The Catholic Parish of Crawley

 

Dear faithful people of Arundel & Brighton

Just a year ago I wrote a letter like this and began by observing that last year’s Christmas stamps had no religious images on them. It obviously worked, because this year’s stamps do have religious picture, two of them showing the Virgin and Child, and two of them showing angels, in what appears to be a blizzard. But it seems that we shouldn’t get too excited; the Post Office said that it would alternate between religious and secular images on its Christmas stamps.

But the other week there was a rather surprising result from a survey carried out by a Christian charity called Tearfund. It suggested that two in five adults actually say prayers, and one in three believes that God is watching over them. They say that 20 million people over 18 say they pray, and 9 million of those pray every day. And while we don’t know how many people they interviewed, nonetheless there is some indication that we are not a Godless society.

The report also points out, however, that less than one in five people actually go to church at least once a year.

If people do go to church even once a year, the chances are that they will go in a month’s time, at Christmas. For some reason, probably not clear to themselves, many will feel the urge to attend church at Christmas. One reaction among congregations and clergy alike is pleasure that the church is full, but it ought to make us wonder about why it is not full more often, and then what we can do about it.

I was saying Mass in a parish one Sunday morning in the summer, and the gospel was about the lost sheep, where the shepherd leaves the 99 and goes after the one that strays. I suggested that there were probably lots of our own flock who had strayed, and just lost touch with church, and probably for no good reason. For many, I thought, it has just been a case of loss of enthusiasm or just fatigue, rather than a great falling-out with the church or some individual. But now, years later, when they might want to come back, they feel they can’t. And they can’t, not because someone has told them they can’t but first of all they feel themselves that they can’t. They would be embarrassed to go into a church and make it obvious that they are not familiar with it; they wouldn’t know the responses or when to sit and stand, because it might have changed since they last came.

At the end of that Mass, as I was talking to people outside the church, one woman came up and said that Mass that morning had been the first time she had been for twenty years, and that all I had said was true for her. I don’t know what did bring her back, but she looked happy as she went off.

I am sure that there are many in our parishes who would long to get back to church, but are just too afraid or nervous. They need to be told that they are welcome, no questions asked, shown

help without it drawing attention to them or making them feel awkward, and have a good experience of a joyful and up-lifting liturgy.

Today we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, and the gospel gives us an image of a King who is far from regal. It is the figure of Christ on the cross, in conversation with the so-called good thief. It is a reminder that Christ is universal King, that there is no-one excluded from the Kingdom except those who choose to be excluded. I fear that there are many who feel excluded, because they once regarded themselves as members and subjects, but now feel differently. They are subjects of the Kingdom, however loyal they feel; their loyalty is not for us to judge, any more than we can judge our own loyalty.

And there are others who might feel the need of a particular welcome this Christmas. In the past few years we have seen the influx of many Catholics from within the enlarged European Union, and from much further away, too.

For some, like people from the Philippines, integration has been a little easier because they have fewer language problems. Others, however, are struggling with English, and I have met many from Poland, from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania and other places who are trying to find their place, not just in our country, but in our Catholic Church.

I acknowledge that it falls on me to do something, and I have seen where other dioceses have produced leaflets in other languages to help people, and we should be doing the same. I am sure that many parishes are taking initiatives, but I do feel that some special out-reach should be made to our Catholic friends from these countries. Official estimates reckon that there are 350,000 Poles recently in this country, but unofficial estimates put it at nearer 1 million, and while it is thought that many will eventually return home, many also are here to stay. It would be easy for them to drift away from the church unless they are made to feel welcome.

I hope that the next few weeks of Advent are weeks that you can use well. I know that there are Advent courses run in many parishes, and I hope that you get the opportunity to take advantage of them. Otherwise we can become so distracted by the tyranny of modern Christmas. It should not be a tyrant, taking over our lives, but a time of welcome and renewal.

With my good wishes for a fruitful and peaceful Advent.

 

+Kieran

Bishop of Arundel & Brighton