Newsletter for 2/3 May - Easter 5(B)

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Pray - then Vote

Good Shepherd Sunday Pastoral Letter

Click here to read the Pastoral Letter we heard at Mass this weekend - and please continue to pray for vocations.

Newsletter for 25/26 April - Easter 4(B)

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In the newsletter, I quote a few paragraphs from the beginning of Pope Francis' Message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. You can read the whole document here. I particularly like the end of the document:

This exodus towards God and others fills our lives with joy and meaning. I wish to state this clearly to the young, whose youth and openness to the future makes them open-hearted and generous. At times uncertainty, worries about the future and the problems they daily encounter can risk paralysing their youthful enthusiasm and shattering their dreams, to the point where they can think that it is not worth the effort to get involved, that the God of the Christian faith is somehow a limit on their freedom. Dear young friends, never be afraid to go out from yourselves and begin the journey! The Gospel is the message which brings freedom to our lives; it transforms them and makes them all the more beautiful. How wonderful it is to be surprised by God’s call, to embrace his word, and to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, in adoration of the divine mystery and in generous service to our neighbours! Your life will become richer and more joyful each day!

The Virgin Mary, model of every vocation, did not fear to utter her “fiat” in response to the Lord’s call. She is at our side and she guides us. With the generous courage born of faith, Mary sang of the joy of leaving herself behind and entrusting to God the plans she had for her life. Let us turn to her, so that we may be completely open to what God has planned for each one of us, so that we can grow in the desire to go out with tender concern towards others (cf. Lk 1:39). May the Virgin Mary protect and intercede for us all.

General Election Hustings Meeting

The Ashby Churches have organised an opportunity to question the local candidates for the General Election. Please try to be there. Pen and paper will be provided for your question(s) or you can submit them in advance @ashbyhustings or the Holy Trinity Facebook Page.

To prepare for the meeting, please take a look at what our bishops say about our duty to vote, and the issues to bear in mind when making a decision. A Catholic lay organisation, the Catholic Union of Great Britain, has also produced a document about the important issues.

If you or a loved one go into hospital...

...please ensure that the staff know that that the patient is a Catholic and would appreciate the ministry of the Catholic Chaplains(s).

It is also very helpful if you let Fr Colin know. He is always happy to contact the relevant chaplaincy on your behalf, and it is good to know that you are in the prayers of your priest and parish community. It also helps to ensure that we can minister to you when you are discharged, especially if you are not able to get to Mass for a while.

We are very blessed in the Catholic chaplains both at Burton and at the Leicester hospitals. I hear many glowing reports of their ministry.

I have recently received the following very helpful information from the Catholic Chaplains at the Leicestershire Hospitals:

If you are a Catholic, and you and your family member or friend is in a Leicester hospital

Phone University Hospitals Leicester (UHL)

You can ring the Chaplaincy office at each UHL hospital, and make a referral

• Leicester Royal Infirmary: 0116 258 5487

• Leicester General Hospital: 0116 258 4243

• Glenfield Hospital: 0116 258 3413

Email us

For non-urgent requests or for further information you can email us:

• chaplaincy@uhl-tr.nhs.uk

Ask a nurse

If you or your loved one is a patient , in urgent need, you can ask a nurse on the ward to get switchboard to contact the Catholic priest serving your hospital site.

Christina Mottram                                                  Fr Greg Murphy OP

RC Chaplain Glenfield and Leicester General     RC Chaplain LRI

=====================================================================

If the person is in the mental health or community hospitals run by Leicestershire Partnership Trust (LPT), please contact

Jane Edwards, chaplaincy secretary on 0116 229 4055 or email chaplaincy@leicspart.nhs.uk

More about mercy.

In my homily this weekend, I talked about Misericordiae Vultus  - The Face of Mercy, the document from Pope Francis proclaiming a Jubilee of Mercy. I mentioned that as well as it being about the forgiveness of sin, it was also about us behaving in a merciful way, and taking seriously the works of mercy. Here is paragraph 15 which talks about the works of mercy:

 In this Holy Year, we look forward to the experience of opening our hearts to those living on the outermost fringes of society: fringes modern society itself creates. How many uncertain and painful situations there are in the world today! How many are the wounds borne by the flesh of those who have no voice because their cry is muffled and drowned out by the indifference of the rich! During this Jubilee, the Church will be called even more to heal these wounds, to assuage them with the oil of consolation, to bind them with mercy and cure them with solidarity and vigilant care. Let us not fall into humiliating indifference or a monotonous routine that prevents us from discovering what is new! Let us ward off destructive cynicism! Let us open our eyes and see the misery of the world, the wounds of our brothers and sisters who are denied their dignity, and let us recognize that we are compelled to heed their cry for help! May we reach out to them and support them so they can feel the warmth of our presence, our friendship, and our fraternity! May their cry become our own, and together may we break down the barriers of indifference that too often reign supreme and mask our hypocrisy and egoism!

