As you all know we were planning on starting a Sunday School here at St. Anselm in September later this year (after our new Mission Priest starts).
We’d planned on running a summer school for a week to test the waters and take tentative steps towards offering a home for families in Hayes who wanted to reconnect with – or discover for the first time – what being a Christian family was about.
But, as I stood at the altar last week I saw the smiling faces of the families who have come to us over the last few months and I felt a powerful push from the Holy Spirt to get going now!
Why wait? One of the things that people say about St. Anselm is that we are a family – and that is so evident on Sunday mornings.
I looked at Julie and just knew that she’d been keen as mustard to get going and so without even speaking to her, announced the launch of our Sunday School from this week!
I could see (thank goodness) that she was smiling from ear to ear – as were many of you!
So, doing what we do best in Hayes – responding to the prompting of the Holy Spirit – we kick off our Sunday School much earlier than planned.
Julie has arranged a great activity for the children and I know you’ll be praying for her – and our new families – as they explore what being a Christian is all about.
If you’d like to help – either in prayer or practically do speak to Julie on Sunday.
We’re launching our Sunday School this week! Julie has set up some great activities for the children as they learn about Jesus in the Church Hall during our own scripture and sermon in church. Do pray for her and all those taking part as they start out on this exciting adventure.
We’re looking to run a summer club for children (10am-4pm) for a week in the Summer Holidays. We have two great volunteers already, but we’ll need more – even if you can only offer a few hours. Please speak to Fr. Matthew.
The job advert for our new Mission Priest goes out on Friday (6th May). Do look out for it and share it with anyone who may be interested.
There will be a parish open day on the 12th July for Priests applying for our new Mission Priest job (interviews with +Jonathan on the 13th July). If you’d like to meet the applicants or help with showing them around the parish please be in touch.
The flowers from Easter are still looking great but now need a little attention. If you could spare some time to give them a bit of love we’d really appreciate it. Please be in touch with either Fr. Matthew or Susan to arrange a time to come in.
In the 1930’s a Polish nun called Sr. Faustina (now St. Faustina) experienced a series of visions of Jesus. Amongst her visions Jesus asked her to paint this very special image – an image of the Divine Mercy of God flowing from his Sacred Heart.
Her visions were centred around Jesus bringing her to a place where she could see the mercy of God at work in the world around her.
She wrote of her pain at her neighbours being badly treated, about their sufferings and how it physically hurt her. She prayed that their sufferings would fall on her, that she may in some way lessen their suffering in order to help them find a path to grace and peace.
It is far from easy to love with a love so deep that it causes you physical pain when you see that person hurting.
Some of us are lucky enough to have experienced a tiny portion of this love – the love we have for our sons, daughters, fathers, mothers – our husbands and wives.
But what St. Faustina showed us is that Jesus wants us to love everyone with that much love.
It is that love which must inspire us to try harder. To try harder to defend the weak, to feed the poor, to cloth the naked, to visit the prisoner, to lift up the wretched and say, ‘I love you!’ and to really mean it.
St. Faustina gave us a gift, a gift to see the power and depth of Jesus love for all of us. What do we do with that gift?
I can’t begin to thank everyone enough for such a wonderful Holy Week and Triduum. But I want to especially thank Susan, John, Mary and Shirley who worked so hard on Maundy Thursday to clean the church and for the flowers on the altar of repose (that we’re still enjoying this week).
Remember we are still in Eastertide and continue to celebrate the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection. This is a special time when He is still with us and we have much to learn. A time to focus on scripture on prayer as we head for Pentecost.
We’re looking to run a summer club for children for a week in the Summer Holidays. We hope this will be the precursor for a Sunday School that will launch in September. We have two great volunteers already, but we’ll need more – even if you can only offer a day. Please speak to Fr. Matthew.
There will be a parish open day on the 12th July for Priests applying for our new Mission Priest job. If you’d like to meet them or help with showing them around the parish please be in touch.
This was the first full Easter that I was able to celebrate here in the parish. We entered Holy Week with hope and with trepidation. Would people come? Would people find a place with God here? Would they find a new family that loved them?
