On Saturday 25th February some from our Parish gathered in the Cathedral for the Rite of Election. 55 adults from around the Diocese were being presented to the Bishop in preparation for them being received into the Church at Easter.
We have five members from our Hong Kong community who will become full members of the Church at the Easter Vigil taking place this year at Kingswood.
Richard Tam and Joy Chia are to be Baptised.
Jean Tsui, Tony Wu and Elsie Lau have already been Baptised in other Churches and will be received as full Catholic members.
It was encouraging in this day and age to see so many who are being drawn to the church. To listen to what drew them, including the many twists and turns, is to hear how gracious God can be in people's lives. Please pray for them all...
"Lord, Creator and Redeemer of your holy people, your great love has drawn these, our brothers and sisters, to seek and find you. Look with love upon them today, purify their hearts, and bring to fulfillment in them the plan of your grace, so that, faithfully following Christ, they may come to drink the waters of salvation. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen."
St Augustine's Soup Run - part of the Bristol Soup Run Trust:
We are holding a meeting in our Parish Hall on *Sunday 12th March at 3pm.* Come along to find out what our Soup Run is, what it does, how it helps, how it could be made better, and how you might get involved. Everyone is welcome. (BS16 6QR) All the current members of the rota are invited too, to say thank you for all you do and for us all to have a chance to remind ourselves why we are involved in such an important role in our city.... from those who donate toothbrushes and blankets, to someone making up cheese rolls on a Saturday afternoon or heating up soup, through to those who go out to distribute the food and friendship to people on the streets of Bristol ~ EVERYONE is a vital part and everyone is valued. If you would like to find out more or if you would like to see how you can help, please come along to the meeting or if you have any immediate questions, feel free to contact Philip McWilliams (philip.mcwilliams@gmail.com) or John Jordan via the Parish Office.
Don't forget, we publish the Newsletter as a picture to read online within our 'Newsletter' section of this website.
Click into 'Newsletters' and click on the link for that week and for the Newsletter you wish to see.
Thank you, as always, to Deacon Vincent for his Reflections for 1st Sunday in Lent Year A
1st Reading from the book of Genesis 2: 7-9; 3: 1-7.
This is the second account of creation, so a clear indication that it is not to be taken too literally. We should be searching for the deeper meaning of what the author is presenting to us. We have the serpent or snake addressing the woman and misrepresenting what God had told the man and the woman. It is a salutary vision of today’s “Fake News”. God had said that they could eat of all the fruit in the wood but avoid the tree of the “knowledge of good and evil, as this will lead to death. The Snake questions the woman, “Why did God say, You are not to eat of every tree in the wood?”, a subtle change of emphasis by the Snake. He then misinforms her that it was a nonsense instruction as the tree of “knowledge of good and evil” would make them like gods, knowing good and evil. It is a beguiling story of how easily we can slip into choosing what we know to be wrong, and then justifying it to ourselves. This is the thrust of this creation account, not an accurate story of the way God created everything. God does not need us to tell him how the world and everything in it was created by Him. God will gradually enlighten our minds with what we are capable of absorbing.
Psalm 50: 3-6, 12-14, 17. This is commonly known as the “Miserere” from the Latin for “Have mercy”. It is David’s song after being approached by Nathan; David having committed adultery with Bathsheba. It is a beautiful illustration of true penitence and a determination not to sin again. It can touch the deepest recesses of our souls as we begin to appreciate how damaging sin can be. This is a song to be pondered over frequently.
2nd Reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans 5: 12-19. Paul weaves a really beautiful argument against “The Law”, as proclaimed by the Judaic Leaders. He compares the first Adam and the second Adam (Jesus Christ). He points to death coming through one man, Adam, and Life coming through one man Jesus Christ. He points out that from Adam to Moses there was no Law, but death still existed even though one could not break the Law, because it did not exist. Adam prefigured Christ, but the gift of Christ far outweighed the fall. As by one man’s fall there are many sinners, so through one man’s righteousness, namely Christ, many are made righteous. It is the work of a truly accomplished theologian, Paul who has been enhanced by Christ’s Holy Spirit, and has become completely absorbed by Christ.
The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 4: 1-11. We continue the theme of temptation but in this Gospel reading we see how Jesus Christ (the second Adam), deals with his temptations. He does not allow the evil one to dominate, he counters every move that the evil one tries by misusing scripture, in simply correctly interpreting scripture to the evil one. The evil one’s pride is hurt and he retires for the present. There is a lesson for us all, that scripture can be misused to assist people falling by pandering to their own pride. Christ is completely focussed upon doing God’s will, not satisfying his own inclinations or desires. We have a perfect example in Christ to model ourselves upon throughout this Lent. Let us strive towards perfection, ever mindful that we are accompanied by the Holy Spirit to assist our endeavours.
God bless us all as we attempt to draw ever closer to the Lord. Deacon Vincent
We thought you would like to see a picture of Fr Frank after being awarded a Girl Guiding 'Thank You' badge recently.
Liz and the units here at St Augustine's church kindly organised the award at the time of his retirement in appreciation of his valuable support for girl guiding over the years. He was thrilled with it!
He wanted everyone to know that he is settling in really well at St Joseph's home. He was in good form (still with lots of stories from his past and of the people he is meeting in the home, many of whom know him from his days in the cathedral.)
It is 2 weeks until his operation and he sent this message: "I wish to send grateful thanks to all the people for their prayers and good wishes.
God willing I will have a full recovery. Please keep me in your prayers.
Every life is a preparation for the kingdom of God and I have such great memories of everyone I met in the parish over my 14 years. You are all wonderful people."
Reflections for 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A Thanks Deacon Vincent!
1st Reading from the book of Leviticus 19: 1-2, 17-18. Leviticus is not a book of mere outdated rules. It is much more than this There is a refrain that runs throughout the book, which goes, “You are to be holy, because I, the Lord, am holy.” This holiness of God is the backdrop of all that we read. The people of Israel are encouraged to guard against other influences around them, and there is a constant encouragement to protect the weakest, the poor, the orphans and the widows. We come face to face with God’s option for the poor. This selected reading for this week, is part of an instruction on how to keep the Commandments, we are not to bear hatred in our hearts, in order to avoid vengeance, and so fall into sin. No, we must love our neighbour, as ourselves, and become more like the Lord.
Psalm 102: 1-4, 8-10, 12-13. A song in praise of God for all that he has done for us. God forgives and heals; he is compassion and love. God casts all our sins behind his back as far as east is to west. A beautiful vision of the “Divine Mercy”.
2nd Reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 3: 16-23. Paul is emphasising that the Spirit dwells within us and as such we are being built into a spiritual temple, God’s Temple. We must be careful how we treat each other, if we destroy one of us; we are destroying God’s Temple and that has consequences for us. Do not let us delude ourselves with our assumed cleverness, which makes us start to feel superior to others. We make ourselves superior in intellect and learning and that is wrong. It is a delusion, for this world’s cleverness is stupidity before God. God is not convinced by the arguments of the wise. There is nothing to boast about in anything human. We belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. We need to align ourselves with Christ not human thought or philosophy. This is central to Paul’s thinking; because his life is entirely wrapped up in Christ as the source and summit of all he does and thinks.
The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 5: 38-48. This week’s Gospel reading concludes the six ways towards a better righteousness. We should be shocked and startled by Jesus’ strict interpretation of the Torah. Jesus has taken six sayings from the Pentateuch, and really does take them several stages further on. He is saying that his followers need to aspire to be as perfect as their Heavenly Father. We should be stunned at this no nonsense, direct instruction to us. God is merciful and does understand us, but that does not give us the permission to sin. We must strive for perfection and be more meticulous about our inter-action with each other. It is no good feeling sorry for being unkind and unthinking about somebody else, just be more careful with one’s own opinions; for we do not know the other person’s sources, or reasons for being who they are. We can see how Paul concludes that our idea of wisdom does not coincide with the way God views things. We always need to go to the source, not some human idea or philosophy, we need to seek out Jesus and absorb him into our whole being. Then we might find true peace and harmony between ourselves and God.
May Almighty God Bless as strive for perfection. Deacon Vincent
CAFOD Family Fast Day – Lent Appeal: Friday 3rd March Next weekend, at church, your donations to CAFOD’s Family Fast Day Appeal will help families fighting the climate crisis & ensure that our Church network can quickly respond to emergencies, like the recent earthquake in Syria & Turkey. Pick up an envelope from the church from this weekend if you are able to Gift Aid your donation plus there will be a basket next week for any loose change you can spare. Or go to cafod.org.uk/give
Please pray for the development of CAFOD’s work and for all who work in emergency situations around the world.
Bishop Declan invites you to take part in the Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes - Friday 18th- 25th August 2023
See below the latest poster for the 2023 Lourdes Pilgrimage.
This is the first time we have been able to travel to Lourdes in three years, so we are expecting it to be popular. Please note there is no coach or Jumbulance going this year so everyone will need to fly.
Hotel Irelande: (3 Star): Single Room: £660.00 or sharing Room (two people sharing) £505.00 per person Hotel Astrid: (4 star): Single Room: £790.00 or sharing Room: (two people sharing) £575.00Costs include:
Coach transfers from the airport to Lourdes and return. Accommodation in a 3 or 4 star hotel, full board close to the Domain.
To include:- Blessing of the Sick ~ Visits to the Grotto ~ Daily Mass ~ Torchlight Procession ~ Stations of the Cross ~ Day trip to Bartres ~ ‘A water gesture’ at the Baths ~ Sacraments of the Anointing of the Sick and Reconciliation ~ and much more.
Further information: Lourdes@cliftondiocese.com 0117 902 5590 https://cliftondiocese.com/pilgrimage/lourdes/
Please see the Lent and Easter program for our 'Parishes in Communion for Mission', with many opportunities to join together for Masses, prayers, faith courses, Rosary, Stations of the Cross, Penitential Services and much more this season...
In the early hours of Monday 6 February 2023, a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck near Turkey’s border with northern Syria.
The scale of the devastation remains unclear. But we know that the earthquake has already killed more than 5,000 people, injured hundreds more and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings.
CAFOD's local experts are already on the ground and assessing the needs of those affected by the earthquake. CAFOD has committed £100,000 to support their local experts who are on the group providing urgent humanitarian support to survivors of the earthquake.
Please donate online if you can, using the link below, or donate at church this weekend where we will have a special appeal collection basket for CAFOD's relief efforts.
Please see the JOB ADVERT from St James Priory Bristol:
We are seeking a Support Worker (30hrs) to join our Team at St James. Previous experience of Support Work / Counselling desirable. Flexibility essential. Email : info@stjamespriory.org.uk to express an interest.
Community Cafe - local news! Thank you to the Downend Voice for the wonderful article about our new warm space, Community Cafe, each Friday from 1.30-3.30pm in our parish hall. Such a lovely write-up and great pictures of our team who were behind the set up and involved in the running of the new initiative for the local area. The numbers each week are growing and we couldn't be more delighted!
Also, huge thanks go to Raj and team at MS-2 Stores in Downend who gave us a VERY generous donation towards the running costs - what a wonderful community we are in!
