St Catherine of Alexandria Roman Catholic Church Littlehampton
  • Home
  • Newsletters and Mass Times
  • Posters And Events
  • Pastoral Letters from Bishop Richard
  • Mass Online
  • Daily Readings
  • Daily Homily
  • Articles in the Littlehampton Gazette by local church leaders
  • Ukraine Matters
  • CAFOD
  • 100 Club
  • Contact Fr Boniface or Deacon Adrian
  • Induction of Fr Boniface
  • Synod
  • Parish Events 2022
    • Parish Events 2021
    • Parish Events 2020
    • Parish Events 2019
    • Christmas Market 2019
  • St Catherine of Alexandria
  • Join our Parish Volunteers
  • Rosary and Exposition
  • Sacraments
  • Safeguarding
  • Parish Groups: the St Vincent de Paul Society, and others
  • Knights of St Columba
  • The Catenians
  • The 40 Martyrs of England and Wales
  • Littlehampton Churches Together
    • Pentecost 2019
  • Parish Pastoral Council and Finance Committee
  • Turning Tides for the Homeless
  • About Our Church
    • The Altar 40th Anniversary
    • Consecration 8 May 1962
  • Hall Hire
  • Links and Helplines
  • Amusing Church Announcements
  • Gift Aid / GDPR Data Protection
  • Contact us

Christian Unity

28/11/2015

0 Comments

 
This year's Scripture reading for our Service of Christian Unity in Littlehampton this January was John 4: 1-42. Our Lord has to travel through a district where different people live. They pray differently and there is almost no communication between the people.

As I write this I have just been to Latvia and spent a few hours in their capital, Riga. I did not understand their language and they both look and behave differently from the people I am used to. This was not comfortable.

In the Reading Jesus is sitting by the town well as He is hot and thirsty, and at the hottest part of the day a woman comes to draw water. They begin to talk together and they begin to appreciate one another. He suggests that prayer needs to be done "in spirit and truth". What might He mean? I would suggest that we ‘ordinary’ people might not know. We are comfortable thinking and speaking in English (or Latvian or Russian) and we usually do not make much of an effort to meet people from a ‘different’ place. Are we even aware that we might need to make a considerable effort if we are to meet "The Son of God"? In the Gospel He speaks of "a water that He shall give". What is that "water"? Have I received it? 

All Christians wish to have a personal relationship with Jesus and we tend to do this in many different ways. Often we are unaware of each other's experience of Him. The effort required to begin to understand another person is considerable and, as in the Gospels, it can often occur during the most ordinary of activities such as Lunch or Supper or a cold drink.

All Christians seek to meet Jesus in Sacred Scripture. We read a passage and either imagine ourselves there or we draw out a ‘lesson’ for ourselves. We meet Him in prolonged periods of silence, even in ‘unanswered’ prayer. We meet Him in other people, not only Believers, but especially people in need.

All Christians are aware of the action of The Holy Spirit who influences us in very subtle ways which can be easily missed. Circumstances, decisions, "the Signs of the Times".

One area in which we are perhaps less good at Meeting Jesus is in the future. Do we look forward to His Coming Again? Are we people of Hope? Or do we tend to live in the past where we have been let down, misunderstood and hurt?
​

As we come together in Services of Christian Unity let us be interested in meeting someone from another place. Let us be interested in how they do things differently. And let us do something together.. sing.. drink tea.. think about Jesus in Saint John*s Gospel and be silent before Him, The Source of Living Water.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Fr. Dominic's Blog

    Archives

    August 2016
    November 2015
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

    Categories

    All
    Advent
    Ascension
    Holy Land
    Holy Spirit
    John The Baptist
    Lent
    Month Of The Rosary
    Parish Review
    Spiritual Housekeeping
    Time
    Time To Reflect
    Travelling East
    Vocations
    Year Of Faith

    RSS Feed

The parish is part of the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton Diocesan Trust registered charity no. 252878.      www.abdiocese.org.uk