Cardinal's Homilies
The prayer of our Mass today expresses the desire of our faith: that God's grace will create in us 'hearts that are true and just' which can be 'a dwelling pleasing to you.' We pray that our way of life will be marked by an unaffected tr...Read more
Today we gather under the patronage of Our Lady of Lourdes. This is, therefore, a joyful occasion, as we honour her, sing our hymns to her, and bring to her our burdens, especially the burden of ill health. That is the gift of Lourdes, the great s...Read more
Introduction to and homily given at the Mass for Consecrated Life at Westminster Cathedral on 1
Introduction:
I welcome you all to the Cathedral this morning for the celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life. Thank you for coming. As y...Read more
My dear brothers and sisters,
Pope Francis loves the crib. In his recent Apostolic Letter (
I always look first for the angels. With great glory, they declare the Good News of the birth of Christ, promising peace and goodwill. Angels ask us ...Read more
I am delighted to welcome you all to this solemn celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. We proclaim him to be the Eternal Word of God coming into our world to bring us light, grace and the fullness of life. He is our Saviour, our Lord, our God....Read more
Thank you for coming to this celebration of Mass and joining me in thanking the Lord for his gift to me of fifty years of priestly ministry. The years pass so quickly! I am humbled to think, even fleetingly, of all I have received during them, mos...Read more
Every word we hear this evening, every bar of music sung, has as its focus just one person.Â
In the course of this Celebration, that person has been described by twenty-six different titles. At least that is my count. You can do your own, lookin...Read more
'In recent times the Holy Spirit has moved groups of Anglicans to petition repeatedly and insistently to be received into full Catholic communion individually as well as corporately. The Apostolic See has responded favourably to such petitions. ...Read more
My brothers and sisters, in these days as we seek to identify and appreciate all the signs of hope in Europe, we must look with realism and honesty. These are difficult times, with ways of life without reference to God and mentalities that wish to...Read more
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ,
In two weeks' time, Blessed John Henry Newman will be declared a saint of the Church. This is a joyful moment, indeed. The life of this great English figure of nineteenth-century Church life is held be...Read more
Leadership today is a challenging vocation! This is true not only in the Church but, as we all know, in public and political life, too. So today we do well to pray earnestly for Abbot Dominic as he receives the Abbatial Blessing and is solemnly en...Read more
The letter to the Hebrews, as we have just heard, sets out the challenge of those who want to follow Jesus. It tells us to 'keep running steadily in the race we have started ... for the sake of the joy which is still in the future' (Hebrews 12:1-2...Read more
'Come Holy Ghost, Creator come, from thy bright heavenly throne. Come take possession of our souls and make them all thine own.'
These are the words we shall sing, in a few moments, at a central part of this ceremony of the ordination to the prie...Read more
This is the family of God. This is our International Mass, bringing together people from around the world. We are so glad to be here, to be together, to celebrate the presence of our Beloved Lord, together with Mary. She has called us to Lourdes. ...Read more
This also gives me a chance to encourage you all to continue to make the best use of the gifts that you have been given by God and that you have used to arrive at this mark of achievement, so far. By reminding you that gifts are something that we ...Read more
I welcome you all to this celebration of Holy Mass on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as we give thanks for the gift of diocesan priesthood and ask for God's blessing. I welcome especially the representatives of the diocesan priests, wh...Read more