A PASTORAL LETTER FROM THE BISHOP OF LANCASTER FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT 2022
The Bishop's Blog
by Bishop Paul Swarbrick
2y ago
A PASTORAL LETTER  FROM THE BISHOP OF LANCASTER for the First Sunday of Lent2022 APPOINTED TO BE READ AT ALL PUBLIC MASSES IN ALL CHURCHES AND CHAPELS IN THE DIOCESE OF LANCASTER ON THE WEEKEND OF 5-6 March 2022 My dear people, The gift of Lent is given to us once more. Let us use it well, accepting it as an opportunity to reveal our hearts to the Lord, inviting Him to enter and make His home in us. Lent is our opportunity to prepare a worthy place for this most welcome guest. Prayer, fasting and sharing with the poor will be the three instruments we use to get the work done. Notice how ..read more
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Dear friends in Christ, Welcome back to this the f...
The Bishop's Blog
by Bishop Paul Swarbrick
2y ago
Dear friends in Christ, Welcome back to this the first post of the Bishop’s Blog in 2019! Happy New Year to any faithful souls who have been waiting patiently in case this Blog revived. Take it as a prophetic sign of a very distant spring. It has been an eventful and interesting hiatus. More recently we have become caught up in celebrations marking Christmas. Perhaps some of the photos will capture something of the rich variety I experienced. Thank-you to so many who sent greetings, invitations and gifts – especially prayer – to nourish me. Anyone who knows me will know of my poor relationship ..read more
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Week commencing Sixth Sunday or Eastertide.
The Bishop's Blog
by Bishop Paul Swarbrick
3y ago
My dear friends in Christ, Welcome to the Bishop’s Blog!This week we will celebrate the Ascension of our Lord to the Father. It is a Holy Day of Obligation under normal circumstances. Currently the obligation of attending Mass is dispensed, but we would be doing ourselves no favours by letting this Mystery of Faith pass without keeping it sacred.As He prepared to return to the Father Jesus knew the disciples would struggle with loss again, and so soon after having lost Him on the Cross. His Resurrection would become the evidence on which all His teachings would find confirmation, that we are c ..read more
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Make your home in me as I make mine in you
The Bishop's Blog
by Bishop Paul Swarbrick
3y ago
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, Welcome to the Bishop’s Blog!  As a priest working in a parish you can never forget the importance of parishioners needing homes and schools and work for the good of their families. That’s part of what made the issue of the Cumbrian coal mine so emotive; it would be such a boost for the local economy. The Diocese encompasses the stunning scenery of the Lake District, so precious to tens of thousands of visitors who find the area’s beauty does them such good. There is the constant need to consider the well-being of those who live and work there ..read more
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MY PASTORAL LETTER FOR GOOD SHEPHERD (VOCATIONS) SUNDAY, 25 April 2021
The Bishop's Blog
by Bishop Paul Swarbrick
3y ago
A PASTORAL LETTER FROM THE BISHOP OF LANCASTER  for Good Shepherd Sunday, 25 April 2021 Appointed to be read at all public masses in all churches and chapels in the Diocese of Lancaster on the weekend of24/25 April 2021 (or shared in whatever way is possible). My dear people, Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. Each year on this Fourth Sunday of Eastertide the Church prays for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life. Our heavenly Father knows well what is needed even before we pray, but Christ tells us we must pray always. We are very familiar with prayer of asking, prayer of intercess ..read more
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Low Sunday 2021
The Bishop's Blog
by Bishop Paul Swarbrick
3y ago
My dear friends in Jesus Christ, Welcome to this week’s Bishop’s Blog! Glorious late Spring sunsets. The light lingers longer. A grieving Monarch who has so much to be grateful for, but must feel it a mixed blessing once the love of your life, your rock is no longer within reach. Her faith will keep her gaze fixed on the life to come, promised by a Saviour who understands the human heart from the inside.And this Sunday we listen to the story of dear doubting Thomas who wasn’t there at first, but then came back. Where had he been? How was he coping? How was he not coping? Even the strong have ..read more
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Good Friday 2021
The Bishop's Blog
by Bishop Paul Swarbrick
3y ago
My dear  brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, Welcome to the Bishop’s Blog!It simply refuses to go away, even in a secular culture. If it was just an idea, an ideology, it could be dismissed as something that has served its purpose for a time. It might have made its contribution to the evolution of thought, to society’s shifting values and perspectives on life, and then inevitably it would have given way to something more acceptable, more in keeping with contemporary sensibilities. But it hasn’t, and it won’t.It is rooted in history more deeply than an ideology. It is something that happ ..read more
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Holy Week 2021
The Bishop's Blog
by Bishop Paul Swarbrick
3y ago
Dear friends in Christ, Welcome to the Bishop’s Blog!During the days of Lent we knew the direction of travel. We could count the days to go, just as parents or children might mark off the days before the holidays begin (‘What holidays?’ I hear you mutter.) So, here we are at the start of Holy Week, Passion (Palm) Sunday. The Liturgies will take pace in their adjusted circumstances at the Cathedral and will be live-streamed (check Cathedral website).This past week I’ve had quite a bit of ZOOMing. I took part in an ecumenical ‘retreat’ for leaders of denominations in the north of England. I was ..read more
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The strange ways of God heals our brokenness
The Bishop's Blog
by Bishop Paul Swarbrick
3y ago
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Welcome to the Bishop’s Blog! The month of March, and the season of Lent, are racing by towards their end. If you think about it, March ‘gets us out of winter’ and delivers us to the threshold of Spring (at least for us here in the northern hemisphere). Lent delivers us to the threshold of Easter, the threshold of Our Lord’s empty tomb. The hardships we go looking for through the discipline of Lent have this purpose.During the past week we celebrated a Requiem Mass for our late Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue. It was held in the Cathedral on the evening of St ..read more
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Abraham: A Man of Faith
The Bishop's Blog
by Bishop Paul Swarbrick
3y ago
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, Welcome to the Bishop’s Blog! The story of Abraham’s sacrifice sends shudders down my spine. Some awful things are done in the name of religion. Even though the child is spared, it can disturb us that such an act as child sacrifice could even be used as a test of Faith. Of course, what saves the day is Abraham being called to found a Faith that rejects child-sacrifice. I cannot close this paragraph without mentioning our own society which tragically continues to see hundreds of thousands of infants killed before birth. It is a tragedy that they are ..read more
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