BECKENHAM is not in the dioceses of Westminster, Arundel and Brighton or Portsmouth, the three jurisdictions which linked the priestly ministry of Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, who died at the beginning of this month; but there are various reasons why we should particularly pray for his soul and give thanks
Continue readingOVER THE SUMMER all of us, whatever our religious beliefs, have been anxious about the growing tension in the Korean peninsular. The determination of the ‘Democratic Republic of Korea’ to become a nuclear weapons state, expressed in tests and trials condemned by the international community and in defiance of the United Nations, matched
Continue readingIt is the duty by our baptism of every Christian to evangelise! To help others realise that God is already in their lives even if they just don’t recognise Him. To enable us to carry out this vital mission there are The RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) groups
Continue readingToday’s gospel reading from Matthew underlines one of the great themes of that gospel – the identity and coherence of the Christian community, gathered in the Lord’s name. It is Matthew’s gospel which has the clearest ‘theology of the Church’ of all the gospels. The Lord is telling his disciples
Continue readingTHIS PICTURE is of a bronze statue of our patron saint, Edmund Rich, to be found in the Oxford college which bears his name. Compared to other saints, it is not easy to find statues of him, and we hope to have a new icon of him made in the
Continue readingAt one of the Masses on the feast of the Transfiguration earlier this month, also the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, I quoted from a little book called God and the Atom written quickly, a few weeks after the bombing, by Monsignor Ronald Knox. ‘Ronnie’ Knox was
Continue readingIn the section of the book of Exodus that sets out the Ten Commandments and the associated laws and rules, there are instructions (in Chapter 23) about the observation of feasts and festivals. In particular, there are three great festivals which, in later centuries, required people, if they could make
Continue readingWe have been saying goodbye to Fr Mark for several weeks now since the news first broke that he would be leaving St Edmund’s and moving to Our Lady of Reparation in West Croydon. But this weekend, especially this Sunday when there will be a celebration in the parish hall,
Continue readingThe Life in the Spirit Seminars piloted chiefly by our Parish Priest, Fr Steve Wymer and Christine Parker were a huge success. The support from the parishioners was fantastic. We had in attendance over 170 zealous Christians who participated actively. It was an event that can never be easily forgotten
Continue readingFor many priests, at all sorts of levels, there is something unique and personally awesome about the experience of saying Mass. Priests sometimes reflect that being able to do this is the reason above all why they have become priests; some might think that to die at the end of
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