Welcome
Welcome to St Bede Catholic Church
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
And the love of God
And the communion of The Holy Spirit
Be with you all
‘Your brother was dead, and is alive...’
On this fourth Sunday of Lent, also known as Laetare Sunday, the church encourages us to reflect on the parable of the Prodigal son. This parable gives us the story of a son who asks his father to give him his inheritance and goes away and misuses everything, and a father who welcomes back his ‘lost son’. And the elder son who gets angry with his father for welcoming the young brother.
The father in the story represents God who is kind, loving and merciful and who wants a close and permanent relationship with us, his children. The younger son represents those children who rebel, disrespect God and break their relationship with him. The elder son represents people who resent God’s forgiveness to the sinners who come back to God in repentance. From today’s gospel we learn three things about our God:
Our God wants us to love and serve him freely and joyfully. Therefore, he lets us walk away from our relationship with him if we desire to do so, even though it breaks his heart when we do. He loves us so much that he does not force us to stay in the relationship with him. He does not stop us if we choose to walk away from him. His nature is such that he loves us so much that he allows us to make our choices, even though he knows what the consequences will be. Just as the father in the story grieved because his son walked out, God grieves when one of his children breaks his or her relationship with him.
Our God runs towards us when we come back to him in repentance. God welcomes us as we are. He runs to meet us when we decide to return to him. He runs towards us even after we have turned our backs on him. As the proverb goes, “When we take one step towards God, God takes seven steps towards us.” Despite repeated disobedience and rebellion against him, he loves and patiently waiting for us to come back to him.
Our God forgives us and restores us when we truly repent. The younger son acknowledged his sin against God, his father and family, “I have sinned against heaven and against you.” And he did not want to be treated as a son, but as a servant. Instead, his father commanded his servants to restore everything to his son. He gave his son a ring, sandals and a robe, which were signs of dignity and belonging. This is what God our Father does for us every time we return to him in repentance. He restores our sense of dignity and reassures us that we are completely forgiven.
God bless you all. Fr. Henry
In the News
Welcome home Holy Father!
After 38 days Pope Francis leaves the Gemelli Hospital.
38 days have gone by since February 14, when Pope Francis left the Vatican to be hospitalized at the Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital.
These weeks have been challenging for an 88-year-old patient battling bilateral pneumonia. Medical reports did not downplay the severity of his condition, the crises he endured, or the complexity of his clinical picture.
Myanmar earthquake: the desperate need for aid
A devastating earthquake in Myanmar has worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis. Burma Campaign UK Director shares the complex reality surrounding aid restrictions in a country already grappling with internal conflict.
The images emerging from Southeast Asia show complete and utter devastation. While it is difficult to have a clear image of the cost of the earthquake that struck Myanmar and Thailand on Friday, it is certain that the situation is dire and the need for humanitarian aid enormous.
Cardinal Parolin: The Pope has never stopped governing the Church
Cardinal Parolin: The Pope has never stopped governing the Church
In an interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin explains that “even in the most difficult days” of his illness, Pope Francis “reviewed reports” on which he “made decisions accordingly.” There are also issues that the Vatican Dicasteries can handle independently based on the authority the Pope has entrusted to them or delegated to others as in the case of a canonization.
About saint bede...
St Bede 673-735AD
Bede was born in 673 AD in the northeast of England. From the age of seven, he received a Benedictine education at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Wearmouth, today part of Sunderland. Bede spent his whole life within the twin monasteries of St Peter at Wearmouth and St Paul in Jarrow, where he became a Benedictine monk and continued his studies using the fine libraries established by the monastery's founder, St Benedict Biscop, Bede's first teacher, and under the guidance of Abbot Ceolfrith (Ceolwulf).
Bede wrote on many topics. His most famous work, Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (the Ecclesiastical History of the English People), earned Bede the title "The Father of English History". His works revealed not only Bede's qualities as a scholar and historian but also the qualities of modesty and humility which make his works so memorable. However, Bede's work shows that he had at his command all the learning of his time. Bede's writings included papers and articles on scientific, historical, theological, and mathematical matters, as well as poetry and literature. St Bede is widely regarded as the greatest of all the Anglo-Saxon scholars. His sainthood was generally recognized around fifty years after his death on 25th May 735 AD. His bones were later elevated from St Paul's in Jarrow to Durham, where they lie in the Galilee Chapel at Durham Cathedral. Bede's scholarship and importance to Catholicism were recognized on 13th November 1899 when Pope Leo XIII decreed the title of Doctor Ecclesiae to St Bede the Venerable, making him the only English Doctor of the Church.
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