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*The Ukraine Crisis ~ How can we help?*
At this time when we feel so helpless, please look out for information on things our Parish Community can do at this time.

1st - PRAYER.
This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and we are called by Pope Francis to pray and fast for peace in Ukraine.
We will hold 2 Masses on Ash Wednesday for people to attend - at 11.30am and 7.30pm.

Shared from Clifton Cathedral - A prayer for Ukraine...
"Loving God, We pray for the people of Ukraine,
for all those suffering or afraid,
that you will be close to them and protect them.
We pray for world leaders, for compassion, strength and wisdom to guide their choices.
We pray for the world that in this moment of crisis, we may reach out in solidarity to our brothers and sisters in need.
May we walk in your ways so that peace and justice become a reality for the people of Ukraine and for all the world.
Amen"

Please read the article from the Bishop's Conference.

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2nd – Financial donations for the relief efforts…

We wish to share links to organisations that are taking donations to help with the relief efforts.
If you are in a position to be able to make a donation, please feel free to use 1 or more of the following links if you would like to.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is active in the region and has been working there since 2014.
“Working closely with the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, we are increasing our response to the humanitarian needs in Ukraine. Our support to people includes emergency assistance such as food, water, and other essential items.”
See details of the organisation with a link for donations at their website: https://www.icrc.org/en/document/ukraine-crisis-statement-florence-gillette-head-icrc-delegation-kyiv

There is also a fundraising appeal organised on behalf of Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB) via facebook

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*The Ukraine Crisis ~ How can we help?*
At this time when we feel so helpless, please look out for information on things our Parish Community can do...
3rd – practical help... ** UPDATE SINCE - LOCAL DROPS OFF POINTS HAVE CLOSED **

If you are able to buy some items from the list below, please either drop them off directly to Emerson's Green Hall by Wed 2nd March
or you can bring them to church anytime this week/weekend and we will store and deliver them to the 2 links we have for transport going over to Ukraine for the front line and to Poland for the refugees.
Please only new/clean items and only the ones on the list.
(good ideas for the non perishable food items are: cup a soups, protein bars, small packets of nuts etc)
~
Emerson Green Village Hall Post: Helping Ukraine - Drop off point
The hall has offered itself up to be a collection point for aid needed for the soldiers defending their country
Here is a list of items they are desperately in need of
1st Aid kits
Bandages and wound dressings
Syringes
Single use gloves
Sleeping bags
Warm blankets
Camping/Yoga type mats
Camping stoves
Non perishable food items (cup a soups/ energy bars etc)
Torches and batteries
Men's essential toiletries
NEW- Mens thermal socks and thermal shoe insoles and thermal gloves
Hot water bottles
Thermos flasks
Also needed
Babies dried milk and nappies that can be sent to the hospitals.
Medicines for babies
Ladies toiletries and sanitary products
We also need some boxes to pack the items in to transport if anyone has any.
Collection will be on Wednesday so please ensure they are dropped off here ASAP.
(please ensure you sign your vehicle onto the monitor if using our car park to drop off)



Thank you Deacon Vincent for your Reflections for 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
1st Reading from the book of Ecclesiasticus 27: 4-7.
This passage is part of the treatise on how to be happy and is sound advice on discernment. We need to be careful who we listen to for advice. It is a very appropriate bit of advice for today with people seeking the internet for answers. One needs to discern who is giving advice and check their credentials and consult with people who have had dealings with them and examine the results. We should be careful about applauding someone before we have heard what they have to say. Good trees bring forth good fruit, so it is with people, we need to step back from the throng and really examine whose advice we absorb because rubbish will produce rubbish and heartache. Scripture and an excellent commentary, or a Study Bible by a renowned Biblical Teacher, is an excellent way to train one’s mind and inner being to discern the good from the dross, which is crowding in on us every day in this present age. God is faithful and can be relied upon to be with us when we cry out to him for help. That is one of the great lessons to be gleaned from studying the Scriptures.
Psalm 91: 2-3, 13-16.
This song is designed to be used on the Sabbath day to give thanks to God for his faithfulness.
2nd Reading from the first letter to the Corinthians 15: 54-58.
This concludes Paul’s explanation of what Resurrection will look like. Over the last couple of weeks, we have followed Paul’s various illustrations. It may all seem too good to be true, but don’t forget Paul has been there before us and faced the difficulty. For Paul, it is the certainty of Christ’s unfailing presence, that assures him and should assure us also. We need to trust in Christ more and more.
The Holy Gospel according to Luke 6: 39-45.
We are invited to take notice of Jesus' rather amusing use of exaggeration to illustrate that we must get ourselves right before we can be of assistance to anybody else. The test is how good a disciple of Jesus am I? We need to listen to the authentic teaching of Christ that is found within the Church he founded on Peter and the other Apostles. That is the rock that we cling to, in order to become more Christ-like. Study our scripture under the guidance of the Church’s authentic teachers and we will discover a new person within us, and that person is Christ. He will form us, save us from despair and inspire us, just like he inspired the Apostles and that other Apostle Paul; who, like us, encounter the Risen Christ. Paul put his trust in him and that is the best lesson any of us can take from this week’s readings. Rely upon trustworthy evidence, produced by the most trustworthy person, Jesus Christ.
God Bless us All, as we draw near to Lent.
Deacon Vincent.
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Fundraising Events ~ 2022
We are delighted to re-start the community fundraising support for our 2 Parish Projects, following such a long delay due to covid.
We look forward to easing ourselves back into spending fun, social time together again as a parish and helping the amazing work of Grassroots Suicide Prevention and The Patrick Wild Centre in 2022.

Our first event is 11th March - see poster - Soup and Shopping! There will be pre-loved clothes of various styles and sizes for you to browse through, plus some children's toys.
Come along for a soup lunch and a shop or just pop in during the afternoon & 'get browsing'!

Please put these dates in your diary and more info (plus ticket sales) will follow soon:
*Mother's Day Sale - after Mass on Sunday 27th March - with gifts, refreshments and a cake sale.
*Easter Cake Sale and Raffle - Sunday 10th April (Palm Sunday)
*The Unity Singers Concert - in the church on Saturday 28th May at 7.30pm
*Summer Cream Tea afternoon - Sunday 12th June

Look out for more posts on all of these events over the coming months and please make contact if you are able to offer your help for our fundraising activities.

#ParishProjects2022

A message from the Christian Climate Action Bristol group.
Please read and attend one of the meetings if you can (in person or via zoom).

Act or Die: Christians and the Climate Crisis ~ The Responsibilities of Christians in these Times


“We have to act quickly. What we do, I believe, in the next 3-4 years will determine the future of humanity.” Sir David King, former chief scientific advisor to the Blair and Brown administrations (February 2021)

“If governments are serious about the climate crisis, there can be no new investments in oil, gas and coal, from now – from this year.” Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (May 2021)

The penny has dropped – COP26 has failed and no one is coming to save us. Christians around the world are finally realising this climate crisis is about God’s creation, it’s about brutal economic collapse and it’s about mass death on an unprecedented scale – in the next twenty years. The failure to act decisively by the Government, multinationals, and banks amounts to a decision to inflict indescribable suffering on billions of the poorest people on this planet by refusing to cut carbon emissions sufficiently. There is no greater crime, no greater transgression of Christian ethics – or any ethics. We cannot be bystanders – our faith does not allow us to be.

'Christian Climate Action Bristol' has arranged two meetings to discuss the urgent situation we are facing and to ponder together what we can do about it beyond the steps we are no doubt already taking to address this crisis. The meetings (the second being a repeat of the first, to allow a choice of dates) will be held at

Cotham Parish Church, Cotham Road, Bristol BS6 6DR
From 7.30 pm to 9.00 pm, on:
Friday, 25th February
Thursday 3rd March

They will include an update on the current climate science from Professor Colin Davis B.Sc (Hons), Ph.D (UNSW); plus personal testimonies from Revd Sue Parfitt, Dr Ruth Jarman and Val King, regarding the connection with their faith. There will also be time for group discussion about what we might be able to commit to doing.

In addition, there will be a zoom meeting for Christians across the UK, given by Dr. Larch Maxey, a leading climate crisis speaker, and activists Revd Sue Parfitt and Revd Mark Coleman. This will take place at 3.00 pm – 4.30 pm on Sunday 27th February.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/our-responsibilities-as-christians-at-this-time-online-tickets-268091507917

Over the next few months, thousands of people – students, trade unionists, members of the churches and people from all walks of life are preparing to do whatever it takes, non-violently, to prevent the Government from extracting from the ground more oil and other fossil fuels.

There will be sustained action in March and April demanding that the Government initiates a rapid transition to renewables. It is unthinkable that the poor would be left to suffer and die from the Government’s failure to act.

Please share the all-important dates of these meetings with other Christians. Similar invitations are being sent to Christian communities up and down the country. It’s time for us to accept that faith demands action. When faced with undeniable outright evil we know what to do: we must stand up together in prayerful non-violent resistance.

This is what people will be doing as part of Just Stop Oil, the new networked campaign bringing together many groups for mass civil disobedience this spring. In these meetings, we will discuss how the churches can be part of this Campaign.
Please share this information widely.
Yours in love and hope,
Dave Mitchell, on behalf of Christian Climate Action Bristol
--
Christian Climate Action Bristol Co-ordinators.
If you’d like to join the CCA Bristol WhatsApp group, please let us know your mobile number.

We also have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Christian-Climate-Action-Bristol-102260351139955/

Christian Climate Action (the national organisation) have an excellent website, where you can sign up for regular emails:
https://christianclimateaction.org/
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St Augustine's Church is looking to restart 'Children's Liturgy of the Word' (CLOW) after Easter and so here is everything you need to know!

We offer our youngsters a chance to go out together into the hall, with the CLOW leaders, for the first part of Mass, to listen to, talk about and reflect on the messages of the week's Gospel in children's language. Then they return to Church to tell their families all about what they have learned.

*We need more help*
Do you want to join a helpful and supportive group of volunteers who plan sessions together and take it in turns to run the groups in pairs on a rota basis?
We offer training, support and safeguarding clearance for this rewarding role, which helps to nurture the future of our parish community.

Please contact the parish office if you can help us expand our team and keep an eye out for the date CLOW will return, along with all the details.


CAFOD - Walk against Hunger

Several members of our parish have signed up to 'Walk for Hunger' this Lent where they will attempt to walk 200k.
As part of this, they have planned some community walks if people wish to join them
- they will be leaving St Augustine's car park at 9.30am on;
March 7th
March21
April 4 &
April 11
Please get the dates in the diary.

Our own Joyce Donkor is an excellent walk leader, and knows the features of the area and birdlife very well so she is a joy to walk with. Joyce will lead progressively slightly longer parish walks, but all fairly local and accessible starting from church. She will give km and approx times soon so people can plan.

Bella Harding has signed up to the CAFOD site for sponsorship - maybe anyone who would like to join the walks could sign up too? You wouldn't have to sign up for the whole 200k but could create a team target? Please contact Bella to discuss.

https://walk.cafod.org.uk/
"Walk Against Hunger | CAFOD | Challenge yourself to walk 200k this Lent and help stamp out hunger, one step at a time. You can walk, roll, skip or stroll your way to 200k. You can boldly go it alone and take it on 5k a day for 40 days, or you can smash the target all at once as a team."


Thank you to Deacon Vincent for your Reflections for 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

1st Reading from first book of Samuel 26: 2-7, 9, 12-13, 22-23.
Saul’s insane jealousy of David has erupted several times previously and David has managed to escape his clutches and although Saul has been at his mercy before, David will not strike God’s anointed King. Her David is hiding amongst the Ziphites, but they betray his whereabouts to Saul who then sets off with his army to root out David and kill him. But there are people who support David and warn him. David has established Saul’s quarters and although surrounded by his personal bodyguards, David is able to get right into Saul’s sleeping quarters. David’s trusted friend wants to strike Sauk dead with one blow, but once again David will not strike God’s anointed King. He takes Saul’s spear and water jar and calls from across the valley. Saul once again repents for having doubted David’s loyalty, but the nub of this episode is David’s compassion and ability to forgive his enemy. Jesus will emphasise this behaviour as exemplary in his Gospel journeys around Galilee. It is a salutary lesson for us, in an age when retribution is the theme most projected as how we should behave.

Psalm 102: 1-4, 8, 10, 12-13.
This song is in praise of God’s goodness, emphasising how gracious God is in forgiving our own offences. It is a lesson for us to, also, be merciful and forgiving. Jesus takes up this theme in the great prayer he gave us, “The Our Father”, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” It appears to be our theme for today and throughout our lives.

2nd Reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 15: 45-49.
Paul here compares the difference between the first Adam, our ancestor and as a result, like him very earthy by nature, and the second Adam Jesus Christ who was of the Spirit. By Baptism we are adopted into this spirituality, and hence have the choice to be able to become heavenly beings with Christ. Paul’s certain faith that Christ will do that for us in his compassion, should inspire us to cast off any doubts we might have about Christ helping us become like him, in heaven.

