Video Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNNRz3oZpzY&feature=youtu.be

Download: http://www.filefactory.com/file/c2a9859/n/STE-000.mp3

Photos: Click to view slideshow.

Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street

We are delighted to be welcoming Fr. Richard Nesbitt (Vocations Director, Diocese of Westminster) to help us reflect on the New Year theme: ‘God Calling’.

The JCFL Prayer Vigil offers an encounter with the Lord, taking a Christ-centered theme and weaving together a simple liturgy with readings from Sacred Scripture, Music, a Reflection on the Word, Adoration, Silence, Intercession and Prayer. All are welcome!

After the JCFL Prayer Vigil we usually head to a local pub for some food and friendship.

All are welcome at 6.30pm to sing through the chants and songs for the evening liturgy at the JCFL Song Practice at 6.30pm. All are welcome!

If you’d like to play a musical instrument at the JCFL Prayer Vigil please email us at info@jcfl.org.uk. It’s always great to have new people on board!

Hope to see you on 5th January!

Our next JCFL Prayer Vigil is on Thursday 1st December, 7.30pm

Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street

The theme is ‘Mercy I desire, not Sacrifice’.

The JCFL Prayer Vigil offers an encounter with the Lord, taking a Christ-centered theme and weaving together a simple liturgy with readings from Sacred Scripture, Music, a Reflection on the Word, Adoration, Silence, Intercession and Prayer. All are welcome!

After the JCFL Prayer Vigil we head to a local pub providing a little time for food, drink and fellowship.

All are welcome to join us before the Prayer Vigil for the JCFL Song Practice at 6.30pm. This offers the opportunity to learn the songs and chants for the evening’s liturgy.

If you’d like to play a musical instrument at the JCFL Prayer Vigil please email us at info@jcfl.org.uk as it’s always great when new people want to get involved!

Hope to see you on 1st December & God bless!

“What is truth?

What is true for you?

For me one defining moment whilst serving as a policeman in the 80s was when I reported an inspector for beating a prisoner because  he, the inspector, lost his patience.The truth for me at that time was working overtime and alongside officers from another shift. Some say I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.but was I?

A difficult situation as I was a young officer trying to do my job but sensing that justice was not really there for the prisoner. As a result of my report the Inspector (who I liked) was retired on a sick/ill health pension and the more senior officer (a Superintendent), who I reported this matter to, was promoted to Chief Superintendent. Two weeks prior to this he told me that he wasnt going any higher in the Police. Little did I know what would happen next, maybe naive however  sharing truth for me was to take an interesting course.

Being  ignored, rejected called a grass and having refuse put in my in tray for a few years wasn’t easy. I was given the less interesting jobs and a very boring 6 month tour at Buckingham Palace. They tended to send problem officers there. One fellow officer was waiting to hear about his fate having run a couple of people over in a squad car. More recently. I have witnessed someone telling untruths to the police and under oath in Crown Court. Truth for some is just too much.

What is true for you?

There are of course consequences in telling the truth. The decision to expose the truth, act with honesty and integrity is something only each of us can weigh up. Some people will choose not to speak ‘the truth’ for fear of repercussions. Others for personal reasons. Everyone’s circumstances are different and not everyone will choose to expose truth. What would for example a married officer with 3 small children, struggling to make ends meet do? He or she may not be up for exposing in fear of losing their job. Protection and provision for family could be a higher priority.

We may feel awkward when it comes to reputation / position /  future etc. Sometimes sadly we do not have the luxury to ponder over what we should and shouldn’t do. Ever since my incident I have had a recurring dream of being in uniform policing but with no badge or position. Many other officers in the dream would enquire as to what I was doing back in the police?

What it is like for you?

Have you or are you struggling with anything similar? Do you dream…a thought, a word perhaps? A call to duty?

 What is true for you?

We can choose to suppress truth. You can see nothing, keep quiet perhaps, allow it to pass or we can also do something, stand up be counted.
Both options are not easy.
If you dont tell the truth it has a habit in some cases to eat away in the conscience, agitiation may set in, nerves may suffer maybe sleepless nights
If we do we could taste some very much needed:  freedom, peace, release… however we could also run the risk of isolation, rejection and separation.

Before we act and have time it may be wise to consult others, pray, share and think more about truth and the concept of truth.
If we struggle to determine what is true / absolute truth we could of course consider what is ‘untrue’ and perhaps work out what is true from there?

So what does the Gospel say?

