Good Shepherd Sunday is here! This weekend we reflect on the one Shepherd, Our Lord Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for us, his sheep. He continues to care for his flock through the ministry of priests.

This Sunday is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations and also the occasion for the annual collection for the Priests Training Fund. Many thanks to those who regularly support this fund, in spite of current financial challenges. If the supply of priests in the future is to be maintained, it is vital both to encourage vocations and to support the fund that provides for their formation in the seminaries.

Vocations to the priesthood are open to all unmarried Catholic men. It is a wonderful way of serving the people of God, and all eligible candidates are encouraged to consider whether God is calling them to this ministry. Priests are privileged to assist people at key moments in their lives - as they approach marriage, at the baptism of their children, at the first holy communion and the confirmation of their children, at times of sickness and bereavement - by bringing the consolation of Christ, our Good Shepherd, teacher and friend into their lives. God continues to call - we must each ask ourselves whether we respond as generously as we could.

The QR code here supplied provides a link to a platform for making donations to the Priests Training Fund. Please give generously. We have a number of feasts to look forward to in the coming week. Tuesday sees the feast of England’s patron saint, St George, kept in this country as a solemnity. St George was an early Christian martyr from Palestine, and we ask his intercession not only for this country, but for his own region as we see the troubling increase of violence there.

Thursday sees the feast of St Mark, an occasion for us to give thanks for the wonderful accounts that he and the other evangelists have given us of the life, death and resurrection of Christ Our Lord. St Mark was a disciple of Saint Peter, whose reminiscences are believed to form the substance of Mark’s Gospel. St Mark later served as a bishop both in the region of Venice and at Alexandria in Egypt, where he was martyred. His relics are venerated in both places.

Thursday also sees another in the series of Wigmore Hall concerts taking place here at St James’s Church.Vox Luminis will perform a selection of J.S. Bach’s church cantatas, written in Weimar when he was around 30 years of age. Masses that day will be celebrated in the Lady Chapel. We are privileged to have such a fine centre of music-making as the Wigmore Hall so close to us and we look forward to extending this collaboration in the future.

The Good Counsel Network has asked us to communicate the following message:

“On Saturday 27th April, which is the 56th anniversary of abortion becoming legal in Britain, please pray and fast for the end of abortion in this Country. Normally we would ask you to fast from all food except bread and water for the day, but as it is still the Easter Season, you might choose instead to fast from a particular food or luxury, e.g. chocolate, alcohol, cigarettes, TV. Through God’s grace we have seen thousands of Mothers in our counselling centre continue their pregnancies in very difficult circumstances. Please help us to help save lives with your prayers, fasting and support. www.GoodCounselNetwork.com”.

Then on Sunday 28 April, we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the dedication of our church with a Solemn Mass celebrated by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. Robert Proctor has kindly provided an account of the 1949 celebrations on our website, - to be uploaded over the weekend - which you can find if you click onto “75th Anniversary” in the drop-down menu for “History”. Thanks are due, as ever, to David Boyle for his skilful and dedicated work on the parish website. The anniversary Mass promises to be a fine occasion, and it will be followed by a reception in the Social Centre.  Do come if you can to join us for these celebrations of all that we receive in our beautiful church.

Just around the corner, after the Dedication anniversary, is the month of May, Mary’s month. Gerard Manley Hopkins, in his “May Magnificat”, reflects how fitting it is that the Mother of God should be given special honour during the month of nature’s motherhood. After the evening Mass each weekday during May, we will be praying the rosary in the Lady Chapel. If you would like to volunteer to serve on the rota for leading these devotions, please contact Mark Carter, of the parish’s Legion of Mary, at spanishplacelegion@rcdow.org.uk or else telephone the parish office.

Throughout Eastertide, we continue to remember in our prayers those who are new to our community, having been baptised and confirmed at the Easter Vigil. Another candidate from the RCIA is due to be baptised and confirmed on Pentecost Sunday, which marks the conclusion of the Easter season. The month of May will also see the celebrations of Confirmation for our young people and First Holy Communions for a group of children in the parish. The Spirit is indeed alive and active in St James’s Church!