On Tuesday 4 June over 3,000 children from across the Diocese of Westminster came to Westminster Cathedral to attend the annual Good Shepherd Mass. The Mass was celebrated by Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and organised by the Catholic Children’s Society.
In his homily Archbishop Vincent Nichols said “trying to pray is sometimes easy and very difficult. When we pray we raise our hearts and minds to God, that is the very centre of prayer. Prayer helps to understand in this life what satisfies us most deeply is our relationship and conversation with God.”
“When you wake up in the morning, when the sun is streaming in, it is not difficult to raise your heart and mind to God and say yes, thank you. When we see these things we know our heart seeking for God can find him. When you get frightened in the night, and someone comes to comfort you, maybe whisper a prayer of thanks for the feeling of calm. Perhaps when you are generous in helping a neighbour, that act of kindness can prompt in us a prayer, to seek God and to find him.”
“There is one thing in this Cathedral that acts as a prompt to us to prayer. The cruxifix hanging above us all. The cruxifix tells us all that we know about God and all that we know about ourselves. His hands are stretched out as we do this when we give in kindness. His hands are also stretched out in prayer to God, his Father, saying I will do your will. So when you look at the Cruxifix you begin to understand the two most important things about our faith: faith in prayer and charity in practice.”
Archbishop Vincent Nichols also blessed a box which held within it the prayers of the children who had gathered together for the Mass.
Photos of the Good Shepherd Mass are available at the Diocesan Flickr account here.
