Here is the homily I preached last Sunday, the Twelfth Sunday of the Year, at the 12 noon Mass in the Cathedral.
 
Tomorrow 21st June was to be the day the lockdown restrictions were to be lifted, but as you know, things have been postponed. In years to come, we’ll look back with astonishment at the storm of this pandemic these last eighteen months. True, there have been many good things, remarkable acts of generosity and charity but many sadnesses too. I often pray for Karen, a young woman of 24 in the news last Christmas. An only child who lived at home, on Christmas Eve she felt unwell and told her dad she’d go for a check-up. She drove to the hospital. They kept her in. Later that evening they put her on a ventilator to help her breathing. She told her parents not to worry, but in the early hours, the staff had to call them in. Karen never made it through the night. May she rest in peace. And on this Father’s Day, let’s pray too for her father and for her mother...

We’ve sent to the printers the next edition of our new quarterly Diocesan Newsletter! It will be in our parishes for Sunday 4th July. (Again, many thanks in advance to all those who have offered to help with the delivery). This summer edition will be focusing on the Year of the Eucharist and on Vocations, as well as incorporating a selection of news from around the Diocese. There will be much to read, including a reflection by Canon Gerard Flynn on the work of being the Vocations Director, and the “unique opportunity” that Canon John Cooke speaks of in discussing his work of Vocations’ Promotion. Edward Hauschild, one of our seminarians in Rome, tells his story and Teresa Cripps, Assistant Head at Bishop Challoner, speaks of her faith in the Holy Eucharist. I also lay out my hopes for the Year of the Eucharist. When it comes - make sure you pick up a copy of the Viva Voce newsletter from church!

Tomorrow, 23rd June, is the optional Memorial of St. Etheldreda (Audrey), patron saint of Cambridge University. Born in 630, she was Queen of Northumbria and celebrated in a poem by St. Bede. While very young she was given in marriage to a local prince, who gave her a piece of land known as the Isle of Ely. The marriage was never consummated and five years after his early death, she lived in isolation. Etheldreda was forced to marry again out of political convenience, this time to the heir of Oswy, King of Northumbria. Throughout her 12 years of marriage, she kept her virginity, and gave much of her time to devotion and charity. St. Wilfrid was her friend and spiritual guide, and helped to persuade her husband that St. Etheldreda should live for some time in peace as a sister of the Coldingham nunnery, founded by her aunt, St. Ebb. The marriage was later dissolved and in 673, she founded a double monastery at Ely, where she was to spend the rest of her life. During this time, St. Etheldreda only ate once a day, except on feast days or while she was sick, and wore only clothes made of wool. After midnight prayers, she would always go back to the church and continue praying until morning. St. Etheldreda took pain and humiliation as a blessing – on her death bed, she thanked God for an illness that had painfully swollen her neck, which she considered to be punishment for having vainly worn necklaces with jewels as a young lady. She died on June 23, 679, and was buried in a wooden coffin, as she had asked. When St. Etheldreda’s body was moved to a stone coffin, it was found incorrupt and her neck to have been perfectly healed.

This Thursday, 24th June, is the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. John the Baptist is the only figure other than the Blessed Mother and Jesus Himself whose birth is celebrated in the Church’s liturgy. This is because he had the unique vocation of being the Forerunner, the one whose preaching and witness prepared the way for Christ. He had the amazing privilege of baptising the Lord and was later called to anticipate Christ’s Passion by shedding his own blood for the truth. Pope Francis has said: “Let us learn from the one who was the forerunner of Jesus the ability to bear witness to the Gospel with courage.” The Mass of the day contains a very fine Preface: It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord. In his Precursor, Saint John the Baptist, we praise your great glory, for you consecrated him for a single honour among those born of women. His birth brought great rejoicing; even in the womb he leapt for joy at the coming of human salvation. He alone of all the prophets pointed out the Lamb of redemption. And to make holy the flowing waters he baptised the very author of Baptism and was privileged to bear him the supreme witness by the shedding of his blood. And so, with the powers of heaven, we worship you constantly on earth, and before your majesty without end we acclaim: Holy, holy …

Next Sunday 27th June is the Thirteenth Sunday of the Year and the Gospel is Mark 5:21-43. This Sunday’s Gospel presents us with two miracles of Jesus: his healing of the woman with haemorrhage and his raising up the daughter of Jairus. We see a great contrast between the hidden and discreet faith of the woman who simply touches his garment in the hope that he will heal her, and the faithlessness of Jairus’ household who tell him not to bother asking Jesus to raise her from the dead. Can Jesus do both? Can Jesus do everything? If so, why does it often feel like he is doing... nothing? Perhaps he simply wants us to grow in faith in his multitasking abilities…

You can find the Sunday readings here and read Scott Hahn's reflection here. You can register to watch our Diocesan Wednesday Webinar here, or join via Facebook live. If you can’t join on Wednesday, you can subscribe to the podcast here.

Next Monday, 28th June, is the Memorial of St. Irenaeus of Lyons. He came originally from Smyrna, and as a boy he listened to the preaching of the great bishop St. Polycarp of that city, who was himself a disciple of St. John the Apostle. Irenaeus, born about 130 AD, was thus in a direct line back to the Apostles. He studied in Rome and then became a priest of Lyons which at the time was the main bishopric of Gaul. He became Bishop of Lyons in 178. An important theologian, in his principal works, the Adversus Haereses and the Demonstration of Apostolic Preaching, he refuted the heresy of Gnosticism by clearly reasserting Christian monotheism, emphasising the identity of the God of the Old Testament with the God of the New, and the unity of the Father and the Son in the work of redemption. In his writings, he also strongly underlines the importance of Tradition, as realised in the apostolic succession of the bishops and in the formation of the canon of Scripture. He died in 202 and was buried in the crypt of the church of Saint John in Lyons, now called St. Irenée. Here is the Collect of the Mass: O God, who called the Bishop Saint Irenaeus to confirm true doctrine and the peace of the Church, grant, we pray, through his intercession, that, being renewed in faith and charity, we may always be intent on fostering unity and concord. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

Next Tuesday, 29th June, is the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. Normally, it is a holy day of obligation: please do try to get to Mass. “Peter, a poor fisherman, was called by Christ to lead and care for Christ’s entire flock: “Feed my sheep!” (John 21: 7). It was Peter who received a vision confirming that the Good News was to be preached to those the Jews considered unclean, the pagan Gentiles (cf. Acts 10: 9-16). Paul, the former Pharisee, carried out this missionary mandate. In the course of his preaching, he was flogged, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked and attacked by brigands (cf. 2 Cor 11: 24-27). Both Peter and Paul ended their ministries in Rome, around the year 64. Tradition has it that Peter was crucified upside down and Paul was beheaded. What unites Peter and Paul is Jesus - his love for them and their love for him” (Magnificat). On this feastday, please pray for the whole catholic Church and all its clergy, religious and laity, for the unity of the Church and for its evangelising mission.

This occasional series of articles on some of the great hymns that the Church uses in her Sacred Liturgy makes me want to share with you one of my own favourite hymns, written by St. Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153). It’s appropriate for this month of June, dedicated to the Heart of Christ. It is called Iesu dulcis memoria and has become well-known thanks to the English translation made by the Victorian hymnologist, Edward Caswall: “Jesus, the very thought of Thee with sweetness fills my breast!” The haunting Gregorian melody of the original has a noble simplicity, but it is the words that are very special to me. Click on the picture to follow the Latin text and hear it sung by the Pietro Allori music group from Sardinia. Here is my own free translation of its five brief verses:
O Jesus, your sweet memory
gives true joy to the heart,
but beyond honey and all things
is your sweet presence.
No song is more lovely,
No sound more joyful,
No thought more sweet
Than Jesus, the Son of God.
Jesus, hope to penitents,
How gracious you are to those who ask,
How good to those who seek,
But what are you to those who find you?
No tongue can speak,
No letter express:
Only those who have experienced it can believe
What is the love of Jesus.
O Jesus, be our joy.
Be our future reward.
May our glory be in you,
For ever and ever. Amen.

Pope Francis asks us to join him in prayer during June 2021 for young people who are preparing for marriage with the support of a Christian community: may they grow in love, with generosity, faithfulness and patience. Click on the picture for his video message on The Beauty of Marriage...

"Is it true, what some people say—that young people don’t want to get married, especially during these difficult times? Getting married and sharing one’s life is something beautiful. It’s a demanding journey, at times difficult, and at times complicated, but it’s worth making the effort. And on this life-long journey, the husband and wife aren’t alone; Jesus accompanies them. Marriage isn’t just a “social” act; it’s a vocation that’s born from the heart; it’s a conscious decision for the rest of one’s life that requires specific preparation. Please, never forget this. God has a dream for us —love— and He asks us to make it his own. Let us make our own the love which is God’s dream for us. And let us pray for young people who are preparing for marriage with the support of a Christian community: may they grow in love, with generosity, faithfulness and patience. Because a great deal of patience is necessary in order to love. But it’s worth it, eh?" 

