News

Please find Mass Sheet for 1 October 2023 here.

 

Archbishop’s Appeal

The Archbishop’s Appeal provides Southwark parishioners the opportunity to support the wider needs of the community in which we live and worship. By focusing our efforts as an Archdiocese, we can serve people in ways beyond which any one parish could accomplish alone.

The Appeal funds:

  • Youth and Evangelisation: To strengthen the formation of people in the faith within our schools and parishes and for Southwark to become a missionary Archdiocese.
  • Our Faith in Action: To show compassionate and active service in the world around us through love for all people.
  • Clergy Care and Formation: To care for sick and retired priests in their old age and ill health and supporting the ongoing formation of our priests and deacons.

For further information and to donate online, please call 020 7960 2504 or visit www.rcaos.org.uk/archbishops-appeal

 

Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

The Church demonstrates her spiritual closeness to those directly affected by the conflict in Ukraine by consecrating Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Here is the prayer of consecration so that all of us can recite it throughout the day in fraternal union.

 

Clergy Support Fund

The Clergy Support Fund of the Archdiocese of Southwark provides care for priests in their retirement and time of ill health. Donations to this fund will ensure a dignified retirement for our clergy, after they have dedicated a lifetime of service to Christ, His Church and His People.

In 2021, the Clergy Support Fund provided care to 71 retired priests, at a cost of £1.25 million. With the number of priests over the age of 65 steadily increasing, so too will the financial obligation to the Archdiocese. Please donate to the Clergy Support Fund and continue to keep our priests in your prayers. To donate online:  https://rcaos.org.uk/donate/csf

 

Your Legacy of Faith – Remember the Church with a gift in your will.

As Catholics, we believe in the sanctity of life; life is a precious gift from God. We strive to live life joyfully and faithfully, in the hope we will return to our Creator after a natural death, to enjoy eternal life with Him. When you move onto the next life, you can make your lifetime of faith live on through a gift in your Will.

We all desire to leave a legacy, to make a mark, to make a difference in the lives of our families and friends, and within our communities. A gift in your Will to the Church, no matter how big or small, is a wonderful way to support your Catholic community.  For further information, please click on the following link:  Leave a Legacy: Archdiocese of Southwark (rcaos.org.uk)

 

St Pat’s Cafe and Chat – Please note the Cafe will be closed in October – we look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday 14 November from 12.30pm to 3.00pm. Please find cafe information here.

 

Turn your online shopping into donations for our Church! See our Easyfundraising Tab for more information.

 

Gospel Reflections (Matthew 21:28-32) 

Matthew loves to tell parables of Jesus which contrast ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies’ like these two contrasting sons. Matthew’s parables put everything in black-and-white terms with no shades of grey (wise and foolish wedding-attendants, sheep and goats, etc.). Luke uses a different kind of parable, in which the characters – just like ourselves – often do the right thing for the wrong reason. The sayings of Jesus were handed down by word of mouth for some years before being written down. Did the straightforward contrast in Matthew (it is odd that both change their minds without a reason) develop into Luke’s parable of the Prodigal Son? Both times the ‘goodie’ son ends up bad, and the ‘baddie’ son ends up good, but in Luke’s version both changes of mind are motivated, and there is great emphasis on the son’s repentance and the father’s overwhelming joy at getting him back. The lesson in Matthew’s story is given also by Jesus’ word in the Sermon on the Mount, ‘It is not anyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord” who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in Heaven’. It is no use simply saying that Christ is our ‘Lord’; we have to express it in our behaviour. What meaning do you find in this parable for yourself and the relationship you have with the Father?

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