Dear friends in Christ
The Gospel of this Sunday recounts the memorable request which James and John made to Jesus. They wanted to hold places of honour in his kingdom. The petition provoked a storm of indignation among the Apostles. Jesus took the opportunity to teach the Twelve about the true nature of being an Apostle. The Lord repeated this idea on a number of occasions, because His whole life was a service to others. His doctrine is a constant appeal to mankind to forget self and live for others. The Church is the continuation of the saving mission of Christ in the world, and Her very reason for existing lies in serving mankind through the preaching of the Word and the celebration of the Sacraments. As we seek to imitate the Lord we Christians have also to be ready to give cheerful service to God and other people without expecting anything in return. We serve even those who do not appreciate our help. Many will not understand this cheerful attitude of self- denial; but we are content in the knowledge that Christ knows full well the efforts we are making on His behalf. The pride of a Christian is precisely in this dimension to serve as the Master served. Yet we learn how to serve only when we are close to Jesus himself. Throughout October as we renew our devotion to the Holy Rosary, we can learn from the mysteries in the life of Jesus and Mary how this generous service is undertaken for the life of the world.
Obviously we are all utterly shocked and appalled by the tragic murder of our MP—Sir David Amess—on Friday. Many of us experienced his personal kindness first-hand. He was a staunch defender of the sanctity of human life, and a great supporter of our Catholic Education system. Above all our hearts and prayers go out to Julia, his wife and his children. Let us pray also for the perpetrators of violence that Christ, the Prince of Peace, may bring us His hope and consolation.
The next Synod of Bishops in 2023 is on the topic: “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission.” The three-year synodal journey has three phases (diocesan, continental, universal), culminating with the assembly in Rome in October 2023. The Synod is intended to make the ‘synodality’ desired by Pope Francis since the beginning of his pontificate concrete and visible. The objective of the diocesan phase is the consultation of the people of God. The key thing is the actual process itself: prayer, meeting in a group and the conversation (listening to each other and sharing). Our Bishop will launch this process for our Diocese with a Mass this Sunday evening in our Cathedral. You might like to offer the prayer that is suggested for the intention of this forthcoming Synod and the consultations that we will be be part of the preparation.
God bless you!
Msgr Kevin Hale