Vocation Sunday
In these days of Eastertide, as we listen to the accounts of the growth and expansion of the early Church, we see how under the guidance of God’s Spirit the seeds of the Gospel are carried from the Holy Land to the ends of the earth. On this Good Shepherd Sunday, we are encouraged to pray that all Christians recognise their baptismal vocation, remembering the words of St Paul to the Ephesians that “to some his gift was that they should be apostles, to some prophets, to some evangelists, to some pastors and teachers, so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ.
Today we are encouraged to pray in a special way for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. In our diocese, Archbishop Malcolm will be Ordaining Hugh Donleavy as a Deacon in a little over a month at St Charles Church in Aigburth. This will hopefully be followed, by 3 more ordinations to the Diaconate in Oscott and the Venerable English College, Rome towards the end of the college academic year. Please pray for our seven seminarians and for all those discerning a vocation to the priesthood within our Archdiocese. Pray for our priests too, that our Church may be blessed with Good Shepherds who are prepared to spend their life in the service of the sheep entrusted to their care.
If you feel the Lord might be calling you to the priesthood why not speak to your Parish Priest about it, or make contact with the Vocations Director based at St Charles in Aigburth, by telephoning 0151727 2493 or emailing r.johnson@rcaol.org.uk
This Sunday is often known as Good Shepherd Sunday due to the images of Shepherd and sheep that are spoken of in the readings for this weekend. Archbishop Malcolm has written a Pastoral Letter on the theme of vocations to be read at all this Sundays masses.
Following this weekend the initial enablement works begin on the Piazza café and Shop. The first part of the project is to remove the landscaping which is above the building to reveal the extent of the problems that we have on the building. This will have a considerable impact on certain external areas of the Cathedral facilities. The public pavement from the Café to the entrance to the car park will be closed to pedestrians and in the next few weeks the whole of this area and the Cathedral garden will be hoarded off from public access. This will mean that the garden and ramp access to the Cathedral will no longer be accessible from next week. There will just be a narrow pathway which will lead through from the car park entrance to the lift and Cathedral lower foyer. The areas that are normally used for parking outside of the entrance to the Cathedral Car Park will no longer be in use for public parking. We are going to have to cope with construction on site for a considerable amount of time. Looking back over the years It has been rare to have a year when there wasn’t some construction works taking place on the Cathedral!
Next Friday at 5pm Bishop Tom Neylon will celebrate the mass on the eve of the Coronation of King Charles 111 to offer prayers for our new King.
Canon Anthony O’Brien
Cathedral Dean