The resounding answer to all of those questions was yes! We had a wonderful and holy time together during Holy Week and into the Holy Triduum. We’re looking forward to getting to know new friends better and for some exciting new initiatives in the coming months.
Please do enjoy these photos from the various services and events at St. Anselm this Holy Week and Easter.
The empty tomb stands as a symbol of the greatest Hope and the greatest story ever told.
Of a man who came to earth, was crucified, died, buried, descended into hell, and on the third day rose again!
He came to take away our sin, to bring us into a new life in God.
So as we start this journey together on Thursday evening, as darkness descends and altars are stripped. We must remember that darkness will never win, that it will always be cast out by the light.
An enormous thank you must go out to everyone who has cleaned and scrubbed the church over the last two weeks and to all those who donated and helped to build our beautiful altar of repose – with so many wonderful flowers.
It’s a very quiet week after Easter Sunday as you can see. Fr. Matthew will be saying daily offices from the vicarage and encourages you to do the same at home. He will be contactable throughout the week as he takes some time to read and study.
What an huge treat is will be to have Anthony back with us for Easter Sunday! Make sure you come along at 10am on Sunday morning to once again hear our organ play out loud with some wonderful hymns!
You are very warmly invited to join us for Holy Week 2022. Come and be part of our amazing family as we walk in the footsteps of Jesus and his disciples.
Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday of Holy Week
(11th, 12th & 13th April)
3pm – Stations of the Cross (Wednesday 13th)
7pm – Confessions
7:30pm – High Mass
Maundy Thursday
(14th April)
8pm – High Mass of the Lord’s Supper
With washing of feet, striping of the altars, and watch until midnight.
As we enter Holy Week our Lent Course – Holy Habits – focuses on daily prayer and scripture. Perhaps the most difficult habit we have discussed to date.
Each habit we’ve talked about so far has an external prompt that helps us to focus on God. Our physical posture in the liturgy is driven by the liturgy itself and the action of others around us. The practice of Pilgrimage contains an element of adventure that helps us along and gratitude is the reaction of God’s work around us.
But the daily reading of scripture and our daily prayers require something far harder to prompt us into doing them.
Discipline.
There are very few external prompts to open our bible or say our prayers.
As Priests I think we’re fortunate to be required to say our offices each day – and are often prompted to do so by the public services we offer and the calling of the church bell at various times of day.
But if you’re not publicly accountable to carry out these tasks what keeps you focused on them?
Discipline.
The only way to start to read more scripture and to pray with regularity is to simply do it – and the more you do it – the more it will become a habit.
The more of a habit it becomes the easier it will get and the easier it gets the more scripture and the Holy Spirit will be able to work within you.
As we end Lent and move into Holy Week dig out your bibles and place them next to your bed. Pray when you wake, read scripture before you sleep.
Wake with God on your lips and sleep with Him in your heart.
As we start Holy Week together there are lots of changes to the usual schedule. Please do have a read and make sure you make time to come to the various important elements of Holy Week (not least Confession!)
Edmund will be the boat boy at the Chrism Mass with +Jonathan on Tuesday. You’re all warmly invited to attend this special service.
Flowers – we really need some volunteers to make the altar of repose for the watch on Thursday night in the Lady Chapel and to dress the nave altar for the Vigil Mass on Saturday evening. I’d really appreciate any offers of help for this – or goodness knows what you’ll get if I do it!
There is a Walk of Witness on Good Friday with our brothers and sisters in neighbouring parishes – we meet at 11am outside the Roman Catholic church in Botwell.
Thank you to everyone (especially our online congregation) for the very generous donation of food and money to buy food for the foodbank over the last week. We’re back up to full strength and stand ready to help where we can.
During Lent we are raising money for the Additional Curates Society. You can collect a box from church and bring the box in after Easter, or you can give online via https://additionalcurates.co.uk/support-us/
Each week I’ll be sending you the story of a Priest who was supported by the Society and what it means to the parishes involved. Here’s the final one:
“When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other.”
