Dear friends,
In this Sunday’s first reading, Abraham encounters the Lord in mystery in the visit of three strangers. Here in the Old Testament is a vivid foreshadowing of the revelation of God as Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As we read, we recognise therefore that the Trinity was not a new doctrine introduced by the Church, but one imprinted on the pages of ancient Scripture, to be found in the earliest stories of our faith. As Christians, when we read the Old Testament, we are not reading the sacred text of another religion – but a Christian text, in which distinctively Christian doctrine is expressed and embodied, and we should read the whole Bible thus with the eyes of enlightened faith.
We congratulate our friend Fr Jason Rendell on the announcement of his appointment as the next Vicar of St Augustine, Kilburn. Fr Jason’s Induction to his new parish will take place on Christ the King Sunday, 23 November – and we hope a delegation from St Mary’s will be present, to pray for his new ministry! Remember also our brothers and sisters at St Andrew, Kingsbury as they prepare to begin the search for a new parish priest.
Tickets remain on sale for our summer barbecue (on Saturday, 16 August – including via this link (if doing so, please enter the total payable, and then notify Fr Richard once you have made payment, so that a paper ticket can also be issued to you)); there are also now just two spaces remaining on the coach to Walsingham for the Pilgrimage for Healing & Renewal on Bank Holiday Monday, 25 August: please sign up in church – thereafter, if you wish to be placed on a waiting list, please speak to Fr Richard.
And, as a creative response to the lamentable House of Commons vote in favour of assisted suicide, our friend Fr Glen Thomas (at St Mary, South Ruislip) is seeking sponsorship as he “braves the shave” in support of the palliative care offered by Marie Curie: please use this link to donate, as he has his head shaved this Sunday! (And watch this space for further information to follow soon about an exciting joint project (with All Saints, Kenton) later this year, here in support of St Luke’s Hospice.)
Herewith included: an invitation to celebrate The Assumption of Our Lady at All Saints, Margaret Street; another invitation to St Cuthbert, Philbeach Gardens for the Feast of the Translation of the Relics of St Cuthbert (in the presence also of a relic of St Carlo Acutis), and a further invitation to those aged 7-18 to learn to sing together the music for Choral Evensong – including taking a turn at conducting – at St Mary-at-Finchley.
How great are the riches of the glory of the mystery which is Christ in us, our hope,
Fr Richard