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Volume 25 Issue No 3 January - February 2014 CATHOLIC PARISH OF RAINHAM PARISH MAGAZINE St. Thomas of Canterbury Church 61 London Road, Rainham, Gillingham, Kent, ME8 7RH Parish Website www.rcrainham.freeuk.com Fr. Justin Daanaah - 2 Century Road, Rainham, Gillingham, Kent, ME8 0BG Telephone 01634 232972 Deacon Alan Boxall - 51 Hickory Dell, Hempstead, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 3SL Telephone 01634 360637 Deacon James Coleman - 248 Lower Twydall Lane, Gillingham, Kent ME8 6QP Telephone 01634 306558 St. Thomas of Canterbury School, Romany Road, Rainham, Gillingham, Kent, ME8 6JH Telephone 01634 234677

CATHOLIC PARISH OF RAINHAM PARISH MAGAZINE · CATHOLIC PARISH OF RAINHAM PARISH MAGAZINE St. Thomas of Canterbury Church 61 London Road, ... Mr John Stanton who very kindly played

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Volume 25 Issue No 3 January - February 2014

CATHOLIC PARISH OF RAINHAM PARISH MAGAZINE

St. Thomas of Canterbury Church 61 London Road, Rainham, Gillingham, Kent, ME8 7RH

Parish Website www.rcrainham.freeuk.com

Fr. Justin Daanaah - 2 Century Road, Rainham, Gillingham,

Kent, ME8 0BG Telephone 01634 232972

Deacon Alan Boxall - 51 Hickory Dell, Hempstead, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 3SL Telephone 01634 360637

Deacon James Coleman - 248 Lower Twydall Lane, Gillingham, Kent ME8 6QP Telephone 01634 306558

St. Thomas of Canterbury School, Romany Road, Rainham, Gillingham, Kent, ME8 6JH

Telephone 01634 234677!

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To advertise in this magazine please ring

Alma Payne on 01634 362896

Or e-mail: [email protected]

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- 1 - Join Me at the Table The Pontificate of Pope Francis has brought the world’s attention the need to engage more directly with the poor. Alms giving is not enough, by following the love and teachings of Jesus, we must be actively a part of their lives, embracing them in a loving relationship. Being a South American Bishop, Pope Francis would be well aware of the documents that were promulgated by the South American Bishops’ Conference held at Medellin, Colombia in 1968. At this conference the Social Teachings that evolved from the Second Vatican Council were put into practice. It is a fact that after that conference many of those Bishops left their palaces and lived among the poor impoverished communities that were prevalent in South America at the time. It should be no surprise therefore that Pope Francis has chosen to do the same, ignoring the pomp of curial living. He is actively fulfilling the words he spoke to the Archbishop of Canterbury “Among our tasks as witnesses to the love of Christ is that of giving a voice to the cry of the poor” (Rome, 14 June 2013). In other words we must allow Lazarus to sit at the banqueting table (c.f. Luke 16:19-31). There is a programme on Channel 4 at the moment called “Benefits Street”. It has proved to be quite a controversial programme that has provoked critical political and media attention. For those not acquainted with the programme, it follows the daily lives of the residents of one Birmingham Street, where everyone is living off welfare benefits. Huddled together in this one street are single mums, alcoholics, drug addicts, asylum seekers and migrant workers. They are, if truth be told, the kind of people that would be “run out” of any middle class suburban street in Britain. It is a street that is round the corner from every parish doorstep in the country, including ours, furthermore while watching it; it dawned on me, that it could also teach every parish in the country, including ours, about the unconditional love of God.

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- 2 - They were unknowingly (unknowingly in the sense that there was no mention of any faith) living the Gospels, sharing the love of Jesus Christ amongst themselves. Materialistically they have nothing, or at least very little, and most of what they have is squandered on their addictions (unless you have suffered from an addiction you will never be able to understand the reason why). Living from “hand to mouth” they are sometimes lucky to survive the day, let alone the week. But not one of them feels that they are isolated, they are all surrounded by a community that cares for each other, regardless of status or standing. In their nothingness they are rich. Rich in a love that enables them to look after each other without fear of judgement or rejection. It is a love that knows no barriers, a love were human brokenness or failure does not harbour shame. The episode of the heroin addict, visibly scared of being diagnosed with cancer, being taken under the wing of a neighbour who had problems of her own, was a moving example of that love of God in action. How do we portray that same love? Would there be an outcry in parishes if the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales suddenly announced that all parishes had to donate twenty percent of their assets to help poverty in their own “Benefits Street”? Would there be an insistence on means testing? Would addictions be taken into account? When Pope Francis speaks of the church of the poor he speaks of the “open” banquet. The love that is devoid of all barriers, committees or status. A love that allows the Lazarus’ of our parishes to become known. “Benefits Street” in its dysfunctional classlessness, is the true model of what parish life should be. A life that should be built on the love of YOU are my neighbour not WHO is my neighbour? God Bless Deacon James

