St Thomas of Canterbury Fulham

WELCOME TO ST. THOMAS OF CANTERBURY

Welcome to the web-pages of the Roman Catholic Church of St. Thomas of Canterbury, Fulham in the Archdiocese of Westminster. Here you will find information about us including Mass times and parish contacts.

Our postal address is 60 Rylston Road, SW6 7HW. You will find us between Dawes Road and Lillie Road. Bus routes 74,190,430 on Lillie Road and 211,295 on Dawes Road. The nearest underground stations are Fulham Broadway and West Brompton, both served by the District line (Wimbledon branch). West Brompton is also on an Overground line (Clapham Junction – Willesden Junction)

You can contact us on 020 7385 4040, by fax 020 7610 2506 or by Email: fulham@rcdow.org.uk.

The main purpose of a parish is to help its members grow in holiness, so that it becomes a model, on a small scale, of what the whole church should be. For this to come about it requires that all should work closely together and recognise in each other the unique vocation given to every individual through their Baptism and Confirmation thereby supporting and strengthening the faith of other believers and bringing it to those who still have yet to receive the gift.

Every parish is part of a diocese with a Bishop (and, our case, an Archbishop) as its leader. Every parish is also part of a deanery (in our case, Hammersmith and Fulham). Parishes need to work together and to support the initiatives of the Bishop. Parishes need also to work with Christians of other denominations, people of other faiths and with non-believers. Parishes should also be involved in local affairs and witness to Christian values. Parishes need to have a welcoming heart to all and a missionary zeal for those beyond their boundaries and those overseas.

I hope that in St. Thomas’ you will sense a strong desire for us to be welcoming and accepting of all, a willingness to learn from each other and a yearning to be instruments of God’s love here in Fulham and elsewhere.

Fr. Paul McGinn,

Parish Priest

6 Easter 2012

The May Magnificat  (Gerard Manley Hopkins 1844 – 1889)

May is Mary’s month, and I

Muse at that and wonder why:

  Her feasts follow reason,

  Dated due to season—

Candlemas, Lady Day;

But the Lady Month, May,

  Why fasten that upon her,

  With a feasting in her honour?

Is it only its being brighter

Than the most are must delight her?

  Is it opportunest

  And flowers finds soonest?

Ask of her, the mighty mother:

Her reply puts this other

  Question: What is Spring?—

  Growth in every thing—

Flesh and fleece, fur and feather,

Grass and greenworld all together;

  Star-eyed strawberry-breasted

  Throstle above her nested

Cluster of bugle blue eggs thin

Forms and warms the life within;

  And bird and blossom swell

  In sod or sheath or shell.

All things rising, all things sizing

Mary sees, sympathising

  With that world of good,

  Nature’s motherhood.

Their magnifying of each its kind

With delight calls to mind

  How she did in her stored

  Magnify the Lord.

Well but there was more than this:

Spring’s universal bliss

  Much, had much to say

  To offering Mary May.

When drop-of-blood-and-foam-dapple

Bloom lights the orchard-apple

  And thicket and thorp are merry

  With silver-surfed cherry

And azuring-over greybell makes

Wood banks and brakes wash wet like lakes

  And magic cuckoocall

  Caps, clears, and clinches all—

This ecstasy all through mothering earth

Tells Mary her mirth till Christ’s birth

  To remember and exultation

  In God who was her salvation.

5 Easter 2012

THE DECALOGUE OF POPE JOHN XXIII

1. Only for today. I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.

2. Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behaviour; I will not  criticize anyone; I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.

3. Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world, but also in this one.

4. Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.

5. Only for today, I will devote ten minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading  is necessary to the life of the soul.

6. Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.

7. Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure that no one notices.

8. Only for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision

9. Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good providence of God cares for me as no one else who exits in this world.

10. Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is  beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed, for twelve hours I can  certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.

4 Easter 2012

Fr. Paul Writes:

PRIESTS TRAINING FUND

The Priests’ Training Fund needs our help. The wonderful news is that more men are now training for the priesthood at our seminary than at any time for 10 years. But there is still much more to be done – as half of our current priests will retire within the next 20 years – and you can make a real difference by offering your prayers (Today is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations). But you can also do so by contributing to today’s collection for the Priests’ Training Fund as everything that you give will be used to encourage, support and train those men who God is calling to the priesthood. Please give as much as you can afford as this work depends on donations. You can also make a donation online by visiting www.rcdow.org/donations.

As a parish we have been blessed to have had seminarians in training living and working with us. And you, the parishioners, have been a source of great encouragement to them. Thank you for all that support and thank you (in anticipation) for your response to this weekend’s appeal.

HOLY WEEK & EASTER 2012

PALM SUNDAY 1st APRIL Palms will be blessed and distributed at all Masses.

Masses: Saturday 31st Vigil Mass at 6.30pm - Sunday 1st 9.00am.

The Family Mass starts at 10.00am in Normand Park (near Fulham Pools) with members of other Christians churches.

12 noon, 3.00pm (Portuguese) & 6.00pm.

Monday 2nd of April – Mass 9.30am – Parish Penitential Service 8.00pm

Tuesday 3rd of April – Mass 9.30am, Chrism Mass (Westminster Cathedral) 12.00noon.

Wednesday 4th of April – Mass 9.30 followed by Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament until 11.00am.

 THE SACRED THREE DAYS (Thursday 5th – Saturday 7th)

These important days celebrate ONE event in THREE PARTS. We want to encourage everyone to seriously consider taking part in ALL of the three great celebrations – Mass of the Lord’s Supper (Thursday 8.00pm), Celebration of The Lord’s Passion and Death (Friday 3.00pm) and the great Easter Vigil (Saturday 8.00pm).

Maundy Thursday brings an end to Lent. That night we begin the Three Days that are the centre of our year. Adults in the parish are invited to plan ahead so that the whole time from Thursday night until the Easter Vigil is free of social engagements, free of entertainment, free of meals except for the simplest nourishment. We make Good Friday and Holy Saturday free for prayer and reflection and preparation and silence. The church is getting ready.

Whether you are old or young, currently active in the parish or not, please set these days aside. All of us should know that our presence at the liturgies is not just by invitation. We are all needed here. All of us need this whole community together on its greatest days.

On these Three Days, we gather a number of times. Together we listen to some of the church’s most beautiful prayers and readings. Please look closely at the timetable (overleaf) and make plans to take part in these celebrations. Above all, come to the Easter Vigil to welcome especially five new members who will be baptised.

MAUNDY THURSDAY, 5th APRIL – MASS OF THE LORD’S SUPPER  8.00pm. Watching at the Altar of Repose (No. 62) until midnight

GOOD FRIDAY, 6th APRIL – A Day of Fasting & Abstinence (one mail meal and no meat)

11.00am – Children’s Station of the Cross (Rehearsal at 10.00am)

3.00pm – SOLEMN CELEBRATION OF THE LORD’S PASSION

5.00pm – Portuguese celebration of the Passion followed by outdoor procession and Way of the Cross.

HOLY SATURDAY, 7th APRIL – THE GREAT EASTER VIGIL  8.00pm

EASTER SUNDAY, 8th APRIL – Masses 9.00am, 10.30am & 12 noon ONLY

4 LENT 2012

HOLY WEEK & EASTER 2012

The start of Holy Week is just two weeks away. Now is the time to get ready for the Great Week of the year. Here is a preview of our parish celebrations. Take note of the dates and times now so that you may engage in most important events in the church’s year. To prepare for this Great Week everyone is encouraged to go to Confession. There will be extra opportunities provided:

Saturday 31st March there will be an extended period for

    The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) from 10.30am until 1.00pm.

Monday 2nd April we will have our Parish Lenten Penitential Service  at 8.00pm

PALM SUNDAY – 1stAPRIL    Palms will be blessed and distributed at all                           Masses.

THE GREAT THREE DAYS (TRIDUUM)

MAUNDY THURSDAY—5th APRIL  Mass of the Lord’s Supper  8.00pm

GOOD FRIDAY – 6th APRIL  The Lord’s Passion  3.00pm

HOLY SATURDAY – 7th APRIL  The Great Easter Vigil  8.00pm

Further details next week.

3 LENT 2012

At Masses this weekend, we receive a Letter from Archbishops Vincent Nichols and Peter Smith on behalf of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. It is a statement of our Catholic faith about marriage and issued in the light of the forthcoming consultation by the Government on changing the legal definition of marriage. In the light of this letter  (copies of which you will find on the papers’ table,) you are asked to consider signing the Coalition for Marriage’s online petition which can be found at www.CAM.org.uk. It reads:

“I SUPPORT THE LEGAL DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE WHICH IS THE VOLUNTARY UNION FOR LIFE OF ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN TO THE EXCLUSION OF ALL OTHERS. I OPPOSE ANY ATTREMPT TO REDEFINE IT”

The Archbishops also say that after Easter there will be a more detailed leaflet on the Government’s consultation itself, for distribution in parishes, to assist Catholics in making their own response to the consultation.

Please, click on the link below to download the letter from Archbishops Vincent Nichols and Peter Smith:

Letter on Marriage for 10-11 March 2012 (2)

2 LENT 2012

Sr. Paula Jordao

SR PAULA JORDAO, who belongs to the community of sisters who live in the parish, known as Verbum Dei, has been given a new assignment in Lisbon by her superiors. Sister Paula came to Fulham in 2005 and since 2006 has been involved in the Baptism and Confirmation preparation programmes in our parish and has been part of the Young Adults in the West Team (set up by Bishop Alan Hopes). She was also part of the Diocesan Team for recent World Youth Day in Madrid. We want to have an opportunity to celebrate all her wonderful work here and in the diocese. There will be a special farewell Mass here on Saturday 10th March at 6.30pm which will be followed by a celebration in St. Augustine’s School Hall (St. Thomas’ School Hall is still out of action). We will be appealing next weekend for help in organising the event and preparing food. Please let others know of these plans. Latest News – at the celebration afterwards, in St Augustine’s Hall, Sr. Paula will launch her first CD “Dancing with your Cross”. Make sure you are there!

1 LENT 2012

Books for Lent will be found on the papers table.

1. My day by Day,  The readings for Mass each day £1.00

2.Walk with me, Reflections for each day £1.00

3.Stations of the Cross, (various) £1.95 / £2.50

4.Blessed John Henry Newman, Meditations £1.95

5.Blessed John Henry Newman, Prayer Book £1.95

MONDAYS, MASS at 9.30am

TUESDAYS, MASS at 9.30am  Prayer Group (fortnightly after tea/coffee)

WEDNESDAYS, MASS at 9.30am EXPOSITION after Mass until 11.00am

THURSDAYS, MASS at 6.30pm

FRIDAYS, MASS at 7.00am followed by light breakfast

                      MASS at 12 noon followed by CAFOD Soup Lunch

                      STATIONS OF THE CROSS at 7.00pm

                      FILM (24th Feb & 23rd Mar.) at 7.30pm.

SATURDAYS, MASS at 10.00am

CONFESSIONS  from after Mass until 11.00am

CONFESSIONS & EXPOSITION from 5.30 – 6.15pm

VIGIL MASS at 6.30pm.

SUNDAYS, MASS at 9.00am, 10.30am. 12 noon, 3pm (Portuguese) & 6.00pm.

LENT 2012

LENT starts on ASH WEDNESDAY (22nd February)

Everyone is encouraged to come to Mass

(9.30am & 8pm) to receive the blessed ashes.

ASH WEDNESDAY is a day of FASTING & ABSTINENCE.

We are asked to have one main meal and abstain from meat.

MONDAYS, MASS at 9.30am

TUESDAYS, MASS at 9.30am  Prayer Group (fortnightly after tea/coffee)

WEDNESDAYS, MASS at 9.30am EXPOSITION after Mass until 11.00am

SPECKS OF LIGHT faith sharing 7.30pm

THURSDAYS, MASS at 6.30pm

FRIDAYS, MASS at 7.00am followed by light breakfast

MASS at 12 noon followed by CAFOD Soup Lunch

STATIONS OF THE CROSS at 7.00pm

FILM (24th Feb & 23rd Mar.) at 7.30pm.

SATURDAYS, MASS at 10.00am

CONFESSIONS  from after Mass until 11.00am

CONFESSIONS & EXPOSITION from 5.30 – 6.15pm

VIGIL MASS at 6.30pm.

SUNDAYS, MASS at 9.00am, 10.30am. 12 noon, 3pm (Portuguese) & 6.00pm.

Fr. Paul Writes:

12th February 2012 –  Sixth Sunday of the Year

LENT starts on ASH WEDNESDAY (22nd February) and ends on the morning of MAUNDY THURSDAY (5th April).

Everyone is encouraged to come to Mass on Ash Wednesday (9.30am & 8pm) to receive the blessed ashes.

ASH WEDNESDAY is a day of FASTING & ABSTINENCE.

We are asked to have one main meal and abstain from meat.

Lent is a time for everyone to take on something extra. There are three traditional areas suggested – prayer, fasting, almsgiving. Now is the time to think “What can  I do?” To help you we have devised some ways that might be helpful.

PRAYER:      Come to Mass during the week.

There will be an early Mass on Fridays at 7am followed by a light breakfast (proceeds to CAFOD)

There will be a midday Mass on Fridays followed by a soup lunch (proceeds to CAFOD)

Stations of the Cross will be on Fridays at 7pm.

FASTING: Support Lent Fast Day (Friday 2nd March)

Give up some food/drink and support a charity with savings.

ALMSGIVING Help the local charity FOODBANK by weekly gifts

There will also be a Lent Faith Sharing Group Wednesdays at 7.30pm.

Message of The Holy Father on the occasion of The World Day of the Sick

5th February 2012 –  Fifth Sunday of the Year

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

….From a reading of the Gospels it emerges clearly that Jesus always showed special concern for sick people. He not only sent out his disciples to tend their wounds but also instituted for them a specific sacrament: The Anointing of the Sick. The Letter of St. James attests to the presence of this sacramental act already in the first Christian community: by the Anointing of the Sick, accompanied by the prayer of the elders, the whole church commends the sick to the suffering and glorified Lord so that he may alleviate their sufferings and save them; indeed she exhorts them to unite themselves spiritually to the passion and death of Christ so as to contribute thereby to the good of the People of God.

