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Dear brothers and sisters,

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During the last month, two significant pilgrimages have taken place; the first was our diocesan pilgrimage, the second was World Youth Day in Lisbon. I take this opportunity to thank all those who were involved in arranging these pilgrimages, as well as those who then took part in them.

The experience of Lourdes is a powerful one, and the response from across the Diocese to the invitation of our Blessed Lady to 'build a chapel' was wholehearted and moving. This sense of building the Church, the Kingdom of God, was very evident in Lourdes and this spirit continued, in a different way, on World Youth Day.

In Lisbon, some one and half million young people responded to the call of the Holy Father. Times of catechesis, the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation on the part of many pilgrims, the praying of the Stations of the Cross and, then, the Vigil and Mass that were the highpoint of World Youth Day, was a manifestation of the Universal Church and a powerful source of encouragement for the building of the Kingdom of God.

In this Sunday’s Gospel, we find Simon professing his faith in Jesus. Jesus' words - 'you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church' - surely remind us that we are called to build on that same foundation. The Church that we build must enable all people to experience the richness of the depths of God, about which St Paul writes in the letter to the Romans.  Just as Lourdes and Lisbon called forth the spirit of service, of care for others, and for the world in which we live - so these pilgrimages were powerful moments of the praise of God, to Whom be glory for ever.

Such prayer and praise is the summit of human experience, the highest purpose in our lives.  Let us, then, learn from Peter, from Our Lady’s message in Lourdes and from the great numbers of young people gathered in Lisbon – that our pilgrimage of life be one of service and of the praise of God.    

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With every blessing,

+ Richard