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Newsletter and Bulletin cover sheets for this coming weekend.

From the weekend of 6/7th November, we will start supplying a small number of printed newsletters at the back of church for those people who don't have access to view or print off for themselves online.

Whilst it was unsafe and unwise to have items for people to pick up at the back of church for so long, it showed us that we can cover this process for a vast majority of people by providing the same information online and a large version posted up at the back of church for people to read.

Also, we are saving on the hundreds of £ we spent on printing costs for the newsletters and helping to reduce the environmental impact of printing/paper - it is not worth returning to our old ways.

We have the same information weekly on our website and on this Facebook page so please view it from here and print off your own copy if wanted.

The printed copies will be there for those who need it and, whilst we are still mindful of not having communal items/various people handling the same things, we ask that people do not read the newsletter and then leave it behind in church for others to have to throw away.

We hope you can understand this new process and are happy that we have tried hard to keep communicating to everyone is the safest and best way possible.

God bless you all,

Fr Frank.

COP26 and the climate crisis

Please pray this prayer each day for the COP26 conference and also pray for the Laudato Si Action Platform which will be launched on the World Day of the Poor on November 14th.

Visit the Catholic Bishop's of England and Wales website for more info: https://www.cbcew.org.uk/cop26/prayer/

And the the Laudato Si platform can be found here

https://laudatosiactionplatform.org/

Thank you to Deacon Vincent for your Reflections for the Solemnity of All Saints Year B

1st Reading from the book of the Apocalypse 7: 2-4, 9-14.

The word “Apocalypse” is a Greek word, meaning “Un-Veiling”, Revelation being the Latin equivalent. We are told it is an “un-veiling of Jesus Christ”, but we are not told whether it is and his disciples join him. Prophecy, that means it is a speech of God to humans and is not, necessarily, a prediction of the future. This section we are reading deals first with those who belong to Israel and then the rest of humanity, the message is clear for all that those who remain faithful to God, all will be well. There is a great deal of liturgy in Apocalypse and the function of all good liturgy is to remind us that all things will be well, no matter how disastrous they may appear. The people in white are obviously martyrs, and their robes have been bleached by the blood of the Lamb, but we all know that blood is not a bleacher, so we see how God turns worldly wisdom upside down, since the Lamb’s death. We can be sure that God puts everything right for those who remain loyal to him through thick and thin.

Psalm 23: 1-6.

This is pilgrimage song and reminds us that those who go up to the mountain of the Lord, must be in a fit state to enter the Holy City and the Temple of the Lord. The pilgrim will then receive countless blessings from the Lord, for those who seek the face of the God of Jacob. It is full of encouragement for us to repent in order to come to the Lord.

2nd Reading from the first letter of St. John 3: 1-3.

Some scholars view this as not a letter, but a commentary on the Gospel of John, it just doesn’t look like a letter. It affirms the full humanity of Christ. This document is an invitation to stay within the community, and to live appropriately. Giving glory to God by our lives, as one of the Deacon’s dismissals proclaims, this seems to be the theme of this document.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew 5: 1-12.

Matthew focuses our attention by drawing us into the event telling us, Jesus goes up the mountain because of the crowds, and just like Moses going up the mountain to receive the Law, Jesus goes up the mountain but his case he gives the New Law. We watch as Jesus adopts the position of a teacher, “he sat down”. Matthew, in my translation, assures us that it is Jesus who is talking, with “he opened his mouth”, “he began to teach them”, “saying”. It is a triple emphasis, this is an important statement, and we know that we are privileged to share what was intended mainly for Jesus’ inner group. We are not prepared for the shock that follows; it is an astonishing list of those who are congratulated and blessed, the destitute, the sad, the meek, those who long for justice, the merciful, those whose life is focussed on God, those who refuse to follow the way of violence, and finally those who are persecuted. At first glance this would appear ridiculous, but upon a more concentrated reading, we begin to discover the true wisdom of God, so different from human thinking, contained in Jesus’ words. God makes everything right. We need to uncover the truth by watching it all unfold in Christ’s Gospel. This is a thumb nail sketch of Jesus’ Gospel. Like the Law given to Moses, there is wealth of meaning behind each stanza. Each one is a growth in relationship with each other and God. It is often referred to as the “Ladder of the Beatitudes”, by implication the way to ascend heavenwards. Examine each beatitude through the coming week; my translations use the exclamation “Congratulations” rather than Blessed, so it is much more than just a simple Blessing, it is an abundance of Grace, our journey along the Way, is to discover the truth of each of them.

God Bless You All & Stay Safe. Deacon Vincent.

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