Friday 18th May 2018

Jesus was soon to leave His apostles and return to His Father, while they were to carry on His work in the world. He knew how difficult their task would be. He also knew the fickleness and weakness of human nature. Even His right hand man, Peter, after declaring that he would never fail Jesus, within a few hours denied Him three times. Knowing all this, Jesus prayed to His Father that His followers would be given all the help they would need. Jesus Himself came into the world to bear witness to the truth, and it was the truth above all that He wanted to hand on to His disciples. His first prayer was that they would hold fast to all that they had been taught, because they in turn would be asked to go out into the world and teach all nations. We are Jesus' disciples today, and He makes the same request on our behalf: that we remain faithful to the truth. Having gathered together His disciples, Jesus prayed that they should be united, just as the Father and Son are united. Unity was to be the foundation of the Church. If the disciples presented a united front, all of them believing and teaching what they had learned from Jesus, their impact on the world would be effective. It was only through unity that they could preserve the truth.

As we draw to the end of our Eastertide journey we ponder on the gift of the Holy. God blesses us with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the feast of Pentecost this coming Sunday. Let the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit give us good counsel to make the right choices in our thoughts, words and deeds.

Fr. Michael Dolman, Vocations Director for the Archdiocese of Birmingham, will be visiting the parish this weekend to talk about Vocations. Following 5pm Mass on Saturday and 10.30am Mass on Sunday, we would like to invite pupils from Years 5, 6 and 7 to meet with him in the Parish Centre. Refreshments will be provided.

This year's National Walk to School Week will commence from Monday 21st until Friday 25th May 2018. This is a country wide programme which aims to encourage families to walk to and/from school. In 2017, 400,000 children and their families joined the challenge and got a taste of the many benefits the simple act of walking can bring. For further information please go to: https://www.livingstreets.org.uk/what-we-do/projects/walk-to-school-week.

Pupils at St. Joseph's are growing to be grateful for their own gifts, for the gift of other people, and for the blessings of each day; and generous with their gifts, becoming men and women for others.

Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for our special time together. Please help us to know your perfect peace, and to share that peace with those around us. Amen.

The Mission of the Laity. That the lay faithful may fulfil their specific mission, by responding with creativity to the challenges that face the world today.