MAY 2024 Every vote counts page 6 Chrism Oil from the Holy Land New life in the desert page 4 O u r L a d y o f F a t i m a 1 3 t h M a y Edition 29 Please donate £,1 to support your parish See below for details page 11 www.CatholicPost.co.uk St Anselm - April 21st If you have been given the Catholic Post for free in your parish, PLEASE would you be able to donate £,1 to your parish for it, or even £,10 per year! There seems to be a new stirring of the Holy Spirit at the moment. People are suddenly turning up in church who haven`t been for a long time or have never been. Apparently there were so many people trying to enter Westminster Cathedral this Easter that they couldn`t all fit in! There are reports of similar things happening at parish level. indcatholicnews.com People are beginning to look for deeper truth and meaning. How is the Church to deal with these new spiritual seekers? New stirring of the Spirit in the Church This is perhaps not surprising in the face of the state of the world, and the inability of politicians and world leaders to fix things. People are now beginning, perhaps, to look elsewhere for deeper truth and meaning. But how is the Church to deal with these new spiritual seekers? How do we help them open themselves up to the transforming power of the gospel message and to a personal relationship with Christ? One of the most effective evangelistic tools that have emerged in the past 60 years is a course called The Life in the Spirit Seminars. This is not an academic course, despite the name. Rather it is a series of seven sessions, often led by lay people which takes participants on a journey of conversion through a mix of talks, prayer and small group sharing. This culminates in a time of special prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Through this participants come to a more conscious experience of their baptism and its meaning and are empowered by the Holy Spirit to become more effective disciples of Christ in the secular world today. Pope Francis considers the Life in the Spirit seminars to be so effective that he has asked the Charismatic Renewal to run them throughout the Church worldwide. This has been happening over the last few years, particularly in the Southwark diocese. Here the local diocesan charismatic team has partnered with the Southwark diocesan Agency for Evangelisation and Catechesis to put these on. This began during COVID with the talks and small group sharing taking place online. This year, however, as last year, the seminars will take place live at St George`s Cathedral, Southwark. They will then be beamed to a dozen or so hubs both in Southwark and Westminster dioceses. Here groups will meet locally in homes and parish halls and access the talks virtually. To register and get more info about the individual hubs and timing see: visit rcsouthwark.co.uk and search for Life in the Spirit Continued on page 3

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About the Catholic Post The Catholic Post is a new Catholic publication. It is the only National Catholic newspaper that is Carbon Neutral. It is published monthly and aims to bring news, information, faith and Catholic teaching to readers throughout the UK. About Bellcourt Ltd We have been a Catholic publishing company for 30 years. During that time we have served the Catholic community with 10 publications and around 3,000 editions of Catholic newspapers which is over 16,000,000 newspapers in total. We are still leading the way by making our publications carbon neutral by using 100% recycled newspaper, 75% of the electricity comes from Solar Power, we are also part of Carbon Balanced Print Scheme which is certified by the Carbon Land Trust - www.CarbonBalancedPaper.com. Why have a Catholic Newspaper? Pope Francis has said that Catholic newspapers can be a useful tool of evangelisation. In an address to representatives of nearly 200 Catholic newspapers, Pope Francis praised in particular the value, necessity and effectiveness of Catholic and diocesan newspapers, which he said require ",a renewed commitment", from priests and the whole church community. Pope Francis said, it is a place where the life of a diocese can be ",validly expressed", and where members of the church can ",dialogue and communicate.", ",There is an urgent need for news that is communicated with serenity, precision, completeness,", clarity and thoughtfulness and in a way that favours ",fruitful reflection", and reject samplifying a discussion that is strident, ambiguous and insinuating, he said. Pope Francis said, ",For all these reasons it is, therefore, desirable that everyone`s commitment to ensuring the existence and vitality of these periodicals is not lacking.", subscribe@catholicpost.co.uk 01440 730399

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Subscribe to www.catholicpost.co.uk *20% Discount for ALL ongoing subscriptions paid by card. All prices include delivery. For ALL of your Parishioners 100 copies: £,15.00 per month* (15p per copy) 200 copies: £,29.00 per month* (14.5p per copy) 300 copies: £,41.00 per month* (14p per copy) For some of your Parishioners 50 copies: from £,12.00 per month* (24p per copy) 10 copies: from £,9.00 per month* (90p per copy) Individual Subscriptions 1 Copy delivered by Post: £,4.00 per month* subscribe@catholicpost.co.uk 01440 730399 FEBRUARY 2024 Mary Ward for Saint page 7 Peace is a collective responsibility Following Fr Brown page 4 S t B l a i s e , 3 r d F e b r u a r y Edition 26 Please donate £,1 to support your parish page 12 www.CatholicPost.co.uk Eight children from the parish of Gaza receive First Holy Communion On Sunday, January 7th, 2024, on the Feast Day of the Baptism of the Lord, also known as Theophany, Fr. Yousef, Vicar priest of the Latin parish of Gaza, administered the sacrament of First Holy Communion to eight children of the parish after completing their preparation program and education, despite the war. During the past three months, the Sacraments of the Church continued to be given in the Holy Family Church of Gaza, noting that the Sacrament of Baptism was also recently given to a child. The war has not prevented divine graces from happening. We have previously witnessed their ability to open a private production room to produce the special bread (the host), which is used during Mass. Cardinal Pierbattista, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, has formerly expressed the strength and steadfast faith demonstrated by the parishioners of Gaza, which he has witnessed during his check-up calls to those taking refuge in the monastery. We note, from the images shared on the parish Facebook page, that the parish of Gaza lpj.org The war has not prevented divine graces from happening continued to celebrate daily Mass. Many of those who are sick have been taking refuge in the walls of the church, which also enables them to receive the Church’,s Sacraments daily. We continue to pray for our people in Gaza so that God would give them strength and patience during these tough times. And we continue to plead for a cease-fire and hope for a comprehensive plan of peace and justice to take place. Eight children from the parish of Gaza receive First Holy Communion MARCH 2024 Incense and why we use it page 5 Urgent appeal for Mount St Joseph`s Home Nicolas Barré, House Welcomes First Residents page 3 Edition 27 Please donate £,1 to support your parish page 11 www.CatholicPost.co.uk In May 2008, Jimmy Mizen, a 16 year old boy from South London, walked into a local bakery with his older brother. After a few minutes somebody else entered the bakery. Jake was known to the brothers as he had been cautioned by the police years earlier for harassing the older brother and on this occasion brushed past the brothers which mizenfoundation.org “,For me forgiveness is about not wanting revenge and not being angry”, resulted in a scuffle. During the scuffle, Jake hurled a glass dish at Jimmy and the result was fatal. Immediately following the incident in the bakery, Jimmy’,s parents, Margaret and Barry spoke to the media with a message of peace and compassion and not revenge. Jake is now Promoting the Good in Young People A story of forgiveness serving a life sentence for the murder of Jimmy Mizen and Margaret and Barry have travelled the country sharing their message of forgiveness and compassion. Margaret says, “,For me forgiveness is about not wanting revenge and not being angry”, This message of love has been shared with thousands of young people and adults over the last 15 years. They began the ‘,Mizen foundation’, to help young people across the UK become those changemakers for peace we know they can be and, in the process, go on to help to make our streets and our communities so much safer for everyone. `I meet a lot of families who have lost loved ones to murder, who are driven with anger. But it`s so destructive to the family. People blame each other and argue - but anger is so damaging. The pain it causes on top of the pain of losing a child can destroy families. The day Jimmy died I promised him two things, one, I would keep his name alive and two, I would dedicate my life to working for peace.` Margaret Mizen MBE People can book a talk by visiting the website mizenfoundation.org/contact or email directly talks@mizenfoundation.org AP ri L 2024 The Nicene Creed - top of the prayer pops page 12 Curry and Conversation More than 100 tonnes saved from going to waste page 9 S t A n s e l m - A p r i l 2 1 s t Edition 28 Please donate £,1 to support your parish See below for details page 15 www.CatholicPost.co.uk Diocese publishes results of ‘,Bishop Alan Listens’, research report Last summer, Bishop Alan of the Diocese of Brentwood, in partnership with the Margaret Beaufort Institute, invited Catholics who no longer regularly come to church to get in touch. Bishop Alan, and our wider church, wanted to seriously listen to their stories and experiences to understand why so many Catholics no longer feel as though they belong in the Church. Fr Liam Hayes, Director of The Centre for Ecclesial Ethics at the Margaret Beaufort Institute, Cambridge, undertook the research on Bishop Alan’,s behalf. He says: “,Our research revealed that many of the 80% of baptised Catholics who no longer go to Church do not feel welcome, appreciated or even visible, for they experience a Church in which they nolonger see their face, hear their voice or recognise their story in too many of the church’,s ethical teachings and its wider praxis. “,The Covid pandemic afforded many Catholics the opportunity to reappraise their relationship with faith and Church, and when Catholics feel judged, unwelcome, invisible and neglected, they tend to leave and seek joy and hope elsewhere in order to make sense of the griefs and anxieties of their lives. Visit www.dioceseofbrentwood.net/ to see the responses in the diocese svp.org.uk If you have been given the Catholic Post for free in your parish, PLEASE would you be able to donate £,1 to your parish for it, or even £,10 per year! My faith has not waivered, my relationship with God will always be strong, but it is the judgement from the Diocese and the Church which needs to change to become more inclusive of everyone. Churches must open their doors to all, not just to those defined specifically as ‘,practising’, Catholics.’,

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