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Six of the best

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Tuesday marks the Feast of the Six Martyrs of Wales and their Companions. These are six Welshmen among the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales – two from the Tudor era, one from the reign of James I, and three from the so-called Popish Plot later in the seventeenth century.

St Richard Gwyn was from Montgomeryshire. A layman and school-teacher, he was hanged, drawn and quartered at Wrexham on 17 October 1584.
St John Jones, from Clynnog Fawr, Gwynned, was hanged, drawn, and quartered in London after two years imprisonment and torture on 12 July 1589.

St John Roberts, born in Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd, was executed at Tyburn on 10 December 1610.
St John Lloyd and St Philip Evans from Breconshire and Monmouth respectively. They were both executed at Cardiff in connection with the fake Popish Plot on 22 July 1679.
St David Lewis, from Abergavenny, was the last Welsh Martyr, executed at Usk on 27 August 1679.

There are also among the 85 Martyrs of England and Wales beatified by Blessed John Paul II in 1987

Blessed William Davies from Denbighshire; hanged drawn and quartered at Beaumaris Castle 27 July 1593. In addition, Blessed Charles Mahoney was Irish but was executed in Wales – his last words were: “Now Almighty God is pleased I should suffer this martyrdom. His Holy Name be praised since I die for my religion.”

England and Wales celebrate the 40 and the 85 together on 4 May – Feast Day for all the Catholic Martyrs of the English Reformation in England and Wales. However in Wales we also celebrate our own martyrs on a separate Feast Day on 25th October. That was the original date of the canonization of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales by Pope Paul VI in 1970, and previously the Feast of the 40 Martyrs throughout England & Wales.

Fr Matthew

Jesus and which lepers?

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How would you feel if somebody who had been to prison came to live next door to you? What if someone who had been to prison applied for a job with you? We feel safer if we think that people who have been to prison are a long way away, unable to threaten us. That is very much how ordinary people felt about lepers in the time of Jesus. Leprosy was seen as a punishment from God for some great sin committed. Lepers were feared and side-lined by respectable people. Made to live on the edge of towns, they had to ring a bell in front of them, and the law said you could not be near a leper, still less talk to one. Once again, we see Jesus breaking down barriers, treating everyone equally, as beloved children of God. He approaches them, talks to them, has mercy on them. They are healed of this disease which cuts them off from the rest of society, and we are reminded that everyone, regardless of race or nationality, can be close to God.
In many ways, people who have been to prison are the lepers of our age. They are set apart, the lowest of the low, and in the popular media often not treated as human beings. Now, indeed it is true that for everyone who is in prison there is at least one victim outside. It is true that some people who are in prison have committed some very serious crimes and will need expert monitoring for all their lives, whether in prison or in the community. We must never forget those things. But we must also remember that the reasons people get involved in criminal activity are very complex and often involve poverty, abuse, drug issues and feelings of alienation. What we do know is that some people in prison are very thankful for what the Church does for them. In a report “Belief and Belonging” recently commissioned by the Church, this gratitude is made very clear indeed.
In this Year of Mercy, one of the works of mercy is the ministry to prisoners. It has been commanded by Jesus in the gospel (Matt 25). Many Catholics work or volunteer with chaplaincies, and our main Catholic prison charity, PACT plays an enormous and significant role in helping prisoners to resettle among us, and also helps the families of prisoners who are so often damaged by the imprisonment.
Please pray for those in prison, and especially for those coming out who look for a welcome in their local Catholic parish. Pray for prisoners’ families in your parish affected by imprisonment. Pray for all whose lives have been damaged by crime and the actions of others. We should not be treating prisoners like lepers. We should follow the example of Jesus Christ and see in them human beings like ourselves.

Mgr Roger Reader, Catholic Bishops’ Prisons Adviser

CAFOD Harvest Fast day – this Friday

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CAFOD is the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, and works across the world to end poverty and injustice.
This week we are invited on a journey, and first we meet our travelling companion. Nicanora is a 32- year-old mother of four. She lives on a small farm on the Bolivian Altiplano – a vast, inhospitable plain almost 12,000 feet above sea level. The journey with Nicanora begins in poverty. Nicanora works long, hard days, but the conditions on the Altiplano are tough – the burning sun shrivels fragile crops, and devastating hailstorms destroy what is left. No wonder Nicanora and her four children are hungry all year round.
That’s why the first step on this journey is to dig a trench to catch precious rainwater to irrigate that potato field. Next, soil must be prepared so that carrots and onions can be planted. Bricks must be made to construct a greenhouse to protect the crops from hail and sun. A wormery must be built and used to create nutritious compost. If these steps and more are followed, through the grace of God, this journey that begins in poverty can – and will – end in abundance.
This journey will take two years. That’s why, this Harvest Fast Day, CAFOD are asking us to do something a little bit different and rather special. We are asked to stand alongside Nicanora and the people of the Altiplano.
In this Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has said: “We will entrust the life of the Church, all humanity, and the entire cosmos to the Lordship of Christ, asking him to pour out his mercy upon us like the morning dew, so that everyone may work together to build a brighter future.” Now is our chance to work together with Nicanora as she embarks on that journey towards a brighter future.
Adapted from CAFOD’s Harvest Fast Day Message