Message from Canon Kristian

Dear sisters and brothers

The summer holidays are coming to a close and our young people will be returning to school and college this coming week to begin a new academic year. So, too, the usual rhythm of parish life returns, including preparations to begin the programme of catechesis for the Sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Communion. Over the next few weeks, the parents of those children who are 7 years of age and over who are due to start this preparation are invited to fill in the application form which is attached to the Newsletter and also available at church. As you know, we also have 17 young people who have been preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation over the last year. Their Confirmation will take place on the Solemnity of Christ the King, Sunday 23 November, so these next few months will be the culmination of their preparation. Please keep all those involved in these preparation programmes – children and young people, parents and catechists – in your prayers.

This coming Monday marks the beginning of the Season of Creation, which lasts until the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, on 4 October. This initiative, which is closely linked to the teaching of Pope Francis on our human and Christian responsibility for the care of creation, is now an ecumenical endeavour and, this year, has the theme of “Peace with Creation”. Pope Leo, whose Message to start off this season is attached to the Newsletter, makes a direct connection with the Jubilee Year of Hope and reminds us that we ourselves are called to be “Seeds of Hope and Peace”. The Holy Father clearly states that environmental justice: “implicitly proclaimed by the prophets – can no longer be regarded as an abstract concept or a distant goal. It is an urgent need that involves much more than simply protecting the environment. For it is a matter of justice – social, economic and human. For believers it is also a duty born of faith, since the universe reflects the face of Jesus Christ, in whom all things were created and redeemed. In a world where the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters are the first to suffer the devastating effects of climate change, deforestation and pollution, to care for creation becomes an expression of our faith and humanity”. I thank those who are part of the parish Laudato Si’ Group, who help us to respond to this “duty born of faith” to care for our Common Home in an on-going way. This group meets on every first Saturday in the month at 4.00pm in St Andrew’s Hall, Tiverton, and is open to anyone who would like to take part in this ministry of helping the parish community to be faithful to this important Christian work of service.

You might wish to include the following “Prayer for Peace with Creation”, produced by representatives of all the different Christian Churches and Organisations involved in the Season of Creation, in your own prayer throughout the coming weeks:

Creator of all,
we praise you for the gift of life
and for the faith that unites us in care for our common home.
We confess how estranged we have become—
from one another, from your Creation, and from our truest selves.
We acknowledge that our greed and destructive impulses
have fractured our relationships with you, with others, and with the Earth.
Fertile fields have become barren,
forests lie desolate,
oceans and rivers are polluted.
Thriving communities have become places of suffering,
and the earth cries out.

Beloved Christ,
who spoke “Shalom” to frightened hearts,
stir us to compassionate action.
Inspire us to work for the end of conflict,
and for the full restoration of broken relationships—
with you, with the ecumenical community,
with the human family,
and with all Creation.

Prince of Peace,
through your wounds, teach us to stand in solidarity
with the woundedness of others,
of creation, and of the world.
Through your resurrection,
make us people of hope—
with a vision of swords turned into ploughshares
and tears transformed into joy.
May we come together as one family,
to labor for your peace—
a shalom where all your people
may dwell in safety,
and rest in quiet places.
Amen.

On a more administrative note, could I remind those who have yet to complete an updated Census Form and return it to me either at church or via the parish office to do so as soon as you can please. It is really important that I have an up-to-date database of all the members of our parish community. Please be reassured that the simple inclusion on the parish database does not necessitate agreeing to make a specific and regular financial commitment to the parish, as I am aware happens in certain other communities to which some of our parishioners also belong. I attach the new Census Form to this email, just in case some individuals are finding it hard to access a paper copy. However, if you do use this electronic version, it is still essential that it is signed by all those 16 years and over, whose details are included on the form. So, it will either need to be printed off and signed or signed with electronic signatures.

We remember in our prayers the sick and dying of our parish community in a particular way, as well as those who have died recently and those who are mourning them. May they be helped “by the grace of our great and unfailing Hope, who is the Risen Christ” (Pope Leo, Message for the World Day for the Care of Creation).

May God bless you all at this time.

Canon Kristian

Canon Kristian Paver
Parish Priest
Parish of St Boniface and St James Mid Devon
40 Old Road Tiverton EX16 4HJ
(01884) 252292