newsletter 12th Mary 2019

Newsletter 12th May 2019.

Today is the Fourth Sunday of Eastertide.

It is kept as a special day of prayer for vocations to the priesthood and the religious life.

There is a second collection today to help meet the cost of training the future priests of the Diocese.

Tuesday is the feast of the apostle St. Matthias who was chosen to replace Judas.

Next Sunday is the day of the First Holy Communions and we are looking forward to it very much.

There will be a practice in the Church at 10.30am after the morning Mass on Saturday. Lots of things to be done – practice the readings and the bidding prayers and when to come up – as well as the singing. If all goes well, after the Mass, we will be able to plant a special tree in the garden.

On the day itself, Communions are at the 11am Mass.  It will be very crowded with the blocks of seats in the middle of the Church reserved for the families. If you normally come at 11, you might possibly think of coming to a different Mass on this day.

The children are asked to come to the big hall by about 10.30 to line up and to be ready to arrive at the door of the Church on the dot at 11am.

It always seems to be a fine day and we look forward to celebrating with you in the garden after the Mass.

Next Friday there is a funeral Mass in the Church at 12 noon for Maureen Smith.

The liturgy group meets on Monday evening at 8pm.  We should be able to complete out plans to take us through to the summer break.

To Canary Wharf again on Tuesday for an investment meeting and a Governors’ meeting at the Sixth Form College in the evening.

Some of you will know that the water slide has arrived. It will be good fun but will need quite a lot of work: the hose to keep the slide wet and some soap to make sure that you can slide at high speed. It is 12 metres long so it will need a lot of energy. I look forward to some warm days so that we can enjoy it.

At present some work is taking place in the house to renew the heating boiler. Last year we renewed the boiler in the Church and this year we need to attend to the house with a modern low energy boiler and some new controls to keep down energy costs.

I hope the days will be warm so here is a recipe for simple soup. Cook a cucumber, some spring onions and a couple of potatoes in some butter until soft. Add some chicken stock, season and cook until all is soft. Pass through a sieve and add some cream and some shreds of tarragon. Chill and serve in individual cups.

A prayer from the Armenian Church:

O God, creator of light, at the rising of your sun this morning, let the greatest of all lights, your love, rise like the sun within our hearts.

Over the Easter period the new railways signals between Lewisham and Blackheath were commissioned.  I think the new building behind the up platform contains the control systems.  The new signals have two rather than four lamps but the  bulbs can show different colours.  As far as I can work out, the signals are slightly farther apart compared with the previous set and the trains are able to operate at a higher speed.

The boy and his sister are delighted with the new cousin – a boy – who arrived in the week before Easter. He is a little too small to play with them as yet but no doubt in a few weeks he will be dragged out so share in their games.

To finish, Wordsworth on Spring:

The budding twigs spread out their fan

To catch the breezy air:

And I must think, do all I can,

That there was pleasure there.

Best wishes to you all

Monsignor Nicholas Rothon

 

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