newsletter 19th July 2015

Newsletter 19th July 2015
Thank you for your generous response to the Mission Appeal last Sunday. I will announce the total at Mass today.
After the morning Masses today there will be tea coffee and cakes in the Angelus Room.
Saturday is the feast of the Apostle, St. James, the patron of Spain. His relics are kept in the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela. Pilgrims wear a scallop shell to show that they have completed their journey.
Summer holidays now and the schools and Colleges are closed for a few weeks. The next big events are the results days for the exams – first the A levels at the beginning of August and the GCSE later in the month.
The games afternoon last week-end was most enjoyable. The new trampoline is now in use. Please remember to observe the rules which are displayed in the Angelus Room and at the back to the Church. Thanks to Olivia and Joe for the new garden games – they were acquired to entertain the guests at the reception after their wedding and were passed on to us for use in the garden. I always think that croquet is more civilised than football.
The great nephew will soon be four. Following the example of his mother, I am sure that his birthday celebration will be exotic. His young sister watches him with amazement, wondering what he is going to do next.
Already thoughts about the next First Holy Communion Programme and I have put out some inscription forms today. Please return them as soon as possible as I need to order the text books for the children. It makes it difficult if children turn up at the last minute and there are not enough books. There will be an initial meeting for parents in mid-September.
Now here is the recipe for this week. I saw this recently and must try it some time to see if it will work. Half and avocado pear and remove the stone. Fill the cavity with an egg and bake in a hot oven until the egg sets. Serve with a dash of paprika. It occurs to me that the flesh of the pear might shrivel up during the cooking – but it is worth trying.
Some more comments on the new Routemaster buses. Many of them operate without conductors, particularly in the evening. It seems that the doors on the rear platform are not altogether safe and you have to take care when they close as they can catch your shoes or loose top. My brother observes these matters with great care and passes his comments to me.
Next week an audit of the parish accounts by the Diocesan auditors as well as a visit from the Diocesan Health and Safety consultant – so a few busy days tidying everything up to make sure that all is in order.
From next week, instead of Mark we will be reading John’s gospel at Mass for a few weeks. This happens in the year of Mark – it is the shortest of the gospels and it is not long enough for all the 34 weeks of ordinary time – so we “pad” it out with John’s account of the promise of the Eucharist.
A night prayer from Psalm 133:
O come, bless the Lord, all you who serve the Lord. Who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord through the night. May the Lord bless you form Zion, he who made both heaven and earth.
This was probably one of the prayers used by the priests in the temple in Jerusalem.
You probably remember this from Thomas Grey
The breezy call of incense breathing morn,
The swallow twittering from the straw built shed,
The cock’s shrill clarion or the echoing horn,
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.
And to finish a parody of Eliot:
Oh listeners,
And you especially who have turned off the wireless,
And sit in Stoke or Basingstoke listening appreciatively to the silence ,
(Which is also the silence of hell) pray, not for your skins, but for your souls.