Fr Tony writes.....

In the statement read at Mass last weekend the Bishops of England and Wales asked us to make the four Fridays of May special days of prayer.
“We invite Catholics on these days to come before the Blessed Sacrament in our parishes to pray to God for healing, forgiveness and a renewed dedication. We pray for all who have suffered abuse, for those who mishandled these matters and added to the suffering of those affected. From this prayer we do not exclude those who have committed these sins of abuse. They have a
journey of repentance and atonement to make.We pray also for Pope Benedict, whose wise and courageous leadership is so important for the Church at this time.”
Here we will have a silent Holy Hour of Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament on each Friday of May. On May 7th and 14th it will be in the evening to allow those at work to come and share in the time of prayer. We will begin at 6pm and end with Mass at 7pm. On May 21st and 28th it will be from after 10am Mass until 11.30am.
I would like to arrange two other Holy Hours, one at Slindon and one at Rose Green. I hope that as many as possible will join us in this prayerful response to these tragic events.

I am very grateful to everyone who took part in the Day of Adoration last Saturday, April 17th as part of this “Year of the Priest”. These are not easy times, and your prayers for us, and for vocations are very precious. We will have another opportunity to think about the priesthood on Saturday July 3rd. This coming May, Canon Dermod Fogarty will celebrate the 65th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. I have asked him to preside at a con-celebrated Mass at 12 noon on July 3rd. This will be a chance for us to celebrate with him and to thank God for the gift of the priesthood.
The Canon has asked me specially to say that he does not want this to be an occasion for gifts and presents. He wants it to be a real celebration for all of us. What he would greatly value is our prayers. I will have more details of the Mass, and the party that will follow, nearer to the time. Meanwhile please make a note of the date. I am sure that you will want to be there on what should be a very special occasion.

The summer is often the time for moves in the Diocese, and this year we are involved in that process. Bishop Kieran has asked Father Dominic to go to Shoreham in September to look after the Adur Valley Parish, which comprises Shoreham, Steyning and Upper Beeding. The Parish Priest there, Father Sean Finnegan, is taking a sabbatical year from September until the summer of 2011. Father Dominic will then get a new appointment. He will have been with us for just two years, but I know that he will be missed. The coming year will be quite a challenge for him, and I know that he would appreciate your prayers.
The Bishop has appointed Father Jonathan Martin as my assistant here. He is presently completing a degree in Canon Law in Rome. Father Jonathan was ordained priest in 1996, and some of you will already know him from the time when he was Assistant Priest in Chichester. He is an outstanding priest, and we will be very blessed in having him here.
These days we often have to combine jobs. As Episcopal Vicar for Mission and Unity, I have a number of duties in the Diocese that take me away from the Parish from time to time. As a canon lawyer, Father Jonathan will also have diocesan responsibilities as well as his parish work. Please keep us all in your prayers.

Surrexit Dominus Vere: Alleluia The Lord is Risen indeed: Alleluia

During these last days we’ve been involved in ritual, some of it, very ancient. We need ritual to enter into the mystery of God and His overwhelming love.
Imagine for a moment what that first Good Friday evening must have been like for the Apostles. Imagine how they felt. “It is all over. He has gone. All our hopes are dashed. Where do we go from here?”
They feel empty, lost, betrayed. And to make things worse there’s that awful sense of guilt. They remember each step of the journey. They see him still; beaten, bruised, and covered in blood: that is those of them who did not run away at the outset! Peter sadly remembers his own cowardice, denying three times that he even knew Jesus. So much for leadership! And then Judas! What do they make of him. Do they yet know that he has hanged himself in shame? Probably not! How could he do what he did, to use the intimacy of a kiss to betray his Lord? How could he so betray the trust that Jesus had placed in him?
For us in the Church there are painful echoes of Judas today. And we ask the same question: How could such things happen? They think of Pilate who could have stopped it all, but didn’t. Again there are echoes today. How do we respond to evil in our midst? What could we have been done differently?
On that Friday night and during the long hours of Saturday they experienced utter desolation, a feeling of hopelessness. It is against this background of sadness and remorse that the Resurrection comes as a burst of unbelievable joy and hope. On the Cross it seemed that death was in the end more powerful than life, that evil had triumphed over good. It can seem like that today for many people, but Easter is the ultimate triumph of Love. God in Jesus has experienced the full force of human sin and evil, the worst that man can do. But now in His Rising from the dead we see that Love is more powerful even than death itself.
Easter then is above all a time for hope. Christ’s Resurrection tells us that there is no evil so deep that it cannot be overcome by the power of God’s love in Christ. In Him we have the beginning of a New Creation:
“I shall pour clean water over you and you shall be cleansed…… I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you” “You shall be my people and I shall be your God”
The darkness of Good Friday is the sad reality of many lives today, but we are an Easter People. Our Crucified and Risen Lord gives us the hope, the conviction that evil can be overcome by love, and that the final victory of love is certain. It is our task to live by that faith, and in that hope.
The Lord is truly Risen: Alleluia

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we will have a Day of Adoration on Saturday April 17th, which is next Saturday. There will be Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament from after the morning Mass at 10.a.m until Benediction at 4.50 p.m. immediately before the Vigil Mass at 5.15 p.m. This is an opportunity to celebrate this “Year of the Priest”, and to pray for priests and for vocations to the priesthood. In view of all the sad stories in the media in the past few weeks it seems more than ever appropriate to come and pray for priests, and for those now preparing for ordination. These are not easy times for any of us, priests or laity. Prayer is more than ever necessary as we seek to be faithful to Christ in our lives.
I am hoping that the different groups in the Parish will take part in this day of prayer, and that as many of you as possible will make the effort to come and spend some time in silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament during the day.
May I add a sincere thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this Holy Week and Easter such a special time. Thank you also for your generosity in the collection last weekend.