Su15

0418

: Eas

ter

B3

P

L20

PA

STO

RA

L LE

TTER

FR

OM

TH

E BI

SHO

P

app

oin

ted

to

be

read

in

all

chur

ches

and

cha

pel

s o

f th

e D

ioce

se o

f Po

rtsm

out

h

on

15th

Ap

ril 2

018,

the

Thi

rd S

und

ay o

f Ea

ster

.

PEO

PLE

OF

LIFE

My

dea

r Pe

op

le o

f G

od

, Peo

ple

of

Life

, H

app

y Ea

ster

! To

day

, as

you

leav

e ch

urch

, I h

ave

a sm

all E

aste

r G

ift f

or

you:

a

bo

okl

et o

f p

raye

rs a

nd r

efle

ctio

ns t

hat

I ho

pe

you

will

like

and

tre

asur

e. M

ore

, b

y G

od

’s g

race

, I h

op

e it

will

ins

pir

e yo

u, y

our

par

ish

and

all

our

Fra

mew

ork

an

d E

vang

elis

atio

n Te

ams,

to

pra

yer,

com

mit

men

t an

d s

trat

egic

act

ion.

H

ow

ever

, her

e I

wan

t to

exp

lore

ag

ain

wha

t it

mea

ns t

o b

e a

hum

an p

erso

n,

crea

ted

by

Go

d,

falle

n th

roug

h si

n, y

et r

edee

med

in

Chr

ist.

Ther

e is

no

w i

n so

ciet

y g

reat

co

nfus

ion

and

co

nflic

t ab

out

wha

t it

mea

ns t

o b

e hu

man

, ab

out

re

lati

ons

hip

s, s

exua

lity

and

lo

ve,

but

als

o,

mo

st s

erio

usly

, ab

out

the

act

ual

valu

e an

d d

igni

ty o

f hu

man

life

its

elf

fro

m c

onc

epti

on

to n

atur

al d

eath

. A

s C

atho

lics,

the

Go

spel

is

alw

ays

a su

re g

uid

e. J

esus

Chr

ist

is G

od

, D

eum

de

Deo

, but

as

the

Cre

ed a

lso

aff

irm

s, t

he N

ew A

dam

, fro

m t

he e

arth

the

Per

fect

H

uman

.1 He

is o

ur M

od

el. I

t is

thr

illin

g t

hat

we

hum

ans,

bo

dy

and

so

ul, l

ive

at

the

inte

rsec

tio

n b

etw

een

the

two

rea

lms

of

crea

tio

n, t

he m

ater

ial

and

the

sp

irit

ual!

This

sho

uld

mak

e us

a p

eop

le o

f lif

e, a

peo

ple

of

joy

and

go

od

will

, p

eop

le w

ho p

rom

ote

the

san

ctit

y o

f lif

e in

all

its

bea

utifu

l div

ersi

ty.

Co

nsid

er t

his.

It’s

ove

r fif

ty y

ears

sin

ce t

he 1

967

Ab

ort

ion

Act

, one

of

the

mo

st

liber

al in

the

wo

rld

, cam

e in

to e

ffec

t.2 Sin

ce t

hen,

ten

mill

ion

bab

ies

in t

he U

K

have

bee

n ab

ort

ed, o

ne in

fiv

e p

reg

nanc

ies.

3 As

a p

eop

le o

f lif

e, o

ur e

ffo

rts

to

def

end

the

unb

orn

chi

ld, t

o c

are

for

pre

gna

nt m

oth

ers

and

to

rev

erse

or

blu

nt

this

Act

hav

e ha

d m

ixed

res

ults

and

it

now

lo

oks

as

if, u

njus

tly,

our

sec

ular

ist

go

vern

men

t w

ill n

o lo

nger

allo

w u

s ev

en t

o p

ray

out

sid

e ho

spit

als

and

clin

ics.

C

ons

eque

ntly

, I’m

dis

cuss

ing

wit

h p

ro-l

ife g

roup

s an

d w

ith

our

Jus

tice

, Pea

ce

13

The

Brit

ish

Hum

anis

t Ass

ocia

tion

has b

een

cam

paig

ning

for y

ears

on

thes

e th

emes

: see

Hum

anis

ts U

K

‘Gue

rnse

y to

con

side

r pro

posa

ls fo

r ass

iste

d dy

ing’

(21st

Mar

ch 2

018)

ava

ilabl

e on

line

at:

http

s://h

uman

ism

.org

.uk/

2018

/03/

21/g

uern

sey-

to-c

onsi

der-

prop

osal

s-fo

r-as

sist

ed-d

ying

/ (A

pril

2018

). Th

ey

use

the

clev

er a

nd d

ecep

tive

euph

emis

m o

f “as

sist

ed d

ying

,” b

ut d

o no

t be

take

n in

by

this

: “as

sist

ed d

ying

” m

eans

sim

ply

“ass

iste

d su

icid

e.”

The

Gue

rnse

y vo

te is

sche

dule

d fo

r 16th

May

. Ple

ase

pray

that

love

for l

ife

prev

ails

. 14

The

eig

hth

Sole

mn

Inte

rces

sion

from

the

Goo

d Fr

iday

Litu

rgy

is a

sple

ndid

pra

yer w

e sh

ould

say

ofte

n:

“Alm

ight

y ev

er-li

ving

God

, who

cre

ated

all

peop

le to

see

k yo

u al

way

s by

desi

ring

you

and,

by

findi

ng y

ou,

com

e to

rest

, gra

nt, w

e pr

ay, t

hat,

desp

ite e

very

har

mfu

l obs

tacl

e, a

ll m

ay re

cogn

ize

the

sign

s of y

our

fath

erly

love

and

the

witn

ess o

f the

goo

d w

orks

don

e by

thos

e w

ho b

elie

ve in

you

, and

so in

gla

dnes

s con

fess

yo

u, th

e on

e tru

e G

od a

nd F

athe

r of o

ur h

uman

race

. Thr

ough

Chr

ist o

ur L

ord.

Am

en.”

The

Rom

an M

issa

l 35

8 15

Luk

e 24

: 36

16 It

wou

ld m

ake

a w

onde

rful

pra

yer t

o re

flect

on

to re

-rea

d th

e Ex

ulte

t fro

m th

e Ro

man

Mis

sal.

For t

he te

xt

onlin

e, se

e: h

ttp://

ww

w.u

sccb

.org

/pra

yer-

and-

wor

ship

/litu

rgic

al-y

ear/e

aste

r/eas

ter-

proc

lam

atio

n-ex

sulte

t.cfm

(A

pril

2018

) and

for a

brie

f com

men

tary

by

Fr. M

icha

el F

lynn

, see

: http

://w

ww

.usc

cb.o

rg/p

raye

r-an

d-w

orsh

ip/li

turg

ical

-yea

r/eas

ter/c

omm

enta

ry-o

n-ea

ster

-pro

clam

atio

n-ex

sulte

t.cfm

(Apr

il 20

18)

“Pea

ce b

e w

ith

you!

” sa

ys t

he r

isen

Jes

us t

o H

is a

po

stle

s in

to

day

’s G

osp

el.15

Li

ving

a C

hris

tian

life

is d

eman

din

g, b

ut li

ving

life

wit

hout

Chr

ist

is in

tole

rab

le.

As

we

sang

in

the

East

er E

xsul

tet,

He

cam

e to

bri

ng u

s lif

e, j

oyf

ul l

ife, l

ife t

o

the

full.

16 E

ven

if at

tim

es h

isto

ry s

eem

s am

big

uous

, H

is v

icto

ry o

n C

alva

ry

gua

rant

ees

that

go

od

will

tri

ump

h. S

o I

ask

yo

u no

w: B

e p

eop

le o

f lif

e! L

ove

Je

sus;

kee

p c

lose

to

Him

and

ad

ore

Him

in

the

Euch

aris

t. R

ead

the

Go

spel

s;

stud

y th

e C

hurc

h’s

soci

al t

each

ing

and

be

op

en t

o t

he q

uest

ions

peo

ple

rai

se.

