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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Our Diocese has two principal patrons: Our Blessed Lady and St Philip Howard. This year, St Philip’s Feast Day falls this Sunday. Perhaps we might think that a saint of the 16th Century may not have very much to say to us in this 21st Century. The world is, in many ways, so different. However, St Philip – as is the case with any saint – carries a message that is for any age.

In St Philip Howard, we see a man who knew what it was to be attracted by the cult of celebrity. In his case, it was the celebrity life of the Elizabethan Court. Today, the cult of celebrity is all around us and there can be a temptation to measure our lives accordingly – possessions, fashionable style, status, notoriety, a presence on social media.

He even neglected his own family for the bright lights of the Court, isolating himself from those who held him most dear. However, in time and through the witness of others, notably St Edmund Campion, he realised that the glitter and fripperies of the Court were hollow, without real meaning. His journey brought him home and, in time, to conversion to the Catholic Faith. This step led to imprisonment in the Tower of London, where he was to die in 1595.

From a life of celebrity and privilege, St Philip came to recognise that there could be nothing more important than his relationship with Christ in the community of the Church, and the love of his family, even though he was to be denied meeting with them when imprisoned in the Tower. His witness to the Catholic faith has brought him a different kind of celebrity – not one of worldly privilege, but that of a saint; not one of being served – but one of service.

May the patron of our Diocese intercede for us, as we seek to serve Christ in the mission He has given to us.

With every blessing,

+Richard

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