The CAFOD LiveSimply parish award scheme has been running at St James’ since September 2012.  At that time we agreed to carry out a series of activities to demonstrate our commitment to:

Live Simply, that is to take only what we need;

Live Sustainably, that is to minimise our impact on the planet;

and to Live in Solidarity with the Poor.

The posters at the front of church have reminded us of these commitments, and in various ways the parish has responded positively to LiveSimply.

We have almost completed our promise as a parish and it is time to apply to CAFOD for our award.  It is also time to thank the parish for its participation, and we shall give thanks to God at all Masses this weekend for the wonderful way so many of you have helped.  Most importantly, we hope that parishioners have responded to the promise to live simply in their own lives, in however small or symbolic a way.  Let us now remind ourselves of the many ways LiveSimply has brought new opportunities to the parish in the last 18 months.

· Our Craft Club produced the banner here by the altar, out of recycled materials, showing that they really understood what we mean by living simply.  This is just one small example of their creative craft work which goes on throughout the year.

· Our liturgy has been enhanced every few weeks, by special bidding prayers, the LiveSimply prayer and hymn, contributions from the Children’s liturgy group (especially their delightful singing), and presentations from uniformed groups.

· At the Harvest Mass last October, we reflected on the gifts of creation and those who work hard to provide our food.  The children reminded us that we are all part of One World.

· The Firm Believers group arranged an ecumenical nature walk and picnic.  An evening walk through Jubilee Park gave an opportunity to admire our local surroundings and enjoy one another’s company outdoors.

· On Palm Sunday this year, our Guides organised a Lenten Lunch which was a fitting start to Holy Week and raised £157 for charity.

· A big part of the award plan is the creation of the LiveSimply Garden.  This is taking shape at one end of the parish garden and will be a quiet place for meditation and reflection and open air Mass, with an area for socialising and a wildlife area.  Here we do need your help.  Most of the hard work has been done and the garden is almost ready for planting.  We shall be making a list of plants and other items which we hope parishioners will sponsor, and this will be published soon.

· The major action for living sustainably is to reduce the carbon footprint of the church’s energy consumption.  The Finance Committee agreed to switch some of the electricity supply to a company that sells only renewable energy.  This has reduced our carbon emissions by 9% and there are more reductions to come.

· We had the very successful “Leave the Car at Home Weekend” last September.  The statistics showed that normally 140 cars are brought to church, but this weekend fewer than 70 were.

· A small group of parishioners helped St James’ School to tidy the Forest School area and this was much appreciated by the head teacher.

· Another action to live sustainably has been our scheme to sponsor the planting of trees in British woodlands.  We are just short of our target, so please ask about this if you would like a tree planted in memory of a special occasion or person.

· Our Cub pack has taken on the job of installing a new recycling system in the hall and we have persuaded the council to collect the material free of charge.  Please look out for new coloured bins coming very soon.

· The main action for living in solidarity with the poor was supporting the village of Kainmari in Bangladesh.  We raised nearly £1,500 for this good cause, mostly by 100 people enjoying home made curry and entertainment in the hall.  The Brownies raised nearly £300 playing bingo, and Firm Believers donated £40 from the nature walk.

· The Brownies also contributed to LiveSimply by dedicating their badge work for World Issues and giving a presentation of it at Parade Mass.

· Our congregation signed 400 postcards addressed to the Prime Minister for the CAFOD “Hungry for Change” campaign.

· St James’ school and others collected used children’s shoes to send to Africa.

· We collected over 2 tonnes of food for the Bromley Foodbank.

· The Traidcraft stall was held 10 times and made £300 profit which was sent to CAFOD.

· A table at the St James’ Boot Sale in March raised £500 for the Cardinal Hume Centre.

Because the parish of St James’ was involved in all these activities, we believe it qualifies for the award – so thank you everyone.

Of course in addition to LiveSimply activities, established parish groups have continued to bring opportunities to the parish for charitable giving, prayer and reflection, social activities, youth engagement, fund-raising and in many other ways.  We are a parish blessed by enthusiastic volunteers who help to make this parish what it is.  For the Uniformed groups, the Catholic Women’s League, Firm Believers, the Knights of St Columba, Society of St Vincent de Paul, for Dad and Me, 7s and 8s, our catechists, servers, flower arrangers, and for many others – we can truly give thanks for this Catholic community of ours.

And what comes next?  We are now in the process of applying to CAFOD by filling in a very long form!  Two assessors will then visit the parish to look at our evidence and judge whether or not we have succeeded as a parish in living simply.  Of course we shall let you know immediately the result is known.  If they decide to make the award it will be presented to the parish at the 11 o’clock Mass on 13^th July, when we shall be celebrating the 75^th anniversary of this great parish with our Archbishop.

Thank you for listening.

1,000 words.