Jubilee 2025
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In last weeks Newsletter I mentioned that the Jubilee of Families, Grandparents and the Elderly will be from the 30th of May until the 1st of June 025.  A few people have asked to read more about the Jubilee Year.
 
“Jubilee” is the name given to a particular year; the name comes from the instrument used to mark its launch. In this case, the instrument in question is the yobel, the ram's horn, used to proclaim the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This (Jewish) holiday occurs every year, but it takes on special significance when it marks the beginning of a Jubilee year. We can find an early indication of it in the Bible: a Jubilee year was to be marked every 50 years, since this would be an “extra” year, one which would happen every seven weeks of seven years, i.e., every 49 years (cf. Leviticus 25:8-13).  In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII called the first Jubilee, also known as a
“Holy Year,” since it is a time in which God's holiness transforms us. 
 
Even though it wasn’t easy to organise, it was intended to be marked as a time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation, and involved the forgiveness of debts, the return of misappropriated land, and a fallow period for the fields. 

In his letter about the Jubilee (issued in 2022) Pope Francis wrote this.
“We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us, and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision. The forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire; that is why I have chosen as the motto of the Jubilee, Pilgrims of Hope. This will indeed be the case if we are capable of recovering a sense of universal fraternity and refuse to turn a blind eye to the tragedy of rampant poverty that prevents millions of men, women, young people and children from living in a manner worthy of our human dignity. Here I think in particular of the many refugees forced to abandon their native lands. May the voices of the poor be heard throughout this time of preparation for the Jubilee, which is meant to restore access to the fruits of the earth to everyone.
 
The spiritual dimension of the Jubilee, which calls for conversion, should also embrace these fundamental aspects of our life in society as part of a coherent whole. In the realization that all of us are pilgrims on this earth, which the Lord has charged us to till and keep (cf. Gen 2:15), may we never fail, in the course of our sojourn, to contemplate the beauty of creation and care for our common home. It is my hope that the coming Jubilee Year will be celebrated and experienced with this intention too. Growing numbers of men and women, including many young people and children, have come to realize that care for creation is an essential expression of our faith in God and our obedience to his will.
 
 I would greatly desire that we devote 2024, the year preceding the Jubilee event, to a great “symphony” of prayer. Prayer, above all else, to renew our desire to be in the presence of the Lord, to listen to him and to adore him. Prayer, moreover, to thank God for the many gifts of his love for us and to praise his work in creation, which summons everyone to respect it and to take concrete and responsible steps to protect it. Prayer as the expression of a single “heart and soul” (cf. Acts 4:32), which then translates into solidarity and the sharing of our daily bread.
 
Prayer that makes it possible for every man and woman in this world to turn to the one God and to reveal to him what lies hidden in the depths of their heart. Prayer as the royal road to holiness, which enables us to be contemplative even in the midst of activity. In a word, may it be an intense year of prayer in which hearts are opened to receive the outpouring of God’s grace and to make the “Our Father,” the prayer Jesus taught us, the life programme of each of his disciples”
 
We will need to consider how, as a Parish, we can make this coming Jubilee year an expression of the hope which we have and the faith which we share. 

The Feast of St Joachim and St Anne
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Celebrated on Friday this is a maybe less well known  and quieter feast celebrated in honour of the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the the earthly grandparents of Jesus. 
As existing information about Saints Anne​ and Joachim comes from the Gospel of James and Catholic legend, ​there is debate over the details of their lives. But regardless, it can be agreed that to be the parents of Jesus’s earthly mother, Saint Anne and Saint Joachim must have been faithful, devoted parents indeed. The patronage of Saint Anne includes grandparents, couples without children, women in labour, and women unable to conceive. Likewise, Saint Joachim is considered the patron of grandfathers, fathers, and grandparents. 
Anne, in Hebrew, means “God has given grace.” According to existing accounts, she was barren for much of her life. One day in her advanced years, she conceived Mary, the mother of Jesus. Saint Anne dedicated the life of her child to the service of God when she was only three – a decision that was undoubtedly formative in the shaping of the future Mother of God. 
As we reflect on the legacy of Saints Anne and Joachim, we are also invited to reflect on the vital role played by all grandparents in completing the loving family unit and nurturing the faith of future generations. Grandparents can take a vital part in the training of their grandchildren, teaching them to love the ways of the Lord and honour his commandments. It was Saints Anne and Joachim who cultivated in the young Mary a love for God, preparing her for her role in the story of divine redemption. 
Pope Francis remarked of Saints Anne and Joachim:
In their home, Mary came into the world, accompanied by the extraordinary mystery of the Immaculate Conception. Mary grew up in the home of Joachim and Anne; she was surrounded by their love and faith: in their home she learned to listen to the Lord and to follow his will. Saints Joachim and Anne were part of a long chain of people who had transmitted their faith and love for God, expressed in the warmth and love of family life, down to Mary, who received the Son of God in her womb and who gave him to the world, to us. How precious is the family as the privileged place for transmitting the faith! 
 
