Newsletter - 29 January 2023
NEW BEGINNINGS
Dear brothers and sisters,
Christmas and New Year are over, as well as the related festivities. We have had time to start a new year with many kinds of new or renewed promises and resolutions. The month of January is not even over and may be some of us are already struggling and finding it hard to start a year afresh, experiencing a lack of freshness and motivation.
One could feel that life is like a wheel, ever starting again. We start each new year with good resolutions that we know we probably won’t be able to keep. But life is most of all a journey. Every new start is different in a journey because circumstances and events have changed as well as ourselves. Like point one a bicycle wheel, the bicycle reaches a different place each time the point touches the ground. We might be tired of repetitions and feeling that we are not moving forward but our faith invites us to believe that each start is different. Every time we touch the ground and feel like we are back to square one is in reality a step forward on our journey. The Lord is more interested in the journey than with our brilliant achievements or about us reaching the finish line victoriously. Every step made in secret is precious on the road with Jesus.
As from February the 9th the parish will run the “on the road with Jesus” program, which is a time to start or to deepen our companionship with Jesus. We will meet on Thursday evenings over eight weeks to encourage and support one another by praying together, with a talk and by sharing our experiences. We will also learn how to pray with the Bible in our day-to-day life and most importantly to listen to what the Lord wants to tell us while we continue our course on the road with Him.
Fr Pascal Sullivan
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Whatever the means we choose to help us to follow the Lord, we can be sure that He wants the best for us, given what we are going through now. Our repeated failures and feelings that we are not moving forward, far from revealing that we are trapped in a wheel or a dead end, can be an opportunity to start afresh a renewed companionship with the Lord.
Focus of the Week
ON THE ROAD WITH JESUS
This eight week programme will help to deepen your relationship with Jesus by praying with the Bible and attending a weekly gathering for teachings and sharing the fruits of your prayer.
Thursdays, 8 to 9:15 pm, 9 February to 30 March. Register at parish office with contact information.
COCKFOSTERS PRAYER GROUPS
Come along for praise and worship, practice charisms and prayer ministry on Tuesday 7 February, 7 March, 4 April, 2 May and 27 May (Pentecost) at 8pm.