Newsletter 8th January 2012
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord which commemorates the visit of the three wise men to the Holy Family. They bring their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh and knell in adoration before the Christ Child. Traditionally they are represented as kings, following the prophecy from the psalm which speaks of kings coming from afar to offer worship. The Feast commemorates the manifestation of the birth of Christ to the nations of the world.
This year the feast of the Baptism of the Lord is kept on Monday 9th. Normally is it celebrated on the Sunday after the Epiphany.
From Tuesday we take up the weeks of ordinary time with the green vestments. This will be the first week of the year with the readings from Scripture from the second cycle.
The First Holy Communion class will take place in the big hall on Saturday from 10am.This is an important day as the Children will be making their First Confession later in the morning. The parents meet on Monday night to plan the class – we will have to make some practical arrangements to help the children to come to the Church for Confession.
The Parish Council meets on Wednesday evening at 8pm. Agenda papers are available today.
A busy week ahead with a Finance meeting in London on Tuesday, meetings at the school on Wednesday and Friday and a Local Authority meeting on Thursday evening.
The Crib should be coming down today. Thanks to Thomas and his friends for their help. The manger this year started life as a basket for orders of service for a recent wedding. It must now be returned to the bride.
The great nephew has now returned from his travels and I must visit him soon. He was taken to the Sydney Opera House and has been swimming in the sea as well as receiving lots of attention. His Granny has pages of images on her lap top.
A simple recipe that you might like to use if you have to prepare a meal in a hurry: brown some pieces of chicken in some hot fat and then put them in a casserole dish with a can of ratatouille and maybe a little red wine. Bake in hot oven, checking the liquid level. Serve with some rice.
A prayer for you:
Let the fire of thy love, O Lord, cleanse and possess our souls: that out of pure hearts and true affections we may worship thee, through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Despite my many requests, some of the new Mass books have disappeared. If you have taken one away by mistake, could you please return it.
And now some Eliot:
Macavity’s a ginger cat, he’s very tall and thin;
You should know him if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in.
His brow is deeply lined with thought, his head is highly domed;
His coat is dusty from neglect, his whiskers are uncombed.
Latest information is the new Routemaster is due to begin operation on route 38 from Victoria in March. In the years after the war, this route was well known for the Leyland PD1s . These were purchased as a stop gap in 1946 until the standard RT became available.
The garden seems to have survived the winter well so far with not too many fallen branches. There are still a few winter roses that have managed to survive. I am pleased to say that the olive tree – I think it was the fourth attempt – continues to grow and maybe in a few years time there might be some fruit. I have not looked at the bees- Peter was the expert on this – and in view of a few recent experiences, I have made a resolution to avoid anything hazardous. I think swarming bees comes under this category.
The costumes from the mystery plays are now all safely back in the store. Maria inspects them with great care, irons and repairs them and if necessary takes them home to wash them – so that they will be in a perfect state for next Christmas.
Best wishes to you all,
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon