newsletter 2nd April 2017

Newsletter 2nd April 2017.

Today is the Fifth week of Lent – at one time known as Passion Sunday. The statues in the Church are veiled today until the Easter Vigil.

Next Sunday is Palm Sunday – the palms will be blessed in the garden before the 9.30 Mass. Please remember to arrive in good time.  The First Holy Communion children will help with the distribution of the palms and the reading of the gospel.

This year we will read the account of the passion from St. Matthew’s gospel. You are asked to share in the parts marked for the crowd. Readers may like to take one of the books with the parts marked out.

The First Communion class takes place on Saturday at 10am in the big hall. The parents who are helping with the class this time have a meeting in the house at 8pm on Monday.

There are several prayers and special events at the Convent during Holy Week and you are invited to share in these. I have put out some leaflets and there are details on the notice board.

The priests of the Deanery meet on Tuesday this week and there is a meeting at Greenwich Town Hall in the evening.

The Church organ has been tuned during the past week. The major overhaul was a great success and everything seems to be working well. It was necessary to retune some of the notes on the flute stop as the slide had slipped but otherwise all was well.

Today is the anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005.  I remember listening to the wireless on this evening and learning of his death.

The quiz in the recent edition of the parish magazine was fascinating – not my work! Most of the questions were way beyond my time frame– Matilda, Harry Potter and  The Tiger who came to Tea.  My questions would have come from Just William, Biggles and the Famous Five.

Another recipe from Spain: slice some mushrooms and sprinkle with Lemon juice. Cook them in some hot oil with some crushed garlic and some chopped chilli. Season and cook slowly for about 8 minutes and then add some more sliced garlic and cook for a little while. Serve hot with some chopped garlic.  I think this is on the menu at Maria Jose in Segovia, well known to some of my fellow travellers.

A Lenten prayer: Lord, feed our souls that we may continually live in you and you in us. Purify us in our obedience. Protect us in temptation. Renew our spirits with your endless life. So may we follow you to your Cross in greater holiness and love.

George Herbert on Sunday:

The Sunday of man’s life,

Thredded together on time’s string,

Make bracelets to adorn the wife

Of the eternall glorious king.

On Sunday heaven’s gate stands ope,

Blessings are plentifull and rife,

More plentifull than hope.

The London Railway Record has recently published a detailed history of Blackheath station. Before the present booking hall was built on the bridge above the tracks, there were two identical archways as entrances to the up and the down platforms. The arch for up line survives, though slightly narrowed to make way for the new building. 

A request for a badminton set, purchased from the Myra Fund. I will see what might be possible. The net will have to go into the middle of the grass as otherwise the shuttlecocks will find their way into the trees. Also I will be renewing the rope of the tree ladder. Did the foxes eat the rope or was it broken?

Best wishes to you all,

Monsignor Nicholas Rothon

   

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