Recently, I received some more information about the next Synod of Bishops to be held in 2023. Its topic is “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission” and this October, Pope Francis will open a three-year synodal journey with three phases (diocesan, continental, universal), culminating with the assembly in Rome in October 2023. The Synod is intended to make the synodality desired by Pope Francis since the beginning of his pontificate concrete and visible and the Synod itself will be celebrated not only in the Vatican but in each particular Church of the five continents. There is to be in each Diocese a consultation of the People of God. To this end, the Secretariat of the Synod will send a preparatory document accompanied by a Questionnaire and a Vademecum with proposals for carrying out the consultation. Each bishop will appoint a diocesan representative as a point of reference and liaison with the Bishops’ Conference; the Conference, in turn, will appoint a representative or team to coordinate with the General Secretariat of the Synod. This first stage will be completed by April 2022. Once the material has been obtained, the first Instrumentum laboris will be drafted, which will be published and sent to the particular Churches in September 2022.

To mark the start of the Year of the Eucharist, Dr Christina Pal from the Academy of the Annunciation in Bournemouth invites readers to sign up for a free five part online course which is running on Tuesday evenings until 13th July...

You are invited!  To mark the start of the special Year of the Eucharist, Bishop Philip has asked the Academy of the Annunciation to present this new interactive short series online: Encountering Christ. The course will run from 7:00 – 9:00pm on Tuesday Evenings until 13th July 2021 and you can sign up for free!

The sessions coming up are:

• Encountering Christ in the Holy Eucharist (Tuesday 22nd June)
• Christ and Catholic Moral Teaching (Tuesday 29th June)
• Encountering Christ in Prayer and Discipleship (Tuesday 6th July)
• Contemplating Christ in The Annunciation through the Lens of Sacred Scripture (Tuesday 13th July)

The Academy of the Annunciation invites you to join us as we consider together the many ways Jesus is calling us to encounter Him! For more information, including more about each session and how to register, click here.  

Alastair Emblem from Alton Day of Renewal invites you to join them this Saturday 26th June for this month's meeting...

This month's ADoRE Online spiritual mini-retreat morning will be held on Saturday 26th June, 10.00-13.00 with Mass, Adoration, Reflection, Praise, Talk, Prayer and Discussion. Theme: "Growth in the Holy Spirit" - Grow your Christian life in the Spirit through Prayer, Scripture, Service and Community. Speaker: Carol Ann Harnett, Catechist trainer. You can find the programme here. Please register in advance here. For the full 2021 programme see here. 

Sheila Wade Interim Head of Charity, shares news of the the environmental work that Caritas is currently undertaking in the diocese reflecting on our responsibilities as Stewards of Creation. She writes to let us know that Caritas Pollinator Projects are now ready for parishes...

If you want to spend a few minutes watching, identifying and counting bees and other insects landing on flowers this summer or if you would like to go on an organised walk to count bees and butterflies, all to help the diocese achieve our Care of Creation aims, by providing information to map how our pollinators are coping this summer then please do get in touch. We will be working with our youth groups, our InSight groups, and with other parish groups, to carry out these easy and fun citizen science projects. As part of our ongoing environmental work, and to help us develop a strategy and implementation plans we also need to measure how much change your response to Laudato si has already made to our environment within our parishes. So, Jo Donaldson from Caritas is spending some time over the next few weeks going round to selected parishes to help them complete a parish questionnaire on the environment. At the same time, we are asking all parishioners to spend just a few minutes completing this environment survey. Thank you so much for your help. This information will be of great assistance to us when we are preparing the Environment Strategy for Bishop Philip later this year and in making plans, including our Bee Highway programme which will be launched in September, to do even more work in the diocese as part of our responsibilities as Stewards of Creation.

In the meantime, if you would like more information about Caritas Pollinator Projects, please contact Jo Donaldson: jdonaldson@portsmouthdiocese.org.uk

Jo Lewry, Community Participation Co-ordinator for CAFOD Portsmouth, thanks Judith, our campaign volunteer in Basingstoke for organising a meeting with Maria Miller MP for Basingstoke ….
 
