Holy Family: Jesus, Mary and Joseph

A PASTORAL LETTER

FROM THE BISHOP OF LANCASTER

Feast Of the Holy Family

APPOINTED TO BE READ AT ALL PUBLIC MASSES IN ALL CHURCHES AND CHAPELS IN THE DIOCESE OF LANCASTER ON THE WEEKEND OF 27th/28th DECEMBER 2025

My dear people,

We should be slow to ‘pack Christmas away’, and we should be slow to ‘pack the Holy Year away’.

The Feast of the Holy Family is given to us as a gift of encouragement and hope for the time we still have.  Let us consider this gift, what is it that you and I have received?  The Holy Year of Hope was a season of many blessings and Graces.  Those blessings draw us more confidently into the life and love of the Holy Family.  Through Baptism we become adopted children of God.  Through imitating Christ in charity, He recognises us as His brothers and sisters.  Through our veneration of Mary as Mother of the Faithful, we live as her own children, given to her by Jesus as He was dying on the Cross.

We are marking the conclusion of the Holy Year of Hope.  Each of us has been prayed for.  Our prayers have been heard and answered by the Lord.  We have received blessings and Graces because the Lord wants us to be grafted onto and into the Holy Family.  He wants us to carry His light into the new year, to chase away the darkness of fear and failure not just in our own lives, but also in the lives of others.

In due time, the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds went back to their flocks, the Magi returned to their homes, and the little Holy Family left the little town of Bethlehem, making for Egypt.  They have become exiles, refugees fleeing persecution.  Fear is a constant feature in the Gospels.  Mary and Joseph are told there are people who want to destroy this child.  It sounds far-fetched, but remember, we live in a world where infanticide exists.  We know that children can be targeted in war with the intention of destroying an adversary’s future.  The Christmas story has a dark side.  With the coming of Jesus into the world sin reacts with threats and violence.  A sleeping dog has been woken.

It won’t be long before we begin to see all the lights disappearing from the streets and houses around us.  They went on in a flurry of excitement for the coming festivities.  Soon we will see Christmas packed away, as life returns to normal.  But our family is different.  We live by different beliefs and rules that will often put us out of step with our neighbours.  That is not to say we are better than others – God alone will be our judge.  If we are to serve His purpose we must accept living differently, and being known as families who do so.

May God continue to bless your homes and families as we carry His light into 2026.

+Right Rev Paul Swarbrick

Bishop of Lancaster

Christmas Day Homily

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.”  But first let’s start from the very beginning, in the words of the ‘Sound of Music’, ‘it was a very good place to start.’  In John’s Prologue (which will be read in the morning), it says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. 

We start to think of a moment beyond time and space before creation began.  The ‘Word’ existed with ‘God’ and it was God.  The whole of creation took place through this ‘Word’.  Whenever, God the Father wanted something created, he only had to speak it.  But who is this ‘Word’?

“The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us”.  It is Jesus Christ who is this living ‘Word’ and now he is here on earth through the Incarnation.  So, we can trace Jesus back before time began, with God the Father, who has no beginning or end. 

In Luke’s Nativity story, we are familiar with these words: ‘The foxes have their holes, and the birds have their nets, but the Son of man has no-where to lay down.’  If we take a moment to reflect upon this, we can start to understand, that from the moment of Jesus’ birth, he belong outside of the realm, of what we see as most important in worldly terms.  However, this is the child who is the truly powerful one, the one on whom everything depends upon for our salvation. 

Mary laid her new-born Son in a manger, a space that might be consider to be unworthy, but it could be also seen as a kind of altar.

St Augustine drew out this meaning further, explaining that the manger is a place where animals eat their food.  But now, lying in the manger is Jesus, who is the true bread come down from heaven, the true nourishment that we need in our lives.  This is the food that gives us true life, eternal life – God himself.  In this poverty of Jesus’ birth emerges the miracle in which we are truly saved.

In that same region, there were shepherds out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.  These shepherds became the first witnesses of this great event.  They represented the poor of Israel, simple souls whom Jesus would bless, and because from them, all people are granted access to the mystery of God.

The angel of the Lord appears to the shepherds and the glory of the Lord shone around them.  At first, they were filled with fear.  However, the angel took away their fears and announced to them a great joy.  ‘For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord’.   They were told to find a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.  Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people of good will.’  This song was sung by all the angels in heaven, in which the glory of great joy was proclaimed.  What a sight to behold. 

And so, from that moment the angel’s song of praise has never gone silent, it continues to be sung this day, and every Sunday celebration during our Gloria in Mass.

The ’glory’ of God is real, God is glorious, and this is truly a season to be joyful; there is truth, there is goodness, there is beauty.  God made flesh, lying in a manger as the ‘bread of heaven.’ 

May I conclude by wishing you all a very Holy Christmas, and that you continue to reflect upon the full divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the ‘Word made flesh’ during this festive period. 

May this Christmas Eucharist strengthen you and nourish you throughout this Holy season.  May we become true witnesses of our faith, proclaiming the Good News to all the four corners of the world.  That ‘Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, is Christ the Lord, and Saviour to all the World.’

Fourth Sunday of Advent – Year A

We are nearly there, our 4^th Advent candle is now lit, and Christmas is just around the corner.  Not long too go.  Today’s 4^th Advent candle represents ‘Peace’ (the others were Hope, Love & Joy).

So, how are we getting on in the busyness of last-minute Christmas shopping, have we manged to find any peace, to prepare ourselves spiritually, as we look towards Our Saviour’s birth?

St. Joseph in today’s Gospel wasn’t getting any peace either, he had just found out, that Mary his betrothed was with child, and that it wasn’t his.  The people in the local community had started to talk.  Joseph was in a state of embarrassment.  What should he do?  He had a choice to divorce Mary publicly or privately.  So, Joseph decided not to put Mary to any shame, and decided to divorce her privately. 

By this statement, Matthew the Evangelist was indicating that Joseph was a ‘Just Man’.  Giving us an overall picture of St. Joseph that aligns him with great biblical figures like ‘Abraham the Just’. 

A ‘just man’ is someone who maintains a living contact with the ‘Word of God’.  Who delights in the Law of the Lord, and reads it with loving openness to God, and in this way, learns to understand, by living it deeply from within. 

The angel ‘came’ and physically appeared to Mary at the Annunciation, but the angel only ‘appeared’ to Joseph in a dream, a dream that was real. 

This shows us another important quality of St. Joseph, his capacity to perceive the divine and his ability to discern God’s will.  He was someone who was watchful with a real sensitivity for God.  He was able with God’s divine grace to discern whether it was simply a dream or had God’s messenger truly appeared to Him.  Joseph must have had extraordinary courageous faith, knowing that the dream was the truth and God had really spoken to him.

The angel greeted him with the words ‘Do not be afraid’ the very same words that the angel said to Mary at the Annunciation, with these words Joseph is now being drawn into the same mystery of God’s incarnation with Mary.

So, the divine plan which Mary and Joseph were meant to share together was put into motion, with great patience and humility Joseph accepted his vocation for which God had chosen for him.  Even though he felt unworthy to act as a foster father for the child Jesus, since this child had come from God himself. 

St. Joseph played a major role in the events of the first Christmas at Bethlehem.  He was a true loyal servant, with a husband’s love, who cherished the virgin Mother of God and with fatherly care watched over the child Jesus.

Joseph’s obedience to God’s call was not without its difficulties or uncertainties, but he welcomed everything that happened as an opportunity to increase in holiness, coming closer to the Lord. 

Joseph was a humble man, very much at peace, who gave everything in the service of Jesus Christ, his example gives us courage to face our daily problems, and to keep on believing when all seems hopeless.  Along with John the Baptist and Mary, St. Joseph is also singled out as another person who can best prepare us for Christmas. 

During this final week of Advent, be sure to know that ‘God is with us’.  May we too hear the Lord calling us to follow his divine will, as we fully and freely accept the Lord’s message in our hearts as Joseph did.  May our decisions in life, be based on a strong foundation of faith, given to us from God Our Heavenly Father, so we can also become ‘true and just’ for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Third Sunday of Advent – Year A

The joy of Advent shines forth with an inspiring message of hope and encouragement in today’s readings, urging us to rejoice and be happy because the Lord is near. 

It tells us of our Christian vocation to radiate this joy, however, rejoicing is not normally the hallmark of being a Catholic.  A lot of the time we associate the Gospel message of Jesus carrying His Cross and remembering His Passion of pain and suffering.  However, what did Jesus say just before His Ascension into Heaven, ‘all these things I have spoken to you, that my joy might be in you, and your joy be complete.’ 

We were all created for happiness.  It is why we spend our lives searching and striving to attain it.  Sometimes this happiness seems to escape us as we go searching for it in the wrong places.  Our greatest mistake is to look for it in material things, but all the money in the world cannot purchase happiness.  Christian joy is something deeper and richer, it comes from an awareness that God is with us and produces a contentment of inner peace that cannot be taken from us.  Friendship with God is the source of Christian joy.  No trials can drown this joy since it is born of faith.  On the first Christmas day when God came down in the flesh, Jesus filled the world with glad tidings of great joy.  His life was geared towards God the Father in joy, prayer and thanksgiving.  We can be caught up with all our daily problems and fail to reflect upon the joy of that marvellous truth that: ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only Son and whoever believes in him, might not die, but may have eternal life.’ (Jn 3:16)

In the Gospel today, Jesus tells John’s disciples what do you hear and see?  ‘The Blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have Good News preached to them.’  John’s Disciples went back rejoicing because Jesus has confirmed that ‘He is the Christ, the one who is to come.’ 

As we know, charity is so important at this time, as there is no greater proof of love than to give ourselves to others who are in need.  Christmas joy cannot be complete unless we show love and charity, especially to those who have nothing to give back to us in return. 

The happiest of people are those who are doing the most for others, and the day will arrive when they will be greeted by the Lord with these words:  ‘Well done good and faithful servant, come and join in my master’s happiness.’

I would like to end with the words from one of our favourite comedians of the past, Ken Dodd.  These words were always sung at the end of his shows, and I feel they are appropriate for us today:  “Happiness, Happiness, the greatest gift that I possess, I thank the Lord that I’ve been blessed, with more than my share of happiness.”

Second Sunday of Advent – Year A

John the Baptist’s ministry was solely based at the river Jordan, probably located on the southern stretch just before it empties into the Dead Sea.  The crowds from Jerusalem would have travelled nearly 20 miles through hot barren wilderness just to get there. 

The river Jordan is more than just a river, it was a powerful symbol of hope and new life.  In the Old Testament, God did many great things at the Jordan.  He healed Naaman the Syrian from his leprosy, He took the prophet Elijah up to heaven in a fiery chariot at the Jordan.  And most of all, God let the Israelites come across the river Jordan at the end of their 40 years journey in the wilderness from Egypt to the promise Land.  So, the Jordan represented the climax of the exodus story and the fulfilment of God’s plan to bring Israel to the land of Canaan.

The wilderness itself brought to mind, hope for Israel’s future, in which God would rescue his people from their present-day persecutors.  The ritual of baptism was a powerful symbolic action.  John the Baptist was calling the people to journey out into the wilderness, to step into the Jordan river for Baptism.  Thus, in this way, they could re-enter into the promise land, once again, free from all their sins. 

The heart of John’s message is the challenge to repent.  The Greek meaning here is to change one’s mind, and in the Jewish tradition the Hebrew word for ‘repent’ means to ‘turn around’. 

John is asking for a complete change in conduct and thinking, a fundamental change of one’s life direction.  As you know many Old Testament prophets turned away from their sinful ways, and repented by returning to the Lord. 

We also heard, that John the Baptist wore clothing made from camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist.  In Matthew’s Gospel, this is highlighting something central about John’s mission.  Matthew the Evangelist was connecting John with Elijah, who was known for wearing something similar.  This connection with Elijah is important, because the Jews were expecting the return of Elijah before the ‘great day of the Lord.’  Therefore, John’s appearance in the desert and looking like Elijah would have signalled to the Jewish people that he was playing the part of the long-awaited Elijah, preparing the way for the Lord’s coming. 

John the Baptist speaks to the Jewish people who have come for baptism, by declaring that someone is coming who is mightier than he is, by saying:  ‘He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.’  Out of all the tasks a servant would be required to do for his master, the most degrading of all tasks would have involved touching the master’s feet.  Yet John the Baptist says, he is not worthy, even to do that.

John continues and says, the one who is to come, will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and Fire. 

John the Baptist points us to the tremendous power of the Church’s Sacraments, especially Baptism and Reconciliation.  Through these Sacraments God freely forgives all our sins and fills us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, allowing us to become a member of a community that we could never earn on our own, by making us ‘Children of God’. 

So, during this Advent season, let us take this opportunity to come closer to Christ, and deepen our relationship with him through prayer and the Sacraments of the Church, especially through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. 

Let us hear and focus on the words of John the Baptist calling us to repentance, and as a result, allowing us, to open up the way for the Lord, so Jesus can enter into our hearts as we head towards our Saviours birth.

