Divine Providence and Outreaches

Another whole week of lectures has just flew by. We've have now finished 3 weeks of SPES!  Where has the time gone.  So far we all seem to be settling in well and getting on with each other.  Each day we are discovering more and more about ourselves and each other.


This past week our lectures were focused on Divine Providence and Outreach.  We were introduced to some of the Parish's outreaches which we will be involved in.  Alexandra introduced us to the SOS Prayerline, which has been running now for over 11 years. We are looking forward to being a part of it soon. All the prayer books from the past 11 years are kept in the Chapel downstairs.  It is amazing to think that there are all these requests for prayer by telephone and soon we were be there to receive the calls and offer the prayers to Our Lord, present in the Blessed Sacrament.




As well as this we also learnt more about Open House, which is when the Parish feed some of the homeless and less fortunate in our area. It happens twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Normally there are approximately 60-80 guests each night.  The evening relies on the support of volunteers.  We will be helping on one of the nights each week.  The idea of it seems a little scary at times but after learning more about how it is run we are looking forward to helping out and meeting some of the guests.



There were lectures about some of the other outreaches we will be involved in such as LumiNations and NightFever. This weekend we were able to experience our first NightFever together as a group. We have been looking forward to it all week. (We'll do a separate update soon all about our first experience of NightFever at St Patrick's).  Paula, from the Cenacolo Prayer Group, came along this week and spoke to us about the Cenacolo Community and providence.  It is amazing to hear how God has worked in the community.  It truly shows how God provides for us.  Robert, from 40 Days for Life, spoke to us about some of the pro-life issues and in particular the 40 Days for Life campaign, which is happening in London at the moment. Yesterday we headed out on a Catholic History Walk with Joanna Bogle. It was a fantastic experience, there is so much Catholic history right here on our doorstep! (Again we will do a separate post about Joanna's walk.)

Cookathon

Today was an interesting day. We got to experience our first 'Cookathon' which is basically when we all gather together for a full day of cooking at St Patrick's.  Each of us cooked a different dish and cooked enough to make a few meals.  We cook everything from fresh and then freeze it so that we have some nice dishes for our lunch and dinner over the coming weeks.  Means a little less cooking everyday.  The meals that we have cooked are cottage pie, fish pie, Thai green chicken curry, tomato and coriander chicken, meatballs, roast veg, and some burgers and garlic bread as well as some cupcakes and rhubarb crumble.  Some of us have done some cooking before while as others have only been used to a little cooking for ourselves or not at all! Thankfully Della had kindly organised all our ingredients before we arrived and had our instructions written out on a page for us.



Philip, who lives at St Patrick's, also came along to help us. It was a great day and we had lots of fun and laughs.  Everything seems to have went well, except for the first lot of jam tarts which ended up in flames! We shall be nice and not name names but it wasn't us girls!

After the flames had been put out!

We are now very much looking forward to trying out our different dishes.  It will be nice to be able to say that we made them ourselves.



Thanksgiving

Last Thursday we were invited to join Anne and Dan, friends of SPES, to celebrate the American holiday of Thanksgiving at their home in Ascot. We were welcomed warmly into their beautiful home. A Carmelite priest from India, Father James, who is currently serving in a Parish in Florida, celebrated Mass for us in Anne and Dan’s private chapel. This was extra special because it really helped emphasize the true meaning of thankfulness which often gets lost in a secular society. So we ate the Bread of Life, and then we dug into some delicious traditional Thanksgiving food! It was a wonderful night with great food and great company. We are so thankful for Father James for celebrating Mass for us and joining us for dinner.  We are ever grateful for Dan and Anne for their hospitality and support to the school.

Pictures will follow shortly :)