A Garden for Our Lady January 22nd, 2012
We are planning to create a Marian Garden to complement our newly-restored outside shrine to Our Lady, and as one of many projects in preparation for the Year of Faith (from October 2012).
In pre-Reformation England, many of the common flowers, shrubs and trees were named after the Blessed Virgin and it was common practice to create gardens in her honour, using plants which celebrated her life and virtues. Much of our national Catholic heritage was lost, however, during the Reformation, when devotion to Our Lady and the saints was actively discouraged and even the flowers were renamed to hide their previous Marian connections.
In recent years, the practice of ‘Mary Gardens’ has been revived in the United States, but England, ‘Mary’s Dowry’, has been slow to rediscover its Catholic roots and traditions.
The St Joseph’s Marian Garden will be the first such garden to be created by an English Catholic Church since the Reformation, reviving a tradition which dates back to the 7th Century.
This is a wonderful opportunity for us to pull together as a parish in honouring Our Lady and in celebrating our Catholic Faith in this secular world. If you would like to be involved in any way in this project, please contact Felicity or Malcolm Surridge on art@malcolmsurridge.co.uk or speak to them after the 11.30 a.m. Sunday Mass.
Votive Lamps at the Shrines January 22nd, 2012
Week beginning Sunday 22th January 2012
Our Lady: Agnieszka Ptaszynska (lamp 1); Gaynor Paul-Clark (lamp 2)
Sacred Heart: Olga Cadman RIP
St Joseph: All Parishioners
St John Fisher / St Therese: Recovery of Di Hyam
St Thomas More / St Anthony: Myrophora Neophytou RIP
St Pius X: Vocations to the religious life
Saints this week January 22nd, 2012
St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) re-evangelized his home district which had gone over to the Calvinists who constantly threatened his life. As Bishop of Geneva his Introduction to the Devout Life was to help ordinary people to holiness. He is Patron saint of writers & journalists.
The Conversion of St Paul is recounted in Acts 9:1-22 & 22.3-16, occurring after he cooperated in St Stephen’s martyrdom
Ss Timothy & Titus, Converts and Companions of St Paul, to whom he wrote the Pastoral Epistles, were Bishops of Ephesus and Crete respectively.
St Angela Merici (c 1470-1540) was a Franciscan Tertiary who founded the Ursulines in 1535 to set up schools and instruct girls in the Faith and good works.
St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was a Dominican and great philosopher who explained the harmony between Faith and reason in a simple & organised way
Conversion January 22nd, 2012
Question: Once we enter into communication with Jesus Christ, what is the next stage in our response to Him?
Answer: Conversion! Conversion is at the heart of this Sunday’s Readings. When we have met Christ, and are beginning to know Him, the first thing we perceive is the discrepancy between the moral quality of His life and ours. Thus we feel the desire to turn away from anything in our lives which is contrary to Him. This movement of aversion from sin, is also the movement of conversion to Christ.
Question: Is conversion something that happens to us gradually, or all at once?
Answer: Some people go through a sudden and complete act of conversion from a sinful to a virtuous life. But conversion is mainly an ongoing process that takes a whole lifetime.
In today’s First Reading, we have a case of the whole city of Nineveh being converted suddenly by the preaching of Jonah; and in the Gospel we have Our Lord asking people to make an act of conversion as He begins His preaching in Galilee; while in the Second Reading St Paul exhorts us to practice that gradual kind of conversion which consists in putting our hopes less and less in earthly joys and turning first and foremost to seek the joys of Heaven.
Conversion, as an on-going process, is like the continual correction of course that takes places as an areoplane is being navigated to its destination. Cross-winds and other deviating factors are continually shifting it from its course. Navigation instruments must operate continually to keep the plane on its correct course. That is why virtuous Catholics usually have recourse more often than lax Catholics to Confession – the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation – which is the medicine and remedy for our going off course, and restores us to the path that God has prepared for us and which will bring us back to Him
Churches Together in Malden 2012 January 15th, 2012
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Wed 18th ~ Wed 25th Jan
NB. The Preacher this year is our very own
Bishop Paul Hendricks
Chairman of Churches Together South London
Auxiliary Bishop in Archdiocese of Southwark
President of Diocesan Christian Unity Commission
Theme this year: WE WILL ALL BE CHANGED
Our Pre-Lenten Charity Fayre January 15th, 2012
Saturday 11th / Sunday 12th February 2012
We need all the unwanted items from your loft, or the back of the cupboard. Please leave them in the Drop-Off Point boxes in the Pastoral Centre corridor from tomorrow Monday 16th January.
