A message from Fr John

Dear Friends

I hope you are keeping well.

Yesterday’s appeal for bird song in the garden produced some spectacular results. I have included just three submissions:

The ever changing notes of the Song Thrush, as well as Goldfinch, Coal Tit, Blackbird, Wood Pigeon, Wren, Robin, Dunnock, Carrion Crow, Long Tailed Tit. Watching two Buzzard circling overhead and mewing

We’ve got blackbirds, robins, wrens, song thrushes, great tits and blue tits nesting. Plus the daily visitors - pigeons, gold finches, long tail tits, magpies and sparrows. Not had the buzzards or crows yet but see the occasional sparrow hawk overhead.

Robin, dunnock, mistle thrush, woodpigeon, coloured dove, magpie, jackdaw, house sparrow, blue tit, great tit, starlings, goldfinches, feral pigeon, chiffchaff, blackbirds

Tremendous - what a chorus.

It strikes me that such God-given harmonies are a way of opening up our understanding of our relationship with nature and the need to listen more intently to Pope Francis’ prayer in Laudato Si. And the quiet of our roads these days enables us to be more attentive to ourselves and to the world around us; the time spent in our gardens - for those so lucky - is our opportunity to watch the beauty of creation unfolding itself.

Whilst we cannot pray together in our places of worship - even given the remarkable Zoom - our our homes have become ever more important as places of prayer - our domestic Church.
I have two thoughts:
Do you have a prayer corner, maybe with a little statue or icon or crucifix, where you can spend sacred time?
Can you use this time to teach your children to pray, or read the Gospel stories?

We pray for those who are sick:
Evelyn, Winnie C., Mary, Patrick & Adela

We remember all those who have died:
Roy Alf, Malcolm, Elsie, Matthew, Stella, Chris, Kenneth, Carol Ann, Inge, Winnie Y., Patricia M., Eileen, Maureen, Joan, Frank, Robert, Lynda, Cecilia, Lourdes, John, Michael, Eileen
We remember too all those who mourn the loss of those they have loved.

Pray especially for Alf whose funeral we celebrate today

We pray especially for those on the front line who care for the sick, the dying, those who have died, the first responders and all those who help to ensure that society functions as best it can.

St Joseph, protector of families, pray for us

Every blessing

Fr John

PS any more bird song - or is that being too greedy?