On a Lighter Note...

Torch of The Faith News on Tuesday 09 March 2010 - 19:43:33 | by admin

An Irishman moves into a tiny hamlet in County Kerry, walks into the pub and promptly orders three beers.

The bartender raises his eyebrows, but serves the man three beers, which he drinks quietly at a table, alone.

An hour later, the man has finished the three beers and orders three more.

This happens yet again.

The next evening the man again orders and drinks three beers at a time, several times. Soon the entire town is whispering about the Man Who Orders Three Beers.

Finally, a week later, the bartender broaches the subject on behalf of the town. "I don't mean to pry, but folks around here are wondering why you always order three beers?"

'Tis odd, isn't it?" the man replies, "You see, I have two brothers, and one went to America, and the other to Australia. We promised each other that we would always order an extra two beers whenever we drank as a way of keeping up the family bond."

The bartender and the whole town was pleased with this answer, and soon the Man Who Orders Three Beers became a local celebrity and source of pride to the hamlet, even to the extent that out-of-towners would come to watch him drink.

Then, one day, the man comes in and orders only two beers. The bartender pours them with a heavy heart. This continues for the rest of the evening - he orders only two beers. The word flies around town. Prayers are offered for the soul of one of the brothers.

The next day, the bartender says to the man, "Folks around here, me first of all, want to offer condolences to you for the death of your brother. You know-the two beers and all..."

The man ponders this for a moment, then replies, "You'll be happy to hear that my two brothers are alive and well... It's just that I, myself, have decided to give up drinking for Lent."

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Newman and the Future of Britain - Part 1

Torch of The Faith News on Monday 08 March 2010 - 17:14:34 | by admin

It is truly remarkable that the Papal visit to Great Britain, including the Beatification of that great champion of truth and conscience, Cardinal John Henry Newman, is occuring at this time when the very future of the nation teeters on the edge of a sharp precipice.

On the one hand there is the great hope which Newman holds out to us. This is the ability for our nation to look to her historical Christian roots and rediscover all the good things that grew organically from them. To recall just one pertinent example; our Christian heritage provided the fertile soil, and necessary breathing space, from which could mature our developed concepts of individual liberty in the first place.

On the other hand our nation is choosing, on a daily basis, to deny her Christian roots and to seek to impose a new model of life based in moral relativism. In truth this cannot lead to freedom or unity in any authentic sense. This is because genuine liberty and union are fruits of truth. Falsehood can only ever lead to injustice and disunity. Nevertheless, in these final months prior to the Papal visit, Britain continues to pass radically anti-Christian legislation on a disconcertingly frequent basis.  

Many British people today contend that belief in absolute truth divides people and therefore must be abandoned to allow each person freedom to 'make their own truth.' However, in reality, the only guarantee of liberty is for a common cause uniting souls in the quest for absolute truth.

Wherever the Natural Law and the gift of Revealed Truth are received, accepted and lived, people can be guided by the light of Grace at work in their consciences to live in peace and true freedom of heart. Wherever these are denied and suppressed the consciences of people become cloudy and darkened.

Without that interior light of conscience, to seek and be guided by truth, people are no longer able to be responsible for themselves and for their behaviour. Everybody seeks their own pleasure and asserts their own position. The law of the jungle returns. This results in increasing dischord and unrest; to such an extent that militaristic models of policing are developed to maintain a semblence of order. However, with Natural Law and Revealed Truth denied, the very nature of policing turns from being the maintenance of law and order, and changes into the imposition of the ideology of whoever attains power.

As we prepare for the Papal visit it is good to contemplate these two choices which our nation faces and to bring them to Our Blessed Lord in prayer. It is good to reflect on all that Newman truly taught about freedom and conscience as guided by the light of Jesus Christ. Will we choose the way of truth, freedom, and true liberty...or the way of falsehood which can only lead to our demise as a free nation? The evidence for this is all around us if we would but see it.


In the days prior to his election as Pope in 2005, the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, preached powerfully;

'We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and has as its highest goal one's ego and one's own desires.'

Who could deny the prescience of these words in light of current developments? And yet, our present Holy Father did not conclude on such a negative note. He continued;

However, we have a different goal: the Son of God, true man. He is the measure of true humanism. Being an 'Adult' means having a faith which does not follow the waves of today's fashions or the latest novelties. A faith which is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ is adult and mature. It is this friendship that opens us up to all that is good and gives us the knowledge to choose true from false, and deceit from truth.

In Christ truth and love coincide. To the extent that we draw near to Christ, in our own life, truth and love merge. Love without truth would be blind; truth without love would be 'like a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal' (1 Cor 13:1).   

In preparation for the Papal visit let us draw near to Jesus Christ. You can bet that our freedom - both here and hereafter - depends on it!

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The Beautiful Gift of Confession

Torch of The Faith News on Sunday 07 March 2010 - 12:42:54 | by admin

Fr. Michael Shields is the marvellous pastor of the Church of the Nativity in Magadan, Russia. In this place countless Christians suffered and died in the Soviet hard-labour camps. Today he works tirelessly to care for the many broken souls who survived and have remained to live in Magadan.

The parish is run as a mission from the Archdiocese of Anchorage and the newspaper of that diocese has printed his thoughts on confession. As we begin the 3rd Sunday of Lent and contemplate the nearness of Holy Week it is worth reflecting on his hope-filled words.

I think I heard this joke from Archbishop Hurley first. The priest is by himself and is asked, 'Have you been to Confession lately?'

He answers, 'No, I have to fly, which is too expensive for venial sins and too dangerous for mortal sins.' 

If I want to go to confession right now I have to fly. The nearest priest is 800 miles away.

I have seen marvellous healing and deep changes here in Russia in people's lives after receiving this Sacrament.

I remember when I was asked to hear someone's confession for the first time since her Baptism some 40 years ago in the Ukraine.  Another Russian said to me, ''Father, you know this is a new life for her, so please take your time and listen to her and give her the needed advice because she wants to change her life.''

From that time on, I spend time before every Mass and often throughout the week with people who take seriously this Sacrament of healing. Russians sin seriously and repent just as seriously. I myself am suffering for not being able to receive this gift of forgiveness. I used to go every week when Father David was here. It was my Saturday night routine, which I loved and hated. 

I hated it because I knew I would have to be honest with myself because Fr. David already knew my sins anyway. I couldn't make a superficial confession as though sin did not matter. It divides us from God and ourselves. I loved it because it does exactly what it is supposed to do; it frees the heart to love again and the soul to praise God again and the mind to think clearly again and the will to choose freely again. I love this Sacrament so much that I will fly, in March, to receive it before Easter. 

I really pity people who do not receive this Sacrament when it is available at every church almost any time. 

I have a hunch that if an announcement was made in the bulletin and from the pulpit that people were not allowed to go to Confession anymore, there would be a great protest and maybe some long lines would form outside the churches with plaque-cards saying 'Hell No! We want to go!'

It is so unfortunate that so many are missing the opportunity of a great healing and not taking seriously the truth of the condition of our soul before God. 

'Hell No! Heaven Yes!' For this reason we must receive the Sacrament regularly - even if we have to fly.     

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Fast Day - Monday 15th March

Torch of The Faith News on Saturday 06 March 2010 - 11:15:17 | by admin

Subsequent to that last post we have learned from Fr. Tim's blog that the Good Counsel Network are calling people to fast and pray on Monday 15th March for the defeat of this dreadful, anti-morality Children, Schools and Families Bill, which still has to go through the House of Lords.

Please help us to spread the word.

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Please Fast and Pray for Mr. Ed Balls

Torch of The Faith News on Saturday 06 March 2010 - 10:53:14 | by admin

As Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Mr. Balls deserved to receive from his dealings with Church officials, a full and uncompromised witness to Jesus Christ and the teachings of His Holy Catholic Church. In the final analysis this is not a battle between competing ideologies but is all about Christ's call to receive the free gift of new life in Him. This Good News is for all people, times and places.