This

will

hel

p u

s to

bec

om

e p

osi

tive

, co

nfid

ent,

‘can

-do

’ C

atho

lics.

May

Mar

y Im

mac

ulat

e,

St.

Edm

und

o

f A

bin

gd

on,

an

d

Bles

sed

Pi

er

Gio

rgio

Fr

assa

ti

insp

ire

us a

nd p

ray

for

us.

May

the

y he

lp u

s sh

are

our

Chr

isti

an f

aith

and

C

hris

tian

val

ues,

Bri

ngin

g Pe

ople

Clo

ser

to J

esus

Chr

ist

thro

ugh

His

Chu

rch.

Th

ank

you

for

liste

ning

. In

Co

rde

Iesu

+

Phi

lip

Bish

op

of

Port

smo

uth

1 See

Gau

dium

et S

pes 2

2 2 A

s our

nea

r nei

ghbo

ur, I

rela

nd, g

oes t

o th

e ba

llot n

ext m

onth

, let

us p

ray

that

the

Iris

h pe

ople

, tru

e to

thei

r C

hris

tian

patri

mon

y, w

ill st

and

up fo

r the

life

of e

very

hum

an p

erso

n fr

om c

once

ptio

n.

3 See

D. C

ampb

ell ‘

Abo

rtion

rate

in E

ngla

nd a

nd W

ales

hits

five

-yea

r hig

h’ T

he G

uard

ian

(17th

May

201

6):

avai

labl

e on

line:

http

s://w

ww

.theg

uard

ian.

com

/wor

ld/2

016/

may

/17/

abor

tion-

rate

-eng

land

-and

-wal

es-f

ive-

year

-hig

h (A

pril

2018

). C

urre

ntly

, the

BM

A a

nd o

ther

s are

act

ivel

y ca

mpa

igni

ng to

wid

en th

is to

ena

ble

abor

tion

on d

eman

d up

to b

irth.

4 O

ne su

ch fo

rm o

f witn

ess,

now

wel

l-est

ablis

hed,

is th

e na

tiona

l Mar

ch fo

r Life

, whi

ch th

is y

ear i

s bei

ng

held

on

6th M

ay. S

ee: h

ttp://

ww

w.m

arch

forli

fe.c

o.uk

/abo

ut-u

s/ (A

pril

2018

). Pl

ease

con

side

r joi

ning

this

ev

ent a

s a w

itnes

s to

the

life-

givi

ng v

alue

s the

Gos

pel p

rom

otes

. 5 S

ee T

he R

oman

Mis

sal.

Thir

d Ty

pica

l Edi

tion

(Lon

don,

CTS

: 201

5) 1

358-

1359

. It w

ould

be

good

to se

lect

fr

om th

e re

adin

gs o

ffer

ed: G

enes

is 1

: 26

– 2:

3 w

ith P

salm

8: 4

-9 fo

llow

ing,

and

John

15:

9-1

2. T

hese

R

eadi

ngs c

an b

e fo

und

in L

ectio

nary

Vol

ume

III 5

61-5

62 a

nd 5

92 re

spec

tivel

y.

6 ‘Hum

anae

Vita

e’ m

eans

‘On

Hum

an L

ife.’

The

Ency

clic

al c

ause

d m

uch

cont

rove

rsy

at th

e tim

e: se

e H

omily

of A

rchb

isho

p of

Man

ila A

ngel

Lag

dam

eo, d

urin

g th

e M

ass t

o ce

lebr

ate

the

40th

ann

iver

sary

of t

he

Ency

clic

al H

uman

ae V

itae,

(Jul

y 9,

200

8), a

vaila

ble

onlin

e at

ht

tps:

//ww

w.c

atho

licne

wsa

genc

y.co

m/re

sour

ces/

life-

and-

fam

ily/h

uman

ae-v

itae/

hum

anae

-vita

e-co

ntro

vers

ial-b

ut-p

roph

etic

(Apr

il 20

18).