First Sunday of Advent

A PASTORAL LETTER

FROM THE BISHOP OF LANCASTER

For the First Sunday of Advent 2025

APPOINTED TO BE READ AT ALL PUBLIC MASSES IN ALL CHURCHES AND CHAPELS IN THE DIOCESE OF LANCASTER ON THE WEEKEND OF 29th/30th November 2025

My dear people,

As we begin the Holy Season of Advent my thoughts turn to Mary, our Blessed Lady, beginning the final month of her pregnancy.  She is carrying Life.  For eight months she has sensed this child growing within her, this child given to her, and taking from her.  As unborn children we feed on our mother’s blood, warmth, nourishment.  It is as though the mother says to her child, ‘Take and eat, this is my body for you. Take and drink, this is my blood for you, that you may have life from me.’  In her case of course this nourishment is of a created type.  Many years ahead, she would receive food given her by her Son, food of a different type, giving her eternal Life.

Let us reflect on this young pregnant woman as she offers us a way into this new Advent.  She is expecting, preparing and waiting.  She invites us to take on these same tasks in our own times by spending time meditating on her as she approaches the end of her pregnancy. We are so easily tempted to rush on to the events of the 25th of December, counting down the days, but that is to miss so much, as if we are so taken by the gift that we completely overlook the care taken by the giver of the gift.  

The gift has been chosen for us, prepared for us, brought to us, shared with us.  None of this should be taken for granted.

Before the shepherds are disturbed at night, before angel choirs fill the skies, before the Magi leave their homelands, and whilst Herod remains in the dark concerning world events, this young woman carries in her womb the Lord of Life, already started on His work of Salvation.  Even before her delivery she has so much to share with us. For her the Word became flesh nine months before Christmas, on the Solemnity we barely notice these days, the Annunciation of the Lord. She knows Him best of all.

What a precarious approach the Giver of Life has taken.  From her village life Mary would be well acquainted with the risks of pregnancy.  She would know of women who died in childbirth, of babies lost.  She would know of difficult deliveries and infection risks.  Added to that she now has an unwelcome 80-mile journey to make from Nazareth to Bethlehem and it has come at exactly the wrong time.  St Joseph may be a good carpenter, but he is no midwife. While in Nazareth she was amongst her own people and could count on the care and support of devoted family and neighbours experienced in these matters, and she had the comfort of familiar surroundings. Now however, she is to be at the mercy of strangers, in a place unknown to her, full of uncertainties.  It seems circumstances conspired against her and this little blessed life she carried within her. Thank God, with St Joseph by her side, she was able to trust in God’s protection for herself and for the child in spite of the odds.

We need to reflect on this because we live in a culture which is increasingly losing sight and understanding of the gift of life and losing sight of the Giver of Life.  Sadly, for all the advances in society, in healthcare and useful technology, there is much in our contemporary culture that works against life, particularly vulnerable life.  Unborn children are severely and increasingly at risk.  Each year hundreds of thousands are killed.  The elderly are facing increasing pressure to effectively end their own lives.  In hospitals DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) is often put on the records of disabled and sick by medical professionals without any reference to family.  It is becoming an ‘undisclosed policy’.  Government chooses to cut Development-aid in favour of Defence budgets.  The lives of millions of the poorest are adversely affected.  From my years in Zambia and my visits to Ethiopia, South Sudan and Kenya I have seen what a difference it makes to the people whose living conditions are little different from those that the Mother of our Redeemer would have experienced.  It seems that those who are born disadvantaged are subject to ever-increasing disadvantage.  I strongly recommend to you Pope Leo’s recently published first Apostolic Exhortaion, Dilexi te (On love for the poor).

There is another event and another date that remains hidden from us, brought to our minds every Advent; the Second Coming of Christ.  He promised to come again, and He keeps His promises.  It will happen at an hour we do not know, but we must expect and prepare and wait.

The Centenary year is over.  The year of Jubilee will soon be completed.  This has been a rich year of Grace and Blessings for us. Blessings are more than favours or tokens of approval from a kind Lord.  They are given as ‘cage-rattlers’ to wake us from sleep and pull us back from our distractions.  They are given as tonics to strengthen us for what still remains to be done if we are to complete our journey of faith.  They are given to enable us to expect, prepare and wait.  Like Mary, I am called to be a guardian of creation, a guardian of life by becoming a guardian of ‘The Life’.  If I fail in this, whatever else I may achieve will count for nothing.

