Newsletter-32nd Week of Ordinary Time
Dear Parishioners
This weekend we keep the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time in the Churches Liturgical Cycle for the Year. The readings at our Vigil Mass for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time remind us of the importance of faith, trust, and true sacrifice. By reflecting on the stories of the widow and the scribes, we can learn to live our faith more sincerely and to trust in God’s promises. Let us ask for the grace this coming week to seek Gods will for our lives so that we may better proclaim the gospel message of Christ with our hearts and minds open to his Love, Mercy and Truth.
This Sunday is Remembrance Sunday (10th November) The Vigil Mass on Saturday 9th November at 6.p.m. will be a Mass for the 32ndSunday in Ordinary Time. Our Parish Mass on Sunday at 9.30 a.m. is a Requiem Mass in anniversario. At this Mass we offer an Act of Remembrance before the Final Blessing, and we keep Two Minutes Silence as we remember in prayer the sacrifice of all who died in the service of their country and for our freedom in the past two world wars and all subsequent conflicts since.
This coming Week – Holy Hour for Life – Wednesday 13th November 5.30 pm – 6.30 pm – Benediction at 6.15 pm.
This Wednesday we will offer within our parish a special Holy Hour for Life at the request of Cardinal Vincent Nichols. During the Plenary Assembly which takes place this coming week of the Bishop’s Conference for England and Wales there will be a Holy Hour on the evening of Wednesday 13th November to pray and intercede that the dignity of the human person and the culture of life be upheld in the face of the assisted suicide legislation being brought before Parliament later this month. Cardinal Vincent Nichols has invited every diocese and each parish within England and Wales to be united with the Bishops that evening in this powerful prayer of intercession. Our time of prayer that evening in our parish will begin at 5.30 pm with a period of Adoration and Silent Intercession before the Blessed Sacrament and will conclude with Benediction at 6.15 p.m. I invite as many parishioners as can to join me in church that evening as we unite our prayers with the whole Church in England and Wales in keeping together a prayerful vigil for the sanctity of all human Life.
Looking Ahead:
Diocesan Feast for our Patron: St Hugh of Lincoln – Saturday/Sunday 16th/17th November
The Bishop has decreed that in light of the significance of Saint Hugh of Lincoln, co patron with Our Lady Immaculate of our Diocese, that on Saturday evening 16th November and Sunday 17th November all Sunday Masses celebrated in the Diocese of Nottingham will be for that of the Feast of Saint Hugh of Lincoln, in place of the Thirty-Third Sunday of the Year. This will affect the readings, propers and prayers used at our Sunday Masses on that day, as we shall use the proper texts, taken from our diocesan supplements to the Missal and Lectionary. The Readings to be used at Mass that weekend will be circulated to all who are reading at Mass either on Saturday evening (6 pm Vigil Mass) or Sunday morning (9.30 am Mass) by Ewa in our Parish Office, once we have received these electronically from the Diocese on Friday 6th November. The Bishop hopes that this can be an opportunity for us all as a Diocese to celebrate, the life of Saint Hugh together, and to seek his prayerful patronage on all that we are currently doing as a Diocese.
Second Collection in support the 18 Hospices throughout the Diocese of Nottingham
On the weekend of Saturday/Sunday 16th/17th November the Bishop has decreed that we shall have a mandatory Second Collection at all our Sunday Masses in our Diocese to help to support the important work of all the Hospices situated in the Diocese of Nottingham. The Bishop writes in his recent ad clerum for October:
“You will be aware of The Terminally ILL Adults (End of Life) Bill, which is currently before the House of Commons, and will receive its second reading on Friday 29th November 2024. In my recent Pastoral Letter on this theme, I spoke of the invaluable palliative care provided by hospices in our country, and how they are often underfunded. As well as encouraging our parishioners to pray that the assisted suicide Bill should not become law, I would like us, as a Diocese, to more actively support the 18 Hospices located throughout our Diocese; their work is a practical response to those who seek the alleviation of pain and suffering at the end of their lives, and our support would demonstrate a practical antithesis to those who are campaigning to allow life to be legally ended. National Hospice Week falls in October, and coincides with Prisoners’ Week, and is close to the CAFOD Harvest Fast Day, and Missio’s World Mission Sunday. I hope to be able to set an annual date next year for a regular second collection to be taken in support of the hospices in our diocese, but this year in light of the current Bill before Parliament, I am directing that a mandatory second collection will be taken in all our parishes at the Sunday Masses celebrated on Saturday evening 16th November and Sunday 17th November, coinciding with the Patronal Feast of Saint Hugh of Lincoln.” (Bishop Patrick J. McKinney in his October ad clerum 2024 for the Diocese of Nottingham)
World Day of the Poor – Saturday/Sunday 16th/17th November 2024
This year’s World Day of the Poor is celebrated on the weekend of Saturday 16th and Sunday
17th November and has as its theme The prayer of the poor rises up to God (cf. Ecclesiasticus 21:5). The Pope’s message for the 8th World Day of the Poor invites us all to: ‘be friends of the poor, following in the footsteps of Jesus’. Parishes are encouraged to use this opportunity to reflect on the needs in our local communities, and how we are reaching out with spiritual and material support.
November – Month of the Holy Souls.
‘The Holy Souls – November Dead List’- You will find in the entrance to church the November Dead List Envelopes, and printed sheets for writing the names of deceased family members and friends to be included in the envelope with a donation, which can either be given to me personally or dropped through the letter box of the Rectory. The names of your deceased relatives and friends will then be placed in the basket close to the Altar throughout the month of November to be remembered each day at Mass, after which I will divide the names up into special Masses for the intentions of ‘The Holy Souls – November Dead List.’ These Masses will be offered by me throughout the year.
With my prayers for you and for your families during the coming week ahead.
Your parish priest and friend,
Fr Jonathan
2024 10th November – Newsletter – Download