Dear friends,
The psalmist calls us to ‘[l]ook towards [the Lord] and be radiant‘: like the rays of the summer sun, which warm and burnish all that they touch, so if we stand in the light of the Lord, and turn our faces towards Him, so our hearts and lives also will be illuminated by God’s love and His grace.
This coming Sunday is the Solemnity of St Peter and St Paul, twin princes of the apostles, whose courage and conviction we celebrate, as also in this season we pray for all those to be ordained to share in our day in the continuing ministry of the apostles. Jonathan, our bishop, will be ordaining men as deacons and priests this weekend: consequently, although Morning Prayer will be said as usual on Saturday at 9.00am, there will be no morning Mass afterwards on Saturday – in order for those who wish to then to travel to St Andrew, Holborn, for the ordination to the diaconate of William Allen and Simon Billington, at 11.00am. The ordination of priests is on Sunday at 5.00pm (all welcome): please likewise pray for Frs Duncan Hegan and Roger Turner, to be ordained as priests.
Our parish barbecue on Saturday, 6 July is fast approaching: please stay after Mass this Sunday to a short planning meeting in the Hall, to finalise arrangements; please purchase any further tickets (£12.50/adult, £5/under-18), and please contribute any suitable raffle prizes.
Thank you so much for raising the amazing sum of £992.18 for the Additional Curates Society during May’s monthly appeal: these funds will directly benefit some of those to be ordained this weekend, as well as those exploring a vocation to ordination, such as Ryan Davey, our pastoral assistant to-be. We are delighted that the ACS has awarded us £5,000 towards his year-long placement in Kenton – and we are now well on the way to covering all of his costs.
Indeed, the total sum secured so far this year through successful grant applications towards various parish projects now stands at more than £23,5000 – allowing us to venture forward creatively and confidently in ministry and mission! Generous hearts invite generosity: our donation to the ACS brings our own total external giving so far this year to just under £8,000 – in support of a broad range of charities including St Luke’s Hospice, WaterAid and the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza. Thank you so much for your generosity: this coming Sunday is the final opportunity to contribute to the collection for the West London Kidney Patients’ Association: in July, we will be collecting for Harrow StreetPastors, who made a presentation at Mass last Sunday.
We also now invite any cash contributions towards our participation in this year’s Walsingham Youth Pilgrimage, which we are subsiding for the families participating: we have raised more than £1,400 in grant awards, but still require around £136 to break even. If you are not able to make a financial contribution, we would also be pleased to receive your donations of biscuits (not chocolate), individual cereal boxes and individual cakes and cake bars.
Another important source of income for our parish is Hall hire: we now have availability for regular hirers only on Sunday afternoons, and also potentially Saturday mornings, and Friday evenings after 6pm. Please speak to Fr Richard if you know of any groups who might wish to use the Hall at these times, on a regular basis.
The funeral Mass of the late Peter Coe is to take place at 11.00am on Friday, 12 July: please share with Fr Richard any reminiscences of Peter, to be included in the words of tribute.
Please find attached to this e-mail a flier for the Summer Eucharist in honour of Our Lady of Pew, at Westminster Abbey, on Friday, 19 July at 6.30pm – at which Bishop Jonathan will preach. The pew sheet also contains details of Inductions and Licensings at St Alphege, Edmonton (22 July); St Anselm, Belmont (25 July) and St Alphage, Burnt Oak (5 August).
By the keys of St Peter and the words of St Paul, and by the support of their intercession, may God bring you happily to that homeland where all the saints rejoice,
Fr Richard