Portsmouth Diocese e-News Issue 453
Welcome to this week’s e-News! We have just returned from a wonderful pilgrimage to Lourdes – you can read about it below. We returned on the opening day of the Olympics in Paris. Pope Francis has sent a message to all the Olympic athletes, inviting them “to harness the great social power of sport to unite people and be witnesses of peace, particularly during these times of international tensions and conflict.” Around 300,000 spectators welcomed thousands of athletes representing 206 countries at the opening ceremony. Let us pray that the Games will be marked by good spirits, friendly collaboration and a desire for universal peace. (Sadly, the opening ceremony contained some anti-Christian iconography: see below). E-News was on holiday last week, so there is a lot to catch up on this week. Thanks be to God for our two new priests and two new deacons, plus another new deacon en route to the priesthood. Please pray for them and for all our clergy and laity. Now that we are in high summer, I wish you a blessed time ahead – and if you are on holiday may God grant you a safe journey. [Image: Britannica]
Two New Priests
From the Bishop
On Saturday 13th July, we were pleased to ordain two new priests for our Diocese: Fr. Ambrose Chou and Fr. Tom Hiney. It was a moving occasion, and the Cathedral was packed with guests, including many brother priests from our Diocese. Every priest has a story to tell about what God has done for them in their life, the epic journey that brought them to the priesthood. Tom was a journalist, a biographer and an Anglican Army Chaplain. Ambrose was a student of criminology. Their life-journeys testify to God’s grace. In the homily, I spoke about the anointing of the hands of a new priest: “A priest’s hands are holy because, anointed with the power of the Spirit, they have become Christ’s hands. They handle holy things. They are instruments of God’s self-giving love for His people. By the prayer of the bishop and the laying on of his hands, a new priest shares in Christ’s three-fold ministry as a priest, a prophet, a shepherd. Like Mary who holds Jesus in Her hands, so a priest holds Christ in his, as he celebrates the liturgy and the sacraments, leading people in prayer. Like Mary who presents Jesus the Word, so a priest teaches, preaches and explains to people the Word of God. And like Mary Who gave everything to serve Her Son, so a priest shepherds the flock, leading and loving it, caring for the poorest and neediest. This is why being a priest, sharing in Christ’s three-fold ministry, is a sublime vocation. It’s a life of selfless service.”
Please pray for Fr. Tom, who will serve from September in the Cathedral, and for Fr. Ambrose, who will be serve in Jersey. [Image: Ana Dobeson]
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