Jesus is quizzed by the Pharisees in this Sunday’s gospel reading about what the greatest commandment is.
He replies, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
As we look at the world we live in with all its problems, tensions, and anxieties, just think how many of those issues could be resolved if we had greater trust in God and deeper love for our neighbour.
Our readings challenge us this weekend to take a long hard look at our own lives and to see if we live up to this simple but profound teaching that Jesus gives us about love.
Fr Peter Anthony
Recording of this Sunday’s Mass
A recording of this Sunday’s Mass (30th Sunday in Ordinary Time) with a homily will be available here on our parish YouTube channel from the evening of 10th October.
This week’s pew sheet is available here.
Planning for Christmas 2020
We are beginning to plan our schedule of services for Christmas 2020. This will be made complicated by the need for social distancing and could be affected by regulations that may emerge closer to the time. At the very least, it will be necessary to book (entirely free) tickets for most of the main sung liturgies so we can predict how many people will be present in our building. We can fit a maximum of around 50 people in the church at the moment.
There will be no congregational singing at any of our Christmas liturgies, but there will be a choir singing at the main carol services.
Could we ask parishioners to start booking tickets NOW for the Christmas liturgies they intend to come to? Either sign up on the lists at the back of church, or send Fr Peter an email indicating how many tickets you need for which service.
It is with some regret that we have decided to cancel our German Carol Service, and the Children’s Crib Service in the light of COVID restrictions.
This is the schedule of choral services we are foreseeing at the moment:
Sunday 29th November 6.00 pm Advent Carol Service
Sunday 20th December 6.00 pm Christmas Carol Service
Thursday 24th December 9.00 pm Midnight Mass
C4WS Homeless Charity
Our collaboration with Pond Square URC Church and C4WS in manning a winter shelter is going to be run differently this year due to COVID19 restrictions.It will not involve the “rolling” shelter with a different church hosting the shelter each evening. C4WS has decided to hire a hotel in Victoria, and to man the homeless shelter in one location, so it can comply with social distancing and COVID regulations.
We are all being asked to communicate to C4WS the numbers of volunteers we can provide to man the hostel through the winter. The idea is that we would aim to staff it on the same night of the week as we used to at Pond Square – i.e. Sunday nights. However, if you are able to offer you time on other days, I’m sure they would love to hear from you.
We need a range of people willing to do shopping, make meals, wash up, do overnight shifts, wash laundry, and befriend guests.
If you are interested in volunteering in any capacity this winter, please fill in this form and return it to Fr Peter to indicate your availability and time commitment so he can communicate that to C4WS.
Many thanks indeed to all our volunteers and to C4WS for responding so creatively to the present situation.
Next Theology Book Club: Ghost Ship by A.D.A. France Williams
Tuesday 27th Oct 7.30 pm
Our next theology book club session looks at an extraordinary new work called Ghost Ship just published this year by A.D.A. France Williams. His book tackles head on the problems of racism and prejudice within the Church of England.Sam Wells has the following to say about Ghost Ship: ‘France-Williams employs a formidable range of approaches – among them testimony, academic categories, careful research, interviews, anecdote, poetry, humour, parody, exegesis and close reading – to mount a compelling and urgent argument for the church’s institutional and personal failure to receive the gift the Holy Spirit in the lives, bodies and callings of its BAME witnesses. Most of all he models prophetic ministry: pleading, portraying, persuading and ultimately inspiring the church that has caused so much hurt and grief but that despite all he still bravely loves. This is a testament of truth; and an epistle of power.’
The purpose of the St Benet’s Book Club will be to offer a forum for theological reflection and debate in the light of a book that we agree to read together. The Theology Book club meets by Zoom. The idea is that a book is discussed each time we meet at 7.30 pm on a Tuesday evening. It would be ideal to have read the book before the seminar, but if you are still half way through or just starting, don’t let that stop you joining us.
It is expected that participants acquire their own copies of the texts to be discussed. All of the books proposed are currently in print as paperbacks and can be obtained on Amazon.
Zoom meeting ID for 27th Oct: Meeting ID: 820 0252 0620
Church Cleaning day
Services for the week beginning 25th October 2020
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
11.00 am Sung Mass
7.00 pm Mass
Feria
11.00 am Mass
Ss. Simon and Jude
7.30 pm Mass
Feria
7.30 pm Mass
Feria
11.00 am Mass
Feria
6.00 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
All Saints’ Day
11.00 am Sung Mass
7.00 pm MassFull details of all our Covid planning and liturgical arrangements can be found here.
