Newsletter 31st July 2016
Today we have the Mission appeal which this year is being made on behalf of the Verona Fathers.
On Monday the kneelers in the benches will be removed so that the new pads can be fitted. They will be back by Friday 12th August. Work will start in the Church early in the morning on Monday so on this day the Mass will be in the Angelus room. There will be no kneelers next Sunday so I suggest that just for one week, you should sit at the times when you would normally kneel. The pads will be blue – most comfortable and the church will look splendid when the work is completed.
The holiday month, so not many things to report this week. If the days are warm, children are welcome to come up to the garden to play – use the back gate. Probably a good idea if an adult comes with them if they are small and want to use the pool.
Saturday of this week is the feast of the Transfiguration.
The boy celebrated his fifth birthday last week. At the recent sports day at his school, his mother easily outpaced some of the plump fathers in the parents’ race. They did not realise that they were competing with an Oxford half blue for ice hockey.
As an alternative to bus and railway news, have you noticed that in Trafalgar Square, the little green man on the traffic signals has been replaced with a mixed male – female symbol.
Forms are now available for the First Communion classes. I would be grateful if they could be returned as soon as possible. I am working on details for the Confirmation classes and will let you know as soon as I have some information. I have to agree a date with the Bishop and also arrange for the teacher to come.
Salad days: here is my usual recipe for French dressing: 1 egg cup of wine vinegar, 2 egg cups of olive oil, pepper, salt, some sugar, a dash of French mustard and a crushed clove of garlic. Put all the ingredients in a bottle and shake well before using. It is good to serve this with some chopped new potatoes and some chopped chives – from the garden pot.
Chesterton on wine:
Feast on wine or fast on water
And your honour shall stand sure,
God almighty’s son and daughter
He the valiant, she the pure;
If an angel out of heaven,
Brings you other things to drink,
Thank him for his good intentions,
Go and pour them down the sink.
Now time for a prayer, from St. Anselm: My God, I pray that I may so know you and love you that I may rejoice in you. And if I may not do so fully in this life, let me go steadily on to the day when I come to the fullness of life. Meanwhile let my mind meditate on your eternal goodness, my whole being desire it, until I enter into your joy. Amen.
Lots of space this week: do you know Lake Wobegon days? It has been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon. The children are back at school after a riotous week of break. The weather was so lovely when the children were released from confinement that the fresh air went to their heads. Air has a different effect on children: what we merely breath, children are ignited and launched by it. At Our Lady on Sunday morning, Father Emil felt as if was speaking to a convention of rabbits instead of the usual heard of turtles.
And a final word from Betjeman:
For me in my timber arbour
You have one more message yet,
Plimsolls, plimsolls in the summer,
Oh galoshes in the wet.
Best wishes to you all,
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon