We look towards the light!<\/p>\n
Being in Lockdown<\/em> for so long, I have found a resonance with St Paul\u2019s plight in his journey under guard to Rome and then house arrest. The chains that bound him were not a hindrance to proclaiming the Good News to the fledgling churches he had established and helped to grow – and to us – in his letters. He never lost sight of the purpose the Lord had for him to proclaim the Word to Gentile Governors and Kings so that Jesus Christ would be known throughout the world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It has often been noted that times of crisis lead to a greater faith in God\u2019s care and love for us and the greater outpouring of His grace if we continue to ask for and accept it.<\/p>\n The challenge of being constant in our belief without access (for many of us) to the sacraments, being at Mass, joining with our community is proved by accepting the circumstances we\u2019re under; expectant that the light is ahead and getting closer day by day. Then \u2018normal\u2019 will mean so much more to us than \u2018ordinary\u2019.\u00a0 We will start to recognise, as Paul did, that our lives still have a purpose in this world even as we prepare ourselves for the next.<\/p>\n The whole world is groaning in pain and suffering as great swathes of the world\u2019s population are collapsing from diseases, lack of shelter, unemployment, poverty and fear; but we are comforted that Jesus died, is risen and comes again to restore us.<\/p>\n 1st\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Mary, Mother of God Solemnity<\/p>\n 6th\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Epiphany Solemnity\u00a0 Holyday of <\/em>\u00a0Obligation (suspended)<\/em><\/p>\n 10th\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Baptism of the Lord, feast<\/p>\n Ordinary Time Cycle I Week 1 begins<\/em><\/p>\n 18th\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity begins<\/p>\n 21st\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 St Agnes<\/p>\n 22nd\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St Vincent, feast<\/p>\n 25th\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Conversion of St Paul: Christian Unity Week ends<\/p>\n 26th\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Sts Timothy & Titus<\/p>\n 28th\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St Thomas Aquinas<\/p>\n On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Tuesday 8th<\/sup> December 2020, Pope Francis announced that a Year of Saint Joseph was to begin that same day to mark the 150th anniversary of the Proclamation of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church by Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1870. In a new Apostolic Letter entitled Patris Corde (With a Father\u2019s Heart), Pope Francis describes Saint Joseph as a beloved, tender and loving father, an obedient, accepting father; a father who is creatively courageous, a working father, in the shadows.<\/p>\n \u2018Patris Corde\u2019 was written against the backdrop of the Covid pandemic that, the Holy Father says, has helped us see more clearly the importance of \u201cordinary\u201d people who, though far from the limelight, exercise patience and offer hope every day. They resemble Saint Joseph \u201cwho goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence,\u201d who nonetheless played \u201can incomparable role in the history of salvation.\u201d More information at www.cbcew.org.uk\/year-of-st-joseph\/<\/a><\/p>\n We look towards the light! Being in Lockdown for so long, I have found a resonance with St Paul\u2019s plight in his journey under guard to Rome and then house arrest. The chains that bound him were not a hindrance to proclaiming the Good News to the fledgling churches he had established and helped to … Continue reading “Reflections for the Month of January”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.saintstephens.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.saintstephens.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.saintstephens.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.saintstephens.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.saintstephens.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.saintstephens.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":563,"href":"http:\/\/www.saintstephens.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558\/revisions\/563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.saintstephens.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.saintstephens.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.saintstephens.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.saintstephens.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Calendar for January, Christmas & Ordinary Time Year B<\/h5>\n
Year of St Joseph<\/h5>\n
Deacon Michael Baldry<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"