Fourteenth Week of Orinary Time (A)

Dear Parishioners, 

‘Welcomed into the body of Christ and reborn in the springs of life, they confidently say: I will go up to your glorious dwelling-place and into the house of God. The house of God is the Church, the ‘dwelling-place’ where dwells the sound of joy and thanksgiving, the crowds at the festival. So then, you who have followed our lead and robed yourselves in Christ, let the words of God lift you out of this turbulent age as a net lifts the little fishes out of the water. In us the laws of nature are turned upside down – for fish, taken out of the water, die; but the Apostles have fished us out of the sea that is this world not to kill us but to bring us from death to life. As long as we were in the world, our eyes were peering into the depths and we led our lives in the mud. Now we have been torn from the waves, we begin to see the true light. Moved by overwhelming joy, we say to our souls: Put your hope in the Lord, I will praise him still, my saviour and my God’ (from St. Jerome’s Homily on Psalm 41 to the newly baptised)

As St. Jerome says, without The Church, a Catholic is a fish out of water. The Church is the body to which we belong. We are each of us part of the body of Christ, and the church, our building is where we come together as the body of Christ. It is here our souls are fed by God himself with his very self, with the body of Christ at the holy sacrifice of the mass. Jesus, son of the Father, one with the father feeds us with his body so that we too through him become one with God. For this we have to come together, physically in the one place, at the altar. We have to partake of the one bread. For we are creatures of God made of matter and spirit, body and soul. We cannot be fed by watching the mass on the internet. We must be present with the Real Presence in our church.

It was a profound experience being with so many of you at daily adoration after the church was allowed to open for private prayer. We just had to be together with Jesus our Lord. No word spoken. No obligation. Nothing going on to divert the mind. Just prayer and unity with Jesus present at our altar. I will miss these times of silence, peace and unity with Him together with you dear parishioners. As you know, I have been saying mass in private every day since lockdown, but now on the first day of the end of lockdown, I am saying mass in public again. In order to do this, many guidelines and restrictions have been implemented even as they seem to increase in complexity and burden every day, but which can be summed up in three points:

• Be guided by the stewards.
  
• Be aware that there is no Sunday obligation yet and so come to mass once a week on any day you can. If you do not go out to work in the week, come on a weekday to allow more room for families at the weekend as we have a maximum number the church can take at any mass.
  
• Be considerate of others.

It will be good to see you, for somewhere hidden within all these regulations, will be holy mass.

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION MASSES: SATURDAY 25TH AND SUNDAY 26TH JULY 2020

Parents….. please check your email to find out which mass is for your child. Eight to nine children and their families have been given Saturday 25th at 12.00 noon and 6.30 p.m. and Sunday 26th at 9.00 a.m. and at 10.30 a.m.

All celebrations afterwards are in the hands of parents in their homes. No rehearsal is needed. Just come and find the pew assigned to your child and family.

Other Parishioners……. please think about attending mass on a weekday that week. There is still no Sunday obligation so you can in good conscience come on another day that week.

DEATHS

Agnello Gomes ( dd 8th May 2020 Funeral held in Wales Thursday 21st May)

Pamela Beadle (dd 9th May 2020 Funeral in private 26th May 2020)

Maureen Bowes (dd 31st May 2020, funeral held in private Monday 15th June 2020)

Vincenzo Brogna (dd 9th June 2020, funeral held in private Tuesday 23rd June 2020)

May the divine assistance remain with them always and may their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

GIFT AID BOXES ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR COLLECTION AT CHURCH AT ALL CHURCH OPENING TIMES FOR THE NEXT THREE WEEKS. PLEASE ASK ME FOR YOUR GIFT AID BOX DURING CHURCH OPENING TIMES.

MASSES AND INTENTIONS FOR THE COMING WEEK: FOURTEENTH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME

Saturday 4th July FOURTEENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME ( A )

+ 6.30 p.m. The people of the parish W.B.

Sunday 5th July

+ 9.00 a.m. Domnick Pacheco R.I.P.

+10.30 a.m. ad mentem dantes

Monday 6th July St. Maria Goretti, virgin & martyr, memorial.

+ 10.00 a.m. Thomas and Adrienne Kennedy T.G.

Tuesday 7th July

+10.00 a.m. Carole Frances Tracey

Wednesday 8th July

+ 10.00 a.m. ad mentem dantes

Thursday 9th July [The Visitation of the BVM]

+10.00 a.m. Sandanam Deveras R.I.P.

Friday 10th July The Most Precious Blood, votive mass.

+ 10.00 a.m. Sarah Hancock R.I.P.

Saturday 11th July St. Benedict, abbot, patron of Europe, feast.

+ 10.00 a.m. Deceased Members of the Fanthome Family R.I.P.

+ 6.30 p.m. FIFTEENTH SUNDAY (A)