Notices for 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus speaks in our gospel reading this Sunday about forgiveness. When asked how often we should forgive our neighbour he tell us, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. He then goes on to tell the parable of the steward who received forgiveness but was not merciful to others.

Jesus presents to us a model of forgiveness out of kilter with the expectations of the world we live in, with its expectations of reward, pay back and judgement. We must forgive because we ourselves have been forgiven – that is Jesus’ message.

Forgiveness and justice are not about insisting on your own rights or wants, but about reaching out in love to our neighbour knowing that we ourselves have failed in the past too.

Let us ponder the mystery of our forgiveness in Christ this Sunday and allow it to help us to forgive others better.

Fr Peter Anthony

Recording of this Sunday’s Mass
A recording of this Sunday’s Mass (24th Sunday in Ordinary Time) with a homily will be available here on our parish YouTube channel from the evening of 12th September.

This week’s pew sheet is available here.

Fr Nigel
It was recently announced that upon completion of his curacy, Fr Nigel will be moving to be moving to be the assistant curate at St Michael’s, Croydon.

Fr Nigel’s last Sunday with us will be next Sunday 20th September. Our organist Conor has organised a troupe of singers and musicians to sing Mozart’s Sparrow Mass in its original scoring for singers, organ, trumpets, cellos and violins as a suitable send off for Fr Nigel.

It is a matter of great regret that we will no longer be able to have the glass of champagne in the garden which we had planned as a result of recently changed COVID restrictions.  We will nonetheless have the opportunity for a presentation during the notices at the end of the liturgy.

Please make an effort to attend the 11.00 am Mass on 20th September so we can bid Fr Nigel farewell. We wish him well and assure him of our prayers for this next stage in his ministry.

PCC Meeting
There will be a meeting of the PCC on Tuesday 15^th September at 7.30 pm. This will take place by Zoom. Coordinates and passwords for the meeting will be sent to members of the PCC by email.

Online Theology Seminars
This week sees our first online theology seminar on Wednesday 16th September at 6.00 pm: “What is Anglo-Catholicism?” Each seminar will be no longer than 1 hour.

St Benet’s Church has always worshiped in a way that people describe as “high church” or “anglo-catholic.” Our liturgy is quite formal, we use incense, and vestments, we frequently pray for the wider Catholic Church, and we celebrate the sacraments often. Why is this the case? What does it mean? And where did this theological tradition come from? Join us online to learn more about this movement within the Church of England and the rich theological, missional, and liturgical tradition we stand in.

The seminar will take place by Zoom. To join, simply follow this link. Alternatively you can simply go to the Zoom website and use the meeting ID 840 5038 1658.

Theology Book Club
In addition, there will also be a theology book club organised through the autumn. The purpose of the St Benet’s Book Club will be to offer a forum for theological reflection, debate in the light of a book that we agree to read together. The Theology Book club will also meet 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. The books we will look at this autumn include, Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, (Tuesday 22nd September); Ghost Ship: Institutional Racism and the Church of England by A.D.A. France-Williams (Tuesday 27th October); and The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni (Tuesday 24th November).

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 cheaply on Amazon.

For full details of topics and dates to be covered, see the relevant pages on our website, under the section, “Theology Book Club.”

Confirmation classes   Confirmation classes will begin again in September for a confirmation on Sunday 13th December. These will be a mixture of Zoom classes and meeting in person. Details to follow, but if you would like your child to be confirmed, please let Fr Peter know.

Services for the week beginning 13^th September 2020