Category: Announcements

Back to school.

We work from rest, not rest from work.

Earlier this week I went to St. Edmund’s to pick up some crates of food for our foodbank. St. Edmund’s have always been huge supporters of our church larder and foodbank and without them we’d really struggle. 

Week in week out I meet with Fr. Peter and he, Edmund, and I load food into the back of the car and bring it into church for those most in need.

I really enjoy my visits – not just because of the brilliant help and support Fr. Peter offers but because each time I go he always has something profound and helpful to say.

This week I was talking about how restful we’ve found August and that the reduced service times have really allowed for a time of rest and reset and has sparked all sorts of new ideas for the next term.

He nodded sagely (as he always does) and reminded me that we work from rest, and we should not simply rest from work.

Humans were created on the sixth day and on the seventh God rested. The first day of our week is a day of rest – not a day of work.

So, as I look to the next term and the exciting times ahead (Fr. Josiah joining us, our first church plant out into the community, a new coffee stand open during the week, the renewal and re-planting of our outdoor space, parent and toddler group 2.0… to name just a few) I am encouraged and refreshed – and I hope that you feel the same too. 

Find some time as the children return to school for some peace and be ready for this next exciting phase at St. Anselm.

Fr. Matthew

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We are very grateful for the continued support of St. Edmund’s and the Southall West Sai Centre with the foodbank. As Autumn and Winter appear the demand is expected to rise and now is the time to build up stock for the most in need.

2nd October at 4pm – we will be licensing and commissioning Fr. Josiah into St. Anselm at a special service of Evening Prayer & Benediction with Bishop Jonathan. I’d like to throw a huge party for him afterwards – can you please let me know if you’d like to help organise it – it would be great to have a huge spread and make him and his family fell really really welcome. 

We return to a more usual patter of worship this week with Mass each day, a return of evening prayer & rosary and Tuesday evening prayer. Our online streaming schedule also returns to normal. 

The prayer list has been refreshed this week, if you’ve spotted someone who should be on it, or someone who can come off it, please speak to Susan. 

St. Monica

Sometimes praying for one person to come to know Jesus is the most powerful prayer there is.

As I sit to write this weeks newsletter we celebrate the life and work of St. Monica. She is one of the lesser know saints – which is a huge shame because the example of her life and her prayers are vital to our understanding of what being a christian is all about.

She was born in Africa to a Christian family and married quite young to non-Christian family. She retained her faith and had several children. One of those children was called Augustine. 

Augustine was a very intelligent child, but as he grew his morals came more from his father than his mother. He was… shall we say… wayward. 

Monica watched her son and cried for him. Through those tears she prayed that her son would come to know Jesus and would leave his wayward life behind. 

She didn’t just pray for a short while. She didn’t pray for him during lent or advent. She didn’t offer a novena for him. She prayed for him each and every day, several times a day every day of his life.

Shortly before she died Augustine came to her and offered himself to Jesus. He converted to Christianity on her deathbed and in that moment her prayers were answered. 

Thanks to her unceasing prayer for the conversion of one man The Church was given one of its greatest thinkers, theologians and apologists. Without her love for her son and her faith in prayer we would be so much poorer. 

Who are you praying for?

Fr. Matthew.

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Thanks to everyone who helped with the parish BBQ. We had a lovely afternoon with much food consumed, much conversation, and lots of fun. We’re looking forward to the next one, perhaps a harvest supper?

The prayer list will be refreshed for next Sunday. If you’d like someone to stay on the list or someone you’d like to add, please speak to Susan.

We are very short of plastic bags / paper bags for the foodbank. Can you please bring some in on Sunday. Thank you.

2nd October at 4pm – we will be licensing and commissioning Fr. Josiah into St. Anselm at a special service of Evening Prayer & Benediction with Bishop Jonathan. I’d like to throw a huge party for him afterwards – can you please let me know if you’d like to help organise it – it would be great to have a huge spread and make him and his family feel really really welcome. 

We continue in our light August model as we take a breath ahead of a new term next week. We’ll return to the normal timetable next week alongside the standard streaming schedule. 

St Bartholomew the Apostle. 

When you’re a Priest people always turn to you at that moment in a pub quiz when a question about the bible or history comes up.

Inevitably you have to come up with how many books are in the bible (73 including the apocrypha – but the answer every quiz master wants to hear is 66). Or, you have to list the Disciples in alphabetical order… and that always brings me to St. Bartholomew because I always, without fail, forget him.

