30th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Loving God and Our Neighbour

This week’s newsletter brings exciting news and forthcoming events from our growing parish community.

Parish Hall Development: With planning permission now granted, we are moving forward with our vision for a renewed, accessible and welcoming parish hall. We are exploring grant opportunities and welcome support from parishioners and potential benefactors.

All Saints Parade: Children are warmly invited to dress as their favourite saints and join the procession during the 10.30 am Mass on Sunday 1 November.

Remembering Our Loved Ones: November prayer lists are available. Cemetery blessings will take place on Sunday 1 November at Putney Vale (2.00 pm) and Kingston Cemetery Chapel (3.00 pm).

The Still Point: Our new monthly gathering for university students begins on Thursday 19 November, offering silent Adoration, pizza and friendship.

Lourdes Pilgrimage: Fr James will carry parishioners’ prayer intentions to Our Lady’s Grotto during his first pilgrimage to Lourdes.

Read our full newsletter for details of parish activities, youth gatherings, Bible study, well-being programmes and Mass intentions.

At St Ann’s, there is always room for one more.

Twenty Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Homily

My dear brothers and sisters,

A learned scholar was crossing a river in a small boat. Looking at the passenger beside him, he asked, “Have you studied the sacred scriptures?”

“No, sir.”

“What about philosophy?”

“No, sir.”

“The great commentaries?”

“I’m afraid not, sir.”

The scholar shook his head. “My poor man! Half your life has been wasted!”

The passenger remained quiet. He had bought a ticket to cross the river. He hadn’t realised there would be an examination!

The scholar continued talking. He knew what every great teacher had said about almost everything.

Then the weather changed.

The wind grew stronger. The little boat began tossing. Water splashed over the sides.

The waves became bigger. The scholar’s explanations became considerably shorter.

Now the quiet passenger leaned towards him.

“Sir, may I ask you one question?”

“Yes, yes! Quickly!”

“Do you know how to swim?”

“No!”

“Then, sir, I’m afraid your whole life is about to be wasted!”

My dear friends, in two recent conversations, including a gathering of priests, much of our attention went towards bringing new people into the faith.

That is a beautiful and important part of our mission. There is always room for one more.

But I came away wishing we had spoken more about the everyday life of the people already entrusted to us.

Who is helping the people already in the boat to learn how to swim?

Who is accompanying a husband and wife through a difficult season? Who helps someone whose prayers seem unanswered? Who notices the person who smiles after Mass, then goes home to an empty house?

Teaching somebody to swim takes patience. You cannot stand on the bank shouting instructions forever. You have to come close, offer support, and stay while they struggle.

Something similar can happen in our families.

Out of love, parents arrange lessons, activities and opportunities. These can be wonderful gifts. Yet children also need unhurried time with us: time to talk, to laugh, to ask their questions, to be heard.

Sometimes, in arranging everything for our children, we can leave very little time simply to be with them.

Faith grows in that shared life too. A child needs someone who will listen to their worries and help them bring those worries to God.

And we have such deep resources to draw upon.

Our Catholic faith is rooted in Sacred Scripture and the living Tradition of the Church: the apostolic faith handed on in her teaching, worship and life. Christ nourishes us through his word and the sacraments.

Think of how that faith reached many of us.

Perhaps you remember your grandparents kneeling in prayer. The family gathering at the end of the day. Someone beginning the Our Father. Someone remembering a sick neighbour.

The children might have been restless. One eye closed, the other checking whether it was nearly finished!

Yet something profound was happening.

We were learning where to bring our worries. We were learning to depend on God, together.

A child who sees a parent kneel discovers that even the person they depend upon needs someone to lean on.

Years later, that child may forget many instructions. But they may remember: when things were difficult, we prayed together. We could speak. Someone listened.

That is faith becoming a lived reality.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks whose image is on the coin. Caesar’s. Then he says, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

And whose image do we bear?

Genesis tells us: God’s image.

We belong to him. So does the person beside us. Giving ourselves to God reaches into how we treat that person.

St Thomas Aquinas teaches that charity gives faith its living form: love brings our faith to life.

Today, St Paul calls it “work of faith and labour of love.”

So this week, let us make a little room in our family life. Put the phones aside. Listen without rushing. Gather for a few minutes of prayer. Bring the worries, the gratitude, the names of those who need help.

And remember those who have nobody at home to pray with.

Make the telephone call. Offer the invitation. Sit beside them.

May the faith that taught us to kneel before God also teach us to draw close to one another.

Then, when the boat begins to rock, somebody will know: I do not have to face this alone.

Amen.