Dear friends in Christ

Throughout the coming month we will, please God, celebrate some of the more beautiful occasions in the life of our Parish Family. Over the next couple of weekends our children will receive their First Holy Communion; our young adults will be Confirmed on 18th when the Bishop makes his Pastoral Visitation of the Parish; and we will celebrate the Solemnities of the Ascension of Our Lord and Corpus Christi, with the Procession that accompanies that Feast. All this takes place within the month that is devoted in a particular way to Mary. May is generally regarded as the most beautiful of all the months of the year since it a time of natural beauty, hope and promise. The feasts of the Christian calendar help to brighten our lives and we should all make a real effort to live the culture that the Church presents to us in a manner that touches and transforms our secular world. God has given us sublime mysteries which show His Love and part of the joy of our Catholic Faith is being able to celebrate these mysteries in concrete ways through our liturgical celebrations and also within our homes and families. We do all of this under the motherly gaze of Mary during this month. Perhaps you might, as families, pray the Holy Rosary together or the Litany of Loretto; make a pilgrimage to one of her local shrines (Walsingham, Aylesford, Faversham etc), have an image of Our Lady in a prominent place in the home, or simply call on her help more consciously. Please pray for those who are preparing for the Sacraments in these coming days: not only our young people but those too preparing for Holy Matrimony and parents preparing with those families for Baptism. May God bless you all during this special month of our Heavenly Mother.

Msgr Kevin Hale