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FLAMES OF CELEBRATION Did you know that Whitsun 2014 is June 8th? There are 3 main Festivals each year in our Church calendar, Easter, Whitsun & Christmas. As the "Whit Bank Holiday" has been replaced by the Spring holiday, most of our friends and neighbours don't even know that Whitsun even exists, so we are hoping to put this Festival back on the map in people's diaries! At Whitsun we celebrate the disciples receiving their talents from God, so what could be better than celebrating the talents that we have been given with a weekend that does just that! There will be an Art & Craft Exhibition in the upper hall of the Millennium Centre on the Saturday and Sunday when we are hoping that as many local people as possible will display anything from Art, Craft of all types and any items that they have made at any time! This is not a competition and I would like to stress that nothing will be for sale! It really is a huge opportunity for us to share in the achievements and talents of the people in this area! Meanwhile, the forms to enter items into the exhibition will be available from 1st February from Kate in the Church Office (mornings), from the Sunburst Book Shop, 21 - 23 Station Road, Rainham, Rainham Sewing Centre, 12 Station Road, Rainham, Gillian Fairclough, 01634 361168, & Pam Ormiston, 01634 365789. We have had a number of these exhibitions in the past and they have been a great success, so please start looking out the treasures you have made and if you don't have anything maybe now is the time to learn a new skill. Failing that, there is no point in us putting on an exhibition if nobody comes to appreciate it, and enjoying the arts and crafts presented is just as much a talent as making them yourself! So thank you for your support in any way. Any queries you have please give me a ring.

Pam Ormiston and the Team! (St Margaret’s Church, Rainham)

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- 4 - News from St Thomas’ School January 2014 A very happy new year to you all from everyone at St Thomas’ school. We hope that the Christmas season was a very happy one for you and your family. We are all happy to be back at school for a new year and looking forward to all the excitement 2014 will bring. Our Christmas week was a very successful one for us. The children enjoyed the Infant nativity play which this year was “The Little Fir Tree”. You may indeed have seen the photographs in the local newspaper. The children and teachers all worked incredibly hard to make the play such a success but there are so many other people who contributed in other ways. Our thanks to Mr John Stanton who very kindly played the piano for us and all the parents who helped in the crèche. We would also like to thank all the infant parents for providing such wonderful costumes. Our thanks to you all. The Christmas concert was also a great success this year. In fact we had so many people come to watch it, there was barely any room to stand let alone sit!! The standard of music was very high and the concert was very highly acclaimed. Our thanks to all the music teachers for coaching the children so well and also the children for practicing so hard and entertaining us! Just before the end of term, year 5 and 6 accompanied by Mr Round and Mr Griffin, attended a Victorian Christmas event at the Museum of Kent life. The children were able to dress up for this event and we saw some fabulous costumes. The children learned about Victorian schooling and even met Charles Dickens! I am told that the children were a credit to the school and behaved beautifully.

We would also like to extend our thanks to everyone who attended our Christmas Bazaar. Thank you to everyone who gave so generously of their time to help out on stalls or just

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setting up. I am told that the final amount raised was over £2000. Finally, we have some wonderful news to share. I am delighted to inform you that Mrs Moorfield was safely delivered of a baby girl on the 28th of December. She has been named Amelia and both Mother and baby are doing very well. Our congratulations to Mr and Mrs Moorfield and welcome to the world Little Amelia! All of us at St Thomas’ would like to wish you and your family all the best for the coming year. Theresa Bigwood

Many years ago I devised "The Walk" which is now undertaken by the K.S.C. I have completed the walk every year for some twenty plus years and now at age 75 I have decided to call it a day. My last walk will commence at THE FRIARS 10.00am on Easter Saturday morning. If anyone wishes to join me please be at the main shrine at this time. It will take about three hours to walk back to Saint Thomas' Yours in Christ Tony (Roberts)

A sincere apology has three parts

I am sorry

It is my fault

What can I do to make it right?

