MESSAGE ON THE 5TH SUNDAY OF EASTER (YR B)
Friday 26th April 2024
My dear people,
As previously mentioned, we will celebrate our Parish Feast Day on Monday 29th April since it is the feast of St Catherine of Siena. This will be celebrated as a Solemnity here in our parish as she is our patron saint. Celebrating our patron saint gives us a great opportunity to give thanks to God for the wonderful community we have to reflect upon what else we can do for the further growth of our parish. St Catherine of Siena is famous for having said, “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world ablaze.” This quote of hers is used on all our communication and it is one which invites us, in the ordinariness of our everyday lives, to strive for the holiness to which we are all called. Our parish primary schools will also celebrate our Parish Feast Day with Masses. Christ the Priest will be here today for Mass and I will go to Saint George Preca on Monday to celebrate our Parish Feast Day there. I am looking forward to joining those who were able to get a ticket for the parish feast dinner and enjoying the hospitality of our Maltese parishioners and to learning more about their culture.
We are now heading into the third week of our tenth Alpha at our parish, which started on 17th April. I highly urge you to think about attending Alpha this year. We all have gone through times in our lives when we have questioned the very meaning of life. Perhaps you are going through this right now. Perhaps your daughter or son, brother or sister, or colleague is going through this now. Alpha is the best way to come to reflect on the deeper meaning of life, over dinner, a short film and conversation. May I ask you to consider attending and warmly inviting others to attend Alpha? The transformation in people’s lives, their healing and closeness to Christ is testament to the fruits this wonderful program has to offer! We are blessed to now have 31 participants and can welcome new participants to our next session which is on Wednesday 1st May.
Please be advised that our Parish Town Hall for 2024 will take place on Thursday 9th May at 7.00pm in the church meeting room. The first aim of the Town Hall is to present officially to you our financial position as at the end of 2023. Our Parish Accountant, Mr Bernard Negline, will be here to present the figures and answer any questions you may have. We will also discuss current activities and future initiatives in relation to missionary renewal and will conclude with a discussion on our planned expansion of the church. I look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible.
As I have announced over the last couple of weeks at the end of Mass, we are delighted that our new Ablaze Family Ministry starts this Sunday after the 12.30pm Mass in the CRC cafeteria. Families, particularly with young children, are warmly invited to be part of this vibrant family ministry run by young families in the parish who desire to foster a supportive community where families can grow together in faith and fellowship. There will be engaging discussions on faith and family values as well as fun activities for the children. There are more details in the bulletin. Once again, I invite our young families take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.
Finally, we will also hold our monthly parish BBQ this weekend after the 12.30pm Mass and warmly invite you to join us for some lunch and fellowship. This is a great opportunity to get to know one another and I look forward to seeing many of you there. Even if you attend an earlier Sunday Mass or the Saturday Vigil, you are most welcome to join us.
We continue turning to our patron saint and we ask for her intercession.
St Catherine of Siena, Pray for us.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Fr Richard Rosse PP