WHO'S WHO AT ALL SAINTS.Parish Priest Churchwardens Fr Alex Lane All Saints House Churchview Road Twickenham TW2 5BX June Allen John Littley 0208 894 3580 Vicar.allsaintstwickenham @gmail.com 8898 1540 01256 780287 Rota Co-ordinator Margaret Goddard 8892 5765 / Magazine Editor Church booking Anne Balderson 8890 7411 Discussion Group usually alternate Tuesdays see Fr Alex Schola usually Wednesdays 7.30pm contact Fr Alex SAINTS @ WORSHIP services at All Saints Sunday Parish Mass 10am Tuesday 9.30am Wednesday Mass 9.30am / 7pm Thursday Mass 10am Friday Mass 9.30am Saturday Mass 9.30am During the winter Masses on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday will usually be in the Vicarage Oratory where we will be warmer! Please check times of weekday services on our website as they may sometimes change visit our website on www.allsaintstwickenham.co.uk facebook www.facebook.com/allsaintstwickenham live stream www.ustream.tv/channel/all-saints-twickenham 16 1
THE ROLLING YEAR WED 1 MAR ASH WEDNESDAY 7.30PM SUNG MASS SUN 4 JUN SUN 5 MAR PCC MEETING AFTER MASS SUN 11 JUN FRI 17 MAR COMMONWEALTH EVENING SUN 26 MAR MOTHERING SUNDAY 10AM PARISH MASS SUN 2 APR ANNUAL PARISH CHURCH MEETING AFTER M ASS SUN 9 APR PALM SUNDAY 10AM BLESSING OF THE PALMS, PROCESSION AND PARISH MASS TUE 11 APR CHRISM MASS 11AM ST ANDREW HOLBORN THURS 13 APR MAUNDY THURSDAY 7.30PM MASS OF THE LAST SUPPER FOLLOWED BY WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT FRI 14 APR GOOD FRIDAY 2PM LITURGY SAT 15 APR HOLY SATURDAY 8.30PM VIGIL AND FIRST MASS OF EASTER SUN 16 APR PENTECOST 10AM PARISH MASS TRINITY 10AM PARISH MASS SAT 17 JUN COFFEE MORNING IN CHURCH SUN 18 JUN CORPUS CHRISTI SUNDAY 10AM MASS, PROCESSION AND BENEDICTION GLASTONBURY PILGRIMAGE MASS 12 NOON SAT 8 JUL SAT 15 JUL LUNCHTIME SOIREE AT JUNE S SUN 30 JUL PCC MEETING AFTER MASS 15-18 AUG PARISH PILGRIMAGE TO WALSINGHAM FULHAM FESTIVAL MASS 11AM SOUTHWARK CATHEDRAL SAT 28 OCT SUN 29 OCT ALL SAINTS SUNDAY 10AM CELEBRATION MASS FOLLOWED BY PCC MEETING WED 1 NOV ALL SAINTS DAY The Christian Church recognises seven Sacraments which express most effectively the Church s inner life Baptism, Holy Communion, Confirmation, Penance (or Reconciliation as it is more commonly called nowadays), Holy Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Holy Unction. The first two are the Greater Sacraments, the two which the Church teaches are necessary to salvation.1 The latter five are the Lesser Sacraments. In these Sacraments God gives Himself to us in a special way. He Himself gave us these special ways of meeting with Him and communing with Him, They are the means by which God sends us certain gifts of grace and strength.3 Sacraments are celebrations of the Presence of Christ permeating every moment of our lives. Such familiar things as water, wine, oil and bread are intended to give us constant assurance that our God is with us. Today, more than ever, in a world which speaks so frequently of the absence of God, we need to be able to point at something within our grasp and say, Our God is here. 2 THU 2 NOV ALL SOULS DAY EASTER DAY 10AM SOLEMN MASS SUN 12 NOV REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY 10AM REQUIEM FOR THE FALLEN The Sacraments are communal activities; and in an age when individualism is paramount in many fields and we may not even know the names of Christians worshipping with us, let alone their characters, their gifts and their dreams, we need more than ever to regain through the Sacraments a sense of Christian fellowship. SAT 22 APR QUIZ NIGHT SUN 3 DEC SUN 5 APRIL PCC MEETING AFTERMASS SUN 21 MAY BARBECUE AFTER MASS MON 25 DEC ADVENT SUNDAY 10AM MASS CHRISTMAS E VE 10PM MIDNIGHT MASS CHRISTMAS DAY The meaning of the Sacraents is enriched by the symbolism they contain. The basic elements of water, wine, oil and bread are rich in meaning and give us food for meditation and prayer as well as food for our souls and bodies. SUN 28 JAN PCC MEETING AFTER MASS 1 Book of Common Prayer; 2 Wilkinson; Focus on the Sacraments; 3 To be a Pilgrim THU 25 MAY ASCENSION DAY 6PM SOLEMN MASS LED BY BP JONATHAN AT ST ANDREW HOLBORN, SUN 24 DEC 2 15
LENT BOOK 2017 While signs and symbols are tokens of whatever they represent, pointers to the truths, ideas and people they symbolise, Sacraments, though having much in common with them, take things a step or two further. A Sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace 1 The Church herself is a Sacrament the Sacrament of Christ s Presence. We are the branches of the True Vine, rooted and grounded in Christ. We are the Body of Christ; we are as closely related to one another as the cells of our bodies. The Christian community is called to live as the body of the Risen Christ to make visible by the means of our own flesh and blood the Presence of the Risen Christ in space and time. 2 We must witness to Christ not just as individuals, but together as the Church, His Body, In practical terms, being the Body of Christ means that Jesus calls us to create a real sense of belonging within the Church and within our parish communities. By virtue of its relation to Christ, the Church is a kind of Sacrament of intimate communion with God and of the unity of all mankind; that is, she is a sign and instrument of such union and unity. This means that the Church is of its very nature sacramental, and all its Lent is often a time when a book is suggested for us to read together; traditionally this has been a book from the bible or a spiritual classic. This year I would like to suggest one from an unlikely source (for a Benedictine) and is one that I have been reading recently, and have found captivating and insightful. The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life by Fr James Martin SJ is a practical spiritual guidebook based on the life and teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola; it shows us how to manage relationships, money, work, prayer, and decision-making, all while keeping a sense of humor about it all. St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556), the founder of the Society of Jesus (aka the Jesuits), was known for his practical spirituality. The "way of Ignatius" has helped millions of people from the doubtful seeker to the devout believer find freedom, make friends, live simply, work sensibly, fall in love, experience joy, and enter into a relationship with God. The Ignatian goal of "finding God in all things" means that every part of our lives can lead us to God. The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything shows us how this is possible, with user-friendly examples, humorous stories and anecdotes from the heroic and inspiring lives of Jesuit saints and average priests and brothers, as well as examples from Martin's twenty years as a Jesuit. The traditional wisdom that Jesuits use to help other people in their daily lives is easily applied, but not often explained well to the general public. The Guide translates these insights of St. Ignatius for a modern audience and reveals how we can find God and how God can find us in the real world of work, love, suffering, decisions, prayer, and friendship. Changing my mind from what I said in last month s magazine, I thought that if several people would be interested in discussing it, we could do so over coffee after Mass on Thursdays; this would run alongside the Tuesday evening lent discussion group don t say I m not offering you variety this lent! If you would like a copy then please let me know they are about 10 With all good wishes for a happy lent Fr Alex activities, no matter how seemingly insignificant, are sacramental too. 2 14 3
Eventually one of these travelling priests managed to persuade landlords to give these children a day off once a year especially to visit their parents. They did so provided the children went to church whilst at home, and so the Sunday known as Refreshment or Laetare Sunday was chosen, because of the reference in the Epistle reading for that day to Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all. The children would take home presents of cake or things they had made, or pick flowers from the fields on the way to give to their mothers. LENT AT ALL SAINTS Tuesdays 7.30pm Lent Course Returning Home: Christian Faith in Encounter with Other Faiths Thursdays after the 10am Mass Lenten Discussion Group The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: You may also like to make the effort to come to an extra Mass during the week. Masses will be at the usual times (see the back page) though it is wise to keep an eye on the weekly bulletin in case things have to be changed at short notice. And so on Mothering Sunday we honour our three mothers: our Holy Mother, the Church (the foretaste of the heavenly Jerusalem) which was instrumental in inaugurating the custom; our Lady, Mary, who was given to be the Mother of all Christians by the words of Jesus on the Cross; and our own natural mothers, to whom we offer gifts of the traditional favours of cake, flowers, sweets and cards, and for whom our mother Church provides us with flowers. (I remember one year being very moved by a family of four children, aged between about 10 and 2, whose mother had died giving birth to the youngest. They received the flowers being given out by the church for children to give to their mothers and took them straight to the Lady Chapel where they laid them at the feet of the statue of our Lady.) 4 13
MOTHER S DAY OR MOTHERING SUNDAY? If you go into the shops to buy a Mothering Sunday card, you will meet with some difficulty Mother s Day, yes, but Mothering Sunday? - no. To the average retailer, all is Mother s Day. And yet these are two very different days, originating in two different countries, from two different times and with two different purposes. MOTHER S DAY is an American festival, held on the second Sunday in May. It started as a memorial to one Mrs Jarvis, who died in Philadelphia in 1905. Her daughter, Anna, was inconsolable in her grief and invited as many people as possible to the funeral. A year later she asked the minister of her church to hold a special service in memory of her mother, which he agreed to do. She then wrote to as many newspapers as she could inviting all sons and daughters who had lost a mother during the previous year to attend. By 1911 the practice had spread throughout America and, it is thought, was brought to England by American troops during the last war. Although starting life as a memorial to departed mothers, it transformed itself into a celebration of all mothers. MOTHERING SUNDAY, on the other hand, was a tradition in England from the Middle Ages. As soon as children were able to hold a tool or sew a thread, they were sent off to be hired by the local squire or lord of the manor. Often they would be sent many miles away, and work was hard no weekends or days off in those days, except holydays when everyone would go to church and celebrate, Sometimes parents would never hear of their children again; sometimes a mendicant friar would carry news back and forth. Few could read or write, and there was no postal service even if they could! They were not paid wages, only their keep, so it was impossible for these children to get home. 12 Is this a fast, to keep the larder lean aand clean from fat of veals, and sheep? Is it to quit the dish of flesh, yet still to fill the platter high with fish? Is it to fast an hour, or rag d to go, or show a downcast look, and sour? No: tis a fast, to dole thy sheaf of wheat, and meat, unto the hungry soul. It is to fast fron strife, from old deabate, and hate: to circumcise thy life. To shew a heart grief-rent: to starve thy sin, not bin; and that s to keep thy Lent. Robert Herrick For many years Lent boxes were a feature of the discipline of the season. Money saved from giving up sweets or cigarettes or alcohol was put aside for the work of that year s chosen charity. In 1933 the chosen charity at All Saints seems to have been All Saints Church! From All Saints Church Magazine: April 1933: - A large number of savings boxes were, I m glad to say, taken this Lent, and we hope they may provide enough to pay, if not the whole, at least the greater part of our Quota ( 42) How about it, folks! Our Quota (Common Fund) this year is 44,000! 5
Fifty-two countries will come together on Monday 13 March 2017 to celebrate Commonwealth Day under the theme A Peace-building Commonwealth. Commonwealth Day, held on the second Monday in March each year, is an opportunity for individuals, communities and organisations to promote the Commonwealth s shared values of peace, democracy and equality, and to celebrate the association s rich diversity. The day will be marked across the globe by a range of activities, including a multi-faith service at Westminster Abbey in London. This service is traditionally attended by Her Majesty The Queen, the Head of the Commonwealth, High Commissioners, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, and dignitaries from across the Commonwealth, as well as senior politicians and 1,000 school children. This year s theme, A Peace-building Commonwealth will help guide our activities and those of Commonwealth organisations throughout the year. I am afraid, however, that in the slightly chaotic arrangements to communicate everyone (they could have learnt from our practice of having two chalice bearers to a priest) the Tavener from The Veil of the Temple passed me by; a lesson in concentrating harder. Different bits of the sermon will stick in different people s minds. I enjoyed the anecdote that began it of the bishop being turned away from his own consecration by a sidesman who thought that in his summer shirt sleeves he was a tourist. Things don t change much at St Paul s. More seriously I was very struck by his thoughts on the perils of humanity s ever increasing desire to consume and possess with the effect that the earth s resources, particularly water and space, are running out. The farewells at the end of the service were pretty dignified. I left in the last hymn to catch my train but I am sure that Margaret and others can give details of the finale. But overall I am left with the impression of a beautiful, dignified and inclusive Mass which was far from being church and state in tone. I very much hope the bishop and his family enjoyed it too. Susan Willmington 5 February 2017 Friday March 17th Commonwealth Evening At All Saints food and fun from Commonwealth countries! Watch the bulletin and noticeboard for details! 6 11
FAREWELL TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON As Father Alex had warned us, St Paul s was indeed packed out for the Sung Eucharist on 2nd February for The Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Candlemas), which fell that day, and the Diocese s farewell to Richard Chartres. Perhaps not surprisingly so as he has been our diocesan bishop since 1995 and was before that area bishop of Stepney from 1992. I was lucky enough to have a pretty good overview from an unreserved seat in the back row of the dome which I and a new friend from St John s Kensal Rise headed to quite niftily from the queue in which we met. There must have been literally hundreds of diocesan clergy who were seated en masse behind the dome to the south and north (afraid I didn t spot Father Alex), together with various dignitaries under the dome in front of me. They were mainly wearing white stoles with cottas or surplices, whilst the altar party were in white vestments, aside from the Bishop as celebrant, and the Dean and Chapter who wore red copes. I thought the effect of the red bishop amongst the white vested clergy at the altar was very splendid. Everyone there or watching will have different memories of the most striking elements of the Eucharist. All, I think, will remember the beauty of the first part of the Mass when the lights were dimmed and we were lit by the candles we held individually. The language was mainly modern. The music was quite a mixture with the main settings from Merbecke, which I for one had not sung for years, some mainly well-known hymns and some wonderful Russian pieces from the choir. The Rachmaninov Nunc Dimittis was deeply moving as was the creed set by Gretchaninov. These were a special gesture reflecting the bishop s long links with the Russian and other Orthodox churches, which were also represented amongst the visiting clergy. Each week we are asked to pray for the people who live or work in particular roads in our parish. During March these roads are: - week beginning 5th week beginning 12th week beginning 19th week beginning 26th After the morning service the Vicar addressed the congregation. Fourth Cross Road, Norwood Close, Rutland Road Denmark Road, Bedford Road, Appleby Close I have a piece of bad news, then a piece of good news, followed by some more bad news. The bad news is that we require a new roof and it is going to cost a lot of money. The good news is that we already have the money. The bad news is, it s still in your pockets! Woodbine Close, Fifth Cross Road, Brunswick Close Twining Avenue, Clarendon Crescent, Turner Avenue An old soldier who worked with mules once said that they had taught him a great lesson. I realised, he said, that when they were kicking they weren t pulling. It s true. You can t do both at the same time. 10 7
Sunday 2nd April after Mass Annual Vestry meeting (to elect the Churchwardens) and Annual Parish Church Meeting (to receive the reports and accounts and to elect Members to the PCC, Representatives to Deanery Synod and Sidesmen.) Please make sure you are on the Electorl Roll of the Parish to allow you to vote at the APCM see Maureen Tye if you are not sure or to change any details. Forms for nominations to the PCC and to Deanery Synod will be available at the back of Church. Dates for PCC meetings for 2017/18 Sunday 30th April; Sunday 30th July; Sunday 29th October; Sunday 28th January Overheard at Church not this one, of course! I believe I am on the electrical roll of this church Can I laminate you onto the PCC? Working as a cargo handler for a major package delivery company, I came across an express delivery envelope with shipping instructions that puzzled me, particularly the line describing the contents. I thought I was processing one of our company s most momentous pieces of freight. Then I finally realised that the parcel contained some kind of manual and was addressed to a church. The description read; Instructions for the Assembly of God. 8 9