Joining us to celebrate this occasion were our Diocesan President, Elizabeth Tindley and her fellow officers, UCM members from Holy Family, St Gertrude's, and St John the Baptist as well as Father Patrick Murtagh, Deacon Phil Pond and past members. It was especially nice to welcome past members and chat about old times. The evening was rounded off by some harmonious music by the Male Voice Choir associated with St Gertrudes.
The Union of Catholic Mothers is all about friendship, sharing, love, sympathy and practical help, and during the past 25 years, I have made some wonderful friends at St Columba’s and other parishes. When I first arrived in Selsdon in 1970 leaving my close-knit family and friends in the West Indies, I attended mass every Sunday at St Columba’s, but as usual, everyone came out from church and went off to their respective homes. I felt very home-sick at times, but joining the Union of Catholic Mothers in 1978 when it was set up by Father Edwards made me feel very much part of the parish.
I would welcome all ladies of the parish to come along to any of our meetings. We try and provide a varied programme for our evenings, so come along and have a night out!
Monica Furk
President UCM
Here I must mention special thanks to a few people without whom we would never have got the show off the ground. Firstly thanks to Father Murtagh for permission to use the hall and for his great encouragement over the months then to Peter Appleby who made the eight stands on which our work was displayed, to Ian Bennett who made and delivered to us a splendid picnic lunch and lastly to Ron Head who collected and returned the stands.
The show ran until 8.00pm on Saturday and then from 9.00am until 8.00pm on Sunday. Two facts had been overlooked when the booking had been made- one that it was Mothering Sunday and two that it was Church Parade. In fact there was no problem. The Brownies had a cake sale so refreshment was provided for our visitors too. The young people seemed to enjoy our work (we do have young part-time members and their work was on display) we were happy to explain how effects were achieved to them and the parents who accompanied them. Also, Sunday was one of those brilliant bright days that are made for after lunch walks and many families chose to walk to the Exhibition. Over the two days there was only a short spell around Sunday lunchtime when we had no one otherwise we were kept very busy showing and talking about our work to visitors and friends. One of our most distinguished visitors was Patrick Pike from The Society of Catholic Artists.
We didn’t count the number of pieces on show but the work was a selection of all the different things we had done in the year and included still life in charcoal or chalk, paintings, drawings, mono printing, sculpture and textiles. One of the favourite pieces seems to have been a 3D montage of miniature clothes. The visitors’ book was full of compliments for our efforts and the standard of the exhibition. We sold a total of 40 items and that included sales by complete novices who will now have to learn to consider themselves professional artists!
By the end of Sunday we were all exhausted but the excitement had kept us going. It was very pleasing to meet the buyers arriving to collect their purchases as we were rushing about clearing up. Everything had to be back in place before Monday morning. It always amazes me how clearing up is a much quicker process than setting up!
A few days after the Exhibition we had a meeting. We had set out to show the parish what we had been up to in the hall for the past year and we agreed that this had been done. Then we started planning our next Exhibition in 2004 and we hope to see you there.
Judy Freegard
The day opened with Mass followed by refreshments, always a good way to begin! Fr Peter then gave us a talk based on the Jubilee letter from Pope John Paul. This letter, published for the Millennium, was unusual in that it was addressed not only to the bishops and clergy as is the norm, but also to the laity. Fr Peter told us that it is written in a very straightforward style and is well worth reading in full (it is published by the CTS and costs £1.50). He explained that it has four parts and after a brief description of the themes of each he proposed to use parts two and three as the basis of his reflections.
The first of these two talks was entitled “looking into the face of God”. Fr Peter (and of course the Pope) stressed the importance of silence if we are to know God better and give ourselves a chance to meet Christ. He reminded us of the suggestion of St Ignatius of Loyola in his spiritual exercises that we visualise a scene from the gospels, placing ourselves in that scene and then looking into the eyes of Jesus as he taught and healed people, or spoke with his disciples. Fr Peter urged us to experience silence in our noisy, busy and often stressful lives.
After this talk we had half an hour to spend in silence – a very restful and, for me, rewarding time.
Next came lunch and time to share our thoughts with others, to renew friendships or meet new acquaintances.
We then returned to the church for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and to listen to the second talk this time on the theme “seeing the face of Christ in others”, the third section of the Pope’s letter. There was then a chance to receive the sacrament of reconciliation.
After a final cuppa it was time to go home, having experienced a thought provoking and enjoyable day.
Margaret Charman