Confirmation Class

The next Confirmation class will be Wednesday 24th April 2019 at 7.30 p.m.

Prayer Request for the Sick

Please pray for Gracie Gosling who is 10 years old and is undergoing treatment at the Royal Marsden Hospital at the present time. We wish her a speedy recovery.

Catholic Conference at St George’s Cathedral, 4th May 2019

You are invited to the Family and Life International conference to listen to four outstanding talks and presentations concerning – ‘What it means to be Catholic’. You will learn about the reasons to remain faithful to the Only Church Our Lord Founded, despite the times we live in and the difficulties as a church we are going through.
Contact info@familyandlife.co.uk

New Evangelization Summit 2019

We would like to remind all evangelists in our Archdiocese that one of the largest global Evangelization events of the year will be hosted here at the Centre for Catholic Formation on Saturday 4 May 2019. All are most welcome. Signup is required as the event is catered: https://www.ccftootingbec.org.uk/events/2019/5/4/the-evangelization-summit-2019

Tackling Poverty in the diocese at the Archdiocese of Southwark 2019 Spring Assembly

On behalf of Archbishop Peter Smith you are kindly invited to attend the Archdiocese of Southwark 2019 Spring Assembly, to be held by the Commission for Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation on Saturday the 18th May at Our Lady of Reparation (St Mary’s) Catholic Church in Croydon. Entitled 'Tackling Poverty in the Diocese'. Come and share your ideas on how we should respond to the problems caused by poverty in Southwark'.

Access to St Mary's Parish Centre is via the car park ramp, on the lower ground floor of the building, where we will convene for the Assembly from 10.30am to 4pm.

We will begin with Mass at 10am in the church.

Annual Mass in Celebration of the Sacrament of Marriage

Mass in Celebration of the Sacrament of Marriage.

July 13th at St George’s Cathedral.

Archbishop Peter will celebrate for many hundreds of Southwark couples who are celebrating important anniversaries of marriage and their families.

Help for marriages in distress. Retrouvaille England and Wales

On the weekend of 7th – 9th June, for second time this year a Retrouvaille Programme will commence for the benefit of Married Couples who are experiencing difficulties in their relationships. They may be separated, considering divorce or still together and experiencing misery.

The good news is that couples who attend the programme, where both commit to making an effort, have an 85% success rate of building a happier more satisfying marriage. This holds for England and Wales and across the international Retrouvaille ministry.

Thinking about Separation or Divorce? – Is your marriage or that of a relative or friend heading for divorce? Do you know how to save that marriage? Or do you feel helpless? Retrouvaille (pronounced retro-vi with a long i) is designed to help troubled marriages regain their health. It helps spouses uncover or re-awaken the love, trust and commitment that originally brought them together. The programme is highly successful in saving hurting marriages, even bringing reconciliation to couples that have already separated or divorced. There is no group therapy or group work

For confidential information about ‘Retrouvaille’, or to register for the programme commencing with a residential weekend on 7th – 9th June 2019Call or text 0788 7296983 07973380443 or Email retrouvailleukinfo@gmail.com or visit www.retrouvaille.org.uk

Message of Gratitude from CAFOD for the Cyclone Idai Appeal.

Thanks to the generosity of the St Thomas More Church community who raised £558.07 in the second collection for the Cyclone Idai Appeal last week.

Our church network responded immediately to the devastating effects of Cyclone Idai, getting people to safety and providing them with food, clean water and shelter. We are so grateful to people like you for remembering your sisters and brothers in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi. Over the next few weeks, we will be focusing on four things:

• With over 1,400 reported outbreaks of cholera, we're providing clean water and soap, as well as advice on the importance of clean food and drink to prevent further spread.

• Many children were separated from their parents. We’re protecting and reuniting them with their relatives.

• Access to rural areas is still challenging due to flooding and damage to bridges and roads. We're still reaching these people and providing emergency aid.

• Going forward, our local partners are moving people, especially women and children into more permanent camps. They will be protected and can start rebuilding their lives.

You can still make a donation to help the people most in need.

Dear Parishioners,

The truth will make you free. Jesus said it although we humans don’t actually need him to say it to know freedom sounds like a good thing: freedom is a longing in all souls. Our Lord was speaking to people who had very little freedom in this world. The people of Palestine were ruled by a foreign power which kept them in submission through the fear of torture (e.g. crucifixion) and heavy taxes. Jesus had to proclaim the love and mercy of God to a people burdened with the laws and minor regulations of their religion. Poverty and the need for basic necessities meant there was little choice in life. And if you were a woman, you owed obedience to your husband. And if you didn’t have a husband you probably had so little status, that freedom would have been a totally abstract thought. But people can dream.

What about us though in our rich liberal democracy? We can often mistake freedom for being able to do whatever we want and this is where we get into trouble. We get trapped in friendships and relationships, pornography, must –have new possessions, drugs and alcohol: the things of this world. But these cannot satisfy the soul, because they do not give us freedom but enslave us and lead us chained into the darkness of ourselves until it can feel as if there is no escape for us. Many addicts meet in ‘Anonymous’ groups at churches and other venues. These are all people who came to realise that the thing they most loved in the world had enslaved them and so they come in search of freedom again. God bless the healing work they do and the support they give each other.

The truth is that the things of this world do not make us free. Even the super- rich and famous are not necessarily happy. Jesus says we can possess the world but lose our soul. There are so many celebrated people whose lives have come apart because the persona they have created for the world has overwhelmed the soul. Money, wealth and fame will not make us free.

Many people turn from the church in their youth as they explore the freedoms that life seems to offer and many of them turn again to the church later in life when they find they’ve come to the end of the road and there’s nowhere else to go. That was what happened to one of the thieves who was crucified with Jesus. He couldn’t go anywhere and so turned to Jesus who said to him ‘today you will be with me in paradise’. God is there for us, when the options of this life seem to be at an end.

The Church calls us to come to church on Good Friday and turn to the crucified Jesus. Kiss the Holy Cross of Jesus! This is his gift of freedom to each of us. He calls us to die to our selfish desires and follow him. That’s what he means when He says ‘Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it cannot grow’. Being able to choose from the many temptations of this world is not freedom. True freedom is choosing God to rule our lives. ‘Take up your Cross and Follow me’ Jesus tells us. This brings us the peace and joy that the world cannot give and is God’s gift to all his children who love him and one another. May the Cross of Jesus set us free.

In unity,

Fr Jonathon

Parish Prayer

Heavenly Father, awaken in our hearts the desire to hear your word, revealed to us in Jesus.
Your word of love, healing and forgiveness.
Through the power of your spirit, enable us lovingly, to carry your word in our hearts. Inspired by the love and gentleness of Jesus, may we draw others to you.
Give us the courage always to bear witness to your presence in our world,
as we act justly, love tenderly, and humbly serve you, our God.

Amen.

Mass Attendance on 31st March: 291

Counters for 14th April:  Ann Burton and John Marsh

09:00 Sunday Morning Mass - Readers Rota

Large print copies of the Newsletter can be obtained from the Sacristy