Dear friends,
The God who makes us rich in faith has, as this Sunday’s first reading outlines, made us also heirs to an inheritance of inestimable value – to a place in His family and His kingdom.
This Sunday coming, continuing the Marian motif of this month of September, we will with joy celebrate our Patronal Festival in honour of Our Lady of Walsingham (and also my own second anniversary as your parish priest!): during Mass, there will be the opportunity to participate in the Liturgy of Sprinkling with water from Walsingham’s Holy Well – and there will be available after Mass, for a voluntary donation to parish funds, a limited number of individual bottles of Walsingham well water. Likewise after Mass, all are very welcome to stay to a bring-and-share parish lunch in the Hall: as previously requested, please make sure only to bring what you have agreed beforehand with Pat (to prevent waste, duplication or omission of dishes) – and please speak to Pat if your plans change, or if you would like to know what other foods are needed.
Then, on Sunday evening, our friends at St Matthew, Willesden invite us to join them for their Patronal Festival, in honour of the apostle St Matthew – and for a party afterwards – with Mass beginning at 6pm.
The celebrations continue next week on Thursday, 26 September, when Fr Mike will celebrate the 6pm Mass on the fourth anniversary of his Ordination to the Priesthood: ad multos annos! Please join Fr Mike for Mass at 6pm, and for light refreshments afterwards.
Looking ahead, after Mass on Sunday, 13 October there will be a short planning meeting to discuss both the party after Mass on St Leonard’s Day (on Sunday, 3 November, and see below), and our pre-Christmas Fair, on Saturday, 23 November): please stay to this meeting, so that preparations can get properly underway.
Our young people are invited on the next Youth Group outing – to go trampolining at Harrow Leisure Centre – on Saturday, 26 October. The cost will be £10pp (to include refreshments), and places are limited: sign up in church to secure a space.
Your help is likewise requested to take some of the church’s green waste to the dump: we have invested in some rubble sacks to aid transportation, and to save your car seats from getting dirty! Please see Fr Mike if you can assist.
As highlighted above, our secondary Patronal Festival (in honour of St Leonard) will take place on Sunday, 3 November: there will that day be no 10.30am Parish Mass, instead to allow our friends from other parishes to join us for a special Mass at 5pm – when our guest preacher will be Fr David Bateman, Assistant Priest in the Southampton City Centre Catholic Parish. As in previous years, after Mass there will be a party in the Hall, for which we invite your kind contributions of food to bring and share: there will also hopefully be fireworks! Please save the date, and share it with family and friends.
Looking even further ahead still, we have booked twenty tickets to the pantomime (“The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan”) at Harrow Arts Centre at 3pm on Sunday, 15 December: please sign up in church – these tickets will cost £20 (adults) or £10 (under-18s).
Fr Andrew Corsie, the Willesden Area Director of Ministry, would be pleased to hear from anyone who might like to serve as a lay assessor for those candidates discerning a vocation to ordination: if you might like to discuss this important role encouraging and accompanying those looking towards ordination, please let me know.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
Fr Richard