Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine...

The march from the Carfax after the service.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.

Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

I was fortunate enough to be able to be a part of the Remembrance Sunday service in the Carfax this Sunday morning. I am very glad to say that the place was packed (you could barely move!) and as we prayed for the dead from all conflicts there was a deep sense of reverence in the atmosphere. Even if we have never known a person who has served or died in a war (although I'm sure that most of us probably have) it is important to remember them, to keep the knowledge of what war is and what war does and what war costs (in terms of the lives of servicemen and women) fresh in our minds. The sacrifices of our armed forces must never be played down or forgotten, what they underwent for our sake is too important to be put to one side. Wearing a poppy is a simple but powerful sign that they still have a place within our hearts, that they mean a great deal to us. But is it enough to simply keep the two minute silence? Should we not do more for those who fought to keep our country and its people free and safe from harm?

Just as May and October take on special significance for us as Catholics in being dedicated to the Blessed Virgin during November we remember all those who have died. On the first we celebrate the saints in heaven and on the second we look to those souls still undergoing their purification in purgatory. These feasts remind us that not only can we rely on those who form the Church Triumphant to intercede for us daily with God (CCC 956) but that our loved ones who have died can still benefit from our prayers here and now. Our penances and sacrifices, however small, our prayers and daily devotions, still make a big difference and we are encouraged, this month in particular, to take this more seriously and to pray more regularly that the people in purgatory will come into the light of God's presence in heaven.

So why not, this November add to the wearing of the poppy, add to the two minute silence, add to the commemoration by saying a prayer each day for the souls of everyone who died in war. It can be something small, like a Hail Mary or, if you have time, perhaps the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. The lighting of a candle is a powerful prayer too. In the martyrs chapel for the whole of this month we also have a book where everyone can write the names of people they'd like to be remembered in the Mass, why not add a name? Our prayers never go unheard and are never fruitless. Even if we cannot see their effects right now we can trust in God that they have indeed helped someone.

Youth Cafe

This autumn term we relaunched Youth Cafe for the children of secondary school age in the parish with a new format and fresh ideas and input. We've had two session so far and, from what I can tell at least, they've gone rather well!

This week, in keeping with October being one of the months dedicated to our Lady, we focused on the rosary in particular. To get the kids thinking about what this invaluable prayer is and is for we got them to make a giant one out of card on the floor of the hall. After (briefly) explaining that this prayer can be used for anything from emergency cries for help, prayers for the recovery of ailing friends and relatives, to asking our Blessed Mother's prayers after a bad day we got them to split into small groups and write on each Hail Mary bead someone or something they'd like to pray for. I'm very pleased to say they all responded really well to this and carefully considered what they should write on each one. And here's what they made! (By the way there were more of them, but most were camera shy.) These prayers we offered up in the Church with Fr. Richard after some much deserved pizza.

Next time (October 19th) we will be looking at St. Philip Howard whose feast day it will be. If you or your son or daughter is of secondary school age why not encourage them to come along? It runs once a fortnight from 7pm to 8:45pm (any alterations in the newsletter). We'd love to see them!

Our Lady of the Rosary

Traditionally October is one of the two months dedicated to Our Lady (along with May) and this one has a specific emphasis on the rosary. This is one of the few prayers that people from a secular or different religious background know that we pray although they don't always seem to know why or have a true understanding of what it even is. Some see the rosary as simply a thing, just a little string of beads which can be plain and plastic or ornate and made of precious metals and adorned with semi-precious stones. On one level that is, of course, correct; physically the rosary is just a little string of beads. But is that all there is to it? Is it simply an ornament of our faith, something we aimlessly carry around in our pocket or wear as jewellery?

Fra Angelico's Annunciation

What makes the rosary so appealing to us as Catholics is that there is so much beauty and depth in it that you can pray it for years and only partially enter into it. Each day we are given five different mysteries to contemplate, five different episodes from the life of our Lord and our Lady which open up to us the magnitude of God's love for us, what he has done for each of us and how he wants us to respond to him. Even though we have heard those passages from Scripture time and time again we get very little opportunity in the hustle and bustle of our daily lives to really let their message sink in, to take a few minutes to ponder what they mean (and what they mean for us as individuals; what is God asking of me today?) and in the rosary we are invited to do just that. In between our home and work life this may be the one time we get to really open ourselves up to God in this way and it is certainly never wasted.

And of course the real beauty in the rosary comes from whom we are praying with; the Blessed Virgin herself. At the annunciation she gave her soul-felt "yes!" which she meant not only then but continues to live on, her whole life and prayers are poured out in the service of God, she says "yes!" to him again and again as she, with motherly care, intercedes for us here on earth. And why would we not want her help? Who knew Jesus better than his mother? Who better is there to lead us into a greater understanding of who Christ is than the woman who carried him in her womb, who nursed him and watched him grow, followed him with the deepest humility and devotion, and stood by as he was nailed to the cross to reconcile us to the Father? And even though we may say 53 Hail Mary's in each rosary she takes no praise or glory for herself but offers our prayers to God.

If it were not a Sunday today would be the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. But even so, why not say one today yourself? And why not make the effort to make this October a special month of prayer with our Lady? There is a rosary being said at St. John's at 6pm this evening or there are the regular times on Fridays (after 10am Mass) and Saturdays (before 10am Mass).

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!

Praying for the people of Syria

On my own personal blog this week I have started praying the novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help for the people of Syria and peace in that country. The stories on the news of late are getting more and more horrific with the violence affecting more and more people. Apparently over 20,000 have been killed since the uprising began 17 months ago. 20,000...that's almost half the population of Horsham.

It is easy to watch the news or read the papers and feel somewhat helpless, what can we here in the UK do?  Since we are so far away what aid or assistance can we offer? Prayer is the single most powerful tool at our disposal. It is has more impact than any weapon, is more soothing than any cure and those of Our Lady have the most potency of all. Our Lord always listens to the requests of his Blessed Mother, she who carried him in her womb, raised and nurtured him, who quietly followed him during his ministry. Of all people of earth she was closest to him at all times, so out of love for all the people in Syria who are suffering so greatly please join me in asking her for help.

Dear Mother of Perpetual Help 
from the cross Jesus gave you to us for our Mother. 
You are the kindest, 
the most loving of all mothers. 
Look tenderly on us your children 
as we now ask you to help us 
in all our needs especially this one.

We pray for peace in Syria and for justice its people. We pray that they will be reconciled to one another and live in harmony.

While you were on earth, 
dear Mother you willingly shared in the sufferings of your Son. 
Strengthened by your faith and confidence in the fatherly love of God 
you accepted the mysterious designs of His Will. 
We too have our crosses and trials. 
Sometimes they almost crush us to the ground. 

Dearest Mother, share with us your abundant faith and confidence in God. 
Make us aware that God never ceases to love us; 
that He answers all our prayers in the way that is best for us. 
Strengthen our hearts to carry the cross
in the footsteps of your Divine Son. 
Help us to realize that he who shares the cross of Christ 
will certainly share His resurrection. 

Dearest Mother, as we worry about our own problems 
let us not forget the needs of others. 
You always love others so much; 
help us to do the same. 
While praying for our own intentions 
and for all the intentions of all here present 
at this Novena we earnestly ask you, our Mother, 
to help us comfort the sick and the dying,
give hope to the poor and unemployed, 
heal the broken-hearted,
lighten the burden of the oppressed, 
teach justice to their oppressors 
and bring back to God all those who have offended Him. 

Dearest Mother, help us to avoid sin 
which separates us from our heavenly Father 
and from one another. 
Full of trust in you, 
we place ourselves under the mantle of your maternal protection and confidently hope for your powerful help.
Amen.

First Friday

As Fr. Aaron reminded us all at Mass this morning on the first Friday of each month we are encouraged to keep a memorial to the Sacred Heart, in the same that way that on Saturdays we celebrate the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has existed for centuries with it appearing in records from 11th and 12th centuries. It has been extremely popular with saints and one in particular, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, saw visions of Our Lord, conversed with him and was instructed to establish and promote it further. You can read more about the Sacred Heart of Jesus here and St. Margaret Mary here.

In this devotion we commemorate and celebrate our Lord's humanity as well as his divinity. We see vividly in his heart how his great his love is for us and what he was prepared to undergo in order to reconcile us to God. But had Jesus been purely man then this sacrifice would have never sufficed, in his heart, in the various devotions to the Sacred Heart, we see the awesome, spine-tingling mystery of how he was God and man, how his human heart was pierced by a lance on the Cross and in his divinity his heart took on all of our sins and paid the price for them. Why not, today, pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart or the prayer below either in thanksgiving for God's wonderful gift to us or for your own intentions?

O, Sacred Heart of Jesus,

filled with Infinite Love, 
broken by our ingratitude,
and pierced by our sins, 
yet loving us still,
accept the consecration we make to Thee 
of all that we are and all that we have.

Take every faculty of our souls and bodies,
only day by day draw us nearer and nearer to Thy Sacred Heart,
and there, as we shall hear the lesson, 
teach us Thy Holy Way. 

Amen.

Preparing for Confirmation

This Thursday Bishop Kieran will be coming to Horsham to say Mass and to seal our Confirmation candidates with the Spirit. Usually this happens over the course of a few weekends at Worth Abbey but since we have so many this year our lovely bishop is coming to us instead! This is an exciting time for the parish but most especially for the candidates themselves and their families. Please, please pray for all of them as they prepare to receive this wonderful sacrament on Thursday evening. It will be a wonderful, beautiful and inspiring thing to watch them enter event deeper into their relationship with God.

The English Martyrs

Last Friday we celebrated the feast of some absolutely extraordinary people. People who stood up in the face of persecution, with the threat of imprisonment, torture and violent death hanging over them, and fearlessly practiced their faith. They are a source of inspiration and, more importantly, a source of strength for each and every one of us. Their witness is not confined to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries but speaks to us, time and again, of the love of Christ. Their willingness to endure some of the most gruesome of fates is a profound proclamation of their love for Jesus and His Church, a direct response to His sacrifice for us upon the cross.

At Mass on Friday Fr. Aaron reminded us of this and asked us all to think if we too would be prepared to undergo a similar fate for the sake of our faith. This is a challenging and uncomfortable question and, for those of us living in the UK, one we will probably never have to answer. But the fact is (and, for me at least, this was underlined by today's second collection for Aid to the Church in Need) that the kind of persecution that these holy martyrs suffered during the reformation is still going on today in many parts of the world. In so many places people are harassed, forced to live in poverty, arrested and imprisoned, mentally and physically abused, tortured and killed for simply being Christian. In trying to live out the life that Jesus showed us, to love God and our neighbour as ourselves, they are disgracefully treated, degraded and discarded just as those martyrs a few hundred years ago. Often in the light of this suffering we feel rather helpless, we don't know how to respond, how to help those around the world who need our support so very much. As many will have done today there are charities like ACN whose mission it is to do what we as individuals cannot. But the most important tool we have at our disposal is prayer. Even though it may seem like it makes little or no difference as this suffering continues to happen over and over again it has a huge impact on the people who are in those situations. Just as when one part of the Body of Christ suffers we all suffer with it equally when one part offers encouragement the whole Body reaps the benefits. We can draw strength from the witness of the English Martyrs and our brothers and sisters all over the world can profit greatly from our prayers. So why not join me in praying the Litany of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales for all Christians suffering all over the world?

Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy, Christ have mercy

Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy

Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs, Pray for us!

Christ hear us. Christ graciously hear us
God the Father in Heaven, Have mercy on us
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us
God the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us
Our Lady, Queen of Apostles, Pray for us
Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs, Pray for us
St. John Houghton, Pray for us
St. Richard Reynolds, Pray for us
St. Augustine Webster, Pray for us
St. Robert Lawrence, Pray for us
St. John Stone, Pray for us
St. Cuthbert Mayne, Pray for us
St. Edmund Campion, Pray for us
St. Ralph Sherwin, Pray for us
St. Alexander Briant, Pray for us
St. John Payne, Pray for us
St. Luke Kirby, Pray for us
St. Richard Gwyn, Pray for us
St. Margaret Clitherow, Pray for us.
St. Margaret Ward, Pray for us
St. Edmund Gennings, Pray for us
St. Swithun Wells, Pray for us
St. Polydore Plasden, Pray for us
St. Eustace White, Pray for us
St. John Boste, Pray for us
St. Robert Southwell, Pray for us

Holy Martyrs of England and Wales, Pray for us!

St. Henry Walpole, Pray for us
St. Philip Howard, Pray for us
St. John Jones, Pray for us
St. John Rigby, Pray for us
St. Anne Line, Pray for us
St. Nicholas Owen, Pray for us
St. Thomas Garnet, Pray for us
St. John Roberts, Pray for us
St. John Almond, Pray for us
St. Edmund Arrowsmith, Pray for us
St. Ambrose Barlow, Pray for us
St. Alban Roe, Pray for us
St. Henry Morse, Pray for us
St. John Southworth, Pray for us
St. John Plessington, Pray for us
St. Philip Evans, Pray for us
St. John Lloyd, Pray for us
St. John Wall, Pray for us
St. John Kemble, Pray for us
St. David Lewis, Pray for us

Let us pray. Oh God, in whom there is no change or shadow of alteration, you gave courage to the Holy Martyrs. Grant unto us, we beseech you, through their intercession, the grace to always value the Holy Mass. May we be strengthened to serve you in imitation of the courage of these Holy Martyrs. We ask this through Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever. Amen.

Vocations Sunday

I have a little message from our former PP and Vocations Director for A&B diocese on Vocations Sunday which is this weekend. (Sorry about the pic, I didn't realise his eyes were shut until late yesterday!!) Please do pray for vocations to the priesthood, religious and consecrated life.

VOCATIONS SUNDAY (29th April) is a day when, as a diocese, we pray particularly for vocations to the priesthood.

The life of the priest is immensely fulfilling. It is a calling which brings great joy and blessing. Please pray hard for vocations to the priesthood. Your sons and grandsons are those whom God may be calling to this radical way of life ... Every young Catholic single man needs to ask himself the question, at some stage in his life, 'Is God calling me to be a priest?'.

Please consider how best you might help single men of all ages to consider the calling of Christ in their lives. Do you pray for vocations to the priesthood? Could you start a parish prayer group to support vocations to the priesthood? Do you invite the young men of your parish or your family to seriously consider the priesthood? Could you be a link person with the Vocations Director for your parish? Could you organise a monthly Holy Hour for vocations in your parish? Are there other things that you could do? Please feel free to use this prayer again and again as we ask the Lord to send us many many priestly vocations for our diocese:

Father of all,
in the name of Jesus Christ
who came not to be served but to serve,
grant us the grace of many new vocations to the priesthood
in our diocese.
Give us men after your own heart who,
following the example of the Good Shepherd himself,
are willing to joyfully lay down their lives in your service
and for your glory.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Our Father ... Hail Mary ... Glory be ...

The Diocesan Vocation Director is Fr Terry Martin who may be contacted at: vocations@dabnet.org

Praying with the Pope

Couldn't resist this recent pic of Papa
Bene in a sombrero on his visit to Mexico

As Lent draws rapidly towards its climax and the start of Easter many if us may be pondering how we can keep some of the special atmosphere of prayer going after Good Friday has come and gone. Equally I'm sure many of us set ourselves extremely hard challenges that were too difficult to keep and might like the idea of adopting a less rigorous devotion or schedule for the upcoming months.

Each month the Pope releases his prayer intentions. They range from missionary endeavours to help for the sick but no matter what the topic hey are an encouragement for all of us to pray as one body, one voice, one community, one Church for a specific intention. Prayer is the single most powerful tool at our disposal and all of us praying together is a force to be reckoned with indeed. So why not join Papa Bene this April in praying that many young people may hear the call of Christ and follow Him in the priesthood and religious life and that the risen Christ may be a sign of certain hope for the men and women of the African continent.

Stations of the Cross

Each Friday evening in Lent we gather together to pray the Stations of the Cross, to walk with Jesus on that most dark, difficult and painful of journeys. We acknowledge our sinfulness, swallow our pride and instead of continually turning away from God, rejecting Him and His Church, constantly pushing Him away we turn back towards Him and, even though it is hard, we follow Him. In this overwhelming act of love, unconditional, burning love, for each and every one of us Jesus teaches us to pick up our own cross; He takes most, virtually all, of the weight, we have but a little to bear. And in walking that road with Him He uses our sacrifice, our submission to the Father's will to transform us, to help us die to ourselves and become the people we were created to be.

Tonight the Stations were prayerfully led by Fr. Richard, Fr. Aaron and the boys from Youth Cafe. Slightly less boisterous than pictured here (that photo was taken after ample helpings of pizza and fizzy drinks) they helped us to reflect on what Our Lord suffered and to pray, as Jesus did at all times, for the needs of others. Even though I am slightly biased I must admit that they did brilliantly, especially when you consider they had barely half an hour to prepare. Well done guys!

Please do join us on Good Friday at 10am where our wonderful Confirmation candidates will lead us in the Stations.

A thought for Ash Wednesday

Thought for Ash Wednesday in the Year of Our Lord 2012 from the Parish Priest

Today is a day -one of two for Catholics- of fasting and abstinence.

We fast and abstain and it all sounds like a grand gesture. It also sounds a bit quaint, and that’s partly because we don’t live in a fast and feast sort of world. Fish is pricey and preferred, celebrity chefs tell us to cook so-called cheap cuts, half the world has far too much to eat the other half is starving.

So if we try to make the grand gesture we risk it falling flat on its face. Moreover, if we try to tell our friends that we’re fasting for spiritual rather than waistline motives, we risk being laughed all the way home.

Today then is not about a grand gesture but a deep seriousness, a seriousness about God and the things of God.

Jesus, God’s son reminds us to pray.

Let us be attentive to God.

Let us turn to Him and recognise that we are dependent upon Him.

Let us pray and pray most of all in the heart of the Church before the Heart of the Lord, the living presence of Jesus in the tabernacle.

Jesus, God’s son reminds us to give.

Let us be attentive to others.

Let us reach out to others and recognise our power to do good.

Let us give most of all for the relief of the poor and hungry.

Jesus, God’s son reminds us fast.

Let us be attentive to self.

Let us thank God for the wonder of our being.

Let us do all within our power to live a healthy, balanced life.

Let us fast most of all for our own deep cleansing of those things which clog up our spiritual selves and weigh down the dignity which God desires for each of us.

No grand gestures then, just the beginning again in a very basic course of what it is to be follower of Jesus Christ. Are you ready to begin again the course?   

Ash Wednesday

Tomorrow the season of Lent begins. (Seems like only yesterday that Christmas ended, doesn't it?) This is a simply wonderful chance for us to strip back on our little indulgences and give more and more of ourselves to the Lord. Through renewed prayer, fasting and abstinence we see ever more deeply the truth, beauty and power of Our Lord's love for us in his life, passion, death and resurrection. Tomorrow we receive the sign of the Cross in ash on our foreheads, a powerful sign of repentance and our 'putting-on' of this season, of our taking it seriously, making it personal. By now I'm sure we all know what it is we're going to 'give up' for the next 40 days but there is much more to Lent than simply not eating chocolate or drinking coffee. Yes these things are important but we need to think and pray on why we are doing them, what these outward signs point towards. What we seek over the next few weeks is to deepen our relationship with Christ, to draw nearer and nearer to Him, to have a more intimate communion with Him. One thing that we could all try as we take something out is to bring something else in; going to an extra Mass each week, spending extra time in prayer, giving some time to help friends or family members who need extra love and support as well as a whole host of other things. They help us to live our love of God and our love of neighbour in a new way and move us in ways we don't always expect.

We are very fortunate in Horsham to have no less than three opportunities to go to Mass tomorrow. For all you early birds there is one at 6:30am, the usual weekday service at 10am and last but by no means least 7:30pm and this evening Mass will be followed by an evening of recollection with a talk, adoration, benediction and confessions. We look forward to seeing you and wish you a happy and holy Lenten season!

Encouraging vocations

In the last decade the number of seminarians in England and Wales has almost doubled; rising from 26 in 2001 to 51 last year. This, I'm sure you'll all agree, is extremely encouraging news as the Church cannot continue to joyfully and faithfully proclaim the Gospel for generations to come without good and holy priests to offer the Mass and adminster the sacraments each and every day.

Whilst we all rejoice in vocations to the priesthood, the religious life, the consecrated life, single life and marriage very rarely do they come to fruition all on their own. God speaks to each and every person, calls each and every person to Himself, asks each and every one of us to do some special work. No two vocations are exactly the same just as no two of us are totally alike. We have all been given different gifts and abilities and are called to use them in a wide range of ways.

Despite this call definitely being there for us it can be very hard, seemingly impossible at times, amidst the hustle and bustle and busy-ness and noise of our modern world to discern properly what this means. One thing which we can all try, especially with Lent starting tomorrow, is to make more time, more space in our day for prayer. It doesn't have to be lengthy, it doesn't even have to be complex it just has to be there. Giving God that little part of ourselves, the opportunity to work with and within us for a period of time each day may initially seem to make little impact but, believe me, it makes the world of difference.

Another thing to consider this Lent to help you or someone you know hear God's will for them in their life is to join one of the many discernment groups in our area. Our diocesan Vocation's Director runs several, including Alive in Christ - Women Discerning God's Call, which meets again next Tuesday (for more info click here) and the annual retreat for enquirers to the priesthood (click here for the details on that one). Go on, have a look. You never know where it might lead!

But most importantly of all please join me in praying a decade of the rosary every day for vocations. These prayers are always heard and answered. Let's see if, through this gentle but powerful prayer, we can help to double the number of seminarians (and more) over the next ten years!

Worshipping God as one family

We all know how vitally important it is to pray for the unity of all Christians all over the world. Christ established one Church, one Body here on earth and is truly sad, heart breaking even, to think of this Body as being fractured, divided and separated. In the Roman Catholic Church we are especially blessed to know such an intimate closeness to Christ, a profound spiritual and physical communion that even our minds cannot even dream of fully comprehending. It is only natural, only right and proper, that we should hope and pray that one day (hopefully one day in the not too distant future) all Christians might be reconciled to one another, brought together and united into a fullness of faith. Tomorrow at 6:30pm Horsham Churches Together conclude their annual week of fervent prayer for Christian Unity. This year is all the more exciting as we are leading the service at St. Mary's C of E Church in the Causeway. Please come along and join us if you can. You won't regret it!