We pray for our sick
We pray for the sick of our parish
“Father,
by the power of your Spirit
you have filled the hearts of your faithful people
with gifts of love for one another.
Hear the prayers we offer for our relatives and friends.
Give them health of mind and body
that they may do your will with perfect love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.”
We Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries
Bp John Petit, Canon Eric Goldingay, Fr Donald Clover, Canon Jerome Deady, Sebastian De Souza, Mabel Hooper, Joseph Mullins, Odilia Duhig, Angela Hughes, Stephanie Horwood, Kit Nafziger, Dr Nigel Warburton, Stella Mary Hale, Jonas Acton, Ida D’eath, Dorothy Winyard, Catherine Barewish, Terry Wilson, Charles Mann, Thomas Connolly, Elsie Hale, Lee Schiller, Joan Holdstock, Gladys Hanger, Anthony Cummins, Dr Jack Hesketh-Beasley, Alice Quinlan, Margaret Gibson, Mrs Ann Hughes, Mollie Cosgrove, Margaret Kenny, Kathleen Owen, Kathleen Denyer, John Mudd, Peter Gerald Sloan & Bridie Satelle. .
Dates for your Diary
Sunday 7 June
4pm Corpus Christi Procession
Saturday 11 July
Flower Festival
Saturday 11 July
3pm Mass of Thanksgiving for Marriage and Family Life, Brentwood Cathedral
Wednesday 15 July
9.30am OLOL Leavers Mass
Sunday 19-Friday 24 July
Lourdes Pilgrimage
First Encyclical Letter of Pope Leo XIV—“Magnifica Humanitas”—on Artificial Intelligence: A summary
Introduction: Two cities, one choice Leo XIV opens with two biblical images: the Tower of Babel and the rebuilding of Jerusalem under Nehemiah. One is a project of pride and uniformity; the other is slow, communal, and rooted in God. The whole encyclical flows from this choice. Are we building Babel—efficient, powerful, dehumanising—or Jerusalem, brick by patient brick?
Chapter 1: A living tradition
The Pope traces the Church’s social teaching from Leo XIII through Francis, showing how each pontiff responded to the crises of his time. The line runs from workers’ rights through nuclear war, environmental collapse, and global inequality.
Chapter 2: The principles that don’t change
Here the encyclical restates foundational pillars: human dignity, the common good, subsidiarity, solidarity, social justice, and integral human development. Solid, familiar ground — until it isn’t. Leo XIV explicitly includes algorithms, data, digital platforms, and patents under the principle of the universal destination of goods. Data is not a tech company’s property. It belongs, in a real sense, to everyone.
Chapter 3: What AI is, and what it isn’t
This is the doctrinal heart of the letter. AI, Leo XIV writes plainly, is not human intelligence. It processes data. It cannot feel, suffer, love, or bear moral responsibility. It can simulate empathy without understanding it. That matters enormously when we hand it power over people’s lives.
The Pope calls for AI to be “disarmed” — freed from the logic of geopolitical and commercial competition, from monopolistic control, and returned to the plurality of human cultures.
Chapter 4: Truth, work, and freedom
Chapter four is the most wide-ranging. It covers disinformation and democracy, the transformation of work by automation, the fragility of families under economic pressure, the dangers of digital addiction, and the exploitation of workers hidden inside AI supply chains.
Chapter 5: The Civilisation of Love
The final chapter turns to war. It is blunt: military spending is rising, ethical limits are eroding, and AI is making lethal decisions faster and more impersonally than ever.
Leo XIV states clearly that traditional just war theory is now outdated. In a world of autonomous weapons and hybrid warfare, the old framework cannot hold. Diplomacy, dialogue, and multilateralism are the only realistic path forward.
Conclusion: Nehemiah’s lesson
The encyclical closes with a practical programme: stay faithful to truth, invest in education, cultivate real relationships, love justice and peace. The image is Nehemiah, sleeves rolled up, rebuilding wall by wall. That, Leo XIV suggests, is what it looks like to be Catholic in the age of artificial intelligence.
Sacrament of Confirmation
Let us offer our good wishes and prayers to those young adults who were Confirmed here last weekend: Luca Baker, Oliver Beasley, Beau Brooks, Harvey Chambers, Stanley Chapman, Christian de Raedt, Matilda Green, Connor Fowler, Oisin Healy, Jude Holland, George Luft, Seth Meek, Juan Pablo Coombs Morfin, Bobby O’Brien, Ruby O’Brien, Luke Sanders, Daniel Hind and Adam Williams.
Sick & Retired Clergy Fund
Next weekend there will be the annual collection for the Sick & Retired Clergy Fund of the Diocese.
Donations can be made in the retiring collection, online via the Diocesan website or using any available contactless devices, selecting the second collection option.
This Fund helps Clergy who require assistance in their retirement after years of service, it also helps those who are in ill health at any age.
This is also an opportunity to thank Parishioners who have bequeathed legacies in their wills and we would welcome any who are about to make, or review existing arrangements, to consider this worthy cause.
The Administrators of the Fund would also like to express their gratitude to the families of deceased Parishioners who have gifted legacies in the past.
OLOL Ladies Group
We meet on Thursday 4th June as usual in the Parish Centre. This week we have a guest speaker who will be giving a talk on the work of the Saint Vincent Centre in Southend. All ladies in the Parish are welcome to attend so please arrive early for a prompt start at 10am. Subs are just £1 plus a fun Raffle (please keep those raffle prizes coming in).