It is true that Bishop Patrick O'Donoghue, the retired Bishop of Lancaster, gave courageous witness to the truth when Mr. Balls hauled him in to a select committee for defending the rights of Catholic schools in his diocese. However, with the good bishop out of the way, Mr. Balls has more recently been given the impression that truth can be decided by the whim of those who wield political might - in both secular and religious spheres.

Therefore he especially needs our prayers that he might be given the true light of Jesus Christ and the authentic teachings of His Church.

Perhaps this will happen with the visit of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI this year. 

One aspect of this whole battle that most seem to have overlooked is Mr. Balls' involvement with the shadowy Bilderberg group. This is a secretive cabal of globalists who include in their nefarious agenda for world government the desire for population control through social engineering and systematic eugenics.


Hotel de Bilderberg: scene of the
first Bilderbereg conference in 1954. 

At this point many people turn off and think such talk is extreme. But, first reflect on these facts.

1. On 12 August 2007 the Telegraph reported that Lib-Dem MP Mr. Norman Baker had raised questions about Mr. Ed Balls' travelling expenses. (Mr. Balls was at that time Economic Secretary to the Treasury). He had spent £5,000 to attend that year's Bilderberg conference (to which the world's press cannot even gain entry). 

Mr. Baker complained;
'It is difficult to see why the public should pay for this. Mr. Balls was not representing the Government; he was representing himself. He should be open and accountable to MP's who ask about it.'

Surely Mr. Balls denied attendance? On the contrary.

The Independent hosted a web-based You Ask the Questions session on 24th Sept '07. A telling on-line exchange ran as follows;

Ray Neal: What were you doing at the Bilderberg meeting in Turkey this year and why are you a member?

Ed Balls: Sorry it's a secret! Seriously I didn't go this year - I couldn't make it. They don't have members, but I've been a few times to meet colleagues from around the world and I've always made that public.

In light of Bilderberg's atheistic and secretive approach to global governance it is interesting that Mr. Balls refers to other attendees as 'colleagues from around the world.' After all British politicians are elected to publicly represent the people in their own nation who voted for them. They are not supposed to act as puppets for overseas interests. 

(For the balanced teaching of the Church on globalisation please refer to Pope Benedict XVI's excellent Caritas in Veritate written in 2009). 

All of which brings us to the latest shock news from yesterday. 

Mrs. Bullivant's 7 year old daughter attends the Anglican primary school in the village of East Wold.
 
Her year group of little, innocent children was recently shown a sexually explicit cartoon in the classroom.

Mrs. Bullivant explains;
'My daughter was frightened and children have unfortunately been copying what they have seen. Parents should have been given the decision whether the video should have been shown or not.'

And the source of this DVD? Mr. Balls' Dept for Children, Schools and Families. The dots begin to join up...

For anyone who still thinks that the liberty of the family remains secure in this country here is the disturbing, bureaucratic response of the local authority.

Debbie Barnes of the local council responded;
'The DVD has been recommended for use in schools by the Dept for Children, Schools and Families and is seen as appropriate for this age group. We are sorry Mrs. Bullivant has taken this view, but we are happy with the school's approach in using this DVD for the benefit of their education.'

Notice how -

1. This portrays Mrs. Bullivant as someone on the fringe by reducing her complaint to an outside 'view which she has taken'. 

2. The State is seen as the invincible arbitrator of what is correct for children - to the absolute exclusion of the parents.

3. How morally torpid our society has become that British people can come up with a statement like that and not even bat an eye lid?

Doesn't all this seem akin to the manoeuvres of atheistic Communism?

It is certainly time for us to fast and pray for Mr. Balls, our bishops and our nation. But most of all for the little ones of our nation.  Woe to us if we fail to protect them from corruption.

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Time to Stand for Jesus Christ!

Torch of The Faith News on Friday 05 March 2010 - 21:09:11 | by admin

Like the rest of the world Great Britain is presently in the midst of one of the most tumultous periods of her rich history. We do not speak chiefly here of terrorism, environmental damage or economic collapse. These are merely symptoms of a deeper malaise. We refer rather to the intensity of the spiritual warfare for souls which is being raged all about us. 