7 F

or a

con

cise

sum

mar

y of

the

Chu

rch’

s tea

chin

g, se

e C

atec

hism

233

1-24

00

8 See

Pau

l VI H

uman

ae V

itae

(Lon

don,

CTS

196

8) 1

9-30

9 Y

ou c

an d

ownl

oad

Hum

anae

Vita

e fr

om h

ttp://

w2.

vatic

an.v

a/co

nten

t/pau

l-vi

/en/

ency

clic

als/

docu

men

ts/h

f_p-

vi_e

nc_2

5071

968_

hum

anae

-vita

e.ht

ml (

Apr

il 20

18).

See

also

Pop

e Fr

anci

s Am

oris

Lae

titia

(Rom

e, V

atic

an P

ress

: 201

6) 8

0-85

10

See

Pop

e Fr

anci

s Lau

dato

Si.

On

Car

e of

our

Com

mon

Hom

e (L

ondo

n, C

TS: 2

015)

. See

the

Hol

y Fa

ther

’s

rem

arks

on

abor

tion

in L

auda

to S

i 120

. 11

See

the

Addr

ess a

t Epi

scop

al O

rdin

atio

n I g

ave

on 2

4th S

epte

mbe

r 201

2: a

vaila

ble

onlin

e at

ht

tp://

ww

w.p

orts

mou

thdi

oces

e.or

g.uk

/bis

hop/

past

oral

-lette

rs.p

hp (A

pril

2018

) 12

The

them

e th

at E

urop

e’s l

oss o

f fai

th u

nder

min

es e

thic

s is c

hara

cter

istic

of t

he th

ough

t, w

ritin

g an

d te

achi

ng o

f Pop

e B

ened

ict X

VI.

See

Apo

stol

ic Jo

urne

y of

his

Hol

ines

s Ben

edic

t XV

I to

Mün

chen

, Altö

tting

an

d R

egen

sbur

g (S

epte

mbe

r 9-1

4, 2

006)

: Mee

ting

with

the

Rep

rese

ntat

ives

of S

cien

ce in

the

Aul

a M

agna

of

the

Uni

vers

ity o

f Reg

ensb

urg

(Tue

sday

, 12

Sept

embe

r 200

6). L

ectu

re o

f the

Hol

y Fa

ther

‘Fai

th, R

easo

n an

d th

e U

nive

rsity

: Mem

orie

s and

Ref

lect

ions

’ ava

ilabl

e on

-line

at h

ttps:

//w2.

vatic

an.v

a/co

nten

t/ben

edic

t-xv

i/en/

spee

ches

/200

6/se

ptem

ber/d

ocum

ents

/hf_

ben-

xvi_

spe_

2006

0912

_uni

vers

ity-r

egen

sbur

g.ht

ml (

Apr

il 20

18),

Apo

stol

ic Jo

urne

y to

Ger

man

y 22

-25

Sept

embe

r 201

1. V

isit

to th

e B

unde

stag

. Add

ress

of h

is

Hol

ines

s Ben

edic

t XVI

. Rei

chst

ag B

uild

ing,

Ber

lin T

hurs

day,

22

Sept

embe

r 201

1 “T

he L

iste

ning

H

eart:

Ref

lect

ions

on

the

Foun

datio

ns o

f Law

” av

aila

ble

on-li

ne a

t http

s://w

2.va

tican

.va/

cont

ent/b

ened

ict-

xvi/e

n/sp

eech

es/2

011/

sept

embe

r/doc

umen

ts/h

f_be

n-xv

i_sp

e_20

1109

22_r

eich

stag

-ber

lin.h

tml (

Apr

il 20

18).

