FR DAVID WRITES
Thank you to everyone who came to pray at the cemetery Mass and the prayer afterwards. This week we had the internal audit in the parish and I’m pleased to report it went very well. Can I take this opportunity to thank our parish office staff, all our collectors and counters, and the members of the parish finance committee. Your dedication, generosity and professionalism is a great gift to the parish. May God bless you all in the coming week.

FR DAVID WRITES
This week we welcome back all our children, staff and helpers to the new school term and year. We hope the summer holidays have been both enjoyable and restful, and send you good wishes and blessings for the academic year ahead. Best wishes to everyone going off to college and university. We send special prayers with Ashley who will begin his time at Allen Hall Seminary on Friday. This coming Friday is also the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the first anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. May the Lord be with you all in the coming week.

FR DAVID WRITES
Farewell and many thanks to Fr Jerome on this his last weekend with us. His final Mass here will be on Bank Holiday Monday at 10am. I know that we will miss him. He has been a great priest here and a very good housemate in the presbytery. Once he is settled into West Green with Fr Vincent, we will get him back for a special Mass of Thanksgiving. The new Fr Andrew (not to be confused with the ‘other’ Fr Andrew) will arrive here on Friday. We wish him well and I know you will make him feel welcome and at home. Once again, we are having some difficulties with the phones. At the time of writing, it seems you cannot leave voicemail. This may be fixed by the time you read this, but if not, then hopefully soon. I understand this is an inconvenience for both you and me!

FR DAVID WRITES
It was lovely to get back to the parish last Monday, and especially to be back in time to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption last Tuesday. I hope you have all had a good summer thus far! Thank you to Fr Jerome, Fr Johnson and the new Fr Andrew for their work and ministries while I was away; and to the office staff. Please note carefully that the Parish Office will be closed this week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday - please remember any business should be done on either Thursday or Friday. Fr Jerome’s last morning with us will be on Monday 28 August. Please pray for him as he prepares to move to West Green. God bless you all.

FR JEROME
Fr Jerome will be taking up his new appointment at St John Vianney, West Green Parish at the end of this month, and his last day with us will be Monday, 28th August.  We thank him for all that he has done for this parish over the last eighteen months and wish him well for the future.  We will miss you Fr Jerome!

FR JEROME WRITES
In the Last four weeks Jesus Christ, through many parables, has been telling us what the Kingdom of God is like.  In today’s liturgy Jesus allows some of his Apostles see the glimpse of His Glory, that heavenly Glory which awaits us all as we follow his way and worship our God in the Eucharist.  The Transfiguration offers us the foretaste of what awaits us at the end of time. It also reminds us that our life is more than the physical world we can see now but also includes the spiritual. So let us live and work not only for here and now but also for the life to come, by bringing and professing Christ Jesus through our actions, words and relationships with one another. May God transform us to our original image as we listen to His only begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.   

FR JEROME WRITES
What was it like sitting with the crowds on those Galilean Hills listening to Our Lord speaking and teaching the people gathered around Him.  He teaches through Parables; using examples of everyday life to gain their understanding, speaking to the hearts of the people, giving them hope, raising them from their despondency, making a new creation.  By using parables, which can be told and retold among the people of the Holy Land, His voice reaches many who cannot be present but who are brought to understanding through His stories.

FR JEROME WRITES
We had a lovely school Mass on Tuesday for children, staff and parents of Year six.  We wish them all well in their new schools in September.  Whichever schools they are moving onto we are all part of the Parish family and we welcome them back with their families in September.
For all those going on holiday I wish them a very safe journey and peaceful rest.

FR DAVID WRITES
Thank you to everyone who helped organise or support our Parish Summer BBQ. It was a great evening! This Tuesday at 10am we will welcome children from our school to the end-of-term and school leavers’ Mass. Please join us if you can. Current Y2 parents (Y3 September): please take note of the First Holy Communion notice below. Thank you also for your recent generosity towards three projects: our building fund, Peter’s Pence, and the Apostleship of the Sea last weekend. We are most grateful for everything you bring and give for the life of the Church.  Finally, I am going on holiday this week and will be back in the middle of August. As some of you know, I have other responsibilities in addition to the parish, so I really value the break and the opportunity to spend time with family, but I still keep you in my prayers and Masses. I would like to thank you all for your kindness to me, and to wish you all a very happy summer: wherever and however you choose to spend it! God bless you all.

FR DAVID WRITES
Thank you for your generosity towards Peter’s Pence last weekend. Today there will be retiring collection after all Masses for the Apostleship of the Sea. Please note that the First Holy Communion registration is open. Parents of children should sign up if the child will be in Y3 in September and they are part of this parish. Please note that we will not be able to accept late applications. Please continue to pray for Fr Jerome and Fr Andrew O’Connell as they prepare to begin their new appointments later this summer. Have a great week!

CLERGY MOVES - FR DAVID WRITES
As you know, Fr Jerome has been appointed Parish Priest of St John Vianney, West Green. Fr Jerome will take up his new appointment at the beginning of September, after the summer holidays. Fr Andrew O’Connell has been appointed to take over as assistant priest here. He will begin early by celebrating some of the Sunday Masses during the summer, before officially moving in at the start of September. So there will be some overlap of the curates while I am away on my summer break. I know you will make him very welcome. Please keep them both in your prayers as they prepare for their new appointments. Please pray for those who were ordained recently as deacons and priests to serve in our diocese.