All Saints Parish Newsletter
Friday 24 August 2012 at 08:44
Trinity XII -24th August 2012
From Fr. John:
This Sunday’s Gospel (John 6: 56-69) forms the conclusion to Jesus’ discourse at Capernaum on the bread of heaven. Jesus, (as you will remember) insisted earlier that the believers must eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of man in order to have eternal life, but now Jesus tells his hearers that “the flesh is of no avail”. But, “flesh” here is not the Eucharistic flesh of the earlier verses, it means, “the natural principal in man which cannot give eternal life” (R.E.Brown).
Similarly, when Jesus talks of Spirit in the Gospel this Sunday, he is talking about the life giving spirit that will be the result of the Ascension of the Son of man to where he was before.
This Sunday’s Gospel is not speaking of the sacrament but of the reception of the revelation of Jesus as the heavenly wisdom, the bread from heaven. In other words, it refers back to the earlier verses in Chapter 6, vv35-50. It is Jesus’ claim to be the revelation of God that many of the disciples find to be a hard saying, not the Eucharistic teaching later in John’s Gospel. Yet, there are some who do accept his claim, namely The Twelve, referred to especially in the conclusion of our Gospel and the confession of Peter. So, as throughout the Fourth Gospel, the division of spirits is determined by the acceptance or rejection of Jesus as the live-giving revelation of God. The evangelist, of course, is thinking not only of what happened in Jesus’ ministry but of a similar division of spirits in his own community.
We look forward to seeing you on Sunday or soon, yours in Christ,
Fr. John
Please pray for, Lise Cribbin, Tony Pulleyn, Farishna, Javier Samblas, Mary Barnet, Stephen Collingwood, Sian Evans, Jackie Ferriter, Joshua Levy, Audrey Patterson, Marion Pidgeon, Cecila Shore, Michael Sullivan, Rachel Clayton, Heather Walker, Graham Hawkes, Richard Tann, Brian Sparkes, Ron Cayless, Sr. Jean Margaret, John Rogers, Mason Jacobsen, Dolores King, Barbara Laws, Peter Vickers, Ondina Brash, Carol Blake, Anne Hamburger, David Day, Susan Parker, Zoe Emerton, Timothy Montgomery, Timothy Harding, Andrew Tillyard, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Marguerite Crill.
The Recently Departed: Teresa Butler, John Welch, Noreen Breen, Barbara Davis, Alfred Morris, Joseph Simms. At the anniversary of their death: Irene Harford, Robert Corbin, Ellen Noble, Lucy Cook, Dawn Hart, Christine Sanderson, Michael Bull, Nora Leyland, Kenneth Eaves, Evelyne Mginah, Denis Campkin, Joan Saint, John Miller, Amelia Stephens, Tom Chalmers, Peter Davidson, Patricia Williams, Edward Tagoe, Vera Arde-Acquah, Margaret Young.
Poetry Tea Saturday 29th September 3:00pm at Pamela’s. You are invited to bring poems and prose on the general subject of ‘Summer celebrations and experiences’. If you would like to write something yourself how about ‘My Jubilee’ or ‘My Olympics’ . To accept, or to find out Pamela’s address, please speak to Pamela or Sandra or ring Sandra on 020 7637 8456 leaving your name and phone number. Cost £6 towards the All Saints Restoration Appeal.
ANGLICAN CATHOLIC FUTURE
A series of evenings celebrating our Catholic inheritance in the Church of England . Wednesday October 17th ‘Our Lady’ – Speaker, The Revd Cally Hammond Dean of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge 6:30pm Mass ALL SAINTS MARGARET STREET – ALL WELCOME for further details please contact All Saints Margaret Street.
CONFIRMATION – Saturday 3rd November 2012 5pm at St Paul’s Cathedral. Please see Fr. John or Fr. Alan for further information.
Penny Mordaunt MP, (Portsmouth North) and friend to All Saints Margaret Street is arranging for the Parish a Tour of Parliament on 16th November 2012. A maximum number of 60 people can attend, so please book your place with Fr. John Pritchard as soon as possible. johnapritchard@hotmail.co.uk
The Tour Starts at 9:55am and will last 75mins. The Tours are free, but I am suggesting that we all make a £10 donation towards Phase IV – Restoration Appeal for All Saints Margaret Street. Please send Cheques to All Saints c/o Dennis Davis or Fr John Pritchard made payable to "All Saints PCC Restoration Appeal". Details of where to meet will follow. ONLY 12 Places left. Please book as soon as possible.