Repository News
Please feel free to come and browse our stock of religious items. We have a few copies of the 3 year Missal, plus a small selection of books for your spiritual reading. Our large selection of cards includes those special Wedding Anniversaries, Baptisms, Get Well etc.
Please ask one of the volunteers for help if you do not see what you are looking for.
Church Security Code
For reasons for ongoing security, we have changed the entry code for the door on the north side. You can obtain this from the Parish Office. You need this code to access the church between 13.00–18.00 each day when the Office is closed. Please never divulge this code to anyone else.
Talks on the Gospels
In Eastertide the Risen Jesus opens the Scriptures to his disciples
Let Him do this for you through these inspirational talks from Brant Pitre
Monday mornings 10.30am in the Parish Centre
June 1st, 15th & 29th, July 13th The Gospel of Matthew
Wednesdays 7.30pm in the Parish Centre
June 24th, July 8th & 22nd The 4 Gospels
Young Vincentians
Our next meeting is on Monday 1st June from 5.15pm. Young Vincentians Committee.
Mass of Thanksgiving for Marriage and Family Life
Bishop Alan Williams will preside at the annual Mass on Saturday, 11th July at 15.00; followed by a Reception.
If any married couples—with their family—would like to participate in this celebration, please let fr Kevin know and he will give you a formal invitation. We would like to invite especially any couples who are celebrating a significant anniversary of Marriage this year.
Flower & Crafts Festival 2026
Saturday 11 July
We ask for your help to make the day a success. The theme this year is The Beatitudes. There are 8 beatitudes and we would like each to be represented in flower displays, art work, crafts... Please consider taking part—especially if you have not before. If you can sew, knit, embroider, paint, draw, craft, arrange flowers—then we need you!
The Festival is a way of opening ourselves up to a wide group of people of various religious persuasions—or none! Each year we host some people who have never been in a church before… This is part of our Christian witness. If you would like to take part or would like to know more, contact me by email, or find Theresa or myself in the Lady Chapel after the Family Mass on Sunday.
Jo Ronan
Seniors Exercise & Balance Class
10am Tuesdays
Parish Centre
£6
You are invited to join the Exercise & Balance Class for Seniors which is held every Tuesday morning in the Parish Centre. The class starts at 10am and lasts one hour. Exercises are done to music and each session costs £6.
MISSIO Red Boxes
If you have boxes that need emptying please give them to me personally or leave them in the Office and I will collect them. If you have not taken a Spring Missio Magazine from the back of the Church please do so.
Thank you. Joan Caunce, Secretary.
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School & Nursery
We warmly invite families to visit our wonderful school and see first-hand the engaging and supportive learning environment we provide. Arranging a visit is a great opportunity to see the school in action, meet our staff, and experience our welcoming community.
If you would like to book a tour, please contact the school office who will be happy to arrange a visit.
PENTECOST
Dear friends in Christ
Happy Birthday of our Holy Mother the Church! Today the Church was born in the Upper Room in Jerusalem.
Dear friends in Christ
Happy Birthday of our Holy Mother the Church! Today the Church was born in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. Gathered with Mary are the eleven Apostles who had remained in prayer from the moment of Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven. We date the start of the Catholic Church from this moment when the Holy Spirit appeared in countless tongues of fire. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is no less powerful in our time, just that the manifestations are different; we may not see physical signs as at the time of the Apostles, but the action of the Holy Spirit can be seen everywhere still. Every time we pray, each time we perform a charitable deed, every action of the Church, is a work of the Holy Spirit who guides, teaches and empowers us to be good witnesses to the presence of God.
This weekend is traditionally the time when we celebrate the Sacraments of Initiation, especially Confirmation. During 11.30am Mass this Sunday a number of our young adults will receive this Sacrament which completes their initiation into the Church, as well as some others who will be Baptised and receive their first Communion at this time. Please pray for them all, that they will remain rooted in the faith and Tradition of the Apostles, the Faith of our Fathers.
God bless you all and pray for the grace of perseverance in the Faith of Church born on this Day!
Msgr Kevin Hale
PENTECOST
Saturday 23rd May
Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter
5.30pm Vigil Mass Denis Murphy, RIP (KP)
6.30pm—7.30 Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
Sunday 24th May
PENTECOST
8am Mass Intentions of Brett Mackay (SD)
9.30am Mass Andrzej Sasiadek, RIP (TS)
11.30am Confirmation Mass The People of the Parish
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Monday 25th
Mary, Mother of the Church
10am Mass Intentions of Richard & Mary Murray (RO’C)
6pm Body in Church Marie Tisi
Tuesday 26th
St Philip Neri, Pr
11.15am Requiem Mass Marie Tisi
Wednesday 27th
St Augustine of Canterbury
9am Mass Intentions of the Wright Family (AW)
Thursday 28th
Our Lord Jesus Christ The Eternal High Priest
9am Mass Michael Rubbert, RIP (Anniv) (MR)
Friday 29th
Friday of Week Eight in Ordinary Time
12Noon Mass Intentions of Susan Griffin (PL)
Saturday 30th May
The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
10am Mass Holy Souls
10.30am—11.30 Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
5.30pm Vigil Mass The People of the Parish
6.30pm—7.30 Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
Sunday 31st May
The Most Holy Trinity
8am Mass Gilberte Cook, RIP (MC)
9.30am Mass David Lesley, RIP (MD)
11.30am Gary Small, RIP (JB)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction