newsletter 6th September 2015

Newsletter 6th September 2015
Welcome back to everybody after the holidays. The choirs are back again today after the summer break – both at the 9.30 on the first two Sundays of the month and at the 11am solemn Mass.
The forms for the First Holy Communion classes are coming back – please let me have them as soon as possible – I need the forms with the details, not just an email or a phone call. The important meeting for the parents is in the big hall at 8pm on Tuesday 22nd.
Tuesday of this week is the feast of the Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary.
The new term has started with many duties: three local authority meetings this week – at both Lewisham and Greenwich as well as duties at the school on Monday and Thursday.
There are several new items in the repository at the back of the Church and you might like to look to see if there is anything you need. Thanks to Lucy and her girls for help with this.
I have put up a number of posters at the back of the Church giving details of the events that the Sisters are organising at the Convent during the coming weeks. You are most welcome to share in these. Please note that a booking form is available on their web site.
Following the visit of the Safety consultant last month, I have put up a number of notices giving safety instructions. All fairly basic and common sense but we are required to display them. A recent visit to IKEA found suitable frames – also the trip to Croydon provided an excuse for a ride on the tram.
A few ideas about the Myra fund – a good idea was a football goal in the garden. Suitable for practise as long as it is not too muddy and the grass is kicked up. Also a suggestion for supply of dinosaurs for the smaller children. I have found a good set in the catalogue from the Educational suppliers and they might appear in the Angelus room soon. One or two ideas about a tree house: this is quite difficult: it seems that very few are actually built in trees: the majority are similar to our own small garden house and are lifted up on stilts. Also it seems that you might need planning consent from the local authority – so I am sticking to a football goal for the time being. Thanks to Jack and Charlie for your suggestion.
The summer has not been very good so the pool has not had great use this year. Fairly soon time to drain it and put it away for the year. The summer months pass by very rapidly. In contrast the trampoline has been most popular and this can stay put throughout the year. You might have noticed that the climbing frame has had a coat of preservative and I will give it another coat before the winter.
I like this recipe from Elizabeth Davis for poached eggs. Boil some water with a tablespoon of wine vinegar. Break the eggs onto a saucer and slide them gently into the water. Count to thirty, turn off the heat and quickly, with a metal spoon, roll the egg over once or twice. Then cover the pan and leave for a few minutes. Lift out the eggs with a slotted spoon and if you are not to use them at once, dip them in some cold water to which you have added a little vinegar. They can be reheated later.
A prayer from the psalms:
How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me? The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the Lord’s name. My vows to the Lord I will fulfil before all his people. O precious in the eyes of the Lord are lives of his faithful.
A poem by Peter Levi:
To speak about the soul.
I wake early. You don’t sleep in summer.
In the morning the dead-eyed nightingale is still awake in you.
What has been done and suffered
With whatever is left to be suffered
Is in the soul.
And just room to mention the great nephew who has started at school now. His sister cannot work out why he departs each day – but at least she has some peace for a while – until he comes home full of the stories of the day. His grandmother was a teacher at one time so she is able to help him with his sums and with his reading.
Best wishes to you all,
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon