Newsletter- 12th Week of Ordinary Time
Dear Parishioners
‘Have no fear’ – The readings this week at Mass reflect a God who understands and always responds to our cries for help. We are not promised a life without suffering or hardship but are invited to trust in Gods merciful and boundless love. In the First Reading, the prophet, Jeremiah is mocked and abandoned by his own people when he tries to speak out against wrongdoing. He turns to the Lord for strength and resilience, confident that he will deliver justice and new life. The Psalm tells of someone in a state of complete desperation and isolation. The psalmist is feeling attacked from all sides, but the Lord hears their cry and shows them the path to renewed peace and joy. St. Paul explains in no uncertain terms (Second Reading) that nothing but death – the death of loving relationships, of joy, and of peace – can come from sin. But he reminds us that the death and resurrection of Jesus offer abundant possibilities for mercy and renewal. In the Gospel, Jesus instructs his disciples to ‘have no fear’. He boldly reassures them that nothing in this world can kill the love that comes from God. God has intimate knowledge of all our needs and will never abandon us.
In these times of painful and enduring global conflict, we take strength from God’s promise that he will deliver light and peace, but we must put our trust and hope in him, in the knowledge of his boundless love and mercy.
Congratulations to all our First Holy Communion Candidates: On behalf of the parish community, I would like to offer our sincere congratulations to all our young people who made their First Holy Communion at a beautiful and very joyful Mass celebrated on Saturday morning in the parish. My sincere thanks too to all our catechists who have worked so hard over the past few months in preparing them for this special day. We keep all our young people in our prayers this weekend, praying that they will continue to grow in the faith and deepen their love of Christ and of his real presence in the Holy Eucharist.
Closing Mass for the Southern Lincolnshire Deanery Visitations – 7pm – Spalding (The Immaculate Conception and St Norbert’s) – Thursday 25th June: Following a successful Visitation to our parish last weekend by Canon Eddie Jarosz, VG on behalf of Bishop Patrick, we are invited to gather with other parishes from our deanery at Spalding for a special Mass at which the Bishop will preside and preach and to mark the closing of the Visitations to our Deanery.
Enabling our Mission Campaign: I hope during July to be able to present to you some new mission related initiatives which we have been working on as part of the Enabling our Mission Campaign and our Parish Mission Plan, to be launched later in the year and into 2027. I hope to also be able to give a clearer picture of the monies we shall have received back directly to the parish from your great generosity and support of the diocesan campaign and which will be used to help with our missionary endeavours here within our parish community.
Visit of the Diocesan Vocation Director: Over the weekend of the 27th and 28th of June we shall welcome Fr Neil Peoples, the Diocesan Vocation Director, and an old friend of mine. Fr Neil and I were curates at the Cathedral together. During the weekend he will meet with those discerning a call to priesthood from within our parish community and will stay with me in the Rectory and preach and concelebrate at all our weekend Masses.
Michael Furey – Diocesan Seminarian – Pastoral Placement at St Marys – July: Michael will be making his short summer placement from Oscott College here in our parish during the month of July and helping with the Lourdes Pilgrimage. During his time in Grantham, Michael will assist with a few pastoral activities in the wider community and shadow me in my pastoral ministry and worship and assist at the liturgies each day. More details will follow about Michael, and his vocation journey thus far. Please do keep him in your prayers though as he prepares for his placement in our parish starting on Friday 3rd July.
With my warmest best wishes and prayers for each of you during the coming week ahead,
Your parish priest and friend,
Fr Jonathan
2026 21st June – Newsletter – Download