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CHURCH NEWS
Buckden Methodist Church
Minister:
Rev. Paul Beard (473444)
Stewards:
Bob Baxter (810092)
Carol Swepstone (810053)
Room Bookings:
Isabel Daniels (810084)
Services in March
Sunday 6
10.30 am Morning Service
Mrs. Rosemary Marchant
6.00pm S.U.S. Rev. Paul Beard
Sunday 13
10.30 am Morning Service, Rev. Miles Falla
6.00pm Favourite hymns & readings
Sunday 20
10.30 am Morning Service, Palm Sunday
Mrs. Wendy Beard
6.00pm Pam Siddall
Sunday 27
10.30 am Morning Service,
Easter Holy Communion
Rev. Katy Dunn
6.00pm No Fellowship
Activities in March
Fri 4
10.00 am
Coffee Morning
Tue 8
9.30 am
Quiet Time, Wesley Room
Wed 9
2.30 pm
CAMEO, Wesley Rm
Book review
Fri 11
10.00 am
Coffee Morning
Fri 18
12.00
Soup & sweet lunch
Tue 22
9.30 am
Quiet Time, Wesley Room
Fri 25
Good Friday
No Coffee Morning
Catholic Church of St Hugh of Lincoln,
High Street, Buckden
Telephone:
01480 810344
Website:
saintshughandjoseph.churchgoers.co.uk
In the pastoral care of the Claretian Missionaries:
Fr. Chris Newman cmf
Fr. Angel Ochagavia cmf
Fr. Peter Wareing cmf
Fr. Paul Peter Alphonse cmf
Sunday Masses
- Saturday evening at 6.30 pm and
Sundays at 9.45 am
Weekday Masses
- Monday, to Saturday at 9.30 am
in the Lady Chapel
Morning and Evening Prayer
Monday to Saturday
at 9.15 am and 5.45pm in the Lady Chapel.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation
every Saturday
from 10.00 to 10.30 am.
The Rosary
is prayed each Monday morning after
the 9.30 am Mass.
Catechism Classes
for school age children each
Sunday from 9.00 am in term time. Formal classes for
primary age children.
Silent Adoration.
There is half an hour of silent
adoration before the Blessed Sacrament every Thurs-
day following the 9.30 am Mass and ending with Ben-
ediction at 10.30 am.
Would any newcomers to the Village who are
Catholics please let Fr. Chris
Newman know their contact details
.
The Migrant Crisis
There is no issue about taking a few people in from a war zone: there is a deeper set of problems. We should distinguish be-
tween points at issue: confusion of issues happens too easily.
Quoting Christian duty as “care for the stranger” ignores the original biblical context. It was about individuals, never about
mass movements. The main mass movement in the Bible resulted in the destruction of Jericho and war with peoples already
living in the “promised land,” today it would be labeled “war crime” or genocide. Christian duty cannot be expected from non-
believers, so is not the strongest basis for a solution.
I specifically mentioned the civil war, referencing huge population growth, causing resource depletion as a major source of the
conflict, exacerbated by the total failure of Islamic states to address inequality in their own countries, and ill considered interfer-
ence from outside. Libya, Iraq and Iran testify to this. Similarly, to ignore taking refugees in on a permanent basis as highly
damaging to the country of origin, as well as promoting traffickers, misses key factors. The fact that large numbers of “Syrians”
are not war refugees and have other agendas, is left out.
The current Syrian / migrant issue is the tip of a much bigger iceberg. The Sahel region in Africa is a huge demographic/ envi-
ronmental bomb. The “open door”, ”duty” argument is simply unworkable as a solution. If this “duty” is a universally applicable
moral imperative then you have to take all the peoples that will be / are being displaced / persecuted everywhere, and do it
now, today, no “picking and choosing” as headlines alter. Such policy is clearly unworkable politically and practically.
Duty lies with the UN and politicians to create “safe havens”, not to interfere in the internal feuds of Middle East countries, but
to concentrate on solutions that address the root cause of problems, while securing the futures of their own people, for whom
they are responsible. The real solution is a lot harder to instigate than a simplistic “duty” suggests. One simple step is support
groups lobbying for increased foreign aid, targeting Women’s rights to control the number of children they have. This is not
“doing nothing”. If you are interested in contributing to such schemes please let me know.
There is a huge difference between taking some people in in a controlled way with a clear structure to return them to their own
country for the benefit of its future, and a knee jerk policy of residence in UK and Europe. The former is acceptable. The latter
is not.