It is my burning desire that, during this Jubilee, the Christian people may reflect on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. It will be a way to reawaken our conscience, too often grown dull in the face of poverty. And let us enter more deeply into the heart of the Gospel where the poor have a special experience of God’s mercy. Jesus introduces us to these works of mercy in his preaching so that we can know whether or not we are living as his disciples. Let us rediscover these corporal works of mercy: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead. And let us not forget the spiritual works of mercy: to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted, forgive offences, bear patiently those who do us ill, and pray for the living and the dead.

We cannot escape the Lord’s words to us, and they will serve as the criteria upon which we will be judged: whether we have fed the hungry and given drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger and clothed the naked, or spent time with the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-45). Moreover, we will be asked if we have helped others to escape the doubt that causes them to fall into despair and which is often a source of loneliness; if we have helped to overcome the ignorance in which millions of people live, especially children deprived of the necessary means to free them from the bonds of poverty; if we have been close to the lonely and afflicted; if we have forgiven those who have offended us and have rejected all forms of anger and hate that lead to violence; if we have had the kind of patience God shows, who is so patient with us; and if we have commended our brothers and sisters to the Lord in prayer. In each of these “little ones,” Christ himself is present. His flesh becomes visible in the flesh of the tortured, the crushed, the scourged, the malnourished, and the exiled … to be acknowledged, touched, and cared for by us. Let us not forget the words of Saint John of the Cross: “as we prepare to leave this life, we will be judged on the basis of love.”

I also talked about the 'Chaplet of Mercy' and my experience of singing it last weekend. You can find the texts here, and hear the Chaplet sung here.

Newsletter for 18/19 April - Easter 3(B)

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Last Sunday, the Feast of the Divine Mercy, Pope Francis formally proclaimed an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy from 8th December 2015 until 20th November 2016. I have quoted a few paragraphs of the document Misericordiae Vultus - "The Face of Mercy" - in the newsletter. The full text of this document can be read here. Here are the opening words:

Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy. These words might well sum up the mystery of the Christian faith. Mercy has become living and visible in Jesus of Nazareth, reaching its culmination in him. The Father, “rich in mercy”, after having revealed his name to Moses as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”, has never ceased to show, in various ways throughout history, his divine nature. In the “fullness of time”, when everything had been arranged according to his plan of salvation, he sent his only Son into the world, born of the Virgin Mary, to reveal his love for us in a definitive way. Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father. Jesus of Nazareth, by his words, his actions, and his entire person reveals the mercy of God.

On a personal note

Forty years ago this weekend, Cyndy Hain married an Anglican deacon called Colin Patey in the little village Church of St James, Stonesfield, Oxfordshire. Just over twenty years ago we both became Catholics, and Colin was ordained to the priesthood in 1998.

In the midst of our thanksgiving, we shall return to St James' Church for the funeral of Cyndy's mum, Nel, this coming Tuesday. Please pray for her, and for us at this time.

As you can imagine, Holy Week and Easter have been a special time to reflect on our own sorrow and joy. What we celebrated in the wonderful liturgies has spoken to where we are in our lives in a new and precious way.

That Christ is truly risen
from the dead we know.
Victorious king, thy mercy show!

George Patey (died 2011), Bob Hain (died 2014)

Nel Hain (died 31 March 2015), Myrtle Patey

Newsletter for Easter Sunday and 2nd Sunday of Easter

The newsletter for the next two weeks is here.

Below please find a reminder of the rest of the Triduum -  please make a special effort to be with us on Good Friday at 3pm and Holy Saturday at 8.15pm

Ashby

Fri 3           11.00am       ‘Passion for Ashby’ — United Act of Witness
                                            meet outside St Helen’s
                    3.00pm         The Passion of the Lord
                                            followed by Confessions

Sat 4          10.00am       Blessing of Easter Food
                                            followed by Confessions (until 11.30am)
                    5–7.00pm     Confessions on call
                                            If Fr Colin not in Church, please call at house.
                    8.15pm         Easter Vigil Mass
NB No Mass at 5.30pm

Sun 5          10.00am Mass for the People of the Parishes

Measham

Sat 4          8.15pm         Easter Vigil Mass
                                            NB No Mass at 6.45pm