Dear Friend of Saint Jude MANY GREETINGS from the Shrine in this year of 2020! I would like to assure you of our continued prayers for all of you. In November 2019 I led a morning of reflection in the final session of the ‘Prayer and Reflection with Saint Jude’ series for 2019. The topic was Prayer in a Busy World and was, I hope, useful in offering some help in dealing with the run-up to Christmas! These reflections have become a regular feature of our Shrine programme during the year. Of course, there are many local people who attend these, but the reflections are also open to all who wish to join us. Thank you to everyone that came and joined us! Christmas was celebrated joyfully by the local community and we were all very grateful for the cards and presents that many of you so generously gave. Thank you. 2020 will be the sixty-fifth anniversary of this wonderful place. As a part of this celebration, we will be following the theme of: Praying with Saint Jude and the Apostles. In addition, we are putting the finishing touches to the displays on the history of the Shrine at the Information Centre - thank you to all those supporters who have donated towards this initiative. We have already fixed the entrance and lighting in the Centre last year, so that it is safe for visitors. The Centre is now a bright and welcoming place for the growing number of pilgrims who visit us each day. Another exciting initiative happening this year is the Key Stage 1 Apostle Drawing Competition that we are running. At the end of last year we invited various primary schools in the south-east and south-west of England to enter a competition to send in drawings of the Apostles, including Saint Paul and Saint Matthias (and not Judas). There are six judges, including the Archbishop of Southwark, the Most Rev. John Wilson and me. We will judge anonymously. Twenty-six prize winners will be chosen (two per Apostle). Their art will be printed in a new prayer book to be published later in 2020. Please look out for the book and winners later this year. | | I have always been very honoured that one of my roles as Prior Provincial is to write this letter to the friends of Saint Jude, so I just want to say: thank you to all of you who write in to me in reply! Although we are unable to reply to every letter, I do really appreciate you writing to us and for keeping the Order in your prayers. As well as this newsletter, please don’t forget to visit our website and our social media sites on Facebook and Twitter. Finally, every two months, we produce Saint Jude Focus which is full of news on the Shrine: this can be downloaded on the website, but is sent out with any replies too. | | Easter falls on the 12 April and therefore the beginning of Lent, (Ash Wednesday) will be on 26 February. You have received this newsletter just before the beginning of Lent, so that we can pray together during this season. This is the annual occasion when we can focus on our faith, the way we live it and the way we might change our lives in the light of the faith. This year the church in England and Wales is celebrating the God who speaks in the Year of the Word of God. The idea is to emphasise that God really does speak to us in Scripture. Of course, our patron and friend, Saint Jude, is the author of one of the shortest letters in the New Testament. It is important then, as Jude’s friends, to be women and men of the Word. One of the ways we can place more stress on the Word of God in our lives is to devote more time to praying with Scripture. Lent is a good time to begin this practice and as in previous years, I suggest using the gospels of the five Sundays as a starting point. | | First Sunday of Lent - 1 March 2020: Jesus fasts for forty days and is tempted
(Matthew 4:1 - 11) Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, including the most subtle and insidious suggestions that he use his position to distort his true vocation to offer himself for others. The three scenarios we read in this chapter are all forms of self-centredness and selfishness:
o Feed yourself – but Jesus has come to feed others.
o Save yourself – but Jesus has come to save others.
o Enrich yourself – but Jesus has come to enrich others. How easy is it to persuade ourselves that what we want to do is what God wants us to do? Read my next four Sunday reflections on our website. These will be published each Thursday (5/3; 12/3; 19/3; 26/3), here. | | Saint Jude was sent out by Jesus, although the scene itself is not recorded. The name “apostle” means one who is sent. Jesus’ message is not to be kept secret but spread and shared. This is an extension of Jesus’ own mission and becomes a permanent state of the Church’s life after the Ascension and Pentecost. The task of the disciple that Saint Jude teaches us is to get to know the Lord in prayer and reflection and to participate in the mission of the Church. Let us ask Saint Jude to be with us and pray with us as we undertake this task today. How can we participate in the mission of the Church. One way you could help is by joining the Guild of Saint Jude? The Guild of Saint Jude was founded in 2014 to promote the love of God by fostering devotion to his Apostle Saint Jude; support and share in the mission of the Carmelite Family by prayer and material resources; and finally to raise awareness and encourage pilgrimages to the Shrine of Saint Jude. Each member receives: a membership card, Guild badge, a handbook of devotions, and an annual magazine. A quarterly Guild Members’ Mass is celebrated at the Shrine too. I encourage you to join the Guild of Saint Jude this year - read more here. | | May I remind you that we have three novenas running between now and the next newsletter. These are a perfect way of preparing ourselves for the various feasts that they point to and are a means of uniting ourselves to the prayer of the whole Church. This time, the novenas are for Saint Joseph, Easter, and of course, Saint Jude. You can pray the novenas in private, with your friends or family, or in a group. Download here. Please do send in your various intentions: prayers and Masses are offered every day by Carmelites who depend on your support. See below for links. Finally the Summer Celebration of Saint Jude will be held on Saturday 30 May in the grounds of the shrine. This is a lovely occasion when we can usually celebrate Mass outside in the sunshine, followed by a procession past the Shrine of Saint Jude. We also have an opportunity for pilgrims to be anointed with Saint Jude oil. It is a perfect way of beginning the summer season by making a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Saint Jude. When you get this newsletter, it will only be three months away - time flies, please book it in your diary today! Can you download a poster and add to your Parish notice board please? Thank you. I wish you all a blessed Easter in the Risen Lord. May Our Lady of Mount Carmel protect you and may Saint Jude intercede for you. With the assurance of prayers, | | Fr Kevin Alban, O.Carm
Prior Provincial |
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