Ecclesiastes 7:14
It was with enormous trepidation that we entered into lockdown last March and I was forced to undertake what only 48 hours before had been unthinkable: to close the church to public worship indefinitely. Yet, even in those fearful and uncertain early days, the words of the Preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes gave me hope. For so long we in the West have felt unnaturally secure in the world – masters of science and technology, in full control of nature and all within it. We had made ourselves into gods, even to the extent of accruing to ourselves the power of life and death. Yet now, suddenly, we were at the mercy of an unseen enemy with no cure and an exponentially rising death rate. The true powerlessness of man had been exposed, and in that I could see an opportunity to speak truth and comfort into this situation. How many times in the history of salvation has God humbled the pride of man, not out of spite, but out of love, in order to remind us that it is in him we find the source of life, hope and salvation? Jesus challenges us, asking, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Mark 8:36.
These thoughts characterised my own Christian response to the pandemic and how I sought to communicate that to others in my care. Immediately, along with thousands of churches across the country, we began livestreaming Mass online in order that, although tragically cut off from the sacraments, our people were still able to hear the word of God preached and gain a much-needed wider perspective on the events we were all living through. As the days and weeks progressed, our proficiency in this area increased, as we acquired better cameras and sound equipment, and the introduction of online singing improved the experience of worship.
In addition to online worship, our youth worker, Jordan, produced a series of interactive videos encouraging young people to take part in seasonal craft activities, and along with Fr Edward produced educational videos for use in school once the children had begun to go back. These included a tour of the church, explaining its various contents and features and how they relate to the worshipping life of the community. We also produced a video dedicated to explaining the Mass, its various parts and what they mean. These were accompanied by quiz sheets to help the children remember what they had learnt, and it’s our hope that this approach has kept them familiar with the building over was has been a long absence. We’ll see how much they remember when confirmation classes start in September!
Christmas 2020 was a particular high-point in the past year. Realising we couldn’t have our usual family Christingle Service in church, we had an outdoor family Carol Service in the churchyard, which brought over 150 people together at a time of great uncertainty and disappointment and brought the good news of Jesus’s birth to many in the parish who would otherwise not have heard it, since no other church in the town was open at all. Afterwards I was overwhelmed with the number of people who so clearly appreciated what we’d done, and the video we put together of the event quickly received several thousand views across the local area.
It has been hugely encouraging to see new people continue to join the church family over the course of these past difficult months. Since the beginning of lockdown last March we have eight new members of the congregation, with three confirmations in May and more to follow in November. It is astonishing to think that only now are they beginning to see what a ‘normal’ Mass looks like, with the resumption of singing and refreshments after Mass, allowing them to develop personal relationships with other members of the congregation. It was also important for me, personally, as a priest, to get back to the basics of what I was ordained to do. I must admit that the sense of purpose with which we began the pandemic, to which I alluded to above, began to give way somewhat to a sense of drift and lack of purpose, particularly with further restrictions imposed in January 2021. But to be able to sit down with confirmation candidates, none of whom had been to church before they started coming to St John’s, and teaching them about God, the relationship he wants to have with us, and the reconciliation we can have with him through faith in Jesus Christ in the family of the Church was a tonic to my soul. It was a great pleasure and a very happy occasion when Bishop Glyn visited the parish to conduct those confirmations on a glorious Sunday in May. It not only encouraged me, but gave a great lift to everyone, and renewed our determination to continue the work of the gospel unimpeded once the time comes fully.
I am sure that the small things God has done here in Mexborough against such a difficult backdrop were only possible because of our determination as a parish to cultivate an atmosphere of calm and perspective, reminding ourselves of our Easter faith, and taking sensible precautions that created a safe environment while avoiding creating panic – something which has sadly happened in all too many parishes, which as a result are now finding it difficult to transition to normality.
Nonetheless, we are looking forward to the future, particularly as we prepare to welcome our new Children and Families Worker, who will be instrumental in helping us to reach out to new people, relaunch some of the activities that were suspended, and discover new ways to reach those we have sometimes struggled to connect with. We are immensely grateful to ACS for their continued support for St John’s at a time of financial strain, and we ask for the prayers of all who read this that our parish may grow in number and in spirit as we go forward in faith.
It is very easy to fall into the habit of being cross with the world. Of being cynical. Of not seeing what God puts in front of you each and every day.
The Christian practice of gratitude is something that has existed in our relationship with God right back to our earliest covenants.
Our offering of thanksgiving and praise has been at the heart of our relationship with God right the way back to Abraham and the earliest Israelites.
We still see it today in our liturgy – our Eucharist always starts with a greeting ‘the Lord be with you’ and with a declaration of praise and thanks:
‘Let us give thanks to the Lord’.
The Priest continues,
‘It is right to give thanks and praise always and everywhere’.
This is not something that is reserved to the altar – it is something that we all do ‘always and everywhere’.
Or rather – should do. It’s one of the easiest things to forget however and very quickly we fall into the trap of the world around us by being cynical and closed to the gifts of God.
To start practicing gratitude is to be open to those gifts and opportunities in front of you. To be able to discern those gifts enables you to make best use of them.
Start your day by crossing yourself and saying the Our Father, then thank God for the gift of another day here on earth, another day to share His love in the world, another day to care for those in need, another day to love your friends and family.
Thank you God for our family at St. Anselm, the friendships, the support and the love.
Our Lent Course – Holy Habits – continues on Thursday (7th). This week you’ll be hearing about the Holy Habit of Daily Prayer & Scripture from Fr. Sam. You can take part in person on Thursday mornings after mass or online on Thursday evenings at 7:30pm. More details on the website – stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/lent
Lent is a very good time to make your first confession. If you’ve not come to confession before, or if you’re worried about how it works please speak to Fr. Matthew.
Please note there are several changes to the office and mass times this week to reflect the start of the Easter holidays.
We are very short of tinned meat, soup & tinned vegetables for the foodbank and I’d really appreciate any donations you can bring this Sunday.
It’s Palm Sunday next week, the start of Holy Week and our journey towards Easter Sunday. Please make an extra effort to be in church and receive your palm cross.
During Lent we are raising money for the Additional Curates Society. You can collect a box from church and bring the box in after Easter, or you can give online via https://additionalcurates.co.uk/support-us/
Each week I’ll be sending you the story of a Priest who was supported by the Society and what it means to the parishes involved. Here’s the third:
The support of the Additional Curates’ Society for an Assistant Curate in All Saints’, Monks Road, Lincoln has been a tremendous boost to the whole Church here- as well as the Vicar! All Saints is a fine Edwardian Church, close to the city centre but in its second most deprived area. Streets of terraced houses, multiple occupancy, ethnically very diverse, high levels of living on benefits and amidst it all and not atypically a beleaguered Anglo-Catholic Church. Since the departure of the last resident Vicar for just All Saints in 1993 the Church has been variously amalgamated with another parish, grouped into a federation which was then dissolved and then in a three year vacancy. After 1993 it did have Resolutions A & B in place- until one Vicar and his wife by their votes made up a majority to rescind them. After that only the valiant determination of the churchwardens and other key laity meant it was able to maintain a traditionalist stance over priestly ministry. But it was all far from easy and took its toll. Attendance at the Sung Mass often struggled to reach double figures. It could have been closed or handed over to the HTB Resource Church. To its great credit however the Diocese of Lincoln took the decision that to honour the Women Bishops Settlement of 2014, it was only right that the Cathedral City should have one traditionalist parish and that the church best suited was All Saints. The former Vicarage the previous incumbent had declined to live in was re-purchased and a Society Priest put in as Vicar!
A Vicar notwithstanding, a “Populous Parish” of over 7,000 with a massive work of rebuilding and mission before him, an Assistant Curate was more than a blessing. In 2020 Fr Ross Copley came to the parish to be ordained as soon as was allowed. An ACS grant to assist him and his work was a wonderful gift. We would have struggled financially without it! Despite Covid-19, and in some ways because of it, Fr Ross has been invaluable to me and the whole church community. Fr Ross will describe some of this work himself.
Beginning ministry was always going to be an adjustment, even from the cloisters of St Stephen’s House, moving into parish life was going to something very different. The pandemic supercharged this adjustment in ways I’d never imagined including a three-month delay to my ordination to the diaconate, a reduced liturgical role and opportunities to visit and meet with parishioners both in-and-out of church. Despite this, I have been keen to be involved in a variety of parochial projects and missional/pastoral opportunities.
