Tag Archives: newsletter

A word in their letterboxes

newsletter

We are commanded by Jesus to go out into the whole world with our Good News, – and that includes our own back yards! While we all can identify with missionaries going off to the furthest corners of the world with the Gospel, we are all I’m sure even more aware that we ourselves are living in a culture that can sometimes seem post-Christian or totally apathetic uncaring towards the Christian message. Others would simply not know that we are here..

Starting this week, we begin an initiative planned by our 3 Churches Evangelization Group and flagged up here a few weeks ago. Each week we are simply going to pop a prayer card through the letterboxes in a street or two in the 3 Churches area, reminding our neighbours that we are praying for them, and giving them basic information about their local Catholic church. The project begins in the areas immediately around Christ the King and St Brigid’s. There will be no return visit etc – unless of course, requested by the resident.

Each week, we will put in the newsletter the names of the streets who are receiving the cards that week. This is so that you can mention them in your prayers, as individuals and in our various prayer and sharing groups. There will be info on the churches’ notice-boards too, so that you can see what the cards look like

If you would like to join the 15 volunteers we currently have (9 for the area around Christ the King and 6 for St Brigid’s) please contact Elizabeth Taylor or Anne Burns, whose details you will find on the inside pages. The more volunteers we have the less frequently your turn will come around.

Spread the word!

Fr Matthew

Nine very special days

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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

The additional Apostle

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Saint Matthias – feast day on Thursday – according to the Acts of the Apostles, was the man chosen by the believers to replace Judas Iscariot following Judas’ betrayal of Jesus and suicide.

There is no mention of a Matthias among the lists of disciples or followers of Jesus in the Gospels. His calling as an apostle is unique because it was not made personally by Jesus, who had already ascended into heaven. It was made before the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. However, according to the Acts, he had been with Jesus from his baptism by John in the Jordan to the Ascension. In the days following, Peter proposed that the assembled disciples nominate two men to replace Judas. They chose Joseph called Barnabas and Matthias, and then prayed. When they then cast lots, the lot fell to Matthias, so he was numbered with the eleven, and he was therefore present with the other apostles at Pentecost.

No further information about Matthias is to be found in the New Testament. Some in the early centuries said he was the same man as Zacchaeus, others identified him with Barnabas. The Greeks said that St. Matthias planted the faith in Cappadocia in current day Turkey and on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Some claimed he was stoned to death in present day Georgia, while some said he went to Ethiopia. Yet other traditions maintained that Matthias was stoned and beheaded at Jerusalem, or that he simply died of old age there.

A strong tradition claims that St Matthias the Apostle’s remains are buried in the Abbey of St Matthias in Trier, Germany, brought there through Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine. Others say he was buried after his martyrdom in Georgia. The feast of Saint Matthias was included in the Church Calendar in the 11th century. In 1969, his feast was transferred from February to May 14, so as not to celebrate it in Lent but instead in Eastertide, close to the Ascension, after which he became one of the chosen.

Fr Matthew

Our Lady in Cardiff

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Have you ever wondered why St Mary’s Street is so called? Have you even realised that one of Cardiff’s main streets is dedicated to the Mother of God? I’m not sure what she thinks of it now – especially on weekend evenings…

Many will know that the reason for the street’s name is the fact that the original (ie Catholic) parish church of Cardiff was called St Mary’s. It was located down the far end, roughly where Wetherspoon’s/ The Prince of Wales is now. For several hundred years in the Middle Ages it was served by Benedictine Monks from Tewkesbury Abbey in Gloucestershire, founded by the original (Norman) lords of Cardiff.

Unfortunately it was built very close to the river Taff, which flowed much closer to the town then, roughly where Westgate Street is. Slowly, over the centuries, first the churchyard and then the church itself were swept away by the river. By now, of course it was in the hands of the Anglicans, and St John’s had become the main church of the town.

When the St Mary’s church was rebuilt, it was located further south in Bute Street, where it still stands, known as St Mary the Virgin. William Wordsworth was commissioned to write a sonnet to fundraise for it! If you go inside the church, at the back you will find a plaque with a list of the parish priests going back into those medieval times. When I was pp down at St Cuthbert’s in the early 80’s, and enjoyed good relations with the vicar, I used to pull his leg – but with a more serious glint in my eye – that, er, the line of succession went a bit haywire around the 16th century!

So next time you are in St Mary Street spare a thought for our Catholic forbears who celebrated the Mass and sacraments there – and perhaps say a prayer to Our Blessed Lady for the city, as she must have a special place in her heart for anywhere that dedicated its main church to her.

Fr Matthew