- MARY’S NEWSLETTER
5, Cresswell Park, SE3 9RD
Tel. 020 8852 5420
E-mail: stm.Blackheath@tiscali.co.uk
Website: www.stmarysblackheath.org.uk
Mass times: Saturday: 6.30 pm (first Mass of Sunday) Sunday: 9.30 am, 11.00 am, 7.30 pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 10.00 am Tuesday and Thursday: 7.30 am Eucharistic Service: Tuesday 10.00 am Confessions: Saturday 12 to 1.00 pm
Newsletter 3rd November 2019. Today is the Thirty First Sunday of the Church’s year.
The funeral Mass for Archbishop Bowen takes place on Monday at 12.30pm at St. George’s Cathedral. We pray for the repose of his soul. I remember him with great affection as I worked for him at the Finance Office for many years. In recent times he lived in retirement in a flat next to Greenwich Park.
Also we pray for the repose of the soul of Sue Gyde who died recently. For many years she helped to organise the liturgy for the children and was a Governor of Christ King College. Her funeral will take place at her family home in Wales but there will be a memorial service here at a later date.
On Friday the 10am Mass is a funeral Mass for Mrs. Elizabeth Barry.
Next Sunday is Remembrance Sunday. The 11am Mass will be a Requiem Mass for those who died in the World Wars. Please remember to arrive in good time as we will observe the two minutes’ silence at the beginning of the Mass.
During November, we remember the Holy Souls in our prayers. There is a basket beneath the altar and you can add a list of names for those who will be remembered at Mass.
There is a second collection next week for the Archbishop’s Administration Fund.
First Communion classes have come around once again. There is a meeting for parents to plan the class at 8pm on Monday in the house and the class will be in the big hall at 10am on Saturday morning.
There is a Latin class next Saturday afternoon at 4pm. Thanks to Pete and Hazel for arranging this.
We always try to bring back a recipe from the College in Spain. A first course is a mixture of white cabbage, carrots and pieces of potato, served hot and mixed with some black pepper and a little olive oil.
The visitors to the College were astonished at the speed of the train journey from Madrid to Valladolid – 300 kph with a photo of the screen in the coach to prove it. The HS2 in England is a long way off, but it is already happening in Spain.
The jackdaw sat on the Cardinal’s chair
Bishop and abbot and prior were there
Many a monk, and many a friar
Many a knight, and many a squire
With a great many of lesser degree
In sooth a goodly company.
(this is a great favourite of old – do you remember it? I will have to quote it to you in full at some time. It is as good as the Pied Piper.)
There are still problems with my basil plants. I tried an on line solution: a spray of water and washing up liquid but it almost killed them off. I look for the insects each day but have been unable to find them. A possible solution might be a light coating of honey on some of the leaves so that I can catch them.
A prayer from St. Anselm:
Lord our God, grant us grace to desire thee with a whole heart, so that desiring thee we may seek and find thee; and so finding thee, may love thee; and loving thee, may hate those sins which separate us from thee.
Best wishes to you all
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon
Today the story of Zacchaeus – you will notice that this comes towards the end of Luke’s gospel – we have reached chapter 19 and the Lord is making his final journey to Jerusalem. He has travelled along the border of Galilee and Samaria – where he had healed the lepers, but now he has reached Jericho, possibly as part of the group of pilgrims making their way to the Holy City of the feast of the Passover. We know of Jericho from the parable of the Good Samaritan – it is about 23 miles to the west of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is situated in the Judean hills – about 2700 feet above Sea level – whilst Jericho is in the Jordan valley, about 770 feet below sea level. The road down to Jericho is lonely and dangerous, through the rocky hills – as the parable explains, but Jericho itself is an oasis, a pleasant and prosperous town, with spacious villas and palm trees, a place where the rich merchants from Jerusalem could establish a comfortable retreat. Zacchaeus – belongs to this set – he is described in the gospel as a senior tax collector and a wealthy man. He would not collect the taxes himself – probably he had purchased a concession from the Romans to levy taxes and to retain a commission, which could be substantial, for himself. He would employ a number of agents to act on his behalf who would go around and collect the taxes for him. This made him less than popular – he would be seen as acting on behalf of the Roman occupiers, betraying his Jewish heritage, and there would be complaints about his rate of commission and the demands made by his agents – the fact that he appears to be a wealthy man – living in comfort in Jericho might have given grounds for their complaints. There are the outward signs, but in essence he could have been a lonely and an unhappy, excluded from social gatherings on account of the occupation that he had chosen.
There is the curious phrase in the gospel – he was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was – not yet a formed belief but rather at this stage a curiosity – and he must have amazed some of his neighbours – this normally officious little man climbing up one of the sycamore trees so that he could see over the heads of the crowd. But to his amazement – from all of the crowd – the Lord recognises him in a special and personal way and asks if he can come to his house.
Generally this story is taken as a moment of conversion – I will give half my property to the poor – I will pay back four times – but a careful examination of the text suggests that the words are not in the future tense – it is something that he is doing already – giving half of his income to the poor – and if – as a possibility – he has cheated anybody – he is prepared to make restitution way beyond the rules of the Jewish law – the Torah normally demanded full restitution plus 20 per cent interest.
So here is the prosperous, but unhappy man, a rejected outsider to his contemporaries, but nevertheless inherently good in his own life – the Lord recognises this- he looks up and speaks to him – hurry, I must stay at your house today.
And I think there is something of Zacchaeus in each one of us – first this question – what sort of man Jesus is – the search of faith and trying to understand what this means – St Teresa of Avila says that the grace of knowing God comes to us through the hands of Christ in his holy humanity – as we read the gospels we come to know the story of the human nature of Christ – and through this, we come to know God. And our confidence that God knows through and through – he knows our failings, but also he seems what is good in our hearts – externally it may not be obvious to others – it is ass if we might be too short for the Lord to see us over the heads of the crowd – but he knows and understands us – not just what we might intend in the future, but what we are here and now – and so the call of faith – I must stay at your house today. It is possible to resist – there is a parable in the gospels where the householder refuses to open his door when his neighbour comes to ask for help – and is not an insistent demand – rather a friendly request – can I come to your house today – it is possible to refuse – to make an excuse – but it is possible with joy to welcome the presence of the Lord – he hurried down and welcomed him with joy – possibly others may not understand what has happened – in the gospel they all complained – but with joy in our hearts we recognise the presence of the Lord – today salvation has come to this house.
Today the story of Zacchaeus – you will notice that this comes towards the end of Luke’s gospel – we have reached chapter 19 and the Lord is making his final journey to Jerusalem. He has travelled along the border of Galilee and Samaria – where he had healed the lepers, but now he has reached Jericho, possibly as part of the group of pilgrims making their way to the Holy City of the feast of the Passover. We know of Jericho from the parable of the Good Samaritan – it is about 23 miles to the west of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is situated in the Judean hills – about 2700 feet above Sea level – whilst Jericho is in the Jordan valley, about 770 feet below sea level. The road down to Jericho is lonely and dangerous, through the rocky hills – as the parable explains, but Jericho itself is an oasis, a pleasant and prosperous town, with spacious villas and palm trees, a place where the rich merchants from Jerusalem could establish a comfortable retreat. Zacchaeus – belongs to this set – he is described in the gospel as a senior tax collector and a wealthy man. He would not collect the taxes himself – probably he had purchased a concession from the Romans to levy taxes and to retain a commission, which could be substantial, for himself. He would employ a number of agents to act on his behalf who would go around and collect the taxes for him. This made him less than popular – he would be seen as acting on behalf of the Roman occupiers, betraying his Jewish heritage, and there would be complaints about his rate of commission and the demands made by his agents – the fact that he appears to be a wealthy man – living in comfort in Jericho might have given grounds for their complaints. There are the outward signs, but in essence he could have been a lonely and an unhappy, excluded from social gatherings on account of the occupation that he had chosen.
There is the curious phrase in the gospel – he was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was – not yet a formed belief but rather at this stage a curiosity – and he must have amazed some of his neighbours – this normally officious little man climbing up one of the sycamore trees so that he could see over the heads of the crowd. But to his amazement – from all of the crowd – the Lord recognises him in a special and personal way and asks if he can come to his house.
Generally this story is taken as a moment of conversion – I will give half my property to the poor – I will pay back four times – but a careful examination of the text suggests that the words are not in the future tense – it is something that he is doing already – giving half of his income to the poor – and if – as a possibility – he has cheated anybody – he is prepared to make restitution way beyond the rules of the Jewish law – the Torah normally demanded full restitution plus 20 per cent interest.
So here is the prosperous, but unhappy man, a rejected outsider to his contemporaries, but nevertheless inherently good in his own life – the Lord recognises this- he looks up and speaks to him – hurry, I must stay at your house today.
And I think there is something of Zacchaeus in each one of us – first this question – what sort of man Jesus is – the search of faith and trying to understand what this means – St Teresa of Avila says that the grace of knowing God comes to us through the hands of Christ in his holy humanity – as we read the gospels we come to know the story of the human nature of Christ – and through this, we come to know God. And our confidence that God knows through and through – he knows our failings, but also he seems what is good in our hearts – externally it may not be obvious to others – it is ass if we might be too short for the Lord to see us over the heads of the crowd – but he knows and understands us – not just what we might intend in the future, but what we are here and now – and so the call of faith – I must stay at your house today. It is possible to resist – there is a parable in the gospels where the householder refuses to open his door when his neighbour comes to ask for help – and is not an insistent demand – rather a friendly request – can I come to your house today – it is possible to refuse – to make an excuse – but it is possible with joy to welcome the presence of the Lord – he hurried down and welcomed him with joy – possibly others may not understand what has happened – in the gospel they all complained – but with joy in our hearts we recognise the presence of the Lord – today salvation has come to this house.