Dear friends,
(Please note that the rolling roadworks along the Kenton Road mean that, for approximately the next fortnight, vehicular access into St Leonard’s Avenue is not possible in either direction: if travelling to church by car, please re-route via Hillbury Avenue. Please note likewise that the two bus stops on the main road closest to the church are also out of action for the time being.)
This coming Sunday, the Fourth of Easter, is known also as Good Shepherd Sunday – and is a day of special prayer for vocations to the priesthood. Meditating on the meaning of our response to God’s call and claim on our lives, Pope Leo recently observed that, ‘in becoming [Christ’s] disciple, one truly becomes ‘beautiful’: His beauty transforms us‘: it is in joyful and trusting obedience to the Lord’s dream for our lives that our lives achieve their noblest shape and richest depth, and become ‘an adventure of love and happiness‘.
Mindful of the need to pray and pay for our priests, please note that this weekend is the final opportunity to return your Additional Curates Society Lent Appeal collection boxes, as well as to make any final donations in support of HART-UK, this month’s chosen charity.
Bishop Norman has kindly written to thank us for our hospitality and welcome over Holy Week and Easter: ‘What a wonderful Easter at S. Mary’s. I have so many very special memories of my time with you… Please thank [everyone] for all that they did to mark my birthday: I was really touched by their kindness. And thank you for my Easter gifts, to be enjoyed at leisure. Your hard work and dedication is so evident in the church and the liturgy – all very inspiring!‘
Our church Open Day is on Saturday, 9 May: please spread the word, and please also sign up – to help visitors to hear our story; appreciate our beautiful building; see what goes on behind our doors, and then visit us again! We would be especially grateful for any (good-quality) secondhand books, as well as homemade cakes! Speak to Johnette, to find out more.
Looking ahead likewise to our May Devotion on Saturday, 23 May, please kindly confirm to Pat your contribution to the world foods afternoon tea party after the service at St Mary’s: we are looking for the dishes your mother taught you to make, as we rejoice in the great diversity of heritages and traditions represented culturally in our congregation, and as similarly we prepare to celebrate the birthday of the Church the next day, on the Feast of Pentecost – when the Holy Spirit caused the apostles to speak in different tongues. (Please also speak to me to sponsor one of our musicians (£50): as last year, the procession will be accompanied by a brass ensemble – plus, new for 2026, a pair of dhol (Indian) drummers!)
We are likewise invited to the Society of Mary May Devotion on Saturday, 2 May at St Silas, Kentish Town: please refer to the attached poster.
Also attached is another poster for a forthcoming candlelit service and Gospel concert at Christ Church, Roxeth (on the same day, 2 May) – in aid of the persecuted Church in Manipur, India, where (since 2023) more than 300 churches have been destroyed, and lives lost.
And a correction to last week’s mailing: this year’s Annual Meetings are, of course, after Mass on Sunday, 10 May (not April!) Several key positions need to be filled at this meeting, including our Electoral Roll Officer and Parish Safeguarding Officer, as well as representatives on our Parochial Church Council (PCC) and to the Harrow Deanery Synod. We are additionally looking for a new PCC Secretary and PCC Treasurer. Could this be part of your vocation, to serve God in the Church? Please speak to me, and/or consult the role descriptions at the back of church – where there are also nomination papers to be completed. A digital copy of the 2025 Annual Report and Accounts is attached herewith: please request a hard copy as required.
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want,
Fr Richard