Father David's Blog

Dear Readers,

It’s been a very long time since I have updated my blog and I apologise for the delay. Keeping on top of things is hard and the website crashed sometime ago, was temporarily out of the vicarage when the second series of Rev was filmed in the vicarag and then went away to the South of France and only just got around to updating the web pages.

I could cheat by using previous blog material and say that we are fast approaching Advent, and with Christmas just five weeks away, it is a very scary thought when we need to start preparing for the festivities. With so many cutbacks and recession going on, we may ask how we are going to live up to previous years? How are we going to possibly live up to expectations and demands? We then find ourselves explaining that we are not going to be as generous because we can’t afford to, or we apologise that Christmas won’t be the same as in years gone by! Why should we apologise or explain or give reason? May I suggest that this year, make it a very special year and make it as simple as possible!

When I get into conversation with people about Christmas and how it was for them in their day, the word that sum it up is “Simple”; our expectation of what Christmas was and how it is now, is what we have made it! There is a great demand that we have to improve year on year; why?

Let us in our Advent journey and preparation for Christmas ask Jesus to show us what it means to be simple. If we can look at the simple things in life, it may help us to appreciate the things that really matter.

As Flor McCarthy writes; there are many lonely voices in this world and somewhere at this moment a child is crying; crying for love or maybe the simple things that we take for granted, bread. Somwhere, a young person is crying, crying for a listening ear or an understanding heart. Somewhere, an older person is crying, crying for a visit or a word from family. 

There are a thousand unheard cries in this world coming from victims of injustice and neglect; let us in our Advent journey listen to the voices so that we may recognise the simple act of Love; the most meaningful act and response with thanksgiving.

Lord, help us to listen to your voice, help us not to take things for granted so that we may come to see the simple things in life where we can make all the difference and to really appreciate what we have. May your voice whisper to us in the wilderness of our hearts tell us that we are loved by you and that we are to love one another. Amen.

Happy New Year!

How many of us have said, “how quickly last year went”? In fact, when you cast your minds back to previous years, you no doubt admit that you have said the same thing every year! The same thing could be said about new year resolutions; “This year, I’m going to…”? and before you know it, you are half way through the new year and not even contemplated your new year resolution.

New year resolutions are some times a good thing (if we can stick to them) but on the other hand, they can be a burden because we can feel as though we have yet failed again, and perhaps feel unworthy, weak, failure; all the negative vibes that go against making a new year resolution and we find ourselves getting into the same routine as the year before.

What can we do? I believe the answer is setting ourselves smaller goals and trying to overcome the giant hurdles and stumbling blocks that prevent us moving onwards and upwards (in the words of Buzz Light year) and ensuring that we conquer our inner fears. Lets face it, we often set resolutions to try and sweep under the carpet those things that really matter in our lives.

We can achieve this through prayer and with a stronger committment to God. Make Christ the centre of your being and from this, all small goals will be accomplished along side the bigger hurdles that need to be confronted; if God is for us who can be against us?

Lord Jesu sChrist, you said to your disciples; ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. Seperated from me you can do nothing; but united with me you will bear much fruit’. Strenghten the bonds that unite us with you and with one another, so that we may enjoy the peace and unity` of uour kingdom where you liveand reign for ever.

Advent is the new start of the liturgical year and we will follow Matthew and will follow year A.

In the 1st Sunday of Advent 1, Matthew challenges us to stay awake because we do not know the day or the hour when Christ will come again. A very poignant passage as we begin Advent because we often disregard Advent as a penitential season and get sidetracked into celebrations and shopping for the festive season.

Do you remember getting excited about the arrival of Christmas and all that it meant when we were a child? How many of us claim that Christmas isn’t what it was; why is this? Its because we have made it like it is now, the demands of what Christmas brings, how are we going to afford presents, what shall we buy for ???, we really have lost our understanding of the Christmas message because we don’t take on board the journey and preparations of Advent. Think about it, when we were younger we didn’t go out buying presents because we had no money to buy presents! We were lucky to have one or twp presents along with tangerines and an apple in our stockings! Don’t get me wrong, this is not a Christmas message, its an Advent message asking you to think about your actions and how you can prepare for the festive season.

You know you cannot afford Christmas, therefore, do not go more into debt; you know the demands that are put upon us from families, do not allow yourselves to be generous in the wrong ways; you know the burdens that we feel after the Christmas season, do not allow yourself to carry the weight of guilt; you know the heartache that Christmas can bring, but do you know the meaning of Advent?

Heavenly Father, as we approach the season of Advent, help us to realise the preparations we should REALLY make; Increase our strength of will for doing good, that Christ may find us watching and waiting, to have an eager heart in serving you and may we prepare for the coming of your Son by increasing our faith and not to get too sidetracked in the celebrations that lead up to Christmas and that nothing may hinder us from receiving Christ with joy. Amen.

Slow down! Already, it is being mentioned about how quickly this year is passing by and before we know it, we will be panicking about Christmas; don’t do it! How about instead taking a step back and letting Advent take its meaning. With just weeks before Advent begins, why not start preparing yourselves to allow the weeks leading up to Advent take their course?

1st November, the Church celebrates All Saints, a time when we honour in a special way those who have been gifted in leading a holy life. But remember, all Saints were made the same as us, all sinned, but turned to God, all underwent a conversion from darkness to Light. Then we celebrate the Faithful departed; All Souls; a magnificent service whereby we remember our loved ones who have taken their place  and being eternally at rest.

Remembrance Sunday on the 14th followed by Christ the King; the final Sunday in Ordinary Time. We have lots to do with little time to do it, so it isn’t worth asking where has time gone, but only look forwards and ask how we can give glory to God.

Heavenly Father, give us the grace to always seek you, especially in times when we are at our busiest. May we be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and respond in a positive way, taking the time to be in your presence so that we may not grow tired but to be uplifted in your assurance love for us; we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hi all,

Summer over, just returned from a lovely holiday in the South of France, at least there was sun and warmth! I hope those who were fortunate to get away hada good time and are back fully refreshed and rareing to get to grips with the final part of the year.

Having a rest, we now look forward to prepare for Harvest and giving thanks to God for the abundance of food that we consume. Being an inner city parish, perhaps it could be argued that Harvest seems to be a different kind of thanksgiving, but we can still observe and give thanks for the farmers that produce the crops, plough and transport the goods. Perhpas within city life we do take for granted how food comes our way; speaking to a group of children where does our food come from? The reply…Tesco’s! Of course, there is an element of truth in this with a sense of humour, but how many of us do really give thanks for the farming industry, how many of us really do remember the hardships that farmers and their families really went through when the industry came under great stress of illnesses, disease and financial difficulties? The industry came under great financial burden well before the credit crunch and the collapse of banks etc; Remember, not just at harvest time, but all year round when we buy our foods from the bigger stores who have taken away the corner shops, those who struggle to labour to feed us, for the nights that are drawing in and the farming industry that will continue to produce; take a minute to think and simply give thanks to God for the wealth and health of our land, to the farmers and the chain of events that give us the food; an opportunity, whether urban, rural, inner city, simply to say thankyou.

Hi all,

Oops, its been some time since updating my blog, but time goes so quickly that I feel that it was only recently been done!

Well, what did you think of the series Rev? A rather ‘”in house” series of what parish life could potentially be, although I think with some stretch of the imagination. No doubt some would have recognised the vicarage that was being used and although it was desribed by one certain critic in a Sunday paper as a “brick prefab”, I have to point out that the interior of the vicarage was part of the set, rather than being my own furniture and layout! On the whole, I thought the series was OK, but didn’t go as far as what parish life is about, unlike Vicar of Dibley. Rev was more focussed on the character of the priest, rather than relationship between vicar and parioshioners, although it did include some inter relationships. I thought most of the actors played an accurate account of characters we meet within parish life.  

Recently we had our Summer Festival which was our best so far. We had Cribbs, the funeral Directors from Beckton come and do a display with their wonderful 1953? Ford Hearst and gave a generous donation to our church, thanks guys! We managed to raise a handsome sum of £1,258.36 (I don’t know who gave the 36p)! More money was being contributed after the fayre which all helps in keeping the church going for another month.

We recently had visitors from the Victorian Society come and pay a visit to our Grade 1 listed building and I think they were impressed with what they saw. It is good to know that there is a historic interest in keeping our buildings as best we can; with the recent installation of the Butterfield pews, we hope to further our restoration with the installation of the Butterfield choir stalls, pulpit and altar rails, which we hope to start work on by the end of the year.

Lots of exciting things happening and do continue to support our web site. If anyone would like to come and visit the church, we are open on Saturday mornings when we generally clean and of course with the services that we offer throughout the week. Sometimes there are time alterations of mass throughout the week, which is unavoidable, but these are very few and far between and it is best to either ring or e-mail for confirmation.

If you are having a holiday, do travel safely and don’t forget to send us a card, we always like to hear that you have arrived safely and to let us know where you have been! Happy Summer,

Fr David

Hello blog viewers!

I know you have been waiting for the update and I won’t disappoint! After enjoying the glory of Easter, we now await the coming of the Holy Spirit and to celebrate the Church’s birthday at Pentecost. But before we can do all this, we celebrate our Patron St Matthias! Feast Day 14th May, our celebrations, 16th May.

Pentecost is as equally important as Easter because after the Ascension of our Lord, the Advocate will come and fill us with joy. Sadly, Pentecost has lost its emphasis within the joys of Easter, and we find ourselves not quite as elated as we are about Easter. However, let us look forward to a new life within the church by letting ourselves be reliant on the Holy Spirit and to be excited by what the church offers; a refreshing hope, a new vision, a trust in what the sacraments can offer, a joy in bringing us together as a people, allowing the Holy Spirit to bring us to a faith and deeper knowlegde and letting Christ know us, to open our hearts to the One whom we can fully trust.

Come, Holy Spirit. Come with strength for the weak, courage for the fearful, light for those in darkness, comfort for the sorrowful, healing for those who are sick; may they be given healing and wholeness by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we think of those who have lost their way and have little or no hope; especially for those who live in fear. Bring love to those who do not know what it is to be loved.

Come Holy Spirit, kindle within us the fire of your love, and we shall renew the face of the earth.

Alleulia, Christ is Risen, He is Risen indeed, Alleulia!

What joys there are in the celebrations of the Easter Festival! It amazes me how so many attend church on Easter Day coming together to experience the Resurrection encounter; sadly, you missed it if you failed to attend Good Friday! We cannot enter into Easter withour first entering into Good Friday, because it was on this Day that our Lord was crucified only to raise again on the third day. However, don’t despair, because those of us who attended church on Good Friday prayed for you!

The season of Easter continues through to Pentecost when the church celebrates its birthday because it was on this day that the Holy Spirit descended and launced the church. If you would like to explore further the meaning of the Resurrection why not dare go and pursue the meaning of the Easter encounter and come and see our Lord in the breaking and sharing of the bread so that you may know and believe that Christ is Risen.

May the joys of the Easter Season bring you peace and assurance of the Resurrection fill your hearts with hope, so that you too may come and believe; rejoice and be glad, that this day was made by the Lord.  Alleulia!

Hi everyone,

Lent already! After having a fish and chip supper just before Ash Wednesday, it set us in the mood for the period of fasting and reflecting on our relationship with God.

What are you doing throughout Lent? Lent isn’t always about giving things up! It can mean taking on something extra; for example, attending an extra service throughout the week, attending the Lent study group in which this year, we are looking at St. Paul and his letters. Lent doesn’t have to be a slog or daunting, it is about refreshment and an opportunity of getting our relationship with God right. Lent is about turning back to God through our journey with Christ to the cross; instead of walking away from the cross; turn around and walk towards it, for it is then that we may focus on Lent and the true meaning of Easter; we cannot celebrate Easter without experiencing the cross.

Whatever you decide to do for Lent, do it for yourself and do it with passion! If you fail to remember that momentarily it is Lent, start again and truly walk with Christ and come to experience what it is to know the true meaning of Easter.

Lord Jesus, you were sent to call sinners to repent…Lord, have mercy; Lord Jesus, you were sent to bring healing, may I be touched by your healing grace…Christ, have mercy; Lord Jesus, you intercede for us at the right hand of the Father…Lord, have mercy.