I’m not sure why because he was a remarkable man and died a remarkable death in service to the Gospel. 

After the Resurrection and Ascension (which he witnessed) Bartholomew travelled to India and Armenia – where he is credited with bringing Christianity in the 1st Century. 

He wasn’t welcome and ultimately met his death by being skinned alive – and for good measure – beheaded.

St. Bartholomew was a man who travelled widely and taught the faith – there are multiple early writings from India and Armenia from non Christians that tell his story and how diligently he worked to tell people about what he had been taught and what he had seen with his friend and saviour, Jesus.

It always leaves me feeling a little ashamed. I wonder how far I would really go to teach and bring people to Jesus. 

Fortunately it’s not a question I’ve had to answer, but there are so many Christians around the world who do – particularly in India and Armenia. 

I think I need to put more effort into remembering this remarkable Saint and imitating his witness.

Fr. Matthew

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Parish BBQ at the vicarage – this Saturday (20th August) 4pm-7pm. There’ll be burgers and sausages available, please do bring something to drink and a deck chair. Everyone is very welcome indeed. 

Anthony is with us this Sunday! Come and join in with some wonderful hymns – all chosen by you. A nice little note… it was this Sunday last year that Anthony joined us for the first time.

We are very short of plastic bags / paper bags for the foodbank. Can you please bring some in on Sunday. Thank you.

We continue in our light August model as we take a breath ahead of a new term in September.

The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary 

This Sunday is a very special day indeed. We celebrate the solemnity (a feast day of the highest rank) of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – the day on which she was bodily taken up into heaven.

In the eastern church this feast is celebrated as the ‘Dormition of the Theotokos’ – the ‘falling asleep of the mother of God’ – which I think is a beautiful way to describe it.

In the western church we teach that Mary was taken fully up into Heaven and that her body was not corrupted by death.

“Having completed the course of her earthly life, [she] was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory” 

This teaching is connected with our understanding of Mary as the second Eve. This running parallel to the teaching of Jesus as the second Adam. 

This is the final part of the four-fold teaching on Mary that we hold.

1 – Mary was the Mother of God (Theotokos).

2 – Mary had an immaculate conception.

3 – Mary had perpetual virginity. 

4 – Mary was assumed into Heaven.

These ‘dogmas’ (teachings revealed to the Church by God) form the basis of our veneration of Our Lady. 

We set Mary aside as special because only she can fully comprehend what a relationship with Jesus as fully man, and fully God entails. Through her example we can find a way to deepen and further our own relationship with God.

Mary is special because she takes us to her Son in all things. Ask Her for support when your faith is feeling thin.

Fr. Matthew 

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Parish BBQ at the vicarage – this Saturday (20th August) 4pm-7pm. There’ll be burgers and sausages available, please do bring something to drink and a deck chair. Everyone is very welcome indeed. 

We are very short of plastic bags / paper bags for the foodbank. Can you please bring some in on Sunday. Thank you.

We continue in our light August model as we take a breath ahead of a new term in September.

Next Sunday (21st) Anthony will be with us again playing the organ, if you’ve got a favourite hymn you’d like to request now is the time to do so!

A new season, the next steps at St. Anselm.

Over the last two years I’ve been a blur of business and action. Enthusiasm and passion come very easily to me and St. Anselm needed that when I first arrived.

We’ve worked hard through various lock downs, various set backs and through significant building projects. 

But now, we enter a new season. It’s a season that we will share with a larger community. A season that will call for more calm and more peace.

Calm and peace are earned. Calm and peace are not simply the absence of noise and action, but are given to us after we have put in place things that enable that space to occur.

We have worked hard over the last two years to get to a place where that calm and that peace can now start to enter in to the life of this community.

We have a building that is cared for and doesn’t need any major emergency work. We have a community of people who step forward to help get things done and are willing to try new and different things. We have relationships with people like the Community Payback team which means our more difficult projects are taken care of. 

We can now turn our eyes to more peaceful paths to deepen our relationship with God and each other. 

As part of that new season, we’ll be introducing a new 8am said mass and a 6pm said evensong after Fr. Josiah joins us in October. 

Fr. Matthew

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An huge thank you to Frs. Leslie and Nigel for saying mass whilst I was away on holiday. I know they love to be here with us and your wonderful welcome is a big reason for that; thank you all for taking such wonderful care of them both.

You’ll notice the outside of church is significantly tidier. This is due to the hard work of the Community Payback team who spend 8 hours with us each Saturday. Julie & Mark have been supervising the work each Saturday and directing the team to the important areas that need work. There is much still left to do and several jobs that are in progress (the railings!) Thank you to everyone who has made this work possible.

Thank you to Susan for steering the good ship St. Anselm over the last two weeks. Phone calls, emails, vicarage keys and access for works – it’s all vital stuff that keeps things going. Thank you. 

Change to the time for the BBQ at the vicarage on the 20th August: We will now be meeting 4pm – 7pm as Fr. Matthew has been asked to cover a wedding in Ruslip. 

Thank you for all the foodbank donations, please keep them coming in, the cost of living crisis is really starting to bite those most in need. 

Peace, Peace, Peace.  A simple but powerful prayer.

As my father and I were driving across Poland to reach the Ukraine boarder it became very clear that things had changed.

We left Germany (and the very fast motorway) behind us, and slowed down to make sure we were within the new speed limit. As we slowed we started to notice more around us. 

Instead of the blur of green we started to see small shrines dedicated to Our Lady. We saw bill boards at the side of the motorway dedicated to prayer and time and time again we saw this bill board. 

It reads ‘Peace, Peace, Peace’ and had an image of Our Lady of Medjugorje on the left hand side. 

This poster appeared time and time again. I stopped counting after 100 and started timing how soon it would be before I saw it again.

As I sat in my hotel room that night I turned on the TV and on their equivalent of BBC One was a live broadcast of the Angelus. 

This public proclamation of prayer, of dedication to Jesus and to His Mother served as a constant reminder to pray and to live life within the boundless love of the Holy Family.

I found it deeply comforting and profoundly inspiring. 

Just five miles from where this photograph was taken is a country plunged into war in the face of a relentless aggressor. But in the face of that relentless aggression and evil the response – first and last – should always be prayer.

So pray this week, pray Peace, Peace, Peace and consider how you can show your faith to the world and inspire others to know Jesus.

Fr. Matthew

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24th July

31st July

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I will be away on holiday for the next two Sundays and Frs Leslie and Nigel will be here to look after you. Please do give them your usual warm and loving welcome. 

BBQ at the vicarage on the 20th August, midday to 4pm. More details soon.

Thank you for all the foodbank donations, please keep them coming in whilst I’m away.

From Saturday 30th July the church (inside and out) will be being cleaned and cleared by the Community Pay Back teams – this will be every Saturday from now on. 

An exciting moment. Welcome Fr. Josiah!

After two years of hard work we have found a Mission Priest for St. Anselm.

Fr. Josiah will licensed by Bishop Jonathan at a special service at 4pm on the 2nd October later this year, subject to the usual legal checks.

A few words of introduction from Fr. Josiah: 

Born in Cape Coast, Ghana. I was educated in Adisadel College, an all male Anglican College established in 1910 by the then Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG). 

After completing I did voluntary work for three years and was later given admission to the St. Nicholas Seminary in Cape Coast, Ghana. I was ordained into the diaconate in June 2007 and priested in the following year.

I served as a parish priest in three different parishes in Ghana within a period of 10 years and have now served as Assistant Priest in St. Matthew Ashford and St. Mary Stanwell since October 2019. 

It is a real joy to be part of this wonderful ministry in Hayes specifically in St. Anselm to partner with Fr. Matthew to pray, discern, learn, share and allow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to direct all of us through the power of the Holy Spirit. My main goal is to serve and help bring the love and special grace of God to you and the good people of Hayes and to help in the mission and vision of St. Anselm through team work and love for all. 

I am married to Gertrude and we have been blessed with three children, Emmanuel, Josiah and Abadua. 

I love classical music, football, reading and movies.

Fr. Josiah & Fr. Matthew

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Thank you to you all for bringing food in for the foodbank, we are once again up to full stock – but be ready for the next appeal! Consider bringing in the odd tin each week, that will help us keep topped up. 

Summer BBQ at the vicarage. Catherine, Edmund and I will be hosting a BBQ at the vicarage on the 20th August from midday until 4pm. You are all very warmly invited. 

A quiet week, due in part to training on Wednesday & Thursday, and also because I’m leaving for holiday (2 weeks) on Friday.  I’ve also decided to cancel daily mass on Monday and Tuesday due to the extreme heat that is forecast, please do focus on saying your offices at home and praying for those who will struggle. 

I will be away on holiday for the next two Sundays and Frs Leslie and Nigel will be here to look after you. Please do give them your usual warm and loving welcome. 

