Dear Parishioner,
As I write our Holy Father Pope Francis continues to undergo quite intense medical care and as a praying community we would want to wish him well at this time. During this Jubilee Year Pope Francis offered the theme of Hope – for both the Church and the world and that theme is even more relevant now than when first announced as countless millions around the world continue to hope for a better life. We witness continuing uncertainty in the Middle East, few prospects for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the ongoing turmoil in Ukraine all coupled with a major political and potentially dangerous shift in priorities on the part the administration in the United States. Daily the Jubilee Prayer takes on ever greater significance:
Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your kingdom. May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally. May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. To you, our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise forever, Amen.
After seven weeks the second of three seasons of the Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelter came to an end at the Abbey last Saturday morning. There I witnessed the tremendous generosity of so many from our community who helped to ensure that there is indeed hope beyond the ignominy that is homelessness, hope for the lives of the fourteen guests with whom we shared our time, our encouragement, our laughter, our shelter and warmth, our food and our prayer. Please pray for Lawrence, Karol, Noel, Phel Phel, Muhammed, Yasir, Claudine, Ignotas, Tomasz, Abdi, Bahram, Conner, Stephen and Sajed.
Deacon Alex
