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Today, we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a belief by many Christians down through the centuries, but only made formal by the Church in 1950. This belief, that because Our Lady was born without sin, that when she died, she was Assumed, body and soul into heaven. Mary is incorruptible (Immaculate Conception and Assumed into heaven) [CCC2853]. Given that Mary, brought Jesus into the world, some of the Fathers of the Church referred to Mary as the Ark of the Covenant; this emphasises that just as the Lord was especially present to Israel in the Ark of the Covenant, fashioned by Moses, so the Lord was uniquely present in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.¹

Mary, a young girl, whose ‘yes’ changed the world and brought about our salvation. Our Lady is a great example for us. Mary, chosen to bring Jesus into the world, stayed close to Him throughout His life and was present when Jesus came into the upper room after He rose from the dead.

How fitting that Mary, who brought Jesus into the world; and who was given to us as our mother by Christ on the Cross; is also the one who shows us the way to heaven through her son. The Gospel used at the Vigil Mass for this Solemnity is a very short Gospel, it speaks of happiness. Jesus replies to a comment from the crowd, which if we listen is saying how proud Jesus’ Mother must be. Jesus quite simply says Happy those who hear the word of God and keep it. For me this mirrors the words of Our Lady from the Wedding Feast at Cana, when she says to the servants and to us “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5).

When Mary was called to be the Mother of Jesus, her ‘yes’ was immediate. “Be it done to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38). I look at this immediate commitment and wonder why it took me so long to give my yes to becoming a deacon. I believe we all need to look at ourselves and ask what is God calling us to do? We might not think that whatever it is, is possible. But think of what God called Mary to do. Mary asked the question how is this possible? The answer was that God would send down his Holy Spirit. Things which appear impossible to mankind are possible to God. God does not call the able, he enables the called.

If we look at the news this week there have been many tragedies. Some of which we call ‘Natural disasters’ others horrific acts of violence and war. We look at the natural disasters and ask why? The world’s climate is changing; a report this week has put the blame firmly at mankind’s door. Our desire to exploit natural resources has affected the balance of the world’s eco-system. We might ask what can I do as an individual the problem is so vast? Mary’s ‘yes’ tells us that we as individuals can change the world!

The violent acts in Plymouth, Nantes and Afghanistan this week and the continued persecution of Christians in Nigeria and other parts of the world are evidence of evil in our midst. The reading used as the first reading in the Mass of the day reminds us that ultimate victory will be God’s, Mary played her part in that. “Victory and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ”.

We pray the prayer of Our Lady, which she shared with her cousin Elizabeth – the Magnificat, in there we hear that princes have been pulled down from their thrones and the lowly have been exulted. We turn to Mary as our Mother and Queen of Heaven and we ask her every day to intercede for us, bring an end to violence and hatred, to turn all men’s heart to the common good of our world so that we can all work together to look after this beautiful world that God has entrusted to us.

Further Reading

Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)²

CCC 411, 966-971, 974-975, 2853: Mary, the New Eve, assumed into heaven
CCC 773, 829, 967, 972: Mary, eschatological icon of the Church
CCC 2673-2679: at prayer with Mary

Please keep in your prayers

• Those affected by Climate Change and those who have the means to do something to help the world change course
• Those who are sick, those who are dying, the recently deceased and those who mourn.
• Those preparing to return to Mass.
• The Year of the Eucharist, which has now started, that this will lead to a fresh outpouring of love by the people of God for the Body and Blood of Christ.
• Those who have been unable to receive the Eucharist during the pandemic.
• Those involved in preparing our pastoral area ‘Big event’ on the 4th Sept’ – may it be a wonderful opportunity for our local parishes to come together, enjoy each other’s company and show our love of God and neighbour.

1 Placid Murray OSB, 100 Liturgical Homilies, (The Columba Press, Dublin, 1988)124-5.

2 Catechism of the Catholic Church – IntraText (vatican.va)

I had a first experience for me earlier this week, when like thousands of people across the country I was pinged by the NHS app, informing me that I had been in contact with someone who had tested positive for Covid. Going by the dates, and the few days remaining of the self-isolation by the time I received the message, it had been over a week earlier. Thankfully for me, I am double vaccinated, and I had already recorded 2 negative tests at home, I still went for a PCR test at a drive through test centre, which thankfully also came back negative.

While for some this App may be seen as an inconvenience, I am grateful that I was made aware and was given the alert which meant I could stay at home without potentially putting work colleagues or family members at risk. As Christians we are called to love our neighbour, by following the guidelines we are given an opportunity to protect the most vulnerable people in our society, this is one way of putting our Christian love into action. I pray for all who have had positive results that they make swift and full recoveries.

In today’s readings we again visit Chapter 6 of St John’s Gospel; we hear how some of the Jewish people could not accept what Jesus was saying because they thought they knew his heritage. They could not accept that Jesus had come down from heaven, as the true bread which will lead the chosen people to the Eternal Promised Land. Those who were complaining about what Jesus said were given a message which was crucial for them and applies equally to us – “No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me.”

We do not choose God, he has chosen us, our choice is to listen and to respond. The ‘complaining’ by the Jews is similar to the ‘complaining’ by the whole community in Chapter 16 of Exodus, when they complained about being taken out of Egypt and thought they would starve in the desert. God responded by providing manna in the desert. In today’s Gospel we hear God’s response, the true bread of heaven. The Jews took Jesus to be Joseph’s son; right at the start of St John’s Gospel we are told that Jesus is the Word made flesh; sent by the Father to help those who believe in him to become children of God.

In our first reading we are told about Elijah who has fled from his oppressors, he asks God to let him die; he falls asleep, hoping not to wake up again. But when he opens his eyes when he hears an angel speak and God provides a scone for him baked on the hot stones of the desert and a jar of water. He tried to sleep again, but the angel wakes him, insisting that he eats and drinks to build strength for the journey God needs him to make. Strengthened by God’s sustenance, he makes a forty day and night journey to God’s Holy Mountain. There he will meet the Lord, be commissioned and sent out with divine authority to bring some of the Jewish people back to God and anoint kings who would punish those who had deserted God.

Elijah was chosen and miraculously fed so that he could go back to the land where he had been hunted and pronounce God’s word to God’s people. This should make us ask, why has God chosen us? When God feeds us every week with His Word and His Flesh; what does God need us to do? What mission does He have for us? We may never find out the answers to any of these questions, but we need to find some quiet time to think and discern God’s purpose for our lives.

St Paul provides a good insight into every Christian’s calling in the section we hear today from his letter to the Ephesians. As we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit we are to please God, not to cause God any reason to be upset. Forgive those who annoy us, be kind to everyone, keep calm, do not apply labels to our spiritual brothers and sisters. Love one another as Jesus loves us, forgiving one another as readily as God forgives us. St Paul mentions that Jesus gave himself up in our place as a fragrant offering. Holy Church reminds us of the fragrance of Christ’s offering in the sacred oil used as Chrism at our Baptism and Confirmation, if we remember shortly before Christ’s Passion, Mary anointed Jesus’ feet before he would walk the journey of our shame on our behalf; so much so the ‘house was filled with the fragrance of oil’ (John 12:3).

Our mission in life is to fill our world with the fragrance of Christ. Be kind, forgive others, put the love Jesus has for us into action. Feed the hungry, visit the sick, look out for those who have to isolate, clothe the naked, provide drinks to those who are thirsty, comfort those who grieve.

The Coronavirus has brought great distress to people all over the world, but it has also brought out many signs of Christ’s love. There are unsung heroes everywhere, people who have protected the most vulnerable in our society, maybe by doing what others see as simple things like going shopping; but to those who are afraid to go out because of genuine fear for their health; they provide a lifeline. As I said at the beginning, I am one of the lucky ones, I had to self-isolate and I had negative test results. I also had offers of help from a few people, which thankfully I didn’t need to take up. My short spell of self-isolation was a reminder for me that this crisis in our world is not over. There are many people who need help in the world, as Christians we are obliged to help wherever help is needed, we cannot turn a blind eye to this, we will be judged on how we respond, we will be judged on how we love.

The sustenance we receive in the Eucharist provides us with the spiritual energy to take God’s love out into the world, if you like, taking the fragrance of Jesus into a world that is suffering. “Taste and see that the Lord is good. He is happy who takes refuge in him.” (Psalm 34: 8-9).

Further Reading

Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)¹

CCC 1341-1344: “Do this in memory of me”
CCC 1384-1390: take and eat: Communion

Please keep in your prayers

• Juan and Keeva who are being baptised this weekend, that their parents and godparents will be good teachers of the faith and excellent role models for their lives.
• Those who are sick, those who are dying, the recently deceased and those who mourn.
• Those preparing to return to Mass.
• The Year of the Eucharist, which has now started, that this will lead to a fresh outpouring of love by the people of God for the Body and Blood of Christ.
• Those who have been unable to receive the Eucharist during the pandemic.
• Those involved in preparing our pastoral area ‘Big event’ on the 4th Sept’ – may it be a wonderful opportunity for our local parishes to come together, enjoy each other’s company and show our love of God and neighbour.

1 Catechism of the Catholic Church – IntraText (vatican.va)

Our readings today demonstrate God’s great generosity. To those who found the manna and quails in the desert, they were being given sustenance until they reached the Promised Land; this is something which the people in the crowd referred to in their encounter with Jesus in today’s Gospel. But Jesus pointed out to them that it was not Moses who provided their food, but God.

If we remember last week’s Gospel, we heard about Jesus feeding the multitudes with a small boy’s picnic. Jesus gave thanks for the offering, blessed it and broke it to share with more than five thousand men, women and children. The people of Jesus’ time were great ones for looking for signs, in today’s Gospel they ask again for a sign so that they can believe in Jesus. Jesus explains that God provides the signs; God sends the true bread, which gives life to the world. Jesus is the bread of life, He asks us to come to Him and we will never hunger again to believe in Him and we will never thirst.

Bishop Philip has this week sent a message out to the Diocese, he is asking all of us to come back to Church. In this Year of the Eucharist, he is saying that our hunger for God cannot be fully satisfied by watching online, he is asking us to respond to the message of today’s Gospel which is to ‘come to Jesus’. Our fantastic volunteers have worked tirelessly throughout to make our churches safe for everyone to come back.

Come back and take your rightful place in the Body of Christ, we are not complete without you.

During the first Lockdown I was extremely disappointed to be kept away from Church, I was comforted by the fact that I could still watch Mass online and join in with the prayers; getting to know the prayer for Spiritual Communion was helpful, but even that did not satisfy. I have heard many people say since we were all allowed back how much the time away had made them realise how much they missed receiving Jesus in the Eucharist.

I know that some people are too frail to return to Mass; and we must all keep them in our prayers; but for many that are able to come back, ask yourself are you making the same effort to return to Mass as you are, for example, to make a booking for a meal out? NOW is the time to make the effort to return, we miss all of you and look forward to welcoming you back.

In St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians we are reminded that as Christians, we are expected to live our lives in a certain way. We are not to live as the ‘pagans live’. As Christians we are temples of the Holy Spirit (1Cor 6:19), so we are to guard against our mind being ‘corrupted by illusory desires’ (deceptive or unreal). Instead, we are to trust in Jesus; immerse ourselves in the Word of God; allow our ‘minds to be renewed by a spiritual revolution’, and live fully as the new beings our Baptism created us to be living a life of ‘goodness and holiness of the truth’.

This can only be achieved through Jesus, He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, no-one can reach God except through Him. We do this by listening to the Word of God and receiving the Bread of Life at Mass, by studying and reflecting on the Word of God, between Masses and by putting what we have learned and what we have received into action in our everyday lives.

