This Jubilee Year of Hope is a year we will never forget. It is a year of Grace for the Church and for the world. In addition, we are marking the centenary of our Diocese. No one can fail to know that the Catholic Church is led by the Pope, and this year has become all the more memorable as we have mourned the death of Pope Francis and then heard those two welcome words ‘Habemus Papam’ as Pope Leo XIV was elected as his successor. What a year of Grace!

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I know how uplifted so many people have been already. Let us consider just a few key details about our new Holy Father. Firstly, he is young, not yet seventy! He seems healthy, so, pleaseGod, will have a long and fruitful ministry. He was born and raised in America, so he speaks reasonably good English! That will help us to relate to him and understand his spoken and written word.

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He is an Augustinian, as is our Bishop Emeritus, Bishop Michael Campbell OSA. In fact, as has already been widely shared, Father Robert Francis Prevost was present in our Cathedral herein Lancaster on the occasion of Bishop Campbell’s Episcopal Ordination in 2008.

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He has served as a missionary for many years in Peru. No secret has been made of how much he continues to value his time amongst the Peruvian Church. It will be at the heart of hisPetrine ministry in ways yet to be expressed.

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He is a Doctor of Canon Law, an able administrator as well as an experienced pastor. This gives him a balance of qualifications and experience which will prove invaluable in the years ahead. But most of all he appears to us as a man of deep prayer, deeply familiar with the Lord Jesus Christ, and utterly committed to His service.

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Before the Conclave I stated that our interest in the matter of electing a new Pope must not be media-led, but Gospel-led, rooted in prayer. Thank you for taking that instruction to heart.Now, following the election of Pope Leo XIV we must continue to follow the Gospel more than we follow the media. Don’t get me wrong, the media, responsibly used, can be of great use, but it does not have prime place in our lives as Catholics. Our first allegiance is to God, as revealed in Jesus Christ.

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Some may already have begun analysing Pope Leo XIV anxious to know ‘what sort of Pope will he be’ by scrutinising every detail of his past, dissecting everything he says, every gesture he makes, every aspect of his demeanour. ‘What sort of Pope will he be?’ Which end of theChurch’s spectrum will he identify with or promote? Will he break with some of the works promoted by Pope Francis, or will he continue them?

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As successor of Saint Peter, Pope Leo’s duty is to unite the flock, remaining true to what Christ has given to His Church. I quote something I wrote in the introduction to the Order of Service for my Episcopal Ordination in 2018 which I believe is absolutely relevant now.

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‘Some may understand today in terms of change, But more truly it is about continuity. If and where change is needed it will come within the continuity of proclaiming and living exactly what Bishop Campbell’s nine year have been about; The Lord is risen indeed, have no fear.’

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I find it immensely reassuring that Pope Leo has already, so many times, spoken so positively of his predecessor, Pope Francis, and his own ministry. Clearly, we are here experiencing continuity of the Petrine office, even though changes of emphasis will come, perhaps a more measured approach to public statements and certainly differences of character and expression and tone which will naturally appeal more easily to some that to others.

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Let us not be anxious about how this ‘new’ papacy will unfold. Pope Leo has already assured us that the Church’s Social Teachings will have particular importance, that the Church will continue to cry out for, as well as reach out to, the poor and forgotten. Good order will not be sacrificed. The Liturgy will be celebrated with due reverence and dignity. The environment will be cherished as a gift to cared for from a generous and loving God. Clericalism will have no place in the relationship between clergy and the lay faithful, companion pilgrims. Let us not be anxious. Pope Leo know who has chosen him and who will guide him. The Risen Christ is being preached. The Church’s mission is in good hands. We may all grow in confidence under such a shepherd. Let us not take him for granted in the days ahead. Rather, let us include him in our daily prayers, remembering that each one of us is in his.

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And let us thank the God of peach for such a gift at such a time.

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+ Rt Rev Paul Swarbrick

Bishop of Lancaster

The Diocesan Mass of Thanksgiving for the election of Pope Leo XIV will be celebrated by Bishop Paul Swarbrick on Friday, 16th May 2025 at 7.00pm at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Lancaster. All are welcome.

APPOINTED TO BE READ AT ALL PUBLIC MASSES IN ALL CHURCHES AND CHAPELS IN THE DIOCESE OF LANCASTER ON THE WEEKEND OF 10/11 MAY 2025.

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Pastoral Letter for the Fourth Sunday of Eastertide, Good Shepherd Sunday.

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My dear people,

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In these days after the Easter celebration of Jesus rising from the dead, we experience a hope for a share in this risen life, safe, beyond the reach of all harm. The death of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, casts no shadow across our Easter lives. Yes, it serves to remind us all of our mortality, that the days are passing and that the things of this world are also passing, but as he served the Lord with his life, we believe that his death also serves the Lord. When someone we love dies, they take something of ourselves with them but also leave with us so much of themselves, in the good they did, the example they have given. May his soul and the souls of all the Faithful departed, rest in peace.

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By the time this letter is being read in your parishes we may already have a successor to Pope Francis, a new name, a new face, a new Saint Peter. Even if this is the case, we have the same Good Shepherd, speaking the same words to us:

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‘My sheep hear my voice, And I know them, And they follow me.’

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These words give us comfort and reassurance in these times that Christ has not ‘sub-contracted’ His work to others. He remains our Good Shepherd and always will.

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When Christ instituted the Sacred Priesthood, choosing some men to become Priests of His New Covenant,He did so knowing us to be imperfect, still prone to selfishness, fear, misunderstanding and temptation. Such risks did not prevent Him acting as He did. He believed that every vocation planted in the heart of the believer must grow like wheat amongst briars. He had confidence in the wheat, the soil and the expertise of those who would harvest, to select the good.

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On this Good Shepherd Sunday let us thank God heartily for all vocations, and particularly today for vocations to the Priesthood, and let us pray confidently for men to hear His voice and answer His call. Chosen men sounds a rather arrogant expression and can disturb us if it is not identified with the voice of our Saviour and the will of the Father. For some, it is their way to heaven, so long as they do what they are told! Priests are to be Shepherds formed by the heart of Christ. This is not our doing: it is the work of the Spirit.

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May your families be places where the voice of Jesus is heard, especially by creating silence for prayer. May your works of charity create a culture where the young can begin to recognise the voice of Jesus, calling them by name, and loving them. May they grow to love that voice and hear it daily, keeping them from all harm, asa Shepherd guards His flock, and leading them to pasture, through the ministry of good priests.

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With my blessing,

+Rt Rev Paul Swarbrick

Bishop of Lancaster

Statement from the Catholic Diocese of Lancaster UK Upon the election of Pope Leo XIV. May 8th 2025.

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Together with the Universal Church, and with all people of good will, the Catholic Diocese of Lancaster in the UK welcomes and commends to the grace of Almighty God Cardinal Robert Prevost OSA as Pope Leo XIV, the successor of St Peter. Pope Leo comes to this universal ministry after many years of professed and ordained life as deacon priest and as a bishop, as a religious, and as a teacher. As with his predecessors we hold the HolyFather in our prayers and take courage already from the words of his inaugural address with its call for peace across humanity.

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The times we live in cry out for a fundamentally different approach to serve the world order, one led by Christ. I ask you to do all you can in your parishes and homes to ensure that our loyalty to the Holy Father is Gospel led, not media led.

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May we also rejoice in learning that, as Father General of the Order of Saint Augustine, Father Prevost was present in our Cathedral of Saint Peter for the Episcopal Ordination of my predecessor, Bishop Michael Campbell OSA on 31st March 2008.

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Mary the Mother of God, pray for him. St Peter, pray for him. St John Paul II, pray for him. Pope Saint Leo the Great, pray for him.

A statement from Bishop Paul Swarbrick on the Solemn Conclave: to be read at services over the weekend of 3/4th May 2025.

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On 7th May the Cardinals eligible to vote for the successor to our late Holy Father, Pope Francis, will gather in the Sistine Chapel to begin the Solemn Conclave. The prayers of the Faithful around the world will be with them. The Holy Spirit will be with them. The attention of the world’s media will be on them. Much of that media attention will not understand the power of prayer, of how the Holy Spirit works. (At times I don’t!)

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How did Our Lord choose Saint Peter? What qualities did He see in him? Qualities Saint Peter probably did not see in himself? What did he have that Our Lord saw as essential for him to lead the infant Church that Jews established and which He loves so much?

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Someone must be chosen for what the Church needs now if it is to be what the world needs that it might know the Risen Saviour. ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?’ Jesus asked Peter. Do you love me enough to follow me, remain with me and do what I ask of you?

