In today’s gospel, the disciples are arguing over honour in their ranks – “I’m the greatest,” “No I’m the greatest”. Jesus tackled the programme head on, “ if anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all”. But he didn’t stop there, he went further, he told the disciples to welcome children, then the lowest creatures in the culture. Children could not be counted on to reciprocate, nor were they likely to broadcast the magnanimous charity shown to them to a wide audience.
Are we guilty of this too? When we reflect on every “Little child” in our community – we need to reflect on all the silent, marginalised, insignificant persons who are nameless faces; do we give them the same consideration we would give to a visible, active ,perhaps powerful and influential member of our community?

You have probably seen that the Russian Choir have cancelled their concert tour and we are not yet hiring out the parish centre, SS John Fisher & Thomas More remains shut. We are being cautious, we will wait for a further few weeks then make our decisions as to reopening, paramount will be keeping people safe. If you are still to complete your vaccinations, please do so, if you are asked to wear a mask in a public place, please do so .
You may not feel that you are in danger of falling ill but as “the last and servant of all”, we should do all we can to minimise risk to others.