The message from Jesus today is that we are to look for what truly satisfies, today’s world seems to be more about instant gratification rather than taking a long-term view. Jesus says why look for bread that leaves you hungry or water which will leave you thirsting for more. He is the true bread that satisfies. I often read the words of another deacon from Scotland, Deacon Bill McMillan, this week he tweeted “Constantly seeking the stimulation of new things in our lives can be symptoms of hunger not physical but spiritual in nature. That hunger in the heart of all of us is God in Christ, who is present in the Eucharist as bread of life, willing to satisfy our deepest hunger.”¹

Does how you satisfy your cravings leave you looking for more? Are you constantly looking for something different? Turn to Jesus, Jesus has enough to satisfy the deepest hunger – remember his words “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never thirst.”

Raniero Cantalamessa, who has been preacher to the Papal Household for the past 3 popes, sums up the importance of the Eucharist, when he said “the Eucharist is present in the entire history of salvation”. He supports this by saying “it is present in the Old Testament as a figure, in the New Testament as an event, and in our own time of the Church, as a sacrament. The figure anticipates and prepares the event, the sacrament ‘prolongs’ the event and actualises it.”²

‘One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing which we bless. And we though many, throughout the earth, we are one Body, in this One Lord’.³

Further Reading

Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)

CCC 1333-1336: Eucharistic signs of bread and wine
CCC 1691-1696: life in Christ

The Eucharist Our Sanctification – Raniero Cantalamessa

Please keep in your prayers

• Anthony Fyk and Paul Nwune who are being Ordained as priests for our Diocese this weekend; James Lewis who is being ordained as a deacon at the same Mass; and Stephen Opoku-Anokye and Stephen Joseph who are being ordained as Permanent Deacons.
• The repose of the souls of those who have lost their lives during the recent storms, the comfort of their families and the people who have lost their homes and livelihoods.
• Those who are sick, those who are dying, the recently deceased and those who mourn.
• Those preparing to return to Mass.
• The Year of the Eucharist, which has now started, that this will lead to a fresh outpouring of love by the people of God for the Body and Blood of Christ.
• Those who have been unable to receive the Eucharist during the pandemic.
• Those involved in preparing our pastoral area ‘Big event’ on the 4th Sept’ – may it be a wonderful opportunity for our local parishes to come together, enjoy each other’s company and show our love of God and neighbour.

1 Deacon Bill McMillan Twitter @DeaconMcMillan published 31 July 2021 on Twitter.

2 Raniero Cantalamessa, The Eucharist Our Sanctification, (The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1993)6.

3 John Foley SJ, Hymns Old and New,(Kevin Mayhew Limited, Stowmarket, Suffolk, 1989)744.

Our new parish priest writes:

I am Dominic Ozovehe Adeiza, born July 14th, 1969. Born into a big Muslim family of eight, of which I lost a brother, a sister and my father.

I trained in Nigeria and was ordained for the diocese of Lokoja. After my ordination I served in my diocese as the Chancellor / the Bishop’s Secretary and the co-editor of the diocesan newspaper.

After a few years, I went over to Rome to study communication at the Gregorian University while living at the English College (Sherwin House). As a student in Rome, I spent my holidays in parishes in Preston, Parbold, Wimbledon, Warwickshire and North London

After my studies I was asked to continue with a research. I came to England was gladly offered scholarship by the diocese of Portsmouth. I did my research in Sociology at Surrey University, Guildford. While doing my studies, I served as the parish priest of St Swithun’s Yateley. Mid-way, I took on the responsibility of St. Thomas More, Hartley Wintney.

At the completion of my studies, I returned to Nigeria to take on the appointment of a Training Director of Lux Terra Leadership Foundation. I served as the Coordinator and Director of the Psycho-Spiritual Institute, Nairobi, Kenya. I taught at the Albertine Institute, Fayit- Fadan Kagoma, Kaduna, Veritas University Abuja and at the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation, Abuja.

At some point I served as Chaplain to the Knights, Catholic Lawyers, Prisons and Journalists.

I enjoy reading, teaching, traveling, cooking my own meals, walking and outdoor games. I love dogs and would love to engage in gardening.

I am excited with my move from Faringdon to Basingstoke (Amazingstoke).

Fr Dominic Adeiza