With the current conflict bringing such division and devastation to human life, it is easy to feel powerless.
Please use this link for some physical actions we can take, whether contacting our MP, donating to those aid agencies on the ground and finding out what they are doing to help, and, of course, praying for peace.
"God of peace, bearer of hope, we seek your help for the peoples of the Middle East.
Quiet the clamour of war and guide us towards peace.
Where there is hatred and division sow seeds of calm and openness.
Where there is destruction help us to rebuild.
Where children are crying bring an end to tears.
Shelter your peoples and protect them.
Guide them and keep them from harm.
Show us how to break down the barriers of history and fear
and breathe whispers of hope.
Amen."
Linda Jones / CAFOD
The Countdown is on to our 'Countdown to Christmas' event!
Join us for shopping and 'festive festivities' on Saturday 18th November from 12noon until 3pm.
With only 4 weeks to go we continue to highlight the brilliant local traders and charities who will be sharing their wares at our event:
Grazynka and co from ZHP Wielka Brytania will be selling various Christmas gifts made by the units, leaders, parents and supporters. Funds raised will be used to support their units' scouting activities to provide an exciting, fun and challenging programme for children and young people in developing mentally strong, self sufficient individuals who can make a contribution to the community.
Visit their website for more information.
Also, come and visit Hannah at MJG Kustoms for amazing personalised gifts. Hannah was with us at our summer event and her array of items went down a storm.
Looking forward to seeing you all there.
PARISH MEETINGS
Please come and join Fr Barnabas in the hall on Sat 28th Oct & 11th Nov from 10.15-1pm for a meeting to include prayer & discussions on our faith and what sort of Parish we want to be.
The first meeting was welcomed by those who were there - it was really prayerful and thought provoking - so please come along to help shape our church's future.
Bring a sandwich to share lunch together after, if you’d like to.
The first meeting was welcomed by those who were there - it was really prayerful and thought provoking - so please come along to help shape our church's future.
Bring a sandwich to share lunch together after, if you’d like to.
Thanks, Deacon Vincent, for your Reflections for Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A.
1st Reading from the prophet Isaiah 45: 1, 4-6.
This extract is from the slightly shadowy period when Israel’s Exile was coming to an end. Cyrus had decreed in 538 BC, that the Israelites were permitted to return home. The Second Isaiah is instructed by God to proclaim that Cyrus has been chosen by God to save the Chosen People and let them return to Israel. It further projects that because God is the one and only God, who created everything, then, anyone is permitted to approach God and be accepted. This is preparation for the expansion of God’s message to the wider world through the proclamation of the Gospel of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ.
Psalm 95: 1, 3-5, 7-10.
A psalm to be sung when the Temple was being re-built upon the return of the Exiles. It is a new song to the Lord. It is a new beginning full of Hope.
2nd Reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians 1: 1-5.
This opening of the letter to the Thessalonian Christians contains the blessing from the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ. It affirms that they have been chosen by God for salvation. They embraced the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ with total conviction and put their faith into action, by working for love and persevering through hope in our Lord Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit. So, we have the Trinitarian greeting. By illustrating the power that had been transmitted to them via their conversion from paganism, they are now living the Gospel life, invigorated by that power of the Holy Spirit. This power transforms lives and energises us to live actively the Gospel of Jesus Christ day in and day out.
The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 22: 15-21.
Here we have the first skirmish with the Pharisees with the, ably assisted by the connivance of the Herodians. They set what could be a lethal trap; for the Herodians supported Roman rule and therefore this was a real threat on the life of Jesus. Poll Taxes by the Romans was a very contentious matter in Israel at this time, so Jesus is dangled between two pitfalls, upsetting his own people, and returning to obscurity or upsetting the Romans, which could lead to his imprisonment and death. But Jesus is too smart for all of them; he asks for the coin with which the Poll Tax was paid. They hand him a denarius; “Whose head is this?” He asks. “Ceasar” they reply, “Well then give to Ceasar what is Ceasar’s and to God what is God’s.” Of course, absolutely everything belongs to God. It is an amazing piece of adroitness by Jesus, which dumbfounds his opponents. Jesus is God’s Word and is full of God’s wisdom. We witness Jesus at his most combative and if we stay close to him, he will assist us, through the Holy Spirit, to counter all our opponents.
God send your Holy Spirit upon us, enabling us to live out your Gospel Life fully.
Deacon Vincent
1st Reading from the prophet Isaiah 45: 1, 4-6.
This extract is from the slightly shadowy period when Israel’s Exile was coming to an end. Cyrus had decreed in 538 BC, that the Israelites were permitted to return home. The Second Isaiah is instructed by God to proclaim that Cyrus has been chosen by God to save the Chosen People and let them return to Israel. It further projects that because God is the one and only God, who created everything, then, anyone is permitted to approach God and be accepted. This is preparation for the expansion of God’s message to the wider world through the proclamation of the Gospel of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ.
Psalm 95: 1, 3-5, 7-10.
2nd Reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians 1: 1-5.
This opening of the letter to the Thessalonian Christians contains the blessing from the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ. It affirms that they have been chosen by God for salvation. They embraced the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ with total conviction and put their faith into action, by working for love and persevering through hope in our Lord Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit. So, we have the Trinitarian greeting. By illustrating the power that had been transmitted to them via their conversion from paganism, they are now living the Gospel life, invigorated by that power of the Holy Spirit. This power transforms lives and energises us to live actively the Gospel of Jesus Christ day in and day out.
The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 22: 15-21.
Here we have the first skirmish with the Pharisees with the, ably assisted by the connivance of the Herodians. They set what could be a lethal trap; for the Herodians supported Roman rule and therefore this was a real threat on the life of Jesus. Poll Taxes by the Romans was a very contentious matter in Israel at this time, so Jesus is dangled between two pitfalls, upsetting his own people, and returning to obscurity or upsetting the Romans, which could lead to his imprisonment and death. But Jesus is too smart for all of them; he asks for the coin with which the Poll Tax was paid. They hand him a denarius; “Whose head is this?” He asks. “Ceasar” they reply, “Well then give to Ceasar what is Ceasar’s and to God what is God’s.” Of course, absolutely everything belongs to God. It is an amazing piece of adroitness by Jesus, which dumbfounds his opponents. Jesus is God’s Word and is full of God’s wisdom. We witness Jesus at his most combative and if we stay close to him, he will assist us, through the Holy Spirit, to counter all our opponents.
God send your Holy Spirit upon us, enabling us to live out your Gospel Life fully.
Deacon Vincent
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