…. I wish to encourage sick people and the suffering always to find a safe anchor in faith, nourished by listening to the Word of God, by personal prayer and by the sacraments, while I invite pastors to be increasingly ready top celebrate them for the sick.

The World Day of the Sick is on Saturday 11th February

Fr. Agustin Writes:

29th January 2012 –  Fourth Sunday of the Year

This Thursday 2^nd of February we will celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. In this Feast the Church recalls and honours the bringing of the new born Christ to the temple by Mary and Joseph for the prescribed offering. That rite, according to the Jewish Law was to take place 40 days after the child’s birth. In the course of this ritual Anna and Simeon, two holy prophets, beheld the Christ child and recognised him for who he was: the long- awaited, promised Messiah who would redeem all people.  This Feast is also called Candlemas, for it is an illumination, a revelation of Christ as the fulfilment of God’s promises of old and hence the tradition of using candles in this feast which symbolise Christ as the light of the world. We will bless these candles as we gather before Mass and will walk in procession with the candles lit. Next day, Thursday 3^rd on the feast of St. Blaise again candles will be used for the blessing of throats.

Forty days ago we celebrated the light of the world, Jesus Christ coming in his birth at Bethlehem. This week we continue to celebrate the true light that came into the world, we continue honouring Christ as the light against darkness, as the light which no darkness in our lives can overcome. May these feasts remind us of Christ’s promised presence in our lives.

“Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace, just as you promised; because my eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared for all the nations to see, a light to enlightened the pagans and the glory of your people Israel.”

Fr. Paul Writes:

22nd January 2012 –  Third Sunday of the Year

WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

This annual week runs from 18th – 25th January and is an opportunity for all Christians to focus on something we should be actively involved in throughout the year. During the week there are celebrations in many churches when Christians of all denominations seek to highlight all that unites us already and to pledge themselves  to working and praying for the unity of the Christian church.

In Fulham a group called Christians Together in Fulham meets every two months or so to plan events in the area and to share news of their various communities.  They have arranged a special service for this week at St. Andrew’s Church, Star Road at 4.00pm this afternoon. I am hoping that St. Thomas’ will be well represented given that St. Andrew’s is our nearest Anglican church.

They have just completed some interior work in the church and are keen to show it off to us!

Prayer for Christian Unity is the prayer of Jesus himself (“Father, may they all be one”) In my experience there have been times when we all thought that Christian Unity was just a matter of discussions and programmes .In recent times there have been growing tensions between churches particularly regarding the ordination of women . What is of primary importance is our faith in the words and the prayer of Jesus. It is He who will guide us all together. Seeking at all times and living the truth as proclaimed by Him is what will bring us to unity.

Fr. Agustin Writes:

15th January 2012 –  Second Sunday of the Year

With the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord last Monday we concluded our Christmas festivities which we all celebrated this year with great joy and excitement. This week we return to Ordinary Time. When we hear the word ordinary we immediately think: common, routine, boring, it’s the end of Holidays so back to normal! However, there is nothing boring in the Church, well…almost nothing but certainly not this Ordinary Time. We have just celebrated Christmas, the mystery of the Incarnation; God loved us so much that he become flesh, one like us. In the face of such extraordinary event nothing can ever be normal again!

The word Ordinary comes from the Latin term ordinalis which means counted and that reminds us that our time, or days, our months and our years are ordered or counted. Our time in this world is not ordered only around our jobs, families, duties, relaxations, hobbies and all that we consider ordinary but our life, our time here on earth is ordered around Christ coming into the world to establish the kingdom of God. Christ coming into the world to save us through his death and resurrection. Christ who was raised up to the Glory of God and will come again at the end of times to establish his kingdom for ever. This is what time is ordered around and counted toward! Christ has promised us he will come in Glory as King of all creation, this is what we are called to remember and celebrate during the Ordinary Time and we do this most fully when we come to the Church to celebrate the Eucharist. Here, we eat the bread from heaven, the body of Christ and drink the Cup of salvation, his blood. When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, O Lord, until you come again. (Memorial Acclamation)

Fr. Paul Writes:

8th January 2012 –  Epiphany of the Lord

The Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord has several themes and is seen not just in the visit of the wise men. Firstly, the wise men are guided through darkness by the light of the  star. Secondly, the star is a sign that leads the wise men to Jesus, Thirdly, Jesus is revealed not just to his own, the Jewish people, but to the whole world. Fourthly, God reveals himself (in Jesus) in human flesh. Other manifestations or epiphanies are at the Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan and at the Wedding Feast at Cana (the first miracle or what St. John calls “sign”.

The Feast is also the moment when the announcement of Easter and other moveable feasts are announced.  The Easter Triduum  (three days) begins on Thursday 5th April and The Easter Vigil on Saturday 7th April and Easter Sunday 8th April. Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent 22nd. February; The Ascension  Sunday 20th May: Pentecost 27th May.

All these wonderful days and celebrations to come!

CHRISTMAS 2011

PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS:

     Sacrament of Reconciliation, Confession:

    Mon.19th December  8.pm  PARISH  PENITENTIAL SERVICE

     Tue.20th / Wed 21st / Fri. 23rd  after 9.30am Mass until 11.00am

       Sat.24th after 10.00am Mass until 12 noon.

 CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS:

CHRISTMAS EVE (Saturday 24th December)

Mass at  10.00am (Confession 10.30am– 12noon)

There will be NO Mass at 6.30pm

        11.30pm  Readings and Carols

        12.00am  First Mass of Christmas

CHRISTMAS DAY (Sunday 25th December)

        Mass at  9.00am, 10.30am(Family Mass), 12 noon  ONLY.

        There will be NO Mass at 6.00pm.

BOXING DAY -   Feast of St. Stephen (Monday 26th December)

                      Mass at  10.00am

CHRISTMAS CRIB OFFERINGS  – Catholic Children’s Society

CHRISTMAS FLOWERS – a) If you would like to help with the costs, please put your gift into an envelope marked “Xmas Flowers”

b) Donate a Christmas Poinsettia in memory of a loved one. All will be remembered at 10.00am Mass on 26th.

11th December 2011 -  Third Sunday of Advent

CHRISTMAS 2011

Mon.19th December  8.00pm PARISH  PENITENTIAL SERVICE

CHRISTMAS EVE (Saturday 24th December)

Mass at  10.00am

There will be NO Mass at 6.30pm

11.30pm Readings and Carols

12 midnight MIDNIGHT MASS

CHRISTMAS DAY (Sunday 25th December)

Mass at  9.00am, 10.30am(Family Mass), 12 noon  ONLY.

There will be NO Mass at 6.00pm.

BOXING DAY -  Feast of St. Stephen (Monday 26th December)

Mass at  10.00am

Tuesday 27th – Feast of St. John   Mass at 9.30am

Wednesday 28th – Feast of The Holy Innocents   Mass at 9.30am

Thursday 29th – FEAST OF ST. THOMAS OF CANTERBURY

Mass at 9.30am

Friday 30th – Feast of The Holy Family  Mass at 9.30am

Saturday 31st  -  Mass at 10.00am

NEW YEAR’S DAY- FEAST OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD

Mass (Sat.6.30pm)  9.00am, 10.30am & 12 noon ONLY

Fr. Paul Writes:

4th December 2011 -  Second Sunday of Advent

ST.THOMAS’ SPECIAL FRIENDS ADVENT MASS: Saturday 10th December at 6.30pm. Every year our Special Friends arrange a special parish Mass in the season of Advent. Come and join them celebrate “ Rejoicing Sunday”  (3rd Sunday of Advent) and afterwards some International carols, mince pies and mulled wine in No. 62. Everyone is very welcome.

NEARLY NEW SALE: Many thanks to all who supported the Sale last Sunday. Altogether £300 was raised for The Passage charity in Victoria. And there’s even better news! This week all donations to The Passage will be matched £1 for £1 so our £300 will become £600!.

ANNUAL CHRISTMAS LUNCH FOR OUR SENIOR PARISHIONERS SUNDAY 4TH DECEMBER 2011, 1.00pm.

THOSE WHO HAVE KINDLY OFFERED TO HELP PREPARE THE HALL OR THE FOOD. ARE ASKED TO PRESENT THEMSELVES ON SATURDAY 3RD DECEMBER AT 11.00AM  AT ST. AUGUSTINE’S SCHOOL HALL, DISBROWE ROAD W6 8QE. THOSE OFFERING TO COLLECT OUR GUESTS WILL BE CONTACTED BY PHONE EARLY THIS WEEK.

Fr. Paul Writes:

27th November 2011 - First Sunday of Advent

MAKING THE MOST OF ADVENT

1. Use one of the Advent booklets to find some time for  prayer

        “My Day by Day” (£1) contains the  Mass readings for each  day.

        “Walk with Me”(£1) has reflections for each day

           These will be found on the papers’ table

2. Come to Mass, if you can, during the week.

3. Support our Advent Giving Tree Appeals.

4. Have an Advent Wreath at home.

5. If you have children – have an Advent Calendar (shop)

6. Resist celebrating Christmas now ! It’s Advent

7. Make a note of The Parish Penitential Service

          – Monday 19th December 8.00pm

8. Join the Meditation Group (Mondays 5th & 19th December)

9. Join the group going to “The Messiah” (Tuesday 6th Dec.)

10.  Support the Cafod Fairtrade sale (Sun 4th Dec.)

20th November 2011 - Solemnity of Christ the King

ADVENT FOR US / CHRISTMAS FOR SOMEONE ELSE

Next Sunday we begin the Season of ADVENT. Each week we will focus on one particular charity and appeal for specific gifts. We ask everyone to bring their gift(s) and place them around our advent giving tree.

WEEK ONE-SUNDAY 27th November. THE MANNA CENTRE (near London Bridge) cares for homeless people (mainly men). We are appealing for warm winter clothing (eg, jackets, jumpers, trousers, scarves, gloves, duvets. These should be in good condition—if they are not new.

WEEK TWO – SUNDAY 4th December. FOODBANK is a local charity (Christ church, Sturridge Road SW6)  which seeks to help families in need. They would appreciate items for babies and young children. (eg. nappies, baby foods, loo rolls, baby wipes, strong shopping bags and tin-openers!)

WEEK THREE– SUNDAY 11th December. WOMEN AT THE WELL  is a women-run charity at Kings Cross for vulnerable women and women in need. They ask for toiletries (eg. soaps, shampoos, shower gel, conditioner ) Small containers please.

WEEK FOUR – SUNDAY 18th December . CATHOLIC CHILDREN’S SOCIETY (St. Charles Square, W10) cares for children in need. They are looking for Toys and books for children. These should be in good condition if they are not new.

Fr. Paul Writes:

13th November 2011 - 33 Sunday in Ordinary Time

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY 2011

Our Kids Club made an interesting find last week in the person of Corporal Edward Dwyer VC. Edward was the youngest person (at the time), to be awarded the Victoria Cross “for conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty at Hill 60, on 20 April 1915” He was baptised and married in St. Thomas’ and on the day he received his VC he said (to the boys in his former school) “This is the most eventful day of my life, and it makes me feel I should do something more for my country and my religion.” He did. He died, with 60.000 others  in the Battle of the Somme just over a year later on 3 September 1916. A mass was said for the repose of his soul here in this church in the presence of his parents and his widow. May he rest in peace. On this day we remember and pray for all those who like him gave their lives in the wars of the last century and now those who have died in recent and continuing conflicts. The 9 am Mass will be our Remembrance Day Mass and afterwards a wreath will be laid at the war memorial in our cemetery.

On this day also we have our annual bereavement Mass at 6pm when we welcome the families of those who have died in the past year. All are invited to take a poppy as they come into church to remember their loved ones and to prayerfully support each other in their loss. Our bereavement support group have kindly arranged refreshments after this Mass in the Bowden Room—to which all are very warmly invited.

6th November 2011 - 32 Sunday in Ordinary Time

SICK AND RETIRED PRIESTS’ FUND APPEAL -  NOVEMBER 13TH 2011

Bishop Alan Hopes writes:

“There are now nearly 100 retired priests in the diocese and five more are due to retire next year. This is increasing the pressure on our funds and this pressure is likely to grow as the local authority cut-backs come through”

Sick and retired priests need your help. The annual parish collection for the Sick and Retired Priests’ Fund takes place next weekend and it is more important than ever that everyone gives as much as they can afford. Many of our retired priests need a lot of support in their old age. Please take a donation envelope and bring it back next weekend with your contribution. If you pay tax, you can add 25p to every £1 that you give—at no extra cost to you— by completing the Gift Aid Declaration on the back of the envelope. (You can also make a donation online at www.rcdow.org.uk/donations)

ANNUAL CHRISTMAS LUNCH FOR OUR SENIOR PARISHIONERS SUNDAY 4TH DECEMBER 2011, 1.00pm.

Please note that because of building works at St. Thomas’ School, the lunch will be held in St. Augustine’s School, Disbrowe Road, W6 8QE. Those who attended last year and for whom we have their names and addresses will shortly receive an invitation by post.

If you were not at last years lunch and would like to come please complete the slip on the newsletter and hand it to one of your priests or put it in the presbytery letter box.

We need DRIVERS, PEOPLE TO SET-UP THE HALL, FOOD PREPARERS, WASHER-UPPERS, PEOPLE TO HELP CLEAR UP   etc. MAKE A NOTE OF THE DATE NOW  AND LET US KNOW NEXT WEEK HOW YOU CAN HELP.

ALL THOSE on our November Dead lists are prayed for at every Mass that month.

NEARLY NEW SALE

We are looking for donations of nearly new clothes and jewellery for a sale in No 62  on the weekend 26th/27th November. Have a look in your cupboards for those items you’ve hardly ever worn or the jewellery you’ve grown tired of. Proceeds will go to The Passage (which helps homeless people).  Please note this is NOT a jumble sale.

PILGRIMAGE TO FATIMA AND COMPOSTELA

Fr. Paul & Fr. Pedro (Portuguese Chaplain) have arranged a special pilgrimage to Fatima (Portugal) and Compostela (Spain) from 11th—16th June 2012 also visiting Porto, Braga & Guimaraes. FULL details will be published next week. Make a note of the dates now so that you may make sure of a place on what promises to be a wonderful experience! Our Portuguese parishioners can’t wait to show us their beautiful country!! There will be opportunities to sample Portuguese cuisine and enjoy Portuguese music and dancing.

NOVEMBER DEAD LIST

You will find lists and envelopes at both doors of the Church. Please, return them as soon as possible so that they can be included in our Book of the Dead and be a focus for prayer every day in November.

Fr. Agustin Writes:

23rd October 2011 - 30 Sunday in Ordinary Time

During the month of November, the Church remembers and prays especially for the souls of those who have gone before us in faith. November begins with a special Mass of the Dead, The commemoration of all the faithful departed (All souls Day on November 2) In that Mass we remember our loved ones and all parishioners who have died. Throughout the month, the Book of the Dead, a book which contains the names of those who have died, especially in recent years, will be displayed to be a focus of prayer every day during November.

The origins of this book is to be found in the ancient necrologies (list of the dead) kept in many monasteries and other religious houses. This practice of having a parish book of the dead, a parish necrology, is a powerful expression of our Christian faith regarding death. It recalls the practice of determining a saint’s feast day by the date of his/her death, date known as the Dies Natalis, or “day of birth” the day they are birthed into the new and eternal life of the kingdom.

Our faith proclaims that death is nothing of which to be afraid because our Lord has gone there before us and, we proclaim, has conquered death. Rather than fearing death, we proclaim that it is our entrance into the great, eternal banquet feast of the Lamb as the priest says now using the new translation in the rite of communion; “Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb”.

Remember to write your November dead list with the names of your loved ones who have died. Think of them, write their names down, put it in an envelope and give it to us so that the list can be included in the Book of the Dead. When the book is displayed, have a look, spend some time looking through the names, you might recognise some of the names written there, pray for those whose names are listed in the book, for the forgiveness of all their sins, that God in his great mercy will bring them to himself.

NORTH SHEEN CEMETERY MASSES

They will take place at 2.30pm on Sundays 6th, 13th and 20th November. “Our” day will be 20th November.

FEEDBACK FROM ANNUAL PARISH MEETING SUNDAY 9TH OCTOBER 4.30PM

16th October 2011 - 29 Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thank you to all those who came last Sunday afternoon to the first Annual Meeting for St Thomas ’s Parish. Following a report about the Parish Finances and questions & answers, it was an opportunity for us to share news about all the many different activities in our Parish and to get feedback on how things could be improved or changed & plan for the future.

One of the issues raised is that many of us would like to offer help but cannot commit availability for regular times. We are in need of volunteers to join some of the existing teams within the Parish, so offering yourself as available occasionally may address this problem. For example we need:

Readers for various Masses (training for readers will be arranged once we have some volunteers)

Our Soup Kitchen is in need of help on a weekday from 11.45am – 1.15pm – our parish is the only Soup kitchen left in the area, so please help us continue to offer this to those in need.

The Youth groups are keen to have new volunteer helpers and visitors who would like to share a skill or interest with the groups.

If you feel you can be contacted for an occasional request to Read, help at the Soup Kitchen in No 62, support or join the Youth Teams or if you have any other wish to be involved but aren’t sure what may be suitable, please take a moment to call the Parish Office on             020 7385 4040       and leave your details with Mary Wilfred, the Parish Administrator and someone will be pleased to get in touch and find a way you can help.

Records of the Parish Finances will be posted on the Notice board in the Church as will any other information about groups and contacts.

If you have any suggestions or ideas of what you would like to see in our Parish, please contact me via the parish telephone number or email address:

Fulham@rcdow.org.uk

Fr. Paul Writes:

9th October 2011 - 28 Sunday in Ordinary Time

ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

SUNDAY 9TH OCTOBER  4.30PM

This meeting is open to all members of the parish and is an opportunity for everyone to find out know more about our parish . There will be presentations from our Parish Advisory Committee and our Parish Finance Committee. There will be an opportunity to discuss plans for the coming year.  Refreshments will be served from 4.15pm onwards! The meeting will be in The Bowden Room—next to the Sacristy and to the toilet in the Church. The meeting will last just one hour. Everyone is MOST WELCOME!!

To everyone who joins us today, familiar faces and strangers – you are welcome!

A tous ceux qui joignent a nous, visages familier sour etrangers, soyez les bien venus!

A todas as passsoas que hoje se junatm a nos, caras conhecidas ou novas -  sejam muito bem vindas!

Bienvenidos toos aquellos, caras nuevas o conocidas, que hoy nos estas acompanando!

Fr. Agustin Writes:

27th September 2011 - 27 Sunday in Ordinary Time

The new translation of the Mass is up and running, already after a few weeks we all seem to respond almost automatically “and with your spirit” It was a process, it took some time, from the old “and also with you” passing through to the intermediate stage

“and also ups! urspirit” to finally getting it right “and with your spirit” If you have travelled this summer to Europe and been to Mass in Italy, Spain or Germany with a  little grasp of the language you might have noticed that they say: “and with your spirit” so it was English the only major European language that did not mention the spirit. We were doing it differently! The response “and with your spirit” is the literal translation of the Latin Et cum spiritu tuo that was adopted worldwide.

There seem to be important scriptural and theological reasons behind this change. The greeting “and with your spirit” was quite alien to the ancient world and only used by Christians. St. Paul often ends his letters with: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with your spirit”. What “and with your spirit” focuses on is human beings as spiritual entities, St. Paul’s understanding of the human being was as made of body, soul and spirit. Therefore, it is not strange that in a religious environment such as the liturgy we focus on ourselves as those into whom God has given his own Spirit. God formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostril his “Spirit” of Life. The strangeness of the phrase in English probably comes from the loss of the spiritual dimension of the person in the secular culture we live in.

In the liturgical context “and with your spirit” has something to do also with Holy Orders, traditionally the people who used this greeting were ordained. St. John Chrysostom explains in one of his works that when we say “and with your spirit” to the priest we are in fact saying to him: may God assist you to use those spiritual gifts that you received at your consecration because without them this liturgy cannot take place. The priest is about to invoke the Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine, the priest’s spirit needs to be attuned to that so there is a sense that Holy Orders are involved here. “And with your spirit” seems to be pointing out that the Liturgy of the Church is much more than just a “religious service” the Mass is not the priest’s show and it’s not only about this community and our sense of fellowship, liturgy is about Christ and about his work of salvation. Let us take this opportunity of the new translation to discover new things and leads us to a more profound understanding of the Eucharist.

Fr. Paul Writes:

25th September 2011 - 26 Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Bishops of England and Wales on the first anniversary of Pope Benedict’s Visit to the UK have asked that we commemorate his visit by observing Fridays in a special way. Traditionally, Friday for us is linked with Good Friday when we celebrate the self-giving of Jesus for us in his suffering and death on the Cross. Over the centuries Christians have marked this day in different ways,  by abstaining from meat, by giving up some favourite food, or by making the Stations of the Cross. In his homilies to us during his visit, Pope Benedict encouraged the Catholic community to be more confident and courageous in the outward practice of their faith. The Bishops see the practice of abstaining from meat as one way of going public in our society and they want to encourage us to re-adopt what was a common practice forty years ago. But then it was assumed that you should eat fish instead. The irony was that in many cases fish was more expensive! Nowadays alternatives to meat are much more available—so why not give it a go!

Fr. Agustin Writes:

18th September 2011 - 25 Sunday in Ordinary Time

Nearly two million young people from all over the wold attended the WYD closing Mass with Pope Benedict XVI in the airfield of Cuatro Vientos in Madrid on the 20^th of August. The open-air Mass with the Holy Father was the climax of that incredible experience which this World Youth Day has been for all pilgrims that took part in it and in particular for the 120 Westminster pilgrims who returned home full of enthusiasm; truly rejoicing in the Lord. Our parish was, of course, represented by Monica Chmlova, Sr. Paula Jordao and myself also joined the Westminster group. Fr. Pedro and the young people from the Portuguese community were also there and joined us for the Westminster pilgrims Mass with Archbishop Vincent Nichols in Madrid. Can you imagine what it meant to be together, two million young Catholics with Pope Benedict in Spain? It was really a feast of faith, it has certainly been a great success and an event of great importance for the Catholic Church, something wonderful is happening in the Church!  The Pope invited us to avoid the “Fashion of individualism” “we cannot follow Jesus on our own” he said, Do not keep Christ to yourselves! Share with others the joy of your faith” and that’s what we would like to do now in our parish. It is very difficult to put into words what we have lived together in Madrid over this summer but we would like to share our experiences with all of you the best we can. We are planning to make a presentation and show it one evening to those who are interested to hear more about World Youth Day (you don’t need to be young to come!) we want to share WYD with the whole parish. We will let you know the date and time of the World Youth Day Madrid 2011 presentation but meanwhile do have a look at the WYD blog http://www.rcdow.org.uk/wyd/blog/ to hear some stories on WYD and visit our Flickr photos, I believe you have already seen a few! All I can say is that we really had a great time!

Fr. Paul Writes:

17th April 2011 - 5 Sunday in Lent (Palm Sunday) 

Celebrating the Sacred Three Days (Maundy Thursday to Holy Saturday)

21st – 23rd April 2011

These important days celebrate ONE event in THREE PARTS. I want to encourage everyone to seriously consider taking part in ALL of the three great celebrations – Mass of the Lord’s Supper (Thursday 8.00pm), Celebration of The Lord’s Passion and Death (Friday 3.00pm) and the great Easter Vigil (Saturday 8.00pm).

Maundy Thursday brings an end to Lent. That night we begin the Three Days that are the centre of our year. Adults in the parish are invited to plan ahead so that the whole time from Thursday night until the Easter Vigil is free of social engagements, free of entertainment, free of meals except for the simplest nourishment. We make Good Friday and Holy Saturday free for prayer and reflection and preparation and silence. The church is getting ready.

Whether you are old or young, currently active in the parish or not, please set these days aside. All of us should know that our presence at the liturgies is not just by invitation. We are all needed here. All of us need this whole community together on its greatest days.

On these Three Days, we gather a number of times. Together we listen to some of the church’s most beautiful prayers and readings. Please look closely at the timetable (overleaf) and make plans to take part in these celebrations. Above all, come to the Easter Vigil to welcome five new members who will be baptised and another five who will become full members of the Church.

Fr. Paul Writes:

3rd April 2011 - 4 Sunday in Lent

The start of Holy Week is just two weeks away. Now is the time to get ready for the Great Week of the year. Here is a preview of our parish celebrations. Take note of the dates and times now so that you may engage in most important events in the church’s year.

To help us prepare there are three special moments:

1. Sr. Paula will speak on the Passion according to St Matthew (which is read on Palm Sunday) in a talk entitled “Contemplating God’s Face” on Thursday 14th April from 7.30 – 9.00pm in No. 62.

2. On Saturday 16th April there will be an extended period for the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) from 10.30am until 1.00pm.

3. On Monday 18th April we will have our Parish Lenten Penitential Service  at 8.00pm

PALM SUNDAY – 17th APRIL   Palms will be blessed and distributed at all Masses. Note – The 10.30 Mass will start at 10.00am in Norman Park  with an ecumenical blessing and procession of Palms

MAUNDY THURSDAY—21st APRIL  Mass of the Lord’s Supper  8.00pm

GOOD FRIDAY – 22nd APRIL  The Lord’s Passion  3.00pm

HOLY SATURDAY – 23rd APRIL  The Great Easter Vigil  8.00pm

Fr. Agustin Writes:

27th March 2011 - 3 Sunday in Lent 

“Today’s Sunday is the first baptism scrutiny, there are three scrutiny Gospels during Lent; the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well that we listen on this Sunday, the healing of the man born blind: next Sunday and the raising of Lazarus from the tomb on the fifth Sunday of Lent. During these three Sundays and through the Gospels those who are to be baptised at Easter come before God to examine their hearts and their lives to see if they are ready and properly disposed. In the same way, the Church invites those of us who have already been baptised, and who will renew our baptism at Easter, to look honestly and examine the way we are living our Christian faith today, and to recognise any need we have for change – conversion. Through the gospels that are proclaimed, Christ gently yet powerfully revels to the elect and indeed to us all the areas of our lives that need to be strengthened and healed.

The scrutiny Gospel today tells of the meeting of Jesus with the Samaritan woman, at Jacob’s well. This is an image; an “icon” of the meeting that each one of us should have with our Lord Jesus Christ, as we prepare to renew our Baptism at Easter. Christ leads us to “see” (be illumined) the full story of our life and the often hidden meaning of our past history and the events that are now shaping our lives. Christ can help us understand the true purpose of all our sufferings and joys, our failures and successes, and of all that has been tragic or magnificent in our lives; and of all our human relationships. The grace of this scrutiny is to be reconciled and to be at peace with our life journey, and never to deny or reject it.

Where is this meeting take place? Where do we dialogue with Christ? Where is Jacob’s Well for us today? That place where, tired and thirsty on our Lenten journey, we can find some rest and refreshment. That place is the Sunday Mass, our weekly Eucharist, let us welcome this grace of God for our lives.”

Fr. Paul Writes:

20th March 2011 - 2 Sunday in Lent

“How’s your Lent going? I have to admit that time is flying by and a number of plans I had for celebrating this special and holy season have yet to take off! A resolution to spend some time each day reading a spiritual book has not happened! An intention to find some more space for meditation  has yet to become a reality! Instead, I find myself mesmerised by the plight of the poor folk in Japan and the continuing traumas still facing them. And then there are the troubles in Libya and elsewhere. Their Lent is rather different from mine—and yours!

Today’s Gospel, the story of Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain in the presence of his friends, Peter, James and John is a timely reminder (to me) that it is important for us to have some space away from our usual pursuits to waste time in the presence of the living God and also to realise that we can’t hang on to these moments for ever – there are situations and challenges that we need and must attend to, which are happening around us. As nearly always it’s a question of trying to find the right balance – and that is rarely achieved!

 The First Reading can perhaps help us to sort things out. In it God calls Abram (later to be called Abraham) to embark on a journey, a journey away from his own country to a land that the Lord was to show him. In the Transfiguration Jesus’ friends glimpse their ultimate goal but then are told by Jesus (rather mysteriously) that the way there is through the Cross.  That journey is ours. The account of Jesus’ transfiguration gives us hope . We need to set our eyes on him. Our Lenten efforts help us to focus on him and also to do what we can to see to the needs of others.  Have a good second week of Lent ! (And I will try to get down to that reading and the meditation! )

Fr. Agustin Writes:

13th March 2011 - 1 Sunday in Lent 

“The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) tells us of the double meaning of Lent: A period of final preparation for those who are to be baptised at Easter (the elect) and for all who have been already baptised, a season to prepare once again to meet God’s infinite love and mercy in the waters of baptism; in the waters of new life. The Lenten preparation of the elect is a model for the whole Church. During Lent they enter a final period of spiritual preparation and purification; they pray and reflect on the great mystery they are about to enter through their baptism. So, too, do all the baptised prepare. Together with the elect we prepare by intense prayer and reflection, penance and reconciliation.

The Church has long provided ways as means of this preparation: penance; the ancient disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving; self – denial and self – discipline. But let’s remember that none of these ways and end in themselves, they are not boxes we need to tick off in order to fulfil our “Lenten duties” and get our medals at Easter, they are meant to be the ways by which we prepare to receive God’s merciful forgiveness in penance and reconciliation and to renew the baptism in which we first experience that mercy, forgiveness and love.

The ashes that were imposed on our foreheads last Wednesday help us to acknowledge our need for penance, our need to atone for our sins, knowing that we can be washed clean in the waters of baptism that will flow freely on the night of the Easter Vigil. The mercy of God which will be revealed at Easter is greater that our sins, it’s greater than any failing of ours. Together, elect and baptised alike we journey through Lent towards the Paschal Mystery of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us keep in our prayers the elect of our parish and those who will be received this Easter, ten of them will go through the Rite of Election on Sunday at Westminster Cathedral. We are looking forward to welcoming them as newly baptised and full members of this parish community at the Easter Vigil.”

Fr. Paul Writes:

20th February 2011 - 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“In today’s Gospel we have two further statements setting out the way of keeping the law which Jesus, the new Moses, demands. It is a matter first of all of  going beyond the limits of the law of retaliation, which was common to ancient cultures. Harsh as it may appear to us, the law of retaliation in its day marked a  definite improvement by comparison with the unbridled succession of acts of revenge. At the time of Jesus, the law of retaliation was no longer applied in its original strictness, although the principle remained. Jesus, by contrast, preaches non-violence and non-retaliation. He goes even further.

The Old Testament  called on God’s people to love neighbour as oneself. “Neighbour” meant  fellow Jews: it was extended at best to the foreigner settled in Israel, or to the settler who had been adopted or assimilated. But for Jesus every person, even an enemy or a persecutor, becomes a neighbour. The love Jesus speaks of is given concrete expression in behaviour, welcoming the foreigner, and praying for those who persecute us.

If we are tempted to regard this idea as naïve, we have only to look around us to realise that a friendly gesture is often more effective than a conference on disarmament, that justice is made genuine through charity, that patience is the strength of the non-violent. But all this pales into insignificance before the fact that Jesus himself was the perfect model of these attitudes which make up the essence of Christianity.”

Fr. Agustin Writes:

13th February 2011 - 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“If you try hard to fulfil the Law of Moses, the 10 commandments, on your own strength you might succeed. It will certainly be very challenging but not impossible;  working on it in the course of our life we should manage not to kill anybody, not to steal, not to commit adultery…that’s the Old Covenant which is possible to fulfil (at least most of it) having good intentions and strong will. Today’s first reading tells us: “If you wish, you can keep the commandments; to behave faithfully is within your power.”

However, the new Moses, Jesus comes and gives us what we call the New Law (the Sermon on the Mount) that completes the Old one: You have heard how it was said, you shall not kill, that’s something that perhaps I can do, I haven’t killed anybody so far! but I say this to you, (here it comes Jesus’ new Law) if a man calls his brother “Fool” he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin. Now I ask:  who has not got angry with someone; who has not called someone a fool? And again: You have heard how it was said you shall not commit adultery, that’s more difficult but trying hard it is possible. New law: but I say this to you if a man looks at a woman lustfully he has already committed adultery in his heart.  Who has not looked at a man or a woman lustfully?!

If the Sermon on the mount was “a law” then it would be even more difficult than the one we had before, and that’s way some people think that the Sermon on the Mount is for 1^st class Christians; for religious, nuns or priests, as if there were 2nd class Christians for whom the 10 commandments are enough and 1^st  class Christians who are up to the New Law! has Christ  come to make our lives more difficult giving us a law which is impossible to fulfil on our own strength? I don’t think so, Christ has come to set us free so that in him we may live our lives to the fullness.

We Christians coming to the Gospel and in particular to the Sermon on the Mount we should pass from trying hard to a life of grace. These words of Jesus are not for us to try hard, we should welcome them as a promise, as a gift from God and God himself will fulfil them in us. He has already given us this word fulfilled in his son Jesus Christ.”

Fr. Paul Writes:

6th February 2011 - 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Next Friday, 11th February, is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, and for the past twenty years or so has been the World Day of Prayer for the Sick. Pope Benedict writes a message each year . Here are some of his words:

“I still have in my heart the moment when, during the course of the pastoral visit to Turin, I was able to pause in reflection and prayer before the Holy Shroud, before that suffering face, which invites us to reflect on He who took upon himself the passion of human beings, of every time and place, even our sufferings, our difficulties, our sins. To contemplate the Shroud is an invitation to reflect upon what St. Peter writes: “By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 P 2:24). ……

St. Bernard observed: “God cannot suffer but He can suffer with” God wanted to suffer for us and with us; He became man so that He could suffer with us, in a real way, in flesh and blood. To every human suffering, therefore, there has entered One who shares suffering and endurance….

Especially you, dear sick people, feel the nearness of this Heart full of love and draw with faith and joy from this source, praying “Water of the side of Christ, wash me, Passion of Christ, strengthen me. O good Jesus, hear my prayers. In your wounds, hide me” (Prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola.) Pope Benedict XVI , Message for the World Day of the Sick

Fr. Agustin Writes:

30th January 2011 - 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“This Wednesday 2^nd of January we will celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. In this Feast the Church recalls and honours the bringing of the new born Christ to the temple by Mary and Joseph for the prescribed offering. That rite, according to the Jewish Law was to take place 40 days after the child’s birth. In the course of this ritual Anna and Simeon, two holy prophets, beheld the Christ child and recognised him for who he was: the long- awaited, promised Messiah who would redeem all people.  This Feast is also called Candlemas, for it is an illumination, a revelation of Christ as the fulfilment of God’s promises of old and hence the tradition of using candles in this feast which symbolise Christ as the light of the world. We will bless these candles as we gather before Mass and will walk in procession with the candles lit. Next day, Thursday 3^rd on the feast of St. Blaise again candles will be used for the blessing of throats.

Forty days ago we celebrated the light of the world, Jesus Christ coming in his birth at Bethlehem. This week we continue to celebrate the true light that came into the world, we continue honouring Christ as the light against darkness, as the light which no darkness in our lives can overcome. May these feasts remind us of Christ’s promised presence in our lives.

“Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace, just as you promised; because my eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared for all the nations to see, a light to enlightened the pagans and the glory of your people Israel.”

Fr. Paul Writes:

23rd January 2011 - 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 

“In the Christian community thankfulness is just what it is anywhere else in the Christian life. Only the one who gives thanks for little things receives the big things. We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts he has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts…. We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts. How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from him the little things? If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith and difficulty; if, on the contrary we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ….

Christian community is like the Christian’s sanctification. It is a gift of God which we cannot claim. Only God knows the real state of our fellowship, of our sanctification. What may appear weak and trifling to us may appear great and glorious to God. Just as the Christian should not be feeling his/her spiritual pulse, so too, the Christian community has not been given to us by God to be constantly taking its temperature. The more thankfully we daily received what is given to us, the more surely and steadily will fellowship increase and grow from day to day as God pleases.

Christian fellowship is not an ideal which we must realise: it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we must participate. The more clearly we learn to recognise that the ground and strength and promise of all our fellowship is in Jesus Christ alone, the more serenely shall we think of our fellowship and pray and hope for it.”  Pastor Dietrich Bonheoffer  Life Together

 

Fr. Agustin Writes:

16th January 2011 - 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 

“With the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord last Sunday we concluded our Christmas festivities which we all celebrated this year with great joy, excitement and depth, this week we return to Ordinary Time. When we hear the word ordinary we immediately think: common, routine, boring, it’s the end of Holydays so back to normal! However, there is nothing boring in the Church, well… almost nothing but certainly not this Ordinary Time. this new season we enter is anything but normal. We have just celebrated Christmas, the mystery of the Incarnation; God loved us so much that he become flesh, one like us. In the face of such extraordinary event nothing can ever be normal again!

The word Ordinary comes from the Latin term ordinalis which means counted and that reminds us that our time, or days, our months and our years are ordered or counted. Our time in this world is not ordered only around our jobs, families, duties, relaxations, hobbies and all that we consider ordinary but our life, our time here on earth is ordered around Christ coming into the world to establish the kingdom of God. Christ coming into the world to save us through his death and resurrection. Christ who was raised up to the Glory of God and will come again at the end of times to establish his kingdom for ever.

This is what time is ordered around and counted toward! Christ has promised us he will come in Glory as King of all creation, this is what we are called to remember and celebrate during the Ordinary Time and we do this most fully when we come to the Church to celebrate the Eucharist. Here we eat the bread from heaven, the body of Christ and drink the Cup of salvation, his blood. When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death Lord Jesus, until you come in Glory. (Memorial Acclamation)”

Fr. Alan Writes:

9th January 2011 - Baptism of the Lord

“This weekend we celebrate The Feast Of The Baptism Of The Lord. In some ways, this is not an easy matter to make sense of, because we can so easily get into a muddle thinking of our Baptism. Jesus of course did not need to be baptized as we do. Our Baptism brings us into the family of God and indeed into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Our Baptism frees us from sin and of course Jesus was free from sin. What then is this feast about?

Well Baptism for Jesus and for us is the beginning of something new. For Jesus it marked the beginning of his public ministry. The quotations are therefore from a coronation psalm used to mark the beginning of a King or Queen’s reign, here they draw attention to the Reign of the Kingdom Of God which was made present in Jesus. The reign of God brings to an end the power of sin over us and to make the point of how totally involved and determined on this God was and continues to be, Jesus completely identifies himself with sinners by joining them in the River Jordan. This is what we mean by “Incarnation” God in Jesus totally involved with us. He is with us in our sinful condition whilst being without failure or sin himself. He brings us through it, through, in a symbolic way “the Jordan” into the new life of God. We may then be addressed as the Beloved Daughters and Sons of God as Jesus was and to be confident that “God’s favour rests on us”. The account of the Baptism of Jesus is a prayer picture story which teaches us that God is with us, it is a Nativity story, that is why we think of it at this time.

I’m asked to write these few thoughts to introduce the Feast whilst Frs Paul and Agustin are in the sun! I’m sure that with me we wish my brother priests rest and joy. God Bless you.”

2nd January 2011 - Epiphany of the Lord

 Dear all,

Thank you very much for your Christmas cards, gifts and offerings.

We are most grateful for your generous support at this time and throughout the year.

We wish you, your families and friends, every blessing in 2011.

                Fr. Paul & Fr. Agustin

 

19th December 2010 - 4th Sunday in Advent

Frs. Paul and Agustin

wish you and yours,

 

A Happy and Holy Christmas

and

every blessing in the New Year

 

Fr. Agustin Writes:

12th December 2010 - 3rd Sunday in Advent

“On the evening of December 17^th the final stage of preparation for Christmas begins with the first of the great “O Antiphons” of Advent. Each evening in the Prayer of the Church (the Liturgy of the Hours) we sing the canticle of Mary; the “Magnificat”, the beautiful song of praise found in Luke 1:46-55 in which Mary sings the blessings of God and his saving action in her life. A short verse called “antiphon” is sung/recited before the canticle, that antiphon is unique to each day and provides the focus for this prayer. During Evening Prayer on the last seven nights before Christmas the proper antiphons for the “Magnificat” are known as the “O Antiphons” because each one begins with the exclamation “O”! Each one first addresses Christ using an ancient title from scriptures and ends with a dramatic plea for the Messiah to come and save us.

Most of us are familiar with these ancient texts as they are contained in the verses of the well-known song: O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Here they are: December 17th: O Wisdom, you come forth from the mouth of the Most High. You fill the universe and hold all things together in a strong yet gentle manner. O come to teach us the way of truth. December 18th: O Adonai and leader of Israel, you appeared to Moses in a burning bush and you gave him the Law on Sinai. O come and save us with your mighty power. December 19th: O stock of Jesse, you stand as a signal for the nations; kings fall silent before you whom the peoples acclaim. O come to deliver us, and do not delay. December 20th: O key of David and sceptre of Israel, what you open no one else can close again; what you close no one can open. O come to lead the captive from prison; free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. December 21st: O Rising Sun, you are the splendour of eternal light and the sun of justice. O come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. December 22nd: O King whom all the peoples desire, you are the cornerstone which makes all one. O come and save man whom you made from clay. December 23rd: O Emmanuel, you are our king and judge, the One whom the peoples await and their Saviour. O come and save us, Lord, our God.

As Christmas draws near and the cry for the Lord to come becomes increasingly urgent, we might like to read them and meditate on them, they will help us prepare for Christmas. Families could say them as a grace at meals, as a prayer for children before going to bed, parish groups can use them as a gathering prayer. It might be an idea to take a copy of O come O come Emmanuel and each night pray a different verse. Let us ask the Lord to come and teach us, to come and save us, to come and set us free… ”

Fr. Paul Writes:

5th November 2010 - 2nd Sunday in Advent

 “John the Baptist is a significant figure in the season of Advent (and in today’s Gospel). He fits into our Advent celebration . For is not our life is still advent: faith, expectation, patience and longing for what is not yet visible? John the Baptist believes despite everything. He is the messenger preparing the way for God, in his own heart and life first of all, preparing the way for God who takes such an inhumanly long time to come and does not even come to the rescue when his prophet is imprisoned, the God who always seem to arrive when it is too late. The Baptist knows that God always make his point, that he wins by losing, that he is living and gives life by being out to death himself, that he is the future which seems to have no future. In a word, the Baptist believes.

We are in Advent all through our lives, for we Christians await one who is still to come. Only then shall we be proved right. Until then, however, the world seems to be right. The world will laugh, you will weep, the Lord said. We too have to live with unanswered questions, with our own struggles, with the hardness of life.”

“The Church is still an advent Church; for we are still waiting for him who is to come. And the Church rightly tells the impatient who want to see God directly here and now: Prepare for this God the true way, the way of faith, of love, of humility and the way of patience with its unimpressive provisional messengers and their poor words and small signs. For then God will most certainly come. He only comes to those who in patience love his forerunners and the provisional. Those who rejected John the Baptist because he was not the One, did not recognise Jesus when he came.” (excerpts from two homilies by the Jesuit theologian, Karl Rahner 1904—1984).

Fr. Agustin Writes:

28th November 2010 - 1st Sunday in Advent

“On this Sunday, we enter into the season of Advent. At the beginning of today’s liturgy we bless the Advent wreath and as the first purple candle is lit, we ask that the light of Christ, the light of his grace; of his salvation, may come into our hearts and guide us towards Christmas and the feast of the Incarnation.

Advent means coming, on this season we focussed on the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ at the end of time, the event which will bring history to its conclusion. Christmas has already happened, we need to prepare for the second coming, that’s the one you and I should be concerned about!  Are we ready to welcome the Lord if he was to come tonight? Stay awake says to us Jesus in the gospel, he is coming back to bring God’s promise to its fulfilment.

Do not rush Christmas! It is not yet the time for Carols and Christmas cards.  It’s Advent not Christmas; do not be deceived by the already overwhelming Christmas advertising campaigns, Christmas has its own season. On this first week of Advent Christ calls us to get ready for the unexpected event of his second coming. We need to stay awake and pray so that on that day we may be able to stand ready.”

Fr. Agustin Writes:

14th November 2010 - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 

“We have nearly completed the circle; the liturgical year is coming to its end. Next Sunday we will celebrate Christ the King and after that we will begin a brand new year, a year of grace! It’s at this time of the year, when we come to the completion of the Church’s calendar, that we start listening to dramatic readings such as today’s gospel about the end of the world – the end of times and the return of Christ in glory.  Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again, that’s the mystery of our faith that we proclaim in every celebration of the Eucharist.

Our faith tells us that God has a plan for human history which is being accomplished; human history has a direction and will come to its conclusion.  After the prayer of the Our Father we also say: we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Yes, not in fear and horror but in Joyful hope!

The description Jesus gives us today of the end of the world and those images to come in the next few weeks might appear to be terrible and frightening. But we, who have been baptised into the promise of Christ’s return in Glory, see in these intense descriptions and images the culmination of all the ancient promises of God: that one day Christ will return to establish his kingdom of peace and justice. Each time we say the creed we proclaim that the Lord will come in Glory to judge the living and the dead; and his kingdom will have no end. We wait in peace and confidence and thus today’s gospel become the descriptions of the beginning of something wonderful; a new world, a brand new way of living, a new creation in Christ Jesus. Now we watch for the day, hoping that the salvation promised us will be ours when Christ our Lord will come again in his glory.” (Preface of Advent I)

Fr. Paul Writes:

7th November 2010 - 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

“West London Citizens is a grouping of people from many different faith and cultural communities in our part of London who look at local issues that affect our area, who examine how we value our citizens  and how we treat the most vulnerable in our society. It is an amazing mixture of Christians, Muslims, Jews and those who have no religious affiliations. In the past five years members have looked at and acted on issues like the Living Wage, City Safe and Citizens of Sanctuary. There have been meetings with The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, with leading politicians before the recent General Election, and with local businesses. There have been successes. Boris Johnson, for instance,  accepted and supported in principle the Living Wage of £7.20 per hour for people working in London.( Note this is higher than the legal minimum wage because it takes into account the extra cost of living in London). This and many other issues are bound to grow in importance as the effect of the government’s  restrictive measures begin to bite.  So now is the hour to galvanise our resources and as citizens work together for the good of the whole community ( now becoming known as the “big society”).

On Thursday 18th November West London Citizens are holding their 5th Annual Assembly in Hammersmith Town Hall, King Street, Hammersmith at 7.15pm. As a parish we already belong to West London Citizens – and so we are invited. If you want to get a sense of what West London Citizens do and who they are,  here’s your chance! We need a  group to represent the parish at this meeting.  Representatives from the Government and from big businesses will be challenged on the issues that affect us and if past assemblies are anything to go by, the presence of  such a wide diversity of people (citizens) will make a strong impact on those exercise power in our community. This is not party politics. This is not socialist meddling. It is a democratic exercise in citizenship encompassing all political parties, cultures and faiths. We will be joined by people from neighbouring parishes (Fulham Road and Parsons Green) and representatives from a number of Catholic Schools. I would like us to have a group that shows our wonderful diversity so please do consider seriously whether you would come along. There are other opportunities for training  and learning how to be more effective citizens. These are all FREE!  Those who want to come along or who want to know more should speak to me.”

Fr. Agustin Writes:

31st October 2010 - All Saints 2010

“The Church’s calendar is full of feasts of saints; on December 29^th we celebrate the feast of St. Thomas of Canterbury, the patron saint of our Church, August 28^th St. Augustine of Hippo, a saint very dear to me! In October we’ve had the feasts of some significant saints such as St. Luke the Evangelist, St. Edward the Confessor, St. Teresa of Jesus, the great Spanish mystic, not to be confused with St. Therese of the Child Jesus, the little flower whose feast day also took place in October etc. All year round we celebrate the lives of these remarkable men and women who have given authentic, inspiring example of sanctity and we believe they are “now” with God.

Why then do we need to set apart another day for the Feast of all Saints?  The reason is because All Saints is really about the countless saints without names, those saints “whose faith is known to you alone” Eucharistic Prayer IV. Apart from the handful of saints whose feasts we celebrate on particular days throughout the year, there are countless other unknown saints and martyrs, men, women and children united with God in the heavenly glory whom we do not officially celebrate, today we also honour their memory.

In fact, the Church does not “make” anyone a saint, She “recognises” a saint. The title of Saint refers to a person who has been formally canonized (officially recognized) by the Church, and is therefore believed to be in Heaven but there are many people believed to be in Heaven who have not been formally declared as saints. Thus, the saints are beyond all counting, there is “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Rv.7:9) God is generous. Among them are surely members of our family and friends, perhaps our parents or grand-parents who have helped us on our way to faith. We give thanks to God for this great “cloud of witness” that surrounds us. The saints we celebrate, known or unknown, were men and women like us, they show us that we are all called to be saints. Holiness is not for a few, it is for everyone, a gift of God for you and me.”

Fr. Paul Writes:

24th October 2010 - 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Today’s Gospel (about the two people who went up to the Temple to pray) made a special impact on me when I was a child because in the translation then (50+ years ago) the second person was called a “publican”  (now described as a tax-collector!)  and (guess what?) my father was a publican! And the fact that the publican/tax collector comes off better in the story made me feel very proud of my dad.

In this story Jesus is exaggerating the characteristics of the two contenders and in some ways makes them look ridiculous. But there is a serious side to his story because he is highlighting two extremes of the religious society of his day  – two ways of looking at God. The question for each of us today might be—in which do I see myself, the Pharisee or the tax collector?

First, the Pharisee, with his magnificent “prayer of thanks” – “I thank you God….” He asks nothing for himself, and we should judge him no hypocrite. What he says, he does, and perfectly. The trouble is he knows it too well: he listens to himself praying, he is preoccupied with himself. Above all, he judges others. As far as he is concerned about God, he sees him chiefly as the one who will recognise his merits. Set against this religiously observant man we have the tax collector. He makes no prayer of thanksgiving: he confesses, not because he needs to sweep his conscience clear (the Pharisee has done that for him), nor to go back over his faults, but to express all the sorrow he feels for them. Finding nothing that could give him any assurance before his judge, he entrusts himself to the divine mercy: hoping to receive his very existences as a grace, a gift. When this humble man returned home, he and not the other was at rights with God.

As Christians we know that a just person is one who has been justified, saved by God, without regard for merit. Do we believe that firmly enough when we pray? How we pray reveals how we see God and ourselves. Find some time this week just to quietly think about today’s Gospel and to let God’s grace and mercy touch you as you are not as you’d like to be.”

Fr. Agustin Writes:

17th October 2010 - 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“This Sunday we welcome Bishop Alan Hopes and the Young Adults from the West at the 6.00pm Mass. After the celebration of the Eucharist, the young adults will gather with the bishop in the school hall for a bowl of Spaghetti Bolognese and the faith-sharing event which includes a meditation on the Sunday gospel and small groups sharing. The event concludes with the popular section called “Grill the Bishop”; a question- answer time with Bishop Alan who will be willing to be” grilled” by the often challenging questions the young people come up with.

Young Adults in the West in Fulham would like to be a follow up from the Papal visit and no better place to host the event than our parish for its connections with Blessed John Henry Newman who preached at the opening of this Church in 1848. He was a friend of the benefactress of the Church, Mrs. Elisabeth Bowden and her late husband in whose memory the Church was built. Blessed John Henry Newman himself has inspired the theme for the event “Heart to Heart” which also recalls the motto of the recent visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the UK.

The youth event has been prepared by the young adults of our parish, there is a core group in St. Thomas’ called Catholic Young Adults in Fulham, we are aged 18-35 and come together once a month to pray, socialize, share and celebrate our faith. We usually gather after the 6.00 pm Mass on Sunday evening. Our next Catholic Young Adults in Fulham meeting will be on Sunday 7th of November at 7.00pm in the Bowden room. Catholic Young Adults in Fulham will take the opportunity of this Sunday youth gathering to let themselves known to other young adults in the parish and invite them to come and join in. For more information, please contact Fr. Agustin, you can also find us on Facebook groups: Catholic young adults in Fulham”

Fr. Paul Writes:

10th October 2010 - 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“BETWEEN OURSELVES…..    There are a number of  current parish issues I’d like to share with you – some are just to put you in the picture and others are things you (or someone you know) might be able be give us a hand with.

on Monday we begin our Journey in Faith programme. This is primarily for people who are interested in the Catholic Church and in joining it. It’s difficult for many to take the first step and so often when those who do present themselves are asked “why did you leave it so long?” their reply is “no-one ever invited me!” So perhaps there is someone you know who wants to be asked! It might be your husband/wife. It might be a friend. It might be a work colleague. The recent visit of Pope Benedict could well have influenced some. So could I invite you to look around and see if there’s someone you could invite. And don’t leave her/him to come on their own! Come with them! The course is also open to baptised Catholics who for some reason or another have missed out on receiving Holy Communion of Confirmation.

Our First Reconciliation Programme (Confession) is in full swing. Last Sunday the children preparing were presented to the parish at the 10.30am Mass. This means that registration for the course is closed and no more children can be accepted for this programme and for the First Eucharist programme (after Christmas). I realise some parents will be disappointed but I have to point out that notification of all the relevant dates and procedures were published in this newsletter every weekend since June.

Secondary School Transfer references are presently being processed. Parents who missed last Tuesday’s meeting are asked to contact Fr. Paul or Fr. Agustin as soon as possible. You will need to collect a form from us before we meet you and you child.

Our Parish Administrator, Maria Connolly, has decided to return to nursing and the diocese has advertised for her replacement. You might know someone who could do the job. Full details will be found on the diocesan web-site— www.rcdow.org.uk/jobs  The closing date for applications is next Friday (15th October) and interviews will be on Friday 22nd. We wish Maria well in her new post and thank her for her warm welcome (at the door and  on the phone) and for bravely tackling the Diocesan Accounting system!

Keep all the members of your parish in your prayers as we do you in ours!”

Some echoes of the visit of the Holy Father to the UK:

“In this country we deeply appreciate the involvement of the Holy See in the dramatic improvement in the situation in Northern Ireland. Your Holiness, your presence here today reminds us of our common Christian heritage and of the Christian contribution to the encouragement of world peace, and to the economic and social development of the less prosperous countries of the world. We are all aware of the special contribution of the Roman Catholic Church, particularly in its ministry to the poorest and most deprived members of society, its care for the homeless and for the education provided by its extensive network of schools.”  The Queen

“You have really challenged the whole country to sit up and think, and that can only be a good thing.”  David Cameron

“He had a very kind expression on his face. He had a very modest air at a human level, that’s how he came across to me. I am fascinated by faith. Envious is the wrong word, but I think to have faith at all must be a wonderful thing.”  Nick Clegg

“It was an honour and a privilege to be asked to meet the Pope at Heathrow, and I had spent the previous couple of days thinking what to say….Here he was, Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict XVI, the upholder of Catholic teaching in a morass of relativism, with his stern but interesting critique of our secular world.”  Boris Johnson

“Your consistent and penetrating analysis of the state of European society in general has been a major contribution to public debate on the relations between Church and culture, and we gratefully acknowledge our debt in this respect.” Rowan Williams

Archibishop Vincent Nichols reflects on the Pope’s Visit:

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

“We have been very blest indeed by the Visit of Pope Benedict during those four marvellous and unforgettable days. His presence has brought such joy and given a great boost to so many. I am immensely grateful to Her Majesty The Queen for extending the invitation to Pope Benedict to come on a State Visit to the United Kingdom.

There is so much to talk about. But at this point I offer some brief initial reflections.

The Holy Father has given us new heart for our mission. In our Cathedral he spelt out that task. He said we are to be witnesses to the beauty of holiness, to the splendour of the truth and to the joy and freedom born of a living relationship with Christ.

We have glimpsed the beauty of holiness especially in the moments of prayer during this Visit. The holiness of God is reflected in the reverence shown in the liturgies, in the actions of the Mass, in the music and song we have offered and most vividly in the silence of prayer. The beauty of this holiness permeates us from within as ‘heart speaks unto heart’. I will never forget the richness of the silence of 80,000 people at prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in Hyde Park. I hope every celebration of Mass contains times of shared silence in which we can draw close to the Lord.

We witness best to the splendour of the truth of our faith when we follow the example given by Pope Benedict. In speaking of our faith he was always so gentle and courteous, so sensitive to the achievements and anxieties of his listeners, so clear and reasoned in presenting difficult points, so humble and open-hearted. We must strive for these same qualities when speaking about our faith, in witnessing to its truth.

The Holy Father has also asked us to witness to the joy and freedom born of a living relationship with Christ. He certainly did so himself, with his own serenity and unfailing generosity of response to both individuals and great crowds. We can do the same, day by day, as long as our focus remains on the Lord and, particularly, in his power to forgive and heal us. We find our joy and freedom in the saving sacrifice of Christ. From it we draw the strength to be generous and self-sacrificing ourselves. Young people, too, gave witness to this joy and freedom. Outside our Cathedral they exclaimed their desire to be saints in the third millennium! Their pathway will be that of heartfelt prayer and generous service.

With the blessings of this Visit we can be more confident in our faith and more ready to speak about it and let it be seen each day. A small step we can all take is to be quicker to say to others that we will pray for them, especially to those in distress. Prayer is the first fruit of faith in the Lord and we grow so much by giving prayer its place in our homes and in our hearts. Even the simple step of more regularly using the greeting ‘God bless you’, gently and naturally, would make a difference to the tone we set in our daily lives as would the more frequent use of the Sign of the Cross. Making faith visible is so much a part of the invitation the Holy Father has extended to us all.

In these ways we can begin to respond to the urging of the Holy Father ‘that the Catholics of this land will become ever more conscious of their dignity as a priestly people, called to consecrate the world to God through lives of faith and holiness.’

I thank everyone who worked so hard in preparation for this Visit, through difficulties, doubts and criticism. I thank all who came to show their love for the Holy Father. Travelling with the Holy Father in the Popemobile gave me a unique experience of the joy, delight and love in the faces of so many. I thank God for our Pope and for all the blessings of this Visit from which we have so much to ponder and learn for a long time to come”.

Pope Benedict speaks:

“As we reflect on the sobering lessons of the atheist extremism of the twentieth century, let us never forget how the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life leads ultimately to a truncated vision of man and society”                                        (address at Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh)

“There is only one thing which lasts: the love of Jesus Christ personally for each of you. Search for him, know him and love him, and he will set you free from slavery to the glittering but superficial existence frequently proposed by today’s society”                (homily at Glasgow)

“ The task of a teacher is not simply to impart information or to provide training in skills intended to deliver some economic benefit to society. It is about forming the human person, equipping him or her to live life to the full – in short it is about imparting wisdom”  (teachers at Strawberry Hill)

“ What God wants most of all for each one of you is that you should become holy. He loves you much more than you could ever begin to imagine, and he wants the very best for you. And by far the best thing is for you to grow in holiness.                                                       (schoolchildren at Strawberry Hill)

“Each generation, as it seeks to advance the common good, must ask anew: what are the requirements that governments may reasonably impose upon citizens, and how far do they extend? By appeal to what authority can moral dilemmas be resolved? These questions take us directly to the ethical foundations of civil discourse.    (Westminster Hall)

Frs. Paul & Agustin Write:

5th September 2010 - 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

“In just ten day’s time we will be welcoming Pope Benedict to our land. He comes primarily at the invitation of Her Majesty the Queen. This is the first time that the King or Queen of England has ever invited the Pope – so it is indeed an historical event! Pope Benedict will address the British People in an address in Westminster Hall on Friday 17th September—another first! He comes also to speak to his flock and to confirm our faith. He will preside and preach at three Masses (all televised) in Glasgow, London and Birmingham. He will also take part in ecumenical events, a meeting with schoolchildren and educators, and a prayer vigil in Hyde Park.

The highlight of his visit will be declaring Cardinal John Henry Newman “Blessed” at the Mass in Birmingham. Our parish has a very special connection with Cardinal Newman because as Father Newman he preached the first sermon in our church at the opening Mass on 30th May 1848. At every Mass in the church between now and Pope Benedict’s coming we will say the special prayer for his visit. Please take the prayer card home with you so that you can say it daily for him. A lot of people who are not Catholic will be intrigued by his coming and that might be an opportunity to each of us to do some evangelising by letting it be known we are Catholics and by welcoming others to watch the Papal events on television or by going to see the Pope in his popemobile! (Details inside). There is a Prayer Book for every family – please take one with you today”.

Fr. Paul Writes:

13th June 2010 - 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Today’s Gospel has a ring about it that we can all applaud. Jesus shows kindness and offers support and encouragement to a sinner and at the same time rebukes the upright and upholders of the faith in public for being judgemental and un caring. “Hurrah” we say without realising that we actually might be on the side of the upright! It’s so much easier to look at other people’s failings and to cast the blame for the wrongs of the world on to everyone except oneself.  The setting is a meal to which Jesus had been invited by Simon, a Pharisee ( a law-abiding and zealous Jew). An unexpected person turns up who had not been invited and was someone with a known reputation in the town. She says nothing but attends to Jesus with genuine love and affection while Simon is only interested in wondering whether Jesus is aware of her bad name. Compared with Simon, who believed he had little to do to obtain forgiveness and was so hard in his complacency, the woman is captivated by Jesus and the love of God is able to pierce her  heart and transform her. “Your sins are forgiven” she is told.

Those very words are said to each one of us when we celebrate the sacrament of penance or confession. Sadly, many of us don’t hear them very often. Are we more like Simon in today’s Gospel rather smug about our faith? Here are some words from Cardinal Pell, the Archbishop of Sydney. “It is ironic in an age where we are encouraged to verbalise our problems and speak about our concerns, when so many more people are helped by competent counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists, that the personal exchanges necessary in confession should be falling into disuse. Many people are helped wonderfully in this sacrament because the combination of personal confession, sincere repentance, absolution, advice and penance are the best means to deal with our failings” Perhaps we need first to really become aware of the love of God for us as we are as the women in Gospel did and let that love work in us so that we realise when  we hear the words “your sins are forgiven” there are words of love and not judgement”.

Fr. Agustin Writes:

6th June 2010 - Corpus Christi

“Today, we celebrate the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ; the feast of the Eucharist and of the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament. What a wonderful Sunday to celebrate the First Communion of 14 of our children! Please, pray for them as they approach the Sacrament of Eucharist for the first time.

The Body and Blood of Christ today teach us how to love: if we have the faith to see the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, then we can put into practise the same faith when we come to one another. We can look at one another just as we are; with our defects and limitations and weaknesses but we can see beyond appearances and contemplate the dignity, the beauty and the value of each person.

If we can see Jesus Christ in the Eucharist then we can see him in one another, in particular the poor,  in the homeless and in those who get on our nerves and in those who are nasty to us! because the Eucharist teaches us how to love; and how to live as Christians. To say yes to the Body of Christ means to love everybody regardless race, nation, language, social or financial situation. To accept the Body of the Lord means to accept every single person on earth including our enemies. On the cross Jesus has loved everybody.

The lord died for us on the cross with great pain, he gave himself for us and we come to the Eucharist to see the greatest possible example of love and self – giving. If we think it is a good idea to love one another then we need to approach this altar and see and understand what true love really means. Let us ask for the grace to celebrate the Eucharist with reverence and love, aware that this most holy sacrament is indeed God’s greatest gift to his people”.

Fr. Paul Writes:

30th May 2010 - Most Holy Trinity

“When I was first ordained (1972!) there was a tradition that the Archbishop  always wrote a pastoral letter to be read at all Masses on what was called Trinity Sunday, thus sparing his priests an opportunity to preach on what is the unique Christian teaching—that  our God is a Trinity of Persons and yet One God. There was an unspoken fear that we (the priests) would get it wrong and spout heresy! There is/was perhaps some truth in that fear but that should not stop us from looking at what is the central teaching of our faith. There is a tendency to say “The Trinity is a mystery” and then move on. With our limited human intellects there will be aspects of God which will remain beyond us in this life but that should not stop us from seeking to know what is knowable.

Where can we start? Well, the Scriptures are a good place to begin—because in them are many references to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. If Scripture talks of these three Persons, so do we. We have in the scriptures not a defined doctrine of the Holy Trinity (that took the Church three hundred years to work out) but we have a vocabulary of the Trinity. Today’s Gospel is a good example. God (the Father) loves the world so much that He sends His Son Jesus to save us. Jesus recognises that his teachings may be too much initially for his disciples to grasp and understand. So he promises them the gift of the Holy Spirit to bring them to a full knowledge of God. All three are expressions of love. Ultimately, the Trinity is our way of understanding God and how he loves us. Cardinal Newman expresses his understanding  in his famous hymn:

Firmly I believe And truly God is Three and God is One

And I next acknowledge duly Manhood taken by the Son”.

Fr. Agustin Writes:

23rd May 2010 - Pentecost

“Fifty days ago, we celebrated Easter. On that day we sung the alleluias and proclaimed that the Lord was risen; that the splendour of the king had conquered darkness, the darkness of the world, the darkness of our lives.

Last Sunday we celebrated the Ascension of the Lord and heard the words of Jesus: “and now I am sending down to you what the Father has promised” The Holy Spirit. Then, we joined Mary and the disciples in the upper room praying and waiting for the Holy Spirit to be sent from on high.

Today, with this great feast of Pentecost we reach the climax of the Easter season, of these fifty days that I hope we had been celebrating with immense joy. Today, we welcome the Spirit of the risen Lord into our lives. The same Spirit that God breathed into Adam and he became a living being, the same Spirit that gave life to a bunch of dry bones in the vision of Ezequiel, the same Spirit that brought Jesus back to life.

For Jewish people, the feast of Pentecost developed into a great “harvest festival”, blessing God for the fruits of the earth. For us Christians, Pentecost is also a “harvest” feast. But it is the harvest of what St. Paul calls the “fruits of the Spirit” St. Paul tells that the fruits of the Spirit are: LOVE, JOY PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, SELF-CONTROL.

Do you want to live with more love in your heart – love for God, love for others? Do you want to show more patience, more kindness, more goodness, in your family? Do you want a more faithful spirit, to be a more gentle and self-controlled person? I certainly want! May this feast fill our hearts with joy and peace, only the Joy and only the peace that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ can offer to us”.

Fr. Paul Writes:

16th May 2010 - The Ascension of our Lord

“The Resurrection  of Jesus from the dead, His Ascension into Heaven and the Coming of The Holy Spirit at Pentecost are all one celebration looked at from different angles. They have as it were been split up to help us to look at different aspects of Jesus’ triumph over death and the consequences of that event for us. The Ascension means essentially that Jesus is with His Father. “I go to the Father” This is Jesus’ goal .He says “If you loved me you would be full of joy because I am with my Father”

The Preface (just before the Eucharistic Prayer) in today’s Mass tells us very clearly  what we are celebrating “ Christ, the mediator between God and man, judge of the world and Lord of all, has passed beyond our sight, not to abandon us but to be our hope. Christ is the beginning, the head of the Church; where he has gone, we hope to follow”

Jesus has entered heaven as our pioneer. He has blazed a trail which we can follow by keeping his commandments and abiding in His love. We are called to be living embodiments of Jesus and when we live in His Way we come to share in his joy.

Today’s feast should help us to rise above our purely human concerns and to realise that even now we partake in Jesus’ life. We can do this through the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Just as in Advent the Church invites us wait for the Lord and to yearn for His Coming, so now in the time between Ascension and Pentecost (next Sunday) we are invited to put ourselves with the waiting disciples for the gift of the Spirit, the Power from on high who will enable us to live the very life of Jesus.

Try to spend a few moments every day this week in prayer to prepare for the great feast of Pentecost. If you can, come to Mass during the week  and be part of our parish preparation for the Birthday of the Church (Pentecost.)”

Fr. Agustin Writes:

9th May 2010 - 6th Sunday of Easter

“Thousands of pilgrims invaded the legendary city of Caravaca de la Cruz in Murcia (South East of Spain) to celebrate the Jubilee Holy Year during the festivities held from the 1st to the 5th of May in honour of the Santisima y Vera Cruz, The Holy and True Cross. That is the title given to the wooden cross which miraculously appeared in the city of Caravaca as early as in the year 1232. The True Cross is the reason why Caravaca became a Holy City in the year 1998, one of only 5 in the world, on a par with Rome and Jerusalem.

This year, I went on a Pilgrimage with a group (including a few parishioners from Fulham) to join in the longstanding tradition of venerating in Caravaca the Lignum crucis; the piece of wood belonging to the Cross where Christ was crucified. We had the privilege to stay in a Carmelite monastery founded by St. John of Cross and at the Basilica – Sanctuary of Caravaca, we offered our prayers and supplications, experienced the mercy of God and brought our joys and sorrows before the Holy Cross.

At the dawning of the 2nd of May, 200.000 people gathered in the streets of Caravaca to enjoy the exciting and unique event of the Wine Horses, 60 horses paraded this year beautifully dressed up in spectacular embroidered mantles ready for the race that takes place in the upward path of the Basilica – Sanctuary, 80 meters of passion as the 4 raiders struggle to run at the speed of the horse cutting through the overflowing crowds to reach the summit. Our horse “Fogoso” fiery was so fast that lost two riders right at the beginning of the race and another one half-way through, a powerful horse, unfortunately “Fogoso” was disqualified for losing its riders!

On the 3rd of May the Holy Cross parades accompanied by the Christians and Moors groups and is solemnly bathed in the waters of the “Templete” a place of confluence of waters. Then, Christians and Moors re-enact the battles that took place during the Middle Ages as homage to the past and Caravaca’s history. On the 4th of May Christians and Moors paraded in a spectacular display of gorgeous robes and costumes in a blend of fantasy and history.  We did many other things in Caravaca, we really had a terrific time. I remembered you all and prayed for you before the True Cross, I hope that the graces and blessings of the Vera Cruz that we have received may reach this parish of St. Thomas’.”

Fr. Paul Writes:

2nd May 2010 - 5th Sunday of Easter

“Today’s Gospel begins rather ominously with the words “When Judas had gone out” (from the Last Supper). His action contrasts sharply with what Jesus had said and done to his disciples in the course of the meal. It may be rather too easy for us to judge the motives of Judas, but his action in betraying Jesus highlights the misunderstanding of who Jesus is and the message of his Gospel. St. John tells us that Jesus, the Master, takes on the role of a servant and washes the feet of his disciples and tells them “A new commandment I give you: love one another; just as I have loved you, you also must love one another.” Jesus’ way is of service to others, of self – sacrifice and self – giving. He has demonstrated his words in washing their feet and he will go on to show the full measure of that love in his passion and death on the cross.

Every day we are faced with opportunities to give ourselves in the service of others in loving others and seeking to their needs. Everyday we are also faced with the temptation to selfishness and hardness of heart. When we are faithful to the way of life God has called each one of us to, when we forgive the wrong of others, and when we are generous to those in need then we are following the way of Jesus and his new commandment. We cab thank God these graces and opportunities while recognising in ourselves the propensity to do just the opposite.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta had a lovely Phrase “I have found the paradox that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”

Fr. Paul Writes:

25th April 2010 - 4th Sunday of Easter

“The great season of Easter is a time for us all to reflect on the consequences of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead  and on the new life we all share with Him and in Him through our Baptism and the other Sacraments of Initiation—Holy Communion and Confirmation. One special group in our parish who will be examining these matters – our parents who have recently enrolled in the Baptism Preparation Programme . Today they are being welcomed at the 12 noon Mass. Please keep them in your prayers. Another group are the children preparing for First Holy Communion. Their celebrations stretch over three Sundays (23rd May, 4th June, 20th June). Most of us have memories of our First Communion Day. Please pray that our present generation of First Communicants will be likewise moved and treasure that special event. We have also a great group of young parishioners preparing for Confirmation  on 12th June. They too should be in our prayer.

Our new life is not restricted just to celebrations of the Sacraments. We are called to be responsible citizens in our society and to promote the common good for everyone. The General Election looms and with it our duty to cast our personal vote. It can be difficult to decipher just what each political party really proclaims. There is an exciting possibility of discovering just that at The London Citizens Assembly on Bank Holiday Monday (3rd May). Details are inside this newsletter and I hope that there will be sufficient interest shown for a group from St. Thomas’ to be present.”

Fr. Agustin Writes:

18th April 2010 - 3rd Sunday of Easter

“The resurrection is a reality, it’s a fact, Christ is Risen Alleluia! And the resurrection of the Lord is our hope. Christ is risen to give us hope, a hope that is real. The empty tomb is not a fairy tale, it’s not a dream or a myth, it’s not a theory or a vision. The resurrection is a historical fact: A person Jesus of Nazareth who was dead and buried for three days, left the tomb alive on Easter Sunday. There are witnesses; two men called Peter and John found the tomb empty and a woman called Mary Magdalene encountered the Risen Christ that morning in the garden. He also appeared to the apostles in the upper room and to many of his disciples. St. Paul says in one of his letters: he appeared to more than 500 people at once.  Many, many people saw the Lord risen and spoke to him and touched him and even had breakfast with him!

When Christ rose from the death, he did not simply conquer his own death, he conquered our death, your death and my death so that, even if we die, death has not the last word. Life does not finish when we die, it’s transformed; the risen Christ gives an answer to the mystery of death. What is there after death? What is the meaning of our lives, of love, of suffering, what is the point of all if we are going to die, if we are to disappear in some sort of meaningless void?

We celebrate today and during the Easter season that life will be victorious at the end because God has raised Jesus from the death. These 50 days of Easter that we are celebrating is a time of joy, they are like honeymoon because they are the overflow of the great Easter Vigil, the night God married us in Christ. The day heaven was weeded to earth.

And in these fifty days the Risen Lord is searching for us, he wants to touch those of us who need to pass from slavery to freedom, from darkness to light, from sin to grace. This is the faith of the Church, Easter faith: the power which raised Christ from the dead, can raise us too, can raise the Church. His rising is our rising. His new life is our new life.”

Fr. Paul Writes:

11th April 2010 - 2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)

Some thoughts from the saints:

“Holiness does not consist in this or that practice but rather in a disposition of the heart that makes us humble and little in the arms of God, well aware of our frailty but boldly confident in his Fatherly goodness” (St. Therese of Lisieux, The Little Flower)

“We should pay no attention to the praises people heap on us, or to the wounds they deal out. In the eyes of God we are what we are, no more no less. The only thing that should concern us is to give him pleasure” (St. John Mary Vianne, The Cure of Ars)

“O God, early in the morning I cry to you. Help me to pray, and to concentrate my thoughts on you; I cannot do this alone…Lord, whatever this day may bring, your name be praised.” (Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

“Lord, teach me to seek you, and reveal yourself to as I look for you. For I cannot seek you unless you first teach me nor find you unless first you reveal yourself to me” (St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan)

“O Gracious and holy God give us wisdom to perceive you, intelligence to understand you, diligence to seek you, patience to wait for you, eyes to behold you, a heart to meditate upon you and a life to proclaim you, through the power of the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ” (St. Benedict)

Fr. Paul Writes:

28th March 2010 - Palm (Passion) Sunday

“Holy Week or, The Great Week as it is known in many places, is upon us. My prayer is that it will be both “great” and “holy” for all of us. All the ceremonies are special and unique and everyone is encouraged to partake especially in the three most important -  The Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday (8.00pm), the Celebration of The Lord’s Passion on Good Friday (3.00pm) and the Great Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday (8.00pm).

These, in effect, are three parts of one event and it is important to see them as such. On Thursday we commemorate Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples and reflect on his “new commandment” to love one another which he demonstrates in washing their feet. On Friday there is no Mass and the most solemn moment is the proclamation of The Passion according to St. John. We also venerate the cross and receive Holy Communion. Then there is a day’s silence with the Church empty as we await the celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection at the Easter Vigil. At our Vigil we will be celebrating the baptism of six adults and welcoming another five into full communion with us. Be there to welcome them! The Vigil is also the moment when we all renew our Baptism Vows.

To prepare for these great celebrations there is our Parish Penitential Service on Monday at 8.00pm. Consider this as an opportunity to experience the forgiveness of God as individual sinners and as a community. Together we express our sorrow, together we receive forgiveness so that together we will celebrate the Saving Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

For those who will be elsewhere with family or friends we wish you every joy and blessing!”

Archibishop Vincent Nichols

Pastoral Letter for the fifth Sunday of Lent 2010

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ

The woman in today’s Gospel is hauled before the Lord by a judgemental society. She is isolated in her guilt. And therein lies the falsehood which Jesus uncovers. No one is guilty in isolation. Rather we are so bound to each other that a guilt which we might seem to be proper to one person alone almost always involves others, too.

Jesus’ silent and dramatic gesture of writing in the sand makes everyone present look into their own hearts and recognise their own failures and sins.

This same truth is at the heart of our Lenten journey. This is not a time for working out the blame to lay on others but a time for identifying our own faults, seeking forgiveness for them and trying to build a more virtuous life.

The pursuit of virtue is a key theme in a document which we Bishops of England and Wales have recently published under the title ‘Choosing the Common Good’. While the document is issued in the context of the forthcoming General Election, it is substantially about matters that can never be decided by an election. It is about the health of our society.

In it we speak about the pursuit of virtue because the virtues are the habits of the heart which shape the way we live and the contribution we make to the flourishing of those around us, whether in the family or wider society. We speak of the cardinal virtues: prudence, courage, justice and temperance and highlight how each one is keenly relevant to life today.

Prudence fashions us to be people who take care in decision making, trying to be attentive to principles and circumstances, exercising emotional intelligence rather than being shaped primarily by feelings and fashion.

Courage is the opposite of evasiveness: a temptation faced by us all, not least those in public life. The practice of this virtue makes us capable of facing the truth about ourselves and of remaining true to the undertakings we give.

The virtue of justice is the practical, day to day, recognition of the duties I owe to those around me: to my parents, to my children, to my school, to my work, to those who are caught in poverty or disaster, in Haiti, Chile, or those who live next door. The virtue of justice includes the practice of my duty towards God, in prayer and in taking part in the life of the Church.

Temperance – a very old-fashioned word – is probably the key virtue, for it helps us to use wisely the good things of this world, to be satisfied with enough, to resist the temptation to have more and more, or to indulge without regard for the consequences. In many ways, the virtue of temperance is a key to a happy life.

These virtues help us to build a good, healthy society in a way that no political programme can ever achieve. No amount of new regulations will nurture these virtues, for they are found in the kind of person we are trying to be and in what we do when no-one is looking.

Effective politics, and effective economics, actually depend on there being a morally healthy society in which we all recognise the importance of the common good, the potential for flourishing within every single person and the encouragement of virtue. These are important considerations as we prepare for a General Election. As well as examining the party manifestos with their wide-ranging policies, we would do well to ask how the different parties intend to help this kind of human flourishing.

Catholic Social Teaching, on which the document ‘Choosing the Common Good’ is based, is a rich resource for us all. Familiarity with its key themes will help us to assess our complex society.

Familiarity with this teaching will also help us to make the most of the wonderful prospect of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI in September. As the details of the programme of this visit emerge, we will see how important our Social Teaching really is and the huge significance of the Holy Father’s presence in our society as a courageous witness to the truth of our humanity and to the truth of our Christian faith. Clearly we must prepare well for his visit and give him our heartfelt support when he is here. There will be much more about this at a later date. Sufficient for now that we promise our prayers for Pope Benedict, just as he promised to pray for us, to ‘hold us in his heart’ during this precious period of preparation for his historic visit.

Paul’s words to us today are very reassuring. Even such a great champion of faith as he readily admits: ‘I have not yet won, but I am still running, trying to capture the prize for which Christ Jesus captured me…All I can say is that I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is to come; I am racing for the finish, for the prize to which God calls us upwards, to receive in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil 3.13-14) So we too, in these remaining days of Lent, renew our effort to be open to Christ, to receive his forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and patiently build up the practice of virtue in our lives.

In this way we not only contribute to the good of our society but also stay faithful to the Lord and to the building of his Kingdom.

Fr. Agustin Writes:

21st March 2010 - 5th Sunday in Lent

“On this fifth Sunday of Lent the Gospel presents to us with the woman caught in the very act of adultery. Jesus does not condemn the woman, he forgives her past and invites her to start a new life; a life of holiness and virtue. What Jesus condemns is the attitude of those who are always ready to point out and denounce the sins of others. Jesus knows well the human heart, the fact that we are all, without exception, sinners and that sin is a reality that dwells in our heart and affects our lives, often tragically.

However, for Christ, our sins are not a problem, he forgives them and heals them if we convert with a sincere heart and turn away from them, he always gives us another chance. The real problem is not to see our sins like the scribes and Pharisees, to be blind to our own wrongdoing. First of all because we deceive ourselves and then we make futile the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Jesus knows that deep down the same sin of adultery is in the heart of those who were ready to stone the woman. If we do not see our sins then we think we have the right to accuse and condemn everybody else’s sins and mistakes.

Who are you today in this Gospel? The woman or the Pharisees and scribes? If we acknowledge our sins and identify ourselves with the woman Christ comes to us with the fruits of his resurrection: his forgiveness and his peace. In Christ we can change life, in Christ we can be transformed. If we are like the Pharisees ready to stone the public sinner the Lord invites us to look at our hearts because we will probably find there the same sin we are judging, the same sin we are condemning.

We don’t really know what Jesus wrote on the earth and the meaning of that gesture, it remains a mystery but some say that in Christ the finger of God has touched our humanity, the earth, out of which Adam was made. God has touched our humanity to transform us, through Christ God makes of us a new creation.

As the fifth Sunday brings to a close the Lenten path of conversion we turn with joy and trust to the Father, always ready to receive us; to the mercy of God, always offered in words and actions. Neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on do not sin any more.”

Fr. Paul Writes:

14th March 2010 - 4th Sunday in Lent

“We are half-way there on our journey to Easter. To mark this there is the option for the priest to put aside purple vestments and wear pink! Because pink is only prescribed for two Sundays in the year this usually means that the best preserved vestments in any parish are the pink ones. St. Thomas’ seems to have disbanded the pink in the distant past but we do have a rather light purple which will make its appearance this weekend. What is more important than colouring is the fact that we are now entering a phase in the holy season of Lent when we prepare specially for the celebration of Holy (or The Great ) Week and specifically for the Great Three Days (or Triduum) – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday & Holy Saturday. What is being celebrated over those days is really ONE event. I want earnestly to encourage everyone to think seriously about participating in ALL of the important celebrations – The Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday (1st April 8.00pm), The Celebration of The Lord’s Passion on Good Friday at 3.00pm and the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday at 8.00pm. Please give your greatest consideration to joining your fellow parishioners and especially those who will be baptised and those who will be received into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil.

An important part of our preparation for The Great Week is to take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance. As well as the usual times on Saturday (10.30 -11.00am & 5.30 – 6.15pm) there is an opportunity for our communal celebration on Monday 29th March at 8.00pm. The Gospel this Sunday (the story of The Prodigal Son) gives us much to reflect on regarding our need to seek God’s forgiveness and to be reconciled with Him and with each other. There is something very comforting about recognising that we are all in the same boat (sinners in need of God’s forgiveness) when we celebrate that wonderful gift together.

I will be spending the best part of next week on retreat. Some 38 priests from our diocese  along with Bishop Alan Hopes will be in Ars, near Lyon in France reflecting and praying together. We will be staying in the village where St. John Vianney (The Cure of Ars) spent most of his life and ministry and much of that was spent in the confessional. John Vianney was utterly convinced of God’s love and wanted everyone to experience that love especially in the Sacrament of Penance. I ask for your  prayers for all of us as we will remember you in the Masses we celebrate together.”

Fr. Agustin Writes:

7th March 2010 - 3rd Sunday in Lent

 ”I’ve just returned from my pilgrimage to the Holy Land with a group of about 20 priests known in the diocese as the “under 5’s”; The priests of Westminster who are ordained to the priesthood under 5 years (I still qualify!) In fact, some of the under 5’s are in their 60’s! Still young in spirit of course! Our diocese has organised for us this year a trip to the Holy Land, a wonderful gift to celebrate the year of priesthood, we took bishop Alan Hopes with us.

We spent four days in Jerusalem and another 3 days in the city of Tiberias in Galilee following on the footsteps of Christ and visiting many of the most significant and holy spots of Christianity. God has become one of us in Jesus Christ,  this is so true that we can go and see, touch and feel and pray in the physical places where the most important events of our history of salvation took place. In the beautiful Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth there is a little plaque with an inscription that reads in Latin Verbum Caro hic factum est (The word became flesh here!) and the small word here makes a big difference. Christianity is not mythology, it’s not a philosophy, and it’s not simply a set of doctrines, morals and beliefs. Christianity is an event, God become a man for us in a concrete place; in the womb of a virgin called Mary whose house we visited. We touch the walls that heard the very words of the Angel Gabriel. We carried the cross in turns through the crowded streets of the Via Dolorosa. We queued for one hour in Bethlehem to pray on the spot where Jesus was born. It poured with rain the day we went to Herod’s palace, there Peter betrayed Jesus and we all somehow heard the cockcrow in our own lives. We ate the famous St. Peter’s fish by the Sea of Galilee, I do not recommend it! And celebrated Mass at the Dominus Flevit Church where Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem prophesying its destruction.

Apart from the rain, a very busy schedule and a few digestive problems some of us experienced it was a wonderful time, very spiritual and fruitful. Finally, we also went to the Holy Sepulchre just to make sure that it’s empty and it is indeed! Christ is risen, thank God, he is not in Jerusalem! The tomb is empty because Christ is with us today as we come together as God’s people to celebrate the Eucharist. In this third Sunday of Lent let’s not lose sight of were we are going, of what we are preparing for in this season of Lent: To share in Christ’s victory over death, to rise with him to a new life. Let’s take courage and continue our journey towards Easter.”

 Fr. Paul Writes:

28th February 2010 - 2nd Sunday in Lent

“Last Saturday and Sunday afternoons our Cathedral was packed with people from nearly every parish in our diocese to welcome almost 800 people who are preparing to receive the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion (Eucharist) at the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday (3rd April) in their own parish church. Saturday was “our” day and twelve prospective members of our community were there along with their sponsors. The purpose of going to the Cathedral was for our Bishop (Archbishop Vincent Nichols) to welcome all those who are preparing for Baptism (catechumens) and Confirmation & Eucharist (candidates, because they have already been baptised) and to declare that they are now chosen  (elect) for the Sacraments at Easter.  Six of our group will be baptised  and the other six will be confirmed and admitted to full communion. They are a wonderful group who have been meeting weekly since last September. Their journey does not end at Easter and for that reason their meetings will resume after our big celebration. They are a reminder to all of us that our journey in faith is as long as our lives are here on earth. They are also an example to us in reminding us that it is by sharing our thoughts, our experiences and our lives that we grow in faith. Living by faith is not easy. Assurances that we are on the right track rarely come our way. But it is when we share our lives through prayer and reflection that we  become more aware of  the spiritual nature of our lives and our destiny (Heaven and the glory of God) This is what happened to the disciples who were with Jesus when he was transfigured on the mountain (today’s Gospel). One of the purposes of today’s readings is to remind us that we are made for heaven. There may be many things in our present lives that we find rich and rewarding but we need  prompting again and again that our destiny and fulfilment is God. Lent is a great opportunity for us to realign and refocus our lives on that truth. How is Lent going for you? Don’t be disheartened if you haven’t got very far with any resolutions and/or plans! There’s always a chance every day to start again. I was very heartened during the week by some words I heard on Thought for the Day  from an English spiritual writer and mystic “God looks at  not in what I am or in what I have been, but in what I want to be”  As well as looking at your own deepest desires in this coming week, remember those who are preparing to receive the graces of God in the Sacraments at Easter  so that we may all grow in faith , hope and love.”

Fr. Agustin Writes:

21st February 2010 – 1st Sunday in Lent

Each year you give us this joyful season when we prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery with mind and heart renewed (Preface of Lent I)

“Yes, it’s not Christmas the season that the Church calls joyful but Lent! And that’s because already the eyes of all Christians are set on Easter, the Feasts of Feasts, the Passover of the Lord. We began the Lenten journey last Wednesday with the blessing and imposition of Ashes; we acknowledge our sin and mortality with the certainty that we will be washed clean in the life-giving water of baptism that will flow on the night of the Easter Vigil. For 40 days we will continue journeying towards that night, the holiest of all nights which this year falls on the 3rd of April.

Lent is not about pursuing my own individual holiness. We must resist the temptation of turning Lent into “my own personal challenge” to strive for holiness. Lent is not about me it’s about US. We are making this journey together, for it is not with an individual but with a People that God makes Passover.

The Church in Lent is seen as a caravan crossing the desert; a dangerous and inhospitable place, we need to keep in the caravan, help one another and listen to the word of God if we want to survive. The Church invites us all in this season of Lent to take our place in this great caravan of pilgrims where we pray, fast and give alms together. We have begun the great spiritual journey of Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, from slavery to freedom, from the desert through the cross and the tomb to life, from Ashes to the Living Font.

Please, keep in your prayers at this time those who have been journeying with us in faith and are coming to the end of their process of initiation (RCIA) Six Catechumens preparing for baptism and another six from our parish preparing for Holy Communion and Confirmation were elected yesterday in Westminster Cathedral to receive the Easter sacraments at the great Vigil on Holy Saturday night.”

 Fr. Paul Writes:

14th February 2010 - 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Dearly beloved, as we come closer to the season which is specially marked by the mysteries of our redemption, the days leading up to the Easter festival, the need for our religious preparation is proclaimed ever more insistently. The special feature of Easter is that it is the occasion when the whole Church rejoices over the forgiveness of sin. This forgiveness takes place, not only in the case of those who are freshly reborn through baptism, but also in the case of us others who for some time have been counted among God’s adopted children…. Whatever steps forward we make, there is not one of us who is not always bound to do better. … And so, what every Christian should always be doing must now be performed more earnestly and more devoutly. These forty days (of Lent)  should be given over to fasting which means, not simply a reduction in our food, but the elimination of our evil habits.”  Thus wrote Pope St. Leo the Great 1500 years ago!

Here are some suggestions to help you enter and observe  Lent 2010:

1) Try and come to Mass on one weekday -  in addition to the usual times there will be an early morning Mass on Fridays at 7.00am followed by a light breakfast. And don’t forget the evening Mass on Thursdays (6.30pm ) and Mass on Saturday mornings at 10.00am.

2) If you already come to Mass on weekdays, why not join in the Morning Prayer of the Church at 9.00am in the Bowden Room. Books are provided. After Morning Prayer there will be a little reflection about the Mass—to help you prepare for it .

3) Stations of the Cross will be celebrated each Friday at 7.30pm and will be led by different groups from the parish. (Parents—Lent is a good time to introduce your children to the stations. They don’t have to do 14! Just take them to two or three !)

4) There are a number of booklets  for Lent on sale on the Paper Table. They only cost £1 each. “Walk with Me”—a Lenten journey of Prayer; “Living as One”—daily meditations and group reflections of the nature of the Church; “My Day by Day” which gives the readings at Mass for every day.”    

Fr. Agustin Writes:

6th February 2010 - 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“A big welcome this weekend to Bishop Alan Hopes who is making a two day Parish Visitation to us. During that time among us he will meet as many people as possible, will preach, listen to confessions and be available at the end of all Masses. On Sunday, at the 10.30 Mass, Bishop Alan, will welcome the children that will make their first communion in May and June, 30 children are preparing to receive Christ for the first time in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Then, the Bishop will welcome the parents who are going through the Parish Baptism course; About 25 children will be baptised in our parish in the next few months. That will take place at the 10.30am Mass and in the evening, at the 6.00 pm Mass, the Bishop will welcome the candidates who will officially enrol in the Confirmation Programme in view to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on the 12th of June. At that Mass, 26 of our young parishioners will express publicly their desire to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit at their Confirmation, Let’s remember them all in our prayers at this time.

It will be a privilege for those parents, children and Confirmation candidates to be reassured by the Bishop in what they are undertaking and indeed a time of grace for us all as a Parish. The Bishop comes to us as the successor of the apostles not so much to check on us, although he will have to make sure we keep to the straight and narrow! The Bishop is visiting us to do exactly what St. Paul says in the second reading this Sunday, to remind us of the Gospel that we received and in which this we are firmly established. The Gospel saves us if we remain faithful to the teaching of Christ handed down to us from the apostles and the presence of the bishop is the guarantee of our union with the whole Church, believing anything else will not lead to anything.

Having the Bishop with us is, no doubt, a special occasion as he will strengthen us, confirm us in our faith and encourage us to keep faithful to Christ and to deepen in our love for him. It will be also an opportunity for us to show the bishop how alive and vibrant this parish is and I am sure he will find us to be welcoming and hospitable here in Fulham and hope he enjoys his time with us.”

 Fr. Paul Writes:

31st  January 2010 - 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Prophets are not the friendliest of people. They seem often rather opinionated, rude and insulting. They get up people’s noses, challenge the status quo and utter politically incorrect statements. They are not flavour-of-the-month people; they don’t curry favour; they are not looking for support. They are certainly not celebrities!  So, what are they about? Why do we need them? And why in some paradoxical way do we rather admire them? The prophets in question are for us the prophets of the Old Testament one of whom features largely in today’s first reading – Jeremiah. Like most of his peers, Jeremiah was rather reluctant in taking on the role that God had chosen for him because the outcome was not to be adulation and popularity but opposition and rejection.

Jeremiah did not enjoy being outspoken and different. He told the people of Jerusalem that they were wasting their time trying to resist the Babylonians. God was not going to rescue them – so they might as well surrender. Hardly a recipe for popular acclaim! What made Jeremiah different was that he was prepared to listen to God’s word rather than to public opinion. God’s call for Jeremiah was to become a figure of conflict and confrontation. The Gospel writers portray Jesus as a prophet whose influence on people was similar to Jeremiah’s. In his home town, Nazareth, Jesus offends the religious people of his town in claiming that God loves those whom they consider outcasts, nobodies. This is not what they want to hear (or think about). He goes even further in suggesting that God’s love is not restricted to his Chosen People (Israel) but extends to foreigners and enemies! Who do we listen to? If we listen first to those who shout loudest, be they politicians, celebrities or television/newspaper reporters we may not be ready to hear the voice of God. If we listen first to God’s voice often mediated through his prophets we may find ourselves in conflict with those around us even our families and friends.

Prophets are fearless speakers of God’s truth. We need them to help us how to truly discern a way of life which is focussed primarily on God and also open to alleviating the suffering of others, especially those on the fringes of our world. We admire them because they have the faith and courage we yearn for but rather hope won’t come our way!”

 Fr. Agustin Writes:

24th January 2010 – 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

“St. Luke, a physician and a careful historian, begins his beautiful Gospel telling us about the very heart of our faith; Christianity is not a fairy tale or a nice story but a fact, an event that comes to us through the centuries reaching us and touching our lives. There are witnesses who have seen it with his own eyes and proclaimed it with his own lips. Jesus is the Messiah a title which means the anointed one; the one sent by God to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah: the mission of the Messiah will be to bring good news to the afflicted, to soothe the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, to release those in prison and give new sight to the blind (Is.61:1-2)

Good news today for those of us who might be looking with despair at our afflictions, our poverty, our slaveries and our blindness. If that is the case, then we can understand Jesus and rejoice with his announcement. If you feel captive or downtrodden or think you are blind, then you are in the right place for Christ brings us salvation, real salvation. He has power over all that enslaves us, all that blinds us, all that makes us poor. Christ has opened all our prisons, the prison of our fear and guilt, of our selfishness and sin, the prison of our mistakes and regrets.

From whatever prison we may find ourselves captives, today we are called to listen to the voice of our Messiah, of our Saviour calling us to freedom. Jesus says: today, this text is being fulfilled even as you listen. today, not two thousand years ago, not yesterday but today Christ can bring to us liberty, light and joy, his love can set us free, restore our sight and heal us. Now is time for Good News, today, as we celebrate the Eucharist and the mystery of God’s love may we listen to the Word of our Lord destroying and conquering all that imprisons us.”

Fr. Agustin Writes:

17th of January 2010 – 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

“The wedding feast at Cana in Galilee, this Sunday’s Gospel, is for obvious reasons a classic at wedding ceremonies, the favourite Gospel of many couples who choose it for the occasion as they enter the Sacrament of Marriage. At the homily I often remind the couple to invite Mary and Jesus to their wedding and I say to them that I hope the stress of the preparation for the wedding have not made them forget to include Mary and Jesus in their guest list.

Because in all marriages it happens what took place at the wedding feast in Cana, that we all begin our marriage life with happiness and joy, the happiness and joy which is symbolised by the wine. However, like the wine at the wedding feast, as time passes by, the wine is consumed and one day we wake up to the reality that we run out of wine in our relationships, things begin to get very heavy and life together becomes dull and boring. We seem to loose our joy and give up doing things out of love. That is the meaning of not having wine; not having wine is not having Joy.

For this, we need to invite these special guests to our wedding, we need Mary and Jesus present in our lives, in our marriages, in our vocations. If they are with us, if we invite them into our lives then the miracle of Cana can take place again and the water can be transformed into wine. The waters of boredom, the waters of routine can be transformed again into the wine of love and joy, a joy that is even greater than the first one just like the new wine in Cana. True love is like a good wine, it matures with time and it gets better!

As we reflect on this Gospel this week let’s remember in our prayers those couples preparing for the Sacrament of Marriage and those members of our parish community who will get married in the course of this year here in our Church and abroad.”

Fr. Paul Writes:

2oth of December 2009 – 4th Sunday of Advent

“Cardinal John Henry Newman, who preached the first sermon in our church in 1848, and who will be declared “Blessed” by Pope Benedict later next year, once described Catholicism as “a working religion”. What he meant by that phrase was that our faith is best seen and recognised in “action” And so the question that everyone was asking (of John the Baptist)  in last Sunday’s Gospel  “What must we do?” is highly relevant to us as we enter the last remaining days of the season of Advent and prepare our hearts and our homes for the celebration of the Birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Our faith is about things that happened, and things that happen now, in and through particular human bodies, in particular places such as Bethlehem or Fulham and at  particular times like the reign of King Herod of Judea or December 2009. Our faith is about The Word of God becoming as we are, born of a woman and saving us through the offering of his body on a cross.

One of the many things we can “do” is to give some time to preparing ourselves by taking part in the Advent Penitential Service tomorrow (Monday) night at 8.00pm. This is an opportunity for all of us to reflect on the ways that God reveals himself to us in our lives here and now. The fact that we don’t always recognise his presence and that we ignore his ways – the fact that we are sinners should highlight for each of us that the actual birth that we celebrate at Christmas was a defining moment when God entered our world (“became flesh”) so that we who are flesh might become like him. We experience our faith best through actions, through doing things. Discover Him in your daily lives this Christmas!”

 

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