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- 6 - A Sponsored Walk Recently I was asked to undertake a sponsored walk. The request came from my eldest daughter – unusual I thought, as she is not a hardy walker. She told me she was organizing a walk from St. Thomas’ to Aylesford Priory, a walk she had done with me as a teenager during Lent. She then told me why she was doing it. Someone close to her, six years ago, had a child while she was still in her mid teens. The baby boy was born prematurely, but seemed to be doing very well. Tragically after one month he caught an infection and died. This is tragic enough, but what she said next hit even harder: the young couple, who are still together and have two beautiful little girls, have never been able to afford a headstone to mark their little boy’s grave. She also told me that as a working, but low-income family, there was no immediate hope of them ever being able to afford one either and that this was of great sadness to the parents. As a mother and grandmother, my heart just broke. I could not imagine the pain of losing a child, let alone not being able to provide the kind of memorial I wanted to mark the grave with. As a midwife and psychotherapist, I know that ritual – religious or not – is part of the process of grieving a lost one. I also know that the loss of a child is the most difficult to accept and move on from. I therefore resolved to support my daughter in her bid to try and raise money to help make the parents dream come true and so that they can truly put their little boy to rest. We set the date for the 22nd of December and I followed in my daughter’s footsteps and posted a request on Facebook to ask family and friends if they would sponsor me. My sister and the mother of the child also did the same. The young mother’s hope was that she would raise enough for the headstone (just under £1000 including the cost of laying it) and if we were lucky enough to raise any excess, she wanted the money to go to a charity for premature babies called BLISS. With only four of us, pre-Christmas, coupled with the current economic climate, I wasn’t hoping for much from one sponsored

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- 7 - walk. I was already wracking my brains about what we could do next to raise some more money – make and sell cakes, run a quiz night, or a coffee morning perhaps? I started praying right then for inspiration!! However, I need not have worried. The response from people was staggering. I first approached our very own Tony Roberts, to ask if he could provide a map of the walk, as although I have done it many times in the past, I could not be sure I would remember every turn. Not only did he provide the map, he offered to walk with us if he was free on the date we set, or even do a pre-walk with us so that we would be sure of the way! He also told me of an elderly lady he visits who wanted to donate as she had been touched by the story. I was deeply humbled by his response and grateful to have a map – just in case. As the 22nd of December approached, you may remember that the South East was hit with howling winds and floods. We began to think of cancelling and in all honesty the day before, as the wind was howling and rain poured relentlessly, we really gave this serious consideration. However, we resolved that a miracle might happen overnight and since the weather forecast said that from 10am more clement weather was expected, we decided to wait and see. On the morning of the 22nd of December, I was awakened by howling wind and pouring rain – my heart sank. I remember thinking: the weather forecaster had it wrong yet again and that there was no way the ferocity of wind and rain would clear in time for the walk. Though we all had proper walking footwear and clothing, I was concerned about safety (falling trees!). Also, having completed this walk before in all sorts of weather, I know how arduous it can bee when one’s boots weigh an extra kilo or two when weighed down with mud! Although walking is a hobby of mine, as I have got older, I have to consider a weak back and a dodgy knee, so am usually quite selective these days about, where, when, for how long and in what conditions I can walk without genuine risk of injury!! However, after a quick telephone call, we decided, that as we were properly attired, we would give it a go. We decided that perhaps it might be more prudent to moderate our route to avoid areas where flooding was a real risk. This meant a slightly

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shorter walk and at times, less aesthetic. Safety was a real concern and also, another relative of my daughter’s husband had decided to accompany us wearing lovely summer boating shoes and no waterproof! We thought we might be better keeping to a route where we could call for transport should we need it!! “O you of little faith”!! (Mt. 6:30). Before I set off, about 09.00am, I sat and prayed as I would normally. During my meditation, the following words came to my mind: “Whatever you ask the father in my name . . .” (John 16:23) and “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24). My mind started to wander to the story in Matthew’s Gospel, where Jesus calmed the storm (Mt. 8:23-26). I found myself praying with great fervour, reassured by the words of the Gospels. I asked our Maker of the skies and seas to look with compassion and mercy on us in our undertaking; that if in His wisdom, the rain should need to continue that he would at least keep us safe and give us the physical strength to complete the walk! At about 09.30, the wind and rain did indeed begin to ease and by 10:00am, the skies were blue and the sun was shining brightly!! To our surprise, relief and joy, it continued like that for the whole walk!! It was a time of happy chatting and laughter, tears of sadness when remembering and brilliant ingenuity when we came across a lane completely flooded! When we arrived at the Priory, earlier than expected due to the shorter route, we were warmly greeted with very welcome tea and biscuits. My daughter had arranged a short remembrance service for the family, which was very beautiful and peaceful, after which we all reflected on what a lovely day we had had – far removed from the storm battling, falling debris-dodging battle we had envisioned! Some were even making a resolve to do something similar more often! All that remained after this was to collect the money. With relatively few sponsors, I was hoping to make about £50. I repeat again here: “O you of little faith”!! I have been astounded by the generosity of people who gave so much more than I was

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- 9 - expecting. Even today, in the choir loft, I found an envelope with my name on it and inside a very generous donation. There was no name on it, but I am pretty certain I know where it came from. I will respect that person’s decision to stay anonymous, but felt humbled by this kind deed, the truest and most beautiful gift as it was given in secret, hidden from the vanity of praise. It was this gift that made me suddenly reflect on how grace-filled the whole sponsored walk event has been. From my beautiful and generous daughter’s idea to do it, to the generosity of Tony offering to walk with us, to the wonderful sunny weather (which I might add changed dramatically the next day - back to howling winds and torrential rain), to the lack of aches and pains during the walk and after, through to the pennies and pounds that people have given so generously and unquestioningly, I believe we have been blessed unbelievably. The best part of all? We have together raised enough money for the headstone of choice and with money still coming in, we are also likely to have enough to donate to the charity too. I am truly thankful to all who have helped/donated, but above all I am thankful to my heavenly Father, who always gives good things to those who ask of Him (Mt. 7:11). Linda Tapson !

Union of Catholic Mothers - We would like to thank everyone for their support during the past year. You have helped in so many ways with donations of money, sale of home made produce and not forgetting those of you who have bought tickets to the Barn Dance and the Carol Service.

Because of your generosity and support we are able to send a cheque for £1,000 to the Medway Young Carers organisation and a donation of £200 has been made to the John Boscoe organisation to help send a child (or children) to summer camp.

Thank you all very much.

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From the Registers

Baptisms: 22.12.13 George William Swan 22.12.13 Jeremiah Manzi Mwemezi 22.12.13 Isabella Distefano 22.12.13 Sofia Distefano 29.12.13 Edward James Johnson 29.12.13 Joseph William Johnson Funeral: 18.12.13 Mary Hammond Anniversary List: 07.01.10 Anna Houlahan 27.01.12 Albert Champ 28.01.09 Maude Pryke 05.02.11 John Lewis 06.02.13 Patricia Rhatigan 11.02.09 Audrey Robinson 14.02.11 Lorraine McDermott 15.02.09 Joyce Wood 21.02.10 Patrick Joseph O’Toole 26.02.10 Winifred Inkpin

CHRIST is the MORNING STAR who, when the NIGHT of this

WORLD is past brings to HIS SAINTS the promise of

The LIGHT OF LIFE and opens EVERLASTING DAY.

Venerable Bede (673 – 735)

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Quiz Night Do you have what it takes or do you need to phone a friend? It’s time to test those little grey cells!

A Quiz Night will be held at Hook Meadow Community Centre, King George Road, Walderslade, to raise funds for The Friends of the Wisdom Hospice, sponsored by Telcare.

Teams of 6 are invited to put their knowledge to the test on Saturday 15th March at 7pm. Please feel free to bring your own nibbles and drinks. To reserve a table please contact The Friends of the Wisdom Hospice on 01634 831163

QUOTE: Emma Dengate, Fundraising Co-ordinator, said, “This will be a light-hearted evening where everyone will be able to stretch their brain cells for a good cause.” “Following on from the success of our previous charity quiz nights, we are determined to raise some much needed funds again this time round. Any help will be very much appreciated and I hope many residents and local businesses are able to get a team together and come along on the night! We would also like to thank Telcare for sponsoring the event.” QUOTE From Our Sponsor: "It's our pleasure to be sponsoring the Wisdom Hospice's 2014 Quiz Nights", said Telcare director, Lisa Settle. "We have in the past put a quiz team forward at one of these events and it really is a fun way of raising funds for the charity. We will look forward to taking part again and supporting this very worthwhile cause."

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St Thomas of Canterbury, Rainham Parish Pastoral Development Plan 2014/2015

Our mission As Catholic Christians in Rainham and its surrounding areas, we are commissioned to love God, to love others and to help all in our area to experience and understand the love and mercy of God revealed in Christ. The following headings are in alphabetical order and not necessarily in order of priority! Catechesis in general As Catholics, we need to keep informed about our faith. Growth in faith is a life-long process. There are many ways to do this, for example by reading Catholic newspapers and magazines. Also, sessions on aspects of our faith and worship will be run in the parish centre during this year. Catechists Currently we lack catechists to run our First Holy Communion and RCIA programmes and we are very short of catechists in other areas. Support and training is available for new catechists and we appeal to parishioners to consider if they can assist in spreading the Gospel in this way. If you would like more information, please contact any of the clergy or Pauline Green. An annual Formation Day for catechists would be of benefit to keep catechists up to date and enthused. Christmas diorama (Nativity figures on the church roof) This is an effective witness to our belief at Christmastide. Funds have been donated for new figures which are to be constructed by the Kent Institute of Art & Design. They should be in place for Christmas 2014. Church exterior The soffits and fascia boards are deteriorating. Quotes will be obtained for replacement or repair as necessary during Spring 2014. The external heating pipes also require painting and this will be done in Spring 2014. Church interior We will partition off the rear of the church and, possibly, the Blessed Sacrament chapel. This will provide a conversation area at the back of the church and give the main church a more prayerful feel. Professional advice will be required and we will explore options and costs during 2014. Diocesan approval will be required for any work undertaken.

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- 13 - The interior environment of our church should feel welcoming, clean and beautifully decorated. The church is due for re-decoration and painting. Much of the carpeted area is dirty and worn despite a recent deep clean; it will, eventually, need to be replaced. Decoration will take place once the partition work has been completed. When decoration is complete, a thorough cleaning of the church will be undertaken. We aim to have the sanctuary carpet cleaned at the end of 2013 or early in 2014 as an interim measure. Prayer intentions could be better communicated by the provision of a Prayer Board in the church, open to all to add their intentions. We would need a whiteboard and a supply of non-permanent pens. Intentions could be added and erased on a regular (weekly?) basis. An alternative to this could be provision of a prayer tree which could be a useful prayer aid, especially for children and young people. We have beautiful altar displays at Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, etc. These help to focus attention and prayer on a particular season, celebration or theme. It would be appropriate to have altar displays throughout the year. New volunteers would be required to provide these but instruction and advice are available. Communication within the parish It is felt that communication within the parish could be improved – at times parishioners are left confused about what is happening, particularly where decisions are not made until the last minute. Our website is a major means of communication. It is in the process of being re-launched and should be ready shortly.

Garden We have a large garden at the back of the church. We could use a piece of this land to grow some produce that could be used for charitable purposes and/or sold to parishioners. The cost of setting this up would be relatively small. We could have

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volunteer days for both adults and children to cultivate the plot under the supervision of our parish gardener.

Minibus We should provide a minibus for use of the parish. It could be used for excursions for small groups, e.g. youth, altar servers and could also be used to set up a transport system for those who need lifts to Sunday Mass. Extensive fundraising would be required to cover the cost.

Music When new music is introduced, it should be repeated several times in the following weeks to allow the congregation to learn it and to become familiar and confident with it.

The music in our church could be more active and energetic, with more actions. Choice of music should include music that is accessible to our young people. Formation of a youth group would help in achieving this. A call for members was put out in 2013 but we do not yet have enough people to form the band.

No 63 London Road There is a need to set up a suitable office for our priest and for parish administration. Sufficient secure storage room for parish documents is also required. Redecoration and repair of the building is overdue. It would be useful to provide Wi-Fi both here and in the parish centre. As well as offices, No 63 is used by the parish for meetings and other purposes. We have obtained planning permission for a small extension but evaluation of other options is required before a final decision is taken. Any cost would need diocesan approval and would entail use of funds deposited with the diocese. The Finance Committee will review this matter further during Spring 2014. Open Day It is proposed to hold a Parish Open Day during 2014, so that parishioners have the opportunity to talk to people from every ministry and organisation in the parish. This would aid recruitment to those organisations.

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Outreach to the poor We aim to improve our outreach to the poor. In addition to the good work we already do, it is hoped to re-introduce the St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) into our parish. The SVP’s main role is to visit and befriend those in need. A member of the SVP will speak to us on a Sunday in 2014.