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We offer our heartfelt and confident prayers that, whoever is chosen, he will have the courage, and above all, the love to accept it. Please pray. Pray in your churches, in your homes, at your places of work and recreation and on your journeys. Pray each morning and evening for the one to be chosen and for the Church. Under the successor of Saint Peter and Pope Francis may She continue the Lord’s mission for the salvation of the world and the revelation of God’s love made real, effective and visible in the Risen Lord.

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+ Rt Rev Paul Swarbrick

Bishop of Lancaster

Your Eminence / Your Grace / Your Lordship / Reverend Father

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It is with great sorrow that I inform you, in the name of the Dean of the College of Cardinals, of the death of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, this Eater Monday at 7:35am. (Rome time).

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I would be very grateful if you advise the Clergy and faithful of your ecclesiastical circumscription that condolences can be sent by email to franciscus.angb@gmail.com An in-person Book of Condolence will also be available to sign from the hours of 10:30 - 12:30 on Tuesday 22nd, Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th April 2025 at the Apostolic Nunciature (54 Parkside, WIimbledon, London, SW19 5NE).

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With all good wishes and warm personal regards, I remain,

yours in the Lord,

+ Miguel Maury Buendia

Apostolic Nuncio

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Statement from the Catholic Diocese of Lancaster upon the death of our Holy Father Pope Francis.

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It is with great sadness that we learned this morning of the death of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, following a period of ill-health. Yesterday, on Easter Sunday, Pope Francis made a brief appearance at St Peter's Square to bless thousands of people gathered in Rome to celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord.

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May he now rest in the peace of the Risen Christ whose faithful servant he has been.

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We are deeply grateful for the life and service of Pope Francis. While we mourn his loss, we are thankful for his steadfast witness and legacy.

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His life of discipleship, and then leadership, within the Church saw him accept responsibility from the Lord as a Jesuit, a priest, a bishop, and finally as successor to St Peter. His firm resolve and challenging teaching on issues including care for creation, the sexual abuse of children, and insights into intimacy of human relationships, saw the Pope broaden opportunities for dialogue within the Church, and with people and groups from outside of the Catholic Church.

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Masses for the repose of the Pope’s soul will be offered across the churches of our Diocese in the coming days. We entrust Pope Francis to the Father of all mercies and pray for the happy repose of his soul.

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Please remember Pope Francis in your prayers.

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On Monday 21st April 2025 at 6.30pm Evening Prayer for the Dead will be recited in the Saint Peter’s Cathedral, Lancaster, followed by a Requiem Mass at 7.00pm to which all are invited. Following this, the cathedral bell ringers will ring a quarter peal muffled.

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A Diocesan Requiem Mass will be held on Monday 28^th April at 7pm in the cathedral, to which ecumenical and civic guests will be invited.

In Pope Francis' prepared catechesis for the weekly General Audience, which was not held due to his ongoing convalescence, he recalls the parable of the Prodigal Son and reassures us faithful that no matter how far we have strayed, our loving Father waits for us with open arms.

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"We can have hope because we know the Father is waiting for us..."

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As Pope Francis recovers in the Vatican after being discharged from Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Sunday, 23 March, he offered this comforting reminder in the text he had prepared for the Wednesday General Audience, which he asked the Holy See Press Office to publish.

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Since his medical team discharged the Pope, recommending two months of rest for a proper convalescence, the Press Office continues to distribute the catechesisprepared for the Audience, as it did during his hospitalisation.

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The Prodigal Son

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In his catechesis, focusing on encounters in Jesus' life, the Pope reflected on the parable of the Prodigal Son, revealing God’s boundless mercy as a father welcomes his wayward child home.

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The Gospel, Pope Francis underscores, offers a message of hope, "because it tells us that no matter how or where we’ve gotten lost, God always comes looking for us!"

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“No matter how or where we’ve gotten lost, God always comes looking for us!”

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"Maybe we’ve gone astray like a sheep that wandered off the path to graze, or fell behind due to exhaustion," he acknowledges, but this does not prevent or impede the Lord seeking us.

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When we have made mistakes, such experiences, Pope Francis recognizes, often "give rise to a distorted belief within us—that we can only be in a relationship as servants, as if we have to atone for some guilt or as if true love doesn’t exist."

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What true love looks like

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"Only those who truly love us," he suggests, "can free us from this false view of love," noting, "in our relationship with God, we experience just that."

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The Pope also discusses the lessons faithful can learn regarding the older son, who, the Pope observes, always stayed home with the father, yet was distant from him.

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Leaves the door open for us

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"Yet when you remain in a relationship unwillingly," Pope Francis warns, "you begin to harbor anger, which sooner or later explodes." Paradoxically, he points out, it’s the older son who ends up at risk of being left outside, because he doesn’t share in the father’s joy.

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Regardless, the Holy Father reminds that his father also goes out to meet him, without scolding or lecturing him. "He just wants him to feel loved," and therefore, the Pope notes, "invites him in and leaves the door open."

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"That door remains open for us, too," the Holy Father reassures, "And this is precisely the reason for our hope: we can have hope because we know the Father is waiting for us, sees us from afar, and always leaves the door open."

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“That door remains open for us, too”

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Pope Francis concludes by calling on all faithful to ask themselves: "where are we in this beautiful story? And let us ask God the Father for the grace to find our way home, too."

APPOINTED TO BE READ AT ALL PUBLIC MASSES IN ALL CHURCHES AND CHAPELS IN THE DIOCESE OF LANCASTER ON THE WEEKEND OF 8-9 March 2025.

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Pastoral Letter First Sunday of Lent 2025.

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My dear people,

With the placing of the blessed ash on our foreheads we have begun once more theHoly Season of Lent, remembering that we are dust, and into dust we will one day return. We may be familiar with Lent, with its penances, its call to more heartfelt prayer and its call to share more generously with the poor, but this is a new Lent for us all. We are asked not merely to repeat what we have done before, but to go deeper into the life of Christ. The world has changed over these past twelve months, not all for the better, and we too have all grown older.

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Let us take a moment to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, as he continues to struggle with poor health and the frailty of his years. He still leads us. His example isa rich lesson in Christian discipleship.

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Above all, it is Jesus Himself who claims our attention, it always is. As we see Him head off alone into the wild, inhospitable places, let us remember with humility thatHe does this for each of us. In a true sense, He takes each of us with Him. It is for our good that He does battle with the devil. He overcame His temptations out of hope that we would each come to realise not so much what He has done, but why He has done it.

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Am I worth this? After all the good I have wasted, the indifference I have shown, the selfishness that has pervaded my life – and my prayers – am I worth this? His answer is, yes, you are.

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What for me would be a successful Lent? Is it to simply keep my resolutions to do without something I enjoy, to spend more time in prayer, to ‘be nicer to others’? Surely what will count is not what I achieve in these disciplines – worthy though they are –but to comprehend a little more deeply why it is worth bothering.

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There is much that is wrong in the world. I don’t need to go into any detail – you didn’t come to Mass to dwell on problems. You are already all too well aware of them. Nor do you need reminding that there is much wrong with each of us too. We have others to remind us of that fact!

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We come to be reminded of Grace, of the love God has for even the most persistent, wayward of His children. We come to be reminded that there is more to us than we know, and that the Good Lord has not lost sight of His little ones, nor has He lost Hope that we may yet reach with Him the place of safety, of true and lasting peace, in the arms of the loving Father. He will not allow the tempter to convince Him, or us, that we are a lost cause. But see what it cost Him.

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In the wilderness He refused to perform miracles that might have made life easier for Himself, given Him just a little comfort (no one was watching, no one would know).Later, after His return to society, He would perform miracles, but the purpose of all His miracles was not to solve people's problems or even to relieve their misfortunes.The true purpose of each miracle was that people might know who He is, and to give them hope, that neither this life, nor their own achievements – so fleeting- could ever give.

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I address you as people of Faith, as people who are open to receiving Grace. Imperfect as we are, in this Jubilee year, and also marking the Centenary of the Diocese, we are given new hope that God’s will may be done, even in us. We leave Him to be the judge of what is real success.

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I reflect on how Mary must have been aware of what her son was doing when He seemed to turn His back on society. She understood as no one else could, and was inflicted with constant, daily reminders of Him by His very absence from the home He had until this moment, shared with her. Simeon’s words must have haunted each day as she remembered – ‘and a sword shall pierce your own soul too.’ This is the way of the cross, but can it also be the way to heaven?

