Monthly Archives: June 2018

“You are a Priest Forever”(Ps. 109:4)

Many congratulations to Deacon David Jones, who by the time most of you read this, will be Father David Jones. Father David was ordained to the Sacred Priesthood this weekend at the Birmingham Oratory for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham along with seven others by His Grace Archbishop Bernard Longley. Let us rejoice and give thanks to God, because without priests, the Church would not be able to fulfil Our Lord’s command: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Mt. 28:19) and “Do this in memory of Me” (Lk. 22:19; 1 Cor. 11.24) – that is, the command to announce the Gospel and to renew daily the Sacrifice of the Cross which is the Holy Mass.

Today is also the Feast of our Father Founder, Blessed Antonio Rosmini (1797-1855). He founded the Rosminian Order or the Institute of Charity in 1828. He was already a priest, having been ordained on 21^st April 1821. On that day he wrote in his diary, “From this hour onwards, I must be a new man, live in Heaven with my heart and mind, converse always with Christ, despise and flee from earthly things. I must return from the altar a saint, an apostle, a man of God. I must progress in all virtues, be the first in love and hard work.”

St John Bosco said of him, “I have never seen a priest say Mass with more devotion than Antonio Rosmini”. According to many witnesses, his face seemed alight, “he appeared to speak with God  face to face”, and for a long time after Mass, no one dared to approach him as he made a long thanksgiving.  For Rosmini, the Mass was the centre of his day together with the recitation of the Divine Office which he recited faithfully to the end of his life.

The priest acts at all times “in persona Christi”, “in the person of Christ.”  He is Christ when he raises his hand to forgive sins: “I absolve you from all your sins…” He is Christ when he says, “This is My Body; this is My Blood”; he is Christ when he anoints the sick and leads the people in the Sacred Liturgy; he is Christ when he preaches; he is Christ when he comforts those who mourn and those who are suffering; he is Christ when he guides the young on their way to Heaven.

St John Marie Vianney, the Patron Saint of Parish Priests said, “The priest continues the work of redemption on earth … If we understood the priest on earth, we would die not of fright but of love… The Priesthood is the love of the heart of JESUS.”

Please pray for Father David and for all your priests, and let us continue to pray fervently that God will bless us with many vocations from THIS parish.                           

Fr Paul Gillham IC

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“His Name is John”

In the liturgical year we celebrate just three births – Our Lord at Christmas, Our Lady on 8^th September, and today we celebrate the birth of St John the Baptist. All three were born without Original Sin.  Obviously, Our Lord, being God was sinless and perfect.  Our Lady was immaculately conceived – that is without the stain of Original Sin, and you might be surprised to hear it is a tradition that St John the Baptist was conceived with Original Sin, but yet he was born without it. Three months before John’s birth at the Visitation, when Our Lady, pregnant with Our Lord visited her cousin Elizabeth who was carrying John in her womb, we read that “the infant [John] leaped in her [Elizabeth’s] womb” (Luke 1:41).  This “leap” was John acknowledging the presence of Christ, who was then filled with the Holy Spirit which represents a type of Baptism. Therefore since Baptism removes the stain of Original Sin, John was born without Original Sin and was thus in the same position we find ourselves in after Baptism. Unlike Our Lady, this does not mean John remained sinless throughout his life.  Although freed from Original Sin, he remained subject to its effects.

John was “the voice in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord” (John 1:23) by calling on people to repent of their sins.  He proclaimed the Kingdom of God and a coming judgement, and invited people to accept Baptism as a sign of their repentance.

John feared nobody and we see him disturbing people’s consciences by calling out sin for what it is. One of the great errors of our day is to deny sin.  John showed great courage in condemning the marriage of Herod to Herod’s brother’s wife, which eventually cost him his head.  This is a reminder to us today that not everything permitted by the law is morally right. One thinks of the recent vote in Ireland regarding abortion.  John’s courage in upholding the truth about marriage challenges us when it is not popular to speak the truth or live by it.

John the Baptist once said when pointing out Our Lord, “He must increase, I must decrease” (John 3:30).  John himself was not the promised Messiah as many thought he was – but John’s mission was to point out Christ as the promised Redeemer who would free us from sin and death.  On this great Solemnity, let us ask St John the Baptist to pray for us. 

Fr Paul Gillham IC

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“When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong”

Today’s readings point out to us that it is by God’s own power that His Kingdom grows on earth. But at the same time, if we cultivate it in our hearts, it can grow through us too.

Consider the Apostles. For the most part they were humble fishermen with few resources and little education, and some of them had very noticeable defects. And yet in spite of this, they managed to spread the Gospel to all the known world in a very short space of time. From a human point of view this is impossible to explain, especially when one considers all the obstacles and opposition that were in their way. But they trusted in God and managed this seemingly insurmountable task in obedience to Our Lord: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 18:19).

So, the message for us is that with God’s help, we can do what is seemingly impossible. There is a huge gulf between the duty we all have to spread the Gospel and the means we have to do it. But in the words of St Paul, “He [God] chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Cor 1:27).

Society at the time of the Apostles and the first Christians was a world in darkness. As in our own day, low morals were commonplace and there was little respect for human life (See Romans 1:24-31). But the early Christians, from working within society changed all that. The seed was planted and the Gospel spread throughout the whole world. This grew into Christendom. The early Christians were no different from us, but with God’s help they worked miracles in the spread of the Truth. They were like tiny mustard seeds which grew “into the biggest shrub of them all.”

So, in our secular and atheistic society, let us not be afraid of what others think. The well-known media Bishop, Robert Barron said, “The minute you walk outside of your church on Sunday you’re in mission territory.” This means that today we will likely face opposition, persecution or ridicule if we proclaim Christ and stand up for His teaching and the Church He founded. This could happen at work or even at school. Being a Christian today is not easy! But these are always great moments to show Our Lord we love Him. St Paul wrote to Timothy, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power and love and self-control. Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord” (2 Tim 1:7-8). Go out and boldly proclaim Our Lord JESUS Christ!

Fr Paul Gillham IC

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“I Have Come to Cast Out the Prince of this World”

In today’s Gospel Our Lord has been healing and casting out demons, and it is evident from His words that there are two kingdoms: the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God. But with the coming of Our Lord, the kingdom of Satan is coming to an end. After all, Our Lord is the seed of the woman (Mary) who has come to crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). Our Lord also reveals that He has come not only to punish the devil, but to free those who are bound by him. He casts out demons simply by His word or by His touch, and He forgives sins, freeing us from bondage to Satan and evil. But be under no illusion – Satan is real – he is the leader of the fallen angels who rebelled against God, and we are under constant attack.

But never be afraid, because with Our Lord on our side, the devil and his army can never really harm us, but they will certainly try to. In the words of St Peter, “the devil is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Genuine demonic possession, where a demon can take hold of someone’s body, is very rare. However, dabbling with the occult, consulting fortune tellers or mediums or using Ouija boards can open the door to evil, and for this reason is forbidden by the Church (Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 2116) – so we should NEVER, EVER have anything to do with these things. They are very dangerous. Neither is there such a thing as “white” magic. All of these things have an evil origin, even if those involved don’t realise it.

However, the normal way we are attacked is through temptation. Being fallen creatures, we are attracted by our base instincts of pride, greed, lust, anger, envy, sloth and gluttony (the Seven Deadly Sins). So we have to, with God’s help and prayer, try to form the virtues in our lives which are the opposite of vice. But we will be tempted to choose what is bad for us. This is what happened in the Garden of Eden. The devil tempted Adam and Eve by lying to them, telling them that if they disobeyed God, they would become like God. Our Lord didn’t call Satan the “father of lies” for nothing! The way to protect ourselves is through prayer, confession and Holy Communion.

We must pray to always choose God’s Will. Try to put bad thoughts out of your mind. It may be a battle, but every time we resist for the love of God, we grow in grace and virtue. And never despair. Remember, God showed His infinite love for us by dying on the Cross to save us. He will never let us down if we call upon Him.                                      

Fr Paul Gillham IC

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“I Am the Bread of Life”

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi – the Body and Blood of Our Lord – the Holy Eucharist. After the 11am Mass today, we will have a short Corpus Christi Procession to worship and honour Our Lord’s Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. But sometimes, we get so used to the Eucharist, we can forget what an amazing work of God it is.

There are two miracles involved in this sacrament at every Mass. The first is that at the words of Consecration, the substance of the bread and wine are changed into the substance of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Church calls this “Transubstantiation.” The second miracle is that although after the Consecration the substance of the bread and wine are changed, they still look like bread and wine. But Our Lord is truly present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. This is why we worship and adore the Holy Eucharist, why we genuflect as we pass the tabernacle and why the red lamp burns constantly by it. It is no mere symbol.

Every now and again, God works a miracle to remind us of this and to help increase our faith. I think the most famous, which I have also seen personally, would be that which took place in Lanciano, Italy in the 8^th Century. A monk who doubted the truth of Our Lord’s Real Presence, one day when saying Mass, saw the host miraculously changed into Flesh and the wine into Blood. The monk was awestruck. Weeping joyously, he regained his composure and called the congregation around the altar and they all marvelled, and the word spread quickly. This is an ongoing miracle since It is still preserved today. Modern scientific experiments show, among other things, that the Flesh is real Flesh, the Blood is real Blood. The Flesh and the Blood belong to the human species and the Flesh consists of the muscular tissue of the heart. The Flesh and the Blood have the same blood-type: AB (identical to that on the Holy Shroud of Turin). The preservation of the Flesh and of the Blood, which were left in their natural state for twelve centuries and exposed to the action of atmospheric and biological agents, remains an extraordinary phenomenon.

The beauty of this miracle reflects Our Lord’s own words; “I am the Bread of Life. He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has life eternal and I shall raise him up on the last day. For My Flesh is real food and My Blood real drink. The man who feeds on My Flesh and drinks My Blood remains in Me, and I in him” (John 6:35, 54-56). Let us never forget that at every Mass we witness a miracle, and that by the reception of Holy Communion we share in Our Lord’s Divine Life. 

Fr Paul Gillham IC

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