A key battle line in this overall war is the issue of human identity and sexuality. The outcome of this conflagration will determine the future of this nation for good or ill...for liberty or totalitarianism.

Two key teachings of the Catholic Church are that :-

1. Humans are made in the image and likeness of God. 

2. God became human in Jesus Christ to redeem us. This means that we look to Him to understand both God and man. It also follows that we have great dignity and the hope of eternal life.



Secular atheism on the other hand contends that :- 

1. Humanity is the result of mere biological chance.

2. Humans must therefore 'redeem' themselves through assertion and self-determination.

It is not too hard to see how the latter, with its low view of human worth and denial of an afterlife, can only end in a State where the will of the powerful supplants the will of the weak.

Indeed the history of the 20th Century was peppered with examples which illustrate this point. The Catholic Church has historically stood as the bulwark against such negative destruction. For this she has gained countless enemies.

Meet Georg Lukacs, the Education Commissar in Hungary after the Soviet Revolution of 1919.


A key weapon Satan frequently uses is to destroy individuals and society by tempting them to rebel against God's beautiful plan for human sexuality and replace it with mere lust. The saints frequently note that the impure person soon loses interest in prayer and is thus in danger of final impiety.

Indeed if sex is sundered from marriage then follows the collapse of the family; the very bedrock of civilization.

Like many atheistic Communists George Lukacs knew that the Catholic Church must be removed from cultural influence if Communism was to hold sway. And so he ordered teachers in Hungary to instruct children about sex outside of any true moral framework in order to destroy the morality of the young. By combining this approach with violent suppression of opponents the Communists sought to unravel the bonds of Church, family, culture. A cruel irony is that it is only when a people become completely individualistic that they can they actually become totally controlled by the State. Two traditional guardians against such tyranny are the Church and the Christian family.



Some decades later the saintly Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary would suffer cruel persecution under the Communist regime for defending these two pillars against the followers of Anti-Christ. Before his arrest, frequent beatings, lengthy imprisonment and exile he fought tenaciously to maintain the independance of Catholic schools from State interference and de-Christianisation. This was one element which led to his own Way of The Cross.



His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI recently exhorted our Bishops Conference to 'ensure that the Church's moral teaching be always presented in its entirety and convincingly defended. Fidelity to the Gospel in no way restricts the freedom of others - on the contrary, it serves their freedom by offering them the truth.'

Within a couple of weeks the Govt's Ed Balls was thanking Archbishop Vincent Nichols for 'bringing the Catholic Church on board' with the latest atheistic sex education. Some parents have been innocently fooled by the Catholic Education Service website which claims that the recent 'amendment' to the latest sex-ed bill will protect Catholic schools.

In reality, as Mr. Balls has pointed out, Catholic schools will be 'forced' to teach moral relativism regarding homosexual 'partnerships' and to inform students where to obtain contraception and even abortion.  

The petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/cs001/petition.html was begun by concerned families in light of the fact that the Bishops are remaining strangely silent on this issue. At the time of writing this remains a source of grave public scandal to Catholics and non-Catholics alike.


The petition now has over 1,300 names, including several well regarded priests and many disturbed parents. Please sign the petition and ask our Bishops to make a stand.

Cardinal Mindzsenty knew that one cannot give any quarter to evil. Even if this demands very great sacrifice on the part of Bishops, priests and laity.

Make no mistake. The outcome of this particular battle will be decisive in the future of Britain. A cursory reading of the history of the global effects of Nazism and Communism provide powerful similarities. This is confirmed in the writings of the likes of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Dietrich Von Hildebrand, St. Edith Stein, Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and of course Cardinal Mindszenty himself.


As His Holiness Pope John Paul II stated in America in 1978, this is because, ultimately, this is a battle between Church and anti-Church... Christ and Anti-Christ.

Whose side are you on?  

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On Signing Public Petitions To The Bishops...

Torch of The Faith News on Sunday 28 February 2010 - 23:58:27 | by admin

Some people are expressing anxiety about signing on-line petitions to the bishops. To soothe consciences may we refer our readers to Canon Law - specifically Canon 212.3

Christ's faithful... have the right, indeed at times the duty, in keeping with their knowledge, competence, and position, to manifest to the sacred Pastors their views on matters which concern the good of the Church. They have the right also to make their views known to others of Christ's faithful, but in doing so they must always respect the integrity of faith and morals, show due reverence to the Pastors and take into account both the common good and the dignity of individuals.

Also, the petition is worded respectfully, honestly and deals with a matter that is, quite literally, of life and death.

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Important On-line Petitions!

Torch of The Faith News on Sunday 28 February 2010 - 23:06:38 | by admin

Torch of The Faith has been away for a while. We're coming back stronger and better. We'll explain later... For now please sign these two very important on-line petitions and spread the word!
1.

Please click the link to get your name on this petition in support of the Holy Father's visit to the UK. It is important to do this as the National Secular Society has an alternative petition with 20,000 signatures trying to say no to an official visit of His Holiness - such is the impiety of the times...

Please click the link and then click on Newsflash to access the petition.


www.proecclesia.com/ 

2.

Another sign of the impiety of these times is that the Catholic faithful have to raise a petition to call our shepherds to stand and defend Catholic schools, parents and children from 'education' which is promoting homosexual lifestyles, contraception and abortion.

This week the so-called Catholic Education Service has colluded once again with Ed Balls to promote anti-Christian ethics in Catholic schools. So far the bishops have remained distressingly silent - even though many parish priests and parents have raised their voices in protest.

We'll have more on this during the week. For now please click the link and remind our Bishops that we need them to stand and fight NOW for the rights of God, His Church and His people. Let them know that we will also stand by them if they do - for the shepherds and the sheep must remain together.


http://www.petitiononline.com/cs001/petition.html

God bless you all!

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Wishing a Blessed Christmas To All Our Friends and Readers!

Torch of The Faith News on Thursday 24 December 2009 - 11:53:20 | by admin

As we begin the Holy Season of Christmas 2009 let us reflect on a key aspect of its true meaning.

Why did the Son of God become man?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains;

CCC 457
The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God, who loved us and sent His Son to be the expiation for our sins: the Father has sent His Son as the Saviour of the world... and He was revealed to take away sins (1 John 4:10; 4:14; 3:5).


CCC 458
The Word became flesh so that thus we might know God's love... For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).



CCC 459
The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness...I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father, but by me (Matthew 11:29; John 14:6).

Love one another as I have loved you (John 15:12). This love implies an effective offering of oneself, after His example.  


CCC 460 
The Word became flesh to make us 'partakers of the Divine Nature' (2 Peter 1:4): 'For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving Divine sonship, might become a son of God (St. Irenaeus)... 'The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in His Divinity, assumed our nature, so that He, made man, might make men gods' (St. Thomas Aquinas).

If we stop and think about it this means that Jesus Christ, God made man, is inviting us to share in His Divine Life. As Holman Hunt's famous painting here depicts; Christ the Light of the World knocks at the door of our hearts. There is no handle on the outside. We have to open up to Him from within our hearts.

To sum up: He has become man, lived and died for us.

Why? 

In order to save us; show us God's love; give us both a model of holiness and the Way to become holy so that we may go with Him to the Father; and that we might ultimately share in the Divine Life of God in Heaven!

Isn't that worth converting to Jesus Christ for by opening the door of our hearts to Him?


You could do this at Christmas by simply spending a few moments alone in silence and just saying to God that you wish to open your heart to Jesus Christ and the Truth He has Revealed about God in His Catholic Church. Then ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into the fullness of Truth. Any Catholic priest can help you to find out about becoming a Catholic and how to be able to receive the life-giving Sacraments of the Church. (Plus we can accept e-mailed questions at this website).

If you are already a practicing Catholic why not renew your faith in Jesus Christ in deeper prayer this Christmas?

If you have fallen away from the practice of the Faith this could be the time to make a good confession and come home to the Church to receive Jesus Christ; Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in Holy Communuion.

We wish a Merry Christmas to you all! 

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Phil Rushton - Requiescat in Pace

Torch of The Faith News on Wednesday 23 December 2009 - 21:10:35 | by admin

A Tribute to our very dear friend Phil Rushton - R.I.P.

Phil Rushton has been a very special friend to us over the years. He touched our lives deeply, we loved him, and his passing from this world has broken our hearts. 

Nevertheless we have great hope and encouragement. The Penny Catechism taught 'God made me to know, love, and serve Him in this life, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.'

By God's Grace Phil did know, love and serve God in this life, and we now entrust him in prayer to the Divine Mercy to complete his purification and entry into the eternal happiness of God.

Alan first met Phil, and his dear wife Margaret, in the mid-1990's at First Saturday devotions to Our Lady of Fatima on Merseyside. Phil and Alan had both converted to the Catholic Faith just a few years earlier. 

Phil had been given a thoroughly orthodox preparation and formation in the Faith by the incredible Father Godfrey Carney. (This great priest died last year at the age of 98 after a remarkable 74 years of service as a priest and is another much missed light of the faith - see this blog page 22). 


Over the years Phil and Margaret became very close friends of ours.

Phil was a skilled plumber who remained a humble man with an endearing shyness. He was also great company. We have a treasury of happy memories from many shared days of banter and laughter, meals, cups of tea and cake, deep conversations, and games of Jenga! And, like not a few others, we too have our own tale to tell of an emergency plumbing rescue with Phil cast in the role of hero!

Phil lived his life for God, the Church and for his family. The reverence of Phil and his family at Holy Mass provide an eloquent witness to the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.

Phil used his gifts as a plumber to provide for his loved ones and for the service of the Church. In recent weeks he had made the frame for the splendid Advent wreath at Our Lady, Star of the Sea in Seaforth and Margaret had dressed it in fine greenery and candles.

Phil used the opportunites his job provided to evangelise through his honesty, hard work, and words of witness.

His prayer life included novenas for family and friends.

Phil and his family also gave heroic pro-life witness through regular prayer outside abortion centres. As his children Stuart, Kate, and Phil Jnr wrote in his Requiem Mass booklet 'Our dad's primary prayer intention, both privately and in public places (outside abortion clinics) was for the unborn child and the end to abortion).

In October the family visited St. Therese's relics before attending such a vigil. They were then blessed to be used by God as instruments in saving 5 babies from the horror of abortion in one day!

Phil was devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Patroness of the Unborn.

The Lord called Phil to Himself on the very Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe - the 12th December - after falling gravely ill two days earlier on the Feast of Saint Juan Diego! He was visited by three priests and anointed. His family were with him as he went to God. Many family and friends were praying for him in his final hours. As his family said with great faith 'God is Truly Amazing!'

Phil's funeral has been the most hope-filled funeral we have ever attended. Indeed Phil and his family have given us all a powerful witness of how to live and die well. For we are not to live down here as though this was all there is. Rather this life is a time of decision and working out our salvation with the help of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the Holy Catholic Church.

The night before Phil's funeral two priests led about 30 people in the Rosary around Phil's casket in his own home.

The next day the beautiful church of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, Seaforth was packed out for the funeral which was led by no fewer than 9 priests. (A priest commented later that he had never seen so many priests at the funeral of a layman).

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass gave great comfort as the congregation prayed for the eternal repose of Phil's soul.

Phil loved the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He also had great devotion to St. Joseph. We commend him now to them and ask that you pray for Phil and his family.


Perhaps we should conclude with the words of Phil's wife, our lovely friend Margaret, from the Requiem Mass booklet;

An Angel took my flower away
Yet I will not repine
For Jesus on His bosom wears
The flower that once was mine.

Sacred Heart of Jesus have mercy on my husband's soul.
Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, intercede for him.
Please remember to pray for the eternal soul of Philip George Rushton.

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