See

also

his

Add

ress

to P

oliti

cian

s, D

iplo

mat

s, A

cade

mic

s and

Bus

ines

s Lea

ders

at W

estm

inst

er H

all,

City

of

Wes

tmin

ster

17th

Sep

tem

ber 2

010

in F

aith

Tod

ay. S

peci

al P

apal

Vis

it So

uven

ir E

ditio

n (S

toke

on

Tren

t, A

live

Publ

ishi

ng: 2

010)

82-

87. T

hese

them

es a

re d

evel

oped

furth

er b

y a

num

ber o

f thi

nker

s. Se

e fo

r ins

tanc

e J.

Car

ron

Dis

arm

ing

Beau

ty. E

ssay

s on

Faith

, Tru

th a

nd F

reed

om (U

nive

rsity

of N

otre

Dam

e: 2

017)

.

and

So

cial

Res

po

nsib

ility

Tea

m s

om

e ne

w f

orm

s o

f w

itne

ss.4

We

need

to

ch

ang

e ta

ck.

As

a st

art,

fro

m t

his

year

on,

I w

oul

d l

ike

us t

o k

eep

eve

ry 2

3rd

Oct

ob

er,

the

day

the

Act

was

pas

sed

, as

a d

ioce

san

Day

of

Pray

er a

nd

Rep

arat

ion

for

Life

. O

n th

at d

ay,

as w

e ce

leb

rate

bei

ng p

eop

le o

f lif

e w

ith

vari

ous

init

iati

ves,

I as

k o

ur p

ries

ts t

o o

ffer

a M

ass

for

the

Prog

ress

of

Peop

les,

b

ut w

eari

ng t

he p

urp

le v

estm

ents

of

pen

iten

ce.5

This

yea

r m

arks

the

fift

ieth

ann

iver

sary

of

the

sain

tly

Pop

e Pa

ul V

I’s p

rop

heti

c En

cycl

ical

Let

ter

Hum

anae

Vita

e.6 It

res

tate

s th

e C

hurc

h’s

do

ctri

ne o

n th

e in

teg

rity

of

sexu

al in

terc

our

se, r

eser

ved

to

a h

usb

and

and

wife

in m

arri

age,

as

an a

ct o

f lo

ve o

pen

to

life

and

tha

t th

ese

two

asp

ects

, o

pen

ness

to

life

and

lo

ve, m

ust

not

be

split

or

arti

ficia

lly s

epar

ated

7 . Oth

erw

ise,

the

Po

pe

war

ned

, th

ere

wo

uld

be

cata

stro

phi

c co

nseq

uenc

es f

or

per

sons

, fa

mili

es a

nd s

oci

ety.

Ye

ars

on,

w

e ca

n no

w

see

exac

tly

wha

t he

m

eant

in

b

roke

n fa

mily

re

lati

ons

hip

s, t

he r

educ

tio

n o

f se

x to

a c

asua

l ac

tivi

ty,

the

traf

ficki

ng o

f p

eop

le f

or

pro

stit

utio

n an

d p

orn

og

rap

hy, t

he s

exua

lisat

ion

of

the

youn

g a

nd

the

exp

losi

on

of

add

icti

ve b

ehav

iour

s le

adin

g t

o d

esp

air,

sham

e an

d g

uilt

8 . I

invi

te

ever

yone

to

re

visi

t th

is

teac

hing

an

d

to

refle

ct

on

the

alte

rnat

ive

‘sp

irit

ual

eco

log

y’ t

hat

the

Go

spel

pro

po

ses

for

fam

ily l

ife,

whe

n na

tura

l m

etho

ds

of

fert

ility

and

fam

ily p

lann

ing

are

use

d.9 O

ur d

ioce

san

Mar

riag

e an

d

Fam

ily L

ife T

eam

are

kee

n to

hel

p a

nd t

o g

ive

advi

ce.

