Category: Saint George’s latest news

Thank you for your generous donations to CAFOD’s Family Fast Day during Lent. We featured Marian and her son Svondo in Zimbabwe in Lent 2018. The community vegetable garden that your donations helped provide is growing well and during the pandemic the family has survived on the vegetables. Your support has also helped to provide soap and handwashing stations in the garden and in family homes. This is just one of many long-term development projects that CAFOD has funded with the money from that Fast Day. Thank you for your steadfast support.

Dear Mission Supporters, through our parish’s Red Boxes, and individuals giving to the Red Box directly (e.g. online and direct debits), St. Wilfrid RC Church raised £837.25 in 2020.  Cheques should be made out to MILL HILL and post it to Red Box, 23 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1NU. For online or bank transfer:  missio.org.uk/redbox.  For credit or debit card donations call Missio on 020 7821 9755. Before too long we hope to collect your Red Boxes again.  Many thanks to you all, and keep well. Doris Jung 

St Wilfrid’s Church:  We, the community of St Wilfrid’s, would like to thank you Father for conducting all the lovely Easter Services in our Church. This year has been so difficult with the Covid restrictions, but with the aid of your trusted helpers, the improvisations that we had to put in place worked very well and made the shortened versions very enjoyable. It was great to see our First Holy Communion candidates taking part and really enjoying the ceremonies. Having the children back again was very rewarding for us knowing that our future lies with them. Easter Sunday worked well with some of our congregation participating in our hall with the help of a screen. The actual Mass was relayed at the same time and Fr Rory was able to take Holy Communion to those in the Hall, whilst Lisa attended to the Church congregation. The hall as well as the Church was decorated with a variety of beautiful flowers spilling out into the many pots and containers outside. What a great Easter we all enjoyed, made possible by Father Rory and our wonderful team of helpers. We have had feedback from many of our parishioners and some new to the Parish, who have said that Father is a natural speaker and brilliant when celebrating Mass online. Thank you all.

The coming Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday. The readings for this Sunday are about God’s mercy, the necessity for trusting Faith, and our need for the forgiveness of our sins. On the 30th of April 2000, at 10:00 AM, on the Second Sunday of Easter His Holiness Pope St. John Paul II celebrated the Eucharist in Saint Peter’s Square and proceeded to the canonization of Blessed Sister Faustina. Saint Faustina invites us by the witness of her life to keep our Faith and Hope fixed on God the Father, rich in mercy, who saved us by the precious Blood of His Son.  During her short life, Saint Faustina invites us by the witness of her life to keep our Faith and Hope fixed on God the Father. During her life, the Lord assigned to St. Faustina three basic tasks: 1. to pray for souls, entrusting them to God’s incomprehensible Mercy; 2. to tell the world about God’s generous Mercy; 3. to start a new movement in the Church focusing on God’s Mercy.

So, let us all have the courage of our Christian convictions to share our Faith with others.  We are not to keep the gift of Faith locked in our hearts, but to share it with our children, our families, our friends and our neighbours. Let us always remember the words of Pope St. John XXIII: “Every believer in this world must become a spark of Christ’s light.” That is the light we see in the new Easter candle lit last Saturday evening for the first time and at every mass during Eastertide.

Parliament in your Parish

Engaging A&B MPs to plan a better post-COVID world

Thursday 15th April, 7.30pm to 8.30pm

The eyes are on the UK as we host both the G7 and COP26 summits this year. It is as important as ever that we hold our politicians accountable after the pandemic to rebuild in a way that addresses the world’s most pressing ecological and social issues. Arundel & Brighton’s Journey to 2030 and CAFOD invite you to an evening of online discussion on how we can engage with our MP on these issues, using CAFOD’s Reclaim our Common Home campaign as a means to encourage our MPs to take action through a “Parliament in your Parish”. You will learn about how to engage with the campaign, including how to set up meetings with your MP, as well as have the chance to connect with others in the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton and your own constituency to maximise our message. Please email: [email protected] with your name, parish and MP constituency to register your place and receive the Zoom link.

The Diocese of Arundel & Brighton is a Fairtrade Diocese – 50% of our churches are certificated as meeting the Fairtrade Foundation’s criteria for Fairtrade churches and agree to use products with the FAIRTRADE mark.  The A&B Fairtrade Group ensures that goals continue to be met and aims to raise awareness about Fairtrade labelled products – including those sold by Traidcraft – which support fair terms of trade, decent working conditions and local sustainability for farmers and producers in the developing world.  The Group needs more members from across the Diocese and would welcome enquiries from interested people. The Group meets three times a year. Please contact Sue Joy, Convenor. email: [email protected]  01342 835190.  Thank you.

Easter is the greatest and the most important feast in the Church for three reasons: 1) The Resurrection of Christ is the basis of our Christian Faith.  It is the greatest of the miracles, for it proves that Jesus is God.  That is why St. Paul writes: “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain; and your Faith is in vain”. It is important to note that the founder of no other religion has an empty tomb as Jesus has.  2) Easter is the guarantee of our own resurrection.  Jesus assured Martha at the tomb of Lazarus: “I am the Resurrection and the Life; whoever believes in Me will live even though he dies”. 3) Easter is a feast which gives us hope and encouragement in this sorry world of ours. There is so much pain, sorrow and tears around us.  This feast reminds us that life is worth living.  It is our belief in the Real Presence of the Risen Jesus in our souls, in His Church, in the Blessed Sacrament, and in Heaven that gives meaning to our personal as well as our communal prayer. It gives us the strength to fight against temptations, and freedom from unnecessary worries and fears.

According to an ancient Russian Orthodox tradition, the day before Easter was devoted to telling jokes. Priests would join the people in telling their best jokes to one another. The reason was to reflect the joke God pulled on the devil in the Resurrection. Satan thought he had won on Friday, but God had the last laugh on Easter Sunday.)

May the Risen Lord be a living experience to you, pervading every area of your life,  blessing you, strengthening you, inspiring you, guiding you and supporting you in all you do. I wish you all a happy and holy Easter.

Holy Week Masses:  If you have booked a Mass at St George’s and St Wilfrid’s over the Holy Week and not had confirmation of a place.  Please contact Margaret for St George’s on 870990 and Jackie for St Wilfrid’s on 841504.  Thank you.

St Wilfrid’s Church still has a few remaining places available for the Saturday Easter Vigil.  If you would like to attend this service please ring 841504 or email [email protected]