Bishop Nicholas Hudson Addresses and Homilies
How moving to hear Cardinal Hume describe the mystery of the Incarnation! I always think of him when I enter this building and see his tomb. I find myself remembering the day he first showed me his Cathedral. I’d been ordained just a few weeks;…Read more
“To get us all to heaven.” That surely is the goal which unites every Parish Priest from Fr Andrew backwards. I like, on this day, to imagine all of them, not only the priests but the tens or hundreds of thousands of parishioners who…Read more
We have Cardinal Vincent to thank for this beautiful picture, as well as, of course, Alexander Talbot-Rice, its inspired creator. Alexander offered it to the Cardinal as a gift; and the Cardinal was clear it should reside here in this beautiful…Read more
Given at SPEC Retreat Centre in Pinner at a Mass to start the new year and bless the retreat leaders, on 7th September 2021. I hope you find these readings affirming, not only of your Mission Statement but of the whole vision you work out of.…Read more
That image we all know so well of St Oscar with blood streaming from his nose and ears is of a man transfigured, transfigured by justice. Of course, he’d seen it coming: “In El Salvador, the sky has turned red,” he had said. “Putting…Read more
Brendan and Jayson, I want first and foremost to thank you for your generosity in saying ‘yes’ to the call of Jesus to serve him in the Church as Deacons. It is a deeper commitment to service that you make today. But I sense, from my…Read more
Xavier, you will probably never know fully the impact your becoming a Deacon and then, please God, a Priest, will have had upon all the people who know you. What you will know is that the impact will be all the greater if you’re able to respond…Read more
Given on the feast of St Peter and St Paul, 29th June 2021, at the Church of St Mary and St Michael, Commercial Road. The Mass was attended by Year 9 students from Bishop Challoner Catholic Federation of Schools. When Paul’s head was cut off,…Read more
St Bernadette loved this place, as we all do. Years after she left Lourdes, she used to say, ‘I wish I could just fly to Lourdes in a balloon and be at the grotto!’
In many ways, our virtual pilgrimage has been just like that. With Bernadette...Read more
On 25
I’ve been to the Upper Room, or at least to the Medieval chamber built on what is held to be the site of the Upper Room. Many of you will have been there too. I had the privilege of spending an hour there alone recently. How I prayed! Y...Read more
Have you still got your crib up at home? I have. It’s a custom I learnt from abroad. I know, in England, we tend to take all the Christmas decorations down after the New Year; or, if not at the actual New Year, around 12
The way it’s descri...Read more
Sixty years on the one site really is an achievement to savour. There will be some people in the congregation who can tell me they’ve received all the sacraments here: Baptism, First Holy Communion, Confirmation, Marriage. I was thinking about t...Read more
Mass Introduction
I’ve been wanting to come and be with you to let you know how much the Cardinal and the bishops of this Diocese have been thinking of you and praying for you ever since we heard of the tragic deaths of 39 Vietnamese in the bac...Read more
Extracts from a homily preached by Bishop Nicholas Hudson on Thursday 17
Led by the light to some definite service
St John Henry Newman has much to teach us! One of the great lessons he teaches us is that, whatever happens to you, even thing...Read more
Homily given in the Church of the Venerable English College, Rome, for the Diocese of Westminster Youth Ministry pilgrims on 14
Priests are not all angels!
That was one of St John Henry Newman’s more memorable sayings.
And we should be ...Read more
In the College where I trained to be a priest, there were lovely nuns who looked after us. They prepared meals for us; they did our laundry. Above all, they prayed for us.
The day came for one of them, Sr Renata, who’d been there the longest,...Read more