I am a Catholic passionate about the future of our Church. I believe strongly in the need to reevangelise, and the need for the Church to walk alongside all we meet, so that they can truley meet Christ.
In the coming year there will be much talk about the family, how it can be nutured as well as how we can support those who are experiencing difficulty in family life and indeed in thier marriages. The family is the fundamental building block of the Church, drawn into the bedth of life within the Church by the Sacraments, supported by the Sacraments and renewed by the Sacraments.
To keep the life of the Church vibrant we therefore need priests. Not clerical office managers, but men who are thrilled by the call of God, who wish to be among their people, who believe in Parish visiting, in the homes of families, the old , the sick, the young. Men of hope and generosity. As Pope Francis would say, 'with the smell of the sheep'.
Let us pray that we will be gifted with men of this kind. The saddest thing that I have heard of recently was a priest who who said he did not have time for parish visiting, he had too many other things to do! We need to support our priests, get them out of meeting, and get them back into our streets and homes, give thenm the chance to concentrate on the Liturgy, and doing that well, in short let us rebuild our church based on the Sacramnets and good pastoral work, and let us pray for Bishops who can be pastors to thier clergy, and inspire a deep love of God in thier people.
Your Prayers are particualarly asked for the Diocese of Brentwood, Hallam, Leeds, Paisley, Motherwell, Galloway and Salford, together with ther Archdiocese of Liverpool, all awaiting the appointment of new Bishops at this time. We pray that they will receive good, Holy and wise Bishops who burn with faith.
In the coming year there will be much talk about the family, how it can be nutured as well as how we can support those who are experiencing difficulty in family life and indeed in thier marriages. The family is the fundamental building block of the Church, drawn into the bedth of life within the Church by the Sacraments, supported by the Sacraments and renewed by the Sacraments.
To keep the life of the Church vibrant we therefore need priests. Not clerical office managers, but men who are thrilled by the call of God, who wish to be among their people, who believe in Parish visiting, in the homes of families, the old , the sick, the young. Men of hope and generosity. As Pope Francis would say, 'with the smell of the sheep'.
Let us pray that we will be gifted with men of this kind. The saddest thing that I have heard of recently was a priest who who said he did not have time for parish visiting, he had too many other things to do! We need to support our priests, get them out of meeting, and get them back into our streets and homes, give thenm the chance to concentrate on the Liturgy, and doing that well, in short let us rebuild our church based on the Sacramnets and good pastoral work, and let us pray for Bishops who can be pastors to thier clergy, and inspire a deep love of God in thier people.
Your Prayers are particualarly asked for the Diocese of Brentwood, Hallam, Leeds, Paisley, Motherwell, Galloway and Salford, together with ther Archdiocese of Liverpool, all awaiting the appointment of new Bishops at this time. We pray that they will receive good, Holy and wise Bishops who burn with faith.
