashing waves of the violent storm on the lake. The disciples, caught in the boat in the eye of the storm, are awe-struck at his power, saying to each other, "Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him."

At the beginning of the Bible in the book of Genesis we read about how God uses his almighty power to create the world out of love. And he gave to the human family the responsibility to care for his creation, to be good stewards of the earth in his name. But too often we have forgotten this God-given mission and instead tried to dominate & control nature. One of the most dangerous and disastrous consequences of man's turning away from God in recent centuries has been humanity's increasingly reckless abuse, exploitation and destruction of the environment.

It is important to acknowledge that the Church has been slow to bring her voice to humanity's debate on the urgent need to protect the environment. There have of course been great "green saints" like St Francis of Assisi but it is only in the last few decades that the Church has begun to identify care of creation as one of our core Christian responsibilities. Pope John Paul II was the first to really give a strong lead on this, followed by Pope Benedict XVI who succeeded in making the Vatican the world's first carbon neutral state. Since his election Pope Francis has taken this focus on the environment within the Church to a new level, especially with the publication in 2015 of his encyclical letter Laudato Si - On Care for our Common Home. 6 years later a whole vision and programme is emerging for how this teaching can be put into practise in our everyday lives. See for more details on this.

We will be doing our best to put this vision into action over the coming months here in our parish. Let's do it together!

With blessings and prayers from Fr Richard, Fr Ephrem & the parish team

God bless,

Fr Richard

“Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.”