Bishop Alan Hopes, auxiliary bishop of Westminster, was that principal guest at the event
on Wednesday, July 2 at the church of the Holy Trinity, Brook Green in west London.

'I must express the gratitude of the Cardinal and the auxiliary bishops and all the priests of the diocese to the Guild of St Stephen for all that it does in our dioceses, for all that it does in our parishes and for all that it does for you and many other hundreds of other servers.  I think that the Guild helps parishes celebrate the liturgy in a very dignified and good way.
'I also think the Guild passes on the wisdom of how to do it well, too. Not how things should be done now and for evermore, amen, because the Guild takes in the changes that have come down.  The changes that go on coming in – how things should be done to enhance our worship together and to give glory to God.'

YOUNG SERVERS

The Bishop said that he was greatly encouraged to see so many young servers attending the annual dinner of the Guild.
'I feel that all you young things here tonight are the people who encourage us to move on and I am jolly glad that you are here,'he said.

'We are grateful, too, to the Guild for drawing so many young people together from all over the diocese into the service at the altar and for giving them a Guild that aims to help them to seek to give their best in their parishes and to take a pride in what they do.  You all know that that is true.

'And the people who are in charge of you, members of the Guild, certainly do give you that pride in serving in your local churches. So our grateful thanks for all that you do to the Guild of St Stephen.'

Bishop Hopes then elaborated on the Renew movement that had been initiated by the Cardinal in recent months:  'As many of you will know, throughout the next three years the Cardinal has called on our diocese to renew ourselves both spiritually and pastorally in order that we will be better equipped to pass on our faith to others, to pass on our faith to those who have lapsed from the church, who don’t come any more, to pass on our faith to those who don’t know anything about our faith at all. And there are many, many more of those out in our world who aren’t even Catholics.  The Renew programme is to help us to pass on our faith, to talk about our faith to them.  It is important that we all take a part in that Renew programme.  And that goes for all those of you who are young, all those who are middle-aged and all those of you who, like me, are getting on a bit – and I won’t go any further than that!

RENEWAL IMPORTANT FOR US

'But it is important that we become part of that Renew programme.  We have such an important task as we serve at the altar each week and each day and what I really want to say that for all of us young and old, renewal should be part of our life anyway.  Serving is not an end in itself.  We do it not for our own glory but for the glory of God and in our service at the altar we hope that we can be drawn closer and closer to God over the years.

'So at the centre of our lives we should have a very important thing.  I am going to call it our spirituality – our spiritual lives.  Each one of you as servers every day should give a little bit of time to God.  Just to spend it quietly in God’s presence.  It might mean going into church.  It might mean going into your own room but just for a few minutes because it directs to God.  That is what you are doing at the altar – directing your life and doing what you do for Him.  Also, Confession should be part of our regular discipline as servers.  We should make our Confessions regularly so that we are prepared to serve at the altar.  We should go to Mass regularly, apart from the Masses we serve on a Sunday.  And we should arrive at church a little bit earlier than the time of Mass.  It is important just to prepare ourselves for that special event.  I know it is difficult to get up out of your bed on Sunday mornings – especially if you have be partying the night before.  It is important that we just try to have a little bit of time we give to God before we serve him.  It is our special work to serve in the liturgy and just as the Priest gets ready to say Mass, so you too should prepare to serve at the altar.  Just kneel down and ask God to help you to be ready.  Kneel down at the end of Mass to say thank-you to God for Holy Communion and for the privilege of serving Him at the altar.

NEED FOR QUIET PRAYER

'You know, that will never allow us to become too complacent about being altar servers – never allow us to get too big and be proud with what we do because we know we are doing it for God.

'For those of you who are in charge of bands of altar servers, it is important to make sure that the servers at that Mass come together and pray the Guild prayer and ask St Stephen to pray for us.  It just helps us to get ready and we really know what we are going to do.'

Bishop Hopes went on to comment about his visits to parishes to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation.  He said that he had noticed that where there was quiet and calm and not chatter and general noise in the Sacristies where servers were vesting, the quality of the liturgy was definitely improved.

