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Category: Christmas

  • News for 24th November

    “So You Are a King?”

    Thus, Pontius Pilate famously quizzed Jesus when the Jewish leaders brought Jesus to him to demand that he be put to death.

    But Jesus did not give an unequivocal answer. Rather, he pushes the question back to

    Pilate, “You say that I am a king.” And then, Jesus goes on to explain to Pilate what his

    purpose in the world was from the very beginning. “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. ”

    We assume that when Jesus says that “this” was what I was born to be, the “this” refers to being a king. But he doesn’t say that explicitly.

    I think this is a very significant detail. Pilate, the Jewish people, and we ourselves, all have our own, very worldly, understanding of what a king is, and what a king does. And what kings are, and what they do, are both inextricably linked to power. Power relative to their subjects, and power over their subjects. We all know from history that such power is more often exercised with brutality than with love.

    As we celebrate the feast of Christ the King today, we must, I think, be careful to distinguish between what this image means, and what it does not mean. Christ is king not of nations, or peoples, or empires, but of the whole universe. And his kingship over all creation is expressed not through domination, but through salvation.

    Jesus is the king who rules through being a servant – and a servant is one who has a

    purpose and function, not one with unbridled power to impose his will. Jesus’s purpose is “to testify to the truth”, the truth that it is through the suffering of the cross that we, and indeed the whole universe, are saved.

    Fr Stephen

    Notices

    • We have PCC Meeting immediately after Mass.
    • We have started the ‘Warm Welcome’ and its on every Wednesday, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.
    • Please speak to Susan if you would like to attend the Advent Service at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Saturday.
    • We are happy to announce that we will start using the English Hymnal on 1st December. We are grateful to David for his generous donation.
    • We need volunteers to work as sides people to support the Church Wardens before, during and after worship by welcoming people to church.
    • Please support the church generously through your giving at

         stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving

    Downloads

    Bulletin for 24th NovemberDownload
    Readings for 24th NovemberDownload

  • News for Christmas & New Year

    The Holy Family, a model of love.

    A new year means turning over a new leaf.

    When I was younger I remember thinking that we had to go our and find a leaf to turn over. I was irritated because I couldn’t write on the leaf and physically turn it over. So I made my own leaf and wrote on it all the things I was going to do that year.

    I was going to be better behaved. I was going to stop ‘answering back’. I was going to be a better son. 

    In many ways my behaviour in those years was born out of the fact my family was broken through divorce. I lived out the reality of hurt and pain that for years coloured my understanding of what a family was supposed to be. 

    When people talked abut the perfect family I would laugh at them, “there’s no such thing”. Even though I went to chapel every week nobody ever told me we had the perfect model of  family before us all the time – The Holy Family. 

    A model of motherly love, of fatherly sacrifice, of a family who held together in the darkness and for whom God (quite literally!) was a the centre of all things.

    Our families are all different. They are broken in many ways, they are big and small, over the top, quiet, difficult, fun. Loud, noisy, difficult, quiet.  The Holy Family experienced all of these things and endured them. 

    Sometimes that is what we must do as well. Endure. Be obedient and open to what God is calling us to do in our families and make sure above all things God is right in the heart of them. 

    It doesn’t matter that we don’t always get it right, what matters is that God is there in the middle of it all. 

    Then, when things do go wrong, there’s a chance that something beautiful may come out of it. 

    Fr. Matthew

    Downloads

    Bulletin for 24th December – 7th JanuaryDownload

    Readings for Sunday 24th December

    Readings for Sunday 31st December

    Other news

    Services for the next two weeks and for Christmas Day are listed on the pew sheet and on the website. Do try to come to the carols and crib service at 3pm on Christmas Eve. It’s a lovely service that will warm your heart ahead of the big day.

    Midnight mass will be as usual at 11:30pm on Christmas Eve – a powerful service to welcome and celebrate the incarnation of Jesus Christ!

    All of us at St. Anselm wish you a very merry Christmas and a prosperous and blessed New Year. 

    There will be a special announcement at Mass on the 7th January.

    Please support the church generously this Advent through your giving. stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving

  • News for 17th December

    Carols, & powerful joy of Jesus!

    As I sit to write this week I am smiling as I think of singing out loudly at the Ace Cafe this morning.

    We left St. Anselm at 8am and arrived at the Ace to tea, coffee, and bacon sandwiches (well I did!)

    A group of people who had never met congregated and started to practice Hark The Herald Angels Sing 

    We were lucky to have a great guitar player with us and even luckier to find someone who could play the drum. I say drum… it was an upside down empty tub of Hellmann’s mayonnaise!

    We did not sound glorious. 

    We were not note perfect, we were gruff, out of tune and by any professional standard – a very poor choir. 

    But the smiles on our faces were enormous! The simple act of singing together brought out joy that was hidden somewhere deep down inside. Somehow, singing of the coming of Jesus enabled us to see one another in this joyful light and to put aside the usual London reserve. 

    People watched us as they munched their own breakfasts and builders and businessmen alike looked up and smiled – and even joined in!

    The reason we were singing was part of a BBC Radio London series on carol choirs across London and how they make people smile and feel included.

    I love these moments of pure Christian joy when the love of Jesus is shown in it’s simplest form… joy.

    Be joyful this week amongst the business ahead. If you feel yourself getting grumpy… just sing a carol!

    Fr. Matthew

    Downloads

    Bulletin for 17th DecemberDownload

    Readings for Sunday 17th December

    Other news

    The Indian Orthodox church who use the church on Sunday afternoons have invited us to join them for carols by their children and some refreshments THIS Sunday 17th December, 3pm – 5:30pm. Fr. Matthew & Fr. Josiah will be in attendance.

    Holy Hour will be at 5pm on Sunday and I really encourage you to come to this last one before Christmas. An hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament will put you in exactly the right place for the busy period ahead.

    Services for next Sunday and for Christmas Day are listed on the pew sheet and on the website. Do try to come to the carols and crib service at 3pm on Christmas Eve. It’s a lovely service that will warm your heart ahead of the big day.

    Midnight mass will be as usual at 11:30pm on Christmas Eve – a power service to welcome and celebrate the incarnation of Jesus Christ!

    Please support the church generously this Advent through your giving. stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving

  • Advent & Christmas ’23

    We have a wonderful collection of services and events over the Advent and Christmas season this year. Please do join us for these, and many other services this year.

    17th December

    • 10am – Children’s Christmas Mass
    • 3pm – Carols with St. Mary’s Indian Orthodox Church at St. Anselm

    Christmas Eve

    • 10am – Parish Mass
    • 3pm – Crib & Carol Service
    • 11:30pm – Midnight Mass

    Christmas Day

    • 10am, Christmas Day Mass

  • News for Christmas Day

    The Arrival.

    A very merry Christmas.

    It has been a momentous year in the life of St. Anselm. We have had high points and low points, there have been times when we’ve wondered if things were going to work out and there have been times we’ve shared happiness and joy at the new things happening.

    We welcomed our new mission priest and his family, we’ve welcomed new people who have become part of our loving family and we’ve grown in both numbers and depth of love in Jesus. 

    We have much to be grateful for and even more to be excited about. 

    Christmas is a time to be excited, it is a time to put aside the cynicism and doubt we collect as we grow older and to re-capture the simple joy and expectation of children on Christmas Eve. 

    Be happy. Be joyful. Be expectant of how things will improve in your life in the coming year. 

    Most of all be joyful at the love of Jesus working in your life. When cynicism and doubt threaten to raise their ugly heads picture the Holy Family in the stable, surrounded by animals and embraced in their love for one another. 

    Be peaceful, be full of love.

    Fr. Matthew

    Downloads

    Bulletin for 25th DecemberDownload
    Order of Service for Midnight MassDOWNLOAD
    Order of Service for Christmas Day MassDOWNLOAD

    Other news

    All of us here at St. Anselm wish you a very happy and a very merry Christmas with all our best wishes and prayers for a wonderful new year. 

    It’s a very quiet week in church, but please do use the calendar to pray at home. 

    Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to make the church beautiful and welcoming over Christmas. People have been welcomed to a warm, clean and loving space, and that is down to a great deal of hard work – thank you. 

    Don’t forget we’re running Alpha from the 19th January. If you don’t know what Alpha is or want to sign up, head to the website at stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/alpha It’s a place to ask big questions about life, faith and love. We start each session with a hot meal and good chat.

  • Christmas 2022

    It’s wonderful to be planning a range of Christmas events for 2022 with no worry about lockdown or any other changes! We’re excited to share our events for this Christmas.

    We kick off on Monday 5th December (7pm) at the Golden Disk in Hayes Town with a traditional sing-a-long carol concert. Carol Sheets are provided and it’ll be a great way to start Advent and get ready for Christmas.

    On the 18th December, 6pm we have a traditional service of Nine Lessons and Carols. This candlelit service traditionally marks the start of the last week of Advent and gets us ready for Christmas Day. Beautiful carols interspersed with the story of the nativity read from scripture. Calm, quiet and a perfect end to a rushed hard working term.

    On Christmas Eve join us for a great family service – Crib & Carols at 3pm. A riot of carols and fun as children take part in the nativity story and bring the figures from around the church to the crib at the front – all accompanied by your favourite carols. Hot Chocolate, mulled wine, mince pies and other treats will be available and we may even have a visit from Father Christmas before he sets off on his travels on Christmas Eve night. The service starts at 3pm.

    Later that night (11:30pm) join us for our traditional Midnight Mass – the first mass of Christmas is short and beautiful. Come and join us after you’ve been out and bring yourself to our calm and loving service.

    On Christmas Day we will have Christmas Day Mass at 10am. Come and share your stories of presents and family fun as we come together as the church family to wish each other the very best for the coming Christmas season.

    Christmas 2022

    • Advent Course, Thursdays after mass (10:30am) 1/12 8/12 15/12 22/12 and online – register here for the link – it will be sent each week automatically.
    • 5th December – Ecumenical Carols at the Golden Disk, 7pm
    • 18th December – 9 Lessons and Carols, 6pm
    • 24th – Crib Service, 3pm
    • 24th – Midnight Mass, 11:30pm
    • 25th – Christmas Day Mass, 10am (Fr. Josiah)

  • News for 20th November

    Exciting times ahead.

    This week we’ve received two pieces of extraordinary news.

    As many of you know St. Anselm is ‘suspended’ by the Diocese of London. This essentially means that it’s at risk of ‘pastoral reorganisation’ – that reorganisation can include closure or being combined with another parish or having other things changed. 

    We were originally suspended in 2019, shortly after the Resolutions were passed, by the then Bishop of Willesden +Pete Broadbent. 

    Parishes that are suspended do not have a ‘vicar’ but rather a ‘priest in charge’ who can be removed by the bishop very easily.

    This is almost never good news for the parish involved!

    However, when I was licensed as priest in charge in 2020 it was clear that if we could demonstrate our ability to stand our own feet and to bring new people to Christ a new dawn may follow – and that has proved true.

    Next year the parish will be ‘unsuspended’ and – if the PCC and you would like to keep me – I’ll be installed as your vicar proper. 

    The Bishops of Willesden and Fulham have expressed their confidence in our brining new people to Jesus, in growing our congregation, and in becoming financially stable. 

    In addition to this wonderful news they have also made a one off grant to us of £50,000 to help us on that journey! 

    I don’t think they could have made a clearer declaration of their confidence in us here at St. Anselm.

    This is a testament to all your hard work and prayer over the last two years and I have been humbled and honoured to be your priest in charge and look forward to being your vicar!

    Fr. Matthew

    Downloads

    Bulletin for 20th NovemberDownload
    Look Sheet for Children for 20th NovemberDownload
    The Message and Readings for Sunday 20th NovemberDownload

    Other news

    There will be a PCC meeting next Sunday (27th) immediately after mass. All are invited. It will be quite a long meeting so lunch will be provided and we may even go as far as turning the heating on! The accounts for 2021 will be presented.  

    You can set up regular giving by direct debit with Parish Giving by calling 0333 002 1271 and quoting our Parish Giving Code – 230 623 503 (or online via stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving)

    Advent & Christmas Dates:

    • Advent Course, Thursdays after mass (10:30am)
      and online via zoom (7:30pm)
      1/12, 8/12, 15/12, 22/12
    • 5th December – Ecumenical Carols at the Golden Disk, 7pm
    • 18th December – 9 Lessons and Carols, 6pm 
    • 24th December – Crib & Carols Service, 3pm
    • 24th December – Midnight Mass, 11:30pm
    • 25th December – Christmas Day Mass, 10am

  • 2nd Sunday of Christmas

    A new beginning, 

    a fresh start.

    As much as that sounds like the title of a new Star Wars movie(!) we are starting a new year together and inevitably that prompts us to look back at the last year as we consider what needs to shift and change in the coming months.

    For some, peering back at the past is painful and difficult – either because things outside their control have hurt them, or because they have acted in a way that they are ashamed of now or find difficult to image themselves doing. 

    This is why the Advent confession is so important – and opportunity to put those things in the past before moving forward. But even if you’ve not been to confession you have an opportunity before you now to look afresh and start anew.

    So why do we do that at this point in the year?

    Yes, we do it because the calendar shifts, but we also do it because just a few short days ago Jesus was born once again in each and every one of us.

    For many of us we are closer now to Jesus than at any other time of year and in that closeness we have the strength to look anew at those things we should not have done and to face the new year with renewed vigour and determination to live a better life. 

    We don’t do this on our own of course – but in the sure strength of Jesus Christ. Not only do we have Jesus on our side as we start to walk a new path but we have each other as well.

    That powerful encouragement of a friend at church who will pray for you as you face the coming year – whatever that is.

    That powerful love of one friend for another as you set out on your next journey.

    Pray for each other, and pray for me too.

    Fr. Matthew

    Downloads

    Bulletin for 2nd JanuaryDownload
    Hymns for 2nd JanuaryDownload
    Look Children’s sheet – 2nd JanuaryDownload
    The Sunday Message & Readings for 2nd JanuaryDownload

    Other news

    This Sunday (2nd January) Anthony will be with us one more time – not to play – but for us to give him his card and present – a moment to give thanks for all that he has given to us over the last year or so. He has lifted us up on high in music – he has encouraged us in our worship and he has loved us as we have loved him. Make a special effort to come and say thank you.

    On Thursday we’ll have High Mass at 10am AND 6pm. The Epiphany of the Lord is a Solemnity – the highest of feasts – and in the old church these days were obligatory. Do try very hard indeed to be at one or other of the masses. 

    The new foodbank is up and running at St. Anselm. We no longer work with the Hillingdon Foodbank so are more reliant than ever on your donations of food or money. Please bring food to mass on Sunday – we are short of meat, tinned fish, pasta and rice. 

    Church remains open, clean and daily sanitised with all possible precautions in place. We will never close, we will never abandon those in need, we will always be here praying for and serving the people of Hayes. 

  • News for Christmas Week

    Ye Lord we greet thee, 

    born this happy morning.

    Peace has arrived. Not just in our homes as the rushing & preparing for Christmas subsides and we rest with feet up – full of turkey and stuffing! But with the arrival of the baby Jesus in us. 

    I’ve talked a great deal about the arrival of Jesus IN US rather than outside us over this Advent and this year I think it’s more important than ever to consider what that means in practice. 

    We will sit this week and say goodbye to 2021. In some cases with great joy… I think we are all praying for a better 2022… but in other ways with sadness – Anthony leaving us is incredibly sad for us, but is the right thing for him (and for his future patients!)

    We must use this time to reflect on the past year and what the arrival of Jesus in us causes to be different in the coming year.

    What practical changes will you make in your life to more closely follow Jesus?

    What practical changes will you make in the pattern of daily living to more closely follow Jesus?

    What practical changes will you make in the way you think about people, Hayes and the world that will help you more closely follow Jesus. 

    These are challenging questions, there are no easy answers. But, as you approach them know you have a home from which to pursue them – St. Anselm.

    Fr. Matthew

    Downloads

    Bulletin for the Christmas OctaveDownload
    The Message & Readings for The Nativity of The LordDownload
    Complete Readings for Midnight Mass & Christmas-DayDownload
    Midnight Mass HymnsDownload
    The Message & Readings for Sunday 26th DecemberDownload
    Christmas-Day-Mass-HymnsDownload
    Children’s Look Sheet for Sunday 26th DecemberDownload
    26th December HymnsDownload
    Mass CardDownload

    Other News

    A very quiet week in the Octave of Christmas as Fr. Matthew spends some time with his family in Wales. Do note a high mass for the solemnity of Mary Mother of God on the 1st January and that the Foodbank is open as usual.

    Sunday 26th December is Anthony’s last day with us, do make a special effort to come and say goodbye to him after mass where we will share some drinks and nibbles.

    Some of you may be aware I was planning drinks & nibbles at the vicarage after the carol service on Christmas Eve – I have decided to postpone this until the new year when we pray things may be a little better and we may relax a little more about mixing in small spaces. 

    Church remains open, clean and daily sanitised with all possible precautions in place. We will never close, we will never abandon those in need, we will always be here praying for and serving the people of Hayes. 

  • News for 19th December

    A very nearly… 

    Happy Christmas.

    This last week of Advent can often feel a little odd, a little silly. This year especially so given where Christmas Day falls. 

    We get nearly a whole week of children off school and crazy Christmas shopping and online ordering. People dashing too and fro and on top of all of this the underlying doom of what COVID may deliver next.

    It’s not exactly the state of peaceful calm and expectation that we’re encouraged to discover before Christ is born in us is it?

    It takes an act of will to set aside the world and to look inward to the coming of Jesus. I say look inward because that is what is going to happen – if you allow it – on Christmas morning. 

    Jesus will once again be born in you. In your heart and in your mind. He once again has an opportunity to come to you afresh. 

    I was reading some of Evelyn Underhill’s Prayer Book this week and discovered this absolutely gem of a prayer that I think very simply brings us to the right place this week:

    “Grant, oh lord, that the birth of Christ in us may be such that Christ’s very spirit may come and take possession of our souls, all our faculties and powers, and be wholly united with us forever – not fleetingly, but abidingly and with a settled peace (in like manner as the soul reposes in the body). Thus let us come to Bethlehem and ask the child Jesus to make His abode in us forever more.”

    Luis de Leon

    I shall be praying this each day this week as we draw closer to the birth of Jesus in each one of us (again) on Saturday.

    Fr. Matthew

    Downloads

    Bulletin for 19th DecemberDownload
    Sunday Message and Readings for 19th DecemberDownload
    Children’s Look Sheet for 19th DecemberDownload
    12th December HymnsDownload

    Other news

    The new giving envelopes are now ready for collection, they’ll be available at the back of church on Sunday for all those who have registered. Thank you so much for your continued giving. 

    Don’t forget we’re singing for the Christmas shoppers this Saturday between 1pm & 3pm. We’re also going to offer a small bric-a-brac stall and offer mince pies and leaflets for our Christmas services – do pop along and join in even if it’s only for a short time. 

    Don’t forget to book a time to make your Advent confession. Fr. Matthew hears confessions after Evening Prayer on Tuesdays or by appointment.