There is also something to be said for grandparents’ roles as repositories of wisdom and history. Their experience in faith and life has enriched their judgment, rendering them invaluable counsels for the generations that follow. They remember the heritage of the family and share it with future generations. 
 
As Pope Francis has also written: How important grandparents are for family life, for passing on the human and religious heritage which is so essential for each and every society! How important it is to have intergenerational exchanges and dialogue, especially within the context of the family. The Aparecida Document says, “Children and the elderly build the future of peoples: children because they lead history forward, the elderly because they transmit the experience and wisdom of their lives. This relationship and this dialogue between generations is a treasure to be preserved and strengthened!”  
 
Devotion to their memory is particularly strong in the Eastern Catholic churches, where their intercession is invoked by the priest at the end of each Divine Liturgy. The Eastern churches, however, celebrate Sts. Joachim and Anne on a different date, Sept. 9.
During the Jubilee Year 2025 the Jubilee of Families, Grandparents and the Elderly will be from the 30th of May until the 1st of June 

​St Joseph Statue
You may have noticed that the Statue of St Joseph as moved from its “temporary” home to its original location at the back of the Church by the door to the Hall.   It was moved after it got damaged but now has been replaced in its original spot.  The plan is, once funds permit, to get a proper small embroidered cloth made for the table and also to add a light to the track above it.  
 
St Joseph is an important figure in the life of the Church.  Though no words of his are recorded in scripture St. Joseph is the foster father of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He is the patron saint of fathers. Joseph is also the protector of the Church. He is one of the patrons of refugees, because he took Mary and Jesus, when Jesus was a baby, to safety in Egypt, to flee the wrath of the tyrannical King Herod. Joseph is also the patron saint of labourers, because he was a working man, a carpenter. He’s the patron saint of families and he is the patron saint of those who are dying.
 
Pope Francis has written “While Jerusalem was “the city loved by the Lord, the ‘holy city’,” it was Bethlehem and Nazareth, both outlying villages, far from the clamour of the news and the powers of the time  that are most associated with Saint Joseph. The choice of Bethlehem and Nazareth tells us that the periphery and marginality are preferred by God, and failure to take this fact seriously is equivalent to not taking seriously the Gospel and the work of God.”
Pope Francis also has a statue of the Sleeping Saint Joseph, an unusual statue for Europeans but very famous among the faithful from South America.
Many times Pope Francis has spoken about his habit of putting underneath the Sleeping St Joseph statue some little notes with requests for grace and prayers of the faithful, trying to invite the Saint to sleep on it and put it a good word with God.
The Pontiff himself declared in 2015 he particularly loves Saint Joseph, as he is such a strong and silent man, the man of the dreams, that protects and helps everyone even in his sleep. 
There is a small statue of the Sleeping St Joseph on a stand near the big statue and if you also wish to put an intention or a prayer there then Mass will be offered for these once a month.

​Feast of St Benedict Thurs 11th of July
Patron Saint of Europe
 
St. Benedict was born c. 480AD in Nursia and was the founder of the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino and father of Western monasticism.  The Monastic he Rule that he established became the norm for monastic living throughout Europe. St. Gregory the Great – who wrote the only ancient biography of St. Benedict that we have – called St. Benedict “a bright light” in an age marked by the most serious crisis.
The Rule which St Benedict composed AD 530 is essentially a manual, a code for monastic life. Written in a familiar style, Benedict throughout the prologue and 73 chapters of the Rule exhorts his monks to listen with “the ear of the heart” to “never despair of the mercy of God”: “Listen carefully, my child, to your master's precepts, and incline the ear of your heart (Prov. 4:20). “Receive willingly and carry out effectively your loving father’s advice”.
In 1964, in view of the work of monks following the Benedictine Rule in the evangelization and civilization of so many European countries in the Middle Ages, Pope Paul VI proclaimed him the patron saint of all Europe.