Confessions heard Saturday 5.00-5.45pm or by appointment.
Morning Prayer: Takes place Monday – Friday at 9.10am. All are welcome to attend.
Pondering the Word (Lectio Divina)
A quiet reflective look at the following Sunday’s Gospel. Mondays 11am - 12 noon, except for Bank Holidays, here in the church. All welcome.
Fr David writes…
We can be very quick to judge. We tend to categorise others by our standards and by our likes and dislikes. Our perception of each other is tainted by how we get on with them or not. Some people are more “black” or “white” than others. In their vocabulary “grey” does not exist. They come across as harsh and cold hearted. Very dogmatic in their approach. These are the people that live their lives according to laws and regulations. They look down and condemn anyone who in their perception, do not live up to their expectations. You notice them because they are constantly pontificating to others. The image they project of themselves to the outer world is that they are in the right and that they are always righteous. It is very difficult to connect with someone so self righteous. If you do not have a healthy ego, you would continually feel undermined by them. These are the people who thrive in putting expectations on others and themselves.
The mayor of the village, the Compte de Reynaud, in the beautiful movie Chocolat, the 2000 British-American romantic comedy-drama, illustrates what I am trying to describe here. He is portrayed as self righteous and that he wanted everyone in the village to live according to his high moral standards and values. In his world view there was no room for diversity or failure. Uniformity was encouraged by him because it gave him power and control. He felt completely out of his depth when Vianne arrives in this sleepy French village together with her daughter. She does not fit in well with the villagers but is very optimistic about her business – in opening up a Chocolaterie during the season of Lent. Her friendly and alluring free spirited nature begins to win the villagers over one by one, causing Reynaud to openly speak against her for tempting the people during a time of abstinence and self-denial. On the other hand, the Compte’s personal life is in chaos. He will not admit that his wife has left him; and that he is romantically interested in his secretary Caroline but because of his expectations on himself and his faith, does not pursue her. Whilst Vianne because of her inner freedom helps in liberating and healing others, the Compte becomes more resentful and bitter. His world view did not allow him to see Vianne through the eyes of compassion and see her beautiful soul. He looked at her as being totally darnel – the devil. Because he repressed his real feelings, he could not accept that people in general are neither totally monsters nor saints like him. His world was inhabited either by saints or else demons. What a shame! It was only at the end, did he allow himself to experience vulnerability and then transformation happened. Because he allowed himself to experience himself as vulnerable, he could then allow others to be so as well.
In the parable of today – of the wheat and darnel – we see a similar allegory of what I am trying to depict. Somehow Jesus is trying to convey to his disciples, that as human beings, we are a mixture of good and evil. Of wheat and darnel. Both make us who we are. We shall never be angels. That is not our vocation. We are humans and so if we are honest with ourselves, we all have our shadow side. We are all wounded. Now we can either allow our wounds to undermine how we live our lives or else allow the shadow side to teach us. To show us the areas that we need to be healed. And healing happens when we acknowledge our shadow and not when we deny it. Befriending our darnel side helps us to ground ourselves in reality and also helps us not to judge others but try to understand where they are coming from. The more we give permission to ourselves to see us as both wheat and darnel, the more we have patience and compassion with others on their journey too.
This is also a healthy metaphor to challenge the church today. It is not the place of the Church to set up inquisitions or support witch hunts. As Christians we do not have the final judgement on anyone. The last word cannot be said about anyone until death, and then it is God’s part not ours to say it. Jesus in his ministry and life reached out to all sorts of people, mixing with prostitutes, priests, crooks, scribes, politicians, children, tax collectors. Religious separatism was something Jesus refused to advocate, making it his business to seek out and save the lost. The Pharisees, whose name means “the separated ones”, criticised him for associating with the wrong crowd. But Jesus knew that all communities, all peoples, are a mixture of good and bad. The crooked and the cracked.
Pope Francis speaks of the church as being a “Field hospital for the wounded”. It is a haven for those who struggle with different aspects of life. He also continues by saying “I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security”. May those who feel encouraged to join our parish, experience it as a place of inclusion and acceptance. A place where they can be themselves many times in the paradox of their lives.
“Drop-In” – Evening Surgeries
There will be no drop-in evening surgeries until further notice. So if you would like to see Fr David, please email him or phone the parish office for an appointment. Thank you.
Holy Baptism
This weekend we welcome, through Holy Baptism, Veronica and Patrick Cleary and their parents Declan and Margaret.
Justice & Peace Group
Thank you!
A magnificent 287.4 kg of food was delivered to the Foodbank this week. Thank you to everyone who contributed and the volunteers at the Foodbank wanted to pass on their sincere thanks for our continued support.
The Justice & Peace Group
will next meet on Wednesday 26th July at 7.45pm in the Parish Office meeting room (281A Crescent Drive). All parishioners are assured of a warm welcome.
Parish Life
Seniors’ Lunch
Thank you to everybody who came and helped with this event. Special thanks to The Wells family, The Edwards family, Owen Clutton, Paul Cosgrave, and Angela and Bridie who supplied beautiful table arrangements. We hope to do it again next year.
St James’ School Gardening Club
The residents of Southmore Court Residential Home have been in touch to convey their deep appreciation for the visit from the children last Tuesday and for the wonderful gift of the flower wheelbarrow. Special thanks to Mrs Deasy and Mrs Linehan.
One Parish Weekend – Our Autumn Festival 2017
This year’s Autumn Festival is scheduled to be held on Saturday 30th September during the afternoon. Our theme this year is ‘One Parish Weekend’ and we are aiming to celebrate our multi-cultural community. We would like to invite and encourage members of our diverse community to participate in organising a festival with a new perspective. For example, we could have stalls presenting different cultural backgrounds, e.g. with photos, costumes, good news items, and bring and share food, e.g. “taster sessions”; and a “poetry and paint” competition for children as a preamble to the festival about the theme of “home” with prizes to be awarded on the day. Fr David has organised a meeting on Thursday 27th July at 8pm in the Community Centre to discuss the Festival and would like to invite anyone from any parish group, and parishioners, who may not currently be in a group but who would like to be involved, to come to the meeting and find out more and to bring their own ideas too. See you there!
CWL Meeting
The next meeting of the Catholic Women’s League will be at 8.00pm on Monday 24th July and will be held in the Community Centre. Please come along if you would like to learn more about the CWL.
The Power of Colour
Seven Sisters Seascape, October 7th 10am to 1pm in the Community Centre. Unleash your creativity at a palette knife workshop with Zsuzsanna Pataki.
Following a step-by-step demo by Zsuzsanna, you will develop your own seascape in acrylics, with sponges and palette knives. Great fun and a new technique if your default tool is a brush. Professional colours, canvas and tools provided. Beginners are very welcome.
Invite friends and sign up together by calling the parish office on 01689 827100. Recommended age 14-144 years, special discount for the parish £25 per person.
Liturgy Pillar
Eucharist Adoration
takes place for an hour each Wednesday shortly after the morning Mass starting at 10.45 am and finishing at 11.45 am. This Devotion to the Eucharist is a time of silent prayer and quiet music. Everyone is welcome for all or part of this time of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.
First Friday of Month - Eucharist Adoration also takes place on the 1st Friday of each month from 7.30 pm – 9pm and concludes with Benediction. Everyone is welcome for all or part of this time of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.
Youth Pillar
Post-Confirmation Retreat
29th September - 1st October 2017
In collaboration with Southwark Catholic Youth Service, we are offering all young people who have made their Confirmation the opportunity to attend a Post-Confirmation retreat which promises both fun and faith exploration under the experienced guidance of the youth team in Whitstable (Costs tbc). Please contact the parish office by 24th July 2017 to register your interest.
Communications Pillar
The Parish’s Welcome Booklet
The parish’s booklet has been revised and updated. Copies are available in the repository for £3 a copy (to cover costs).
"Time and Talents” Questionnaire
Many different skills are needed to help the PPC support the work of the parish so thank you to everyone who is already on a volunteers’ rota or helping the parish in other ways. Please do fill in the questionnaire today, if you can offer help with any of the skills listed, and once completed put it in the box in the church porch. Thank you.
Mass Intentions
Please note that, due to high demand, Mass intentions for services up to and including October 2017 are fully booked. Please bear this in mind when filing your Mass intentions, and try to give the office as much lead in time as possible to help ensure you get the dates you would like.
Pastoral Care Pillar
Peace Candle in Our Lady’s Chapel
A quiet space is available in Our Lady’s Chapel, and a book is available for anyone who wishes to write a prayer for peace or for their own personal intentions.
Seeing a Chaplain if You Are Admitted to Hospital
Protecting personal information (data protection) is really important when you become an inpatient in hospital.
So please specifically ask hospital staff to pass on your details to the hospital’s Roman Catholic chaplain as soon as you are admitted if you would like a Chaplain to visit you.
Fr David would always be very happy to visit you too, so please ask a relative or friend to let him know about your admission. You or they can email Fr David on father.david@stjamespettswood.org, or phone the parish office on 01689 827100.
Weekend Rotas: Thank you for helping.
|
Wednesday Coffee 26th July |
M Gyi S Barradell B D'Arcy
|
|
|
Saturday 29th July |
|
|
|
Cleaning the Church |
Altar Servers and Eucharistic Ministers
|
|
|
30th July |
|||
|
Mass |
Saturday 6pm (Vigil) |
Sunday 9.15am |
Sunday 11am |
|
Welcomers |
I Garcia Finan |
C Cook E Froud |
S Kavanagh T Connolly
|
|
Readers |
A Prifti D Woolston |
A Hansford C D'Souza |
Z Bajorek D Ducat
|
|
Ministers of Holy Communion |
T Babb B Babb R Wright H Rothon P Cantopher |
T Forde M Smith M Howell S Cotta A Ward |
K Evans A Evans P May S Ingle Z Bajorek
|
|
Tellers |
P Benson, N Longhurst |