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May this Season of Lent refresh our Faith in a way that has not happened for us before.May we think first of what He has done for us, not what we can do for Him – that will follow in due course. May we be drawn to the beautiful Sacrament of penance where we meet the Lord in a kind of desolation, a true wilderness, and yet experience an enchanting intimacy with Jesus that changes the burden of stones into the taste of freshly baked bread! There is a way of living our Faith that saps our strength. Jesus shows us another way, a way that feeds us and gives us strength. Let us set ourselves to follow His way, confident that it will lead us to Easter and the tomb, with the stone rolled away.

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With my blessing,

+ Rt Rev Paul Swarbrick

Bishop of Lancaster

Pastoral Letter for the Season of Creation 2024.

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My dear people,

We are coming to the end of what our Holy Father, Pope Francis, calls the Season of Creation. It will finish on the memorial for St. Francis of Assisi, 4th October, which also marks the anniversary of the Dedication of our Cathedral.

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The Season of Creation is not a liturgical season such as Advent or Lent. It has been inaugurated by Pope Francis as an extended time during which we reflect on the gift of creation and on our relationship with creation.

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Even if there was not evidence of our global climate crisis, we would do well to give regular attention to the world we live in. Since we call it ‘creation’, we recognise it is the work of a loving Creator. We are not called to live at odds with creation but in harmony with it. Jews constantly drew from it examples and material for stories that reveal to us the heart and wisdom of God. As disciples of Jesus, we draw from the earth the fundamental elements without which we would not be able to offer Mass. I am thinking of the words used at the Offertory:

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‘Blessed are you Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you, the fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.‘

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Similar words are spoken for the wine. The earth is not our enemy. It is what the Lord has created for us to inhabit and, through careful reflection on the clues it provides, grow to know something of God. It helps prepare us for the fulness of God’s self-revelation found only in Christ.

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Reflections on creation are particularly needed now because of the damaging impact our activities are causing. I know well that there has always been change, and always will be.What is of concern is the speed of change and the violence being caused, such that the lives of many – especially the poorest – are adversely affected. The beautiful gift the Lord has given us is being trashed through carelessness and exploitation. We cannot remain disciples of Christ and yet remain indifferent.

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I write this as we approach the end of this Pope-given season because we need to carry our pro-active concern beyond the 4th of October. Care of this gift should become part of our way of life, a constant and on-going part of our decision-making. I am not talking about ‘saving the planet’. The planet will look after itself one way or another. What I am talking about is valuing a gift from a loving and generous God.

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We unite in celebrating creation in every Mass, knowing that Our Lord takes what we offer and transforms it into His New Creation, the Bread of Life. I am grateful to the Environmental Justice group for their ongoing work. They have circulated two suggestions for parishes and given you a link to various resources. They are also available to offer advice and information for parishes and individuals, as well as being available to give talks in parishes and schools.

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I conclude with a word about how difficult we can find all this! Please do not lose your joy in your Faith. Remember we are only passing through this world: it is our temporary home. Remember Jesus’ words ‘Make your home in me, as I make my home in you.’ Do what little you can to appreciate the beautiful gift of creation, out of respect for the Giver of that gift.

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With my blessing,

+Rt Rev Paul Swarbrick

Bishop of Lancaster

APPOINTED TO BE READ AT ALL PUBLIC MASSES IN ALL CHURCHES AND CHAPELS INTHE DIOCESE OF LANCASTER ON THE WEEKEND OF 17th – 18th February 2024

Pastoral Letter First Sunday of Lent 2024.

My dear people,

Lent can be used by some as an opportunity to recover New Year’s resolutions that have gone a little astray. Being able to see evidence of progress and having ‘targets’ can be useful, but before we dash off to the bathroom scales note that our Blessed Lord offers us another target, far more valuable even if our progress is more difficult to measure. Stay with me.

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Can you picture Jesus as He turns his back on the crowds, on Mary, on His family, neighbours and strangers, and walks away towards a vast empty wasteland? No shepherds’ paths go there, no isolated villages are found there.

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For thirty years He has lived anonymously amongst those to whom He had been sent, that He might save them from sin. Those hidden years of waiting are now over, but if He is to be fit for the task ahead, there is this final great act of intense preparation, His time in the wilderness. As yet, He has performed no public miracles, given no teaching and told none of His parables. Nor has He gathered any disciples or followers.

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Picture Him as He slips away alone, hardly noticed by the majority whose attention is on the river and the figure of the Baptist. Watch, because what He is doing is done for you and for countless others. Watch, because in fact He takes you with Him. And as you seeHim entering that wilderness know that, in fact, He is entering another wilderness, the wilderness that is the human heart, your heart. Saint Mark tells us that He will find that wilderness already occupied.

