Newsletter- 2nd Week of Eastertide- Low Week
Dear Parishioners
‘Peace be with you!’- Full of the joy of the resurrection, the Sunday readings this weekend also stress the love and mercy the risen Lord has for all his people. In the First Reading we see the joy and enthusiasm of the young Church. The faithful are united in their belief, in their prayers and in the ‘breaking of bread’, as also in their care and attention to one another. The Easter Psalm is in tune with the theme of Divine Mercy. It is a song of thanksgiving to God whose ‘mercy endures forever’. It also recalls the suffering of our Saviour who was raised up on Easter Sunday. The Second Reading is similarly a type of hymn. It celebrates the new life that comes from the risen Jesus. We are born again to a living hope. Even in the trials and anxieties of the times we are living through, we are encouraged to put our faith and hope in the Lord. In the Gospel, Jesus invests the disciples with the Holy Spirit. Thomas who was absent from Jesus’ first appearance to them, is challenged to believe. Thomas now professes his faith with the wonderful words: “My Lord and my God!”
This week, as we continue to rejoice in the Lord’s resurrection, may we also reach out to those we encounter during our daily lives with compassion, generosity and understanding.
Important – Launch of the Parish Mission Visitations
Background
Over the course of next two years the Bishop and his Vicar Generals will be making formal Visitations to all the Parishes within the Diocese. Our Deanery is the first Deanery to welcome a Visitation. These will take place between 25th April and 21st June. These visits will take place over a weekend from Saturday through Sunday evening. Our visitation will take place here at St Mary’s over the weekend of 13th/14th June when we will welcome Canon Edward Jarosz, V.G. He will stay with me at the Rectory and meet with me formally during the weekend and he will help to celebrate the weekend Masses and preach at all the Sunday Masses celebrated in the parish. During the weekend Canon Eddy will meet informally with a number of parishioners to gain a flavour of parish life and our local faith community, this will include a meeting with our new advisory Mission Group on the Saturday afternoon of his visit to us. Prior to the weekend I will submit a report to the Bishop on the mission and life of our parish, highlighting some of the initiatives and outreach already taking place here and some new mission initiatives which we hope to introduce over the course of the next two years.
Pre – Parish Visitations – Deanery Gathering for Adoration
Thursday 16th April 7pm -8 pm: To mark the start of the Visitations to our Deanery a Service of Prayer and Adoration will take place at St Mary’s Catholic Church, 24 Horncastle Road, Boston, PE21 9BU, hosted by our Area Dean, Fr Dominic O’Connor. All clergy and parishioners from the Parishes in the Deanery are warmly invited to attend as we pray together for the Visitations to our Deanery. The service will start at 7 pm and conclude at 8 pm, when we will adjourn for light refreshments and a chance to chat informally with other clergy and members of the congregations of our Deanery churches in the Parish Hall. Please do join me if your time will allow this coming week.
Post – Parish Visitations – Deanery gathering for a Mass of Thanksgiving
Thursday 25th June 7pm – More details will follow: Deanery Mass of Thanksgiving to be held at The Immaculate Conception and St Norbert’s Parish, 52, St Thomas Road, Spalding, PE11 2XX.
A Note of thanks: Last week I was able to thank each of you for your generosity to me in the Easter Offering and this week I would like to acknowledge my sincere thanks to all who worked so hard to prepare the liturgies and the church for our Easter celebrations. I would like to thank on your behalf our dedicated group of musicians and singers, our flower arrangers and our young and committed band of servers. Our Readers and all our volunteers who helped to welcome people at the door. Those too who helped to clean the church and polish all the silver and brass, tidy the church gardens and all who helped in so many different and varied ways to animate the liturgies and to ensure that our church was ready for Holy Week and Easter, the list could go on and on! Again, this year we saw an increase in the number of people attending the Holy Week/Easter Liturgies from last year and without the support of our many dedicated volunteers from the parish community our celebrations this year would have been the poorer. Thank you, for all you have done to support our parish community during Holy Week and Easter.
With my warmest best wishes to you and to your families
Your parish priest and friend,
Father Jonathan
2026 12th April – Newsletter – Download