We congratulate those Confirmed at St Joseph’s this year.
15th May 2012
16th May 2012
“If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love,” so says Jesus in today’s Gospel. This sounds a bit odd at first glance. It is like a parent saying, “If you do what I tell you only then will I love you.” Continue reading
The Gospel this Fifth Sunday of Easter uses the symbol of the vine and the branches to describe the intimate union between Christ and the believer. Simply put, to be a Christian is to live united with God in Christ, expressed in our love for God and others. Continue reading
Today is Good Shepherd Sunday, it is a day on which we pray for the Bishops, Priests and Deacons in the Church and on which we pray especially for more vocations. In particular it is important to pray for those discerning where God is calling them in life that he gives them the insight and courage that they need to make the right decision. Continue reading
Once there were two monks who sat together, reading out of a very old book. The book said that at the end of the world there would be one place where heaven and earth would meet and the kingdom of God would begin. So the two monks decided to go in search of that place and not come back until they had found it. Continue reading
The painting above by Fra Angelico is entitled ‘Noli Me Tangere’ which means ‘Do not touch me.’ These are the words the Risen Christ spoke to Mary Magdalene when, after at first mistaking him for a gardener, she suddenly recognised him. Continue reading
Our Confirmation candidates were wonderful on Sunday. Many turned up at 8 a.m. to set up for a coffee morning – noble indeed on the day the clocks went forward and they lost a Sunday morning lie-in. They brought a staggering range of cakes and biscuits. With great good humour, they did all that was asked of them, and more, preparing tables, sorting goods, making and serving drinks, washing crockery and generally making sure all who attended enjoyed their hospitality. Continue reading
Tom Kinsella receieves the Benemerenti medal from Bishop John Arnold on Sunday 25th March for his long years of service to St Joseph’s Church, Wealdstone.
The Parish Council met together with other interested members of the parish to discuss the question of the organ on Wednesday 21st March. Brother Paul Harris presented a paper which gave an in-depth explanation of the problems with the existing organ and outlining the options before us. Continue reading
On Sunday 25th March at 11.00 mass Bishop John Arnold will present Tom Kinsela with the Benemerenti Medal in acknowledgement of his long and exemplary service to the parish. Currently Tom is chair of the parish council.
The unclean spirit in Sunday’s Gospel gives Jesus the title “The Holy One of God.” This reminds us of the utter holiness of Christ and the call given to each one of us to emulate him in this vital area of our lives.
Many people would say that the greatest achievement of the Second Vatican Council was its insistence on the need for personal holiness by every member of the Church. This is as relevant today as ever it was; perhaps even more so since the modern world frequently distracts us from focussing on God. It is a particular challenge to our young people since the earlier we commit ourselves to holiness the more we can achieve. Continue reading
Pope Benedict on his visit to England in 2010 took time to directly address the young people of our communities in his ‘Big Assembly’. He eloquently summed up the distinctive mission of Catholic schools when he set us the challenge that a good Catholic school “should help all its students to become saints.” Continue reading
Street Pastors will begin patrolling the streets of north west London later this month. This group of latter-day Good Samaritans from several different denominations aren’t out to convert people. They simply go out at night who might need a helping hand - tourists who are lost, someone whose had a bit much to drink, or a person just needing a chat. Continue reading
Catholics: A new BBC Television series which explores what it is like to be Catholic today.
The Catholic Church in the Diocese of Westminster is set to feature in a new series of three films to be shown on BBC 4 Television in February and March 2012. Continue reading
A few years ago it used to be fashionable at this time of the year in certain circles to say to people “Have a happy Lent!” This was not something I ever liked very much, because I think that it made the penitential season of Lent sound just like Easter which really is the proper liturgical season for rejoicing. Continue reading
Last Tuesday afternoon I got a call from the Sun newspaper telling me that the Anglican Vicar in my former parish of Thornbury near Bristol had been stabbed to death at the door of his vicarage and asking for my comments. You can imagine I was completely taken aback by this. Continue reading
The Governors are pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Paul Kassapian as Head Teacher of the Salvatorian College with effect from the beginning of the Autumn Term. Mr Kassapian is currently the Deputy Head Teacher of St Joan of Arc School in Rickmansworth, he succeeds Mr Andrew Graham who will be retiring at the end of the Summer Term.
Allen Hall, the Westminster Diocesan Seminary, featured in an hour long BBC4 TV programme on 23rd February 2012. It was the first in a three-part series entitled Catholics. It mainly focussed on the seminarians who were ordained to the priesthood last summer and gave a very good overview of life in the seminary.
Our own Salvatorian scholastics normally study as external students at Allen Hall for their first two years of philosophy before going on to the Jesuit-run Heythrop College for three years of theology. Currently Brother Lewis Linehan is in the first year at Allen Hall.
An article is available here.
We share the joy of Cam Sheehan and Derek Barnett both pictured above with Archbishop Vincent Nichols after the Rite of Election in Westminster Cathedral on Sunday 26th February 2012. Cam is being received into the Church and Derek will be Baptised at the Easter Vigil Ceremony at St Joseph’s.
At Masses this weekend, we receive a Letter from Archbishops Vincent Nichols and Peter Smith on behalf of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. It is a statement of our Catholic faith about marriage and issued in the light of the forthcoming consultation by the Government on changing the legal definition of marriage. Continue reading
