Homeless Night Shelter Wrap-up

The Brighton & Hove Churches' Winter Night Shelter has just completed its 18-week run from November 2014 to March 2015. Tonight, we had the Church Coordinators' final wrap-up meeting.

A total of 108 homeless men and women were referred to the Shelter by four of the city's front-line agencies that deal with the homeless on a daily basis; First Base, Project AntiFreeze, YMCA and the Crime Reduction Initiative. About half (52) of these individuals gained places in the Shelter. A total of 16 persons - including all four women - out of the 52 that entered the Shelter were subsequently provided with housing by the local authority - a great result. It is a condition of entering the Shelter programme that individuals have to engage with initiatives to improve their lot, such as attend housing or work interviews, attend addiction programmes or undertake relevant training.

At Sacred Heart Church we looked after 21 separate homeless guests during our nine-week spell, including three women.

Interestingly, this season we have seen more individuals with deep-seated problems that, in many cases, arose at an early age, whether it was mental health issues, trauma or a particularly negative experience. Also, there seems to have been more fractiousness between individuals, particularly over the Christmas and New Year holiday period. Finally, the baleful influence of 'legal highs' on the behaviour of several guests was quite evident this year. 

This was the first time that the Shelter made places available for homeless women (in previous years other specialist agencies had looked after them, or they remained on the streets) and the innovation was an undoubted success. Apart from the guests that were successfully housed, there were other examples of individuals who began to transform their lives, and, in at least one case, embraced faith. Of course, there are others who returned to the streets with little to look forward to and will revert to their addictions. But, as Tom, one of the Central Coordinators, remarked, all the guests' lives were impacted by the love and care they experienced from the Shelter volunteers and, in God's own time, and if it is His will, the love they experienced will bear fruit. Similarly, it seems to have been a common experienced that, once again, the Shelter volunteers were greatly enriched by caring for those who have so little.

‘For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow...’

Three days ago it was our parish priest Fr. Kevin’s 50^th birthday. He became aware that some of the parishioners were arranging a hush-hush party for him in the Parish Room and – a little embarrassed - agreed to attend, but requested that there be no gifts.

The expression ‘blind bit of notice’ describes well what followed. On Saturday evening the tables were laden with a huge variety of food, there were streamers and balloons galore, the wine flowed - and he was presented with a very generous gift, the result of stealthy collections organised by a ‘well known lady of the parish.’

This morning, when our little team of counters arrived at the presbytery to count and bank the weekend’s collections, the dining room table that we normally use was somewhat occupied...

 

So, it's Happy Birthday to Fr. Kevin.  

We Have a Bishop!



(www.catholicnews.org.uk)

We have a bishop! Yes, less than six months after the former bishop resigned, Pope Francis yesterday named the Right Reverend Richard Moth as the fifth Bishop of Arundel & Brighton Diocese.

Bishop Moth is currently Bishop of the Forces. He was ordained a priest in 1982 and served  in parishes of the Archdiocese of Southwark, where he was also Vicar General and Chancellor, before being appointed Bishop of the Forces six years ago by Pope Benedict.

Born in Zambia - then Northern Rhodesia - fifty-six years ago, Bishop Moth obtained a Masters degree in Canon Law from Ottowa, and has since held a variety of roles. These include Liaison Bishop for Prisons, Episcopal Advisor to the National Catholic Scout Fellowship, lead Bishop for the Bishops’ Conference Mental Health Project and Chair of Governors at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham.

Bishop Moth will be installed at the Cathedral Church of Our Lady & St. Philip Howard, Arundel, on Thursday 28^th May, the 50^th anniversary of the foundation of A&B diocese (which was originally part of the Archdiocese of Southwark). He will then preside at the Jubilee Mass of Thanksgiving at the Amex Stadium here in Brighton on Sunday 5^th July.

The Bishop has been a Benedictine Oblate for over 30 years and is a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. For relaxation, he enjoys walking and horse riding (which I suspect he will find more relaxing in the verdant Sussex countryside then in urban Southwark!).

A huge welcome to Bishop Moth, pray for him.

No Longer Holy (or Holey)

The saga of the arm is finally over....

Nine months ago I slipped on my garage floor and broke my right arm in several places; the point of the elbow was particularly badly damaged, shattering into five or six separate pieces.

The following day, in a three-hour operation, surgeons at the Royal Sussex County Hospital patched it up, inserting a metal plate and several screws to hold the pieces together.

Then, two months later, the scab on the point of the elbow came off and revealed a small hole in the arm - with part of the plate and the heads of some screws plainly visible.

My doctor sent me back to hospital where the surgeons were surprised - and a little alarmed -  whipping out their mobile phones to take photographs of the elbow. I was told it was rather dangerous because of bacteria on the exposed plate and another operation was needed urgently, so they scheduled it for a couple of days later.

However, on the day the operation was due, a specialist arm surgeon advised against it as the bone fragments had not fused yet and removing the plate and screws might cause the arm to ‘collapse.’

So, I returned home with my holy arm. A couple of months later we found a possible reason for the failure of the bone fragments to fuse – tests showed that I had osteoporosis in the spine and osteopenia in the hips. In the meantime, the hole enlarged slightly and the plate and screws were quite visible, glinting brightly...

Two weeks ago the saga ended with another operation to remove the plate and screws and sew up the hole. I’m relieved to report that the surgeons found that the bones had finally fused. Also, the bacteriological results from the inside of the arm were satisfactory in that they did not find any truly-nasty bacteria, and a prescription of three months oral antibiotics should sort out the junior league bacteria that they did find.

So, I’m no longer quite so holy (or holey) and the arm works well so I can now be more timely about updating the blog...  

Lent (and Thinking of Syria)

‘Flooded with news reports and troubling images of human suffering, we often feel our complete inability to help.’ The words are from Pope Francis’ Lenten message where, in his usual plain-speaking and challenging way, he addresses what he calls the globalisation of indifference.

The list of current-day horrors seems endless...Ebola, Islamic State, Boko Haram, al-Shabab, al Qaeda, Ukraine, Libya, Palestine, typhoons, wildfires, earthquakes, floods, kidnappings, school massacres ...never before have we been informed so rapidly and comprehensively, with up-to-the minute video reports by satellite and blow-by-blow accounts on the internet.

Yet, the more the tsunami of horror floods our consciousness, the less impact it seems to have, morphing into yet another infotainment; if the news is too distressing I can always flip a switch and retreat to one of the hundreds of other channels on my Sky tv. After all, there is too much horror isn’t there? And we are powerless, too far away to make a difference. And even if we could, we don’t have the ability or resources to change things.

Not so, says Pope Francis.

‘If one member suffers, all suffer together’ (1 Cor 12:26) he reminds us. Although he does not spell it out, I’m sure that the suffering of Christians in the Middle East is very much on his mind.

Syria is one of the oldest Christian communities in the world where a few still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus. About one hundred years ago, Christians made up 30% of the population of Syria, now it is around 7% or one million people, mainly Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Syrian Orthodox. Already, an estimated five hundred thousand Syrian Christians have been displaced by fighting or have left the country, dozens of churches have been destroyed and entire villages razed to the ground. Many people fear a repeat of the violence that occurred in Iraq after the US invasion, when Christians were targeted and whole communities destroyed, so that in a few years the estimated number of Iraqi Christians fell from a million and a half to about 400,000. Similarly, in Palestine the proportion of the population that is Christian has dropped from ten per cent seventy years ago to about 2% today.

So, what can we do? Here’s what the Pope says:

(1) Pray (and may I recommend a prayer from Maronite Archbishop Samir Nassar of Damascus?)

 A Prayer for the People of Syria

God of Compassion,

Hear the cries of the people of Syria,
Bring healing to those suffering from the violence,
Bring comfort to those mourning the dead,
Strengthen Syria’s neighbours in their care and welcome for refugees,
Convert the hearts of those who have taken up arms,
And protect those committed to peace.
God of Hope,
Inspire leaders to choose peace over violence and to seek reconciliation with enemies,
Inspire the Church around the world with compassion for the people of Syria,
And give us hope for a future of peace built on justice for all.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace and Light of the World,
Amen.

 (2) Have a strong but merciful heart and make an act of charity – particularly since it is Lent (and may I recommend Aid to the Church in Need?  Aid to the Church in Need )  

(3) Let the dire need of far-away Christians in the Middle East remind us that life is uncertain, we too are dependent upon God and our brothers and sisters. Let us accept that – by ourselves - we cannot save the world; we need to implore God’s grace and trust in His love.   

Amen.

The Rite of Election

On the First Sunday of Lent several hundred people gathered in Arundel’s beautiful Cathedral of Our Lady and St Philip Howard to participate in and witness a key stage of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).

Watched by their godparents, sponsors, catechists, priests and families, the Candidates (who were validly baptized in other Christian denominations) and the Catechumens (who were never baptized) publicly attested to their desire to join the Catholic Church. This RCIA Rite of Election and Enrolment of Names was presided over by Archbishop Peter Smith, Archbishop of Southwark.

A total of 143 individuals from A&B Diocese shared their intention to become Catholics, while, on the same day, it is estimated that more than 3,000 people nationally made the same declaration as part of their journey to joining the Catholic Church at Easter.

In his homily the Archbishop spoke of this day as a special window of opportunity for the participants, a chance to allow Jesus to mold them in his likeness. The Holy Spirit guides – often in hidden ways – and gives the gift of faith. He reminded them of Pope Francis’ request to shun indifference and deepen their personal encounters with Christ this Lent. In conclusion, he spoke of his desire that the day be one of great joy and strength for the candidates; while there will be challenges, he concluded by asking them to hold firm to the words of Jesus: ‘Courage, do not be afraid for I am always with you until the end of time.’  

Following the testimony of the godparents and sponsors that their catechumens and candidates were properly prepared, the Archbishop greeted each candidate personally, together with their supporters.

It was fitting that the Rite of Election took place in Arundel Cathedral, which is dedicated to St Philip Howard and holds his relics. In his youth St Philip was a bit of a playboy and indifferent to religion until the prayers of his saintly wife and the preaching of St Edmund Campion converted him. Some of the candidates shared their journeys and stories of conversion; as the Archbishop observed, the Holy Spirit guides, often in hidden ways.

The Consecrated Life – Worth Celebrating!

Earlier this week, on Monday, I made my way to Worth Abbey, founded just over 80 years ago by a community of monks who follow the Rule of St. Benedict, written more than 1,500 years ago. The brothers live a community life of prayer and service, running a school, a parish and a retreat house, as well as a variety of other activities including working with young people, refugees and the poor of Peru.

The Abbey is in my backyard, just over 20 miles away from where I live, and I had been there a couple of times before, to worship in the Abbey Church, which is one of the finest examples of 1960s church architecture – and is also the largest church in Sussex with a seating capacity of 900. It offers Mass and monastic prayer daily (for details, see www.worthabbey.net/ml/ch-liturgy.htm).

Pope Francis has dedicated this liturgical year as the Year for Consecrated Life and Monday 2^nd February 2015 was the 18^th World Day for Consecrated. That very special day was marked with a solemn Mass at Worth Abbey attended by around 200 religious from Arundel & Brighton Diocese, including the Benedictine monks from the Abbey, and representing 30 separate Orders, Institutes and Congregations. It was celebrated by Archbishop Peter Smith, Archbishop of Southwark, with Abbot Dom Luke and the community of Worth Abbey.

Archbishop Peter Smith

(On a personal note, as I was there on business, I had my cameras with me. I try not to use flash in churches but the Abbey was quite a challenge. Around the walls, particularly near the entrance, it was dark and shadowy. The church is circular in shape with a high vaulted ceiling immediately above the Sanctuary. In the centre of the ceiling is a raised circular lantern with windows around all the sides – which lets in a perfect blaze of pure white light. It is this contrast between the shadowy edges and the brightly lit centre of the church that makes calculating exposure rather tricky! See below!)

 

In his homily Archbishop Peter spoke of how the ministry and witness of women and men Religious has enriched the life of A&B Diocese and been a great witness to the Gospel and an encouragement to both clergy and laity. He offered his thanksgiving and deep gratitude for the work of the Religious and paid special tribute to older Religious. He also spoke of his encouragement at the new religious communities coming from abroad, especially from Africa and Asia.

Pope Francis, in his recent Apostolic Letter ‘To All Consecrated People’ spoke of the ‘gift which is the presence of our many consecrated men and women.’ and went on to say that the Year for Consecrated Life is not solely for religious, it also includes the laity ‘who share with them the same ideals, spirit and mission.’ As might be expected, he had some specific suggestions for us: ‘...draw close to these men and women, to rejoice with them, to share their difficulties and to assist them, to whatever degree possible, in their ministries and works, for the latter are, in the end, those of the entire Church. Let them know the affection and the warmth which the entire Christian people feel for them.’

...So, there’s a fine idea. How about using 2015 to find out more about the priests and brothers, the nuns and sisters who live near you? Maybe even meet some of them, worship with them and find out more about their lives?