As

a p

eop

le o

f lif

e, w

ho c

eleb

rate

life

as

a D

ivin

e g

ift,

full

of

mea

ning

, p

urp

ose

and

val

ue,

we

cann

ot

idly

sta

nd b

y b

efo

re e

vil,

inju

stic

e, s

uffe

ring

an

d v

iole

nce

in o

ur w

orl

d, i

nclu

din

g t

he a

bus

e o

f th

e Ea

rth

and

its

reso

urce

s.

We

mus

t ac

t. N

ext

mo

nth

is

the

anni

vers

ary

of

Pop

e Fr

anci

s’s

bri

llian

t En

cycl

ical

Let

ter

Laud

ato

Si, i

n w

hich

he

beg

s p

eop

le t

o l

ive

an a

uthe

ntic

ally

hu

man

eco

log

y, a

mo

re b

alan

ced

, si

mp

le l

ife-s

tyle

, a

life

that

res

pec

ts t

he

envi

ronm

ent,

help

s en

d p

ove

rty

and

esp

ous

es j

usti

ce.10

It w

oul

d b

e g

oo

d t

o

re-r

ead

Lau

dato

Si a

long

sid

e H

uman

ae V

itae.

As

Cat

holic

s, w

e sh

oul

d l

ive

an

inte

gra

lly ‘g

reen

’ and

nat

ural

way

of

life.

To

do

thi

s, o

f co

urse

, giv

en o

ur f

alle

n na

ture

, we

need

the

love

of

Chr

ist

and

the

life

-giv

ing

po

wer

of

the

Ho

ly S

pir

it.

Our

s is

an

era

of

amaz

ing

ad

vanc

es i

n kn

ow

led

ge

and

tec

hno

log

y, f

rom

sc

ienc

e an

d m

edic

ine

to t

he a

rts

and

hum

anit

ies.

11 Y

et t

he d

emis

e o

f fa

ith

and

rel

igio

n, t

he d

emis

e ev

en o

f p

eop

le p

rayi

ng,

is r

apid

ly u

nder

min

ing

in

Brit

ain

the

foun

dat

ions

of

ethi

cs.12

Thi

s d

iluti

on

of

our

Chr

isti

an p

atri

mo

ny

thre

aten

s to

ush

er in

a f

rig

hten

ing

new

Dar

k A

ge.

No

wo

nder

a d

eath

-wis

h is

ar

isin

g f

or

assi

sted

sui

cid

e an

d e

utha

nasi

a.13

As

Cat

holic

s, a

s p

eop

le o

f lif

e, w

e ca

nno

t ig

nore

the

se c

halle

nges

. W

e m

ust

act.

We

mus

t as

k Je

sus

to h

elp

us

reac

h o

ut i

n lo

ve t

o t

hose

aro

und

, to

ass

ist

peo

ple

dev

elo

p a

per

sona

l re

lati

ons

hip

wit

h G

od

.14 T

his

is f

und

amen

tal t

o t

he m

issi

on

of

our

sch

oo

ls a

nd

par

ishe

s. B

ut m

ore

tha

n th

is, w

e m

ust

enab

le t

he C

atho

lic T

rad

itio

n to

eng

age

po

siti

vely

and

co

nstr

ucti

vely

wit

h cu

ltur

e an

d s

oci

ety

in a

mut

ually

enr

ichi

ng

conv

ersa

tio

n.

Ind

eed

, in

N

ove

mb

er

this

ye

ar,

our

D

ialo

gue

w

ith

Cul

tura

l Se

cto

rs T

eam

is

org

anis

ing

an

exci

ting

Sym

po

sium

cal

led

“Sc

ienc

e –

or

- R

elig

ion?

” It

will

tac

kle

po

siti

vely

so

me

of

the

issu

es t

hat

curr

ent

adva

nces

ra

ise:

Wha

t d

oes

it

mea

n to

be

hum

an?

Ho

w c

an w

e b

e ha

pp

y? W

hat

do

es

the

Go

spel

say

ab

out

life

? Th

ere

will

be

mo

re d

etai

ls s

oo

n in

EN

ews.