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Newsletter 29th January 2023

1/29/2023

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Notices
Forthcoming Services:
​Thursday 2nd February 10.00am Said Mass
Sunday 5th February 9.30am Parish Mass
N.B. As part of the new Mission Area working there will not be a Service every Sunday at St Andrews, please check if you wish to come. (There will be a Service somewhere within the Mission Area).
Generally there will be Parish Mass at St Andrews on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month with an additional Service when there is a 5th Sunday in any month. 
Coffee Mornings:
These continue to take place every Tuesday from 10.00am.
Sundays Sermon
If we want to know who Jesus really is, then the Beatitudes in St Matthew’s gospel would be a good place to begin.  Here we get a picture of the kind of person we engage with when we encounter Jesus.
 
In a sense, what Jesus says was always there in the Scriptures.  The prophet Zephaniah calls us to seek integrity and to seek humility so that we may then find a place of shelter in the presence of God.  The Psalms also – such as Psalm 145 today – tell of God’s compassion for those in need: the hungry, the prisoners, the blind, the widow and the orphan.  These were the people who were so easily overlooked, but we are reminded that they are not overlooked by God.  Jesus captures the spirit of all those writings and distils it into a clear message to show us what life looks like when God is at the centre of our life.
 
The teachings Jesus gave here seem to turn the values of the world around.  In the world it is the rich who are admired and who get what they want.  The gentle are trodden upon and brushed aside.  Those who mourn are pitied, but then expected to supress their sorrow and carry on just as before.  Worldly compassion, it seems, has its limits.  But in the face of all the cynicism and indifference the world has to offer, Jesus urges us to continue to hunger and thirst for what is right; to be merciful to others; to seek purity of heart; to make peace; and never to despair if our efforts meet with resistance and opposition.
 
Perhaps we might find this teaching difficult because it might seem that what Jesus is calling us to do is to become weak and ineffective.  But that is far from the truth.  It takes strength not just to go along with the expectations of the world around us.  Not so far ahead in time we shall be observing Lent.  At the beginning of that season we shall be reminded of what Jesus had to face near the beginning of his ministry – how he struggled against temptation – the temptation to hunger for worldly power, to put his own human desires first rather than what he knew to be God’s will.  He was tempted to exercise control over other people and to be impressive so that he could make gains for himself.  But Jesus knew that this would be a misuse of what his Father had put into his hands.  With strength of spirit and with a strong desire to do the right thing, Jesus resisted and chose instead a route of humility and compassion – the way of God.
 
The desire to exercise power over others for its own sake is all too often seen at work in the world and also closer to home.  We are reminded of the misuse of power in Putin’s war on Ukraine, or again, as we remember the terrible events of the Holocaust at this time. It was often said of Jesus that he spoke as one who had authority.  But this was not the kind of authority that puts other people down.  It was a deeper and quieter kind of authority, built upon a life of prayer – the knowledge of God at work in a human life.  Because Jesus lived and breathed the word of God – in fact he embodied the word of God – he was able to speak with authority.  But in his dealings with other people the truth he spoke went hand in had with compassion for the needs of those people.  Although he was called “master”, Jesus came among us as one who serves.  The humility and the desire to serve that we see in Jesus are what gave him authority, because this allowed the power of God to shine through his every word and deed.
 
So what Jesus teaches us is that the desire to dominate the people around us and to put other people down has no place in the life of the Church or in the life of individual Christians.  However right we may think we are, we have no mandate to speak harshly to others.  Jesus introduced to us a community faith which he called the kingdom of God – at the centre of that kingdom the love of God is supreme and the one thing that cannot hurt us or hurt other people is love.  We will not always get it right but as Christians we must set our hearts on that goal.
 
St Paul reminds us of our own status.  We all have our gifts, but God has not chosen us because we are impressive.  He has chosen us to serve.  As he says in the first letter to the Corinthians, the human race has nothing to boast about and yet God has called and chosen us to be his people.  If we are to live as the people of God then boasting and pride has no place among us.  If we want to know how to be lifted up as human beings and to find a peace and joy that the world cannot give, then we ought to reflect prayerfully on the teachings Jesus gave us in the Sermon on the Mount.  The more we can live by those teachings, the more our lives are filled by the presence of God.
 
As we live out the values of the kingdom of God here on earth, we are called towards something higher.  Our lives come to their fullness in the life of heaven.  It is there that we shall recognise the people who have lived lives of humility, who have hungered and thirsted for righteousness and who have striven for peace on earth.  As we live out the Beatitudes, God calls us towards the Beatific vision.  As St Augustine expressed it so beautifully:
 
“There we shall rest and see, we shall see and love, we shall love and praise.  Behold what will be at the end without end.  For what other end do we have, if not to reach the kingdom without end?”
 
Let us pray:
Heavenly Father, keep us, we pray, from all false pride and from the desire to exercise control over others.  Give us peace in our hearts, so that we may serve you and our fellow people with humility and grace.  We ask this through Christ, Our Lord.  Amen.
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Christmas Outlook

12/20/2022

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​Services

Thursday 22nd Feria 10.00am
Christmas Eve Mass 6.00pm

Coffee Mornings in our Warm Space
Every Tuesday from 10.00am, all are welcome
Last Sundays Sermon
Today’s passage from St Matthew’s gospel comes at the end of a genealogy, tracing the earthly origins of the family of Jesus.  Matthew begins with Abraham, whereas Luke traces back as far as Adam and Eve and the origins of all humanity.  The tracing of ancestors seems to have gained in popularity in recent times and I have done some of this with my own family.  It can be intriguing to see whether we are of noble stock or whether we have a bandit in the family.  But I wonder whether the reason more people seem to be doing this is because we can often feel the effects of rapid change in our society and the wider world.  Sometimes it can leave us feeling a bit rootless;  feeling a connection with people in times past might help us to ground ourselves. 
 
It seems that Matthew wants to ground the story of Jesus within the story of the Jewish people.  Something new was about to take place, but it wasn’t disconnected from the experience and the history of the people of Israel.  All that the patriarchs had prepared and all that the prophets had proclaimed would be brought to fulfilment in Jesus.  He is the human form of the Immanuel whom Isaiah wrote about, a name which means: “God-is-with-us”.  Jesus has all the heritage that justifies his recognition as Messiah.  He is from King David’s house and line, but we see that he is also so much more.
 
The thing that makes Jesus different is that he was not only chosen by God, like David was, but was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.  Today we are reminded of the way in which Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, as St Luke’s gospel tells us.  She was the one who was deemed morally suitable to carry the divine Word in her womb and to bring him to birth.  We are told that this was not the work of human flesh, but the power of God at work in human life.  I am sure that God could save humanity without our help, but this is not how God chose to act.  It was through human beings that we were to be saved.  When Mary says yes to God, all things become possible for humanity.
 
Unlike Luke’s gospel, Matthew chooses to look at the scene through the eyes of Joseph.  He is revealed to us as a considerate and honourable man, who wants to do the right thing both for God and for Mary, his betrothed.  We see compassion in his decision not to subject Mary to public disgrace and punishment.  But we see something else too.  Joseph is open to God.  His sensitivity to the message of God comes through in his dream, where the angel appears to him and tells him not to be afraid and to take Mary as his wife.  The message of the coming birth of Jesus is revealed by the angel not only to Mary but to Joseph too.  So, Joseph not only listens to God, but also responds to God.  We see further examples of his obedience in the time ahead.
 
But the focus of the gospel is on Jesus.  For all that Matthew is concerned to show the earthly line of Jesus, he is keen above all to let us know that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit.  He is the true Messiah.  The birth of Jesus took place in fulfilment of the word of the prophet.  So, Matthew sheds new light on the passage from Isaiah 7:14: “The Virgin will give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel.”  (Immanu, meaning with us and El, meaning God.). Until then, God had been seen only as the one who was “above us”.  Even now, there are still many people – and perhaps we can sometimes be among them – who retain this image of a distant God – a God who only looks down on us and counts our good acts and our bad ones.  What the gospel reveals to us is that our relationship with God is something much more intimate than that.
Further on in the gospels, we see what it means that Jesus is God-With-Us.  In fact he was given a fairly common name rather than one which was very different.  We get all kinds of wonderful names nowadays at baptisms, but Jesus was quite a widespread name at the time – a name derived from the Hebrew name Joshua, which is a cry to the Lord for deliverance: “O God, save us!”  His name proclaims his mission as the one who would save his people from their sins.
 
The kingdom of God, which is revealed to us in the later chapters is one that reflects the righteousness, mercy and compassion that we see in Joseph, the legal earthly father of Jesus.  It is Jesus who would show God’s mercy to tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, Samaritans - even to the Pharisees when they wanted to listen.  No one is judged an outsider or seen as beyond redemption.
 
Behind the genealogy at the beginning of the gospel is the story of human beings who can be good, but can also go badly wrong.  Much like the whole of humanity.  By giving the world the gift of his Son, God chooses not to condemn the world but to remain faithful to the people of his own creation.  There is always hope for you and me, because God has called and chosen us to follow Jesus, to proclaim his word and works and to experience for ourselves the compassion, forgiveness and peace that he came to bring.  In a broken and suffering world, with so many examples of human failure, this special season reminds us that God has not forsaken us but is still with us.  He is with us in Christ.  Therefore we have hope.


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Newsletter 30th October 2022

10/30/2022

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Notices
Services this week:
Wed 2nd November All Souls 10.00am
Thu 3rd November Feria Mass 10.00am
There will be no service on Sunday 6th Nov dur to the new Mission Area rota.
The coffee morning will take place from 10.00am as usual on Tuesday.
Advance notice - the Christmas Fayre will be held at St Andrews Community Centre on Saturday 12th November from 10.00am to 12 noon.
Sunday Thoughts
Zacchaeus, one of the characters in today’s gospel, was used to looking up to people.  People of my age and older will probably have seen the comedy sketch with John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett.  The three of them were standing side by side in descending or ascending order of height.  It was a sketch based on the British class system, where the different characters described which person they looked up to or down upon and the reason why.  It’s worth YouTubing it if you haven’t seen it.
 
Perhaps many people would have looked down on Zacchaeus.  This was not because he was poor – far from it.  As a senior tax collector he would have taken a lot of money in his time – much of it by stealth.  It was really for moral reasons that people would have despised him – working for the Roman occupiers was never a popular choice.  We are told that he was small of stature and perhaps this seems symbolic of how people would have viewed him.
 
When he heard that Jesus was in the area, he wanted to take a closer look, but he was too small to see over the heads of the people in the crowd.  So he climbs a sycamore tree.  I think I stopped climbing trees after my teenage years and maybe it’s not something that adults normally do.  So he must have been determined to see the man who had gained such a reputation.  Maybe the leaves of the tree would also have given him some privacy from the prying eyes of the crowd.  But if Zacchaeus thought he could remain anonymous, he had a surprise coming when Jesus called to him and asked him to come down.  Jesus even said: “Hurry, for I must stay at your house today.”
 
Many people, then and now, have wanted a closer look at Jesus.  Years ago I did the same, in the sense of wanting to see for myself what drew people to him.  After reading the Bible and after attending Mass for the first time I came to have the feeling that it wasn’t really I who was in control.  Like Zacchaeus and like many others since then, I came to that sense that it was really Jesus who was seeking out me.  No longer was it about taking a look from a distance, but was instead a deeply personal encounter.  As Zacchaeus found, there is nothing more personal than someone inviting themselves to your home.  As Christians we find that we don’t relate to Jesus at a distance.  We come to know him as a friend.  The relationship is not abstract or academic, but he speaks to our hearts.
 
We get the sense from the gospel passage that not everyone shared the obvious excitement and joy that Zacchaeus felt.  Those who prided themselves on their own righteousness were looking down at him.  It’s rather like the attitude of the Pharisee in the Temple in the gospel from last week, looking down upon the tax collector and judging him as a sinner.  It seems that Jesus looks beyond the sin and sees instead the real person, with all their potential and all their longing.    For once, Zacchaeus felt acceptance, understanding and unconditional love.  His life seemed to change from that moment on and he resolved to make amends for all that he had done in the past.  In fact he goes as far as repaying the people from whom he had extorted money by four times the amount.  Compassion and friendship achieve so much more than judgement and condemnation.
 
No doubt many of the people in the crowd would have been shocked at Jesus for seeking out a man like this.  They would have been appalled by his statement that salvation had come to the house of Zacchaeus and that he too was a son of Abraham.  We see in Jesus someone who had come to seek out the lost and to restore their relationship with God.  This may not be welcome news for the self-righteous, but for everyone else it is surely music to their ears.  We need no longer be limited and defined by our past, because we have been offered a new beginning.  Even if other people might sometimes look down on us, Jesus looks down upon no one.  Nor does he expect us to get a crick in our neck by looking up at him, because instead of calling us servants, he calls us friends.
 
The book of Wisdom today reminds us of how God sees the true value in every person of his creation and that his imperishable spirit is given to us all.  St Paul reminds us also in the second letter to the Thessalonians that the grace of God in us brings to completion in us all the good that we long for, and that in our lives Jesus himself is glorified.  In our baptism we receive that imperishable Spirit of God and we are recognised as children of God and brothers and sisters in Christ.  By his grace, freely given, our past is redeemed and we come to live once again in newness of life.
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Newsletter 18th September 2022

9/20/2022

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Notices
There will be no service on Thursday 22nd September. The next service will be on Sunday 25th September, which will be a Joint Benefice Mass commencing at 10.00am at St Andrews.
The coffee morning will take place as usual from 10.00am next Tuesday.
Sunday's Sermon
The gospel poses a question for us, wrapped up in a statement: are we the slaves of money or the servants of God?
   Jesus is not really one for giving us half measures or grey areas.  It matters what we base our lives upon.  If money or material things matter to us more than anything else, then we can only deal in the currency of this world.  Jesus is not naïve and his advice is practical: use money wisely, but don’t allow it to become a god.  We may find comfort and security on earth in the way we use our money and possessions, but if it is eternal life that we are seeking, then our priority must be in serving God.
   This is especially a challenge for those who have riches.  One of the most captivating things about the late Queen Elizabeth is that despite living in palaces and castles, she did not base her life on any of those earthly riches.  We saw in her a person of genuine faith, who worshipped God and set out to serve the people of God in the way that was marked out for her.  It would be very easy in such a role to be seduced by money and to revel in privilege.  Queen Elizabeth is loved and respected because she seemed to manage to avoid that temptation.
   The prophet Amos calls out those who exploited ordinary people, especially the poorest and most vulnerable.  Charging excessive amounts for essential goods and making poor people into wage slaves was not acceptable in the sight of God.  In times past we saw how kings and aristocrats in our own country would exploit the less fortunate.  Sadly, it still happens in some parts of our world.  In our own country it’s not the kings and queens who exploit ordinary people.  Big business seems to have taken on that role.  Thankfully, the queen we are mourning never lost sight of the people of the country she was called to serve.
  When we worship the one true God, as she did, then we begin to discover something of that peace St Paul was writing about in his first letter to Timothy.  When we offer prayers for those in authority, we pray that they may discover that we all belong to God, no matter how rich or poor.  Our prayer deepens our compassion and our willingness to use our gifts, not only for our own good, but for the good of others too.  We pray for a more just society and world, where everyone belongs and where no one is left behind.
  Those who can be trusted in small things, says Jesus, can also be trusted with greater things.  Our character shows through in the way we treat other people and the way we use what we have, especially our money.  I give thanks that Queen Elizabeth could be trusted with greater things, because she served not herself, but Christ, our universal and eternal King.  I pray that our choice may be to leave behind the slavery to material things and to find our true riches in the service of God and his people.

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Newsletter week commencing 11th September 2022

9/12/2022

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BOOK OF CONDOLENCE​
A book of Condolence is available in Church. The church will be open during the coffee morning from 10.00am to 11.30am on Tuesday 13th for any-one wishing to make an entry, additionally votive candles will be available to light. The Condolence Book will also be available to view and share your own thoughts on Queen Elizabeth II after the Mission Area Joint Service on Thursday commencing 10.00am or Parish Mass on Sunday commencing 9.30am.  
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SUNDAY'S HOMILY TO THE QUEEN
​“To the eternal King, the undying and invisible God, be honour and glory for ever and ever.  Amen.”  Those words of St Paul in the first letter to Timothy, remind us that there is only one eternal kingdom. 
 
As Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II reigned for 70 years, many, although not all of us will have known no other English monarch.  Although I know that no one lives for ever, there was a part of me that somehow couldn’t imagine her no longer being the Queen.  But here we are, and now her crown passes to her son, King Charles III.
 
I find it heartening that not everything will change.  His speech following the death of his mother revealed a faith that both of them have shared.  If she was a mainstay for our country, then it seems true to say that her Christian faith was a mainstay for her. It sounds very much as though King Charles, head of the Church of England, will look to the same eternal King for wisdom and strength.
 
One of the wonderful things about our late Queen is that despite her unusual life and despite living in palaces, she liked to keep something of an ordinary life.  There were the breakfast cereals in Tupperware and the electric heater to keep her warm.  There were the endless ordinary conversations with ordinary people.  Perhaps being so close to the trappings of earthly wealth, she knew that there are things of greater value than money, status and possessions.
 
The book of Exodus speaks of a people who had lost touch with God and who looked for value in earthly things.  One of the Ten Commandments was the commandment against idolatry.  Although we associate idolatry with graven images, it is above all about putting greater value on worldly things than on God.  Those people would learn the hard way that earthly riches will not support us through times of change and of loss.  More than that, we cannot take any of it with us when we leave this world behind.  God alone is the one whose love will never let us down.  This love is everlasting.
 
From what Queen Elizabeth has said on numerous occasions, she drew her example of service from what she saw in Jesus.  Of course, it could only reflect the complete outpouring of self that is shown to us in Jesus.  She was reminded, as we are, that one of the greatest forms of idolatry is when we make ourselves the centre of our lives.  Only when we make God the centre of our lives and give something of ourselves away to others do we discover the love that is eternal.  Only then do we find a treasure that nothing else on earth can equal.
 
Our readings remind us too that the kingdom of God is not like the kingdoms of this world.  None of us are measured according to the circumstances of our birth, our intellect or our achievements.  We are of value because we are God’s children, and his love is unconditional for every one of us.  This is a love that seeks out the lost.  This love led the people of Israel away from idolatry and back to the one true God.  It sought out St Paul, a persecutor or Christians and converted him to be an ardent follower of Christ.  We find a portrayal of God’s love in the parables Jesus told of the lost sheep and the lost coin and also in the story of the prodigal son.
 
As we come to celebrate the Eucharist and to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, we are reminded that no matter who we are, Christ gives his life to every single one of us.  Our late Queen shared in these sacraments.  She would have been reminded that whether we live in a palace, or in a single room, or out on the streets, a treasure awaits every one of us who lives by the example of love and service that we see in Jesus.  We are all invited to the banquet in the kingdom of heaven.  I pray that Queen Elizabeth, who now goes to her rest, will rejoice in that eternal kingdom.  May we too come to share those same riches so graciously given by the one eternal king.
 
I finish with the final verse of one of our late Queen’s favourite hymns, which gives an image of earthly kingship bowing before the King of Kings:
 
Finish, then, thy new creation;
true and spotless let us be.
Let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee.
Changed from glory into glory,
till in heav’n we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love and praise.
 



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August 23rd, 2022

8/23/2022

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Forthcoming Services
Thursday 25th August Feria 10.00am
​Sunday 28th August Parish Mass 9.30am

Coffee Mornings every Tuesday from 10.00am, all are welcome.

Thoughts from the pulpit
​“Yes, there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last.”  (Luke13:30) With those words Jesus challenges our understanding of who belongs and who does not, of who is deserving and who is not.
 
We British are said to be known for our patience when queuing.  Perhaps that patience might have been tested more in recent times as people join long queues for passport control.  Certainly, there is a tendency to get very annoyed if people jump queues, because it just doesn’t seem fair.  Those who are first in the queue are expected to be first served and those further back will have to wait their turn.
 
Being first is usually something that we think should be awarded on merit.  What kind of outrage would it cause if the gold medal that should have been awarded to the winner of a race went instead to the third in line or to the last?  What if the highest post in a company or the most responsible position in the country were to be awarded to anyone other than the most competent?  Perhaps I had better not take that one any further!
 
So that saying of Jesus might seem a bit challenging in any of those contexts.  But Jesus is speaking about something different.  At the beginning of that gospel passage, Jesus is asked whether only a select few will be saved.  His reply suggests that it is something difficult: “Try your best to enter by the narrow door because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.  He then goes on to suggest that some will knock on the door and will be turned away.  Although they had shared in the Lord’s company, they might as well have been strangers.
 
The people Jesus was speaking to were those who would have understood themselves to be the chosen people.  If anyone should come first, it would be them.  But Jesus has strong words for them.  If they thought that being saved from sin and death and belonging in God’s company for eternity was all just a birth right, they needed to have a rethink.  There were many among those who saw themselves as first, who were not faithful to God’s ways and who had little regard for many of their closest kin, let alone the stranger.  Even the most religious – at times, especially the most religious – saw themselves as part of an elite, but did not reflect the mercy, the compassion and the grace that we see in God.  These are the people who were warned that they might just find themselves on the outside, grinding their teeth with rage as others go in before them.
 
Jesus warns the children of Israel that there would be people from far-off places who might just get there before them.  Some of these would have been people they despised or regarded as their enemies.  As we know, the gospel message of Jesus was not limited to the original chosen people, but was proclaimed throughout the Mediterranean lands and then much further afield.  Coming to faith and being a faithful disciple of Jesus does not depend on where we come from or on any other accident of birth.  It depends on our response to God, on the state of our hearts and on our way of living.  It would not be a question of how many would be saved – this was not about numbers.  The choice is open to every one of us whether to follow or not; whether to repent and to live differently.
 
Jesus was not necessarily speaking about who would or would not get into heaven.  He was addressing a particular issue at that time about who deserved to be part of the company of God’s chosen ones.  It really highlights the strange and wonderful work of God’s grace.  No one is born more deserving, nor do we even earn it.  It is more a question of how we respond to God’s grace.  Our decisions do have lasting consequences, so as well as looking at how we live here and now, we also need to be mindful of our eternal destiny.
 
Jesus speaks about a narrow door and a locked door.  But we also know that Jesus comes and knocks on that interior door of each one of us.  If you have seen the Holman Hunt painting “The Light of the World”, you may have that image of Jesus with a lamp, knocking at night time on a door surrounded by weeds.  Whether we feel worthy or not, whether we consider ourselves first or last or somewhere in between, Jesus invites us.  It is his will that the prophecy of Isaiah will be fulfilled, that people from far and wide will be among those who are both called and chosen. 
 
St Ambrose once observed: “He would never come and knock at the door unless he wanted to enter; it is our fault that He does not always enter.”
 
Lord Jesus, you opened the gate of heaven to us.  Your saving death purchased for every person the gift of everlasting life.  Protect me from being complacent or negligent in my walk with you and teach me that, although the door is narrow, your presence keeps me safe.


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News Bulletin week commencing 6th August 2022

8/10/2022

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Services
Thursday 10th August 10.00am Mass, St Clare.
Sunday 14th August 9.30am Parish Mass, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Thursday 18th August 9.30am T2 Mission Area Morning Prayer St Thomas's Worsbrough.


Coffee Morning from 10.am every Tuesday, all are welcome.
Offering from the sermon 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
“You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what hour the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house.”
Having our houses broken into is a prospect we don’t really want to contemplate.  But it would be a foolish householder who would ignore the need for security and for contents insurance.  We hope that we shall never need it.  House burglars tend to try to be unpredictable.  If we knew when their arrival would be, then we might be able to catch them out, but it doesn’t tend to work that way.
 
The disciples of Jesus were often eager to know when God’s glory would be fully revealed.  Jesus tells them not to be concerned with the time or the season, but he does tell them to be ready.  It might seem to be a strange comparison that Jesus gives between himself and a burglar.  No one welcomes a burglar, but for anyone of faith the arrival of Jesus should be a joyful prospect.  Jesus knows how to make an impression and to get the attention of those who hear his words.  In this image of the unexpected visitor, Jesus shows us that God does not operate according to our own timetables or expectations.  It is those who are prepared who will be able to rejoice at his arrival.
 
The New Testament was first written in Greek.  The Greek language makes the distinction between time as something ongoing and time in terms of an important moment.  You may have been watching some of the sporting events that have taken place recently.  There have been some dramatic moments and memorable achievements.  We have seen the joy and surprise of those who have succeeded.  But we know that those key moments don’t just come out of nowhere.  The athletes themselves will be more aware of that than anyone else.  Without all those weeks and months of dedicated practice and training it would never happen.
 
I think that something similar is true of our faith.  We all long for those special moments of consolation and of wonder.  Yesterday was the feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord.  We see how the disciples were in a state of awe and wonder as they saw Jesus transfigured on the mountain, shining with God’s glory.  It was an unforgettable experience.  But their journey as disciples was not always like that.  There would be times of frustration and uncertainty, times of doubt and times in which they would lose faith in themselves. Their faith in God would take a battering too.  Jesus gave his disciples those glimpses of glory not to make them think that faith is always like that, but to give them the vision that would guide and encourage them along their way.
 
Sometimes our own personal faith can grow weary.  Life can take a lot out of us, especially in these recent difficult times.  We can wonder what God is doing.  We may sometimes feel that our worship has become a bit too routine or that our prayer life is not all that it should be.  Sometimes we might prefer to lose ourselves in more worldly consolations that give us a more fleeting kind of comfort.  These are all very human experiences.  But it is only our faith in God that will give us the strength to become all that we are created to be.  Only God can bring us lasting peace and joy.
 
Like the disciples of Jesus, Abraham would have been encouraged through his life journey by those glimpses of glory and that personal sense of being called by God.  When our faith is young it may seem more vivid.  Even so, we can recapture that joy and that newness by continuing to find our own place in the Scriptures and through being honest and open to God in our daily prayer.  We don’t have to do it alone.  I don’t think that any of the Lionesses in their recent victory would have claimed that they did it alone, but as part of a team.  For the same reason God calls us together as his Church to worship and to encourage one another as we work for the coming of the kingdom.  We find strength in God and we should find support and understanding from one another too.
 
In all these ways we make ourselves ready for the God who cannot be controlled by us.  The Jesuit spiritual writer, Gerard Hughes, spoke about the “God of Surprises”.  As the gospel today reminds us, “the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”  It also says: “Happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes.”  In terms of faith, being awake means the opposite of being complacent.  If we know Jesus in the Eucharist and in one another, then he will not be a stranger to us.  The more we are acquainted with God’s ways and the more we live by the example of Jesus, the more ready we shall be to receive him.  He comes to us even now in all kinds of unexpected ways.  We also proclaim in the Creed that he will come again in glory.  Let us not be strangers to his presence so that we may be ready to share that glory.

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Newsletter 1st August 2022

8/3/2022

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​Notices
Mass Thursday 4th August 10.00am
Parish Mass 7th August 9.30am

Coffee Mornings every Tuesday from 10.00am every-one welcome.

Advance Notice: The next T2 Mission Area Service is on Thursday 18th August at St Thomas's Worsbrough.

Sunday Thoughts (18th in Ordinary Time
It’s holiday season and many people are making for the coast.  One of my favourite places since childhood is Whitby and I know I’m not alone in loving the place.  It has been in the news recently for a different reason - the number of second homes in the town.  The sad thing for many ordinary residents in places where people buy extra houses is that it makes life more expensive for the less well off.  Some local people are beginning to find themselves excluded. 
 
Jesus uses a parable in the gospel today, telling of a man who stockpiled more crops than he needed and who built bigger barns to store the goods.  The setting might be less familiar to us than a northern English seaside town, but it would have been very topical for people in Galilee at that time.  Rich absentee landlords lived in great comfort in Herod’s new cities on the rents and quotas levied on the ordinary workers on their estates.  They helped themselves to the best of the crops, whilst the ordinary workers had to subsist on a much poorer diet.  Those who did all the work could find themselves excluded from the benefit of this, whilst the wealthy built bigger barns to house all the excess.  It was far more than they could use for themselves.  No doubt those who heard the parable would have known exactly what Jesus was talking about.
 
It seems unlikely that Jesus was telling this parable in an angry way or trying to incite the people he was speaking to.  People were used to the wealthy having more than enough.  They were also used to their own lives being a struggle to get by.  Jesus seems to be indifferent to the authorities.  Instead of anger in his parable, there was probably a note of wry humour.  The man was preparing to enjoy his vast riches and to find his security in new and bigger barns, but then off he pops.  His barns and crops are of no use to him anymore.  As in the words of the psalm:
“You sweep men away like a dream
Like grass that springs up in the morning.”
Even stories and humour can be dangerous and can provoke a strong reaction from the authorities.  The emperor doesn’t like to be reminded that his new clothes are a bit on the skimpy side.
 
So Jesus is not trying to start a revolution.  The parable is not really aimed at the wealthy man at all.  In fact, the man appears in the end as a tragic figure and we are invited to feel sorry for him despite his greed.  Jesus is really pointing to the futility of putting all of our work into building up treasure on earth.  There are things we need to live a good life, but there comes a point where stockpiling can be of no real use to us.  Psychologists tell us that hoarding things can sometimes be a denial of our mortality – a way of fooling ourselves that we can find the security we long for in having all these things.   The parable reminds us that this kind of security is an illusion.  So too is the striving to find happiness in building up more and more possessions.
 
In our anxiety about what we have and what we want, we can forget where our real treasure lies.  St Paul shows us that it is better to aim for higher things – for the things that last for eternity.  He tells us:
“Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven.”
This is not about pie in the sky, but a recognition that when we love God and when we grow in faith, in generosity, in compassion, we discover true riches.  The desire for more and more can make us meaner and more fearful.  Ecclesiastes has some words to say about this: “Vanity of vanities.”  We cannot take any of these things with us in the end, but lives that are rich in love for God and for other people are lives that store up treasure in heaven.
 
Jesus gives us the bread of eternal life.  We receive in the Eucharist this food for our journey.  What we receive from God in faith will never leave us hungry or thirsty.  So let us pray that God may help us to let go of all that enslaves us here on earth.  May we discover the true value of our lives and know where our real treasure is kept.

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Newsletter 3rd July 2022

7/3/2022

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News
There will be no Service this Thursday and the Parish Mass on Sunday will be held at St Peters at 10.30am.
The coffee morning will take place on Tuesday from 10.00am as usual.

Sunday Thoughts (14th in Ordinary Time)
I can see why Jesus sent his disciples out two by two.  Mutual support is very important in unfamiliar situations.  He tells them that he is sending them out “like lambs among wolves”.  A bit of a scary prospect, but at least the feeling of vulnerability could be shared.  Sharing the message of Jesus was going to be a challenge, but all the more so in the Samaritan territory between Galilee and Judea.
 
Perhaps we too do not find it easy to share our faith with others.  We wouldn’t normally face the kind of danger that the disciples faced in Samaria, or the later apostles in the Roman-occupied parts of the Middle East and Europe.  But we live in a very secular context.  People are often resistant to religious belief, even if they like to believe in something more than just the here and now.  Many people are indifferent and this too can be a hard thing to break open.
 
Mission can often seem like a scary word.  It seems to demand of us something that we feel unable to give.  We may be drawn to faith because it brings us peace and comfort, but trying to share that with others might seem like a step too far.  I have often heard people speak about “taking Jesus to other people” or “taking Jesus out into the world”.  But the thing that seems clear to me from the gospel is that Jesus is quite capable of making his own way out into the world and making contact with all kinds of people.  He sent his disciples out ahead of him but he would then go out and visit those places himself.  Jesus entrusted his disciples with the special mission of preparing the way.
 
We don’t know what those disciples said to people when they went out into the towns and villages.  But we do know that they were travelling light.  Jesus told them just to take themselves, with just the bare minimum of props.  It was perhaps their attitude rather than their words that mattered.  They were to expect hospitality but to move on when that hospitality was lacking.  They were called to be a peaceful presence in the places they visited.  They were also called to be a healing presence.  What they had witnessed in Jesus themselves they were to share with others in whatever way they could.  Jesus does not expect people to do the impossible, but to live out their faith in whatever way is right for them.
 
People know when our faith is genuine, because it shines through our words and our actions.  If we sow seeds of hope, of compassion and of reconciliation, then people can begin to see the person in whom our faith is based: Our Lord Jesus Christ.  Conversely, if they see Christians sowing discord, judgement and cynicism, they are hardly likely to want to stick around and see what comes next.  The good thing is that Jesus does work through human weakness.  We are not an indispensable part of the mission of God, but Jesus chooses us to work with him in showing people the kingdom of God.  What could be more special than that?
 
So that we can share what the seventy two disciples shared in St Luke’s gospel, we need to come to know the Lord as they did.  We don’t have him among us in the same form, but we know him through the words of the Bible and in the sacraments of the Church.  We can come to know the same spiritual liberation experienced by the disciples.  It mirrors the liberation depicted in that beautiful poetic language of the prophet Isaiah as he spoke of the peace and the freedom that would be experienced by the people of Israel as they emerged from captivity in an unfamiliar land.
 
St Paul also, in the letter to the Galatians, writes about the way in which the believer is set free from the constraints imposed on us by those who would stifle our true identity.  Christians are called not to live by law but by grace.  The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus are the cornerstone of our faith.  When we know our limitations and our need for God’s mercy, then we can witness to others by the words we speak and the life we live.  There are no magic words, no props, no gimmicks.  Jesus sends us out and calls us to be ourselves.  All he asks of us is that we proclaim not ourselves, but the love and the peace of the one who has called us and who sends us.  We have his promise that he will be with us wherever we go.
 
Let us pray:
Stay with us, Lord Jesus,
be our companion on our way.
In your mercy inflame our hearts and raise our hope,
so that, in union with our brothers and sisters,
we may recognize you in the scriptures and in the breaking of bread,
who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

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News Items 20/06/22

6/20/2022

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Forthcoming Events
Services at St Andrews
Thursday 23rd June 10.00am Combined T2 Mission Area Service
Sunday 26th June 9.30am Parish Mass
Summer Fayre
Saturday 2nd July 10.00 - 12.000  St Andrews Community Centre
​Coffee Morning
This Tuesday and every Tuesday from 10.00am all are welcome
Corpus Christi
Jesus looks to us for solutions.  It’s easy to think that it should be the other way round.  After all, he is God incarnate – the Word made flesh.  When his disciples are ready to disperse the hungry crowd which had come to hear the teachings of Jesus, he says to them: “Give them something to eat yourselves.”  I can imagine a pregnant pause as the disciples look at each other, wondering what on earth to do.  It is a surprising and perhaps annoying response for them to hear.  They are acutely aware that they do not have the resources to meet the needs of all these people sitting or standing around them.  “We have no more than five loaves and two fish,” they reply rather feebly, “unless we are to go ourselves and buy food for these people.”  It didn’t look at all promising.
 
Then we see Jesus taking charge of the situation.  He doesn’t leave his disciples to struggle all by themselves.  He shows that their faith in the Son of God is not misplaced.  With God all things are possible.  Human strength has its limits, but by faith in God those limits no longer have to determine what can be done.  Somehow, those meagre resources of five loaves and two fish become enough to enable the feeding of this multitude of people.  We don’t really know what happened there, but we do know that God was at work in that situation, among those people.  But still those words remain in the minds of the disciples and also in the gospel for us all to hear: “Give them something to eat yourselves.”  Jesus meant us to hear this for a reason.
 
As the Church we are called to continue what we see and hear in the gospel.  First of all, our calling as God’s faithful people is to deepen our faith through prayer, through pondering the message of Jesus and through our reception of the Eucharist.  But we are also called to go out into the world.  We are constantly reminded of just how much need there is in the  world.  We live in a world of need and in a country of need.  People hunger and thirst.  There is longing for peace, for release from oppression and for relief from material poverty. We all need food and all the other things that keep us healthy and enable us to live in dignity.  We also hunger and thirst for what can bring us inner peace and connection with each other.  Most of all, whether we are aware of it or not, I believe that we all hunger and thirst for God.
 
As we meet together here, our purpose is to do what we hear in St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.  We hear the words of Jesus as he takes the bread, gives thanks, breaks it and shares it.  This is the Eucharistic action and every time we meet before the altar, we eat this bread and drink this cup, proclaiming the saving death of Our Lord.  By his death, Jesus has left us a lasting memorial, not just so that we can remember the past, but so that his presence can become the centre of what we do here and now.  What we prepare to receive is not just a bit of bread or a sip of wine, but the Body and Blood of Christ.
 
As we reverence these holy gifts, let’s also hear for ourselves those words that Jesus said to his disciples: “Give them something to eat yourselves.”  Jesus gave the gift of his presence to the people around him and he is present among us now.  What we are called to do is not something we do alone or merely in our own strength.  Just like the disciples we offer our own ordinary lives and our own limited gifts.  Christians can make a huge difference through the part they play.  This may be in material ways through foodbanks at a time when so many people are struggling.  It can also happen though being in touch with the people who need a listening ear.  We can encourage one another with our faith, so that people do not go away hungry and empty.  We can offer the little that we have.  Like Melchizedech in the book of Genesis, our offering can find favour with God and can become a blessing for ourselves and for others.
 
In this time of pandemic, our gathering at the Eucharist has been severely disrupted.  There have been months where we have been unable to gather.  Some people who were with us physically before are no longer able to return.  During the pandemic people have also become more used to engaging digitally and have become unused to taking a full part in the Eucharist.  There is no doubt though that the Eucharist is our identity.  Jesus meant us to do this in memory of him.  He intended us to receive the sacrament of his Body and Blood, so that we could continue his work in the power of the Holy Spirit.
 
As we emerge from the worst of the pandemic, today’s feast reminds us that in the Eucharist there is no separation, no lockdown, no self-isolation.  This is the sacrament that unites all people, wherever they may be.  It feeds us so that we may reach out to others who need to be fed, either physically or by the comfort of sharing our faith.  Let us give thanks for so great a gift and pray that we may receive it in the spirit in which it is given to us.

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