Newsletter
THE TENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR
8TH June 2008
CALENDAR
Wednesday - St. Barnabus (Apostle)
Friday - St Anthony of Padua
Gospel Reflection: Least, Lost and Last
As a tax collector, Matthew would have been seriously despised by the Jews. As a tax collector Matthew would have been in the service of his country's conquerors. The Pharisees classed tax collectors as sinners and would have taken great pains not to rub shoulders with the likes of Matthew. To dine with a sinner would have been considered an affront to the Pharisees' strict laws on purity. To dine with a sinner would have made them unclean. It is no surprise therefore in today's reading, that the Pharisees are appalled to find Jesus dining with tax collectors and sinners.
Not unlike the Pharisees, we too are very quick to judge other people. We all know exactly how other people should bring up their children, how warring couples should overcome their marital problems, how the drug addict and the alcoholic should be cleaning up their act and how the unemployed should be best spending their time. We are all experts when it comes to other people's problems and most of us are far too quick to take the moral high ground. The Pharisees were so obsessed by their laws of purity that they cold not reach out to a fellow human being with any kind of empathy or compassion. It's worth noting that Jesus is not just challenging the Pharisees in this reading. Jesus challenges all those who are proud, arrogant and judgmental, to become more human and more humble.
None of us are in a position to judge others. None of us are as perfect as the Pharisees liked to think they were. The good news is that it's all right for us to have faults. After all, Jesus did not come for those who have got everything right; he came to save the least the lost and the last.
THE PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES
As you all know, a party of 15 of the parishioners of Saint Theodore's will be flying to Lourdes tomorrow (Monday). Along with many hundreds of thousands of pilgrims this year we will be marking the 150th anniversary of the Shrine's foundation and the time of those most remarkable happenings of the year 1858. We will of course be remembering all here in Hampton, the welfare of this parish and the intentions also of Cardinal Cormac and, most particularly, whoever the Holy Spirit will bring as his successor.
THE CARDINAL'S REQUEST
In response to Cardinal Cormac's wish that we make one day in June a day of Prayers for Vocations I have decided we should do this in Hampton in 2 week's time. On Sunday 22nd June we will have prayers at each mass for this intention. At 4.00pm there will be a service of prayer for 30 minutes concluding with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Please make a special effort to respond in this way and make other prayers at other times for this intention. Fr Bernard
TABLETOP SALE
Please come along and support our Table Top Sale in the Parish Centre on Saturday 21st June from 10-1pm. There will be tables supporting the Street Children of Columbia, the youth of our parish travelling to Sydney and our own Church funds.
On sale will be cakes, preserves, bric a brac, books, stationery, toiletries and handicrafts.
Yoga, Pilates and Art Classes...
...are held weekly during term time in the parish centre. Pilates on Tuesday and Wednesday Evenings 6.45-9.00pm for all levels with Sue Kotze (Tel: 
020 8979 7070) Yoga on a Wednesday morning 9.45-11.15 with Linty Wright (Tel: 020 8979 7070). There will be a new Art class starting on Tuesday Afternoons after half-term with Jill Patterson (Tel 07903 909291)
For further information please see the notice board in the Parish Centre. K. Wren
SAINT ANTHONY OF PADUA
This great saint of Italy was by birth Portuguese (Lisbon 1195) He first joined the Norbertines but decided to transfer to the Friars Minor (Franciscans) He is one of the most "popular" saints of the Church with a reputation for finding the lost articles of careless people and has always been famous as a wonderworker.
In his time he was renowned as a preacher of learning and eloquence but whose persuasive words affected his hearers profoundly and converted many to God. He preached everywhere in Italy and also in France. He is credited with performing miracles even whilst he was alive.
He is represented always with the figure of the Child Jesus in his arms because of the visit he is reported to have once received from the infant Christ. St Anthony died at the young age of just 36 and was declared a Doctor of the Universal Church in 1947.
THE MARTYRS WALK - Saturday 21st June
A walk through London remembering the witness once given in its streets by those we call the English Martyrs will begin at Tower Hill (EC3N 4DJ) at 11.00am and soon progress to Greyfriars and St. Patrick's, Soho and then to Tyburn Convent by Marble Arch for mass at 5.30pm. See notice board for further details.
World Youth Day Sponsorship
Thank you to everyone who has paid their sponsorship money to date. If you have not paid please put the money in an envelope and hand to Fr. Bernard. Thank you all for your generosity and continued support.
Siobhan, Natasha, Emily, Pippa & Joe
CAFOD and the Burmese Appeal
The Organization's appeal in the time of International Emergencies is currently directed towards Burma and China. Donations placed in the CAFOD Box in the porch will be earmarked specifically for that cause and forwarded at the end of this month. Many thanks for your generosity.
THE NEW WESTMISTER RECORD
The Next Edition is available in the porch. As you know its new editor is Bishop John Arnold. It gives news in abundance from the diocese and keeps us in touch with everything that is going on. If there is any information you require then please take a copy. There is no charge to the parishioners of St. Theodore's.
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