Newsletter 17th July 2016
Today is the Sixteenth Sunday of the Church’s year.
Thanks to those who came to the parish AGM last week. I have up a list in the porch showing the new members of the Parish Council.
This is the last week for the organists and the choirs at 9.30 and 11. They will be taking a break for a few weeks and we will resume music again in September. Thanks to them for all their work.
To Canary Wharf for an investment meeting on Tuesday. These are interesting days. Many of our conventional theories have been overturned and we are having to rethink everything – with a sense of uncertainty about the future.
Friday of this week is the feast of St. Mary Magdalene and Saturday is the feast of St. Bridget of Sweden.
The school terms finish this week and I hope that you will have an enjoyable holiday. If it becomes very warm, you may wish to come up to the garden to use the pool. You are welcome to do this but please make sure that you have someone older to look after you. You can use the back garden gate.
This month is very full with marriages. This involves quite a lot of work. Apart from preparing the Church – and clearing up afterwards – there is a lot to in writing up the civil registers, for which four copies have to be prepared by hand in special black ink. It is the sort of job for which you have to settle down for an hour with a pot of coffee.
I found the recipe the other day for a salad as enjoyed by the Famous Five. You will need some radishes, two little gem lettuces, some hard boiled eggs, some grated carrots, a bunch of spring onions – sliced -and a punnet of cress as well as some salad cream. Inevitably you will also need some ginger beer. This will take you back to the 1950s.
One of the new Routemaster buses (LT2 operating on route 38) has been repainted in green with a cream band and golden London Transport lettering. The green is light colour used in pre-war days, not the splendid Lincoln green used on the post war RTs. It is certainly an improvement on some of the all over advertising liveries.
The metaphysical poets are always good value, so here is something from John Donne:
Thou has made me, and shall they work decay?
Repair me now, for now mine end doth haste;
I run to death, and death meets me as fast,
And all my pleasures are like yesterday.
The boy is spending a lot of time with his grandpa these days: the latest attraction – for the grandpa – is an Alfa Romeo car which has been totally rebuilt from a basic shell so that it appears to be a new car. As you can imagine this requires a lot of dusting and polishing so the great nephew is always hard at work.
The cherry tree produced a small amount of fruit, before the birds enjoyed it. Not really enough to eat, but it was good to see it appearing. There are some tiny olives but they are not big enough to use. Gradually the pots of herbs are growing. It has not been easy with a lot of rain and chill nights but the shoots are now starting to grow.
A prayer for today: Lord Jesus, you have taught us that love is the fulfilling of the law. Teach us now what love really is, how much it costs, how far it leads, how deep it digs into our selfish selves. Then give us the courage and the generosity to accept what this means today and tomorrow and in the whole future of our lives. Amen.
Best wishes to you all,
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon