St. Edmund of Canterbury Catholic Church, Beckenham

MONTHLY NEWS
FROM THE
PARISH OF
ST. EDMUND’S
CATHOLIC CHURCH
BECKENHAM
Issue 8 Volume 4 October 2015
ST. ED.
Email stedmundsparish@btconnect.com
Website: www.st-edmunds-church.org.uk
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THE GOOD WORK CARRIES ON
Last month I wrote about the current refugee crisis
in Europe and how this gives all of us, whatever our
religious beliefs, the opportunity to ‘do good’, to be
‘do-gooders’ by helping those who are suffering so
much. I don’t normally go over the same topic for
two months running but a lot has been happening.
For in the last few weeks, both churches in
Beckenham and a number of local charities here
such as Oxfam have collected a vast amount of
goods which is on its way to help the refugees in
Calais and elsewhere – indeed all over London so
much has been collected that centres are running
out of storage space. The picture left shows on the
right the Archbishop of Southwark (the Most Rev’d.
Peter Smith), in the centre the Anglican Bishop of
Dover (the Rt. Rev’d. Trevor Wilmott) and on the
left the Bishop of Arras (Monseigneur Jean-Paul
Jaeger) at the camp in Calais, taking part last month in a ‘Refugees Welcome’ Day of Action, with about
2,000 other people from England, France, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
There was a rally with prayers, speeches and music. The archbishop said: ‘It’s very sad. People are living
here in very bad conditions. But I was delighted to see how resilient people are, showing real
enterprise, building the chapel and setting up little shops. I’ve heard some terrible accounts from
people, both Christian and Muslim, whose loved ones have been killed because of their faith.
But I’ve also been encouraged to see people still remaining hopeful, helping each other and
receiving support from the volunteers here.’
An important idea in Christian teaching, with its roots in Latin American Liberation Theology, is the idea of
‘action’ (sometimes the Greek word praxis is used for this) leading to ‘contemplation’ (theoria). In other
words, what we do can actually change the way we think. I think we can see that this has happened a bit
over the summer in relation to refugees. People have seen the suffering on their television screens and
elsewhere andreacted quickly with
generosity which has been surprising; but
this action is changing, at least in some
respects, how people think about the
refugee issue.
The churches and charities which have
tried to guide this response are very
grateful for this.
Many thanks to those of you who have
given things over the last few weeks.
The second picture here shows the
archbishop in the chapel in the camp in
Calais, dedicated to St. Michael.
Fr. Ashley Beck
Assistant Priest and Editor
ashleybeck88@hotmail.com
CANON JACK MADDEN RETIRES AS PARISH PRIEST OF ST. EDMUND’S - FAREWELL MASS.............
The 6.00 p.m. Mass at St. Edmund’s on Saturday, 3rd October was the chance for the Parish to say a
grateful farewell to Canon Jack Madden who retired as Parish Priest at the beginning of last month.
A packed congregation of around 550 people, comprising of Parish members, family and visitors from local
churches attended the Mass led by Bishop Pat Lynch, concelebrated by the Dean of Bromley, the rest of the
Parish team and many visiting priests.
We gave thanks for Canon Jack’s ministry here, which lasted over twenty-seven years, and prayed for a
long, happy and peaceful retirement for him.
After the Mass many congregated in our Church Hall for a reception and a chance to catch up with old
friends and colleagues. A presentation was given to Canon Jack in thanks for all his guidance, work and
support over to years and to aid him in his retirement.
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
May the rain fall soft upon your field.
And until we meet again
may God hold you
in the palm of his hand.
..........INTRODUCING OUR NEW PARISH PRIEST FR. STEVE WYMER
Fr. Steve Wymer came to St. Edmund’s in September
2015 to become our new Parish Priest.
He studied for the priesthood at the Beda College in
Rome and was ordained in 2001.
His previous parishes have been Holy Innocents
(Orpington), St. Teresa's (Ashford) and St. Simon
Stock (Walderslade).
Before being appointed as Parish Priest here, he took
a sabbatical ending in North Wales where he
completed a thirty day silent retreat at St. Beino's
Ignatian Spirituality Centre.
A silent retreat may have been a great way to prepare
for the challenge of becoming a Parish Priest for a
Parish, like here at St. Edmund’s, though the change
could be alarming as St. Edmund’s is a large busy and
diverse Parish and Fr. Steve could well be wondering ‘which way is up’ by now with so many people to meet
and so many different groups to get used to.
That being said we all welcome him, wholeheartedly, and look forward to many years under his guardianship.
Fr. Steve will have his Induction Mass at St. Edmund’s on Friday, 13th November at 7.00 p.m.
LANDINGS
ARE YOU A CATHOLIC
WHO HAS LOST TOUCH WITH THE CHURCH?
St. Edmund’s Parish offers a welcome to Catholics who for various
reasons no longer or rarely attend Mass. LANDINGS, a small group
of parishioners, offers a series of meetings to informally talk over
some of the issues with you. You are welcome to visit the church
and pick up one of our LANDINGS leaflets.
REFUGEE AID
Every two months we have a special collection at St. Edmund’s for
refugees and asylum seekers. We collect a variety of items dry goods, rice, instant coffee, fruit juice, tuna, corned beef, sugar,
herbs and spices, tinned tomatoes, other canned foods, cereals,
oats, cooking oil and toilet paper.
These goods are taken up to a centre in London and distributed.
At the end of last month we extended our appeal, via a loose insert
in our weekly Parish Newsletter (pictured below), to collect items to
send to the refugee camps in Calais: clothing items; shelter (tents,
sleeping bags, blankets etc); hygiene (toiletries etc) and food.
We were overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity - quite literally!
We actually had to close the Parish Office on the Monday afternoon
as it was impossible to move because of the scale of the
donations. Two journeys took the bulk of the bags - it was quite
extraordinary how much you could get in a Citroen Picasso!
And the rest of the donations are now on their way.
Parish Prayer
God Our Father,
We ask for your blessings
on our Parish.
Pour out upon us the gifts
of your Spirit
and grant us
a deeper understanding of
your Word,
a generous dedication to
your service,
a growing compassion for
those in need,
a greater appreciation for the
uniqueness of every person,
so that your love may grow
among us,
and your Kingdom come,
through Christ Our Lord,
Amen.
†
We thank everybody for their support of this very worthwhile cause
but we are unable to take any more donations at present ......
and we are rather grateful to be able to see the floor in the
Parish Office again!
Invitation to the Thursday Drop-in / Café.
In St. Edmund’s Church Hall, Village Way.
Thursdays 2.00 - 4.00 p.m.
(For those in need of companionship and
those living with Dementia.)
All helped along with a large dose of fun,
conversation and tea and coffee. We hope
to see you there!
Enquiries: visit the Beckenham Ecumenical
Dementia Support Group (B.E.D.S.)
website:
beckenhamdementiacafe.org.uk.
or contact the
Parish Office on 020 8650 0970 email
stedmundsparish@btconnect.com