Welcome to Canon Luke!The induction of Canon Luke Smith as Parish Priest of St. Francis’ Church, Maidstone took place on Friday 17th

October at 7pm, at the Vigil of theFeast of St. Luke the Evangelist. Theprincipal celebrant of the Mass wasFather Paul Mason, Episcopal Vicarfor Kent, together with Fr. PeterKucharski, Father Bartlomiej Dudek,Fr. Peter Soper, Fr Paul Gibbons,Deacons Tom Coyle and Ian Blackand other priests.

The church was packed with St. Francis’parishioners, a contingent of Canon Luke’sformer parishioners from the Church of St. Austinand St Gregory in Margate, Also present was thedeputy Mayor of Maidstone, Councillor DanielMoriarty, Rev Anthony Carr of Nettlestead Churchand Rev Andrew Royal of the United ReformChurch, Maidstone and other clergy of the town.

After the ceremony a happy reception was heldin the large hall of the United Reformed Church in Week

Street where Rev Andrew Royal gave all a warm welcome and everyone enjoyed adelicious buffet and the joyful social occasion.

ParishionerS T F R A N C I S ’ C H U R C H M A I D S T O N E

ISSUE 24 SPRING 2015

Concelebrated Mass with principal celebrant,Father Paul Mason.

Applause for our new Parish Priest.

Canon Luke addresses theCongregation.

Bishop Emeritus John Hine chats withold friends.

Canon Luke with members of the Phoenix Youth Club.

Young and old enjoy the evening.

Fr Paul gives Canon Luke his document ofappointment and entrusts him with the keys ofthe church.

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Welcome to the latest edition of the‘Parishioner’ I would like to thank our editorsDenis and Ross Neale for the many hours theyhave spent eliciting, chasing and editing thevarious contributions. Similarly I would like tothank all those parishioners who have kindlysourced and prepared articles and photographs.The magazine provides a window onto the lifeof our parish; reflecting something of the richtapestry of people, gifts, activities, prayer,shared life and witness that makes up the life ofSt Francis parish. It also draws us beyond themerely parochial, to issues, events and storieswhich reflect our Catholic Faith and heritageas well as our communion with the CatholicChurch throughout the world. Hopefully thiswill inspire each member of the parish to takean active part in our worship, and activities,which in turn deepen the bonds of faith andfellowship which knit us together as a parishand of course as part of the universal Church.To those who read this on-line I hope that itbears witness to the warmth, vibrancy of faith,and commitment to the Church I haveexperienced in the few months since myappointment here as parish priest. I pray that itmay be not only informative to all who read it,but also inspire or strengthen you in yourrelationship with our Lord and his body whichis the Church. ‘So in Christ we, thoughmany, form one body, andeach member belongs toall the others.’ (St Paul’sLetter to the Romans12:5)Canon Luke When the parish was advised it was too dangerous to use our old Parish

Hall for functions the hunt was on for an alternate venue - a place nearSt Francis’ Church and large enoughto accommodate a big crowd.Fortunately for us, the UnitedReformed Church in Week Streetcame to the rescue and generouslyoffered their excellent receptionrooms for use when we need them.We have since said “goodbye” to

Father John Clark and“hello” to Canon LukeSmith there with two well attended receptions. We have also enjoyed a coupleof Len and Viv Watson’s notoriously tricky QuizEvenings, our numbers being bolstered by unsuspectingmembers of URC. They were fun! Many thanks to Rev. Andrew Royal and hiscongregation!

ParishionerTHE PARISH OF ST FRANCIS

GROVE HOUSE, 126 WEEK STREET, MAIDSTONE,KENT ME14 1RH.

Telephone: (01622) 756217 Fax: (01622) 690549Email: stfrancis_parish@yahoo.co.ukWeb site: www.stfrancisparish.org.uk

Parish Priest: Canon Luke SmithAssistant Priests: Fr Bartlomiej Dudek, Fr Peter Kucharski

Ordinariate Priest: Fr Paul GibbonsParish Deacons: Rev. Tom Coyle & Rev. Ian Black

Parishioner Editors: Denis & Ross Neale.Telelephone: 01622 200025.

Email: denisneale@blueyonder.co.uk

Thanks to the URC we can carry on partying!

November’s winning Quiz Team.

Fund raising for the Church Roof Fund isnow in full swing,with the total in the kittyalready just over £13,000. St. Francis’Church roof is in very poor condition andneeds to be replaced. This is likely to costin excess of £100,000 so there is a longway to go yet. Quotations are being soughtand fuller details of costs and the workinvolved will be available in due course.

Obviously, ongoing fundraising isneeded, consequently, the secondcollections for ‘Maintenance’ will beearmarked for this project. so please begenerous. A small team will be co-ordinating fundraising initiatives so anyideas for raising money will be welcomed.

We all know that supermarket’sslogan ‘every little helps’ so we can all doour bit to keep the roof over our heads,either as individuals or small groups, aswell as joining in with larger parishfundraising events.

Mary, the fundraising heroine!

Stalwart Mary Adam decided to give up allalcohol during Advent and asked otherparishioners to sponsor her. In spite of thenaysayers and tempters (only joking,Mary) she did it and raised over £1000for the Church Roof Fund. The pictureshows Mary enjoying her first glass ofwine on Christmas Day!

Keeping the roof over our heads!

Tell it like it is, Canon!

CELL GROUPThis parish group is for 18 – 40 year olds and meetson alternate Sundays in the dining room at GroveHouse after the 6pm Mass for discussions, prayerand social time. For further details, please speak toFr Bart or one of the clergy. All are welcome tocome along.

I said, “Let me work in the fields”Christ said, “No, work in the town”I said, “There are no flowers there”He said, “No flowers but a crown”

I said, “But the sky is black;There is nothing but noise and din”Christ wept as he answered back,

“There is more,” he said, “there is sin”I said, “But the air is thick

And fogs are veiling the sun’ Christ said, “But souls are sick,

And souls in the dark are undone’I said, “I shall miss the light

And my friends will miss me, they say”Christ answered, ‘Choose tonight,

If I shall miss you – or they.’

George MacDonald

HE (OR SHE!) WHO SINGSPRAYS TWICE.

Do you enjoy singing? If theanswer is “Yes” the 10.30Sunday Mass choir needsyou. Though we do our best

we could really do with more voices tobroaden our sound and to increase ourrepertoire. Sopranos, altos and especiallytenors, baritones and basses are requiredto enhance the beauty of the Sung Mass.If you can hold a tune pretty well and readmusic (although that’s not essential),please speak to Geraldine (the organist)after 10.30 Mass on Sunday. We practiceevery other Saturday morning from 11amto Noon. If this strikes the right note comeand join us.

V

A word from Canon Luke

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We had a great show!

Phoenix Youth Club is for all youngpeople from 15 to 18 in all Maidstoneschools, the leaders are Fr BartlomiejDudek and Lydia Burchell. The YouthClub is held every Friday from 6.30 pmto 9.00 pm in the Youth Room behindthe Parish Hall. It is a place for youngpeople to chill out at the end of a busyweek at school, meet friends, listen tomusic, play pool, football, basketball,rounders and table tennis etc. Weregularly have trips going ice skating,bowling, midnight hikes withsleepovers, theme parks and otherevents like Flame 2 at Wembley Arenaand Brightlights Festival for youngpeople at Aylesford Priory. The youngpeople decide what they would like todo and the leaders help to arrange it.We have a number of events coming upthis year and are especially lookingforward to Flame 2 at Wembley Arenain March where 10,000 other youngCatholics will be present and there areover 20 young people from PhoenixYouth Club attending. We are alsolooking forward to Brightlights 2015and World Youth Day in Krakow in 2016.There will be millions of young peoplefrom all over the World experiencingWorld Youth Day in Krakow in thepresence of Pope Francis, it will be anamazing event to be part of.

Clara Senior singing Do They Know ItsChristmas?

Clara Senior, Danie

l Ellesmere, James

Williams and Lydia, having

completed the

Ashford 10K race in

October. Clara Sen

ior

and Lydia ran in 1 h

our 7 minutes, Daniel

Ellesmere in 44 minutes an

d James Williams

in 46 minutes.

Georgina Burchell,

Daniel Ellesmere, James

Williams and myself at the Heart o

f Kent

Hospice Rainbow Run. Po

wder paint is

thrown at four colour sta

tions so that your

t-shirt ends up loo

king like a rainbow

.

Fantastic fundraise

r for the Hospice an

d a

good training run

for the Ashford 10K

.

The Christmas Show

Group at the Heart of Kent Hospice Rainbow

Run including staff from St Simon StockSchool, St Francis’ Church ConfirmationCandidates and members of Phoenix Club.

“Save the Children Wear Your Christmas Jumper Day”on 12th December. All subs went to the fund.

Mikaela De Souza and James Williams,Phoenix members and head boy girl at StSimon Stock School, selling mistletoe for StFrancis’ Church Roof Fund.

Phoenix Youth Club held their Christmas Show on Friday19 December. This year members chose to do a showwith four solo performances from Amanda Chapman,Annabelle Keane, Bethany Darcey and Clara Senior androunds of Family Fortunes which included the nativity castof Mary - Grace Williams, Joseph - Daniel Ellesmere, theAngel Gabriel - Ethan Wheeler, the innkeeper - OliviaRalph, shepherds – Rebecca Saunders and TsholofeloKgarabe and wise men - Rachael McCartan, Sarah

Pattinson and Carla Farry. It was fun showwritten and presented by Georgina Burchelland James Williams and rounds of FamilyFortunes included the questions ‘Name aChristmas Show’ and ‘Name a Pudding youwould eat on Christmas Day’. Each roundwas followed by a solo performance and atthe end the youth club came together to singRudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (a favouritefrom their days at St Francis’ Primary School). The show was great fun and completely written and

performed by the youth club with technical helpfrom Fr Bart, supported by Sam Griffithscontrolling the sound track and Abigael Wallis onlighting. Many thanks to Mark Coatsworth fortaking photographs of the dress rehearsal andthe show itself. We raised £120.00 towardsBrightlights 2015 and World Youth Day inKrakow. A big thank you to all parishioners,family and friends for your support.

The cast patiently waiting to go on stage

Round 3 of Family Fortunes.

Phoenix Fund Raisers!

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Flame Youth Group continues to expand and develop and has been very busy since the last issue of the Parishioner. Apartfrom a trip to Poland by 17 members of the group in the summer holidays, youth members worked towards a missionstatement for themselves and developed their many skills, from learning Irish dancing, to drama presentations on the themeof a ‘difficult situation’. Flame members made up half the number of young people who attended the Youth Festival atAylesford and were happy to serve and read.

On a lighter note, the ‘Wet Evening’ in the summer was enjoyed by all, especially Fr Wojtekwho was visiting from Poland. The water bomb throwing competition was particularly popular.The Fireworks party was enjoyed by nearly 60 children and their families, despite the heavensopening just as the display was about to begin. Fortunately,everyone was quite happy with the great BBQ cooked mainly byFr Peter – Chef Extraordinaire. Even our work has proved good fun, with members managing

the ‘Feed the Hungry’ project, wrapping buckets to collect contributions fromthe carol singing at the Mall shopping centre or making chocolate angels, cakes or sweets forsale after masses. The production of plaster-of-paris cribs and ornaments was a major project

which was well received by parishioners. The weeksleading to Christmas were very busy and included avisit to Pilgrims Way Rest Home for a carol serviceafter school and of course, a Christmas party withgames. We are looking forward to more trips to thepark, and other fun evenings in the next few months.

Making plaster Christmas ornaments Managing the Feed the Hungry warehouse

At Ayiesford Priory

What hit me?!!

The Family Day in September, was a bit of agamble, as it was a new concept and was heldjust after the return to school following thesummer holidays. The venue, Lower Grange Farm, at Sandling, was perfect, with lotsof space, both indoors and out. Even the weather was

very kind.The children began theday in the huge barnwith craft activities andgames, while adultswere taken to theconference centre for

workshops on varying themes. Canon Luke wasthrown in at the deep end in his first week at the

parish by leading the first session, followed by FrPeter and then Fr Bart. These ice-breakers were allmuch enjoyed and encouraged people to talk to newacquaintances.

Families then joined together for a fantastic BBQ andorganised games forall ages. As evening fell a campfire was lit and theday was brought to aclose with Massaround the campfire. Awonderful day was enjoyed by the many families whoattended and it is hoped that another day can bearranged in the spring. Watch this space...

Fledglings, the group for ourchildren of primary age, has grownand has taken up a busyprogramme, assisted by a greatteam of leaders and a growingnumber of Flame Group members.Fledglings meeteach month for a

day of fun centred on a relevant theme. October,being the month of Our Lady, on the Rosary, withthe children learning how to say it and makingtheir own Rosaries. November’s meeting sawthe children taking home the Jesse trees and

Advent wreaths that they hadmade. The meeting in Decemberwas taken up with makingChristingles and preparing for theNativity play that was included inthe parish Carol Service – such

e x c i t e m e n t , a severyone had a part toplay. Finally, the waiting began forthat ‘Special Visitor’,including singing ‘Awayin a Manger’.

New members are very

welcome at Fledglings, who

generally meet on the 3rd

Saturday of the month.

Family Day

FLEDGLINGS CHILDREN’S GROUP

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It was an ungodly hour that saw 17 members of the Flame YouthGroup leave St Francis’ at the end of July 2014, bound for Poland

accompanied byFather Peter andme. Everyone wasvery excited.Theflight from Stanstedto Rzeszów wasu n e v e n t f u lconsidering theanticipation of the

group members (a few of them flight rookies) which was just aswell as the rest of the holiday was so busy. The first port of callwas the centre of Rzeszów itself, its modern shopping centrecontrasting with the old townsquare, where the first ice-creams were consumed. Late afternoon we arrived at FrPeter’s last parish ofBialobrzegi, where we met upwith the youth group that wehad already established linkswith through videos etc.Everyone was so friendly and

while the BBQ was cooked, agame of volleyball was set up,which sadly, we lost! A brief reston the swings ensured that wewere ready for dancing andforming firm friendships. Nobody wanted to leave, but areturn visit has been booked forApril, when the group will come

to us.It was very late at night when we arrived at our house near Zargorz,wondering if we would still be able to see a wolf or a bison.Most people were awake and up hours before savouring thedelicious Polish breakfast, provided by Fr Peter’s mum and sister,amusing themselves by watching the animals in the back garden.‘Is this for real – that’s a cow!’ and ‘Look at this, it’s a goat, rightthere’, could be heard, before boarding the bus for the drive toPrzemysl, through breathtaking scenery. We were treated to a tourof the cathedral, the seminary where Frs Peter and Bart trained and

the town, before visiting a fantastic ice-cream parlour – Polish ice-creams are amazing!

Next, it was on to Lake Solina – so beautiful,it felt like heaven. Even though it was 8pmwhen we left, it definitely wasn’t lateenough. The next day saw the long, butsurprisingly cheerful drive to Kraków wherethe firststop wast h eDragon’s

Cave (the dragon is the symbolof Kraków) before climbing thehill to Wawel Castle andCathedral. After a tour of the cathedral,there was a general walkaround the beautiful city centreand the market. One guarddecided Offiong looked a bit

suspect, buteventually lethim borrowhis sword.

By the afternoon, it was time to head out tothe water park, one of the biggest in Europe,before driving home for a BBQ and anothervery late night.Sadly, the next day saw our return toEngland after what everyone agreed was afantastic experience of fun, laughter,friendship and learning about a new andexciting country and culture. We look forward to the next trip which is in February 2015, whenwe will be ski-ing and snowboarding in Zakopane. Polska,kochamy Cie?

Visits Poland by one of the Leaders.

Waiting for ice cream. Inside Przemysl Cathedral.

Making friends.

Taking photographs at Wawel Castleand Cathedral.

Offiong and the sword.

The Dragon’s Cave.

At Lake Solina.

Dancing together.

We had a great Time!

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Angels are certainly in vogue! We need not look far to findimages of winged, white robed creatures on greeting cards,badges, necklaces, ornaments and a whole myriad of other

trinkets. Manufacturers are cashing in on the public’s newfoundinterest in these celestial beings, but how much of what is beingpresented is fact?

A brief foray into what the Church teaches; will help decipherwhat is fact and what is fiction.

The modern fixation with angels tends to centre upon what theylook like, treating them like some lucky charm; there is an inherentdanger then of relegating them to the realm of fairytale, comfortingto imagine they exist, but rationally admitting they cannot really existor are simply a literary or artistic embellishment.

The Church, basing its teaching on both Scripture and Tradition,explains in The Catechism of the Catholic Church (nos. 328-336)that God created the spiritual, non-corporeal (bodiless) beings we callangels; each angel has intelligence and will and is a personal andimmortal creature. In simple terms each angel is a unique beingcreated to love and serve God, its Creator.

But angels are neither cute and cuddly nor simply good lucktalismans. Not all angels chose to do God’s will. “The devil and otherdemons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they becameevil by their own doing,” the Catechism says (no. 391), quoting fromthe writings of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215). Like humanbeings the angels were created with free will and some angels sinned;we don’t know exactly what they did wrong, but their ‘fall’was a resultof radically and irrevocably rejecting God and His reign.

Since humanity’s creation, the devil (himself a fallen angel) andhis angels, immortal and powerful, but not all-powerful like God,have sought to lead mankind to also reject their Creator. No humanbeing has been spared this tempting, not even Jesus (see for exampleMatthew 4:1-11).

