Newsletter 19th August 2018.
Today is the Twentieth Sunday of the Church’s year.
I hope that you are enjoying the summer days.
Monday is the feast of St. Bernard, Tuesday St. Pius X and Friday the apostle St. Bartholomew.
There is a marriage in the Church at 1.30 on Thursday.
Please remember to return the inscription forms for the First Holy Communion classes and for the Confirmations as soon as possible.
Work should be starting on the renewal of the Church boiler this week: this may mean that access will have to be restricted through the garden and I will keep you informed.
You might have noted the row of tomatoes in the garden – the seem to have settled well though the fruit is not very large. Again and attempt at basil with may precautions to ward of the birds – and a large snail was found in the pot recently. The plants need space to grow but at once they become vulnerable to attack.
This summer I have been making a green salad as follows – cut up your lettuce and sprinkle well with plenty of lemon juice. Add some olive oil and a sprinkle of sugar. Finish with a little a slat and some black pepper. It goes well with almost anything.
There is a current programme to digitalise Parish Registers from before 1925. I have to wrap up our ancient books in non-acid paper and bubble wrap to make sure that they are safe, so that they can be sent off.
A prayer of blessing:
May the blessing of the Lord rest and remain upon all his people: may the Lord meet in mercy all who seek him: may the Lord comfort with tenderness all who suffer and mourn; and may the Lord hasten his coming and give us the blessing of peace.
Now the Pied Piper leads the children away:
Out came the children running.
All the little boys and girls,
With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls,
And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls,
Tripping and skipping, ran merrily after
The wonderful music with shouting and laughter.
From Thomas Merton:
His eyes, which are the eyes of Truth, are fixed upon my heart. Where his glance falls, there is peace: for the light of His Face, which is the Truth, produces truth wherever it shines. His eyes are always on us in choir and everywhere and in all times. No grace comes to us from heaven except He looks upon our hearts.
The boy is already beginning to think about the new year at school. This year he will be in year 3 and I think that his sister will be in the reception class. The cricket bat has been put away for another season and already he is looking for his rugby ball.
A question the other day about Atticus. The original Atticus lived in Athens and was a friend of Cicero. He appears in Alexander Pope’s epistle to Dr Arbuthnot as a nick-name for John Dryden. “Who would not laugh, if such a man there be? Who would not weep, if Atticus were he?” Much later he appears in “to Kill a mocking bird” and it was the pseudo-name of a columnist, I think in The Sunday Times.
Just room to mention that some of the older Enviro 400 buses – the ones which are not hybrids – seem to becoming quite noisy. I understand that the silencer on the turbo-charger burns through and it is difficult to find a replacement part. There was a similar problem with some of the older Volvo-Plaxtons a few years ago.
Best wishes to you all,
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon