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SCRIPTURE
READINGS
|
Genesis |
18:20-32 |
| Psalm |
137 |
| Colossians
|
2:12-24 |
| Luke |
11:1-13 |
OUR
FATHER
As
you will see from elsewhere in this newsletter –
it is St Ignatius's feast day at the end of this
week. A striking thing about Ignatius's approach
to prayer is his emphasis on lively discussion with
God concerning the things that encourage or dismay
us – and the account of Abraham bartering with God
in today's first reading suggests that he was a
master of the Ignatian approach to prayer, well
in advance of the arrival of Ignatius himself! Abraham
of course is a great symbol of faith – and we call
him “our father in faith”. But this faith is a response
to something else, beyond himself – in fact
to the faith fulness of God, and to his
great love and unswerving commitment to all that
he has created. The faithfulness – the goodness
of God – comes first; the response of Abraham that
follows is one of total dependence and trust in
that goodness – faith.
In
his complete dependence on God, Abraham prefigures
the relationship of Jesus with his Father. While
Jesus's days are filled with teaching and healing,
he spends many hours of the night in prayer – and
out of this union with his Father flow the healing
power of his miracles, the authority of his teaching
and also, ultimately, his acceptance of suffering
and death. This most radical dependence on and obedience
to the Father is relationship, and is
prayer. Having committed his spirit into the
Father hands, Jesus is raised by the Father to life.
Not only that, but as Paul tells us today, because
we have been buried with Jesus in baptism, we too
are raised to life with him “through faith in the
power of God”. Through this union with Jesus in
baptism we can call his Father, “our Father”.
Today's
Gospel, gives us St Luke's version of the Our
Father, and – touchingly - it starts with
the request of a disciple who has been watching
Jesus at prayer - “teach us to pray”.
Perhaps there is even a note of frustration here!
Jesus's response is immediate – a direct invitation
into the heart of his relationship with the Father
– and then five petitions (six in Matthew's version)
which are the foundations of our relationship with
God, with each other, and with ourselves – to be
lived and prayed day by day. This is truly our baptismal
prayer and we are invited to offer it in the same
spirit of faith and trust as Abraham and Jesus –
pondering in the presence of God the “gut things”
that delight us or dismay us – and then handing
them over to his great love and care and faithfulness
- in the knowledge that we have everything we need,
because we have him.
Andrea
Kelly
Mount
Street Jesuit Centre,
London
Jesuit Volunteers Co-ordinator
THE
FEAST OF ST IGNATIUS
We
celebrate the Feast of St Ignatius Loyola with a
vigil Mass at 6pm this FRIDAY 30th JULY. The choir
will be singing a Haydn Mass and there will be a
reception in the garden afterwards. This is not
only our parish celebration of the founder of the
Jesuit Order and father of a great spiritual tradition,
but also a special occasion for alumni/ae of Jesuit
schools worldwide. We invite all who were at a Jesuit
educational institution to join us on the evening
of JULY 30th to meet old friends, to make new ones
and to deepen the call to be followers of Christ
together. See the posters for more information.
TICKETS
FOR THE PAPAL VISIT
Tickets
for Papal events in September are being allocated
to parishes through the deaneries. We have been
offered 83 tickets for the Vigil prayer service
in Hyde
Park
on the 18 th and 23 tickets for the Beatification
Mass at Cofton
Park
, Birmingham
, on
the following day. The Parish Council has decided
that it would be good for a nominated representative
of our main parish volunteer groups to be given
a place and to choose by lottery others who may
be interested. A list of the parish groups will
be posted at the garden door on the Parish Council
board. If you would like your name to be in the
lottery, please leave a card with your contact details
at the parish office or send one in by post. Remember
that these events will involve several hours of
standing. We will provide a live relay of the Hyde
Park
event in the Church Hall for those who would like
to share the experience with others. Refreshments
will be offered. There are books on or by Pope Benedict
available in the Hall bookshop after the main morning
Masses as well as writings on and by Cardinal Newman.
RECEPTIONISTS
Brother
Bill is away until September. We thank him for his
great work at reception on Sunday mornings. We need
someone on the desk from 9:30am
until
11am
, and
from 11am
until
12:30pm
. If
you would like to help as a volunteer in this wonderful
job of welcoming people and taking occasional phone
calls, please let Fr William know.
DAY
FOR LIFE
As
is well known, the Catholic Church takes a very
strong position in defence of human life at every
stage, from conception to the final breath. The
annual Day for Life is TODAY and is promoted by
the Diocese to increase our awareness and to support
life-related activities and programmes in the Church.
This year's theme is care of the dying. There are
leaflets at the doors. Please be generous.
VOLUNTEERING
IN THE JESUIT TRADITION - COULD THIS BE YOU?!
Have
you ever thought about volunteering, but never been
quite sure how to start? Do you have between 2 and
8 hours a week that you could set aside to work
with people in London
who
are suffering the effects of poverty and exclusion?
Would you like the opportunity to reflect prayerfully
with other volunteers on how we embody the Gospel
values of the Beatitudes in our volunteering and
daily living? If so, this is an invitation
to become an active member of London
Jesuit Volunteers! We
work with many organisations across London
–
starting with our own vibrant section of the Society
of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) in this parish. We also
work as advocates, mentors and friends alongside
people in hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters
as well as in communities of people with learning
disabilities, and with outreach agencies (such as
the Jesuit Refugee Service) for refugees, asylum
seekers, forced migrants and many other marginalised
people. Most recently we have started to work closely
with Farm Street Parish to set up our own local
project for older people who are frail and/or housebound.
LJV volunteers range in age from 25 to 75+ years
old, represent a wide diversity of cultural and
international backgrounds, and are often full-time
professionals with family, work and study commitments,
as well as people making transitions, including
those moving towards and into retirement. The combination
of volunteering placement with an opportunity to
reflect upon that experience has proved to be a
powerful magnet, and meets a deep need to make modern
living meaningful. Volunteers regularly comment
on how rewarding this experience proves to be –
and are unanimous that they receive back far more
than they give!
For
more information phone Andrea Kelly on 0207 499
7002 or email andrea@mountstreet.info
JESUS
CHRIST FULNESS OF LIFE
A
beautiful service of worship open to all denominations
is offered at 7:30pm
on THURSDAY 5th AUGUST in the church and we do encourage
you to take time out for music, prayer and reflection,
followed by a fellowship meal. No need to notify
us beforehand, just come along and enjoy.
MEET
YOUR NEIGHBORS
These
events are very popular, so you might want to put
this date in your diary: TUESDAY 7th SEPTEMBER.
Bloomsbury
Baptist
Church
invites
you to a tour of the church at 6:30pm
and
refreshments afterwards. The event is free. See
posters or Fr William for more information.
The
choir will be on holiday until SEPTEMBER 5th. Your
last chance to enjoy them will be at the 6pm
Mass this FRIDAY JULY 30th in honour of St Ignatius
Loyola. During August, there will be organ music
and congregational singing of the Missa de Angelis
at the 11am Mass.
MOUNT
STREET JESUIT
CENTRE
114
Mount Street , London W1
Bookings
and information:
Lynne
Galloway 020 7495 1673 lynne@mountstreet.info
MONTHLY
CENTRE/COMMUNITY MASS
(provisionally)
every second Sunday of the month at 7.15pm .
Once
you have attended any event here, we like to think
you are part of our ever-growing community of participants
and facilitators. Our monthly Community Mass is
an opportunity to meet for an informal ‘house Mass',
held in the Upper Room of 114 Mount Street, and
to share wine and nibbles afterwards. At present
it takes place on the second Sunday of each month
at 7.15pm
, though
we will be consulting with you by email about whether
this is the best time.
IGNATIAN
PRAYER DAYS
Led
by TONY HORAN SJ
Second
Saturday of each month (except August) from 11am-4.30pm
These
are days of prayer run in an Ignatian way, in which
there is a talk, time for personal prayer and the
opportunity to listen to each other, ending with
the Mass of the Sunday. There is no need to book
for these days just come along.
If
you would like us to put on a course or a one day
workshop on a particular topic of interest to you
now is your opportunity to make your requests.
Please
use Gift-Aid envelopes for your donations if you
are a UK
Tax-payer .
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