Angels and humans are ontologically (in their very being)different. Angels are 100% spirit; whilst humans are both spirit (soul)and body. The human soul is immortal; at death the soul leaves thebody, but it is not transformed into an angel as some believe. Rather,the purified soul that enters heaven enjoys God’s presence with theangels and joins with the angels and the Communion of saints inpraising God.

The angels are our constant partners in prayer, the public liturgyof the church is a joining of heaven and earth: ‘the multitude of angelsextols you majesty and we are united with them in exultant adoration’(Preface of the angels from the Roman Missal). We adopt theHeavenly Sanctus as our prayer of adoration in every celebration ofthe Mass: ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts’ (Isaiah 6:3). A themewe find in the psalms too: ‘I will thank you Lord, with all my heart;in the presence of the angels I will praise you’ (Psalm137:1)

To return to the point that angels are 100% spirit and thereforedo not have a body; we might contest what about the variousscriptural accounts of angelic encounter. In the Scriptures theprimary focus is always upon the angel’sfunction not their appearance; angels arenever described, only the seraphim andcherubim (e.g. Isaiah 6) have wings. We areleft to assume that angels can take humanform; in several accounts of angelicencounter only gradually does the oneencountering the angel realise there is morethan a human being before them (some ofthe best illustrations of this are Gideon inthe book of Judges 6:11-24; the parents ofSamson in chapter 13 of the same bookand Tobias in the book of Tobit) .

‘Angel’ comes from the Greekrendering of the Hebrew word for‘messenger’. This is not to reduce theangels to a sort of celestial postal service;

they are messengers in the deepest sense of the word, they bear andreflect something of the power and authority of the one who sendsthem. They deliver God’s word, attest to his presence, deliver, protectand guide; they are also the agents of God’s justice (e.g. Sodom &Gomorrah, Genesis 19 and the book of Revelation). If you want thetechnical term for all this, they are plenipotentiaries.

The notion of guardian angels is a very ancient one, unfortunatelythe over sentimentalising of this notion and the subsequent imagesagain tend to relegate them to the realm of fairytales. Some of themost ancient narratives in the Old Testament bear witness to thebelief in God’s angels watching over and guiding God’s People (e.g.Genesis 24:7 ‘He will send his angel before you’ and Exodus 23:20;32:34); throughout our lives God’s angels are there offering care andintercession. St. Basil the Great (d379AD) summed it up beautifullywhen he said: “Beside each believer stands an angel as protector andshepherd leading him to life.”

There is so much we do not know about angels and do not needto know. Of their nature they are constantly pointing to their creator,praising him and reflecting him, in a sense they are transparent; wetoo in a different way bear the image of God and are called to reflecthim to others. In a world that is so obsessed with self-image theangels remind us that without God we simply would not exist andthat our true value and fulfilment is to be found in who we werecreated to be, not as some self-constructed facade that might win amoment of worldly accolade and fame. The prince of the fallen angels,‘Lucifer’ (literally light-bearer) sought to usurp the place of God inarrogance and pride and so ultimately lost his true identity and lookwhere that led!

Most angels are not even named (or at least remain unknown tous) and the names of archangels that are known tell us more of theirmission than their identity. Michael literally means ‘He who is likeGod’ ‘he’ is the protector or the face of God, the one who pre-eminently fights against the devil and his angels who seek to usurpGod’s place and deceive mankind. Gabriel, literally means ‘God’sstrength’, he delivers the message of salvation, God’s deliverance ofhis people; whilst Raphael is ‘God’s healing’.

Neither do we know, or need to know, how many angels thereare; traditionally, angels are said to be divided into various ‘choirs’derived from biblical terms; since the fourth century, that number hasbeen placed at nine: virtues, powers, principalities, dominations,thrones, angels, archangels, cherubim and seraphim.

The preoccupation with what angels look like or making theminto super-humans is detrimental in the sense that it so often causesus to dismiss them from the realms of reality; a little poetic or artisticlicence is fine, even wings to denote that the angels need some modeof transportation from the heavenly to the earthly realm! Howeverlet us not be so flippant with the message they convey; the interplaybetween the heavenly and the earthly is not as remote as we maythink. The angels attest that God is truly with us; they proclaimed onthat first Christmas night, the Incarnation, the presence of God in

flesh, the presence of peace and salvation(Luke 2:9-15). The angels constantlyproclaim the supremacy of God, and lead usin humility to bow before Him in adorationand praise; for it is only in this humblereceptiveness that we become who we aretruly meant to be and consequently end upwhere we are meant to be.

The angels I am sure will not beworried if the current craze for angelmerchandise fizzles out; in fact they wouldprobably prefer that we take them and theirmission a little more seriously. So let us restassured that the genuine angels are going tobe around for a long time. Whether in orout of vogue, they are, after all, immortal.

God’s Holy AngelsCanon Luke Smith

May God be with me and with Hismessenger whom he has sent to greetme and lead me to Heaven.May the Lord who is great and blessedlook upon me, have pity on me andgrant me peace. May he give me greaterstrength and courage that I may not befearful and afraid. For the angels of God are about me andGod is with me wherever I may be.

A Jewish prayer.

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During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I(1558 to 1603) Anglicanism wasestablished by law in England as thenation’s state religion, having been apredominantly Catholic nation underthe reign of previous monarchs.Consequently, Catholics were nowpersecuted and it was into this time ofpersecution that St. Nicholas Owenwas born to impoverished, devoutCatholic parents in Oxfordshire,England. Remaining steadfast in theirfaith, the Owen family wouldrepeatedly pay large sums of money infines to the authorities rather thanattend Anglican church services.

As a young boy Nicholas Owenhad a deep devotion to Jesus. He wasslim and short in stature, only slightlytaller than a dwarf. He walked with alimp from a badly set leg, fracturedwhen a horse fell on him, and hesuffered from a hernia.

At the age of fifteen Nicholas wasapprenticed to a local joiner where helearned the skills he would later needto build hiding places for catholicpriests, secret rooms that becameknown as priest holes. He was also acarpenter and stonemason by trade.

He later worked in the service ofFr. Henry Garnet, Superior of theEnglish Jesuit Order. In 1580 Nicholasjoined the Society of Jesus and becameone of the first English Jesuit lay brothers.

As Catholic persecutions intensified Catholics were totally forbidden topractice their religion, even possessing rosary beads was prohibited. It waspunishable by death for anyone to smuggle a priest back into England havingbeen ordained abroad and it was considered treason if priests were foundcelebrating Mass in the room of a house. They were immediately arrested,brought to trial and sentenced to a traitor’s death at Tyburn. This meant thatpriests needed hiding holes. For the next eighteen years, with Fr. Garnet’sapproval, Nicholas worked under the name of Little John to conceal hisidentity and travelled throughout England building hiding holes for priests inthe mansions of wealthy Catholic families. He would always begin with aprayer and would receive Holy Communion before constructing the priestholes.

The only payment he accepted was a meal from each of the familieswhen he had completed his work. If people insisted on giving him money,Nicholas would distribute the money to priests and people in need. Healways worked at night and on his own. He was a strong, skilled craftsmanand could break through thick stone walls and floors. He worked as acarpenter by day in the mansions so that the servants would not suspectthe true nature of his building at night. He made trap doors and sliding doors,in walls, beneath floors and near roof tops.To conceal the entrances of thepriest holes he would use ‘trompe l’oeil’, a realistic technique which madethe detection of the entrances difficult to discern, even if someone viewedthe entrances close-up. Many stage magicians and illusionists use thistechnique today. The locations of the secret rooms were known only tohimself and the house owners. The number of priest holes Nicholasconstructed may never be known as many are thought to be stillundiscovered.

In 1581 Nicholas was in London helping Jesuit priest Fr. John Gerardwhen he learned that Fr. Edmund Campion had been arrested whilepreaching at a manor house in Berkshire. Fr. Campion had been chargedwith sedition and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Nicholas immediatelyopenly declared Fr. Campion’s innocence of the charge and both he and Fr.Gerard were then arrested and imprisoned separately, Fr. Gerard in theTower of London and Nicholas at the notorious, decaying Poultry CompterPrison in London, where he was tortured.

Although his priest holes were unknown to the persecutors at that time,he did not betray the whereabouts of any priests. Instead he spoke of Jesusand the Blessed Virgin to his interrogators. He was released after a kind,

wealthy Catholic family paid a fine on hisbehalf. His jailers considered Nicholasnothing more than an insignificant fool anddefender of Catholic priests and so he wasable to resume his secret work. Because ofhis ingenious building skills, Nicholasmasterminded the famous escape of Fr.Gerard and another prisoner from theTower of London in 1587.

