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Thank you for your offerings last week of £1475.13 and £744.28 for Marys Meals. Mass attendances were 788.
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Sunday 4/10/15 |
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
6pm Saturday Reg Griffin RIP (K Griffin)
9.15am People of the Parish
11.00am Bella McGill RIP (L OSullivan)
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Monday 5/10/15
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Feria
9.30am Leila Carpenter RIP (D Trinidad)
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Tuesday 6/10/15 |
Feria/St Bruno
9.30am Kathleen McGavghey RIP (E Bryant)
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Wednesday 7/10/15 |
Our Lady of the Rosary
9.30am Noreen Alford Smith RIP (M Farrell)
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Thursday 8/10/15 |
Feria
9.30am Dr Margaret Evelyn Ledger (Foundation Mass)
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Friday 9/10/15 |
Feria/St Denis, St John Leonardi & Blessed John Henry Newman
9.30am Margaret Jackson (Jackson Family)
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Saturday 10/10/15 |
Vigil Mass
6.00pm Anthony Olivelle RIP (M Olivelle)
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Sunday 11/10/15 |
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
9.15am People of the Parish
11.00am Tom Webb RIP
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Confessions heard Saturday 5.00pm-5.45pm or by appointment. |
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A warm welcome is extended to all our Parishioners, new members of our Parish and any visitors who are here with us this weekend.
Fr David writes......
No man/woman is an island as they say. We, whatever our faith, whatever our culture, whatever our sexuality and gender, have been created for relationships. We come alive mostly when we are in relationship with others. And relationships can take many forms. CS Lewis speaks of 4 loves the highest does not stand without the lowest in part based on the four Greek words for love: affection, friendship, eros and charity. We start learning and experiencing relationship within the family system. Like it or not, our types of attachments that we experience in our infancy affects our sense of self and our ability or lack of, to bond with others. This has a tremendous effect on our future model of adult relationships. In saying this, none of us have had the perfect upbringing. In our own way, we all grapple with a healthy sense of self and relationship. But it is well known that some people have had more of a struggle at the very beginning of their lives than others. Trauma (sexual, physical, emotional) for example in early childhood can damage you for the rest of your life and hinder our ability for intimate relationships. I am not saying that it makes healthy relationships impossible but it does need a lot of healing work on one self if that is the case. Healthy primary attachment is the basis to enter into an adult relationship with another person. So for two people to become one body they need first and foremost to undergo the difficult journey of self knowledge. Knowing oneself helps you and me to know what are the dynamics that are working in us to help us be attracted to another person and to come to a position to say that I want to spend the rest of my life to the other person. In saying this we know that love most of the time is not rational. Love can truly be blind. So embarking on the beautiful journey of marriage can be very complicated in the area of total knowledge of what the true motivations to enter into marriage is about. Taking all this in consideration, I am inspired to see couples who have been married for thirty, forty, fifty and sixty years. The structures of society before and also the different expectations of the marriage commitment helped in the past to keep a lot of people together. I am not saying that there were no problems before though. But today those factors are totally inaccessible nowadays. One needs to work and work hard sometimes with the demands, distractions and expectations which are put on families and couples in todays world. It is not so simple. We are more aware of our own rights, we are more aware of the fact that we do change and we do go through different stages in life. What keeps people together today is a lifelong commitment to go through the diverse stages of the relationship and keep it alive. What keeps a couple together cannot just be financial or the children although these are important elements of the relationship. A relationship demands something more profound. In other words a relationship does demand a spiritual connection a similar value system, compatible priorities in life and a desire to keep on communicating adequately with one another and enjoy being together having fun together. Keeping all this knowledge in our mind, sometimes we do grapple with what we experience in our everyday life and our relationships and what the Church and our faith demands of us. It is normal. Unfortunately I have met many people who because of one reason or another their relationship has ended. And so they do feel that they had also lost their rightful place within the church. They do not feel welcomed by the church and especially when they hear the gospel reading of today it confirms to them how the church views separation and divorce. During this month of October, in Rome, the Pope is going to gather theologians together to discuss different issues in regards the family in todays world. He personally is promoting the theological concept of Gods Mercy. And he seems to be eager to find some kind of way in order to help people who experience alienation from the church a pastoral welcome. In reality we know that not all theologians and Catholics agree on such inclusivity. I dont think that he is after a liberal approach towards marriage, but he is definitely concerned about the pastoral need to help people who might be feeling ostracised by the church to feel that there is a place for them within the church. His thinking I feel is very much gospel based and very much Vatican Council II approach. The Church as being a Pilgrim People. We are all on a journey. None of us is perfect. And it reminds me of what Jesus says It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick I have not come to call the righteous but sinners for repentence Luke 5:32. It is in this spirit that Pope Francis has been working towards the Synod. I would like to encourage you to pray for this forthcoming synod that the Holy Spirit might surprise us once again. That the Spirit of Mercy may prevail.
