Dear Friends

As I write this e-bulletin piece I am preparing to lead an act of remembrance at Chiswick War Memorial Homes on Burlington Lane. Acts of remembrance like these, although small, are such an important event, because they not only honour those who have paid the ultimate price, but they remind us that we are part of something bigger, a country, a community of people. We live our lives on so many levels and occasionally we can operate in the most self-centered ways, however, ultimately we are all citizens and we have a responsibility beyond the narrow confines of our own individual worlds. This is why I exist in the catholic wing of the Church, because I believe passionately that we are all citizens of this eternal community and we each have a responsibility towards each other. It’s not just a matter of my own relationship with God the Father, but my relationship is formed and sustained in community. 

I hope to be able to meet with you on Sunday in church at 10.30am as we remember…

God Bless

Fr Simon

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Dear Friends

As we approach Remembrance Sunday I am posting, with his consent, a poem by the priest/poet Malcolm Guite, from his book ‘Sounding the Seasons’ for reflection this week.

Silence: A sonnet for Remembrance Day

November pierces with its bleak remembrance
Of all the bitterness and waste of war.
Our silence tries but fails to make a semblance
Of that lost peace they thought worth fighting for.
Our silence seethes instead with wraiths and whispers,
And all the restless rumour of new wars,
The shells are falling all around our vespers,
No moment is unscarred, there is no pause,
In every instant bloodied innocence
Falls to the weary earth ,and whilst we stand
Quiescence ends again in acquiescence,
And Abel’s blood still cries in every land
One silence only might redeem that blood
Only the silence of a dying God.

With every blessing
Mother Eileen