The Archbishop of Birmingham, Revd. Bernard Longley, has unfolded a new vision for the Diocese of Birmingham, in a pastoral letter and several resources which are available on the Diocesan website. We are called to be a Catholic diocese which is: “Faithful to the mission entrusted to us by Jesus Christ; Full of missionary disciples…
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A weekly reflection to help us meditate in daily life. Bread for the journey.
If we are to be true disciples of Jesus then, just as He did, we must be prepared to shoulder whatever cross we are given. And that is the key. It is so easy to say, “I don’t fancy that cross. I’ll pick my own cross to carry and the Lord should be satisfied with that! As long as I am carrying one it doesn’t matter what it is.” Actually, it does matter. The Lord has a role, a job for each of us, and that is what He wants us to do.
… “We may feel that we are not the right people – and, yes, we do fail sometimes. The Church always needs to be reformed, repaired. We may not feel like rocks that will make a solid wall, but only like small stones. However, no small stone is useless; indeed, in Jesus’ hands even a grain of sand becomes precious, because he picks it up, gazes at it with great tenderness, fashions it with his Spirit, and positions it in the right place”…
“We can already share in the blessed life of heaven. When we come to Mass we are surrounded by the angels and saints. We sit and we are fed at the Lord’s table.”
You may feel that waking at 3.00 in the morning is not for you. Fair enough! But if you do find yourself awake and you know the significance of the hours, you can join people of all generations who stop the natural instinct to turn over and try to go back to sleep. You can ask God what it is He wants to share with you.
Over the next few Sundays we shall explore the gift of Holy Communion. Today let us simply hear and respond to the invitation to come to God if we want to live, and not to chase after false pleasures.
The 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Readings: First reading: 1 Kings 3:5,7-12. When God offered to give him anything, Solomon asked for wisdom, a “seeing heart”, which he regarded as more valuable than treasure or power. Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 118(119):57,72,76-77,127-130. The response is: Lord, how I love your law! Second Reading: Romans 8:28-30. …
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“… this parable is more personal than simply saying there is a mix of good and evil in the world: it is a challenge to each one of us to ask ourselves, what sort of crop are we producing?”
It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but he never bothered to get it repaired. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: “Don’t go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!”
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