Newsletter- 11th Week of Ordinary Time
The Church teaches that life is to be nurtured from conception to natural death. In England and Wales, The Day for Life is celebrated on the third Sunday of June each year, this year being Sunday 18thJune – 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The theme for this year is Listen to Her and focuses on post-abortion trauma and the impact of abortion primarily on women, but also men and others. The 2023 Day for Life message is unique in that the bishops have given it over to a Catholic woman who has had an abortion to share her experiences. Often the voices of women who have had an abortion are silent in the Church and in our society. The hope is that this will help break this silence and offer further opportunities for healing and reconciliation. This weekend at all our weekend Masses there will be a mandatory second collection. All monies raised are sent from every parish to the Social Justice Department at CBCEW to help support life projects across the whole spectrum of life. For more information you may like to visit: http://www.cbcew.org.uk/dfl23-prayers/
Fr Jonathan Annual Leave: I shall be away from the parish on annual leave from the afternoon of this Sunday 18th June until Friday 7th July inclusive. During my absence from the parish Monsignor John Hadley has kindly agreed to offer Mass cover at the weekends, and there will be no changes to the normal weekend Mass schedule, Saturday Vigil Mass at 6 pm and Sunday morning Mass at 9.30 am. On weekdays whilst I am away Mgr. Hadley will be celebrating one Mass only each week. From Tuesday to Sunday during my absence the church will remain open as normal during the day for private prayer.
Mass Times During Fr Jonathan’s Absence
Wednesday 21st June – St Aloysius Gonzaga – 9.30 am.
Saturday 24th June – 12th Sunday of the Year – Vigil Mass 6 pm
Sunday 25th June – 12th Sunday of the Year – 9.30 am Mass.
Thursday 29th June – Saints Peter and Paul – 11 am.
Saturday 1st July – 13th Sunday of the Year – Vigil Mass 6 pm
Sunday 2nd July – 13th Sunday of the Year – 9.30 am.
Wednesday 5th July – Feria – 9.30 a.m.
I shall be back to celebrate the Sunday Masses for the weekend of 10th/11th July –14th Sunday of the Year – after which the normal weekday Mass schedule will resume.
My former lay chaplain from the University of Nottingham will be house sitting in the Rectory whilst I am away on my holidays. I am very grateful to him and to both Fr John and Andrew Wakley for their generosity and kindness in offering their practical help and support during my time away. Please be aware though that they all work full time, Andrew within his own business and Fr John as chancellor of the diocese. In the case of an emergency during my absence please contact Andrew in the first instance who will put you in touch with a priest. For all other routine parish enquiries and non-emergencies, I ask please that you wait to contact me upon my return to the parish when I will respond to you as soon as possible upon my return.
First Holy Communion: This weekend we congratulate all the young people from our parish who received Holy Communion for the first time at a special Mass on Saturday morning. It was a very joyful celebration for them and for their friends and families. My sincere thanks to all who have journeyed with them over the past few months, especially our parish catechists. My thanks too to the musicians who came to animate the liturgy, those who arranged the beautiful flowers in church and to all those who assisted me with the liturgy. Please keep our young people in your prayers at this time.
New Boilers for the church and parish halls: I mentioned some months ago that we have been given permission by the diocese to commission and fit new boilers this summer. This is greatly needed as our present heating system has been “limping along” for many years now and our boilers are past repair. The cost of replacing our boilers is a major expense for our parish, and I am very grateful for the generosity of those parishioners who have contributed to the Boiler Fund and for two very significant bequests received, your generosity means that these much-needed works can now go ahead this summer in readiness for next winter. To avoid as little disruption to parish life as possible I have arranged with the company who will be carrying out the commissioning and instillation works that this will be carried out and completed over five days during the week, from Monday 17th July – Friday 21st July inclusive. This means that during this period the church and parish halls will need to remain closed to the General Public, and there will be no Public Worship, nor access allowed to the church buildings during this period.
With my prayers for you and for your families during my coming holiday. Please keep me also in your own prayers each day.
Your parish priest and friend,
Fr Jonathan
———————————————————————————————–
2023 18th June 2023– Newsletter – Download