Dear friends in Christ
Jesus offers us the challenging invitation to follow Him—by carrying the Cross with Him. These words from the Gospel this Sunday always strike at what is most vital but also most demanding in our following of Jesus. To carry the Cross with our Lord means that we throw-in our lot with Him. God never asks anything of what he Himself has not experienced, nor gives us a Cross that will break us. God does not make demands, but He has expectations. To follow Jesus when everything is going well in life is pleasant. To follow Him when life gets messy—health-wise, in relationships, in the Church and in the world—requires a commitment which is sustained in prayer and the grace of the Sacraments. We cannot function at the level for which we have been created without prayer and the Sacraments. One of the universal experiences of Christian discipleship is the apparent silence of God at these times of trial. Therefore, it is good to recall that whenever a teacher sets a test, it is normally carried out in silence!
On a personal note, some of you will know that my Father has been in bad health for most of this year, following a serious fall in January. He has been cared for in Hospital and at home (but mostly in Hospital) all these months. He is almost ninety-four and very frail. Although it has been a challenge at times, it has been a privilege being able to give back the time and affection we received as children. Our parents, our families and friends, are precious gifts, and the gift and example of fatherhood which I have experienced, has been the inspiration for spiritual fatherhood in my Priesthood. Please keep Dad—William Denis—in your prayers.
Sunday, 1st October, will be the twentieth anniversary of my arrival as Parish Priest here in Leigh. This is the longest period of time I have spent anywhere in my life, and I am grateful to God—and to all of you—for the happiness and blessings that I have experienced in that time. I would dearly love to mark that moment with you and after 11.30am Mass that Sunday I invite you to a Reception with some food and drink in the Parish Centre.
As our Schools and Colleges resume their new Term after the Summer break, we wish our students and all who work in places of education, our prayerful support. May our Catholic Schools, Colleges and Universities be ever places where Jesus is at the centre and the Truth of our Catholic Faith is taught, promoted and lived, at every level.
God bless you all in these days ahead!
Msgr Kevin Hale