After the ascension to the throne ofKing James I in 1603 and the failedGunpowder Plot of November 1605, theking firmly stated there would be norelaxation in the rigorous anti-Catholicpersecutions. Realizing he was nowsuspected of building places of refuge forpriests, Nicholas decided to hide at HindlipHall in Worcestershire in a priest hole hehad constructed. Concerned, however, forthe safety of his master, Fr. Garnet, who washiding with three other priests in a nearbymansion, Nicholas voluntarily gave himselfup to the priest hunters after four days, inthe hope of distracting attention away fromthe location of Fr. Garnet and hiscompanions.

Nicholas was brought under guard toLondon and was imprisoned, first inMarshalsea Prison in Southwark, just southof the River Thames. In the solitude of hiscell, Nicholas knelt in prayer for some time,drawing strength from his profound love ofJesus. He was then taken to the infamousTower of London.

Although it was illegal under English Law to torture a man if he had ahernia (those suffering from any physical disability were exempt fromtorture), for a week Nicholas was subjected to horrific torture on the rackfor six hours at a time, which forced his hernia and other internal organs toprotrude. To contain the protrusions his cruel tormentors strapped a circularplate of iron around his abdomen. The sharp edge of the iron plate combinedwith the stretching power of the rack caused Nicholas further agonizing painand injury. Despite this barbaric torture, Nicholas revealed nothing of thepriest holes. Eventually he was dragged back to his cell were he died in thenight between the 1st and 2nd of March 1606. He was only forty-four.

Fr. Gerard, the priest he had helped to escape from the Tower of Londonin 1587, was extremely saddened by the news of Nicholas’s death and hewrote of him with esteem, “I verily think no man can be said to have donemore good of all those who labored in the English vineyard. He was theimmediate occasion of saving the lives of many hundreds of persons, bothecclesiastical and secular.”

In a letter written by Fr. Garnet, before his gruesome execution at Tyburnin 1606, he praised Nicholas Owen’s faithfulness, generous nature andremarkable skill as a carpenter. St. Nicholas Owen was canonized in Romein 1970 by Pope Paul VI. He is honoured by the Catholic Church in Englandand Wales for his sanctity and martyrdom and he is regarded as one of thegreatest Englishmen of his time. Numerous beautiful examples of his skilledcraftsmanship as a carpenter and also his priest’s holes can be seen in manymansions throughout England today.

St. Nicholas Owen Written and illustrated by Charlotte Cassidy

An engraving of Hindlip House (1800), built before 1575 and demolished in 1820.

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What year were you born in and when did you become a priest?I was born in 1984 and on the 4th May 2008 I was ordained tothe Diaconate and I became a Priest on 1st May 2009.What did your family think when you told them you wanted to train to bea priest?I never asked my family (Fr Bart laughs). I told my mum first andI told her just before my final exams. I said “Mum, don’t worryabout my exams I am going to the seminary”. My dad wasworking abroad at the time and my mum told my dad. I thinkthat my parents treat it as a sort privilege for the family. Bothof my younger brothers laughed when I told them that I wasjoining the seminary. How did you know that you wanted to be a priest? That is a difficult question. It was a process; it started from thepilgrimage to Czestochowa during my final year in secondaryschool. My intention at the pilgrimage was to ask God to showme the aim of my life, but there was no answer. I returned fromthat pilgrimage a bit bitter. Later the same year I went for aweekend retreat with my classmates in a female monastery andafter confession I was praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament.There was a kind of strong feeling saying to me several times“follow me” and I couldn’t believe it was happening; it was verystrange. For weeks after I couldn’t believe that it had happened.I had a strong desire to change something in my life but I wasn’tquite sure what. After that I had a strong calling to be a priestthough for about 4 to 5 months I didn’t want to agree to it. Ifelt that God was forcing me. During one of the confessions inLent a priest told me that God’s plan for me is one thing but mydecision is something different. And then I felt free from beingforced to make a decision and I eventually agreed. At thebeginning I thought that I was not suitable. In hindsight, maybe,there were a few things in my life that did match with becominga priest. Now I feel that everything I have learnt and am learningis useful for being a priest.Have you ever regretted your decision to be a priest? Never.Did you want to come to England?Let’s put it in that way: it wasn’t my idea to come toEngland. My Bishop in Poland suggested to me that hewanted me to go to England and I agreed. He waslooking for someone who could replace the other priestin England (I didn’t know Father Tadeusz then) and hewanted me to learn English and study somethingconnected with media.Is there anything about Poland that you really miss when you are inEngland?The food, my family and friends but I do get to seethem about three times a year.Is that enough?When I get to see them it gives me a breakfrom parish work but I am really too busyto be homesick or to miss them.What do you like best about living in England? Travelling. I like that it is very easy totravel within England and to travelabroad. Also I really like Englishhymns, they are really nice and I likedthem straight away. What do you like best about living in Poland?I like the food best, especially mymum’s home cooking and all of thetraditions and customs especially thecelebrations. I like celebrating name

days which is the Feast Day of the Saint you are named after,though I have to say that I really enjoyed the celebrations for my30th birthday last year which went on for about a week.Do you think that there are cultural differences?There are. The first one is that people in England are much moreopen and smiley (but sometimes unfortunately it appears to bejust on the surface). In England generally people are polite andI prefer the English style of driving rather than the Polish.Though I find that the Polish are more straight forward.Did you enjoy going to Thorpe Park and Chessington with the youth cluband the altar servers and did you enjoy all the rides, especially going onStealth?I did enjoy the trips but most of all I like the company of goingout with the youth club rather than the activities. I like goingout with the people generally. I challenged myself to try mostof the rides and especially Stealth because I have never been onrides at a Theme Park before. They were scary but I think I willtry the rides again this year. Do you support a football team in Poland? I don’t support any football team. I prefer to play football ratherthan watch it. I do support the National team. I do try to playfor my Diocesan priests’ team in Poland.How have you come to be so good at table tennis?Practice. (Fr Bart laughs) I played lots of table tennis at school.It is a ‘winter sport’ for me because I used to play table tennisindoors at school during winter only. What is your favourite sport and is there a sport you aren’t good at? My favourite sport is football. I have played football with mybrothers at home since I can remember. I like basketball,volleyball, skiing and I am learning ice skating. I would say thatthose sports I’m not good at I haven’t tried! Have you always been so competitive?

Yes. I think it is because I am one of four brothers, we areall competitive in everything, not just sports. I used totry to be better than others and often it was leadingme and the other person to be upset. Now, instead oftrying to be better than somebody else I am trying tobe as good as I can. In that way I can enjoy sport evenwhen I’m losing (sort of). Competitiveness is part ofsport. Are you against gay marriage and why?

My view is not different to the church’s opinionon homosexual marriages. I think that the term‘homosexual marriage’ is misused. Marriagefrom history, religion, society is arelationship that serves the properaims which is love, support of bothpartners and procreation ofchildren. A homosexual relationshipdoesn’t go along with these aims,or at least all of them, so I thinkwe shouldn’t even be using thatterm. I respect every personbeing in this kind of situation,experiencing these sort offeelings. But God and theChurch have always seenhomosexual acts as disorderedand sinful. Not thehomosexual relationship butany sexual acts within thatrelationship.

Father Bart Interviewed by Amanda Chapman

The Phoenix Youth Club decided to interview one of their leaders, Fr Bart. We have got to know Fr Bart verywell, in a more relaxed way, so we decided to do an informal interview and ask him questions that, perhaps, you

wanted to know the answers to!

8

In 2014 Canon John Clarke heard about the Donate8 scheme trialled atSt. Thomas More Parish in West Malling and thought the concept wouldsuit St. Francis’ Parish. The reason for this was how to respond to the factthat Southern England could, over the next 10 to 20 years, have fewerpriests due to retirement and a shortage of young men coming forward tostudy for the priesthood. This will put a severe strain on the remainingclergy.The Donate8 concept is simple – ask the parish community to volunteer!Invite parishioners to donate 8 hours per year to undertake the secularduties required by the parish and thus relieve the parish priests and otherclergy to concentrate their time on their pastoral duties.Fr Bartlomiej and a team of parishioners, Alistair Black (Chair), Pete andCarole Batty, Cathy Kennard, Sarah Boylan and Brian Carr, who hadvolunteered to set up Donate8 in St Francis’ parish went to West Mallingand saw a presentation from Adrian and Sally Attmore, the creators of theoriginal idea. What is so important about this scheme is that it is aconscience based initiative - no one is chasing people who volunteered!Following from the meeting the St Francis Donate8 team began working.We contacted Team Leaders who identified tasks that required volunteers.The proposed tasks were wide ranging and included cleaning the church,flower arranging, counting the monies, cleaning altar cloths and churchlinen, etc. Then we waited patiently for Canon Luke to arrive on 1st September andhe backed the project wholeheartedly.Presentations were made at all Masses and Mass centres over theweekend of 27th/28th September 2014 and volunteers wererequested.The scheme was then officially launched on the feast day of StFrancis in October 2014.Up to the 6th January all the tasks identified (22) have been filled and wehave had over 60 parishioners volunteer for the project which gives theparish a potential of 480 extra volunteer hours to help those selfless teamleaders who undertake the current tasks and have done so for years.Hopefully the Donate8 project will be an ongoing process with theDonate8 group publicising new tasks as they arise. Feedback from Team

Leaders and volunteers has so far been very positive.Change is happening and the community of St Francis is developing andbeing strengthened by the generosity and involvement of you, theparishioners, as evidenced in the logo below. ‘Great things happen when people work together’

FI contact: donate8@stfrancisparish.org.uk or leave a note in the REDDonate8 box an the back of church.

