Newsletter: 24th September 2023

Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

16.30 Confessions
17.30 VIGIL MASS

09.00 MASS
10.30 MASS
12.00 Baptisms

10.00 Mass
18.30 Christmas Fair Planning Meeting

10.00 Requiem Mass for Michael Patrick O’Carroll

10.00 Mass
19.30 UCM Meeting

Father Brady’s Day Off

10.00 Mass

16.30 Confessions
17.30 VIGIL MASS

09.00 MASS
10.30 MASS
12.00 Baptisms

PLEASE NOTE MASS CHANGES NEXT WEEK

CHRISTMAS FAIR PLANNING MEETING NEXT WEEK
It’s that time of year to start planning for the Christmas Fair and raise money for Parish Funds. Planning Meeting will take place on
Monday 25th September at 6.30p.m. All welcome!

UCM MEETING
Wednesday 4th October 7.30pm. Gentle chair exercises, all ladies of the parish are welcome to join us in this gentle activity.

READERS, EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS & MUSIC
Please could you make yourself known to Father Brady before every Mass in order to clarify the liturgy. Thank you

PIETY STALL
There are blue and red grave side candles now available £2.25 for a large candle and £1.50 for a small candle which can be left in the cemetery to continue your prayers.

WEEKLY FOOD DONATIONS
Please continue to support this worthy cause by placing any items of food in the basket under the table in the atrium. Food donations are taken weekly by the U.C.M to the Trinity Food Bank.

WEEKEND REFRESHMENTS
Tea and Coffee available after weekend Masses on a very relaxed basis. If anybody would like to make a hot drink after Masses for others you are very welcome to do so.

PARISH OFFICE HOURS THIS WEEK ARE MONDAY & TUESDAY 8.30AM to 5PM.

PLEASE RING PRIOR TO CALLING OUTSIDE THESE HOURS.

BAPTISM CERTIFICATE COPIES REQUESTS
For those requesting copies of baptism certificate, the office can be contacted initially and the certificate can be collected at any of the weekend Masses.

This is also to encourage people to come to Mass.

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION PROGRAMME 2023/2024
Letters and registration forms have been sent out via St Mary’s Primary school for children who attend the school. Forms must be returned to Church by Thursday 5th October.

For parents of children who attend other schools please speak to Father Brady this weekend if your child is a baptised Roman Catholic in Year 3 or above and would like to make their First Holy Communion next year. The first meeting will take place in church on Tuesday 10th October 2023 at 6.00pm.

WALSINGHAM 2024
No dates set yet but we need an idea of how many people would like to go next year to Walsingham in order to determine whether we go alone as a Parish or join with another Parish to keep the costs down . Please sign the list in the Atrium if interested.

INTERESTED IN BECOMING A CATHOLIC?
If you are interested in becoming Roman Catholic there will be an initial (short) meeting on 26th September at 7 p.m. in the Atrium to register your interest.

It is envisaged that we will have a fortnightly session prior to being received into church in Eastertide.

PLEASE NOTE MASS TIMES MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE DURING THE WEEK FOR FUNERALS OR UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES. THE NEWSLETTER ON THIS WEBSITE AND NOTICEBOARD WILL BE UPDATED TO INFORM OF ANY CHANGES.

Lourdes TV

Please click on the red ‘Play’ button to watch Lourdes TV.

STAY WITH US, LORD, ON OUR JOURNEY

THIS WEEK’S GOSPEL

It is hard not to sympathise with the workers who have sweated it out right through the day in the hot sun. The idlers who have hardly got earth on their spades or grease on their hands get a great bonus and I get no bonus at all! Is this fair? No. God is not fair. You can’t apply the concept of “fairness” to God at all. We can’t enter into a reckoning with God. God does not calculate as we do. In the terms of this world, this is obvious enough. The wicked do prosper, while honesty and high moral standards, instead of being rewarded are often simply mocked. Can we go deeper and say that the reward is in heaven? This hardly fits with the way Jesus worked here on earth. He did not reward the virtuous. He said he was the doctor who had come to the sick. His favourites were the worst of society, tax-collectors and prostitutes, not even amiable rascals. Heaven was open to anyone who accepted him. It is no good looking for fairness in God, for this implies that we deserve something. We cannot claim to ‘deserve’ anything; we are simply called into a loving relationship and to put our trust in Jesus. What does this Sunday’s Gospel say about the generosity of God? When have you experienced God’s generosity, his kindness and forgiveness in your own life?

BAPTISMS Please see Fr. Brady after Mass if you would like your child to be baptised. A baptismal certificate for one of the parents must be provided as evidence of baptism in a Roman Catholic Church before a baptism date can be given. We welcome parents and children and by attending Masses at the weekend on Saturday at 5.30pm, Sunday at 9.00am or 10.00am which fulfil the Sunday obligation. All Catholics are OBLIGED to celebrate Mass on EVERY Sunday.

SICK AND HOUSEBOUND If you know of anybody who would like Fr Brady to visit, could you please give him their name and address with postcode and a contact telephone number. Thank you.

MASS INTENTIONS AND NEWSLETTER INCLUSIONS The practice of requesting a Mass to be offered for loved ones, living or deceased, is a beautiful and wonderful part of our Catholic Tradition. Continuing this long-standing practice, you can remember someone who has died recently or many years ago. The Mass can also make beautiful gifts for any special occasion: birthdays, anniversaries, in thanksgiving for a prayer answered etc. You can offer an intention for anybody who is struggling with a serious illness or other difficulties of life. Please hand in any Mass Intentions and items for the bulletin before Thursday as the newsletter is printed on Friday Morning. There are Mass Intention Envelopes provided on the table in the Atrium. Please provide a contact number with Mass Intentions so that any discrepancies can be resolved. Thank you.

MASSES AND PRAYERS RECEIVED THIS WEEK

Lately Dead
Brian Sandiford, Michael Patrick O’Carroll

Anniversary
Monsignor Tom Mulheran

Birthday Memory
Sidney Elston, Martha Hornby

Sick
Mark Tonge

Other
Intentions of Mr and Mrs Anigbo

This week the Sanctuary Lamp burns for:

Victims Of Human Trafficking

This week Our Lady’s Lamp burns for:

Austin Coote