Holy Trinity and
Extracts from Newsletter for February 2004
Pastoral
letter from the Cardinal
My dear Brothers and Sisters in
Christ,
Today is Education Sunday. It is a time for us to give thanks
particularly to the teachers and staff of our schools, who give such an
enormous amount to our children and our young people. Where would the Catholic community in this
diocese be without the heroic efforts of countless members of our community
who, for the past 150 years, have committed themselves to fund-raising,
building and maintaining our schools, and providing the moral and personal
support which the teachers in our schools deserve? I would very much like you to pray today very
specially for all of those who contribute to making our schools places of
faith, hope and love, as well as sound educational institutions.
But I would also like to draw your
attention today to the extraordinary importance of family life in the education
and formation of our young people. When
I was young, it was clear to me that living out faith in Jesus Christ was
something more than attending mass on Sunday.
We prayed together as a family every day. Every week my father would spend one evening
visiting and caring for poor and destitute people in the parish. My mother, along with other Catholic women,
gave a great deal of time to helping to develop the life and mission of the
parish. In so many different ways, my
parents taught me that to be a follower of Christ demanded sacrifice and a real
commitment of time and energy. What was
true for my parents is true for parents today.
And what I learned from my parents, your children can learn from
you. We are all called to live as one
family of faith and the deepest sign of that vocation is to be found in the
heart of our homes.
God’s gifts are never just for
ourselves. Every family - your personal
family, the family of the parish, and the family of the diocese - has a mission
bigger than itself. It has a broader
mission to the wider Church and to the world.
The family that does most to evangelise
society is the family which does most to evangelise
itself, which is why praying together is so important. Our education and formation in the faith must
go together hand in hand. Neither our
schools nor our families should be left to work in isolation. We are all educators; we form each other with
every act of faith and sign of our commitment to the God of love in Jesus
Christ.
Two weeks from now we begin the
second season of At Your Word, Lord.
Some of you in the parish are already playing an active part in our
diocesan renewal programme, by meeting for the six
weeks in small groups. Others are
playing a part through their prayer and support. I want all of you to think what greater
effort you might give to support the programme during
this coming season.
I am convinced that there are many
more who, in their heart of hearts, would want to launch out into the deep, as Peter did, and in this
way respond to the Lord’s invitation. I
ask you to have courage and not to be afraid.
The benefits for your own family and for the family of the parish will
be immense.
We begin Lent in a few weeks’ time
and I want you to consider carefully what you might do in these next six weeks
to play a greater part in the diocesan endeavour for
spiritual and pastoral renewal. These
are not just words. Our faith is real
because the presence of God in Jesus Christ in our midst in Word and Sacrament
and by the Spirit in our lives is real, is true.
We sometimes wonder how best to evangelise our children and our young people. We must be prepared to take that extra step
beyond our weekly mass commitment. Like
Peter, James and John, we can go much further than we could possibly imagine, if we answer Christ’s call: ‘Come, follow me.’ And when we do, things change. We begin to evangelise
not only our parishes, but our society.
If our involvement in the parish is minimal, of course very little will
change for the better, and of course our young people will fall away. It is not just our Church which needs active
witnesses to the Gospel.. It is our young people and our society. The At Your Word, Lord process is
Christ’s call to all the people of our diocese to respond with alacrity to the
Word, as did those apostles by the Sea of Galilee.
Do not be discouraged or, like
Peter, think that you have laboured all night long
and have caught nothing and that it’s not worth it. At Your Word, Lord, I will let down the
net, said Peter. In the name of Jesus, I invite you, in the
words of Jesus in today’s Gospel, to launch out into the deep, and I assure you
that the generosity of your response will not be in vain, but will reap much
fruit.
With an assurance of my prayers
and kindest wishes,
Yours devotedly in Christ
Cormac Murphy O’Connor
Archbishop of
AYWL - Wembley Launch Mass Video If you did not order a copy of this, but
would like to borrow a copy on loan, please contact Greg Hewitson
on 01462 637150. It is well worth
watching, and lasts 80 minutes.
Women’s World Day of Prayer
Join with
Christian women world-wide in this Day of Prayer on
Copies of the 2004 brochure for Catholic People’s Weeks are
available at the back of the Church.
These weeks are designed for families and provide a wonderful
opportunity to enjoy a break and take stock of your faith, at the same time as
having fun - described as ‘an annual oasis of sanity and fun’ - Why not take a
look?
At Your Word, Lord
This weekend is your opportunity
to join one of the small faith sharing communities who will be looking at the
theme of:
‘Conversion - A Change of Heart’,
during this Lenten Season.
Do be assured of a warm welcome at
each of the groups. All who took part in
Season I found it beneficial and helpful, even enjoyable, as part of their
continuing faith journey:
“ Enjoyable
meeting – a lot to think about
Wonderful
sense of openness – informative and thought-provoking
I have found
Season I very helpful. The contents of
each session, the sharing etc., have made me think more deeply about my faith
I believe that Season I is just the
beginning, leaving me to want more.
”
If you filled out an enrolment
card, you will be contacted shortly with details of your group. The Season
begins in the week commencing
For those of you who prefer to
participate in the programme privately or with your
families, or who are unable to join a group for other reasons, the private
meditation booklets will be on sale for the next couple of weekends, priced at
£1. Please do all you can to join
prayerfully with the whole parish, and Diocese, in this venture.
Core Community Contacts: Ian Allott
(642182); Jennifer Blanchfield (895300); Christopher
Bryan (893868); Neil Haslam (894708); Greg Hewitson
(637150); Caroline Holmes (626361); Bill
Piper (680028).
Hearty
Congratulations to St John’s Primary School for achieving the Herts Quality Standards Award for the Foundation Stage
(Nursery & Reception Classes). This awards recognises the high
standards of Early Years provision at the School. Children attending the Nursery Class have the
option to stay on from
Visitors to the School are most welcome; please telephone 892478 if you
wish to come
along and see what we can offer your child.
Musicians - We’d love to welcome you to the music group,
playing at the
Grand National Sweepstake
‘Horses’ will be on sale over the next few
weeks - Do join in the fun and support this fund-raising effort –
Our thanks to Ann
Walker for organising this annual event.
200 Club Thanks to everyone who
signed up for 2004, and to James and Elaine Glover, for their hard work in organising this important fund raiser for our Church. Details of winners will be published shortly ..... It could be you!!!