Sent out, but never alone.

Our Gospel this Sunday tells us of Jesus sending out the 72 disciples ahead of him.

One of the most striking things about the passage is that he sent them out in pairs. 

We often talk about being sent out into the world to proclaim the Gospel – it’s what I tell you to do at the end of mass each day ‘Go and proclaim the Gospel of Our Lord’. 

What we don’t often consider is that we are never sent alone. We are sent in pairs just as Jesus sent out the disciples. 

The question is who are we sent with? Who is the person who walks alongside us as we head into the harvest?

I’ve often reflected that we all need a ‘holy friend’. Someone who we are able to have good conversations with about our faith and about how Jesus is working in our lives.

In those conversations it becomes easier to talk about Jesus and in that ease between two friends we grow in confidence to share our love of Jesus with others outside our immediate group of friends or those who don’t come to church. 

I’m very fortunate in that I have a friend in Fr. Sam Cross who I can call up, or message and ask honest questions about my faith, about scripture, about my place and calling from God.

But who is your friend? Who can you turn to and ask these questions of? 

Have a look around you at church this week and if you can’t immediately answer that question then think about who it could be and go and speak to them over coffee. Ask them if they’d be your ‘holy friend’. Build one another up in the Love of God.

Fr. Matthew

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Items needed for Food Bank & Church Larder: Tins of meat & fish, baked beans, soup, cereal, coffee, sugar, deodorants (especially mens), sanitary pads, incontinence pads, nappies (esp newborn to size 2). (THESE ARE QUITE URGENTLY NEEDED NOW PLEASE DO DIG DEEP!)

After mass on the 3rd July Fr. Matthew will be driving to the Polish / Ukraine border to take a car-load of needed items to a refugee camp. He will be returning with two refugees who will be living at the vicarage with his family. Thank you to everyone for your support of cash for fuel and also for donations of flip-flops. We need more candy and fruit juice! Please bring them on Sunday.

No mid-week services as Fr. Matthew will be driving to the Poland / Ukraine border. Please do join in with St. Mary’s, Hayes or St. Edmund’s.

Mass this Sunday (26th) is at St. Mary’s in Hayes with Bishop Jonathan who will be Confirming our own Isabelle Cummings. Please do make every effort to attend and support her on this important step in her journey with God. Mass is at 10am, there is lots of parking and an easy bus route. There will be some nibbles afterwards.  There is no mass at St. Anselm this Sunday.

Confirmation,  the next step in our own journey with God.

This Sunday we will gather not in St. Anselm, but with our dear brothers and sisters in Christ at St. Mary’s in Hayes (on Church Road).

Fr. Nicholas is an old friend of the parish and in times past our confirmations have often happened at St. Mary’s. 

We are two parishes who have a shared theology and a shared understanding of what it means to live out a life in Christ in Hayes and so it makes so much sense for us to do more things together in this way. 

Next year we’ll have a procession from St. Mary’s to St. Anselm (with Bishop Jonathan) for Corpus Christi; before then there will more events that we come together for. 

These shared moments are a decision we make deliberately to be together to celebrate our lives and journey in Christ with our nearest brothers and sisters. 

It is joyful therefore that our first joint event is a confirmation. 

A decision to step forward in a life as a Christian made by a young person in their own right and in their own strength. 

A moment where they stand and say to everyone, ‘I am a Christian!’

Please do make a special effort to come to St. Mary’s this Sunday and to share in that joyous moment and to be part of our wider family in Hayes.

Fr. Matthew 

(P.S. do bring some treats for afterwards!)

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Mass this Sunday (26th) is at St. Mary’s in Hayes with Bishop Jonathan who will be Confirming our own Isabelle Cummings. Please do make every effort to attend and support her on this important step in her journey with God. Mass is at 10am, there is lots of parking and an easy bus route. There will be some nibbles afterwards.  There is no mass at St. Anselm this Sunday.

After mass on the 3rd July Fr. Matthew will be driving to northern Poland to take a car-load of needed items to a refugee camp. He will be returning with two refugees who will be living at the vicarage with his family. If you would be able to support the petrol / ferry costs for this trip that would be an enormous help. The total cost will be in excess of £600. Please email/phone Fr. Matthew with any offers.

Items needed for Food Bank & Church Larder: Tins of meat & fish, baked beans, soup, cereal, coffee, sugar, deodorants (especially mens), sanitary pads, incontinence pads, nappies (esp newborn to size 2).