Missionary Disciples

I moved to Canterbury at the beginning of September 2014 to take up my appointment as parish priest of St Thomas of Canterbury, having spent the previous thirty-eight years living and working as a priest in London. Only a year earlier, Pope Francis had published his first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium — ‘The Joy of the Gospel’.

This weekend, as parish priest, I will give my report at our Annual General Meeting. For me, this is not only an opportunity to reflect on this special year, but also to look back over my time here with you. I want to do so in the light of the Holy Father’s reflections on the Joy of the Gospel.

This year, some of you have taken part in the ‘Called to Bear Fruit’ consultation. The Archbishop will soon publish the results. This consultation is part of the ongoing renewal that will, I hope, help us become more effective missionary disciples of Jesus Christ within the Diocese of Southwark. That phrase — ‘missionary disciples’ — comes directly from Evangelii Gaudium. But many of us still ask, “How can we, as a parish community, make the sharing of the Gospel a real priority in our daily life?”

If we look back to the early Church, described in the Acts of the Apostles, we find four essential marks of Christian life: They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. [Acts 2:42]

So we should ask ourselves:

• Are we listening to the apostles’ teaching?
• How effective is our preaching and our catechesis?
• What is our fellowship like?
• To what extent are we a true fraternal communion?
• How do we care for the poor, the sick, and the bereaved?

At the heart of the parish must always be the Eucharist — the ‘breaking of bread’. Are we making the Eucharist truly the source and summit of our life together? How well do we celebrate Mass? And how do we encourage one another in our life of prayer?

As we celebrate the 150th Anniversary of our church building in this Holy Year, I want to thank you sincerely for all you are doing to grow as missionary disciples. Do not be discouraged. Remember the words of Pope Francis:

‘This is our definitive, deepest and greatest motivation, the ultimate reason and meaning behind all we do: the glory of the Father which Jesus sought at every moment of his life.’

We can only be a people of prayer if we allow ourselves to be filled with the Holy Spirit.