"Cook one dish - taste them all!"
The Shared Lunch at St. Pius X is highly recommended to lovers of good food and good company.  Keep an eye on the newsletter for details of the next one...

It was the Feast of the Epiphany – Sunday 5th January 2020 – when a large number of parishioners gathered in St. Joseph’s Hall.  They were some of the people who minister and volunteer in the parish, who had been invited by the Clergy Team to a festive afternoon tea party as a gesture of their thanks.

Nine new Altar Servers were enrolled into the Order of St. Stephen during the Mass on 26th December for the Feast Day of Christianity's first martyr.  One server received a silver medal and seven received Certificates of Merit.  Fr. Sebastian was the celebrant.

Thanks to Joseph Chan for the photo.

All gleaming and new - the boiler house at St. Joseph's following the recent installation of new heating boilers.  Below: how it was before...

Thanks to Seán Evans for the photos.

The diocese worked with the Guildford Deanery and the Jesuit Ministries to organise a two-day School of Prayer in St. Peter's School on 30th November & 1st December 2019.  Over 90 people took part, more than had been expected, and the feedback was very encouraging.

The Sunday session included instruction in methods of prayer, with emphasis on the 'Prego Group' approach for prayer meetings, in which the following elements are suggested (download the booklet below):

1. A time of stilling: slow entry into prayer.
2. Time with scripture (maybe read it aloud several times with pauses in between, or use another method such as Lectio Divina or imaginative contemplation).  You can use any of the readings or even the opening prayer.
3. Invitation to share what went on in prayer; not what we think we should do, not a discussion.  No compulsion to do so.
4. Intercessions.  Individuals simply mention a name or intention. and if desired add an Our Father or Hail Mary.
5. One word or a short phrase can be offered to reflect on this time of prayer.  This can be followed by a Glory be or other suitable closing prayer.
6. A cup of tea or coffee, which helps to build community.

A 'School of Prayer' booklet (download below) also mentioned four 'Anchor Points':

1. Preparation
2. Entry into Prayer
3. Exit from Prayer
4. Review after Prayer

A mobile app was also mentioned, for those who might find it convenient to have a guide to daily prayer on their phone or tablet.  The app is called 'Pray as you go' and is available on the Play Store for Android and the App Store for iPhone/iPad.

Pray as you go is also available for computers here:  pray-as-you-go.org/

* The aim of the diocesan Spirituality and Formation team is "to assist parishes to form adults into missionary disciples of Jesus Christ".  Four key areas of work are:

• to provide training opportunities for Catechists, including a diocesan course and parish based sessions
  
• offering advice and resources to parishes developing their own strategies for adult formation
  
• supporting the mission of evangelisation by providing events and training, and identifying resources
  
• provide faith-sharing materials for small groups in Advent and Lent
  

Just in time for National Youth Sunday, join our Youth intern Pippa for her video diary showing two days in her hectic life.
Watch the video here.

Congratulations to Pippa and Aseel for a great job!

P.S:  Wondering what a 'vlog' is?  Don't worry, it just means you are probably a little older than Pippa.  It means 'video blog', or log, or something... :-)  

Keeping up a long-standing tradition, a group of parishioners celebrating '0' milestone birthdays hosted a party in St. Pius Hall on 23rd November 2019.  The Big '0's being celebrated ranged from 40 to 90, and perhaps it is not too indiscreet to mention that Fr. Sebastian was at the lower end of that scale!

There was a full house in St. Pius' Hall for the latest Film Night.  This time the film was "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society",  set in occupied Guernsey during the Second World War.

Across the parish wreathes were laid on behalf of the Catholic Community.

A message from our friends Carole and David Hudson at the Project Peru charity:

Click here to see the full range of Christmas cards
and to learn more about
the amazing work of Project Peru.

Thanks to Alan Hughes and Michael Combes for this account of the fundraising dinner which took place in St. Pius Hall on 19th October 2019, and of the CPG Refugee Support Fund.

Why "Installation"?

This comes from the Latin installare, to put into a stall, referring to the solemn induction of a canon into the stall or seat which he is to occupy in the choir of a cathedral.

Why "Canon"?
"Canon" is from the Latin canonicus, itself derived from the Greek κανονικός, kanonikós, meaning "relating to a rule", or "regular".

The Feast Day of St. Pius X is celebrated each year on 21st August.  As this date fell on a Wednesday this year...

There was much excitement at the weigh-in of potato crops, planted in Holy Week and harvested on Sunday the 21st July after Mass at St. Edward the Confessor Church, Sutton Park.  The competition, the brain child of parishioner Terence Nagle, started nearly 20 years ago and each year raises money for the church’s Lenten projects.  This year the competition raised £206 for the Nutrition Centre Orphanage, Phom Penh, Cambodia.  No doubt over the years Terence’s inspiration and labour has raised literally thousands of pounds for those in need.
 
Seed potatoes are purchased from the parish at £3 each or two for £5 and planted during Holy Week. This year the potato variety was The Duke of York and it 

First Holy Communion Masses were celebrated in all four churches of the parish during June.  In all, 154 children received Holy Communion for the first time.  Congratulations everyone!

A group of 17 walkers from St. Pius Church gathered in Ashdown Forest, East Sussex, for the weekend of 5th-7th July 2019 for a series of walks planned by George Cranstone.  Ashdown Forest was the setting for the Winne-the-Pooh stories written by A. A. Milne; some of the walking group encountered “Poohsticks Bridge” where Winne-the-Pooh devised the game of “Pooh sticks”.  The game seems to have an enduring fascination!

The group had a most enjoyable weekend, although sadly George and Agnes Cranstone were unable to be there.

More about A. A. Milne and Ashdown Forest:
https://www.ashdownforest.org/winnie-the-pooh/AAMilne.php​

In his letter to the church at Collossae, Paul is at pains to encourage people's faith in Christ, who he tells them is the centre of all creation.  Warning against false teaching, he says to them:

Thanks to Michael Combes for bringing this account of the rally in London on Saturday 11th May to our attention:
​​https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/37083.