Many thanks to Judith Alymer our campaign volunteer at Holy Ghost & St Bede Basingstoke who organised a meeting with Maria Miller MP for Basingstoke as part of our Parliament in Your Parish campaign on Thursday 10th June the evening before the G7 meeting in Cornwall. Judith told me "Holy Ghost parish in Basingstoke held a meeting with Maria Miller MP this evening which went well. While she backed the government's position on the reduction in aid overseas as was to be expected, members of the parish were able to raise several issues about what Britain is doing to encourage cleaner energy usage in this country to help reduce further climate change."

Why not consider organising a meeting with your local MP to share your concerns about climate change. MPs are elected to represent our views, but they can only do this if we make our views known. The UK not only hosted the G7 summit last week but will be hosting the COP26 Climate talks in November, so it is vital that we encourage the government to take the lead on tackling climate change. So as Pope Francis says in Fratelli Tutti "Let us take an active part in renewing and supporting our troubled societies" #77. For more information and support with arranging a meeting with your MP contact me on portsmouth@cafod.org.uk

St. Joseph is patron to many places across our diocese, including the Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph whose priory is in Sway in the New Forest. During this Year of St. Joseph they have had their priory statue restored. Sr. Rosaleen OP tells us about it...

St. Joseph is the patron of our Congregation – the Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph. Our large statue has remained in our Priory in our Enclosure for quite a few years now with one of his hands broken off and various areas somewhat worn. Many times, I have said a prayer to St. Joseph as I walked by and often I would also say "I will paint you this year." Then I lost the paint that I had bought and so it went on. Anyhow, a friend recommended an expert restorer and we decided to splash out and have him duly restored to the dignity a statue of St. Joseph should have. You can see the transformation from the before and after photos.

A beautiful new film has been made about Fatima portraying the events of 1917. The new film on Fatima will be shown on demand and in cinemas here in UK on 25th June. You can also get a good idea of what the film will be like by visiting: https://www.fatimafilm.co.uk/ There you can see a trailer which highlights the authentic look and feel of the film for Fatima and Portugal in the early twentieth century. You can see cinemas where the film will be available here: https://www.fatimafilm.co.uk/tickets/ The film tells the uplifting story about the power of faith, based on real-life events. In 1917, outside the parish of Fátima, Portugal, a 10-year-old girl and her two younger cousins witnessed multiple visitations of the Virgin Mary, who told them that only prayer and suffering would bring an end to World War I. As secularist government officials and Church leaders try to force the children to recant their story, word of the sighting spreads across the country, inspiring religious pilgrims to flock to the site in hopes of witnessing a miracle. What they experience will transform their quiet lives and bring the attention of a world yearning for peace.

Fr Rob Galea is a priest of Sandhurst Diocese, Victoria after moving to Australia from Malta, his home country. He is a singer and songwriter with an international fan base. Apart from a series of recordings and CD releases, Fr Rob has also written a number of songs for various campaigns and international conferences. “I love being a priest. It is clear to me that I am above all a follower of Christ, then a priest and only then does my ministry of music makes sense. The vocation of every ordained priest is to be a minister of word and sacrament.” He is the founder and serving director of FRG Ministry. Fr Rob has a significant evangelistic and outreach ministry, speaking and singing at schools, conferences and churches around Australia and the world. He and his team currently minister to over 400,000 young people each year, carrying Christ’s message of hope and relationship with Jesus to all they encounter. Fr Rob’s passion is to draw others to the heart of God. He believes that music and film are an important instrument in helping people understand the need for intimacy with God. Fr Rob has released seven music projects to date and has released several short films. Click on the picture for one of his latest songs.

Peter Clarke from Isle of Wight Catholic History Society looks back to 2011 when the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was established along with a new Catholic community on the island...

The inauguration of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham ten years ago, was a significant moment in the life of the Catholic Church, particularly in this country. Friday, 25th June, 2021 marks the 10th  anniversary of the Ordination of Fr. Jonathan Redvers Harris to the Sacred Priesthood at St. John’s Cathedral, Portsmouth by Bishop Crispian Hollis and 30th June marks the 30th anniversary of his Ordination as an Anglican priest. Fr. Jonathan was received into the Catholic Church in St. Mary’s, Ryde at the Easter Vigil, 2011, together with seventeen other former Anglicans, after just over eight years as Vicar of All Saints C. of E. Church, Ryde (just a stone’s throw from St. Mary’s). He celebrated his first Mass the day after his Ordination. It was most apt that this was the Solemnity of Corpus Christi (transferred).