June & July 2019
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June & July 2019 RIDIRON GGRIDThe MagazineIR of Othe ParishN Church of Saint Laurence Upminster £1 Corpus Christi, 20th June Service times Sundays Weekdays Holy Communion 08.00 Tuesday, Morning Prayer 08.45 Wednesday Sung Parish Mass 09.30 & Thursday Sunday Schools 09.30 Wednesday Evening Prayer 16.30 Evensong 18.30 Wednesday Mass 11.00 (see Parish Diary for details) Footsteps Celtic Worship This Service for pre-school A group meets 19.30-20.15pm on children and grown-ups a Monday evening, once a month normally takes place in the Lady Chapel, for Celtic monthly on a Monday at worship (Celtic prayers, music, 09.30 in the Lady Chapel. hymns and, from time to time, Communion). th The next service is on 24 June. Services on 10th June and 1st July. Additional services on Saints’ Days are shown in the Diary in the back pages. Baptisms These are administered during public services. Please contact the Parish Office to make arrangements. Wedding Banns Please contact the Parish Office to make arrangements. Confessions By appointment with the clergy. Please inform the Parish Office or the Fr Roy of anyone who is ill or in need of a pastoral visit. See back pages for useful telephone contact numbers www.upminsterparish.co.uk Parish Office 01708 220696 [email protected] From Fr Roy The great season of Lent and Easter is drawing to its close. Since the season began early in March we have walked with Jesus through the temptations of the desert, watched his trial and his crucifixion and saw his body lifeless in the tomb. Then on Easter Day we rejoiced at the triumph of the resurrection and witnessed with the disciples Jesus’ many appearances. The Easter season ended on Ascension Day as Jesus was lifted up into heaven. The whole Easter story takes nearly four months to relate. Now as June begins we wait for the feast of Pentecost, the feast which celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who descended to equip the disciples with the power they needed to build the Church. Pentecost is followed by Trinity Sunday and then there is one more festival to celebrate. This is the festival which always falls on the first Thursday after Trinity Sunday: the festival of Corpus Christi. This day has a special place in my heart because it was on the feast of Corpus Christi that I celebrated the Mass for the first time as a priest. This great festival has its roots in the mystery of Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist. For Catholics (Roman and Anglican) and for many other Christians, the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist lies at the heart of our worship and at the heart of our church community. Baptism may sow the seeds of our faith, but the Eucharist is its centre of gravity. It is the place of balance and identity. The Eucharist expresses that deep intimacy which we are called to have with the Lord Jesus Christ; that closeness of relationship and love which the Gospel expresses and calls us to enjoy. When we come to the moment that we receive the Holy Communion we would do well to remember the words of St Thomas the Apostle: ‘My Lord and My God’. Then as the sacrament is offered to us the minister says either ‘The body of Christ’ or ‘The blood of Christ’. And we respond ‘Amen’. Amen - so be it. Jesus Christ is truly present with us in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. Our ‘Amen’ speaks of so many things. It includes the light and the shade of our faith. It brings us right into the mystery of what we celebrate at the Mass. Our ‘Amen’ speaks of the promise given to us by God the Father in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ his son. This is the promise we share as we are fed by the Eucharist. At the feast of Corpus Christi we give thanks to God for the active and real presence of Christ with us and among us, celebrated in his sacramental presence in the Eucharist. Whenever we come forward to receive Holy Communion we should remember that we bring with us our frail, often weak faith. As well as this we bring that deep need each of us feels. This is the need to be fed and to be drawn beyond ourselves into the full truth which is revealed in Jesus Christ who is truly present with us in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. Amen. Lunchtime Concerts 30th May, Oundle for Organists 13th June, Hexachordia 27th June, Paul Hagan, tenor and piano Free admission with retiring collection for the continuance of music at St Laurence Church From the Editors Dear Readers, welcome to another issue of Gridiron. The last time I edited we were waiting patiently in Advent for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. Now, six months later, we have walked through the wilderness of Lent and celebrated with joy the resurrection at Easter. Although not as busy for many of us, June still holds three feast days to be celebrated and Ascension to Pentecost sees the Thy Kingdom Come prayer initiative for evangelism - something we can all participate in, either as individuals or as groups. Whatever your plans are or your days bring, may you stay close to Jesus. Joanne Chapman. From the Parish Registers BAPTISM We welcome into the family of the church and pray for: 19th May Isabel Masterson FUNERAL We offer our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of: 12th March Edward Keen 10th April Margaret Reading 30th April Tracy Pepper INTERMENT OF ASHES We offer our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of: 27th March Edward Keen 10th April Connie Dawson 15th May Margaret Reading August & September Magazine Deadline Items for inclusion in the August & September edition of Gridiron should reach the editorial team by 5th July. We would prefer to receive items by e-mail at [email protected]. Paper copy is acceptable but should be submitted to us as early as possible. The August & September Magazine will be on sale from 28th July. Thank you for your sponsorship... Porchtalk has been sponsored for the year in memory of Gerald, Samuel and Barbara Giles, from their daughters and sisters Hazel Harman and Mary Breading. Margaret Reading R.I.P by Fr Chris Mann Margaret was born on the 4th January 1925 in Portsmouth, the youngest of five children. At the outbreak of war in 1939, she was evacuated and her formal school education came to an end. Margaret got involved in voluntary nursing and later, after completing her training, worked as a school nurse in London’s East End. In later years, she became Area Nursing Officer for West Essex. She married William Reading in 1955 and they moved to Severn Drive, on a new housing estate in Upminster. Margaret and Bill were very happily married for 29 years until his death in 1984. Margaret took early retirement in 1982 to look after Bill, and they moved to Roxburgh Avenue in 1983. Many years later I was to become a neighbour living diagonally opposite on the corner with Park Drive. Margaret and Bill were very involved in Upminster’s social life. They played bowls at the Clockhouse Bowls Club and were members of the Old Time Dancing Club, where Bill was a popular (and accomplished) pianist. They were great hosts and many happy family gatherings were enjoyed over the years. After Bill died, Margaret started attending St Laurence, becoming very involved in Church life – flower arranging, catering for numerous parish events, washing church linen, and for many years she was on the Children’s Society committee. She was happy to organise and to delegate, as well as to work in the background. She became the first female churchwarden in this parish, a duty she took very seriously and executed with distinction, as I can attest from my own experience. She was interested in people because she cared about them, she had a remarkable strength of faith and was a good friend and support to the clergy who served in this parish. During her retirement, Margaret became a seasoned traveller, visiting China, Egypt, Equador, Russia, the U.S.A, Syria, Israel, Jordan and more. Perhaps the most amazing trip for Margaret and her elder sister Phyllis, both well into their eighties, was to Australia. These two intrepid travellers travelled around Australia flying from capital to capital for three weeks! As the years went by, Margaret acknowledged when she couldn’t do things anymore, always after a great deal of thought. When unable to attend church regularly she accepted a lift for the important services. Once she was housebound, receiving the monthly prayer diary, Time for God, and receiving Communion at home became very important to her. Her care for others was evident when someone from church visited her as she always enquired after those whom she knew who were having problems. This continued right to the end of her life. Whilst Margaret was still in her own home, although her appetite was poor over the last few years, she enjoyed a glass, or two, of wine! Although life became very trying for her, Margaret tried hard not to be miserable and still found pleasure in hearing about other people’s events. Deborah told me that she was delighted when Michael and Juliet’s daughter, Isabel, was born on Margaret’s birthday. Isabel was always the first thing she asked Deborah about when she went to see her.