Newsletter- 6th Week of Eastertide
This coming week I shall be away at the Diocesan Clergy Conference from Monday 15th May until Wednesday 17th May. There will be no Public Worship on Tuesday and Wednesday this coming week.
On Thursday 18th May we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, and we shall welcome St Marys School to Mass that morning at 10 am (Please note the change of Mass time). The school will be helping to animate the liturgy, offering the music, serving, writing the Intercessions, and helping with the Readings. Parishioners are very welcome to join the school at Mass in church that the morning. In addition, we shall celebrate Mass for the Ascension in the parish at 6pm on Thursday 18th May.
This weekend we keep the 6th Sunday of Easter as Safeguarding Sunday within the Diocese of Nottingham. This is an opportunity for us all to reflect on the theology and spirituality of Safeguarding and to express our gratitude for the hard work of all our parish safeguarding representatives and for our Diocesan safeguarding Commission. In our parish I would like to acknowledge the hard work and generous support which Eddie Woods offers to St. Mary’s in ensuring that our parish community is a safe place for all children and vulnerable adults. This weekend you will find a letter from Bishop Patrick for Safeguarding Sunday within this Bulletin, and I have placed a copy of his letter on the notice board as you come into church.
This Sunday we welcome our First Holy Communion candidates who will be joining us for the whole of Mass at 9.30 am. Please do pray for them and for their families and our parish catechists, as our young people continue their preparation to receive Holy Communion for the first time, at a special Mass celebrated in the parish, on Saturday 17th June at 11 am.
This weekend we hear at Mass that: ‘The Father will give you another Advocate to be with you forever.’ Eastertide is nearly at an end and Jesus seeks to reassure us that we will not be left without comforting support. In the First Reading, we see how active the Apostles were in spreading the Good News. They were welcomed even in Samaria and the people there received the Holy Spirit. The Responsorial Psalm expresses the joy they must have felt. We can perhaps imagine the grateful disciples praying: ‘Before you all the earth shall bow, shall sing to you, sing to your name! But all was not plain sailing for these new communities. They often encountered persecution (Second Reading). Peter tried to encourage them, reminding them of the sufferings of the innocent Jesus. They were to answer their accusers with courtesy and respect. In the Gospel, Jesus reassured his friends that He will not leave them without support, as ‘orphans’, but will ask his Father to send them help after he has left. The Spirit of truth will be with them.
In your prayers this week, you may like to reflect upon Jesus’s promises and to draw strength from them, praying that we might all become better able to speak to others about our own beliefs and with a greater confidence. We also continue this week to ask the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to inspire all peoples to work for peace within our world.
Please be assured of my prayers for you during my time away at the Clergy Conference this coming week,
Your parish priest and friend,
Father Jonathan
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2023 14th May– Newsletter – Download