Most holy Mary, to thy faithful care and particular protection and to the bosom of thy mercy, to-day and every day, and particularly at the hour of my death, I commend my soul and my body. All my hope and consolation, all my trials and miseries, my life and the end of my life, I commit to thee, that through thy most holy intercessions and by thy merits all my actions may be directed and ordered according to thy will and that of thy divine Son. Amen.
Yesterday I visited the mother of my friend Peter Davies in her home in Chesham, Buckinghamshire. We went in, sat down in the sitting room and in pride of place on the mantelpiece was the picture illustrated here.
Mrs Davies told me to take it down and look at it if I wanted, so I did. I then asked if I might photograph it. The only camera with which I have been equipped for a while has been the one on my iPhone 4. Nevertheless, the camera has done me proud, I believe.
For those that don’t know, there are 12 Promises of the Sacred Heart (more…)
The Rt Rev. Mgr Richard Moth, the Bishop for Scouting in England & Wales
Yesterday I joined many Catholic Scouts from across England and Wales, together with a few others from further afield at the Founder’s Day Mass in St George’s Cathedral, Southwark which was celebrated by The Right Rev Mgr Richard Moth, Bishop of the Forces, who is also the Liaison Bishop for Scouting.
At the beginning of Mass we had a procession with the crucifix and candles being carried by Scouts in uniform, together with a colour party bearing a Queen’s Colour1, the Papal Flag, and the Flag of the National Catholic Scout Fellowship, together with the Scout flags of the Scout Troops, Cub Scout Packs and Beaver Scout Colonies that were present.
His Lordship’s sermon is given below:
In the Gospel today, we find Jesus curing a man of his leprosy. To touch someone who had the disease was extraordinary in those times – the leper was supposed to keep away. He or she was cast out of society on account of the fear of the disease spreading. Yet Jesus reaches out and touches him. When he has been cured, he is told by Jesus to follow the directions of the law – to see the priest, to make an offering in thanksgiving and so to be welcomed back into the community. Jesus reaches out – literally – to the leper who is an outcast from his community.
Leprosy has been around for about 4000 years.
In 2009, Damien of Molokai – the “Leper Priest” – was canonised by Pope Benedict XVI. He was sent as a missionary to Hawaii in 1864. Leprosy had been brought to the islands of Hawaii and in 1873 he volunteered to work at the colony that had been established for lepers. He discovered that he had contracted the disease eleven years later and remained at the colony, caring for the people there, until his own death in 1889. He was 49 years old.
Fr John Seddon, National Catholic Scout Chaplain administers Holy Communion to a member of the NCSF on the tongue and kneeling.
Leper colonies still exist around the world, especially in India, and the last European Leper Colony closed only a little over 50 years ago. Today, the condition is treatable and, where good treatment is available, people with the disease no longer live apart from the rest of society.
Damien of Molokai followed Jesus in reaching out to the leper, serving him and caring for him and we should take that message to heart for ourselves in the society in which we live and in which we are members of the Scout Association.
We may not find lepers on our streets and there are no leper colonies in this country. There are, however, many people who are in need of our service – the friendly word, the welcoming gesture. None of this needs to be complicated.
“Scout Community Week” provides us with a wonderful opportunity for this service. The older ones amongst us will remember, like me, the “bob-a-job” week of years gone by. The purpose was just the same then – service of others.
Service is uncomplicated – it is the giving of ourselves for others. We may do this in different ways, but the one thing we must do is use our gifts and every one of us if called to do this. Don’t leave it to someone else!
The Procession forms up after Mass
As Catholic members of the Scout Association, we might ask ourselves why we do these things. When we serve others, we might feel good about it. That is OK – it would be very odd to feel bad about helping someone else! BUT – Jesus reminds us that when we serve others, we serve Him. That is our real reason for serving others – we are carrying out the work of Jesus himself. Just as Jesus reached out to the leper and gave him new life, so our service of others – although very small in comparison to the events of today’s Gospel – does bring them new life.
It assures them of the goodness of those around them, where goodness is sometimes lacking. It helps them to carry their burden, especially when we come to the help of those who are struggling with life through old age, ill health or just the business of life today.
Anyone interested in supporting Catholic Scouts can join the National Catholic Scout Fellowship, which is a National Scout Active Support Unit within The Scout Association.
Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free and never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean and do such as this unseen,
and admit to what I mean in you and you in me?John L. Bell & Graham Maule
This verse was sung at our Covenant of Commitment in All Souls’ Church in Belfast by a large congregation back in May last year. I wonder what many people thought it meant. (more…)
O Jesus, life of my soul, make me rise each day to a new life of charity and fervor.
The thought that Jesus is our Life shines forth even more in the Gospel (Lk 7.11-16
Soon afterward he went to a city call Na’in, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, behld, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said to her, ‘Do not weep.‘ And he came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, arise.’ And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all; and they glorified God saying, ‘A great prophet has arisen among us!’ and ‘God has visited his people!’ And this report concerning him spread through the whole of Judea and all surrounding country. (Second Catholic Edition RSV)
The Master meets the sad funeral procession of a young man. His mother is walking beside the bier, weeping. ‘And the Lord, seeing her, had compassion on her, and said to her: Weep not. And He came near and touched the bier… And He said: Young man, I say to thee, arise… And He gave him to his mother.’ Jesus is our Saviour who sympathizes with us in our trials and uses His divine omnipotence to alleviate them. Today we see Him work a miracle in order to console a widowed mother; He restores her dead son to life. This was an expression of the delicacy of His love for us; but how many others, less visible perhaps but no less full of love and life have surged from His heart!
The Gospel speaks of three who were dead and who were visibly restored to life by Our Lord,
St Augustine tells us,
but He has restored thousands invisibly.
When writing these words, the Saint must have recalled with ineffable gratitude the much greater miracle Jesus had wrought for him, making him rise from the death of sin.
St Augustine and many other saints have been restored to life. If the saints who led lives of innocence attract us so much, those who were brought back from sin have still greater power to encourage us in our struggles. It may be a laborious task for us to overcome pride, sensuality, and all the other passions, but it was no easier for them. They too knew our temptations, struggles and falls; if they overcame them, why cannot we do the same?
Thanks be to God, it is not always a question of having to rise from a life of serious sin, but there is always occasion for a resurrection from our little daily infidelities; if they are not corrected, our fervour in the spiritual life will gradually weaken. In this regard, we need to rise every day, indeed every hour; yet so many times we lack the strength for it. But if we beseech Jesus, our Life, He will touch us with His grace as He once touched the bier of the young man of Nain; He will give us fresh vigour and will put su back again, full of courage, on the way to perfection. The resurrection of the young man was implored by his mother’s tears; let ours be implored every day by the tears of our hearts, by our compunction, humility and trust.
from Divine Intimacy: Meditations on the Interior Life for Every Day of the Liturgical Year, by Father Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen OCD.
