Thoughts from the Chaplain: Christmas

The Bible is full of people whose names are not even recorded.  These un-named ones are our reminder that not only does God know our world, He has lived in it. He was involved with ordinary individuals.

Let us look at a two of them. In the school nativity nobody wants to play the innkeeper. They’d rather be a shepherd, or even a sheep.  After all the innkeeper was trying to make a profit out of the Roman census to make up for what the Romans had cost him.  And then came this couple, and it was hard for even him to turn them away, tired, bedraggled, and anxious as they were, a young woman, far from her home and pregnant. How could you? So you took this couple to the safest, most secure place you had… the stable where you kept the animals.  You could now sleep peacefully knowing that your pockets were full, your Inn was crowded, and you had not turned away a young family in distress. However, during the night a star appears and before you know it the stable is full of shepherds and angels and wise men.

Amazing how time and situation make some people so very important? Here is a character we will never forget; he was the one who assured us that Jesus would be born in a stable and make His first bed in a feed box.  Luckily he did this because how would anyone like to be known through history as the one who said, “There’s no room for the Messiah here!”
Another person in this wonderful story of grace is simply known as an angel.

God did not send an archangel to say that His son was to be born in Bethlehem; no it was just an ordinary angel that did the talking. Of course it doesn’t take a much for a group of shepherds to get excited. So maybe sending in an archangel might have pushed them over the edge. I think the reason God would pick an average, ordinary angel to deliver such startling news is easy to understand; so many of us are like those shepherds even on our best days, we’re not much more than average ordinary folks.

So, please, let us hear the message of these unnamed yet widely known characters whether they are an innkeeper, an angel, a shepherd or later one of the wise men. After all, this entire whole story about mangers, shepherds, and wise men is not so much about people who lived long ago and far away. No, these are stories about you and me, and a struggle to find a life that’s real, meaningful, and gives us a glimpse of the glory that’s waiting for us around the next bend in our journey to Jesus. So let us not be the one to say “sorry I have no room or time for you Jesus”, let us accept the word from an ordinary angel, and let us be like the shepherds and hurry to kneel at the manger which is the bed of Our Lord.

Fr Michael Manning, O.Carm.

Thoughts from our Chaplain - Fourth Sunday of Advent

On the Advent journey to Christmas, the Fourth Sunday belongs to Mary. This is because Christmas, which celebrates the birth of Jesus, necessarily involves the motherhood of Mary. However, the story of that birth is reserved for Midnight Mass, while today's gospel tells us how Mary prepared for that wonderful starting with the Annunciation; that alone would probably shock anyone but Mary listens to the message, questions how it could come about and then accepts the will of God’s, allowing God to determine how she would be a mother.

If through the centuries Mary has captured the imagination of the world, it is in large measure because she faced the mystery of God and said, "Let what you have said be done unto me”. Even her greatest privilege as mother of the Saviour presupposes this radical trust and generosity. It's easy to ignore the mystery of God until the very end of life; it is also easy to live in fear of that mystery.

However, human life will never be really successful until we learn to embrace God's mystery with trust and confidence. Mary shows us how to do that and what wonderful results will follow. Although we know very little about the "historical" Mary, her symbolic presence is real and powerful. In her case, symbolic truth presupposes an historical person but it reveals the universal and perennial significance of that person. It is a truth that transcends such limitations as age, race and gender as it reveals the meaning of Mary, Virgin, symbol of hope and of course Mother.  From the early middle ages Mary has been depicted in white  and blue; the blue robe signifying heavenly grace but also hope and servitude (the handmaid of the Lord) and white representing her purity and her holiness.  In her role of Mother Mary symbolises compassion, nurturing but also fruitfulness and the willingness to suffer for her child. Mary is also for us Mother, willing to listen, support and intercede for us.

These are some of the ideas we can take with us as we celebrate this last Sunday before Christmas.

Have joyous and blessed Christmas.

Fr Michael Manning, O.Carm.

Thoughts from our Chaplain - St John the Baptist

John the Baptist was at ease with his role in history. However, the Jews were confused so they sent priests and Levites to question John. They asked, "Who are you?" It was as if they couldn't figure out why the man could have such devotion to a cause they know nothing about. John simply told them, "I am not the Christ." When they asked him" Are you Elijah" and "Are you the prophet" he answered them simply: “I am not”.  In answer to their final question: “Well who are you?” he quoted the Isaiah message “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord." He was confident that he was on the right mission, that he was here ‘to make straight the way of the Lord.’ The one who is among you whom I am not worthy to serve.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if we were all like John the Baptist? He knew exactly why he was here.

During the season of Advent we all have a chance to become more like John the Baptist. This is a special time of the year; it's special because it is the anniversary of the coming of our Saviour. But are we aware that this is a special time of the year? Are we preparing to buy the trappings and tinsel of Christmas or are we preparing for His coming? John the Baptist knew it was a special time. He summed it all up when he said, "I baptise with water one is coming who will baptise with the Holy Spirit".

 Let us rejoice in this time of Advent, prepare ourselves to celebrate Christ’s birth; dedicated to "making straight the word of the Lord."

Fr Michael Manning, O.Carm.

Saint Jude Gift Shop - Christmas posting

The Saint Jude gift shop has a wide range of gifts for friends and family. With books, cards, and stocking-fillers, there is something for all friends of Saint Jude.

To be sure of delivery before Christmas please note the following dates (UK only):

2nd Class – Wednesday 17th December
1st Class & Courier – Friday 19th December

Please ensure that we have received your order by 2pm that day.

Orders can be placed online: http://tinyurl.com/perbzlo, or by phone on 01795 539214.

Photo of the month - December 2014

The door to the Shrine. Always open, and all are welcome.

St Andrew, Patron Saint of Scotland

As the National Shrine of Saint Jude, we often remember British saints at our daily Mass. Today is the Feast Day of St Andrew, Patron Saint of Scotland and fellow Apostle to Saint Jude. 

The New Testament states that Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter. He was born in the village of Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee. Both he and his brother Peter were fishermen by trade, and Jesus called them to be his disciples by saying that he will make them "fishers of men". At the beginning of Jesus' public life, they occupied the same house at Capernaum.

Tradition states that Andrew was martyred by crucifixion at the city of Patras in Achaea, on the northern coast of the Peloponnese. A tradition developed that Andrew had been crucified on a cross of the form called Crux decussata (X-shaped cross, or "saltire"), now commonly known as a "Saint Andrew's Cross" — at his own request, as he deemed himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross as Jesus had been.

About the middle of the 10th century, Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland. Several legends state that the relics of Andrew were brought by divine guidance from Constantinople to the place where the modern town of St Andrews stands today.

Like Saint Jude, Andrew was one of the first messengers of the Good News. At the Shrine, we thank him for that. 

St Andrew, pray for us. Saint Jude, pray for us.

We have a number of saints’ prayer cards that can be purchased from our Gift Shop.

With thanks to Wikipedia for some of the above information

Thoughts from our Chaplain - First Sunday of Advent

How often does someone lose concentration or doze off whilst driving and only just manage to get control of the car before a fatal accident occurs?  Our spiritual life is like driving a car. We can be going about our business, attempting to live our faith, but taking things for granted. Warning signs are often ignored. And suddenly, we fall spiritually asleep, missing the opportunities the Lord provides for us to experience His Presence, His Love and Compassion. Sometimes we get so involved in what we are doing that we forget why we are doing it. Or we can be so determined to reach out to Christ in strangers and experience His Presence in those whom we do not know, that we ignore His Presence in our brother and sister, our parents or our children, and of course ourselves.

“Stay awake” is the theme for this First Sunday of Advent. The Master of the house is the Lord. His coming is at the end of our lives to determine our capacity to receive an infinite share of His love. If He comes and finds us ready and waiting, the door of our life truly open to His Presence, then we have nothing to worry about.

And so, we watch. We watch for the signs of the spiritual in our lives. We watch for the presence of Christ. Without the spiritual, our lives would be self-destructive. Without the spiritual we wander like the people of the first reading from Isaiah. They wandered aimlessly. They got themselves into all sorts of trouble. Possessions, selfishness, arrogance, all dominated their lives and destroyed them. A main theme of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, is that left to their own devices, people can become self-destructive.

And so we stay awake, and we watch. We watch for the Divine Healer to come and lead us into His Love. We watch for the times when God extends His Love to us. We watch for the times when we serve His Love by serving others. We watch for the opportunities to unite ourselves closer to His Love through prayer and sacrifice. We wait. We watch.

We long for Jesus’ presence. If we deny this need, this necessity for God to be in our lives, then we chance becoming useless shells, Christians on the outside which people see, but not much on the inside.  Advent is the season of hope. The promises of the prophets will be fulfilled; that the Messiah will come to return the world to God’s original plan. Our thirst for the Messiah will be quenched not just on 25 December, but every day of our lives.

We wait. We watch. We stay awake.

Fr Michael Manning, O.Carm.