We are the parish which includes Immaculate Conception and St. Dominic, Stone; Sacred Heart, Eccleshall; Holy Michael Archangel, Aston-by-Stone.
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Click here to find the most up to date Mass times and intentions for the week.
Saturday Vigil
6.00 p.m. Stone
Sunday
8.00 a.m. Stone
9.15 a.m. Eccleshall
11.00 a.m. Stone
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Dear Parishioners,
Today, the second Sunday of Easter, is also Divine Mercy Sunday. Mercy is at the heart of our relationship with God. Jesus came to call sinners, not just the virtuous. He came especially to bind the wounded who needed His healing touch. Jesus died on the cross to minister to our spiritual frailty. Jesus wanted to remove all obstacles to humanity enjoying life to its eternal fullness. In our Gospel today, Jesus who rolled back the stone of the tomb, encounters the barrier of the locked doors of the room in which His disciples are gathered. One week from the resurrection and it seems little has changed. We must note, when we lock others out, we also lock ourselves in. The same fears, lack of confidence and uncertainties are still in place despite the testimony of witnesses and Jesus’s appearances by the seashore. It seems our obstacles need some substantial force to move them. Jesus enters the room despite the locks on the doors. Nothing that inhibits us is a barrier to Jesus. Jesus breathes on the disciples and gives them His peace. Let’s be honest, we all have our history. Many of us carry our rucksack containing issues from the past and our concerns for the present. We may have a dread or two regarding our future or that of a loved one. Our Lord wants to reassure and unburden us. He wants to unlock all that inhibits us and undermines our Easter joy. We may be afraid to be too joyful as we feel a lower key approach is more realistic. Less far to fall in the face of bad news. Unalloyed joy seems to be for others but not for us. We allow the bar of our expectations to descend. St. Thomas seems to be in this state and asks to see the Lord’s wounds before he will allow his joy to be complete and his faith in the risen Lord made solid. Jesus is willing to meet Thomas’s issues as He is willing to meet ours. The Lord rehabilitates Thomas’s belief in miracles as He may have to do for some of us. Jesus wants us reassured that He is Life and Mercy in its fullness and is in all authority over sin and the power of evil that seeks to disturb us and our world. Though many suffer, no harm can ultimately come to us. The Lord watches over us and is with us through it all. If we trust Him, we can receive the peace this world could never give. Not the false versions of peace that abound. When the strong overwhelm and intimidate the weak – this is not peace. When people are silent because the truth will cause discontent is not peace. When we leave things unresolved and paper over differences, we are not creating peace. God’s peace is a communion with Him in our heart and mind. It is where we have allowed His love and mercy, His confidence and grace to infuse every fibre of our being. St. Teresa of Avila puts the peace of God beautifully:
Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things are passing away. God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices.
Let us hope Eastertide lifts us all. I pray especially of course for all who continue to suffer in the war in the Holy Land and Ukraine.
God bless,
Fr. Gerard