It might be logically argued that my computer is an object or toolrather than a place, but I would still maintain that it is a place in thesense of storage space, just as valid as any other place of storage. Itis alas no longer in pristine condition, indeed, by moderntechnological standards it is antiquated. It is however my mosttreasured birthday gift ever. It is a place that is retentive and reliable,but also extremely vulnerable. Not only from the danger of losing itssource of energy, but it is also in constant jeopardy by nature of misuse.As a personalised instrument it is unique, even to the degree that itsresponsiveness is dependent on my input and deliberation.Following my Academic pursuits it is subject to an almostunlimited variation of ideology and language, with the sameaptitude to recall the vitriolic rhetoric of tyranny, or the romanticintonations of Blake or Wordsworth. It may be compared to amansion with many rooms, with each room securing a differing idea. Alas, ifonly we could explore the interior of this ‘mansion’, what dark recesses wouldwe find? Is it so inanimate that it remains unaffected by the impulses thatpromote its functional purpose? No doubt these are the imponderables thatwould have motivated such visionaries as Jules Verne or H.G.Wells.However, I must nor take this philosophical path – I have to deal withpositivethought. This in itself is not so simple, the problem with the positive

nature of my computer is in its familiarity; so much so thatI tend to take it for granted. This is a pity for as I have said,it is vulnerable, and if it fails for whatever reason, it isunlikely to give any warning. What utter tragedy it wouldbe if I lost everything that has become important to me:ideas, language, memory and communication. Yet thesethings happen – I have heard tales of other computersemitting utter nonsense, or perhaps worse, producing nothing

at all.If only there could be a fail-safe process – anilluminated logo perhaps: ‘Use me well before it is toolate’ – the utilisation of ‘well’ extending to a kind word,a forgiving phrase, or some other hint towards

humanity. The world is full of computers, all serving the humanneed to function to its ultimate good (or otherwise), and my computer is noexception. I endeavour to use it to its best advantage, for it may not last forever.I feel I must use my logical and emotional imagination to promote its bestinterests, and lubricate the way it functions, and indeed, thinks. For mycomputer really does think; it lives and pulses (and I hope) listens to theinstincts of my conscience – for this particular ‘technology’ is my own mind!

My Computer as a PlaceLen Watson

Care to help your parish?Donate8 is the way!

Alistair Black

Donate8 Prayer.

Lord Jesus, I give you my hands to do your work. I give you my feet to go your way. I give you my tongue to speak your words. I give you my mind that you may think in me. I give you my spirit that you may pray in me. Above all, I give you my heart that you may love in me yourFather and all mankind. I give you my whole self that you may grow in me, so thatit is you, Lord Jesus, who live and work and pray in me.

9

SchoolVisit toYpres

Deacon Ian and students

Last November 12th Year 8 studentsfrom St Simon Stock School, with theirteachers, travelled to the Ypres Salientwhere they visited the WWI Tyne CotCemetery. There, they worked welltogether, locating the resting places oftheir individual soldiers which they hadresearched prior to the outing. Theprayers and reflections written onto thecrosses they left showed a maturitybeyond their years.

One of their most memorableexperiences was the short service, heldat Menim Gate which was led byDeacon Ian Black. Our special thanksto him and St Francis’ parish for thesupport and time he gave to thestudents on the trip,All the students agreed that they hadenjoyed the day and had learnt a greatdeal from it. Each one will becompleting an in-depth project on WorldWar One and the students will have theopportunity to complete a ‘NewsReport’ in conjuction with the BBC.These reports will be uploaded onto theBBC site and they have been assigneda ‘producer’ who is supporting them inthis project. The deadine for the reportis March 2015.

(Taken from a report by Miss M King in theSt Simon Stock School Newsletter. Oct.2014.)

Parishioner Keith White celebrated his90th birthday with family and friends onSunday, 24th August last year and allenjoyed this amazing Mad Hatter’s TeaParty cake. Congratulations, Keith!

In over twelve years of hobby time,parishioner Bernard White constructedthis Merchant Navy 4-6-2 model steamlocomotive. The model was named“Orient Line” No. 35008 after its realloco on SR British rail. When Bernardand his family came back to the UKfrom Australia, they sailed on a PO‘Orient Line’ ship, SS Orestes, hencethe name. The model is constructed of steel,brass, copper and cast iron. Drawings

and patterns were produced and all theturning, milling etc. took place inBernard’s own workshop. When themodel was completed in 2014, it wastested to 200lb/sq.in. to gain a safetycertificate to run on the MaidstoneModel Engineers’ Society track in MotePark and it has been steam tested toprove all is working correctly. Duringthe summer of 2015 you will be ablesee it pulling passengers in Mote Park.

Bernard is ready tosteam ahead!

Keith celebrates 90 years

The Phoenix Youth leading the singingat Youth Club Mass on 8th February.The eyecatching logo on their hoodieswas designed by Phoenix member,Philip Coatsworth.

Children in Need

Today is the day

To dry a child’s tears.

Give a little, save a lot,

Pudsey Day is here.

So many children cry each and every night,

As illness suffocates them, they cannot see the light.

Homelessness, abuse, bullying and fights,

This must not continue, those children have rights.

Please find it in your heart,on their behalf I now plead,

Just give anything you can for Children In Need.

By Eleanor, year 6 St.Francis’ School.

Five Tips for a Good Lent 1. Pray more: Christ spent 40 days in the desert to unite himself more intensely with His Father. Lent should be atime to re-kindle our love for Christ and this will only happen if he is on our daily calendar! What keeps you fromspending time with Jesus? What is it? Whatever it is; even if it means giving up some of your time at the gym ortennis, do it for your relationship with the Lord. “Time spent in front of the Eucharist is always time well spent.”(Pope John Paul II)

2. Spiritual fasting: Starve your pride, starve your vanity or starve your laziness! Choose one person in your familyor your circle of friends who is a little more difficult and try to really be kind and patient to that person. Try to putothers at the centre of attention in your conversations and talk about the topics that they enjoy. Gossip less, praiseothers more. Give humble service without looking for recognition, praise or esteem

3. Material Fasting: Try to offer this one up for a particular person who is need of God’s grace: Something tangiblethat is both realistic and addresses an excessive attachment or dependency: alcohol, desserts, smoking, televisionetc. Limit spending on superfluous items, buy only what you need, not what you want. Give up some free time toperform a work of mercy: visiting a lonely neighbour, helping at a homeless shelter or food bank, etc.

4. Purity of Intention: The Gospel highlights a typical feature of Christian almsgiving: it must be hidden: “Do not letyour left hand know what your right hand is doing,” Jesus asserts, “so that your alms may be done in secret” (Mt6,3-4). Just a short while before, He said not to boast of one’s own good works so as not to risk being deprived ofthe heavenly reward (cf. Mt 6,1-2). Everything must be done for God’s glory and not our own. “If, in accomplishinga good deed, we do not have as our goal God’s glory and the real well being of our brothers and sisters, lookingrather for a return of personal interest or simply of applause, we place ourselves outside of the Gospel vision…forthis reason, the one who knows that God “sees in secret” and in secret will reward, does not seek human recognitionfor works of mercy. (Pope Benedict XVI, Lenten Message, 2008)

5. Help support your family members and friends in their endeavours for Lent!

Bernard & Sylvia White

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Where and when were you born and brought up?I was born in Pembury and raised in Hadlow, so quite locally.You became a Catholic at the age of 18 and ordained priest in 1995.What influenced your decision to become a priest?Although baptised in the Church of England as an infant, myfirst introduction to formal religion was through music, I waspersuaded to join the local parish church choir. There were manyinfluences that led to my reception into the Catholic Church andsubsequent call to priesthood. Some of the more prominentinfluences was the example (and many long chats with)of a localretired Anglican vicar who introduced me to the great spiritualwriters; the papal visit of Pope John Paul II in 1982 enthralledme; my reading of history and clandestine visits to Catholicchurches led to gradual awareness that for me the CatholicChurch is where I belonged. After instruction I was received intothe Church in December 1986. Then the next question began toraise its head; initially I dismissed it and myself as a suitablecandidate! The best description I have heard of a vocation is thatit is like a dripping tap, at first you can ignore it then it drivesyou crazy so you have to something about it. The main catalystfor doing something about it was a sermon of Cardinal Humeon the feast of the Epiphany (1989), although attending Mass ina full Westminster Cathedral I felt his words were aimed directlyat me; I was sent to the Seminary to begin formation inSeptember of the same year.How did you feel on being appointed parish priest of St Francis’Church, Maidstone? How do you feel now? At first daunted by the necessary adjustments after having beenon my own for 12 years in Margate, and the prospect of havingthe overall care of a much bigger parish and clergy team. Mostof the trepidation has been dissipated by the warmth of thewelcome I have received and the dedication and practical helpthe parish clergy and so many people in the parish. I am veryconscious of the how much work needs to be done with necessarymaintenance and development projects (such as hall, roof etc)and I hope that this will not eat too much into the available timeand so detract from the principal spiritual and pastoral focus ofbeing parish priest. Red tape is a pet hate!!Apart from Latin, have you celebrated Mass in another language?French and concelebrated in ItalianDo you have a favourite film and what is it?I am a great fan of Tolkien, having been brought up on ‘TheHobbit’ and the ‘Lord of the Rings’, so it would have to be theextended versions of the Peter Jackson’s trilogy of films of theLord of the Rings. A less well known film which has made aprofound impact on me is ‘For Greater Glory’ which is about theChristeros movement who resisted the religious persecution of

the Mexican Civil War. Have you travelled much and what are your favourite countries?I have travelled through most of Western Europe, I have beenprivileged to have the opportunity to visit the Holy Land, Greece,and Africa (Kenya, Malawi and Mozambique) and Canada. Thetrip to Canada had been on my wish-list for a long time; for myfortieth birthday I was enabled to run far away and travel withfriends by car throughout the Rockies and Vancouver Island!The experience of the natural grandeur and space will alwaysstay with me. Another dream would be to travel the length of theTrans-Siberian Railway. As you will have guessed I do not seekthe cities and busy resorts, hence my favourite places would bethe Scottish Highlands, the Canadian Rockies, Ein-Gedi andGalilee in the Holy Land, and Umbria.What is your favourite secular music?I love most classical music, including opera; I also enjoy somejazz and modern music. My favourite composers would include:Rachmaninov, Vaughan-Williams, Finzi, Sibelius, Shostakovitch,Puccini, Barber, Lauridsen and Mahler. My ‘Hall of Fame’ wouldinclude: Sibelius’ Violin Concerto; Finzi, Dies Natalis, Vaughan-Williams’ The Lark Ascending; Puccini, Madama Butterfly;Rachmaninov, Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini; Beethoven,Eroica Symphony (no3) etc, etc, etc.Is there a person you would really like meet and why?There are so many of the saints (John of the Cross, Charles deFoucauld, Edith Stein and Damien of Molokai to name a few) Iwould love to meet and by God’s grace one day will have thechance to do so. Strangely among those alive there is no one Ihave a burning desire to meet, perhaps because of my love forhistory, all the figures I have an interest in have already left thisearth! The figures who attract me are so often those men ofwomen of courage and faith, who have stood up for truth andjustice (such as Oscar Romero, Savanarola, Walter Ciszek,Dietrich Boenhoeffer) or those who offer such inspirationthrough literature, art or music (such as Dante, Tolkien,Chesterton)If you were allowed a last meal what would it be?Cheese on toast with Marmite!If you were marooned on a desert island, apart from the Bible, whichbook and luxury item would you take?If I could get away with it I would say my kindle, which is stuffedwith my favourite books! If forced to make a choice (which Iwould find hard) it would either be the complete works of St Johnof the Cross or the Homilies of Blessed Guerric of Igny (I’m sureyou will meet these figures in homilies etc. over the comingmonths). The luxury item would have to be a coffee maker (withsupplies of course!)

10 Questions and AnswersContinuing our series interviewing members of the parish. In this edition we feature our new

parish priest, Canon Luke Smith.

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Why do Catholics WorshipMary?

Catholics DO NOT worship Mary, the Mother of Christ as though she were a deity.Catholics are just as aware as Protestants that Mary was a human creature andtherefore not entitled to the honours which are reserved to God alone. What manynon-Catholics mistake for adoration is a very profound love and veneration, nothingmore. Mary is not adored, first because God forbids it (Exodus 20:3-5) and secondlybecause the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, which is based on Divine Law,forbids it. Canon Law 1255 of the 1918 Codex strictly forbids adoration of anyoneother than the Holy Trinity. However, Catholics do feel that Mary is entitled to a greatmeasure of exaltation because, in choosing her as the Mother of His Son, Jesus, GodHimself exalted her more than any other human person before or since. Catholicsvenerate Mary because they earnestly desire to “imitate God, as children of His thatHe loves” (Ephesians 5:1). Mary herself prophesied: “For behold from henceforthall generations shall call me blessed. Because He that is mighty hath done great thingsto me; and holy is His name” (Luke 1:48-49). Catholics know that every bit of theglory they give to Mary reflects to the glory of her divine Son, just as Mary magnifiedGod, not herself, when Elizabeth blessed her (Luke 1:41-55). They know that thecloser they draw to her, the closer they draw to Him who was born of her. In the year434 St. Vincent of Lerins defended Christian devotion to Mary this way: “Therefore,may God forbid that anyone should attempt to defraud Holy Mary of her privilegeof divine grace and her special glory. For by a unique favour of our Lord and Godshe is confessed to be the most true and most blessed Mother of God.

Why do Catholics Pray to Mary and the Saints?

When Catholics pray to Mary and the other saints in Heaven they are notbypassing Christ, whom they acknowledge as the sole Mediator between God andman. They are asking Mary and other saints (that is, our brothers and sisters inHeaven, who are perfect in holiness) to intercede for them before the throne of Christin Heaven. “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another,that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.”(James 5:16) How much more effective is the unceasing prayer of the sinless Motherof Our Lord Jesus Christ! Christ must particularly approve of our going to Himthrough Mary, His Blessed Mother, because He chose to come to us through her.And at Cana, He performed His first miracle after a word from His Mother. (John2:2-11)

It is clear in Sacred Scripture that the saints in Heaven will intercede for usbefore the throne of Christ if they are petitioned in prayer (Revelations 8:3-4), and itis clear in the records of primitive Christianity that the first Christians eagerly soughttheir intercession. St. John Chrysostom wrote in the fourth century: “When youperceive that God is chastening you, fly not to His enemies, but to His friends, themartyrs, the saints, and those who were pleasing to Him, and who have great power.”If the saints have such power with God, how much more his own Mother?

proudly presents, for the 10thYear in succession, another extremely

entertaining

This kinematic extravaganza will take place on the eveningof Saturday, April 18th at 7.30 in the Dining Room of GroveHouse by kind permission of the Very Reverend Canon LukeSmith. A modest price of £4 per person will be charged andit is respectfully requested that seats be booked and paidfor before the event as space is limited. To avoiddisappointment it would be prudent to ring 01622 201481on your telephonic apparatus as soon as possible. . Allproceeds of the evening will be donated to the St Francis’Church Roof Fund. For your delectation, non-alcoholicdrinks will be served during the interval.

Here are two frequent questions your non-Catholicfriends may ask you and how to answer them.

God our Father, may we always profit by the prayersof the Virgin Mother Mary, for You bring us life andsalvation through Jesus Christ her Son, who lives andreigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen

GOD HAS A SENSE OF HUMOUR A woman received a call that her daughter was ill. Shestopped by the chemist to get medication, got back to hercar and found that she had locked her keys inside. Shethen found an old rusty coat hanger left on theground. She looked at it and said "I don't know how to usethis." She bowed her head and asked God to send herhelp. Within five minutes a beaten up old motorcyclepulled up. A bearded man, wearing old biker gear, got offof the cycle and asked if he could help. She said: "Yes,my daughter is sick, I’ve locked my keys in my car and Imust get home quickly. Please, can you use this hangerto unlock my car?" Taking the hanger, he walked over tothe car and in less than a minute the car was open. Shehugged the man and through tears said "Thank you somuch! You are a very nice man." The man replied "Lady,I am not a nice man. I just got out of prison yesterday. Iwas in for stealing cars.” The woman hugged the managain, sobbing, "Oh, thank you, God! You even sent me aprofessional!"

Mr Leonard Watson

Film EveningFilm Evening

It is not fitting, when one is in God’s service, tohave a gloomy face or a chilling look.

St. Francis of Assisi.6

12

Romans 8:29-30 RVS

For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to beconformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might bethe first-born among many brethren. And those whom Hepredestined He also called, and those whom He called He alsojustified; and those whom He justified He also glorified.

For those whom He foreknew.

God is all seeing and all knowing; beyond all the boundaries of time and space.He abides everywhere and pervades everything and is in the ever present now.How can God abide in everything? Because He is everything. It is confirmed inscripture. Why even the hairs of your head are all numbered. (Luke: 12-7). In our human reckoning this is completely outside of all rational thinking.There are approximately seven and a half billion human beings on this Earthand all the hairs of their head are numbered and known to our Lord? One staresinto our nothingness at the mere mathematics of this fact. Scripture does notlie, however, therefore we are left with the realisation that our Lord’smathematics surpasses any of our comprehension.

We are all foreknown to our Creator. When St. Paul says, for those whomHe foreknew, he does not mean a selective foreknowledge, a foreknowledgeof just the predestined, he means an absolute foreknowledge of every one ofthe Lord’s children. When God creates a soul, the complete life of that soulfrom conception to death and beyond is known. Again in our human reckoningit is beyond our understanding but remember the hairs of your head are allnumbered! Keep this fact within your sights, it’s a sort of base to keep God inproportion, so to speak!

...He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.

To be in conformity with Christ is solely the work of the Holy Spirit. Whenone has decided with our free will to strive to be Christ like, the Holy Spiritgrasps us and moulds us into the image of our Saviour. For man this isimpossible, but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). Aslong as we co-operate with the Spirit and do not rebel against Him He will belike a baker moulding and shaping and cutting and crafting until He has, not aperfect ginger bread man, but a perfect man in the image of his Creator. Holyand perfect! You therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenlyFather is perfect. (Matthew 5:48).

The Holy Spirit delights in this work and would wish to draw all souls intoHis divine transforming hands. Sadly because of man’s slavery to sin manyare called but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14).

The Lord God does not predestine, we do that with our free will. The Lordsimply foresees everything, knows everything, and the few are cherishedbecause of their unbridled love.

For if any one comes to me and does not hate his ownfather and mother and wife and children and brothers andsisters, yes and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke14: 26.) Does this seem in our reckoning quite harsh? Is it, or does it justencompass the First Commandment? For to love creatures before the Creatoris not Thou shalt have no other Gods before Me. (Deuteronomy5:7.) Christ’s commitment to saving us was total even to His atrocious deathon the Cross. Our commitment to Him must be total if we are to be consideredresidents of Heaven. Love one another as I have loved you (John13:34) but love God before anything or anybody, as Jesus loved and obeyedour Father before anything else.

...in order that He might be the first-born among many brethren.

Christ is the first born from the dead, according to both the human anddivine orders.The first born according to human order because on Mary’s sideHe is a son of Adam. He is the first to be born as all the children created by theFather should have been born. Christ is the first born according to the divineorder because He is the Father’s Son, begotten, not created by Him. Tobeget means to produce a life. To create means to form. Only a father and amother can beget a life. He is therefore the First Born because, born of God,He is at the head of all those born (according to grace) of God.Lastly He is the First Born from the dead because His Flesh was the

first to enter Heaven (From ‘The End Times’ August 16th 1943).

And those whom He predestined He also called.

Oh, to be called! Only the repentant sinner can understand thetransformation of full conversion. To be given the greatest gift while on thisearth, the gift of intimacy with our Creator, our Abba. Intimacy to be able toconverse freely with the most loving of Fathers and know, to feel, to experiencethat He hears every whisper and responds.

Theologians can scan the old texts. They can spend endless hours searching forthe knowledge of God. They can even think they have discovered Him alongwith their published works on the ‘history’ of Him. All is futile. For in reality,unless one is called by Grace to an intimate relationship with the living God,we are in the dark.

The Lord can open hidden doors far beyond any understanding of man and ifwe try to access by our own efforts alone, we only find winding ways leadingto illusion. The illusion will not be noticed of course. It is the intimacy, the lovethat illuminates by Grace.

...and those whom He called He also justified.

I am the Good Shepherd, I know my own and my own knowme (John 10:14). Everything is by the Grace of the Lord and faith in itsfullness is the treasure of treasures.

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdomof God like a child shall not enter it (Mark 10:15).

We can rationalise anything in life if we choose, and we do! It is themodern way to question the validity of almost anything. The problem howeveris this. Modernism leads to rationalism that leads to atheism. This is why theworld has apostatised. The definition of apostasy is the baptised deserting theirGod, which we have by the millions! Faith is not a thing we can define. This isbecause it is a Grace from our Lord and He can give it in its fullness if we willonly ask!

A child does not question when a parent teaches, he just believes, this ischildlike faith. This is what Jesus desires from us. Does the clay ask the potterwhat are you making? No. We are just the clay you know!

Jesus has justified all who believe by the blood of His Passion.... and allare justified freely by His Grace through the redemption thatcame by Christ Jesus... (Romans 3:24). By diminishing our God by ourincredulity we deny His omnipotence, we attempt to reduce Him to a size thatour feebleness can cope with. What foolishness this is, especially for mere dust!Our Saviour is the good shepherd who suffered an atrocious death to justifyus all. The very least we can do is to have faith that Scripture is all justified bythe third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Scripture does not lie and everyword must and will be fulfilled in the fullness of time.

...and those whom He justified He also glorified.

This final section, as in all the sections, can be taken in the present or pastcontext. I have always believed that scripture is the living Word of God, thereis no past, present or future to our Lord. The eye of God sees all moments asnow. Therefore future times are no mystery to Him.

The glorified departed abide with Him in our real home, Heaven. Theglorified also abide here at present on Earth. They are glorified in the fact thatthey are called, predestined and conformed to the image of His son Jesus theChrist. The glorified are glorified by their free will. They chose to follow theirFather, Master, Brother, Friend, and Beloved and by doing so they made andmake their own destiny.

Consider that miracles occurred from the mere brush of the garment ofChrist (Mark 5:28) when He was on Earth, and yet He could not save Judas ofKerioth (The Iscariot). The Lord does not do violence to our free will. Oh! thewisdom of our God, Oh! the respect of our Lord for His creatures!

Oh! that we could only begin to understand the greatness of the love ofour Father for us.)

(Christine is a member of the Maidstone Ordinariate Group)

P R E D E S T I N A T I O NChristine Mace

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I met Jane 47 years ago. She showed me love and modestly haddifficulty believing that anyone could fall in love with her soquickly. We married 46 years ago and have had 46 years ofhappy and supportive marriage.

She has always been a devoted member of the CatholicChurch and I was always happy to support her in this, vowingto bring up our children in the Catholic faith. We all used toenjoy Christmas Masses, particularly singing the carols. Janealways felt a great desire to attend as many of the specialEaster masses as possible, not always easy with young childrenand a husband working away from home.

Our life was filled with love, love for each other, love forour children –Nicola & Tracey but, with more time, moreabsorbingly over the last eighteen years, love for our eight lovelygrandchildren.

It was Jane’s birthday last Wednesday and some of her grandchildrenmade her the special birthday cards that only children can do. Ollie aged9 wrote in her card: “I am very sad that you died, but happy you’re safe withGod in Heaven.

I will always love you and never forget you even though you’re notwith us on Earth. We will always hug Grandpa to make him happy. Thankyou for all you have done for me. Happy birthday.”

Jane always liked singing from when she attended church and was amember of her school choir. She was recently a founder member of theHazlitt Theatre choir, where she made many friends. She didn’t demandattention but she would notice new members and people sitting alone andtalk to them, trying to make them feel comfortable and then introducingthem to other singers. She never thought of herself as being special, just

loving her friends and trying to help in her own quiet way. Shethen joined the church choir with her old friend and choir leader

Geraldine and learned more about singing. Again most of thechoir members considered her a good friend both with andwithout the choir. Here she learned to love singing thepsalms. She also joined the Heart of Kent Hospice choirwhere she got a great deal of satisfaction and even surprisedherself by singing Handel’s Messiah.

Jane also helped Geraldine set up and supervise the St.Francis’ Flame youth group. We thought it was a good and

worthwhile organisation to support. Again she would normallysit quietly and make new and lonely members feel more

comfortable. I know that many of these children feel a lot of lovefor their quiet helper. Thank you coming to show your love today.

Several years ago she joined a keep fit group at the Maidstone LeisureCentre where displaying her usual concern for other people, Jane mademany new friends.

She gained great solace from her Christian faith and I know wouldlike me to thank all the priests at St. Francis’, who have given us so muchsupport and prepared her to be received into Heaven. I feel a massive holein my heart and in my life that is a constant reminder of the love we feltfor each other. My consolations are the memories of the happy times wehad together and the love and affection of our children and grandchildren.

Many of you have sent cards and messages of sympathy describing heras a special lady, but she never saw herself as being special. But she was.She just showed love to all those she knew.

Some words from a Nat King Cole song seem to epitomise her life –“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”

Jane Chittleborough2 January 1950 - 11 January 2015

By her husband, Phill.

Irena Luiza Fiszerowna was born in Zapole, near Warsaw. Butshe spent 22 years of her life working in St Francis PrimarySchool, then next door to the Priest’s house. She actually tookthe post as temporary cover for the school secretary’s maternityleave but she stayed until she retired in 1987.

