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Newsletter Sunday 13th August 2017 Today we keep the nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Tuesday 15th August is the feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady. It is a holiday of obligation and you are asked to come to Mass. Masses in the Church are at 7.30 and 10am and at 6.30pm. Please remember to return the application forms for the First Communion classes as soon as possible. Thanks for those who have offered to become Eucharistic Ministers. I realise that some will be away at present so I will begin the instructions in September. Works to the Angelus Room are due to start during the first week in September. They should take about three weeks. This means that it will not be available during the week though it should be open at weekends – though possibly not suitable for classes for the small children and they can go to the big hall. A dressing for your salad: an egg cup of wine vinegar and two egg cups of olive oil, salt, pepper, some French mustard, a teaspoon of sugar and if you wish, a clove of garlic. Put the ingredients in a bottle and shake well and keep in the fridge until you need to use it. A small puzzle for the nerdies: one of the Mercedes buses used on route 108, (MEC 34) has not been fitted with seats and is still “open plan†from the days when it was used on the Red Arrow Routes. This is the one with the broken destination indicator and a route board in the front window. I have been gradually clearing the garden beds in recent weeks though this has resulted in a mound of dead leaves and pine needles. Underneath the ground is very good and I will plant some bulbs in the autumn. The pots of basil seem to be doing well and the nets and spikes have deterred the birds and the squirrels. The chives and the parsley are going to seed and I need to clean out the pots and plant some more. I have picked the apples, which were quite good, but to date very few berries. A prayer from St. Francis of Assisi: Praise our God all you his servants, honour him, you who fear God, both great and small. Heaven and earth praise your glory, O Lord, all creatures in heaven and on earth, let us praise and glorify him for ever. The boy is busy reading Harry Potter at present: lots of explanations about what is happening which I do not quite understand. Years ago I tried one, Harry Potter and the Blue Prisoner or something, and that was enough. I must move him on – Evelyn Waugh or even Anthony Powell. He is not quite ready for Middlemarch yet. Some Eliot this week: There is no end, but addition, the trailing Consequences of further days and hours, While emotion takes to itself the emotionless Years of living among the breakage Of what was believed in as the most reliable. And here is something from Cardinal Hume from the days when he was Abbott at Ampleforth: Monasticism is a way of life and the word – way – recalls the pilgrim character of this life and of our monastic history. The scene changes, at one period slowly, at another rapidly. We ourselves change and must change. Sometimes our pace will be quick and sure, sometimes it is slow and the going heavy.  And to finish some lines from the Snark: There was one was famed for the number of things He forgot when he entered the ship; His umbrella, his watch, all his jewels and rings, And the clothes he had bought for the trip. Best wishes to you all, Monsignor Nicholas Rothon