St Mary’s Blackheath
Newsletter 22nd January 2023
Sunday Masses: Saturday 6.30pm first Mass of Sunday
– Sunday 9.30 and 11am and 5pm.
Monday to Friday: Mass at 8am.
Saturday 10am and 6.30pm
Confessions: Saturday 12 to 1
Today is the Third Sunday of ordinary time.
Our readings from Matthew’s gospel begin today.
Tuesday is the Feast of St. Francis de Sales, Wednesday the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul and Saturday the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas.
The funeral Mass for Nadia Coote will take place at 11am on Thursday 26th of January.
Last week-end the children in the First Holy Communion group made their first Confession. We are now moving on to explain the different parts of the Mass and the meaning of Holy Communion.
A quotation from St. Francis de Sales: Devotion is nothing else but that spiritual alertness and vivacity which enables us to co-operate with charity and wholeheartedly: and to make us keep generally and universally all God’s commandments.
Travelling to London, look out for the elaborate renewal of the track at the end of Lewisham Station. The work was carried out during the week after Christmas and it must have been a mammoth undertaking.
And now a recipe: this is really good – slowly cook a head of celery and a chopped onion in some butter for about 40 minutes. Add a pint of chicken stock, cook gently for about 20 minutes and then liquidise thoroughly. Pass through a sieve to remove all the fibre and add a pot of single cream. Reheat in a clean pan. It is well worth the effort.
Much interest in John Donne recently. Here is one of the Divine Poems.
In prayers, and flattering speeches I court God;
Tomorrow I quake with true feare of his rod.
So my devout fitts come and go away
Like a fantastique Ague; save that here
Those are my best days, when I shake with feare.
The spring flowers have started to appear in the garden. I hope that they will not be killed off by the very cold weather in recent days.
No news of the boy and his sister. At half term their mother takes them off to some special places and I am sure that they are looking forward to this.
A prayer from St. Benedict:
Lord, give us wisdom to perceive thee, intellect to understand thee, diligence to seek thee, patience to wait for thee, eyes to behold thee, a heart to meditate upon thee and life to proclaim thee.
The past week has been very busy: the meeting of the Trustees for the College in Spain was long and complex: also I am involved in planning a major property transaction. An initial meeting last week and a full meeting this Monday. So life is interesting!
I hope that you are all keeping well and as far as possible avoiding the Virus.
Best wishes to you all,
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon