Witnessing to Truth
Next Sunday, you are all invited to come together as one parish family and celebrate the Feast of St Peter and Paul, together in the grounds of St Anselm’s School at 10am. There will be the usual Saturday evening Mass at 6pm. The 10am Mass in the grounds of St Anselm’s will replace all the Sunday Masses in the church at St Thomas and St Dunstan’s, Hersden.
Why? Here at St Thomas of Canterbury parish, and at St Dunstan, we are a community of communities. There are those of us who always come to a particular Mass each weekend, and we get to know some of those who also come to that particular Mass, but next Sunday, we have the opportunity to be together and celebrate, together, the Eucharist which is the source and summit of our life. It is an opportunity to express our belonging to the One Church founded by Christ, and to celebrate this belonging. An important part of the day is that we will stay after Mass and share food together. There will be activities for the children. All you need do now is pray for a good, sunny day.
In this Sunday’s first reading, we encounter the prophet Jeremiah. He had a tough task being God’s prophet. Many did not want to hear the message that God was asking him to share. His life was filled with sadness and tragedy. His prophetic ministry (from 627 to 586 B.C.) witnessed the drama of sweeping international events in the Near East that ended with the capture and destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. by the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar, an event that Jeremiah had long foretold. He was stoned to death in Egypt by his own countrymen.
We are all called through baptism to be prophets. What does it take to be a prophet? Being prophetic is about witnessing to the present truth and standing at the centre of that God-given reality. Sometimes what God wants to say to us and what we are called to share — isn’t always popular or acceptable.
One example of a prophet teaching is the recent encyclical written by Pope Leo. In it, he sets out the Catholic social teaching of the popes from Leo XIII to Pope Francis. He then shows how the dignity and uniqueness of every human person is challenged and threatened by the misuse of artificial intelligence. Do read it, and you will hear a prophet’s voice that calls us to live day after day as faithful, ethical witnesses to the truth. It is challenging.
This week, we have received a letter from our own Archbishop John Wilson, reaffirming a message he gave five years ago which, he says, remains essential to our identity as followers of the Lord Jesus. His message is: ‘There is no place for racism.’ Today he invites us all to renew our commitment to building communities where every person is welcomed, valued and loved. Copies of this are available in the Narthex.