With my blessing on you and your families,

+The Right Reverend Paul Swarbrick

Bishop of Lancaster

A little blue sky amid the rain clouds.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

“Above him there was an inscription: ‘This is the King of the Jews.’”  The technical term for this inscription is called the ‘Titulus Crucis’, and according to Roman custom it was a board that was carried in front of the condemned person or sometimes put around their neck, so it could be easily be attached to the cross. 

We know from scripture that Pilate was responsible and took the initiative in writing these words, while it would have normally been a scribe to commission this type of work.  This inscription was written in three languages, Hebrew, Latin and Greek which were the great languages of the cultured world at that time in the Roman empire. 

Every nation had something to teach the world.  In Greece they taught the world – Philosophy.  Rome taught the world – The law and right government, and the Hebrews taught world – religion in worshipping the one true God. 

Since Jesus was ‘The law of God’ and the ‘image of God’, it is symbolic that the great nations of the world should claim Him King.  Jesus’ Kingship was universally proclaimed to all passers-by, through this multi-lingual announcement, indicating that Jesus was drawing all people to himself. 

The ‘Jews’ as you can imagine, rejected this title and insisted that Jesus was only a pretender to these claims.  However, Pilate replied, ‘What I have written, I have written,’ and he would not allow the inscription to be altered. 

While, Pilate seemed to crumble under the pressure at Jesus’ trial by the High Priest and Pharisees’, Pilate now is reasserting his authority, forcing the Pharisees’ to live with his decision, to a title of honour, confirming Jesus’ Kingship, that the ‘Jews’ were very keen to stamp out from the very beginning.

As we know, Jesus was crucified close to the city walls, and as a result, the Titulus inscription publicly became a talking point among the people.  The advantage of it being written in three languages, was to help formally announce ‘Jesus as King’ across the whole world. 

Originally the Titulus inscription was to charge Jesus as a royal pretender.  But now this real enthronement on the cross shows Jesus’ Royal Sovereignty and Kingship which is now acknowledged for all time.  Heralded by Pilate as a prophecy, who represented the greatest political power in the world, written in the sacred and secular languages of the era, shows the event of Jesus’ ‘hour’ on the cross, his only sacrifice as High Priest, Prophet and King as an important divinely event that concerns the entire world, giving humanity a last chance of salvation, to repent and believe.

We read in the first chapter of John’s Gospel, the ‘Word became flesh, and dwelt amongst us.’  Jesus is the Word of God; He came to earth over 2000 years ago as a child. 

However, Jesus existed longer than that.  He has no being and no end, like the Father & the Holy Spirit. 

They are the Alpha and the Omega, being with God the Father from the very beginning.  When creation of the universe began, Jesus was there as God’s Word, making everything come into reality.  Jesus is truly the King of the Universe.

Jesus has now opened the doors to everlasting life, through his ‘Hour’ of Glorification and Exaltation on the cross.  Through our Baptism in his Death & Resurrection, may we too enjoy his Kingship as anointed ‘Children of God’, as we continue to sing God’s praises with all the angels and saints during our liturgy of Holy Mass.

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C

Today’s readings remind us of something we often prefer to avoid: the reality that this world will not last forever. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus speaks of the destruction of the Temple and warns of trials, persecution, and upheaval.  However, these words are not meant to frighten us but to awaken us to what truly matters.

We live in a world that values security and durability, yet Jesus tells us that even the most solid of structures will fall.  What endures is our faith and our relationship with God. “By your perseverance will secure your lives” Jesus says.  Perseverance is not passive waiting; it is active loyalty, holding fast to Christ when the world shakes.

In our first reading from Malachi, it speaks of the day of the Lord: for the evildoers, there will be fire; however, for those who fear God, there will be healing.  This is not about fear but hope.  God’s justice will prevail, and His mercy will heal.  

In these final weeks of the liturgical year, the Church calls us to look beyond the present moment.  The end times are not about predicting dates but about living every day, ready to meet the Lord.  That means prayer, charity, and trust, even when life feels uncertain.

So, as we approach Advent, let us renew our commitment to Christ. The world may tremble and shake, but if our hearts are anchored in Christ, we will have nothing to fear.  For He is our hope, our strength, and our eternal reward.

Remembrance Sunday

O God, who willed that your Only Begotten Son,

having conquered death,

should pass over into the realm of heaven,

grant, we pray, to your departed servants

that, with the mortality of this life overcome,

they may gaze eternally on you,

their Creator and Redeemer.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, for ever and ever.

Eternal rest grant upon them O Lord,

and let perpetual light shine upon them,

may they rest in peace.

Amen.