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He will find Satan there, the Spoiler, the Tempter, who claims your heart as his. Jesus will find there the ‘wild beasts’ of your emotions, ambitions and beliefs all grown wild. He will find greed and grief and fear and so much else that refuses to be satisfied, so much that harms us from within. But these He will set Himself to tame.

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He will find there the angels, given to us by a loving Father, the first prophets of hope and a better life, our dear friends and servants since the moment of our conception. Prayer, fasting and sharing with the poor are the time-tested traditions of Lent that we will put into practice this Lent, with hopes of driving out the devil, taming the beasts and putting us at one with the angels. But these are not the aims or goals for a successful Lent, they are only the means of achieving a far greater goal; the goal of knowing more intimately – or perhaps for the first time – the heart of the loving Father who sent His only Son to save us and share His life with us.

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You and I have many concerns competing for our time and attention. Family, work, friends, matters of social justice and charity. The sheer quantity and complexity can overwhelm and weary us, unless we first set ourselves to know the Lord and something of His love. You must know that His love is not just an ideal. It is a love that has become flesh and dwells amongst us. He has made His home in us that we might make ours in Him.

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St. Paul tells us that we hold a treasure not made of gold, but of far greater worth. This Lent need not be our usual ‘starting again’ as if life is a game of ‘Snakes and Ladders’ in which we find ourselves annually starting again from an old beginning. Instead, we can know how Jesus has driven the snakes from the board, from the garden of Eden, and left only ladders. The best news is that He is the ladder, and all we must do is to climb ontoHis back to rise up with Him at Easter.

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So, no long faces, no deep despairing breaths as we prepare ourselves for the usual ‘two steps forward, three back’ and the sense that we and this world are slowly slipping away from God. It is God who does the miracles; We have only to believe and persevere in our belief.

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See Jesus setting about His work in your wilderness. And may your experience this Lent be more in keeping of the phrase used by Saint John Henry Newman of ‘Heart speaking unto heart.’

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With my blessing for you and those you pray for,

+Rt Rev Paul Swarbrick

Bishop of Lancaster

FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE HOLY FAMILY 2023

APPOINTED TO BE READ AT ALL PUBLIC MASSES IN ALL CHURCHES AND CHAPELS IN THE DIOCESE OF LANCASTER ON THE WEEKEND OF 31st DECEMBER 2023.

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My dear people,

Today’s Feast is a gift of hope for humanity and creation. We see a very young family keeping traditions of faith as an expression of their trust in a loving God. And that God is not far away; He is held in their arms. They show us God who entrusts Himself to us, daring to place Himself in our care. In the culture of today, I ask myself, was that wise? Did He do a risk-assessment?! Of course, it is an irrelevant question; being God,He knows exactly what is at stake.

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Let us notice how Mary and Joseph let Simeon, a stranger, take their child in his arms. Having come into the world, the Infant-Lord is already going out beyond family confines. And what an influence He has! Simeon sings of God’s promises kept, and the Nunc dimmitis has become a beautiful hymn in the night prayer of the Church. What an aid for peaceful sleep; to pray Simeon’s words, believing that in spite of all that troubles us, the Lord has heard the cry of the poor and keeps His promise to save us even as we sleep.

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A temptation of old age, I find, is to spend my time looking back. Part of that looking back will inevitably be on unfulfilled hopes and dreams, things that didn’t go the wayI would have preferred. This is especially true when there is a constant stream of new crises and complications to deal with. Simeon and Anna come as the antidote for such temptations. They come as prophets of hope both for the people of Jesus’ day and for our own times.

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How wonderful that we have these stories of Jesus’ infancy and childhood from Saint Luke and others from Saint Matthew. They open our hearts to Jesus and draw us into the mystery of His Life and Mission, firstly, by taking us back to the historic events themselves, but secondly by giving those same events a contemporary presence and relevance. They are for now.

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Another temptation is to think that the Holy Family had things rather easy, since God would protect them and constantly guide them in a ‘Gold-star’ level of privileged life.That is not the case. They were subject to the randomness of this life just as we are. Their burden of responsibility was severe. Think of the responsibilities of keeping a small baby or adolescent healthy and safe, then listen to the news, and it becomes obvious how vulnerable even the most pampered child is. Vulnerability and weakness are appeals for trust and are ways into our lives chosen by God.

