Category: Saint George’s latest news

Recently we listened to a reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes about time.  It included the lines: “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for everything under the heavens.” 

Time is a gift from God.  In a little booklet called Living Faith, with a reflection for every day of each year,  Sr. Melanie Svoboda suggested a simple activity as a means of appreciating this gift: “Find a ticking clock.  If you do not have a ticker and if you have access to the Internet Mr Google will find you one if you search “ticking clock sound” Listen to the ticking for several minutes. Do nothing else. Just listen. Do no work of any sort.  Be aware of the ticking sound and the silence between each tick.  Remember, every tick indicates the passing of a moment of time and a moment of your life.

After listening, ask yourself how the experience felt.  Was it calming? Irritating? Boring? Interesting?  Assuming that every tick represents one second, how many ticks have you lived so far? (One year=31,536,000 seconds) How many ticks do you estimate that you have left to live? How have you chosen to spend your ticks so far: sleeping, working, eating, relaxing, talking, listening, reading, playing, praying? Now ask yourself this question: “Is there something you would like to devote more ticks to in the future?”

Sunday 18th October 2020 – Today is World Mission Sunday

World Mission Sunday supports missionaries who work alongside communities that are poor or in need, regardless of their background or belief.  By supporting Missio, the Pope’s charity for world mission, you will help missionaries like Sr Nilcéia share the love of Christ with those most in need.  Please pray for the mission of the Church throughout the world and give what you can to this very important collection which will sustain the future of our Church. 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

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives a list of lame excuses from the invited guests which they used as reasons for not attending.

The Toronto Star invited teachers to submit excuses they had received from their students as part of a competition. They received these examples: A student explaining why he was late: “I was kidnapped by aliens and interrogated for three hours.” Another student, telling why he had failed to turn in his essay: “The bus driver read it and liked it so much he kept it to show to his passengers.” Another: “I got mugged on the way to school. I offered him my money, my watch, and my penknife but all he wanted was my essay.” Mike, a 14-year old, came up with a “watertight” excuse for arriving at school an hour late with his pants soaked to the knees: “I was just about to board the bus when I found I’d lost my ticket. Since it would take too long to walk to school, I hopped a fence onto a golf course. I headed for a creek that criss-crossed several fairways until I found a likely spot for lost balls. Retrieving three balls from their watery graves, I then made for the clubhouse where I sold the balls for bus fare! And that’s why I’m late.” Mike’s entry won.

We have all been given our wedding garment through our Baptism.We need to keep wearing the wedding garment of holiness. This means we must do good for all the people we know and meet in our everyday lives. We are helped in our efforts through the graces which receive through the other Sacraments. When we attend Mass either through live streaming or in Church and receive Holy Communion we are strengthened in our lives. Our personal prayers at any time of day or night help us to recharge our own spiritual batteries and guide us in our efforts of doing good for those we meet. Listening to God’s Word when we hear the readings nourishes us and help us in our actions. 

Yes, we have all been given our wedding garment ready for the banquet waiting for us in heaven so we must take care to wear it at all times in preparation for the event. Just remember that we do not have automatic entry. We can, however, succeed through our actions.

The St George’s Children’s Liturgy group enjoyed a, Covid-safe, extended session on Sunday 27^th September when they went Rosehip picking.  A glorious crisp sunny day in the fresh air was had by us all and Rosehip Syrup has since been made and will be placed at our altar alongside other delicious homemade conserves for our Harvest service on October 11^th. During this pandemic, and within the Covid guidelines of the National Youth Association there are still activities that can continue, and this was one of them thankfully.  All the children involved will carry memories of these types of days out for many years to come, an invaluable way of sharing our faith together during such difficult times.

This year the Mustard Seed Mission is going ahead with Love In A Box donations, but things will have to be organised slightly differently. There are leaflets at the exit from church for you to use if you are intending to make up a box.  However, we will not have the table of little extras in the hall for you to bolster your box; you will have to fill it yourself.

If making up a box is tricky, we can still help in a couple of other ways.  Perhaps you would be able to make a donation towards the transportation costs? £3,000 is needed for each lorry that makes the long journey across Europe to the areas in most need.  Also, our parish has a team of knitters and sewers who work all year round to provide blankets which join the convoy too.  You may wish to donate some money or double knitting wool towards keeping that good work going.

If you choose to make a donation, please leave your money in an envelope marked LORRY or WOOL and we will make sure it goes to the right people.   However you feel able to, do please help our parish to continue to support the great work that the Love In A Box team does.

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

St George’s Parishioners Harvest Service – Sunday 11^th October offerings requested – FOODBANK DONATIONS please place them in the basket at the back of church at whichever mass they attend this week.

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!

The Bonus Ball will re-commence this weekend.

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?