'Where there is bustle or noise, things seem to get confused on the altar but where there is stillness and reflection, people seem to know what they are up to,'he said.

VOCATIONS

As a final point, Bishop Hopes said that he had recently said Mass and preached at what was called a ‘discernment weekend’ where some 27 young men were trying to see if God was calling them to become a priest in the Catholic Church.  They were, he said, from all walks of life, some just from school or going into college and some were already in the world of work.
In a general discussion after lunch, Bishop Hopes asked how many of them had, at some time, served on the altar.

'The great majority of them indicated that they had been altar servers and that, to me, was wonderful and now, here they were, hearing the call of God to think about priesthood.  To me that says an awful lot.

'Those of us who are older and still serve.  You are also the ones who will give a very good example to those young lads who serve – and of course, the young girls though I’m sorry but you cannot become priests – but your own example of faith, your enthusiasm, your encouragement makes such a difference to the young people who serve.  And who knows, you might be fostering a vocation, right now, in your parish and without your knowledge.  Talk about vocation; talk about priesthood; talk about your own priest positively.  Pray for your band of servers that God will call some of them to serve him at the altar as priests.  We have got to promote vocations and all that that means.

'To those of you who are not running your band of altar servers and are eligible for the priesthood: think about it.  I can only say for myself, what a wonderful privilege it is.  If you hear the call to serve God as a priest, answer generously and you will be happy and at peace with yourself for the rest of your life.  There are lots of questions you have to keep asking.  There may be times of doubt and so on but I tell you there is much joy to be in the priesthood.

'So if God is calling you, listen to Him – don’t dismiss that voice, it is something inside.  And you won’t be able to give it up because God is very persistent.  God was very persistent about my becoming a Catholic and it took 27 years before it did and now looks what has happened!

'Don’t bewail the lack of vocations.  Be positive – God will bring in the harvest.'

GUILD CENTENARY

President of the Archconfraternity, Anthony Hawes, replied to the toast to the Guild that was made by the Bishop, thanked him both for his presence at the annual dinner and also for his personal support for the Guild.

'It has become very apparent to me that Bishop Hopes has a lively interest in the Guild and we hope that he will continue that and foster it.
'I dare say that sometimes we do think that some of the hierarchy, over the past years have not given us the support we feel we need but it is very nice to find that this Bishop is enthusiastic about the work of the Guild and we thank you very much.
'Also, I must thank Mary Connell and her band of helpers for providing such a splendid meal for us this evening.'
Mr Hawes went on to point out that the Guild of St Stephen was started in the Parish of Holy Trinity, at the Sacred Heart Convent nearby.
'But it was established in Westminster in December, 1905,'he said, 'and we will be planning a comprehensive programme of events to celebrate the centenary, one of which will be the Guild visit to Rome.
'In 1955, for the 50th anniversary, we took 350 servers from  all over the country to Rome.  It would be nice  to get somewhere near that figure again.
'Unfortunately, these days, nothing like that is cheap but I would suggest to you that if you are at all interested should start saving now.  In my own parish we already have a committee that has started raising funds to subsidise our servers.  The last three visits to Rome, we subsidised our servers to the extent of a couple of hundred pounds each which brings the cost down to quite a reasonable figure.
'I think that is the way for all of you to go, if you want to come to Rome get down to raising funds now so that you can come and join us.  I can assure you it will be a worthwhile visit.'

YOUNG VOLUNTEERS

Mr Hawes took the opportunity to call for help from the younger members of the Guild to come and work on the Central Council.  He pointed out that some of the Council members were getting on in years.  He admitted that he was over 70 years of age.
'We need younger people – 20 year-olds and people who have just finished university – to come in and start helping us with the work of the Guild but particularly with the work of preparing for the celebrations of the centenary.  If you are interested in helping, please talk to us because we do need that help.
Toastmaster for the evening, Guild Treasurer, Paul Diston, made a special point of thanking the host parish priest, Canon Eddie Matthews, for providing our venue free of charge.