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I end this Letter turning my thoughts to so many distressing places across the world, but particularly calling to mind the on-going catastrophes of Gaza and the Ukraine. How can we be prophets of hope in the face of such senseless destruction? How can we be Simeons and Annas for our brothers and sisters now? Believing that God is there can seem to make a mockery of faith, and yet that is what we must do because God does not stand back from violence and horror. He will not let evil have the last word.Our reason to hope is not of human origin but of God. We leave the miracles for God to perform, but He looks to us to live as people of hope. The coming of the Messiah once in Bethlehem, personally in our own times, and at the end of time give us sound justification for that hope. Let us follow the example of the young Holy Family by keeping our traditions of Faith in Him as generously as we can, in a spirit of Hope placed in Him, bearing fruit in Love of Him.

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Jesus, Son of God, son of Mary, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us.

Saint Joseph, guardian of the Holy Family and guardian of the Church, pray for us.

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+Rt Rev Paul Swarbrick

Bishop of Lancaster

APPOINTED TO BE READ AT ALL PUBLIC MASSES IN ALL CHURCHES AND CHAPELS INTHE DIOCESE OF LANCASTER ON THE WEEKEND OF 3rd December 2023

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My dear people,

Stay awake! What an appropriate way for me to address you as you settle back to listen to this Advent Pastoral Letter! Of course, these words come from the Lord Himself, and are addressed to each of us. How are we to understand this command He makes to His disciples? Let me ask you three more questions. What happens when we stay awake but let our Faith sleep? What consequences can we expect when we let ourCharity sleep? What suffers when our Hope in Christ is dormant? See how we can be awake to all the joys and sorrows of this world, but live our lives as if Jesus never came, never spoke, and never taught us. We will live as if He never gave us His peace, joy, forgiveness, love or the gift of Himself or the gift of the Holy Spirit.

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To let Faith, Hope and Charity sleep leaves us with nothing more than what this passing world has to offer. It leaves us with nothing more than ‘chance-charity’, random fortune and hope founded on nothing more than our own efforts. Something deep in every human heart will not accept this and refuses to be satisfied by what will not last.

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When Faith sleeps society will be at liberty to re-design life, including human life.God-given truths will be lost sight of, and truth itself will be redefined in order to serve lesser purposes. The way of the Good Shepherd will not be known, so other ways will have to be created leading to other goals set by other people. Life itself will be measured by arbitrary values that are themselves constantly being changed.

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Stay awake! Our Lord addresses these words to your Faith, your Hope and yourCharity. Keep them nourished on the Gospel, the living Word of God. Keep them refreshed by meeting Christ regularly in the Mass where we are joined to the Body of Christ and saved from the dangers of isolation. When Faith, Hope and Charity are awake and alert we can recognise Jesus as our Messiah. We can understand the place of trials, suffering, disappointment and even failure, and still retain Hope because it is not built on our own effort or what is mundane; it is built on the Divine.

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You already know that the purpose of Advent is to prepare us to celebrate the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. You know of His first coming, in the womb of Mary, nine months before His birth in Bethlehem. You know of His Second Coming at the end of time, when He will come to judge the living and the dead. You also know how He comes to each of us in these days, in ways that are personal, profound, and miraculous.A wide-awake Faith tells us that His coming – in whatever way – is always and intervention of the Divine into the temporal, utterly of God, out of love for sinners. It tells us that the Lord has not given up on us but sees something in us we often do not see ourselves.

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Stay awake! These words are for you because you must stay awake for the good of others. You are asked to keep Faith for the good of those who have lost theirs. You must be hopeful for others who can see no reason for hope. You must live charity, particularly where it is not yet known and not welcomed. Thus, those who are awake to the things of this created order may catch their first glimpse of the Creator, who made all things not out of nothing, but out of love.

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There are those in society who must work when others sleep. Perhaps some of you listening to this Pastoral Letter are among them. Such work seems to put you out of step with others. It can be the same for us, we may appear out of step with many around us. But the work is important, the shift must be done, and Christ call us to it.As we begin this new Advent, let us remember with gratitude what Christ has done for love of us. His promise of eternal happiness still holds good, and even begins to spillover into this life. How? By keeping awake your Faith, your Hope, and your Charity.

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With my blessing,

Rt Rev Paul Swarbrick

Bishop of Lancaster