The Holy Gospel according to Luke 6: 27-38.
This would appear, at first glance, a very tough and stark teaching for us. But if we just try seeing it from Jesus’ viewpoint it falls into place. Jesus views us all as children of the one Father. All of us are equal, no one is better than anybody else. As we saw in the beatitudes, we are encouraged to alleviate the poor, because they are our brothers and sisters in God. We are looking at the background of that wonderful prayer that Jesus gave to us, namely, “The Our Father.”. Compassion, driven by love and the realisation that we are all children of God should be our driving force in all our actions. Love is the one thing that cannot hurt anybody. Jesus encourages us to strive for perfection in loving our neighbour as ourselves and then we will really grow like our Father in Heaven

God Bless you All.
Deacon Vincent
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Sacrament of Confirmation
On Sunday 13th February not only was it Canon Frank's 13th Anniversary of being our Parish Priest, but it was his pleasure to Enrol the Candidates for this year's Sacrament of Confirmation.

The young people from St Paul's in Yate, St Lawrence in Chipping Sodbury, Our Lady of Lourdes in Kingswood and here in St Augustine and St John Fisher Parishes, were invited to light their candles, bring them up to the front of the church and pledge their commitment.

Their parents and we, as their church community, were asked for our commitment too...

Canon Frank asked:
"My young friends, do you want to be enrolled in the programme to be prepared for the sacrament of Confirmation?"
They replied ‘We do’.

"Do you agree to take part in the sessions and activities that are a part of this programme? Are you willing to open your minds and
hearts to the activities of the Holy Spirit during this time of preparation? And, do you pray for a deeper growth in faith and
hope and love?"
They replied, ‘We do’

Then, to their parents:
"Are you willing to support these young people as they prepare for
the sacrament of Confirmation?"

and to the parish community:
"Are willing to support and guide the candidates by your prayers and example?’

'We do.'

"The parish community welcomes you with great joy.
You are now enrolled as candidates.
May God bless you as you begin your preparations."


Carrier bags?
We have received a message from our local food bank at Resound Community Outreach.

They are short of new (or used but clean/ undamaged) carrier bags for packing food bags up for clients.

If you can help, either by giving them any spare ones you have or by buying them a few bags from a supermarket, they would be very grateful to take them off your hands.

If you can help, please take them to Resound, Blackhorse Road, Mangotsfield, Bristol, BS16 9BP (drop off times are best on a Friday morning)

Thank you.

https://www.resoundbristol.co.uk/foodbank 


A Message from Retrouvaille:

Rediscover Your Marriage – Retrouvaille is a programme to support couples. it brings a positive focus, new hope and helps nourish and grow your marriage ….and you don’t need to leave home, it comes to you!

Retrouvaille simply means 'rediscovery'. The programme offers the chance to rediscover yourself, your spouse, and a loving relationship in your marriage. Tens of thousands headed for divorce have successfully saved their marriages by attending and using the tools provided. There is no group therapy or group work.
For confidential information about ‘Retrouvaille’ or to register for the programme commencing with a ‘Virtual’ weekend on 3rd -6th March 2022:

Call or text +44 788 7296983 or Email retrouvailleukinfo@gmail.com - or visit www.retrouvaille.org.uk


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CONGRATULATIONS & THANK YOU TO OUR OWN CANON FRANK WHO, ON SUNDAY 13TH FEB, WILL HAVE BEEN OUR PARISH PRIEST FOR 13 YEARS!

"O Jesus, our great High Priest, hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priests.
Give them a deep faith, a bright and firm hope and a burning love that will ever increase in the course of their priestly life.
In their loneliness, comfort them.
In their sorrows, strengthen them.
In their frustrations, point out to them that it is through suffering that the soul is purified,
and show them that they are needed by the Church;
they are needed by souls;
they are needed for the work of redemption."



A message from Bristol and Bath Christian meditators.

During the pandemic many people have looked for new paths to wellbeing -including meditation.
Some will be Christians unaware that, in our tradition, meditation is also a prayer practice going back to the earliest times.

Whether you seek wellbeing or another way of prayer you might enjoy a free course on Zoom offered to local people of all faiths and none by Bristol and Bath Christian meditators.

Starting February 22, running for six consecutive Tuesdays, 7.45 to 8:45 p.m.

For information, or to pre-register (essential) email roger.layet@btinternet.com, or call 01275 463727, or via https://meditationcourse.eventbrite.co.uk.


Plenty!
Imagine a society where every person can flourish and everyone has enough.

Plenty!, the discussion course from Joy in Enough, is available now, sharing ideas with people who are working individually and with their local communities at grassroot level.
Email admin@ammerdown.org for the Zoom link.

This course is being run with the Caring for Creation group in Ammerdown weekly on a Wednesday 10-11, in Lent.
10am - 11am - Suggested Donation £5




Please see the poster from St. Nicholas of Tolentino RC Church, Bristol about the next Mass for those in the LGBTQ+ community, their family, friends and allies.
All are welcome.


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