Fr. Aaron Writes 4th June 2023

Dear Friends,

A blessed Feast of the Most Holy Trinity to you all! The Sunday after the Feast of Pentecost is dedicated to the gift of God’s revelation of himself – His identity, His name. We are signed, sealed and delivered into the life of the Trinity at our baptism, when we were inserted into the Mystery of God. In a way, when we speak and try to explain the Mystery of the Trinity, we can find ourselves often tongue-tied and often confused, often left with inadequate comparisons with the things we know of, and can know, through human experience and observation. At times, as in the history of the Church, an unskilled approach to explaining the Trinity can skirt on the fringes of heresy!

It is perhaps best, knowing what we know of God’s revelation of himself as three persons, to contemplate this Mystery on our knees; in other words, to contemplate this awesome Truth in prayer.

As we begin the month of June, which is traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we implore God’s merciful love upon our lives, our families and on the Church. We make reparation for the sins of members of the Church, we make reparation for sins against purity, holiness, for blasphemies against God and much, much more. Our world needs healing and for us as members of the Body of Christ to be merciful; it needs clarity of teaching and charity in abundance. We speak Truth in love – may the Lord’s Sacred Heart have mercy on us!

First Holy Communion – We look forward to the Feast of Corpus Christi when our First Holy Communion children will receive their certificates and participate in our Corpus Christi procession.

Trinity Sunday – This Sunday, we will have our Shared Parish Lunch; we will also welcome all those who have been recently baptised to the 11:15am Mass and to the function in the Parish Hall, as a welcome to the family of the Church here in Horsham.

Feast of Corpus Christi – There will be a Eucharistic procession after each of the Sunday morning Masses on 11th June. Please could I ask parishioners to bring petals for the First Holy Communion children to use as they accompany the Blessed Sacrament in procession. There will be baskets available for you to put these in before the Sunday Masses.

Corpus Christi at Arundel – I shall be attending, and acting as MC for, the Solemn Mass, Procession and Benediction this Thursday (8th June). All are welcome to visit and see the hugely popular and famous Carpet of Flowers and to participate in the liturgy. Mass begins at 5:30pm.

Sacrament of Confirmation – This year, all Confirmations in the diocese will be celebrated at Arundel Cathedral, as our mother church celebrates 150 years. Our parish young people will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit on Saturday 10th of June at 11:30am. Please keep them all in your prayers.

Saturday Evening Vigil Mass – Because of my many roles both in the diocese and in various organisations, I often find at times of the year that I have to be away from the Parish on Saturdays. I am grateful to the many supply priests who kindly assist me and I am grateful for your understanding. Over the next few weeks, I shall be absent on a few Saturdays - many apologies in advance. This week, I have a wedding at West Grinstead and then in the subsequent weeks I have Deanery Confirmations, 150th Anniversary Celebrations at the Cathedral, Ordinations in the North, other events with KHS (Knights of the Holy Sepulchre) and then, later in August, World Youth Day! As you can see there is a lot going on!

With every prayer and good wish for the coming week.