The Virtues of Mary - Hope Hope, is a joyous expectation of future glory. How was Our Lady's Hope like while she was on earth? From the Gospel, we can easily gather how great was the hope that filled Mary's soul with joy. Whether it was at Nazareth, at Bethlehem, in the Temple, in Egypt, on Calvary, in days of sunshine and in days of gloom, the Gospel shows us Mary ever calm, radiant with peace and full of trust. How did she managed to do so? Because Hope springs from Faith. She believed even she didn't understand, even beyond natural reason. Mary believed readily, simply and with a lively faith, since she knew that with God all things are possible. Therefore, Mary's Hope became more manifest in the bitterest trials of life, and shone forth marvelously in her. Joseph is filled with doubt and anguish about her pregnancy. Yet she said nothing of the secret things she has heard from the Angel. She was silent, trusting in God that He will Himself reveal those profound mysteries to Joseph by other ways. People of Bethlehem refused to give her shelter on the night of her Child's birth but she uttered no word of lament, she hoped in God that He will provide for her the resting-place she needs. During the exile years in Egypt her greatest consolation was her hope that God, despite the fierce hatred of an earthly king, will care for her and bring her back to her homeland. At Cana, Jesus denied her the favour she asked. Her answer was a sublime act of hope in the Goodness of God Incarnate and it is rewarded by a miracle. In her grief for Jesus' sufferings, in her desolation at His Death, while the disciples have lost all hope, Mary rejoiced in the sweet assurance of seeing her Son will risen soon. So, if you are afflicted, embittered and disheartened by problems in lives, think of the example of Our Lady who was the 'blessed among women', and learn from her to hope! Not only that, when we pray the 'Hail, Holy Queen', we also greet her lovingly as "Our Hope". Since all our hope is centred in Jesus, Who is the author of life and happiness. But Jesus was given to us by Mary, thus the Saints have loved to think that all heavenly graces come to us from God through Mary. Let us in this month of May, turn to this 'Mother of holy hope' to pray for us who have recourse to her. (Reference: 'The Virtues of Mary' by Luigi Lanzoni, Loughborough: John Corah & Son, 1897)

“Jesus said, ‘My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.”  (John 10:27-28)

God's lover Who can that be? It is us. To be precise, every one of us. God Loves us, whoever you are, and He desires our love to Him. It is an invitation: 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' (Mk 12:30) Now, you might thinks: this is my all, my everything! Nothing left for myself? Exactly. When Jesus asks us to love Him, He expressed it in such a way which seems quite harsh: 'He who does not hate his father and mother is not worthy of me'. But we must learn to penetrate its true meaning. 'To hate' means 'not to put my love first'. He speaks of a love through which we must learn to lose ourselves. And this divine love, unlike human love which often violate the beloved when in excess, does not degrade our life. If you do love God, as a lover, you will try your best; because he who loves wants to see the lover's desires fully satisfied, and the will of the beloved will become the will of the lover. Also because love exists in such a way that it cannot be satisfied unless it continually increases and expands. But if you do struggle to unite with Him, do not worry, He is with you, He will come to meet you with His Love. Truly, we have no pure true love within ourselves unless we have God within us, who is Love Himself, who diffuses charity in our hearts, who teaches us how to love. And this Love needs to be loved, as only in the act of love does the object of love reveal himself to the lover, and unveil the lovableness through which the lover loves him. Within this Love, the lover is continually transformed into the Beloved and the Beloved into the lover, slowly the lover will be like the Beloved and gradually the lover acts like the Beloved. Through loving Jesus, we are being introduced into His Kingdom of Justice and Holiness and drawing us to the heights of charity where we would be one with God. The Lord's daily request of us, is simply that we love Him ever more. (Reference: 'Rosminian Spirituality: In the Spirit of the Founder', Fr Giovanni Gaddo, 1971)

Next weekend there will be a second collection for this Appeal. This year alongside supporting seminarians, this collection will also be used for wider discipleship activity across the Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia. Please support this appeal to the best of your abilities

Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’  (John 21:15)

Holy Rosary will be held in Our Lady’s Garden at St Peter’s every Sunday beginning 4th May at 10.45am All are welcome to join!

The Love of God  What is Love? We probably can easily quote St Paul's words to the Corinthians: "Love is patient and kind, doesn’t envy, doesn’t brag, not proud...." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) But why is this one thing becomes so many different things? What is Love, exactly? God is Love and hence Love is a Mystery. The created cannot fully understand the Creator, hence no one can truly understand what Love is. However, we can have a glimpse of it by what we experienced and revealed to us. Love is like the dispersion of white light through a prism and gives out a spectrum of rainbowlike colours. But who can name all the shades of colours? Hence we can only use our limited words to describe Love, but still they are just like a tip of an iceberg. What can we say then? God is the Alpha and Omega, so Love is our beginning and our end and perfection. All the goodness of things and persons comes from Him alone. Without Him, we are nothing, but dust. God's Love is what created us, complete us, sustain us, die for us. But that is not the end. As His unlimited Love never ends, so are our souls never die. Our whole being is the imprint of God's Love. Our life eternal is the promise of God's Love. (Reference: 'Rosminian Spirituality: In the Spirit of the Founder', Fr Giovanni Gaddo, 1971)

We thank God for the life and wonderful example of Pope Francis. His was an Easter death and his Christ filled life was an example of faith for all of us.  Rest In Peace

‘Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’’  (John 20:26-27)