All posts by 3 churches

Christmas 2014

advent

Fr Matthew and Fr Tomy wish all our parishioners, friends and readers a very Happy and peaceful Christmas, and a blessed New Year.

Reflection

Lord God, enlarge our hearts with love for you.
Make us capable of saying ‘Yes’ to you, as Mary did.
May we, like Mary,
accept with trust the changes you call upon us to make; embrace with confidence the destiny you place before us, and eagerly walk new paths with your Son.
Give us a readiness to make real the love you have for all, especially those who have forgotten the touch of love in their lives. Touch them, so that they, too,
may welcome you this Christmas time.

Give some joy

advent

John the Baptist is presented by Jesus as one of the greatest persons ever born. Yet he missed the privilege being born into the age of Christ, a privilege that has been made available to us. We could do well to emulate John in preparing ourselves for Jesus to become really part of our lives.

John was strong. He was a man of integrity. He was not one of the rich and famous. He was no pop star – all sound and no substance. He would never have made a glamorous icon for Hello magazine. Yet many people went out to hear him, to be challenged by him, to have their lives radically changed by his words.

Actually, our Christian vocation is similar to his. We are called to prepare the way for Jesus to come into our own hearts but also to prepare other people’s hearts so that they, too, may “experience the joy of salvation”, that healing, wholeness and holiness we all long for and which alone gives real meaning to our lives. Christmas is a time of gifts – both giving and receiving. Let us make sure that among the gifts we offer to others is some of the Christian joy which we ourselves have received.

From the reflection for today at “Sacred Space”
 livingspace.sacredspace.ie

Reflect

A prayer for today and for the week:

Lord Jesus,
you are Light for the World,
a lamp to our feet,
our guide, guard and protector in dark places. During this time of patient waiting and joyful expectation help us to open our hearts to welcome you;
be with us as we seek to show your infinite love
to all we meet;
and create in us a desire
to bring the light of your love
to those whose lives are filled with darkness, sadness and loneliness.
 Amen

Cracking on for Krakow

advent

Archbishop Stack has recently encouraged us all to be thinking about the next World Youth Day, which takes place in Krakow, Poland in 2016. You probably saw the amazing sights from Rio de Janeiro last year – be part of it in 2016!
It may seem a long way ahead, but time rushes on. Our diocese is determined to send a good number of young people to Krakow, and already preparation is in full swing. The Archbishop has officially launched the Registration for World Youth Day. Now full information can be found on the diocese’s WYD website – www.Cardiff2Krakow.org – where you can pick up the latest information for spiritual and practical preparation for WYD, as well as the registration form that you need to fill in.

I would like to draw the attention of all young people in our 3 Churches to this, and personally inviting you to be part of this great event and adventure. Spaces for the diocesan pilgrimage are limited. I appeal to you or anyone in our parishes or school communities who would like to participate.
I want to see our Churches represented in Krakow, and I’m sure that our parish councils would be prepared to support in any way we can, including financially. So log on, find out and sign up – crack on for Krakow!

Reflect

A prayer for today and for the week:

Lord Jesus,
John prepared a way for you in the wilderness of Judea.
As we journey through the weeks of Advent, show us the wilderness of our own lives.
Move us to respond to John’s call 
– to repent
- to change our ways
- and turn back to you.
Help us make straight our paths
and find the ones which lead to you.
Be with us Lord in this time of watching and waiting And teach us how to open our hearts to welcome you.

Fr Matthew