Luke 19 (The Message)

“Right at the crest, where Mount Olives begins its descent, the whole crowd of disciples burst into enthusiastic praise over all the mighty works they had witnessed:

Blessed is he who comes, 
the king in God’s name! 
All’s well in heaven! 
Glory in the high places!

Some Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, get your disciples under control!” But he said, “If they kept quiet, the stones would do it for them, shouting praise.”

John 15:18-20 (The Message)

“If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you.

“When that happens, remember this: Servants don’t get better treatment than their masters. If they beat on me, they will certainly beat on you. If they did what I told them, they will do what you tell them.”

20 or so years later I have met with previous police colleagues from the force, that inspector was wrong you know, you did the right thing, you didn’t have it easy did you?

What thought processes had these guys been tackling over the years? What truth have they been concealing tackling?

I think Jesus is asking us to remain in truth in love, with patience and understanding.

Let us take a punt, take a risk, share some truth, maybe some stuff previously hidden?.

We just dont know how our  truth will impact on ourselves and others.
What are we projecting onto God and others in terms of truth? What does the Gospel say about truth? How do we interpret the Gospel of Truth? What do ‘others’ say about truth?

Jesus says:

“Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don’t be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.”  (Matthew 7 - The Message)

Lord help us to fix our eyes on you and your message. Forgive us when we are weak and be with us as we try to follow you.  Amen

Amen

The following slideshow shows just a few of the tasks JCFL volunteers have been carrying out to support this fantastic Church Project in the London Area:

• Hedge Trimming & Laying the Foundations for Sheds
• Assembling Sheds & Creating Wooden Fencing for Waste Management
• Watering Flowers & Planting Seeds
• Tree Management & Ivy Control
• Tree Plantation & Grass Management!

Click to view slideshow.

Our next JCFL Prayer Vigil is on Thursday 3rd November, 7.30pm

Venue: Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street

The theme will be ‘The Beatitudes’.

The JCFL Prayer Vigil offers an encounter with the Lord, taking a Christ-centered theme and weaving together a simple liturgy with readings from Sacred Scripture, Music, a Reflection on the Word, Prayer and Silence. All are welcome!

After the JCFL Prayer Vigil we usually head to a local pub providing a little time for food, drink and friendship.

All are welcome to join us in the Church for the JCFL Song Practice at 6.30pm. This offers the opportunity for all to learn the songs and chants before the evening’s liturgy.

If you would like to play a musical instrument at the JCFL Prayer Vigil please just email Peter & the JCFL team at info@jcfl.org.uk as we are always looking for ways to allow gifted musicians to place their talents at the service of the Lord at JCFL!

Hope to see you on 3rd November & God bless!

JCFL Prayer Vigil is on Thursday 6th October, 7.30pm
Venue: The Jesuit Chapel, Farm Street

We were delighted to welcome Julian Whiting (NESTED) who helped us reflect on the Word of God during this evening of Prayer and Friendship in Christ. The theme for the Prayer Vigil was ‘The truth will set you Free’. To read extracts from Julian’s Reflection on the Word please click here.

One of the highlights of the evening was a song written by members of the JCFL Team called ‘Beautiful Flower’. Please click on the link below to listen to our new song (apologies in advance for the poor sound quality!):

“Most people today don’t understand forgiveness.  They think it means the wrong-doer is ‘let off’ and ‘gets away with it.’  It goes with the popular idea that the greatest commandment is the 11^th – ‘Thou shalt not get caught!’  Have you ever told someone that what they did to you was hurtful and they say “I’m sorry you feel that way”?  That is a cynical non-apology.  It’s saying “if you feel that way it’s your problem!”  Have you ever apologized to someone for what you have done and they reply ‘forget it’?  Forgiveness is not about forgetting what has been done; it is remembering it as forgiven.

At the heart of the word ‘forgiveness’ is the word ‘give’.  Forgiveness is a costly gift which may be hard to give.  If you have been deeply hurt, you may not yet be ready to give the gift of forgiveness. Are you ready to be made willing to forgive?

In the prayer we all pray, Jesus links our being forgiven by God with our forgiving others for what they have done to us.  When someone says ‘I will never forgive…’ I think ‘I hope they never need to be forgiven.

What did the paralysed man want?  His friends wanted him to walk and believed Jesus could heal him.  Some people thought his paralysis was a punishment for sin.  He was disabled by the attitude of others to his condition.  Perhaps he believed them!  Have you heard people say “I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve it”? What’s going on there?

There was healing in the attitude of his friends.  They refused to accept that he could not access Jesus.  They made a way where there was no way and I hope they repaired the roof afterwards!

Jesus spoke forgiveness into the situation in response to the faith of the man’s friends. In answer to Jesus’ question, it is easier to declare forgiveness than physical healing because forgiveness can be invisible.  I could be forgiven right now and nobody would see the difference but if I were to leap out of this chair and run around the church ‘walking and leaping and praising God’, there would be no doubt that a remarkable healing had taken place.  So when Jesus healed the paralysed man he was both cured and forgiven. The lawyers were offended because their focus was on what happens when things go wrong, not how to help things go right!  They said that only God can forgive sins so they thought Jesus was blasphemously taking the place of God by declaring forgiveness.

We all need to know that God has forgiven us.  When the philosopher Heinrich Heine was dying one of his friends was concerned that he had not made peace with God.  Heine replied “Dieu me pardonnera; c’est son métier!”  But God is not like some indulgent uncle who simply smiles at our sins and pats us on the head.  The foundation documents of the Methodist Church which nurtured me states that Methodism was ‘raised up to spread scriptural holiness’.  That means that the saints are not just a small number of exceptional examples and the rest of us can just ‘bump along the bottom’ of holiness; we are all called to be saints!  God told the people of Israel ‘you shall be holy for I, the Lord, am holy.’ John Wesley called commandments like this ‘covered promises’ because whenever God commands us to do something, God thereby promises to enable us to do it. So God who commands your holiness promises to make you holy and fundamental to that is to know at the depth of your being that you are forgiven and, in gratitude, to forgive from that same depth those who have done wrong to you.”

Abide in Me was a unique opportunity for young adults of different Christian traditions to come together in prayer on Thursday 21st January 2010 at 7pm. All were welcome to this Prayer Vigil and Celebration of the Creative Arts at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2010.

JCFL (Jesus Christ the Fullness of Life) teamed up with The Sanctuary (Young Adults, Methodist Central Hall, Westminster) and The Bard School (Catholic Creative Artists) for this one-off event. The Prayer Vigil included readings from Holy Scripture, Music, Dance and a short inspirational talk from Media Chaplain, Tony Miles. This was followed with a celebration of the Creative Arts whilst enjoying a simple meal of soup and bread.

Unity and Reconciliation have been central to the Pontificate of Benedict XVI. The Holy Father, at a recent European Ecumenical Assembly said, “Our presence as Christians will prove incisive and enlightening only if we have the courage to continue decisively down the path of reconciliation and unity”.

For more information on this one-off event or to offer suggestions for future events please email JCFL at info@jcfl.org.uk

Over 500 people gathered together with Archbishop Vincent Nicholas at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 27th June 2010  to celebrate end of the Pauline Year. JCFL, together with Westminster’s Agency for Evangelisation, animated a beautiful Prayer Vigil with veneration of the Icon of St Paul. The Archbishop of Westminster provide us with a wonderful reflection on the life of St. Paul. Please find the words of the Archbishop’s reflection below:

One of the great Fathers of the Church, St Gregory of Nyssa, said this: ‘More than anyone, Paul knows exactly what Christ is, and showed through his deeds what a person should be like who has been named after him’ – a Christian. (cf On Christian Perfection.)

It is on this thought, and at the close of this Year of St Paul, that I would like to reflect here this evening.

More than anyone else, Paul knows Christ best, Paul understands most clearly Christ’s true nature and his mission. But, remember, Paul did not know Jesus, the man of Nazareth. Yet he, more than anyone else, came to understand the full meaning of Jesus, who is the Christ, the fullness of the Godhead.

This is a great consolation and encouragement for us. We, like Paul, do not meet Jesus in the flesh. We are separated from him, as was Paul, by time and place. But like Paul we are invited to know him in the greatest intimacy, understanding him to the fullest extent. Like Paul, we too are invited to bind ourselves to Jesus for he is the living Lord, the Christ, the anointed One of God. With Paul we are drawn to say: ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me’ (Galatians 2:20).

During this Year of St Paul we have attempted to learn all we can from this great Apostle. Of course we learn about him, about his journeys, his suffering, his successes and failures. But more than anything we try to learn from his faith in Christ, we try to absorb something of his great fervour and faithfulness.

Let’s listen again to some of the titles which Paul gives to Christ. In each of these titles an element of the whole mystery of Christ shines out. They are like the pendants of a chandelier, reflecting a single source of light in a wide variety of ways.

Paul tells us that Christ is the Power and Wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5). This means that Christ is able to deliver all that God, in his power and wisdom, wills for us his beloved people. Therefore we can say, with Paul, that Christ is our Peace and our Reconciliation.

