OURPARISH LIFE

The Catholic Church in Weston-super-Mare,

Corpus Christi, Our Lady of Lourdes, St Josephs.

PARISH MISSION STATEMENT

The Gospel calls the Catholic Churches in Weston to be a living sign of Christ

An open and vibrant community growing in Spirituality

An active community where all are encouraged to participate.

To work with other Churches, to spread the Good News to all and seek a greater understanding of other faiths.

To feed the hungry.

Hope may be in short supply at the moment as we embark on a new year. What does the future hold in store for us? We are certainly going through a time of turmoil. In the history of the world there have been times of great upheaval. As Judaeo-Christians we turn to the Scriptures for words of guidance and encouragement. The Prophet Jeremiah lived through the period that led to the Babylonian exile of the people of Judea in 587 BC. Amid all this turmoil God spoke through Jeremiah in the following words:

“I know well the plans I have made for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not your woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope. When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 29: 11-13).

So we begin this New Year seeking the Lord’s help in the difficult times we face. We hope for a brighter future. We pray that this time of danger may pass by soon. We can all now look into the future with 2020 vision, learning from the past and drawing strength from God’s revelation of his love for us in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus our Saviour.

Canon Tom

Welcome, if you are picking this magazine up for the first time. It is a way to keep in touch with everybody within our parishes even though we can’t meet in person.

Please send in anything you think would be of interest to our fellow parishioners. We love photos of your pets, your gardens, anything you see on your walks and your memories are of particular interest.

If you know of a local charity, please let us know about them.

If you have been making things to keep busy or have taken on a new challenge through these very strange times, do please let us know. We would love to hear from you.

Angela.

New Year Resolutions – does anyone bother with these anymore? How about instead of saying no and giving something up, we say yes and take something up. Something you have never done before. Volunteering (when we can) or maybe just contacting someone we haven’t spoken to for a while. Let us know if you do something new and how it went.

What connects these words?

BANANA

DRESSER

GRAMMAR

POTATO

REVIVE

UNEVEN

ASSESS

Answers at the back of the magazine

Sent in by Maureen and Colin

Some unusual church notices:

The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.

The ladies of the church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

This is Bethany

Bethany was upset by the plight of the homeless people she saw on the streets of Clevedon and decided to do something to help them. Bethany is a talented artist and decided to paint Christmas cards to sell to raise money for Crisis, the charity that helps homeless people.

Bethany’s main customers have been family and friends. This photo was with an article which appeared in the North Somerset Times, and Bethany has gone on to make over 400 cards and raised £300.00 for Crisis. What a talented and resourceful girl.

Crisis will use this money to go toward providing food and festive treats for people who usually live on the streets, as well as receiving emotional and wellbeing support.

Bethany is Dorothy’s great grand-daughter. ( Dorothy is Angela’s sister-in-law)

You may remember in last month’s issue I told you about Charlie, who ate some fruit cake and became very ill and was rushed to the vets. He recovered and he is very well and here he is with his grandma who knitted him this lovely wooly coat.

Charlie is owned by Bethany, her sister Evie and their Mum and Dad.

Our Pets

This little beauty is Amber and her owner is Veronica.

The best place to drink is straight from the tap, and where else would such a water baby settle but in the hand basin.

Amber has found somewhere more comfortable to relax with a bit of sun, and that tummy looks so tempting for a stroke, but as every cat owner knows – this can be much too dangerous.

The Light of the WorldBy William Holman Hunt 1827-1910

This painting represents the figure of Jesus preparing to knock on an overgrown door illustrating Revelations 3:20 “Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any man hears my voice and opens the door I will come into him and sup with him and he with Me”.

The artist said “I painted the picture with what I thought, unworthy though I was, to be by Divine command, and not simply as a good subject”.

The door in the picture has no handle and can therefore only be opened from the inside representing the “obstinately shut mind”

William Hunt, 50 years after painting it, felt he had to explain the symbolism.

The Gate of the Year

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year

“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown”

And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand in the hand of God

That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way”

So I went forth and finding the hand of God trod gladly into the night

And he led me to the hill and the breaking of the day in the

Lone East.

Minnie Haskins 1875 - 1957

This poem came to the public’s attention when King George VI quoted it in his 1939 Christmas broadcast. The poem reached a mass audience during the Second World War.

The poem was a source of comfort to the Queen Mother all her life. She put it on a plaque which was fixed to the gates of the King George Memorial Chapel at Windsor Castle where the King was interred. The Queen Mother was also buried here in 2002 and the words of this poem were included in her funeral service.

Our gardens in January.

There is very little to do outside. Tidying up and wrapping susceptible plants in bubble wrap. Inside garden sheds can be tidied, tools cleaned and oiled, and the mower overhauled.

The best part of January is when the plant catalogues start arriving and it is time to plan this year’s garden. So settle down with the crumpets, slice of your favourite cake and pot of tea for sustenance for the task ahead.

First though, could we dream a little – what will it be, a miniature Versailles perhaps or abundant flower borders as Gertrude Jekyll had at Hidcote. Maybe a one colour border as at Sissinghurst, or do you lean toward the cottage-garden style of Margery Fish. Maybe you would like something more brightly coloured and exotic and follow Christopher Lloyd at Great Dixter.

Ho Hum - perhaps it would be a better to come down to earth and get Alan Titchmarsh’s book out.

When the crumpets are finished and there are just a few cake crumbs left on the plate, with pen and pad ready, work out how many busy lizzies, bedding begonias, geraniums, pansies and petunias are needed for the tubs and baskets. Will you need more perennials, or perhaps just one more rose?

It doesn’t hurt to dream just a little though, does it?

NO MAN SHOULD PLAN A GARDEN BIGGER THAN HIS WIFE CAN MANAGE

House Plants.

It seems that house plants became very popular during 2020, probably because of people being shut in, and they do lift the mood. Houseplant departments at the garden centres have seen an 81% rise in sales.

Christmas Cactus Clivia

These lovely houseplants belong to Liz and John.

This winter jasmine is in our neighbour’s garden, but growing over the wall into ours.

Liz.

Plants in flower on Christmas day-

Liz and John – “Just a few flowers left on the Winter Jasmine, pansies, violas and cyclamens in the troughs, and a blue campanula at the bottom of the garden”.

Dorothy – “A few of the nicotiana summer bedding plants are still in flower, as are the violas in tubs”.

Angela- “I have cyclamens out in the stone troughs as well as pansies in the tubs, and one rosebud which I hope has not been nipped at by the frost.”

Has anyone noticed the small clump of snowdrops in the flower bed at the front of the church, in flower Christmas day as they were last year, must be an early variety?

Who is St. Sebastian?

Feast Day 20th January

According to his legend, Sebastian was born at Narbonne, Gaul. He became a soldier in the Roman army at Rome in about 283, and encouraged Marcellian and Marcus, under sentence of death, to remain firm in their faith. Sebastian made numerous converts: among them were the master of the rolls, Nicostratus, who was in charge of prisoners and his wife, Zoe, a deaf mute whom he cured; the jailer Claudius; Chromatius, Prefect of Rome, whom he cured of gout; and Chromatius’ son, Tiburtius. Chromatius set the prisoners free, freed his slaves, and resigned as prefect.

Sebastian was named captain in the praetorian guards by Emperor Diocletian, as did Emperor Maximian when Diocletian went to the East. Neither knew that Sebastian was a Christian. When it was discovered during Maximian’s persecution of the Christians that Sebastian was indeed a Christian, he was ordered to be executed. He was shot with arrows and left for dead, but when the widow of St. Castulus went to recover his body, she found he was still alive and nursed him back to health. Soon after, Sebastian intercepted the Emperor, denounced him for his cruelty to Christians, and was beaten to death on the Emperor’s orders.

Saint Sebastian was venerated at Milan as early as the time of St. Ambrose and was buried on the Appian Way. He is patron of archers, athletes, and soldiers, and is appealed to for protection against plagues.

[He is patron saint of athletes because of his physical endurance and his energetic way of spreading and defending the Faith. Sebastian is also patron to all soldiers. He entered the Roman army under Emperor Carinus in 283 in order to defend the confessors and martyrs of his day without drawing attention to himself. His efforts kept the Faith of Marcus and Marcellian firm during their persecutions, right up to the time of their martyrdom. He was declared patron of plague sufferers because of his reported cures of those afflicted with many diseases.]

“St. Sebastian” Catholic.org  http://www.catholic.org/

Alive Publishing

Prayer to St. SebastianSaint Sebastian, witness to the sufferings of Christ, as a Martyr and whose intercession saved many from an epidemic, we seek your prayers now during this time of pandemic.

Pray for the unity of leaders and nations, for the enlightenment of scientists, for the protection of all people and help us all to make wise choices.

With the assistance of your prayers, may we accept anew each day the gift of life, and do nothing willfully to endanger it.

May the experience of this pandemic change our perspective on the world, enable us to understand better our dependence on God, value the beauty of his Creation which we have had time to notice more and create in us a greater desire to love our neighbour.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Sent in by Veronica

What’s for pudding?

We are talking sweet puddings here, sometimes called ‘after’s’. The word pudding seems to mean the older style sweet pudding such as steamed puddings.

The most popular puddings are the ones that have been around the longest. Apple pie, popular in the British Isles since 1381. That’s hardly surprising since apples grow so readily here. Bread and butter pudding first mentioned in Elia Smith’s ‘The Compleat Housewife’ of 1728, and trifle a gorgeous concoction first mentioned in Hannah Glasse’s ‘Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy’ of 1755.

Another popular pudding seems to be apple crumble. This originated during the Second World War due to rationing, using less of the flour, fat and sugar that was in such short supply.

Dessert seems to mean something different, lighter than the above eg cheesecake, trifle, Eton mess etc., and more summery affairs.

Bread and butter pudding should not be confused with bread pudding, altogether different which is more like a cake. This originated in the 11th Century as frugal cooks looked for a way to use up stale bread. Not so popular today being rather heavy in texture. Nobby loved bread pudding and had a friend who made a very good one. When she knew she was seeing us she would make one just for him. He treated it as cake, and gave little squeaks of delight as he ate it. It was very good.

There have been more modern puddings arriving here such as sticky toffee pudding and banoffee pie, but in polls taken recently the old favourites seem to come out on top, and any café, pub or restaurant worth its salt will have one of them on the menu.

What is your favourite? – do tell.

Mine is apple and blackberry pie. I give off my own little squeaks when I eat this.

Sent in by Mike Usher-Clarke.

EDITORIAL TEAM

Editor – in – chief Canon Tom

Words answer

Move the letter from the front to the end of the word. The word then has the same meaning when read backwards.

Editor and compiler – Angela Clarke - to contact me;

Phone 01934 647807 or email magazine101@btinternet.com

Or leave at the presbytery marked for my attention, or if OLOL given to Canon to bring back.

Publishing and distribution Tracey

Photo taken by Peter Ottley