MEETING ON THE OUTCOME OF THE FIRST PART OF THE SYNOD

Thank you to the wonderful people who have the privilege of being Eucharistic Ministers and Lectors and thank you to the wonderful people who act as Hosts and Bakers for our Evangelisation project, ‘The Olde Forge Cafe.’  We live in a time/space world in which none of us can be in two places at once! We provide rotas to make our commitments as feasible as possible. Often, there are conflicting calls on our time and energy. All we can do in deciding which call to follow, is to listen to the Lord speaking to us and then follow the voice of God in our consciences. Trying to arrange the rotas according to what is convenient for everyone is extremely difficult and results in some people doing a great deal and others doing very little! Instead, we will just publish general rotas and simply ask everyone to please just try to do what the Lord asks of you. So, please, if you don’t mind, do not send me or Jim or Kim and Manuel who manage the Cafe, dates and times you are unavailable. If we are unable to bring the Lord in Holy Communion to the Sick and Housebound members of our parish every week, but as often as we can, then that is all we can do. If sometimes we are unable to open our Evangelisation Cafe, but we open it as often as we can, then that is all we can do. We trust in the Lord to send his Holy Spirit into the hearts of us all and we pray that the hearts of us all are open to his call. We go forward doing all we can to build his Kingdom in this world and to bringing his love and truth to others as the Lord’s missionary disciples. Thank you to all the very dear friends of the Lord Jesus who so often put his plans before their own - your reward will be great in Heaven.

To keep our church clean and tidy on the inside is a prayer in itself, a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God. Please feel free to offer your time and skills to pray in this way. Cleaning and tidying of the church can be done at almost any time, on almost any day, just let me know if you need access to the sacristy. The same applies to the grounds surrounding our church and buildings. The Lord can work through our gardening efforts, to create a place of beauty, peace and calmness. We need more people to help with the gardening. You need know nothing about gardening. A willingness to help is all that is needed. Please let me know if you can help or simply come along on Tuesday mornings when our Gardening Group will be there and will be delighted to welcome you.

The Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency are seeking feedback from anyone who may have information regarding the safeguarding function in Southwark Archdiocese. Please follow on the below links if you wish to contribute. Thank you  Do you have information to help our safeguarding inspection in Southwark? Survivors’ Work With Us

Thank you so much to everyone who bakes cakes or provides cakes for our Cafe. If you are not yet actively involved in our parish, this would be an excellent way of doing so. I could tell you all about it. Our Cafe is presently open on Tuesdays from 10.30am until 12.00midday, on Wednesdays from 12.15pm until 1.15pm, on Saturdays from 11.00am until 12.30pm and on Sundays following 11.00am holy Mass until 1.30pm. Thank you to our Gardening Group who have kindly offered to provide cakes for Tuesday and Wednesday, each week. That means we only need cakes for Saturdays and Sundays each week. Thank you to the wonderful folks who already provide us with cakes. Please join them. Let me know. Many thanks.

“WHO HAVE YOU BROUGHT WITH YOU?”  These are the words of the Lord Jesus to each one of us, every time we come to holy Mass. Please don't be content to come alone or just to come with someone who already comes every week, to holy Mass. Invite and encourage others in your family, those living next door to you, those living down your street, your friends. Do that and the Lord will work through you, probably slowly and bit by bit. Do that, and one day you will hear him say to you, “Well done, good and faithful child of mine. Enter into the joys prepared for you, for all eternity.”

Thank you to all our wonderful Hosts and Bakers for their faithful commitment to this great enterprise. At the recent Diocesan Jubilee, Archbishop John spoke of the Holy Spirit of God prompting us all to develop new ways of being missionary. Our Cafe is a way of reaching out to those in Sanderstead and beyond who do not yet have a connection with our Catholic Faith community and through us to the Lord Jesus. Thank you so much to everyone who uses their gifts and time to be Hosts, Bakers or just invites their family members, friends, neighbours, colleagues to join them and visit our Evangelisation Cafe. Thanks be to God, we are beginning to see people visiting the Cafe - Strangers who can become Friends, through your warm words of invitation. Please may I just remind you of how the Cafe operates: Guests are asked not to pay for their drinks and cakes but to please accept our hospitality. If our Visitors insist on making a contribution, then we graciously accept their kindness but please make it clear that no contribution is needed or requested. Members of our parish however, each time they visit the Cafe, are asked to give a donation towards the cost of drinks and cakes, so that we can meet the expenses of running the Cafe and our parish. Please, dear Bakers, continue to deliver your cakes each Saturday morning. Hopefully, we will then have enough cakes for the Saturday and the following Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the days when the Cafe is open each week. We do not offer a ‘take-away’ service so please, dear Hosts, do not give cakes to take away, to our own parishioners or visitors. Any cakes left over, after a session on Saturday, Sunday or Tuesday, please leave for Wednesday. Dear Parishioners of Holy Family parish, Sanderstead, please double your efforts to bring new people to your Evangelisation Cafe. Let the Holy Spirit fill your hearts and support this practical way of helping others to get to know the Lord Jesus better and better. Your Evangelisation Cafe is normally open each week, on; Saturdays 11.00am - 1.00pm Sundays 12.00midday - 1.30pm Tuesdays 10.00am - 12.00midday Wednesdays 12.00midday - 1.15pm  Please let me know if you are not yet an active member of your parish. Becoming a Host or Baker would be an excellent way of fulfilling what the Lord asks of us all.

It is wise to write a Will so that the resources you have when the time comes for you to leave this world, goes to the people and organisations you wish. May I suggest that you might consider leaving a Bequest in your will to our parish or to our diocese or to our priest as well as to other causes. A gift in your will can enable us to continue to help people to know the Lord Jesus and his saving love. What a wonderful legacy you would be leaving behind.

Our Faith needs to keep pace with our years! As we grow older, so too our loving relationship with the Lord Jesus and with his Church, needs to deepen. The Lord calls each of us to know him better and better, as the years pass by. Our next meeting designed to help us to understand and deepen our Catholic life of Faith will be next FRIDAY, 27th June at 5.30pm, in our Parish Room. NB Normally we hold these meetings on Saturdays but for the next 5 Saturdays I will be mostly out of our parish! Please do come on Fridays. Meetings will last for no more than one hour. We talk about anything and everything you wish. I think you will enjoy and find these meetings helpful. We will be joined by Sarah, Shanna and Sian who were recently baptised, as they prepare to receive, for the first time, all the Sacraments of the Lord’s saving love.

OLDE FORGE CAFE BAKERS/PROVIDERS ROTA  JUNE 2025 7th : Patricia McCarthy 14th : Ros 21st : Bridget 28th : Marian Please, if possible, could you provide enough cakes for the whole of each week. Thank you to everybody who is helping to provide cakes. To avoid having too many cakes, Coral mentioned to me that non-perishable cakes can be safely stored in the Cafe for a short while. When it is your turn to provide a non-perishable cake, please bring your cake to the Cafe a few days before the date of your turn. OLDE FORGE CAFE - HOSTS ROTA JUNE 2025 1st : Patrick, Maggie 3rd : Gardening group 4th : Admin’ group 7th : Regina, Kinga 8th : Gaberielle, Geraldine 10th : Gardening group 11th : Admin’ group 14th : Phil, Patrick 15th : Mary, Kelly-Ann 17th : Gardening group 18th : Admin’ group 21st : Patricia, Lizzie 22nd : Jim, Simone 24th : Gardening group 25th : Admin’ group 28th : Colette, Giannina 29th : Kim, Grainne Please note that for each of the above dates when the Cafe is open, one of the two Hosts has been trained in the use of the new coffee machine. Please would that trained person be the only person operating the machine and also please train the other person in its use. Many thanks. Thank you to everybody who acts as a Host. If an unexpected emergency occurs on the date you are scheduled to be a Host, please don’t worry about the Cafe. No need to try to find someone to ‘stand in’ for you. There is no need whatsoever to ‘swop’ with someone! We are not a Business, having to stay open to make money! - we open when and if we can. We take this role of ‘Host’ as a Vocation from the Lord to be his Missionary and his Prophet. Actually, the Cafe has, at times, functioned well with just one Host. The success of our Evangelisation Cafe depends on us. The more we speak to others of our Cafe, inviting them to visit us, the more successful it will be. Please invite members of your families, your friends, your neighbours and colleagues. Please check when it is your turn to be a Host (or a Baker!). Please see this role as a Calling, a Vocation from the Lord which you are generously telling the Lord you will do”. Thank you so much for your trust in the good Lord