Dear friends in Christ

Jesus gave St Peter a very memorable explanation of the nature of Christian pardon in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, which is the Gospel this Sunday. The lesson is that God’s mercy is immensely greater than our own. True mercy is the mark of those humble souls who understand how much they have been forgiven themselves. Just as the Lord is always ready to forgive us, so we must be ready to forgive one another. And how great is the need for forgiveness in our world today - indeed our communities and families, in our very own hearts! That is why the special sacrament of the Church for forgiveness, the Sacrament of Penance, is such a precious gift from the Lord. In the Sacrament of Penance, God extends His forgiveness to us in a very personal way. Through the ministry of the priest, we come to our loving Saviour with the burden of our sins. We confess that we have sinned against God and our neighbour. We manifest our sorrow and ask pardon from the Lord. Then, through the priest, we hear Christ say to us: ‘Your sins are forgiven…Go and do not sin again’. Can we not also hear Him say to us, as we are filled with His saving grace: ‘Extend to others seventy times seven, this same forgiveness and mercy’? (St Pope John Paul II, Angelus, 16.IX.’84)

Over these coming Saturdays our children, who have been preparing for the Sacraments, will make their first Confession and receive First Holy Communion in October. Please keep them in your prayers, together with those who are going to be Confirmed in October and those who this week have been Received into the Church - Michael Bennett, Michael Jones, Sabine Whittington & Simon Jones. It has been a patient wait for these precious moments, but thank God we can now celebrate these Sacraments which are so grace-filled from above.

God bless you all!

Msgr Kevin Hale