As part of this outreach, it is proposed to enhance our Sunday Offertory Procession by inviting parishioners and their children to bring to the altar gifts in kind.

Parish secretary A parish secretary is needed to free up our priest for pastoral ministry and to help oversee parish administration. An added pastoral benefit will be that someone who wants to contact the parish can be certain of speaking to someone during office hours. Once the work is completed at No 63, Fr Justin will prepare a job description; further consideration will be needed, not least as to funding for a salaried secretary.

Photos Currently there are photos of the Mass Stewards in the porch of the church. Photos of those recently deceased are displayed within the church up till their funeral. As a way to enhance our sense of community, it would be useful to have a church photo gallery. This would contain all of our adult leaders and parishioners who consent. The photos could be added to the church website if not in the church itself. Parishioners would be able to identify more easily people for whom prayers are offered or for whom Mass is being said. Social Our community could become more closely united by provision of more social and fundraising events. Some of our organisations are!already involved in this type of ministry but we would like to see overall co-ordination within the parish for social events such as trips, concerts, barbeques, quiz nights etc. There is an opportunity for an enthusiastic and sociable person to direct our social functions.

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- 16 - Youth Outreach Our young people are our future and we would like to enhance their participation in the life of our parish. We need to hear their views and concerns and respond appropriately. To achieve this, we would like to see a Youth Council in place. Fr Justin will develop this idea further during 2014 and would appreciate offers of help to set it up (from young people or otherwise). We also hope to provide opportunities for our youth to experience working abroad by providing a scheme for those who wish to work in the Diocese of Damongo in Ghana. Fr Justin is in contact with Damongo to set up such a link during 2014. Funding will be sought from sources outside the parish. There should be a Children’s and Youth Ministry Plan (CYMP) to provide overall direction and support to our youth outreach. This would provide cohesive and inclusive formation for our young people covering all stages and sacraments from Baptism to post-Confirmation, supporting families, children and young people. Regular meetings of the leaders of different groups (baptism, children’s liturgy, youth club and confirmation) are suggested to co-ordinate our youth work done. There is a suggestion that our youth leadership should organise a programme of visits to places of worship of different faiths around Medway. This would help build a stronger faith community by improving relations between our faith groups. From time to time, it would be helpful for the Sunday homily to be targeted at our young people so that they feel more included in the Liturgy of the Word. John Wilkins I have learned that faith means trusting in advance what will only make sense in reverse.

Philip Yancey

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Gifts for the poor. Rubric 22 of the Order of Holy Mass states “Quote” It is desirable that the faithful express their participation by making an offering, bringing forward bread and wine for the celebration of the Eucharist and perhaps other gifts to relieve the needs of the church and of the poor. “Unquote” The Youth make up a hamper each Christmas. Josie and Alan Boxall arrange a collection once a month but this leaves 39 weeks when we offer nothing at all. As Father Justin once said “The poor are with us ‘EVERY’ week” Is it too much to suggest that each wage earning adult in the parish donate ONE item a week (EVERY WEEK) as a gift for the less fortunate, (whether they are Catholics or not is immaterial) Initially the Catenians could be asked to take on the distribution until such time as we are able to take over ourselves. I know Fr Justin would like to see a branch of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul established here and this is the kind of work they undertake. Please do not wait to be asked to start doing this. Just do it. Yours in Christ Tony Roberts. Note A Rubric (so called because it is written in red ink) is not a law or a rule of the church. It is meant as advice or suggestion only)

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Editor’s Note: Thank you all for your contributions. I’ve actually had quite a few articles sent in this month and have held over a couple of items for next month’s magazine. That’s got to be a first!! I hope you all had a good Christmas; it seems such a long time ago now and we’re well into 2014. It has been a horrible wet winter but I guess we must count our blessings when we see what havoc and destruction the floods have caused in other areas. At least now the nights are drawing out and we can see a few bulbs coming through the earth giving us signs of Spring and hopefully better weather to come. The copy date for the next magazine will be at the end of February. A belated ‘ Happy New Year’ to you all. Alma Alma Payne e-mail: [email protected] Tel: 01634 362896

Lord, Use Us

Lord, use our hands to touch with tenderness

Use our feet to walk in your way Use our lips to speak a kind word,

Use our eyes to see Christ in those we meet, Use our hearts to love with your compassion