Category: Saint George’s latest news

This Sunday is the Fourth Sunday of Easter and is called Good Shepherd Sunday. It is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations to the Priesthood, the Diaconate and to Religious Life. The earliest Christians saw Jesus as the fulfilment of the ancient Jewish dream of a Good Shepherd. 

The late Billy Graham, the televangelist, once said in a TV interview: “Pope John Paul II lived like his Master the Good Shepherd, and he died like his Master the Good Shepherd.”  In today’s Gospel, Jesus claims that he is the Good Shepherd and explains what he does for his sheep. 

The Prayer for Vocations which Tessa and I use, is in the form of a Novena from 16th to 24th each month and originates from a promise I made over 20 years ago to a nun who was making her Final Profession, at which Tessa and I were present. It is “Lord Jesus, Word made flesh, you who said to us that if you do not become like little children you will not enter the Kingdom of God. Teach us to follow in your footsteps, humbly and simply. Send into your Church the Priests, Deacons, Religious and lay people needed to make you better known and loved throughout the world. Amen. 

Please join us in saying this prayer if you can. There may be copies of this prayer in our churches as we have used it in the past and I know some parishioners may have a copy in their handbag, back pocket or prayer book. 

The requiem mass for David will be offered on Friday 23 April at 12 noon.  If you would like to attend, please contact Lulu on 01323 846509 – there are six spaces available.  Burial afterwards at Hailsham Cemetery.

CAFOD:  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.

During Divine Mercy Sunday, Father Rory welcomed into St George’s Church three new Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist. The Commissioning took place after the Lord’s Prayer, with a lovely ceremony  conducted by Father when he invited them to make their commitment to this important ministry. It was a very appropriate day to make such an undertaking, as we celebrate the risen Christ and are “united, heart and soul”. The beautiful flowers and the Easter arrangements on the sanctuary lent a poignant touch to this important event in the life of our church.

I came across this story this week.  I thought you might like it.  It does give one some food for thought!

There was once a little boy who always wanted to meet Jesus. One day he was walking home from Sunday school. As he went through the park, he noticed an old woman sitting on a park bench. She looked lonely and hungry, so he sat down and offered part of the chocolate bar he had been saving. She accepted it with a smile. He gave her more of the candy, and she shared a can of root beer with him. They sat together in a very friendly manner, eating and drinking and smiling at each other. When the boy got up to leave, he reached over the woman and gave her a big hug. He walked home smiling. His mother noticed his big smile and happiness on his face and asked, “What did you do today that made you so happy?” “I had lunch with Jesus. And she has a great smile,” he said. The old woman returned to the small apartment she shared with her sister. She too was smiling. Her sister asked her why she was so happy. “I just had lunch with Jesus. And he is a lot younger than I expected,” she said. (John Pichappilly in The Table of the Word.)

Continued…

Christ has died.  Christ is Risen.  Christ will come again.

Finally He will come in Glory.  In the meantime He commits to us in many ways, especially in the Scriptures, but above all in the Gospels.  The great story at this time is when He joins the disciples on their way to Emmaus.  This was read on Tuesday, very appropriately and powerfully by Deacon John at Dorothy Blake’s Requiem Mass.  “So he went in to stay with them.  Now while He was with them at the table, He took the bread and said the blessing; then He broke it and handed it to them”.  Their eyes were opened and they recognised Him but he had vanished from their sight.  Then they said to each other “did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?”  Luke 24. 28-30.

For us this is a very special time of opportunity.  In our preparations during Lent an obvious point of reference was the Stations of the Cross.  This then provided the appropriate background to our experience with the coronavirus and all of life’s journey with its crosses and trials.  These are common in every age and an unavoidable part of life.  As mentioned before, my grandfather died of the flu which killed millions of people after the first world war.  Another event which dramatically brought home to me the fact that in every generation there are hardships in life, due to episodes such as the virus we are enduring today.  The threat associated with this virus reminds me of the plight of a family who came to Battle Road, Hailsham at the same time as evacuees like Dorothy, who moved to Hailsham from London.  This in turn brought to mind another very difficult illness – tuberculosis.   The mother of this family died of it; my own father suffered from it shortly after the war.  By the time of his illness a treatment – Penicillin – had been discovered which,  as my dad said “for those who were fortunate, this treatment brought them back from the brink of death”.  We are fortunate with the vaccination process going so far, so very good – a big thanks to God.

Please God, we will return to a more normal life with its great challenges.  This coincides with the resurrection and the new life of the early church.  The Stations of the Resurrection which have been recently introduced and particularly encouraged by Peter Robinson, who like many great servants of our community died recently and was a great loss to us, may inspire us with a new lease of life.

We will begin next Sunday with the Stations of the Resurrection.  The first one will be ‘Jesus is Risen’.  We love you Lord Jesus and we trust in you.  For we know you are risen from the dead and live in us.

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.