Palm Sunday of the Passion
Dear friends in Christ
We are beginning Holy Week, the most important week of the Christian calendar. During these days we shall trace the final days and hours of our Saviours’ life, death and resurrection. We do not do this as we would when watching a Passion play, or a piece of theatre, or as reading an historical novel; the power of the Holy Spirit working in the Church actually makes present again those saving events. We can truly claim that we sit with the Apostles at the Last Supper, we take our place in the crowd on the Way of the Cross, and with the holy women on Easter Day witness the Risen Lord. We can treat this Week as a mini-retreat for ourselves if we are prepared to spend it with our Lord, in the liturgy, and in personal prayer and devotion. Let us not allow these days to pass-by-us without profound effect, so that we can carry into the days of Eastertide all of the good that we have tried to achieve this Lent.
As in previous years I am edified by the great numbers who have been coming to Mass during the week, especially on Friday morning; the children were exemplary in their attendance and participation! Also for the wonderful turn-out each week for the Deanery Evenings of Recollection; our Speakers themselves - on the Call to Holiness - were very impressed each week! I also thank all who participated in the Marriage Preparation Course during the last month; the thirty couples, with our Marriage Team, wonderfully collaborated together in a joyful reflection on Christian Marriage.
I make a point of not preaching on Palm Sunday. This is because I believe that the Passion narrative speaks for itself and if we listen to it with a living faith and personal devotion, we will be moved to spend this final Week of Lent in the spirit of Mary and the Saints.
God bless you!
Fr Kevin Hale
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Dear friends in Christ
The last two weeks of this holy Season are termed Passiontide. The mood and movement of these days is of the suffering and death of Our Lord. We endeavour to enter into the heart of Jesus as he goes up to Jerusalem to undertake the events of our salvation. However, as the Gospel of the Raising of Lazarus this Sunday proclaims, the Resurrection follows.
The Resurrection is the very heart and soul of Christianity. Without the Resurrection, Christianity collapses. It’s the standing and falling point of the Faith. Therefore, to deny the Resurrection is to cease to be Christian. You might pick up bits and pieces of Christianity here and there, and you might follow Jesus as a wise spiritual teacher, but without the Resurrection the whole thing falls apart.
Speaking more practically, the Resurrection is key to spiritual detachment. If God has a life for us beyond this life, one not so much opposed to this earthly life but inclusive of and beyond it, then I’m able to wear this world much more lightly. I’m not as obsessed with finding my joy here.
Those who are not convinced of the Resurrection, who believe they’ll just die and that’s it, naturally chase after wealth, pleasure, power, and honor. But once you’re convinced of the Resurrection, you know this world isn’t ultimate. You can let go of those earthly pursuits, stop chasing them, and aspire toward a life on high with God, which is a life of love. Becoming a person of love thus becomes your central goal.
As we listen to Saint Mathew’s account of the Passion at Mass next Sunday, we can hold in our minds that all of the terrible suffering of Holy Week leads inexorably to the glory of the Resurrection; as we hope and pray it will for us.
God bless you!
Fr Kevin Hale
Money Matters
Thank you for the generous offerings received last weekend, which amounted to £1,456.16.
Counters are Toni Cousins, Sandie Hippard & Leah Cousins.
Newsletter Folders are Bobby Newman & Emma Beardsell.
Do you like animals?
Are you concerned for their wellbeing? Would you be interested in a specific prayer group dedicated to animal welfare issues. Any interested parties please telephone Margaret on 522550 or Rosemary 511202.
St Patrick’s Primary School Collier Row
Deputy Headteacher required from September. Application pack and further details are available from the school office.
Email: office@saint-patricks.org.uk Telephone: 01708 745655
Closing Date: 1st May. Interviews: 7th May
EYFS TEACHER required from September. Application pack and further details are available from the school office.
Email: office@saint-patricks.org.ukTelephone: 01708 745655
Closing Date: 23rd April. Interviews: 29th April
Do you like animals?
Are you concerned for their wellbeing? Would you be interested in a specific prayer group dedicated to animal welfare issues. Any interested parties please telephone Margaret on 522550 or Rosemary 511202.
St Patrick’s Primary School Collier Row
Deputy Headteacher required from September. Application pack and further details are available from the school office.
Email: office@saint-patricks.org.uk Telephone: 01708 745655
Closing Date: 1st May. Interviews: 7th May
EYFS TEACHER required from September. Application pack and further details are available from the school office.
Email: office@saint-patricks.org.ukTelephone: 01708 745655
Closing Date: 23rd April. Interviews: 29th April
Deputy Headteacher Vacancy
St Vincent’s Primary School, Dagenham require a Deputy Headteacher from September. Application pack and further details are available from our website www.st-vincent.barking-dagenham.sch.uk or the school office. Tel: 020 8270 6695. Email: office@st-vincent.bardaglea.org.uk. Visits to the school are warmly welcomed. Closing date: Thursday 8th May. Interviews: Monday 19th May.
Deputy Headteacher Vacancy
St Vincent’s Primary School, Dagenham require a Deputy Headteacher from September. Application pack and further details are available from our website www.st-vincent.barking-dagenham.sch.uk or the school office. Tel: 020 8270 6695. Email: office@st-vincent.bardaglea.org.uk. Visits to the school are warmly welcomed. Closing date: Thursday 8th May. Interviews: Monday 19th May.
Knights of St Columba
The annual seaside sponsored walk for the Brentwood Catholic Children’s Society by the Southend Knights has been organised for Saturday 24th May. The walk is just over 5 miles. A special Mass at 10am said by Father Joseph will be at St Helens Westcliff (SS0 7JP) for all those involved with the walk. After Mass we will walk along the seafront to St Georges in Shoeburyness (SS3 9DH) accompanied by Father Joseph where we finish in the Church hall at St George’s for rest and refreshments. We can’t guarantee good weather but we can guarantee a decent cup of tea and biscuits at the end of the walk. Please contact Damian Dillon for a registration form and/or sponsorship forms or if you would like to sponsor online securely you can do so at https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/kscsouthend
Refreshments
Please note that in Holy Week refreshments will only be available after Mass on Monday.
Holy Places
The annual collection for the Holy Land will be taken up after the Solemn Liturgy of Our Lord’s Passion on Good Friday afternoon.
The Papworth Trust
The Papworth Trust will talk in the Parish Centre Newman Room, on Monday 28th April at 2.30 pm about their work helping older and disabled people with repairs, gardening and advice for a reasonable fee. A collection will be taken.
Holy Places
The annual collection for the Holy Land will be taken up after the Solemn Liturgy of Our Lord’s Passion on Good Friday afternoon.
The Papworth Trust
The Papworth Trust will talk in the Parish Centre Newman Room, on Monday 28th April at 2.30 pm about their work helping older and disabled people with repairs, gardening and advice for a reasonable fee. A collection will be taken.
We pray for the departed on their anniversaries
Fr Owen Fitzgerald, Fr William Donelan, Fr George Duckett, Fr John O'Mahoney, Fr Joseph McEntee, May Provera, Andrew Trayner, John Clements, Ian Walker, John Adams, Agnes (Queenie) Ransom, Martin Payne, Peter Abel, James Kennedy, Sebastiano Marino, Stephen Bendall, Orla Shapiro, Antonio Capone, Mary Ellen O'Driscoll, Kenneth Sigovallan, Doris McEvoy, Cecilia Spendley, Wilfrid Walton, Phyllis Osment, Beryl Rombaut, Mary Kyrke-Smith, Anna Coste, George Andrews & Millicent Howell.