St. Mary’s,
Blackheath
Newsletter: 25th September 2016
Mass times: Saturday: 6.30pm (first Mass of Sunday)
Sunday: 9.30 and 11am and 7.30pm
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 10am
Tuesday, Thursday: 7.30am
Eucharistic Service: Tuesday 10am
There is a Mass at the Convent on Friday evenings at 6.30pm.
Confessions: Saturday 12 to 1pm
Welcome back to the parish magazine after the summer break.
Today there is the inscription Mass for the First Communion class at 9.30am. The children will receive their special crosses which they will wear as a special sign during this year. Also they will be reading and preparing the bidding prayers for the first time today.
The Parish Council meets on Tuesday evening at 8p in the house. Agenda papers are available today.
This week I travel up to the Lake District on Wednesday for a Conference for the Sixth Form College. This means that I will not be here on Thursday morning and there will not be here for the 7.30am Mass. On Monday we are busy with the shortlisting of candidates for a new Principal for the College. The interviews will take place during October.
Tuesday of this week is the feast of St. Vincent de Paul, Thursday the feast of ST. Michael and the Angels and Friday the feast of St. Jerome.
A recipe for this week: season some small pieces of chicken and cook gently until they are browned in some butter. Place in a covered pay and add a can of ratatouille and cook gently until the chicken is well flavoured. Serve with some long grain rice. An easy and quick dish to feed some hungry children.
The works at London Bridge seem to be proceeding well, though there have been one or two disastrous total signal failures, leading to long delays and diversions of the London trains to other terminuses. The new platforms are well equipped but I think that the station staff need some more training. On our steam railway, the staff are always well trained.
Gradually the garden is settling down for the winter. The patch of earth from the pool needs to recover. I put down some lawn seed but the birds treat this as an unexpected feast. Gradually with some wet days to break up the earth, the grass recovers again. My second attempt at planting basil and parsley did well but it is too late to plant them out in a bed. We have cut back the roses and I may trim the new olive trees to ensure that they grow in the correct shape.
A prayer from William Blake: O Saviour, pour upon me thy spirit of meekness and love, annihilate the selfhood in me, be thou all my life. Guide thou my hand which trembles exceedingly upon the rock of ages.
A verse from Roy Fuller:
When they call me reactionary I shall smile,
Secure in another dimension. When they say
‘Cinna has ceased to matter’ I shall know
How well I reflect the times.
The boy is now well settled back at school. His sister is starting at nursery. The new cousin who was born during the summer is too tiny to be sent off to school yet. Already looking forward to Christmas. It will be great fun to see them all. I am sure that the boy will beat us all at Scrabble. It reminds me – I must start thinking about the quiz. It does not serve any useful purpose and is mainly for mine own entertainment. I hope that I will be able to defeat my sister in law this year – she knows how my mind works and can solve most of the questions whilst basting the turkey.
Best wishes to you all,
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon