Happy New Year

Despite the sketchy history behind Advent, the importance of this season remains to focus on the coming of our Lord. (Advent comes from the Latin adventus, meaning 'coming'.) The Catechism stresses the two-fold meaning of this coming: When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Saviour's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for His second coming.

Therefore, on the one hand, the faithful reflect back and are encouraged to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord's first coming into this world. We ponder again the great mystery of the incarnation when our Lord humbled Himself, taking on our humanity, and entered our time and space to free us from sin. On the other hand, we recall in the Creed that our Lord will come again to judge the living and the dead and that we must be ready to meet Him.

Ordinariate Lay Retreat

The Ordinariate Lay retreat will be held at the newly refurbished Dowry Retreat House on High Street, Walsingham (formerly the Sue Ryder Building) from 4pm on Friday 10th March finishing with lunch on Sunday 12th March. The retreat will be led by the Rev'd Dr Stephen Morgan and all are welcome. The cost of the retreat is £150 per person - full board. To reserve your place please send a non-refundable deposit of £20 (cheques payable to Ordinariate OLW) along with your name and address to:

Ordinariate Lay Retreat,
56 Woodlands Farm Road,
Birmingham B24 0PG.

The balance will be due by March 1st 2017.

Christ the King

Today is the feast of Christ the King. Before we begin Advent next week when Christ, the second person of the Trinity, prepares for the first coming, we firstly remember the result of the Incarnation cycle we have marked over the past year: man reigns in heaven with God. Christ is our King in fullness of man and God still bearing the wounds of his passion. At the end of today's Mass we will expose the Blessed Sacrament and rededicate the Human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

A unique King with a unique Kingdom: Jesus Christ still lives as King in thousands of human hearts all over the world. The cross is his throne and the Sermon on the Mount is his rule of law. His citizens need obey only one major law: "Love one another as I have loved you". His love is selfless, sacrificial, kind, compassionate, forgiving and unconditional. That is why the preface in today's Mass describes Jesus' Kingdom and a "a Kingdom of truth and life, a Kingdom of holiness and grace, a Kingdom of justice, love and peace." He is a King with a saving and liberating mission: to free mankind from all types of bondage, and to enable us to live peacefully and happily on earth and to inherit eternal life in heaven.