All items must be of saleable quality. NB. No clothes or electrical items.
The Fayre is open after the following Masses:
Saturday (11th February) 6pm, Sunday (12th February) 9.30 & 11.30am only.
Come and support our Fayre!!
We are always very grateful for the people who co-ordinate & organise our bi-annual Charity fayres. However, we are in the process of recruiting more helpers, as we appreciate that it is no small task, and it comes round very quickly, so the more hands helping, the less onerous it is. If you can help in any way – setting up the hall, staffing a stall for a couple of hours, help with clearing up afterwards, etc, please volunteer. It would be of great help if we can have 2 separate teams who could divide the work and be responsible for only one of the fayres per year each.
Please contact the Parish Office if you feel you can be involved.
Votive Lamps at the Shrines January 15th, 2012
Week beginning Sunday 15th January 2012
Our Lady: The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) (both lamps)
Sacred Heart: In Thanksgiving
St Joseph: Mary Kugarajah
St John Fisher / St Therese: Recovery of Di Hyam
St Thomas More / St Anthony: Brenda Corrie’s intention
St Pius X: Vocations to the religious life
Find out about Votive Lamps at the Shrines.
Saints this week January 15th, 2012
St Anthony (251-356) is the originator of the monastic life, who lived in the Egyptian desert, overcame temptations, gave all his belongings to the poor, and gathered disciples to live a life of moderation and holiness.
St Wulstan (c 1008-1095) became a Benedictine monk at Worcester and became Bishop in 1062, renowned for his care of the poor and sick and high standards expected of his Clergy.
St Fabian became Pope in 236 and was martyred on this day (20th Jan.) in 250, during the persecution of the Emperor Decius.
St Sebastian was an early martyr in the persecutions of Diocletian and known by St Ambrose in Milan. One of the seven chief churches in Rome was erected over his tomb in 367.
St Agnes was another of the early Roman martyrs (in 304) and was filled with the love of God from an early age. She was martyred at the tender age of 12, having vowed herself to celibacy. She is the patron saint of chastity & engaged couples, amongst others.
St Vincent was also martyred in 304, having been a Deacon in Saragossa - feast day 22nd January
Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening. January 15th, 2012
These words of the Infant Samuel (in today’s First Reading)are words which can be in our own hearts and minds whenever we come to Holy Mass. They are ideal words for our prayerful preparation for Mass when, on arrival in Church, we kneel down for a few minutes before Mass begins. These words help us to be filled with joyful expectation that God does and will speak to us.
Keep these sacred words in mind every day this week, repeat them often in your heart, especially as your read the Bible as part of your daily Rule of Life, so that they become part of you.
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.
We can then repeat these same words from Sacred Scripture at Mass as, after the Collect, we sit, and as the Reader approaches the lectern, we pray again: Speak, Lord, your servant is listening. We thereby signify to God that we are alert and eager to hear His Word which is addressed not only to the People of God long ago, but addressed directly to the Faithful today, and to me personally.
During these Sundays after the Epiphany (a word which means manifestation or revelation – of God), the Scripture readingscontinue to reveal Jesus Christ as both human and divine.His divine nature, as God, shines through his human nature, enabling those with the eyes of faith to recognise Who He truly is.The Gospel acclamation praises the Lord in the words of Scripture:
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.
You have the message of eternal life.
The Disciples in today’s Gospel begin to recognise Jesus, point Him out to their companions, and follow Him.
If we truly listen to Jesus. we will more and more recognise Him for Who He is. We will want to lead others to Him, and to follow Him ourselves – simply by inviting Him to speak, and assuring Him that we are attentive to what He will then say to us.
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.
Saints this week January 8th, 2012
Week beginning Sunday 8th January 2012, The Feast of Epiphany
St Aelred of Rievaulx (Thursday 12th) was Abbot of this recently-founded Cistercian Abbey in Yorkshire. He died on 12th January 1167, and is remembered for his gift of friendship, his sensitive and gentle rule, and for his enduringly popular spiritual writings, especially on friendship.
St Hilary (Friday 13th / died 367) was elected Bishop of Poitiers in 350. He fought strongly against Arianism and was exiled by the Emperor Constantius. His works are full of wisdom and learning, directed to the strengthening of the Catholic faith and the right interpretation of Scripture.
