Before the feast of the Ascension was moved to the Sunday following its traditional Thursday celebration, it was easy to recall that we are now in the nine days of prayerful waiting that the Apostles, disciples and Our Lady spent before Pentecost. This they did at the bidding of Jesus, who told them to stay together, stay at prayer… and wait. And then they experience the astonishing event we know as Pentecost, that we celebrate next Sunday. So this time between the Ascension and Pentecost became known as the Nine Days, or novena in Latin. This in turn gave its name to various practices of nine days of prayer.

It sometimes becomes clear to me that in our 3 Churches many of us are not aware of much that goes on in the life of the Church. This applies in the area of spirituality, sharing and discussion as much as in any other aspect of parish life.

So I would like to draw up a list of all such activities that are centred on prayer of any sort, sharing or discussion. This will enable people to look into and maybe become involved in something that will enable their faith to grow and develop. Our spirits need feeding just like our minds and bodies!

So let us know what you are doing. It could be in one of the churches, in school, at home or elsewhere. It could be daily, weekly, monthly or less often. It could be 2 or 3 of you, it could be dozens – anything from the Rosary in Church to a women’s group in people’s houses. Unless people know, they do not have the possibility of finding out more…

So, during these next two weeks let me have info about time, location, frequency etc, and a sentence to describe what happens/aims. Email matthew@3churches.org

Many thanks

Fr Matthew