Drop-In Evening Surgery
This week, I will be available between 5.00pm and 7.00pm on Tuesday 6th October, in the Parish Office, 281a Crescent Drive. If you wish to speak to me about any matter, please feel free to come along. No appointments are necessary. Fr David.
Second Collection
Will take place this weekend for CAFOD Fast Day. Next weekend there will be second collection for the Maintenance Fund.
Baptism Preparation Classes
Will take place this Monday 5th October in the Parish Meeting Room, 281a Crescent Drive, for those parents that have been invited. (Please note change of venue).
Reminders - Church Cleaning!
Saturday 10th October Confirmation Candidates
Saturday 17th October Readers
Morning Prayers
Take place Monday Friday at 9.10am. All are welcome to attend.
First Holy Communion 2016
If you would like your child to take part in our parish program for First Holy Communion, please complete an application form on table at the back of the Church. Please then return the full slip to the Parish Office (281A Crescent Drive) by Sunday 11th October.
Commissioning of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion
The next commissioning day is taking place next Saturday 10th October starting at 10.00am at St Georges Cathedral. If you would like to attend could you please complete the form on the table at the back of the church.
Churches Together
The Churches of Petts Wood are arranging a joint event on Saturday 24 October called One World Day to heighten awareness of issues confronting the world today and to show our community as one people throughout the world. We at St James will be taking part. The plight of refugees is one topic that will be covered and I have arranged for a speaker from the Jesuit Refugee Service to speak. The Churches have each been asked to provide food representing the traditions of the countries of one particular continent. We have been asked to prepare food from any of the countries of Europe (which includes any part of the UK and the Republic of Ireland). Would anyone who is able to contribute food for this please contact Mary O'Mahony at mary.omahony@stjamespettswood.org
Annual Day of Recollection for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and Readers
This will take place on Saturday 14th November at Bishop Thomas Grant School, Belltrees Grove, SW16 2HY, registration at 10.30am. The day will be led by Fr Ashley Beck, from St Edmund of Canterbury, Beckenham. Bishop Patrick Lynch will end the day with Mass at 3.00pm. All Ministers of Holy Communion and Readers are encouraged to attend. Please email or call the parish office so that we can reply with the names of those that are attending.
New Church Cleaning Rota
We are proposing to reinstate a rota of volunteers to clean the church each week. If you would like to go on the rota please contact the parish office. Please note the current rota will still be used until further notice.
Pondering the Word (Lectio Divina)
A quiet reflective look at the following Sundays Gospel. Mondays 11-12 noon here in the Church.
Volunteers needed for the Petts Wood Playgroup for Children with Special Needs.
Members of this Parish have helped there in the past, but now only three people are regularly involved. An "escort" is also urgently required on the mini-bus on Friday mornings, starting at 8.30 am. This is a paid position. For further details please contact Mrs Larry Simpson or Mrs Madeleine Howell (a parishioner). Please consider whether you could give some time to help with this very worthwhile group."
JPIC Southwark Autumn Assembly 2015
The Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Southwark Autumn Assembly 2015 will take place on Saturday, 17 October at The Pavilion, CAFOD, Romero House, 55 Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 7JB from 10am to 4pm. Theme for the Day: Can We Eradicate Poverty? See poster on notice board.
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First Holy Communion in 2016
If you would like your child to take part in our parish program for First Holy Communion, please cut out this box and complete the information requested below. Please then return the full slip to the Parish Office (281A Crescent Drive) by Sunday 11th October
Please note the following:
- Candidates must be in Year 3 or above.
- All sessions will be held on Saturdays from 4.30pm-5.45pm and will run from January to June.
Dates for First Holy Communion will be advised at a later date.
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We are interested in our child taking part in the First Holy Communion Preparation Course.
(Please print.)
Parents Names
Home Address .
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Phone number .
Email address ..
Young persons name
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Current School
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Date of Birth . |