Were you there amongst the bunting?  Why not add your 'heartfelt' observations using Comments?

St. Joseph's was cast in a red hue on Wednesday 28th November last.  And it was not the only building in Guildford to turn red - but why?  Thanks to Rosaline Brothers, we have the answer...

Here is a story of a remarkable achievement, and although it appeared in the newsletter in December, I for one missed it and so am grateful to Rosaline Brothers for bringing it to our attention.

Rosaline comments...
'Climb every mountain’ says the song and a parishioner, Fergus McDonald certainly took this to heart and climbed and summited Everest.  Fellow parishioners took advantage of this feat to fund raise for CPG, raising £1120 at a celebratory evening. 

Bob Durston once again brings us the latest news from this dynamic charity.  This is the latest in a series of updates - to see the others just follow the WaterHarvest link under CATEGORIES, on the right-hand side of the screen.

Thanks to Una Corning for this account of last week's film night.

Last Friday’s Film Night welcomed over 80 Parishioners from across the whole Catholic Parish of Guildford to watch a special documentary about the life and work of the recently canonised Saint Oscar Romero.

Fr. Sebastian explains how this picture of St. Teresa was blessed during Mass on Monday 7th January and mounted on the wall adjacent to Our Lady's grotto.

Last week Michael Gove, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, delivered the Theos 2018 annual lecture.  More details can be found in the report in the Independent Catholic News.  A video of the lecture, with slightly poor sound, is available below.

There was a request in the last St Pius InPrint email for contributions related to the Great War.  I am grateful to Frances Allen and Veronica Ker who both responded - in quite different ways...

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​The morning after: A normally closed border crossing between East Germany (foreground) and Czechoslovakia has been damaged and left open; fresh tank tracks are visible.  A group of Russian or East German soldiers stand on the Czech side.  The road leads to a small village, then to Chomutov and Prague.  Taken by George Cranstone, 21st August 1968.

It is 50 years since some 650,000 Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia, to reverse the reforms introduced there by Alexander Dubček in the “Prague Spring” of 1968.  My own recollection of this event, on 21st August 1968, was seeing a newspaper headline as a 14-year old and witnessing the evident concern on my parents’ faces.  But at the time of the invasion Agnes and George Cranstone and their three sons had a much closer perspective, and George has written this account of the family holiday which took a dramatic turn.

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The recent visit of Pope Francis to Ireland, to attend the World Meeting of Families, has attracted enormous attention and has been widely discussed in the press.  Maureen Rivett was amused by this photo in the Telegraph on Thursday 23rd August, showing one of the items of merchandise inspired by the visit: a “souvenir Lollipope”!

Thanks once again to Bob Durston for this latest newsletter from the charity WaterHarvest (formerly known as Wells for India).  It includes the Spring 2018 edition of the WaterHarvest magazine, which may be downloaded.  This is a most informative magazine which includes "Where we work and what we do" in the form of a map, a description of the Chauka system and how it works, and even a recipe for 'Paneer in Spicy Tomato Sauce'.

One of the things I hope for this magazine is for it to reflect the interests, in as general a sense as possible, of the community.  Thanks once again to Bob Durston for keeping us up to date with one of the charities in which he and other parishioners take a great interest.  As we see in this announcement, the name of Wells for India is being replaced, and the latest edition of WaterWise magazine is available to download.

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This charming piece, contributed anonymously, recounts happy memories of a much-loved and dearly-missed parishioner.  Our contributor has counted some 25 church and local community activities in which the 'Lady on the Bike' was involved.  She is surely missed in all of them.

Thanks to Helen Stewart for bringing the work of this Christian charity to our attention.

Helen writes:  I am not sure how many Parishioners are aware of this organisation.  I was advised of their existence by the lovely lady who runs the Sewing Machine Shop in Guildford.

Thanks to Bob Durston for this newsletter from Wells for India, which includes a link to a three-minute video charting the great progress the charity has made in Rajasthan over the last 30 years.  It makes encouraging viewing...

Bob Durston has contributed this open invitation to a Wells for India event to celebrate the charity's 30th birthday.

From Bob Durston

Thanks to Bob for sharing this encouraging update from Wells for India.​

From Bob Durston

Thanks to Bob for this update from Wells for India in the 30th year of the charity's activities.  There is an opportunity to learn more about the work of Wells for India, a current appeal, and to download the latest edition of WaterWise magazine by using the links at the end of the article.

The new issue of our bi-annual magazine, WaterWise, is out now! 
 
In this our 30th Anniversary edition, we celebrate having harvested 1.3 billion litres of water, working in 1,562 villages and with 1.6 million people.
 
We have profiled our specialist partner, Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS), based in the foothills of the Aravalli Mountain Range of Rajasthan. TBS was founded more than 40 years ago by students and professors from the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, to promote rural education.
 
Wells for India and TBS began working together in 2014 on an ambitious project partnership, co-funded by the local community in the Sarsa river catchment. This water and livelihood project has proved so successful that a second project is now planned, starting in late Spring this year.
 
Font of Knowledge appeal
We've also highlighted our Font of Knowledge appeal, which seeks to protect and preserve the wisdom of the community by looking after the elders.  While expensive polluted water causes poverty, sickness and death, our water capture structures, called taankas, will provide safer drinking water.
   
Thank you for your continued support, 
 
The Wells for India team
 

By Pat Jones

My first visit to Ukraine was quite a marathon.  I flew to Kharkiv, near the Russian border, and spent three days there seeing the work of Depaul Ukraine. First, outside the Cathedral, under a half-tent, a small team of staff and volunteers were feeding around 90 homeless people each day with hot home-made soup.

This letter was received recently by David and Frances Allen:

By Anna Klaptocz

This summer, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to Nicaragua as an International Citizens Service volunteer with Progressio.  It was the Parish’s prayers and donations that made my fundraising and trip possible, and for that I am extremely grateful.  This is a blog I wrote for Progressio which I am posting here to give a flavour of what life was like in Nicaragua, and to reflect on a very important international day: the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.