"Teas for Bees"

On Sunday 8th June the ladies from our Catholic Women's League hosted an afternoon tea at St John Fisher Church to raise £500 to help support CAFOD in their work abroad..
David Brinn from CAFOD was there to witness our Community coming together and enjoying the sun shine.. and then enjoying the downpour of rain.. and then enjoying the sun again! The changing weather did nothing to dampen the fun of the afternoon.
It was lovely to have Bishop Declan with us for the afternoon to see our own Maureen Merryfield being presented with a certificate and Romero cross for her years of service to CAFOD. Congratulations and Thank You Maureen!
Steve Webb, local MP also joined us for the event and Fr Michael, from the Russian Orthodox Church who also use St John Fisher Church at weekends, stayed behind for a cream tea.
Thank you to everyone who supported the event in any way.

CONGRATULATIONS

Our Parish Community congratulates and welcomes Janey Quigley and Philip Mann who were received into Full Communion with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil supported by their sponsors.
Janey and Philip participated with the R.C.I.A. (Roman Catholic's In Action) group in preparing for this wonderful occasion in their lives.

This was the write up from the Diocesan Website just before Easter:

On the First Saturday of Lent, 8th March, our Diocesan family gathered at the cathedral to celebrate the Rite of Election, in which those who are journeying towards becoming part of our Catholic community are presented to Bishop Declan. Here family and friends, sponsors and godparents, joined with those preparing for Baptism (Catechumens) and those preparing to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church (Candidates) as they came to this stage of their journey towards reception of the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. Altogether, there were 27 Catechumens and 47 Candidates from all parts of the Clifton Diocese, including Janey Quigley and Philip Mann from St Augustine’s. Janey and Phil will receive Confirmation and Holy Communion at our Easter Vigil.

In his homily Bishop Declan spoke of what we had heard in the gospel: Jesus noticed Levi and called him. He went on to ask if we had noticed a change in the lives of those he was now calling, in a deepening of prayer, a sense of joy in the Word and an openness to the presence of God in their lives. The same change should also be reflected in the lives each one of us as the grace of the season of Lent helps us to draw closer to God.

Please keep all the Catechumens and Candidates in your prayers, along with their sponsors and godparents, as they, and we, continue our Lenten journey to Easter.

GOD'S PLACE IN INDIA

God's place in India.....
Not just my words but said more than once by visitors from St
Augustine's to Haven Home in India. What makes it so special? The
answer must be the children who live there. With no television or
computers they enjoy the simple things in life. I guess this is what
makes them so happy. To be called Dad by 120 children is special.

The villages the children come from, prior to joining Haven Home are
very basic. Many without a bore well, just stagnant water (this is why
nearly all the children have malaria.)

They are sad leaving any relatives they have, but soon join with the
rest of the children enjoying swings and slides for the first time; or
having a bat and ball to play cricket, yes girls and boys. A school
with a teacher, even a desk to sit down to work. Fields that are
green, not brown, due to irrigation. A doctor, something new to them,
with a medical centre. A bed that is off the ground with mesh at the
windows so they are not bitten alive in the rainy season

There are no house parents, just one family run it. Everyone helps
each other. The older children look after the young. If someone has a
temperature they go to a nominated older boy who will either give them
medicine or refer them to the doctor.

When we opened the St Augustines School, Kerry Barber a parishioner at
St Augustine's, came to Haven Home. One morning before school the boys
were in the fields irrigating new mango trees, grown so that the
fruit can go into the childrens curry. Kerry turned round and said to
us 'This must be the nearest thing to heaven on earth'

As an aside the children have three rice meals a day. A sort of
yoghurt with breakfast, vegetarian curry for lunch and tea with
hardboiled eggs three times a week and chicken biryani as a treat
occasionally.

People from St Augustine's and other parishes, who go out every year
are so fortunate. Yes we have upsets, such a a child falling sick with
TB or pneumonia, but who else has 120 gandchildren?

We started going by accident... no, that's not true. It was God's will
that took us there. Thank you God for all at Haven Home, and for
giving us the opportunity to see your special place.

Martyn Poole

Lenten Lunch 2014

On Friday 4th April we held another successful Lenten Lunch in the Parish Hall bringing together many members of our community to share a meal together, donate to CAFOD and this week, as Rev David Brinn from CAFOD was with us to share his thoughts and knowledge of the charity, we held a 'bring a buy' sale to try to raise even more cash!
Our own Frank Murphy, pictured here with David, is going to hold a 24 hour fast on Good Friday to raise more much needed money for the work CAFOD do. We wish him well on this challenge.

Catholic Women's League - National Coffee Mornings

On the weekend of 1st & 2nd March 2014, there was a National Coffee Morning, with all sections of the CWL across the country inviting people to come along so they can promote the work of the Catholic Women's League. Our ladies did us proud with a fantastic cake and bake sale to raise money for their chosen charities. £132 was raised over the weekend and we got to see displays of the work and fun they have and to see what makes them tick! We were lucky enough to have a visit from Local Councillor Janet Biggin who was visiting our Church with Marguirita from Nicuragua, who is a fairtrade coffee grower, who is over for Fairtrade Fortnight. A lovely community celebration!

"Oh What a (QUIZ) Night!"

Well done to the winners who came
all the way from Westbury-on-Trym!

On Sunday night the hall was full of eager quiz-goers from our Parishes in Communion and beyond who got together to battle it out and raise money for a brilliant cause; The H.C.P.T. Pilgrimage Trust who take disadvantaged and disabled children to Lourdes each Easter.

It was a fantastic turnout for such a miserably wet night and over the course of the evening with ticket sales, a raffle, donations for teas and coffees and the now obligatory and tense 'heads and tails game' we raised together £529! A wonderful amount of money to go towards the cost of taking a child to Lourdes.

Mike Ryan and the gang put on a great night and huge thanks go to them for their hard work and also to everyone who came along and enjoyed the night.





Our Quiz Master!
























A full house!





"A Christmas Carry On"

Several members of the Not So Young Club extended their Christmas Festivities by taking a Post Christmas trip to Torquay.
See photos and details of the fun had by all on their blog.

Click Here