Dear friends,
This Sunday’s parable of the Good Samaritan provides us with the negative notion of passing by on the other side: we use this turn of phrase to describe the behaviour of those who neglect to help others at their time of need, shrugging off such situations as not their responsibility. However, the care and protection of those in need – especially the most vulnerable – is surely the concern of all Christians; and one name we give to this attitude and action is Safeguarding. This Sunday at Mass, our Parish Safeguarding Officer, Joanna Service, will speak about her work in this important role, and also our shared responsibility to look out for one another.
The Letter of St Paul to the Ephesians speaks of the Church as God’s household: at its best, a household provides stability, warmth, safety, relationships with people who care about us, and sense of being at home. The Church as the household of God should be the place where God is, where people can find God and where they can live with Him. The Church must offer God’s welcome to all, and make that welcome tangible through fostering communities which are both open and secure. As good neighbours, Christians should offer the hospitality of Christ to all members of our local communities, speaking of the healing, justice and restoration which we find in him. As such, the care of the most vulnerable, coupled with grace and justice, must be priorities which animate our life together as God’s people. We look forward to hearing from Joanna on Sunday, as to how we can all play our part in this crucial work.
Although the official Safeguarding Sunday does not fall until 16 November, yet there are many resources available from the Diocese and the national Church to help inform our shared Safeguarding understanding and practice.
Tickets remain on sale for our summer barbecue (on Saturday, 16 August); there are also now just five seats remaining on the coach to Walsingham for the Pilgrimage for Healing & Renewal on Bank Holiday Monday, 25 August: please sign up in church.
Please find attached an invitation to a Sung Mass (and a barbecue) for The Assumption on Sunday, 17 August at St Luke, Shepherd’s Bush at 5pm. (And advance notice also that this year’s Macmillan Coffee Morning will take place in the Hall on Saturday, 4 October: save the date!)
Thank you for donations last month, in aid of Tariro UK – Hope for Youth in Zimbabwe, totalling £900 (+ Gift Aid).
May God guide us with His peaceable wisdom, that our communities may be places of safety and joy,
Fr Richard