It is hard to believe that it is July already; the first half of the year seems to have rushed along so fast. As a nation the great celebration of Independence has been celebrated with due ceremony and fireworks. SO what do we look forward to in the second half of this year? Well,I can’t speak for the nation but here in the parish we will see soon the completion of the Rectory extension and the reordering of the offices to serve you, the parish, better. Our new projects for vestibule refurbishment, disability access, statue of St Louis de Montfort and glass for the front doors will be underway… but what about us, the Church, rather than the building (church with a little c)? Well, how can we refurbish and perhaps rebuild? We need to seriously look at how we are a missionary community. Pope Francis, before he was elected Pope, memorably told the Cardinals when they were gathering for the conclave that elected him that he had the image of Jesus knocking at the door of the Church (an image that come from Revelations). Typically of Francis, he said he didn’t think that Jesus was on the outside knocking to come in, but he was on the inside of the Church waiting to be let out!
So how are we going to harness our faithfulness, our convictions in Christ and our beatitudinal dynamic and let the Jesus we love get out there and bring salvation closer to all. This will involve the three “T”s: our Time, our Talents and our Treasure. I ask while you are enjoying the summer months, to reflect upon how you and your family can offer yourselves for service to the mission to build the Kingdom of God. It’s great that we have faith and live it in the Catholic tradition, but we must not be possessive of it; rather go out and share our convictions and our joy at being Catholic Christians.
Our work on upgrading things, especially this first phase of Church renovation, is to make the building and campus a more inviting and welcoming place; the question is however – and it is for all of us to answer – how are we as the Catholic community inviting and welcoming, friendly and supportive…?
May God bless you, your families, and the week ahead,
Fr Aidan Peter