Mary, Mother of the Church.
On Monday we celebrate an important date in the church calendar – The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.
It’s a new memorial – it was only inserted into the calendar in 2018 (by Pope Francis), although the title is much older.
We call Our Lady mother of the Church because in the instant that Jesus said to John at the foot of the cross,
“‘Behold, your mother!’ and from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” (John 19:27)
Mary became our mother – not just in an individual way – but in the broader sense of caring for the whole body of Christ on earth.
We look to her because she gave brith to Jesus and for all those years attempted to understand how to relate to Jesus the man and Jesus our Lord.
Who better to help guide and steer the Church as we discern a path forward between a growing secular world and the divine glory of God our Father?
Our Lady helps us reach out to those who have fallen away from the church. St. Augustine referred to Mary as “‘the Mother of the members of Christ’ who co-operated in the rebirth of the faithful into the Church.”
So, as we look to our parish and to those who once knew Jesus but have drifted away – let us ask Our Lady to pray for us – and them – and help them to find a way back home.
Fr. Matthew
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This week Fr. Josiah and Susan will be leading the children as they lead us in our service for Pentecost. Expect great things as we hear about the coming of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives and why this is such an important day in the church calendar.
Please sign up for Parish Giving (which is a wonderful way to support St. Anselm and helps us claim more money from the government) Go to www.stanselm.co.uk/giving or call the Parish Giving Team directly on 0333 002 1271 quoting our parish number, which is: 230 623 503.
Thanks to everyone who has signed up to take Food Hygiene Training so we can offer our little coffee bike at various events and for the 59 Club evenings soon to be arriving at St. Anselm. Training will be after half term so there’s still time to sign up if you would like to be part of it.
We need volunteers for the tea and coffee after church. The rota isn’t getting very much love and it often falls to Fr. Josiah, Fr. Matthew, Susan or Ruth to sort it quickly at the end of mass. It really needs some dedicated love! Please see Ruth or sign up on the sheet at the door.