Pat Donovan, the first of the three headmasters Irenaworked with, wrote me a letter, in which he said that Irena was“a truly remarkable lady. I never knew her say anythinguncharitable about anyone – a really unique achievement. Hercontribution to the life of the school was far greater than herexcellent work as School Secretary.”

Through her work Irena was known to many in the Parish– she loved the fact that she saw generations come through,registering the children of children she used to collect dinner money from.Together with Ted, her husband, Irena was a familiar figure at St Francis;they were solidly rooted in the community here, but they were neverlimited by it. Both of them actively embraced the ecumenical movementof the 1960s and 70s, reaching out to other branches of the Christianchurch.

Irena’s journey from Zapole to Maidstone was a long and – at times –arduous one. She’d been born into a life of privilege - her clothes - evenher shoes and gloves - were handmade. In contrast, more recently, sheused to take delight in a bargain from Matalan. But she was never lessthan stylish.

Like most Poles of her generation, Irena’s life changed forever on 1September 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. Irena was 17 then; shewas staying with friends in the country but was desperate to get back toher father - by then he was living in Lodz. She got on a bus, but it wasstrafed by German stukas and all the passengers had to take cover in theroadside ditch. Irena only realised she’d lost her shoes somewhere whenshe finally made it home.

Irena’s father had many Jewish business associates and friends. Asthey and their families began to disappear into the ghettos of Lodz andWarsaw he did his best to support them. On more than one occasion Irena– still a teenager - made her way through the underground route, via thecellars of surrounding buildings, into the Warsaw ghetto, to take in foodand medicine. If the Germans had caught her she would have been shot.

In 1942 her father managed to get Irena out of Poland, on the pretextthat she was needed to care for his brother’s sick wife in Austria, and itwas in Wolfsberg after the war that Fräulein Fischer met a dashing youngBritish Warrant Officer, Ted Burgess, although legend has it that she onlyhad eyes for his horse! But he very definitely had eyes for her. Theymarried in 1947 and she became an army wife and continued her journeyever further from Zapole.

From Klagenfurt, where the twins, Max and Robin wereborn, the Burgesses were posted to Northern Ireland and thento Singapore, where I was born – then on to Berlin. In all theseplaces Mum made friends. Irena’s skill as a crack shot made hera popular member of the rifle club; she also threw herself intocharity work with the Women’s International Association. Butwherever she was she found friendship and solace in theCatholic community.

Irena had lost her mother when she was just 9 years old;from that point she always looked to Our Lady to guide her.Although Mum was born a Pole, she wasn’t actually born aCatholic. Her family was in fact Lutheran. But from themoment she lost her mother, Irena knew that, with her

devotion to Mary, her home lay in the Catholic Church. She convertedin her teens and her faith was at the core of her strength and hercompassion.

It was the foundation from which she faced down the problems oflife. She refused to give in to the arthritis which crippled her; she battledwith depression, but never let it win. Because Mum never did give up,when her sister, Alis, disappeared in the chaos of Europe in the aftermathof war, Mum kept on looking for her. After 10 years she found, not hersister, but her sister’s son – her beloved nephew, Stas, who has been sucha support to Mum since Ted died. And Stas never gave up, either – it mustbe genetic – he kept looking for his mother’s grave, but instead he foundhis mother, still alive, nearly 25 years after the war. Alis had been sodamaged by her experiences that she had become lost in the mental healthsystem and almost disappeared. I was a teenager at the time, but I canremember when Mum got the news that her sister was alive. I think whathappened to her sister played an enormous role in making Mum who shewas. I think she had to live for them both – to seize every opportunity thather sister never had, to live life to the full and give back all she could ingratitude for the life she had been given but her sister had not.

Like watching her children grow up. Mum treasured family life. Somany of you have told Max, Robin and me how proud she was of us andof our families. Well we, her children, her daughters-in-law and hergrandchildren, are enormously proud of her.

Mum’s was an extraordinary journey. She started out riding in horse-drawn vehicles, and ended up using an iPad. One of my favourite imagesof Mum from the past year is that of her showing photos to one of heroldest friends – my 94 year old godmother, Hilde – on her iPad. Right upto the end, Mum seized every opportunity that came her way to learn andto enjoy. She set us an example of how to celebrate everything that lifehas to offer, while giving everything that she had to offer – always.

Irena Burgess 27 July 1922 - 23 December 2014

By her daughter, Marya Burgess

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BAPTISMS

July 2014Ana Hughes, Linda Karklevalka, Daniel OgórekEmanuela Ogórek, Angelo Valantine Lazarus

August 2014Jack Ian Ray Harvey, Lilly Sophie Lecka,Angelo Demyter, Rhys Marc Smith,Munachimso Annemarie Uzochukwu,Aldona Zagojska, Aleksandra GaleckaScarlett Mia Zofia Macey, Lily Sofia EmmottJacob David Edwin Sharp, Oscar Brian Borkett.

September 2014Richard Ikemefuna Obiano, Lily RoseMcCormick, Natalia Melody Freyer,Eryk Ludwiczak, Nina Klara Pietrowska,Ellis Gary Cambulat.

October 2014Archie Stan Felstead, Alex Jan Krzyzanski,

Sebastian Chambers, Mikolaj Banka,

Jake William Bates, Mallie Maria Bates,

Thomas Anthony Nicholson,

Florence Elizabeth Andrew, Natalia Ogórek,

Tabitha Aoife Farren Edmans, Wiktor Stopa,

Marcel Smolinski.

November 2014Ankiambom Manny Williams,

Noel Michael Mwesigwa, Jemima Alice Waight,

Zuzanna Wolanin, Oliver George Dady,

Lily Anna Reid, Jessika Charley Emerick,

Rebekka Rose Emerick, Onoriode Samuel Steel,

Luca Emilia Tezer, Adrijan Teador Tumasevics,

Mae Emma McGuinness,

Madaleine Jane Landman,

December 2014Joseph Ekani Belinga,

Jeremiah Olugbemiga Ajiyo, Gabriela Mironik,

Maja Laura Dereszkiewicz, Anna Julia Szpak,

January 2015Philip Leszek Siodlowski, Iris Mary Sullivan,

Genevieve Louise Boutton, Kacper Filip Hoppa,

Aedan Seamus Kelly, Maya Barbara Bednarczyk,

Shay Liam Town, Tyler Jay Town.

February 2015Maja Joanna Glowa

MARRIAGESAugust 2014Marcus Anthony Jones & Louise Rachel Down,

Daniel Gary Peter Stevens & Emma LouiseFrances Clowsley.

September 2014Matthew William Michael Creed & Laura JaneCook,

Jamie Spencer Shilling & Sarina Luciana Cheek.

January 2015Marcin Stanislaw Walczak and Irina Orekhova.

February 2015Adan Cazas Garcia & Joanna Duda.

Kamil Krawczyk & Patrycja Kosobucka.

DEATHSJuly 2014Maurice Barabasz.

August 2014Thomas Callaghan, Herman Mokone.

September 2014Maria Carpenter, Pauline Gilman, Lycia King,Stephen Michael Fuller

October 2014Joycelyn Agnes Quinlivan, Joan Namey,

Mildred Ann McDermott.

November 2014Pamela Holdsworth, Alice Pannett,Joseph Letchford

December 2014Briony Roisin Morling, Betty Knott,Maria Lepetzidou, Francina Luen,Irena Burgess.

January 2015Robert Harold Jackson, Jane ChittleboroughMehranoush McNeilly, Paola King, Sammy Murphy, Marjorie Peters.

Francesca Bish, Sinéad Cullen, Ryan Ellesmere,Silke Heyse, Katie Hilden, Yasmin Huseyin,Emily Jones, James Joseph, Joice Joseph,Siobhan La Roche-Seeley, Tsholofelo MasegoKgarebe, Lukasz Madej, Oskar Maslanka, AllenShaji, Bartosz Szpak, Ben Tugwell, LuisFelgueiras .The above candidates from St. Francis’Church, pictured at St Vincent’s Youth Centreat Whitstable with Fr Bart and Lydia Burchell,were confirmed on Sunday, October 12th atSt Thomas More Church, West Malling, alongwith others from Holy Family, Maidstone,St.Peter’s, Bearsted and, of course, St.ThomasMore, West Malling .

Confirmations 2014

Forgive, O Fire, Forgive, O Light, the patent,

fraught impurity of we who thus presume

to open unclean lips, availing now

a portal for Your purity. Forgive

the chatter of our blithely fearless crowd

awaiting Your pure body pretty much

the way we stand in any fast-food queue,

considering our neighbours' faults, puzzling

at those odd few who seem to shiver some

as they approach Your wound. Holy One allow

that as we near the cup, before the coal

is set upon our trembling tongues, before

we blithely turn and walk again

into our many other failures, allow that we

might glimpse, might apprehend something of the fear

with which we should attend this sacrifice,

for which we shall not ever be found worthy,

for which-I gather-we shall never be prepared.

Scott Cairns

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