In November I joined the Chaplaincy Team of Bishop Grosseteste University and although having being very infrequently on-campus, I have been able to connect with students and staff through various online sessions and be there as a reassuring face and support. I have really enjoyed seeing the chaplaincy side of ministry and its opportunities to be alongside others and to meet them where they are, especially as so few in a university setting would describe themselves as Christians.
Zoom has become a ubiquitous activity in a pandemic year – to this end, I planned and delivered, alongside Fr Paul and Fr Peter Green, a Lent course focussing on the role of St Joseph in scripture and by tradition. Having an online Lent course meant there was three times as much engagement from the faithful than an in-person session had been in previous years.
Given the absence of young people in our worshipping community, I’ve worked to establish a new young adults’ group Frassati & Goretti, undertaking a virtual trek of the Camino de Santiago to raise funds for its activities, securing £400 of sponsorship. There will be a monthly event from October and will aim to give an opportunity for discussion and discipleship, as well as grow the parish presence amongst students at both universities.
Since June 2021 the parish has partnered with another local church to support ten families from our local school with a bi-weekly food parcel and children’s craft pack. Serve thy neighbour has been particularly wonderful because it has allowed me walk the parish, chat with the families and to get to know the children, who are always excited to tell us about their week. Every pack is accompanied with a reminder of the next delivery, and more importantly a gentle nudge that Fr Paul and I are available for a chat, should they ever need to. This type of engagement was one of the key reasons I was so excited to be serving my Title at All Saints, as a parish of significant deprivation, I have been reminded of the work of the ritualist Fathers who not only worked to alleviate poverty and desperation, but also bring the faith and be amongst those in the community.
Finally, I was asked by the Diocesan Director of Ordinands to be a Young Vocations advocate and have been meeting online with the Ministry Team at Church House to discuss and learn how we could be growing lay and ordained vocations. This has been a real help in getting to know a diocese which was new to me and to make connections for good collegial relationships.
My first year in curacy has been a very mixed bag in terms of experience. We have very few opportunities for pastoral offices, so I have been glad to get some experience by covering other parishes, especially baptisms. I hope this has highlighted the foundations which we as a congregation have been developing this past year, and that my participation has in some way been a confidence boost to the church community. I am so privileged to serve the parish of All Saints and I am thankful for the support that the ACS has given, which has enabled me to flourish in my first year of ministry.
It may seem odd to think of pilgrimage as a Holy Habit. It’s very unlike the things we talked about last week – small, gentle, prods that encourage us to think about Jesus in our day to day lives.
But… over the years I’ve found regular pilgrimage to be a life giving source of understanding and questioning on my journey with Christ.
We have been all over the world together and in those travels have been consistently surprised at how the holy spirit seeks us out and shows us something new in our relationship with Christ.
The act of pilgrimage is one of body, mind, and soul. It is a deliberate act – to take yourself out of your current surrounds and life and to open your ears to what God may be saying to you.
Pilgrimage is as much an act of mental travel as it is physical, and so if you’re unable to travel you can still go on pilgrimage – in your mind.
Take your soul out of the every day. Take your mind away from the worries of the day, of the week, of the year; and let them hear afresh the voice of God in your life.
We’ll be travelling to Walsingham on pilgrimage later this year, if you’re interested in helping organise it do let me know.
This Sunday is Mothering Sunday. A day where we traditionally travel home to our families and visit our Mother Church, the church in which we were baptised. We can’t all do that and so we celebrate our homes – and at the heart of our homes are our mothers. So come this Sunday and celebrate, pray for, give thanks and perhaps even lament our Mothers and the women of our lives who make us who we are.
Our Lent Course – Holy Habits – continues on Thursday (31st). This week you’ll be hearing about the Holy Habit of Gratitude. You can take part in person on Thursday mornings after mass (with a lent lunch served afterwards) or online on Thursday evenings at 7:30pm. More details on the website – stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/lent
Lent is a very good time to make your first confession. If you’ve not come to confession before, or if you’re worried about how it works and what it is for – please speak to Fr. Matthew.
Please note changes to the office and mass times on Monday and Tuesday.
