Author: Jacky

World Mission Sunday

Sunday 11th October 2020 – Next Sunday is World Mission Sunday

Next Sunday is World Mission Sunday, when the Holy Father invites all Catholics to contribute to a special collection for Missio, his charity for world mission.  Please support Missio in helping missionaries to work alongside communities throughout the world that are poor or in need, regardless of their background or belief.  Join in on this special day, that unites Catholics all over the world in prayer and celebration of our Church’s mission to share God’s love with all people – ‘Here I am, send me’.  Please call 020 7821 9755 (office hours) or visit Missio’s website to give a single gift, set up a Direct Debit and Gift Aid your donation, if possible mission.org.uk

Fr Rory Writes

This is working for God – Belief in the One He has sent.

As we have now launched the streaming of our Mass, rather abruptly, maybe not sufficiently prepared, but this could be providential, and a great opportunity to work together.  On alternate weekends we will stream the Mass from one of our churches.  So the Sunday time will vary.  It will be 9am from St George’s and 10.30am from St Wilfrid’s; weekday Masses remain at the same time and will not be streamed.  Our website will be the central point, and used well, will be a beacon for us in our communities of faith to bear witness to the life of Him who loves us.  He in turn sends us out to bear witness to Him.

Two things: 1) I belong, 2) I am nourished. 

The first is the relationship with Jesus through the church and our faith.  At the heart of all this is preparation for Baptism and the First Holy Communion.  So again one is to belong, to be part of, and two to be nourished.  Belonging is central to baptism, and is rightly a title to a very good catechetical programme that we use for First Holy Communion preparation.  The strength of this foundation is extremely important.

The second one – nourishment.

How we nourish our physical bodies determine our health and well-being.  This is equally vital to our spiritual lives, and deserves all the care and attention that we can bring to it.  Vital to all of this is ministry and please God, as life in our churches continue we will highlight our ministries.

Important ones are Readers and Ministers of the Eucharist, but these times of trial have highlighted the value of cleaners and stewards and we are deeply grateful to all those who have stepped up to the plate and are serving us so well.  Thank you and bless you always.

Our website is the central point and, please God, will be a beacon for us to bear witness together as communities of faith.  We had a very good meeting at St George’s church on Tuesday morning, and please God, it has done me a lot of good, hopefully I can do much better.  A big thank you for all the work that has been done since we returned to church from lockdown 10 weeks ago.  With earnest and deep and constant prayer, let us face the future and let our two churches be united in solidarity  and support for each other.

Harvest

This year as we cannot celebrate Harvest together, we’re using the Bankuet website to help us carry out our Harvest food drive for    Hailsham and Eastbourne Foodbank online. We’re encouraging everyone to give what they can to help people in our community who are experiencing a crisis; Bankuet will then pool everyone’s generous gifts and use them to bulk-buy the items the food bank needs most. This makes it easy for everyone to contribute and increases our impact as a church. By giving through Bankuet, Bankuet are able to deliver 10-20% more food than traditional donations. They are also able to deliver the exact items requested by the food bank, and    deliver the order at a time most convenient to them!

Bankuet dreams of a world where people don’t go hungry. You’re part of a growing movement of people who are using technology to make that happen.
All you have to do is go to bankuet.co.uk/givenow and make a donation, selecting “Harvest The Parish of St Wilfrid and St George” from the drop down menu at checkout to make sure it goes towards our shared total. Thank you so much for whatever you are able to contribute. We are hoping to raise £250 and will be sure to let you know how we get on!

Deacon John Writes

The theme of this Sunday’s readings is the necessity of bearing fruit in the Christian life. In the light of this we should all ask ourselves this question: Are we good fruit-producers in the vineyard of the Church?  Jesus has given us many tools to use in order to make us fruit-bearing, so we really do not have any excuses for not doing so. Some of these tools are as enumerated below:  

1) The Bible to know the will of God.  

2) The priests to lead us in God’s ways.

3) The Sacrament of Reconciliation for the forgiveness of sins.  

4) The Holy Eucharist as our spiritual food. 

5) The Sacrament of Confirmation for a real fruitful life of Faith. 

6) The Sacrament of Matrimony for the sharing of love in families.

7) Role models in thousands of saints. 

We really must make use of these gifts and produce fruits for God so that we can say that we are grateful stewards for everything God has given to us. He will care for his Church, not by committees or documents, but by raising up saints who will properly tend the vineyard.

I will leave you with a couple of questions for you to ponder! Is our parish a real sign of Jesus’ presence and love? What kind of impact do we have? Do we measure the quality of our parish by what happens during Mass, or on what happens when we leave Church? 

Fr Rory Writes

So after our pause, a time to move on:

When I made the decision to pause and take stock, the way ahead seemed to be what is now called “new normal”.  Our children are back at school and many are very pleased to be back.  As my niece, a teacher, said “they were over the moon” when they heard that there was no homework for September.  As might be expected, going back to school has certain consequences with a rise in the number of people catching Covid 19.  Opening the pubs was another way for coronavirus figures to increase.  How all this is managed is truly important and emphasises the risks that are taken even with social distancing.  A clear hold on the words “being responsible” needs to be taken by everyone, which should then protect the very many over 70s.  Many do come to church with a conscious, reasoned assessment of the risks they are undertaking.  The need for their protection should be considered when rules are made and thought given to adhering to them.

Being aware of the above and that there is a natural, cautious factor, or even a fearful one, which highlights the correctness of the pause and thus taking stock.  I have received positive comments from people who have not yet returned to church but are in touch, and they very much commend our website and the regulations that are in place for attending Mass.  Now the question is, how to move on?  By being more relaxed, and that does not mean being any less responsible.  I have mentioned the experience of one of our lady’s 90th Birthday, being helped by modern technology and the value of streaming.  This please God, will be our next objective.  We will be able to stream our Masses on alternative Sundays.  This is my intention and with the help of our parish, will bear fruit that will last.

I acknowledge that I fail to give clear leadership as Parish Priest, and aspects of pastoral care, but please God, I am like everybody else “a work in progress”.  Through our website, and by working together, we will have a good outcome.  For me the outcome is what is truly important, and working together is the best way to achieve this.

St Wilfrid’s Church

Due to Covid 19, I have decided not to collect the Mission Boxes as usual in September.   Instead, hopefully myself and the promoters are planning a collection sometime in March 2021.  So please keep topping your Boxes up as usual until then if possible. Thank you all for your continuous support for the Missions.  Above all, keep safe and well. D. Jung. St. Wilfrid’s APF M-Secretary.

St George’s Polegate/St Wilfrid’s Hailsham

St George’s Church, Polegate/St Wilfrid’s Church, Hailsham

We are delighted to record good attendance at Masses during the week and on Sundays.  Great attention is paid to the spacing and general safety of our congregation. All precautions are in place and our stewards are always in church to offer assistance and guidance.

Now schools have restarted, our younger families are returning to Mass, obviously needing to come on Sundays to fit in with the school week.  Therefore it has become even more essential for us all to BOOK IN when we wish to attend and, importantly, to remember to CANCEL when we cannot be in church.

The Coronavirus is still with us, and sadly we may see an increase during the winter months. To reduce the risk of spreading the infection, windows must remain open, however inclement the weather.  AS THE TEMPERATURE DROPS, PLEASE REMEMBER TO WEAR WARM CLOTHING!

Our booking details remain the same:

St George’s Church

Tuesday Mass, please ring – 01323 870990

Thursday Mass  –  01323 704753

Sunday Mass – 07808175455

St Wilfrid’s Church

Online: www.saintsgeorgeandwilfrid.co.uk or

Telephone Jackie: 01323 841504 or

Email Jackie: [email protected]

We look forward to welcoming you all.

Deacon John Writes

The readings last weekend were all about forgiveness. I think we all know how difficult it can be to forgive. I hope these two stories will help and encourage you to forgive others for what they have done and also to forgive ourselves for doing something we know to be wrong, for forgiveness brings with it peace of mind.

Sheila Cassidy, who was tortured by Pinochet’s men in South America,

wrote: I can only say: however much we have been wronged, however justified our hatred, if we cherish it, it will poison us. Hatred is a devil to be cast out, and we must pray for power to forgive, for it is in forgiving our enemies that we are healed.

In 1965 Richard Dimbleby visited Belsen where notices in different languages asked you to respect the dead who were buried there, about 70,000 of them. He came across a large wooden cross with wreaths beneath it. Below it was a prayer written on a scrap of paper by a woman prisoner. She had written it for those who were tormenting her. This is the prayer: Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not only remember all the suffering they have inflicted on us. Remember the fruits we bought, thanks to this suffering. Our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of all this. And when they come to judgement let all the fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness.