'CKC' UPDATE - 6 months on: |
| (The cupboard when first stocked) |
Hello to our wonderful parishioners and community.
A huge thank you to everyone who has supported St. Augustine’s *Community Kitchen Cupboard* since we launched back in the Summer. Thanks to your generous donations, we have been able to assist many families in our community who are struggling with food insecurity. Your kindness and contributions have made a real difference, and we are so grateful. Thank you.
As many of you may know, the demand for our food cupboard has grown significantly especially as the months have got colder, and we are now in need of additional support to continue helping.
We have families relying on us but are very conscious that times are tough right now so do not want to keep asking for donations, so hope that you may be able to help in other ways..?
**Connecting us with local businesses who might be willing to support through regular or one-off food donations, staff donation collections, or fundraising initiatives.**
**Grant opportunities to help us meet the increasing demand for food and toiletries.**
**Volunteering: If you have any time to spare and would like to volunteer with the cupboard in any capacity, we’d love to hear from you!**
If you know of any businesses or organisations that might be interested in supporting us / would like to help us as a volunteer / or any ideas on how we can stay stocked we’d love to hear from you.
To make contact with the CKC team please email via the parish office or directly at communitykitchencupboard@gmail.com
Your support makes a huge impact, and we’re so thankful for all that you’ve done and continue to do.
Best Wishes,
Kate - on behalf of St. Augustine’s of Canterbury Community Food Cupboard
(If anyone is able to donate some items for the CKC then we are most in need of things like this:
-Tinned meat / fish / pies
-Individual Snacks (such as mini cakes/ fruit biscuits/cereal bars)
-Squash
-UHT milk
-Coffee / Hot Chocolate / tea bags
-Crisps
-Cereal
-Bakes Beans with the little sausages in
-Tinned Soup
-Tinned Fruit
-Jelly
-Rice pudding/Custard
-Cooking sauces/Pasta sauce etc
-Toothpaste
-baby wipes
-Period products
-Shower gel / soap
-Toilet roll)
Deacon John and Gail send their love to everyone in Bristol. (We caught up this week about uninteresting, technical parish website matters.) It was lovely to speak to John and I badgered him for photos of their beautiful part of the world.
"We are both doing well. We miss everyone and would love to catch up with anyone visiting the Lake District. Let us know if you are heading in the direction.
This is me on top of Blencathra - the mountain range is Skiddaw, taken from the field above our house at dawn - and the snowy view was taken from the top of Dodd."
Update from Downend & Bromley Heath Parish CouncilLOCAL CLIMATE AND NATURE ACTION PLAN UPDATE - FREE TREE GIVEAWAY AND COMMUNITY NATURE RESERVE LAUNCH!
Following our update in the previous edition of the Downend Voice where we talked about the Community Nature Reserve and Free Tree giveaway, as well as other work that has been taking place, your Local Climate and Nature Action Plan (LCNAP) Working Group is excited to announce that we will be holding a special event on Saturday 18th January from 11 – 1 at the Badminton Road Methodist Church.
Downend and Bromley Heath Parish Council is now part of a network of local parish council’s developing Local Climate and Nature Action Plans, and we have drawn inspiration from Emersons Green Town Council and Bradley Stoke Town Council in taking forward the Community Nature Reserve and Free Tree giveaway projects which have proved hugely successful.
So please do come along and support this event. Native trees, shrubs, seeds will be distributed on a first come first served basis. We’ll also be on hand to explain how you can get involved in the Community Nature Reserve Project.
If you would like to find out more about the work of the LCNAP group or would like to be involved please do drop us an email at lcnap@dbhparishcouncil.co.uk
*1st February - St Bernadette’s *
Encounter 2025 is a Diocesan wide programme between Easter and Pentecost. It will empower parishioners to have a better understanding of the Holy Spirt, a closer relationship with God and to be able to explain the reasons for their faith. Many people have said that they find it difficult to explain why they are Catholic or even a Christian. Grandparents are sad that their children and grandchildren no longer attend Mass.
All are welcome to our initial planning event on 1st February 2025 between 9.30 and 1 pm at St Bernadette's, 731 Wells Rd, Bristol, BS14 9HU.
For more information, email pentecost@cliftondiocese.com.
Thank you to Deacon Vincent for your Reflections for Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
1st Reading from the prophet Isaiah 62: 1-5.
We continue reading from the Third Isaiah (Trito-Isaiah), and he is continuing to excite the Exiles to return home to Israel now that they have been set free Cyrus in 538 BC. He proclaims for the Lord, the vindication of Jerusalem and how Jerusalem will once again be re-built and become a place of pilgrimage. Those who return will be full of delight and joy at the wonder of the restoration. This shows how God is desirous for the people to return and follow his covenant with them, God can no longer contain his joy and desire to have them back home again, the celebration and joy will be just like a wedding feast, a very appropriate theme for today’s Gospel.
Psalm 96(95): 1-2, 2b-3, 7-8a, 9-10a.
This is a new song to the lord upon the re-building of the Temple, God’s House, and it just bubbles with joy and praise at the power of the Lord to bring them back home again to worship in God’s Holy Temple.
2nd Reading from the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 12: 4-11.
There is obviously tensions within the Church at Corinth concerning the importance of various gifts, some may be more important than others, thus enhancing the bearer of these various gifts. Not so, says Paul, he points out that all these gifts emanate from a single source, The Holy Spirit, which means that it is the Holy Spirit that we should delight in, not the individual that has been endowed with the Holy Spirit’s gift. The individual should always proclaim the Holy Spirit as the source and shun individual praise. This brings unity within the Church and not division caused by individual self-appraising pride. The diverse charisms are gifts, not earnt or deserved but true gifts to be used for the good of the community; gifts freely given by the Spirit of God himself, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Holy Gospel according to John 2: 1-11.
There is an important introduction to this Gospel episode which is omitted and that is, “on the third day” There was a wedding at Cana in Gallilee. This immediately signals to a Christian reader the “Resurrection”. Notice Mary is not named but titled “the mother of Jesus”, and it would appear that she was a principal guest and her Son, Jesus and his disciples it would appear had also been invited because of her. It is Mary who notices that the wine is running low, and it is only an observation, but we see what looks like a rebuff from Jesus, “What is that to you and me?”. Mary does not see as a rebuff and tells the waiters, full of confidence “Whatever he tells you, do it.” Next, we discover that Jesus has produced with little or no effort (something like 180 gallons) of the finest wine, to the astonishment of the head waiter and no doubt the host of the wedding also. The point of this is the sign it produces, the revelation of Jesus’ glory, and the result is that his disciples believed in him, but the same is not said of his mother, presumably she was a believer already; she was after all the instigator of Jesus producing this miracle. We are gradually being introduced to the person of Christ, he obviously respects his mother and has a great deal of respect for the host of the wedding for this miracle saved the host the embarrassment of the party running dry. It just shows how Jesus cared for the little things of life and the people involved in those occasions. Weddings were high lights of small town and village life, and it is comforting to note that those occasions are also important for Jesus, because HE LOVES US.
We thank you Lord for being with us and caring for us.
