Coming Together

In a week’s time our parish of All Saints, will gather as one. We sincerely hope that you will be there at Trinity School to celebrate this important and momentous occasion. Our three communities of St Teresa of Lisieux, Aspley, St Hugh of Lincoln, Bilbborough and St Thomas More, Wollaton have long and proud histories, each stretching back well over half a century of catholic witness in this area of west Nottingham. We want to celebrate that proud history in the best way we know, by coming together next Sunday, to actively participate in the Mass which will inaugurate the next stage in the future of our communities. This coming together does not mean that we lose that history. On the contrary, it means that the example of those dedicated and committed parishioners who created and established the catholic presence in this area, can become the inspiration for us, as the generation charged with the task of ensuring that the presence of the gospel continues to shine forth in this place. Their example can animate us to reach out beyond our catholic community and bring the message of Christ anew to others who have not yet heard it or who have lost touch with it. This celebration is both a thanksgiving for what we have received from our forebears as well as a launchpad for what we are inspired by them to build and to hand on.

This work cannot be done without you. Your role in actively participating in the living out of your catholic faith is the only way in which it can be achieved. It means being alive in the life of the Church, showing through your witness that the gospel message continues to shine forth from our Churches, from our schools, from our homes and in our families. We know that we can do this because of what we have already achieved. Coming together as one parish is the next step in this process. Recognising each other as co-workers in the vineyard of the Lord is now our identity. We are called by Jesus to embrace the moment.

In the gospel today the challenge is laid down. “Lord, when did I see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or in prison and did not come to your help?” All we have to do is to look around and we see the issue laid out before us. This is the vineyard in which we are called to work. With God’s grace and with each other’s encouragement and support we can achieve so much. Together let us aspire to make this parish of All Saints a place where the kingdom of truth and life, of holiness and grace, of justice, love and peace become the fruits of our union.

Come to our celebration!

Year's End

We’re coming to the end of the liturgical year and as a result we are coming to the end of our reading of the Gospel of Matthew. Next week will be the last Sunday of the year and if there is any phrase from our year with Matthew that has impacted powerfully upon us, my hope would be that it was the phrase “the kingdom of heaven is like...”. Of the last nineteen Sunday gospels, twelve have had as their main topic the theme of the kingdom of heaven. I think that we can say without much contradiction that this concept was a very important part of Jesus’ message and teaching. Often when we hear the phrase “the kingdom of heaven”, we are a bit uncertain as to its meaning and its implication, but we really shouldn’t be, and I think that if any gospel passage defines its meaning and relevance for us, then today’s is a good one.

When Jesus said to Peter “I give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven” we may have thought “well then please show us the lock and the entrance door too” But having read today’s gospel we now know where both the lock and the door are. Each of us has been given the talent to tap into the kingdom since that talent is the kingdom. In other words, the kingdom is part and parcel of who and what we are, and the key to releasing and unlocking that talent and by analogy the fruits of the kingdom, lie in each one of us recognising for ourselves the revelation that brought Peter to make his confession. “You are the Christ the Son of the living God” is how Peter put it and Jesus blessed him for it. The question is can we recognise that same vision in our- selves and in each other?

To do so we need to re-examine our values and look again at what is important and meaningful in our lives. There is no doubt that our world is changing and changing rapidly. We only have to look around to see the massive problems which we are facing. The continuing war in Ukraine, the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the economic hardships and the impact of climate change leave us all wondering where it will all lead to. Are we travelling towards the kingdom, or have we all essentially been acting like that servant who just buried his talent? Have we ignored our talent and left it well alone, such that the virtues of the kingdom which it represented simply withered away? If we have then woe betide us because we need to recover it sooner rather than later.