Portsmouth Diocese e-News Issue 465
Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November! The Catholic origins of Bonfire Night are nowadays largely forgotten. The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was meticulously planned by Robert Catesby, Guy Fawkes and a group of young Catholics, who were strongly against the government’s persecution of fellow Catholics. They intended to blow up the House of Commons while the King and government were present, and they secretly placed a huge amount of gunpowder in the cellars beneath. Their plan was thwarted on the last minute. Guy Fawkes was arrested and the other conspirators were hunted down, captured and executed. The government then instituted Bonfire Night as a festival of fire and fireworks. Its purpose was to perpetuate anti-Catholic propaganda by linking Catholicism with treason. Nowadays all of this is largely forgotten. Bonfire Night is simply associated with dark nights and fireworks.
Meanwhile, welcome to e-News this week. Please continue to pray and to lobby for the demise of the assisted suicide bill that is before Parliament – and for the peoples of America as they head for the polls today. [Image: Sykes]
Like a Botanical Garden
From the Bishop
Last Friday was the Solemnity of All Saints and I celebrated the 1215h Mass in the Cathedral. Here is the brief homily I preached.
In one of his homilies Pope Francis asked: What is a Saint? He said: We can compare the saints to church windows that allow light to enter in but with different shades of colour. Saints are people who welcome the light of God in their heart and who pass it on to the world, each according to their own hue. He then added: But note, they were all transparent; they fought to remove the dirt and grime of sin in order to enable the gentle light of God to pass through. That is life’s purpose: to enable God’s light to pass through. It’s the purpose of our life too.
Today’s feastday gives us a glimpse of our true home: heaven. There, the communion of saints gathers around God’s throne, a huge number impossible to count of people from every nation, race, tribe, language. By our baptism, we already belong to that number; we’re already God’s children, as St. John put it in the Second Reading, although what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is that when it is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He really is. In other words, our task on earth is to become holy, to model ourselves on Jesus Christ, to be like Him and so to become worthy of heaven. Like visiting a botanical garden that’s full of many different flowers and plants, so the many different saints give us a huge variety of inspiring examples of how to do this in our lives. Moreover, they help us with their prayers.
So in this Mass, let us give glory and praise to God, thanking Him for all the saints and thanking Him for calling you and me to eternal life with Him in Paradise. Let us pray too for all our departed loved ones, whom we will especially remember at Mass tomorrow, All Souls Day. And let us pray for ourselves that as we place our hand in the helping and guiding hand of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may grow closer to Christ and so one day come with Him to the happiness of heaven. [Image: Red Funnel Ferries/Ventnor Botanic Gardens]
You can continue to read this issue in full here.
