At a distance of 2000 years we can be forgiven if, occasionally, we think of Jesus as just a character from the past. What we cannot be forgiven for is thinking that He is dead. Yes, He died, but the power of God's sprit caused Him to be raised from the dead and today He is alive and active in our world. Even His closest disciples took a while to catch on.

They saw Him die and they presumed the whole enterprise had ended in failure. It was only gradually that they realised He was in fact, risen from the grave. Some of them had the tremendous privilege of actually seing Him in His glorified body after the resurrection. When they saw the wounds He bore, they were able to accept it was really Him and not just a ghost. We, too, can see Him in the flesh. We see Him in the flesh and bones of those who surround us. But we need eyes of faith to recognise Him. He is in the faces of starving people on our TV screens, in the faces of our family and friends, of the helpless baby, the old person who needs our care, and in the people who cheer us up and bring us encouragement. In fact, Christ has no body now on earth except that of men and women who carry His spirit in their daily lives. We hear Christ still in His words. When we read scripture, when the word of God is proclaimed in worship, it is the risen Christ who now speaks to us, if we have ears of faith to hear Him. When bread and wine is blessed, broken and shared, we meet Christ. When oil is poured on the sick and hands gently laid on them, it is Christ who brings His healing presence to bear. When enemies begin to speak to each other, when politicians seek ways of resolving conflict, when we ourselves recognise our need for forgiveness and seek it in God's church, Christ is there with His reconciling gifts. And when men and women join together in a life-long commitment of love and publicly proclaim His love by the way they live, Christ is sharing their joy and offering them strength.

Christ is not dead. He is alive and well and living close to you.

God Bless you all,

Fr Bernard

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Mass Times

Saturday 5:30 pm (Holy Cross church)
Sunday 9:00 am (St. James with St. Lukes church)
Sunday 11:00 am (Holy Cross church)

About The Parish

Interior of Holy Cross church St. Luke's and Holy Cross parish is one of the 6 parishes in West Essex Deanery and part of Roman Catholic Diocese of Brentwood. The parish history began since about 1959 with Sunday masses in Potter Street. The Holy Cross church was built in 1963 and St. Luke's church in 1966 (shared with Church of England and Methodist). The Parish Priest is Father Bernard Soley, since 2006.

The parish has 7 areas, each with one or two Pastoral Assistants. The Catholic population in the parish was estimated about 3500 in 2003, average mass attendance of about 468, with 4 marriages and 29 baptism a year*.

*Source: Brentwood Diocesan Directory 2005.

About This Web Site

The web site is organised into 7 sections shown on the menu bar. When you click on the menu bar, the left navigation shows the sub menus for that section.

About the parish section describes the parish history, churches, staff, council, areas, twin parish and other parishes in Harlow. The Sacraments section contains the mass times, baptism, first communion, confirmation, reconciliation (penance), wedding (holy matrimony), funeral, communion for the sick and hospital chaplancy.

Ministries section explains the altar servers, ministry of readers, eucharistic ministers, choir and usher. Activities tells about altar servers, senior citizen, stewardship, event calendar, knights of St. Columba, legion of Mary and gift aid.

Schools describes the 3 Catholic schools in the Parish. Links contains related web sites within Diocese of Brentwood, Vatican and Catholic news. Contact us explains how to contact the parish via post, telephone or email including maps and directions.

If you have any suggestions or comments about this web site, please let us know.