newsletter 3rd January 2016

Newsletter 3rd January 2016
The first newsletter of the New Year –and to wish you every success and blessings for the year ahead.
Today we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany – the visit of the three wise men to the Holy Family. At one time on 6th January but now transferred to the Sunday. Somehow it does not seem like Twelfth Night.
Thank you for all your help with the Christmas celebrations in the Church.
Thank you also for your generous Christmas offerings and for your many gifts and cards which were much appreciated.
Our visitor from the College in Spain, Andrew, arrived on Saturday and I am sure that you will be able to meet him. He is with us until the end of January.
I am conscious of the fact that we have not confirmed the date of the next meeting of the Parish Council but I hope to be able to agree this within the next few days.
Work starts again early in the New Year. First Holy Communion classes once again on Saturday at 10am in the big hall. This is also the day for First Confessions. There will be a meeting in the house on Monday evening at 8pm for the parents who have agreed to help with the class this time.
Lots of school duties this coming week – an Inset day on Monday and meetings on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
On Friday morning we will be taking down the crib and putting the figures away for another year. Also time to ensure that your generous gifts for the Manna and for the Asylum Seekers reach their correct destinations.
The Justice and Peace group meet on Saturday in the Angelus Room.
There is a meeting of the Liturgy Group booked for 11th January but I have been called to an Education meeting at the Town Hall and so we will need to change the date.
The great nephew and his sister enjoyed their Christmas celebrations. He is back to school now and is hard at work learning irregular Latin verbs and catching up on his French vocab. Years ago, when his grandfather was preparing for his “A levels”, the target was twenty new words a day.
The works at London Bridge Station are due to be completed today. There is a temptation to take the first train over the new lines on Monday morning but I think it must wait for a few days. The next stage will be to renew the lines through the centre of the station – the old platforms 4 and 5 which will be used by the Thameslink services.
A Spanish cake for the feast of the kings (los Reyes). You will need to beat together six eggs with 13 oz of fine sugar – add 2 teaspoons of grated lemon zest and gentle fold in 6 ½ oz of plain flower. Bake in a medium oven for 1 hour. Serve with cream.
Lord of creation, in whose power are all times and seasons, bless this year and crown it with your goodness. Keep your Church in peace, grant us every blessing and lead us to our eternal home, where you reign for ever and ever.
Jenny Joseph being naughty:
I will sit on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples and ring alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
(I loved the newsletter from the head teacher who said – Please do not send nuts to school.)
Best wishes to you all
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon