Dear Friends in Christ

On every occasion possible, our Lord takes the opportunity to remind the Pharisees of the need for humility, the need to know our place before God. He does this through a variety of teachings, and in the Gospel of this Sunday, in the parable of the banquet. Why is it that our natural inclination is to seek the first place? We all have natural ambition, and there is nothing bad about that, but it needs to be tempered with humility and the true knowledge that we have of ourselves, seeing ourselves all the while, as God sees us. This is what the Readings at Mass this Sunday remind us.

Many of you will be starting a new school year this week: students, staff and families all resume the normal pace of life that gets a welcome renewal over the Summer weeks. We thank God for all the benefits we have enjoyed: our holidays (if we were fortunate enough to go away), the fine weather, our friends and the many good things we enjoy. If God is always kept at the centre of our lives, our families and our relationships, then we are guaranteed joy and fulfilment. As we begin a new academic year, it is also a time when life in the Parish resumes; with preparation for the Sacraments and the other initiatives we are trying to implement; always with an eye to evangelisation, the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. May we go forward together united in faith, hope and charity.

God bless you all, and especially our schools in the coming weeks!

Msgr Kevin Hale

Priest@LourdesLeigh.org ✚ 01702 478078
The Sunday Homily is available as a podcast at LourdesLeigh.org