Newsletter 3rd October 2021
It has been another very busy week of getting accustomed to life in the parish and all the many practicalities involved, making sick calls to the sick and the housebound and meeting new faces during my weeks work, along with a couple of funerals too.
This week on Friday 8th October we shall welcome Bishop Patrick to our parish, when he will administer the Sacrament of Confirmation and celebrate Mass here at St. Mary’s at 7 pm. I feel sure that this will be a very joyful evening not only for our Confirmandi and their families but for each of you who are able to join with us at Mass that evening. Thank you to those who have already volunteered to help with refreshments and to bake for the party in the Parish Hall after Mass. We are still looking for volunteers both to help serve refreshments and to bake some simple cakes, cookies or whatever may be your speciality! if you would like to assist in this way do get in touch with me on my mobile or drop me an email (see the top of the bulletin) or catch me after Mass. Items should be dropped off please at the Rectory during the day, on Friday 8th October.
This week there have for practical reasons to be a few changes to the normal Weekly Mass schedule. On Tuesday 5th October, there will not be a Holy Hour with Benediction at 6 pm nor the normal evening Mass at 7 pm, this is to allow the Catechists and Confimandi and myself the opportunity to “walk through” the Confirmation Liturgy for Friday. In addition, on Thursday 7th October, at 9.30 am there will be a Service of Word and Holy Communion as Andrew and myself are conducting a funeral liturgy locally that morning. On Friday 8th October there will not be a morning Mass at 9.30 am in church as our Parish Mass will be the Mass with Confirmation at 7 pm that evening, celebrated by Bishop Patrick. I do hope many of you will be able to come to this joyful celebration as we support our young people on this important next step in their journey in faith.Looking ahead Pope Francis launches the world-wide Synodal process in Saint Peter’s, in Rome on Sunday 10th October, which will be launched in all the dioceses on Sunday 17th October. This invitation to all of us to enter into the Synodal process is the first phase of preparation for the Synod of Bishops in 2023. Our Holy father is calling the Church to rediscover its deeply synodal nature which will involve a process of humbly discerning together how God is calling us to be a Church in the third millennium. Synodality is a way of being by which the Church lives out her mission in the world; it requires the entire People of God to be on a journey together, with each member
plying his or her own crucial role. A synodal Church walks forward in communion to pursue a common mission through the participation of each one of her members. So, Pope Francis is inviting us all, the People of God in this diocese, to dream about the Church we are being called to become. It is first and foremost a spiritual process, not primarily a data gathering exercise. Next weekend in this Introduction I will highlight for you some of the ways in which we shall as a parish community here at St. Mary’s be participating in this important initiative by our Holy Father and playing our part alongside all the parishes of our diocese in seeking God’s guidance and will for His Church.
This weekend in the Sunday Readings both from Genesis and Mark we hear about marriage let us pray this coming week for those working to remain faithful to their commitments in marriage, and for ourselves in our own vocation in life. We all need the support of prayer to live out our lives in the service of Christ and one another. Fidelity gives a powerful light to the world in which we live. Let us pray too each day during this coming week for our young Confirmandi as they prepare to make this next important next step in their journey of Faith.
With my prayers for you and for your families during the coming week,
Your friend and Parish Priest,
Fr. Jonathan
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