Fr Peter Writes: The Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

ere in the Parish Office we recently had an email from our local Bishop’s Stortford Food Bank telling us that there were certain items that they were running very short of and, please, could we help. (I have put their list at the end of this piece.) Charity is, as you will remember, one of the three great Virtues which we are asked as Christians to embrace in a particular way. It is not exclusive to Christianity – far from it, but it has always been one of the pillars of our Faith. So, I really encourage you, if your own situation allows it, to purchase a few of these items and drop them in the Food Bank collecting bin at your local supermarket. Our Bishop’s Stortford Food Bank is one of those who organise the collection of items from these drop-off points and it all goes to help renew stocks at our Food Banks.

It is experiences such as hearing the invitation, and challenge, of giving in such ways as these that is part of being a Catholic Christian and which the Holy Father, Pope Francis, wants us to tell our Bishops about as part of the preparation for the Synod in 2023 for which the preparation is just beginning. There will be prayers in a special way at our Masses this weekend, reflecting on Pope Francis’ call to share our experience and our hopes. In the next few weeks we will be arranging small meetings including each of the churches of our Parish, to pray together and then to listen to each other’s experiences and aspirations. It is this witness that we will then write up and pass on to our Bishop from our Parish community.

If we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in what we say, then there can be no limit to the effects of our witness.

This is the list of most needed items: