Today......

Today has been an interesting day. In some ways a typical one in the life of a Parish Priest. A funeral in the morning. Lunch at the top table at our local school with the Head and the children who are this week's 'Stars' for work, behaviour, attitude etc., the afternoon doing the accounts and the evening at the hospital after Mass. It's never boring.

I was reflecting on the readings for today's Mass - with the names of some of those who formed the early Christian communities with a range of skills and talents, a range of widely differing social backgrounds and political beliefs - but all united in the desire to be followers of Jesus. Here, surely, is why the Church is Catholic - not simply a gathering of like-minded individuals but a people, a family.

In the evening I heard from Fr Michael Griffiths, a priest of the Diocese who has just begun serving as Parish Priest on the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. By the wonders of modern technology we could speak as if face to face. Well, in truth he couldn't hear me very well, but nevertheless...... The Church is present in the most remote parts of the world. He is settling in his little house there and already beginning his work with a Requiem Mass for Napoleon Bonaparte. Let us keep him in our prayers as he brings the faith to the ends of the earth.

Today I include a picture of the Church of St Martin de Porres, where I am Parish Priest. It's a small church, and modern, having been built in 1979. Nevertheless it is not without its attractions, some of which will be posted here from time to time. The Reredos installed in 2000 is the work of artist Stephen Foster and is an eyecatching image on entering the Church. More images will follow, in due course.

That's all for today.