Parish Newsletter – 26 October 2025

Our latest parish newsletter is now available to read online. In this week’s edition, Fr James reflects on the humble heart that God delights in. As Jesus reminds us, “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” A spirit of gratitude and simplicity carries us through the final days of October as we prepare for the Month of the Holy Souls.

We are delighted to share joyful moments from the successful inauguration of the St Ann’s 60+ Club. This new initiative embodies our mission to nurture wellbeing and companionship within our senior community, offering gentle chair exercises, games, tea and coffee, and moments of fellowship every Wednesday morning.

Inside the newsletter, you will also find:

• Upcoming celebrations including our Saints Parade on Sunday 2 November at the 10.30 am Mass
• Key dates for the Kids’ Gardening Day and the Kids’ Christmas Party
• Blessing of cemeteries on All Souls’ Day
• Weekly Jubilee pilgrimage devotions at St Ann’s
• Information about Reflexology sessions and Wholeness Exercise classes
• Mass intentions and the liturgical calendar for the week

As we step into November, envelopes are available in the church porch for names of departed loved ones, who will be prayerfully remembered throughout the month.

We warmly invite you to read and download the full newsletter below. Let us continue to walk together in faith, building a parish community rooted in prayer, care, and joyful service.

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Stay connected with parish updates, upcoming events, homilies, and registration forms at:
www.stannskingstonhill.org.uk

Homily – 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Theme: “How well have you lived?”
Readings: 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 | Luke 18:9-14

My dear brothers and sisters,

Let me begin with a simple story from the life of Guru Nanak.
Once he visited a village where a rich man invited him home. The man proudly showed his wealth, his gold, his house, and said, “See, Guruji, how blessed I am!”
Guru Nanak listened quietly and, as he was leaving, gave the man a small safety pin.
He said, “Keep this carefully, and when we meet again in heaven, please return it to me.”

The man was startled. “How can I bring it back? Nothing can be taken after death!”
Guru Nanak smiled and replied,

“Then why are you so proud of what you cannot carry with you?”

The man stood silent. Something awakened in him that day.

St Paul, nearing the end of his life, says:

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim 4:7)

Paul does not speak of the cities he preached in, the miracles he worked, or the churches he founded. He speaks of fidelity — of having lived sincerely before God. His reward, he says, is not fame, but “the crown of righteousness.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the story of two men who went to the temple to pray — one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee prayed to himself, thanking God that he was better than others.
The tax collector stood at a distance, beat his breast, and whispered, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

And Jesus said, “It was this man who went home justified.”

The two readings meet at one truth: life is not about how high we stand, but how true we stand before God.
Pride blinds us to grace. Humility opens the door of mercy.

Sir Isaac Newton once said,

“When I reach heaven, I will face three surprises:
first, to see people I never expected to see;
second, not to see some I thought would be there;
and third, that I myself am there.”

Heaven will always surprise us — because God’s mercy is greater than our judgements.

One wise man said:  “When the river reaches the ocean, it forgets its name.”

That is humility — the soul merging into something larger than itself.
The Pharisee could not forget his name; the tax collector forgot everything but God.

We too are invited to pray not with comparison, but with compassion; not with pride, but with surrender.

My dear friends, life is brief.
The world has existed for millions of years — our time here is but a breath in that vast story.
Yet within that breath lies eternity, if we live it with faith.

St Paul’s “fight” was against discouragement and selfishness.
His “race” was the journey from self-reliance to surrender.
He could look back and say, “I have kept the faith,” not because he never failed, but because he never stopped trusting God.

So, how well have we lived?
Have we kept the faith when things were silent?
Have we loved when it was inconvenient?
Have we given when no one noticed?

Jesus said,

“Do not store up treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy,
but store up treasures in heaven.” (Matthew 6:19-20)

The only riches we can take with us are the ones we have given away.

At the end of life, we will not be asked how much we owned, but how much we loved.
Not how perfect our prayers were, but how humble our hearts became.

When the Lord looks into our lives, may He find in us not the pride of the Pharisee, but the simplicity of the tax collector.
May we, like St Paul, finish our race quietly, faithfully, and joyfully — so that one day, the Lord may say to each of us,

“Well done, good and faithful servant… enter into the joy of your Master.” (Matthew 25:23)

Amen.