St Mary Mother of God

Eighteenth Sunday of the Year

From Fr. John:

On Monday morning, there was a lot of activity just after seven o'clock. Garry and David were moving machinery on to the school field to start work on the building of the new school library; a very generous donation by the two families in our parish. In the afternoon, I returned to the site and peered down into the trenches which had been dug for the foundations. They were so deep you could have erected a block of flats on them. "Why so deep"? I enquired. "Building regulations", they said. The L.A. Inspector insisted on them being that deep. As I peered down into the abyss, I saw some ready-mix lorries backing across the field. I stayed to see the first pouring of the concrete. There is no doubt the new library is built on firm foundations.

There is a traditional hymn we sing from time to time which begins, "The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord; she is his new creation by Water and the Word". Jesus often talked about our lives in terms of building our house on firm foundations. In the gospels of Matthew (7, 24) and Luke (6, 47) Jesus said that anyone who hears his words and heeds them is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on rock. That house could not be shaken because it was well built.

The problem with the ground where we are putting the new library is the roots of trees, especially where the soil is a mixture of clay and sand. The roots are necessary for the trees but in this case they are like the evil influences all around us. In some instances in Essex tree roots have undermined buildings. Great cracks have appeared in the walls and in extreme cases the buildings have had to be underpinned or demolished and rebuilt from scratch. So it is with our lives if we allow the evil influences of this world to undermine them. Always remember, the Church's sure foundation is Jesus Christ, our Lord. Neglect Him and our house is in peril. A thought for August. Have a good break.

will be here for the month of August. He is well known to us now. How about inviting him to your home for a meal especially at weekends. He likes to practise his English. Although we don't speak the Queens English, he likes to hear the colloquialisms but not "we was or you was", please!

will be at home in Ireland during August. It will be possible to contact him through the Presbytery but only in dire emergency, please.

There are days in August when Masses have not been booked. Fr. Paul will fill in any times that are available. You can still book Masses during August.

There are days in August when Masses have not been booked. Fr. Paul will fill in any times that are available. You can still book Masses during August.

was the front page headline in the free Havering paper, "Living". It is heartbreaking to see how many cigarette ends and rubbish are left in and around our church especially after weddings and funerals. I personally swept up over 500 cigarette ends one Saturday morning but after a wedding in the afternoon it looked as if I need not have bothered. It is such a filthy habit. I'd like to say to people, "Take nothing away but leave nothing behind".

was taken into King George's Hospital on Tuesday morning. Please keep him in your prayers.

Please ignore the rota as I have contacted people who will be around during the holiday period. Thank you. Sister Teresa.

It is important that we keep our church clean during the holiday period. If your holiday clashes when you should be cleaning, please arrange to change with someone else or just turn up when you can.