On Sunday 28th May 2023 we will celebrate the International Day in our Parish, with a special mass and afterwards a gathering in the hall with food from different countries. More details in our newsletter.
World Youth Day this year will take place in Lisbon. It is a wonderful opportunity for young people to deepen their faith, see the Pope and experience the Universal Church on a wider scale The Spiritans are organising a group to attend WYD from 29th July to 6th August. The price will be around £300 which includes food and accommodation but does not include flights and transfers to the accommodation. Please contact the Parish Office if you would like to attend or just need more details.
Please see here the masses in our Parish during Holy Week and Easter 2023:
Saturday 1st April:
10.00am Morning Mass
6.00pm Vigil Mass
Palm Sunday 2nd April:
9.30am Procession of Palms & Children’s Liturgy
11.00am Procession of Palms & Mass
6.00pm Evening Mass
Monday of Holy Week 3rd April:
10.00am Mass of Holy Week
Tuesday of Holy Week 4th April:
9.00am(!!) Mass of Holy Week
12.00pm Chrism Mass in Westminster Cathedral
Wednesday of Holy Week 5th April:
10.00am Mass of Holy Week
Maundy Thursday 6th April:
8.00pm Mass of the Last Supper & Adoration
Good Friday 7th April:
No morning mass
11.15am Stations of the Cross for children
3.00pm Stations of the Cross & Good Friday Liturgy
Holy Saturday 8th April:
No morning mass
8.00pm Easter Vigil Service
Easter Sunday 9th April:
9.30am Easter Sunday Mass
11.00am Easter Sunday Mass
NO EVENING MASS(!!)
Save the date: The popular Family Bingo is back. The next one will be on Saturday 1st April 2023, from 7pm, in the hall. Bring your own nibbles. Kids friendly. Cash prices can be won and the bar will be open.
Our Parish is organising a pilgrimage to Medjugorje in Croatia. The dates of the pilgrimage are Tuesday 11th to Tuesday 18th July 2023. The cost is £650 per person for a shared ensuite room and includes return flights, half board accommodation and a tour guide. There are 20 spaces available. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
During Lent 2023 each Wednesday until 29th March we will be holding Lenten Spiritual Journey sessions entitled ‘Journeying with the suffering Servant’. These sessions will be from 6.30pm to 7.00pm followed by the Stations of the Cross at 7pm. All are welcome to join any of the sessions.
All Parishioners are invited to come for a Fairtrade breakfast and refreshments after both morning masses on Sunday 12th March in the Parish Centre. If you can make some cakes or biscuits using Fairtrade ingredients for the morning that would be wonderful. During Fairtrade Fortnight do look for products in your supermarket with the Fairtrade logo. Making the small switch to Fairtraide supports producers in protecting the future of some of our most-loved food and the planet.
Save the date: on Saturday 18th March 2023 will be our St Patrick’s Day party in the hall with Irish dancing and music. There will be a buffet and the bar will be open. We will start at 7pm. It is £5 per adult, and children are free.
For more information please contact the Parish Office.
An invitation from the Bishops of England and Wales
This is the bread come down from heaven (John 6:58)
A beautiful hallmark of the Catholic faith is the profound desire to participate in the Holy Mass and share in the Eucharist. We do so with deep gratitude and joy. The Eucharist gives the Church her identity – “The Eucharist makes the Church, and the Church makes the Eucharist.” It enables us to worship Almighty God, to support each other on our journey of faith, and to be a visible sign of faith in the world. This hallmark is supported and strengthened by the precept that our fundamental Christian duty is to worship God by participating in the celebration of Mass. Attending Mass on Sundays and Holy Days is the greatest of all privileges, sometimes referred to as “the Sunday Obligation.”
Since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, until the present time, we have shared with you our judgment that the situation of the last two years has meant that the Sunday Obligation has been impeded and has needed to be fulfilled in other ways. We thank God that this situation has now changed. The pressing challenges of the pandemic have lessened significantly. Most people have resumed the wide range of normal activities, no longer restricted by the previous Covid measures. We therefore believe that the reasons which have prevented Catholics from attending Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation no longer apply.
We understand there will still be some members of our congregations who, for reasons of health, do not feel safe enough to return to Mass. It has always been the understanding of the Church that when the freedom of any Catholic to attend Mass in person is impeded for a serious reason, because of situations such as ill health, care for the sick or legitimate fear, this is not a breach of the Sunday Obligation.
Our Catholic people and parishes have benefitted during these difficult times from the online streaming of Mass and other services. “Virtual viewing” of Mass online does not fulfil the Sunday Obligation. It may, however, be a source of continual spiritual comfort to those who cannot attend Mass in person, for example those who are elderly and sick, for whom the obligation does not apply. In this context, we recognise gratefully the ministry of those who administer Holy Communion to the elderly, sick and housebound.
We are grateful to our clergy, religious and lay faithful who have served our parishes, schools and communities with dedication and distinction throughout this pandemic. Now we look forward with renewed faith and confidence.
In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Lord’s Supper, the Lord Jesus entrusted to us the precious gift of Himself. With humility, we glory in being a Eucharistic people for whom attendance at Mass is essential. Looking forward to the forthcoming feast of Pentecost, we now invite all Catholics who have not yet done so to return to attending Mass in person.
As the Church needs the witness of the presence of each person, so too each believer needs to journey in faith and worship with their fellow disciples. Nourished by our encounter with the Risen Lord Jesus, fed with His Word and His Body and Blood in Holy Communion, and supported by the presence of each other, we receive strength week by week, to serve the Lord and glorify Him with our lives.
Approved by the Plenary Assembly of the Bishops’ Conference
Friday 6th May 2022
We are looking forward to our next family Bingo night, which is taking place in the hall at 7pm on Saturday 9th April.
Please come along and join us in a fun family night out. Bring your own nibbles. The bar will be open.
Hope to see you all there.
