Dear Friends in christ
The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins in the Gospel of this Sunday highlights one of the themes that is held before us throughout this month of November; namely, the second coming of Christ and the final judgement, and our eternal destiny. We have to hold daily in our minds this thought of eternal life. A person in love does not forget. As long as the Lord is our highest priority, we will remain vigilant. We will not become distracted. We will heed the Lord’s counsel at the conclusion of the parable: Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. To prepare ourselves for this encounter with the Lord we need to acquire a profound understanding of ourselves. We are now living in a time of testing. As St Paul warned the Corinthians: If we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged. Let us not be taken by surprise, then, by our past faults and failings. We need to make that daily examination of conscience so that we can identify our trouble spots and apply the necessary remedy.
Throughout November we continue to pray for our departed loved one - the Holy Souls in Purgatory - that, helped by our prayers and Masses offered for them, they will experience the blessedness of being with God and all the Saints in Heaven.
God bless you all!
Msgr Kevin Hale
Priest@LourdesLeigh.org ✚ 01702 478078
Homily available at LourdesLeigh.org