There is something very reassuring about Luke’s Holy Family. For him, the most important element was not the ‘holy’ but the ‘family’. What made Jesus the man he grew to be was not an environment of closeted privilege but the sacramental ordinariness of peasant life. The lineage back to David that includes so many ‘black sheep’ that few would admit to it; the young woman – perhaps a second wife; a home in the Galilee surrounded by extended family; a life of habit and tradition – the presentation in the Temple; the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
But as the saying goes; everyone is ordinary until you get to know them. Thanks to the time Luke spent with Mary, we have these anecdotes that may have suggested something more. The meeting between Elizabeth and Mary; the Presentation in the Temple and then this memory of ‘the first time we thought we had lost him’. Moments any mother would hold in her heart and that time would lend meaning to.
How many of us have shared similar stories over the past few days in family get-togethers? Stories of signs and adventures; dares and disasters that all feed into the people that we become – the ones most likely to… and the ones who never did…And the parents and family who love us unwaveringly despite it all. We should not look at Mary, Joseph and Jesus with envy or a sense of inferiority – black sheep or otherwise we have been adopted – we are all family – we are all holy.
There is something very reassuring about Luke’s Holy Family. For him, the most important element was not the ‘holy’ but the ‘family’. What made Jesus the man he grew to be was not an environment of closeted privilege but the sacramental ordinariness of peasant life. The lineage back to DavidRead More →
MASS & SERVICE TIMES Please note mass times can be located either on the newsletter or on the online calender. Dates for your Diary Coffee morning Tuesday 14th January 2025 at 10:30am Everyone is welcome. 200 CLUB DRAW Winner: £40 Prize this week – Mrs Victoria Cummings WHY NOT JOINRead More →
Mary moves from those who would gossip and doubt to the arms of a kindred spirit. Her soul’s friend, Elizabeth, is filled with the goodness and grace of God rather than the accusation and judgement of her neighbours. After all, Elizabeth has something in common with Mary – Elizabeth knowsRead More →
MASS & SERVICE TIMES Please note mass times can be located either on the newsletter or on the online calendar. Dates for your Diary Coffee morning Tuesday 14th January 2025 at 10:30am Everyone is welcome. 200 CLUB DRAW Winner: £40 Prize this week – Mr Alex Zoka WHY NOT JOINRead More →
For all the austerity of his life, John spoke to people in words they could grasp. It was his austerity that drew people’s respect and trust. Here was a man who cared nothing for comfort, money or fame, who could not be bought, and who could speak the truth withoutRead More →
MASS & SERVICE TIMES Please note mass times can be located either on the newsletter or on the online calender. Dates for your Diary Christmas Carol Concert Thursday 12th December 2024 1930 Pensioners Christmas Meal Sunday 15th December 2024 at noon. Everyone is welcome. 200 CLUB DRAW Winner: £40 PrizeRead More →
Luke provides an extraordinarily detailed list of the public officials who were in office when John and Jesus began their work. The names of Pontius Pilate and of Herod the tetrarch are easily recognised here. Luke demonstrates that John the Baptist and Jesus enter into the real world of history,Read More →
MASS & SERVICE TIMES Please note mass times can be located either on the newsletter or on the online calendar. Dates for your Diary Curry Night Saturday 7th December 2024 Everyone is welcome. 200 CLUB DRAW Winner: £40 Prize this week – Mrs Margaret O’Hare WHY NOT JOIN THE 200Read More →
On this First Sunday of Advent, we begin a new liturgical year. This season of Advent reminds us to be attentive of the various ways Jesus daily comes into our lives. However, the Gospel reading for this first Sunday of Advent is a bit unsettling. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus tellsRead More →
MASS & SERVICE TIMES Please note mass times can be located either on the newsletter or on the online calender. Dates for your Diary Pensioners Christmas Meal Sunday 15th December 2024 Noon Everyone is welcome. 200 CLUB DRAW Winner: £40 Prize this week – Mr John Kealey WHY NOT JOINRead More →
St Joseph’s RC Church, Woodford Lane, Winsford, CW7 2JS - Diocese of Shrewsbury - Registered Charity No 234025