Is there anything we long for more than peace in our hearts and homes? Peace in our world? Reconciliation between those who are at odds, and whose anger flows over into our lives and into our world? These are among the strongest longings of our hearts and Paul reminds us that Christ, who is the Power and Wisdom of God, is uniquely able to give us what we want – if only we would trust ourselves to him.

Paul speaks of Christ as our Sanctification and our Redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). Paul knows only too well that we are broken beings, pulled this way and that. Our hearts are divided, one moment wanting all that is best, the next being deceived as to what truly is best for us or for those we believe we love. Paul reminds us that Christ is the one who can save us from ourselves, who can heal that divided heart and purify our desires so that we do not pull ourselves astray.

But this is costly work. Paul knows that it is only achieved once the full force of our divided nature is confronted, and its raw energy absorbed and tamed. Christ, he tells us, is our Sacrifice, a Sacrifice rooted in the Passover (Hebrews 9:23-26). Christ redeems us by his blood, smeared not simply on our doorposts but taken into the inner temple of our hearts. Through that blood we are sheltered from avenging anger to which our waywardness gives rise. Christ, then, is our High Priest, who stands before the Father, taking upon himself our sins and returning to us with the Father’s blessing (Hebrews 2:17).

Indeed in Christ we learn again the nature of that blessing. We are to be born again into the new life of God, created as God’s sons and daughters, built into a new temple where God chooses to dwell. So we come to realise that in exchange for the broken body on the cross we receive the glorious Body and Blood of Christ as our food and drink. The one we break becomes the unbreakable Rock, the cornerstone of our new lives. From Him flows the living water of new life.

Now Paul really is entering into the heart of the mystery of God’s plan for our human family. Now Paul helps us to glimpse the overall plan, a plan of astonishing boldness and hope. He tells us that Christ himself is the Head of a new Body (Ephesians 1:22-23), that he is the first fruit of God’s work (1 Corinthians 15:23), the first to be born from the dead, and what has happened in Christ is what will happen in us! There will be a new heaven and a new earth. All will be made new in Christ!

No wonder Paul wants us to align ourselves on Christ, to be building ourselves into him, to centre our hearts, our daily efforts, our love, on him. Paul understands, with a joy and determination which is still astonishing, that Christ is the Brightness of the Father’s glory (Hebrews 1:3) and that we are meant to be filled with that glory, too.

In comparison with this, Paul shouts out that everything else is of little worth. ‘Nothing’, he says, ‘can outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord!’ (Philippians 3:8).

Here is our calling. Here is the joyful invitation that faces us each day: to know Christ Jesus more and more in the way that Paul knows him, in the way that Paul presents him to us. Little by little we offer ourselves to Christ in the footsteps of Paul.

We follow Paul as our teacher of Christ and we note, as we heard in the first reading this evening (1 Timothy 1:12-17), that Paul’s effectiveness as a teacher springs from his own experience of being forgiven, of accepting his own failure and shortcomings. It can be no different for any one of us. We cannot be a teacher of Christ unless we are first of all a grateful disciple, acknowledging our utter dependence on the Lord.

We follow Paul as a servant of the unity of the Church (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:1-13). This is so because we recognise that it is in the Church that all the grace of Christ, all our contact with him, is best found. If we are to grow into Christ then we need the coming together of all the gifts given to the Church. We cannot do it on our own, by our own judgement, on our own authority. That is the joy of being a Catholic. We are in this together and as each of us struggles to be close to Christ, so he draws us close to each other in the mystery of the Church.

We follow Paul as a man of prayer, as we heard in the third reading (Ephesians 3:14-19). Paul lives by that inner life of which he speaks so eloquently. He lives, then, from the inside out. His words, his actions, are formed by the inner life of the Holy Spirit within him. Most of us tend to live from the outside in. Our lives are formed and influenced by what we see and experience around us. We react – in joy, in anger, in frustration. But, for the most part, Paul teaches us that the strongest source of life, and of daily action, is the inner life of each one of us. He tells us not to be tossed around by fashion and the latest ideas. This poise and peacefulness can only be achieved if, within each one of us, there is a strong inner life, the fruit of the kind of prayer which Paul teaches us.

Today, as we honour Paul, we are proud to be called Christians.

Let us, with his help, strive to live as Christians, so that the meaning of all that we draw from Paul of the great wonder of Christ may be seen in our every word and deed.

Lord, may your light shine in our wonderful world through our words and actions. May we be led by your great apostle Paul, and by Peter, as we honour them together on this Feast. May St John Southworth, too, pray for us today. Amen.

For photos from this event please click here