Christmas_Edition_2018

CHAPLAINCY
Page-15
The John Fisher Association
You are welcome!
The JFA is a registered charity made from all Parents
and Carers of pupils of The John Fisher School.
What do we do? Organise social events, fundraise and
support the school where we can.
Why get involved?
For your son - the better the school is, the better
are our boys’ life chances and happiness.
For you - you will be informed, involved, make
friends and most importantly make a difference.
Without supporters there will be no JFA
How much time? - As little or as much as you want. No
act of kindness is ever wasted.
Save the Date – JFA AGM meeting on Wednesday 19 th
September, 7.30pm. Plough Lane, Purley
Contact us to: Say hello, share ideas for events, would
you like to join the Committee, do you have skills to
share? We’d love to hear from you...
JFAParents@gmail.com
In September Fr James introduced a new system of reward based on trust and ability called “Chaplains’
Assistant.” There are currently five students who have a badge identifying themselves with this singular
position of privilege and responsibility, with three students in Year 11 and two in Years 8/9. The new
academic year has been a busy one for Fr James and his team of chaplain’s assistants with the ongoing
training of Year 7 in altar serving and in a deeper understanding of the mass in preparation for Year 8 &
11 RE.
The celebration of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament continues
each Tuesday lunch time and the high number of altar servers from
across the Year groups continues to impress Fr James. Each student
who comes to the chapel is given the opportunity to write a
personal prayer, to place it into a basket before the monstrance and
to light a candle on the altar as a symbol of their prayer before the
Lord. We have also included the Divine Mercy image of Christ from
Poland placed under the monstrance with the fitting words “Jesus I
trust in You.”
The whole school has recently been given the opportunity of going to Confession in preparation for
the Christmas celebration of Christ’s birth and we are most grateful to all our local priests (and Bishop
Paul Hendricks) who so generously gave up their time to come into school for this purpose. Mr Mills
in the Design and Technology department has been busy creating portable screens for the purpose of
anonymous confessions to which many of our students were very grateful.
Fr James has arranged a trip to Rome for April next year. It will be a four day visit to the Eternal City
taking in all the historical sites such as the Coliseum, the Roman Forum and many of the religious venues
such as the Sistine chapel, St Peter’s Basilica, it promises to be a true feast of culture and delicious food.
Fr James knows all the best ice cream parlours, shops and good value restaurants so the students are
already getting very excited.
Faith Club continues to go from strength to strength
with an average attendance of between thirty and forty
people each Friday. Mr Cooper has successfully arranged
some excellent speakers including Fr Matthew O’Gorman
who spoke on the subject of life after death, using the
traffic light colours to represent Heaven, Purgatory and
Hell. Author and journalist Dame Joanna Bogle spoke
about being Counter Cultural like St John Paul II and St
Teresa of Calcutta, The term will end with our usual party
in Room 33 for all students who have so generously given
their time as Servers and or Faith Club attendees and we
thank our regular team of “old boys” Keith Ockenden,
Rory Loftus, and Jonathon Ward who faithfully return
each week to assist with the refreshments.
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