Newsletter 18th March 2018.
Today is the Fifth Sunday of Lent, at one time known as Passion Sunday. From today the statues in the Church are veiled so as to concentrate our minds on the events of the Passion of the Lord.
Today at 5pm there will be a special service of Lenten music and readings presented by the choir. This replaces the normal Stations of the Cross.
Next Sunday is Palm Sunday. The blessing of the Palms will take place in the garden before the 9.30 Mass followed by the procession into the Church. During Mass we will read the account of the Passion from Mark’s gospel and you will be asked to respond to the crowd parts. Blessed palms will be available at the Masses later in the day.
Monday is the feast of St. Joseph.
On Saturday we celebrated the feast of St. Patrick and placed the relic of the saint on the altar. Perhaps a unique event – Bishop Patrick Lynch share in the Mass and the relic of my saint, St. Nicholas, is in the reliquary beneath the altar.
The parents who are organising the lesson for the first Holy Communion class are asked to come to the house at 8pm on Monday so that we can prepare everything. The class takes place on Saturday morning. The children will have a special task next week helping to organise the Palm Sunday celebration, reading the parts of the gospel and leading the singing of the hymn.
A busy week again – a Finance Meeting at Christ the King College on Monday, a Safeguarding meeting to organise in the hall on Tuesday and to Greenwich on Thursday for a Local Authority meeting.
Another basic recipe from the College in Spain which we have regularly. I am sure that it will be allowed during Lent. Soak some white beans overnight and rinse and drain them. Stew them in some fresh water with some pieces of chorizo and season as necessary. Serve very hot. This is a typical country dish, served at lunch time to the tractor drivers at the bar in the pueblo.
A prayer for Passion tide. Teach us, Lord, by your cross, that however ill the world may go, the Father so loved us that he did not spare you, but received the offering of your life so that we might live through you and in you and for you, who are the resurrection and the life.
And now the War Song of the Saracens:
We are they who come faster than fate:
We are they who ride early or late:
We storm at your ivory gate:
Pale kings of the Sunset beware!
(More to follow – this is great fun!)
A fascinating article from the Architect’s Journal on the rebuilding of London Bride Station. The roofs for the new platforms were assembled as complete sections off site including lighting, electrics, drainage etc. and then brought by road – three at a time – and assembled during the week ends. Look carefully and you can see that they include access hatches for maintenance which can be opened without the need to block the railway lines.
Now a question: what does this relate to: Time and Relative Dimension in Space?
The boy and his sister are doing well at school: sometimes their mother has to work on Sundays at the hospital so their Father takes them out to lunch: they enjoy this enormously and order exotic dishes.
And finally some words from Thomas a Kempis from the Imitation of Christ:
You cannot escape it, withersoever you run. For where-so ever you go you carry yourself with you, and shall always find yourself. Turn upwards, or downwards, turn inwards or outwards; everywhere, you shall find the cross.
Best wishes to you all,
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon