Christmas Shoebox Appeal
Leaflets and instructions on how to participate are available at the back of the Church. Please take your filled shoeboxes to the nearest drop off point, Leigh Road Baptist Church, Marguerite Drive, Leigh on Sea, SS9 1NW (opposite the church hall) by the closing date, Sunday 16th November 2014. Please do not leave filled shoeboxes at Our Lady of Lourdes Church.
Money Matters
Offertory: Thank you for the generous offerings received last weekend, which amounted to £1,526.33.
Counters are Jan Lewis, Sandie Hippard and Josephine Vickers.
Newsletter Folders are Angie Martin & Joseph Martin.
Catholic Women’s League
CWL Social meeting on Monday, 22nd September at 2pm in the Newman Room. Please free welcome to come along and join us.
A reminder that the CWL are hosting a Coffee and Cake Morning on Friday 26th September, from 10.00am to 12noon in the Parish Centre. All proceeds will be going to Macmillan Cancer Support. Please come along and support this good cause by having a cuppa, a cake and a chat. If you would like to make a contribution by baking something we would be more than happy to receive them. Items can be dropped off, to the Parish Centre, on the morning of the Coffee and Cake event. We look forward to seeing you there.
St Vincent de Paul Society Awareness Month
Comfort the Bereaved
Apart from the comfort of one to one contact, SVP members can offer practical assistance, especially to those of advanced age without families. For example, our SVP group organised a tea party after the funeral for one lady whose husband had died and who found it difficult to cope herself. Locally, members have assisted before, during and after bereavement.
Lord, give to all those suffering bereavement the support of family and friends at this time.
Our sincere thanks for the amount of £1,144.23 donated last weekend.
Pastoral Administrator required at St Bernard’s High School
8.30am – 4.30pm (with flexibility to work additional hours when required). Term Time plus one week (usually last week in the summer holidays). Band 3:17 - £15,062 pa (actual). This is a senior post requiring excellent computer skills and high level of confidentiality. For further details please see our website: www.stbernardswestcliff.org.uk or contact Mrs Sue Clancy on 01702 608005
Closing Date: Monday 29 September 2014, 9.00am
Pastoral Administrator required at St Bernard’s High School
8.30am – 4.30pm (with flexibility to work additional hours when required). Term Time plus one week (usually last week in the summer holidays). Band 3:17 - £15,062 pa (actual). This is a senior post requiring excellent computer skills and high level of confidentiality. For further details please see our website: www.stbernardswestcliff.org.uk or contact Mrs Sue Clancy on 01702 608005
Closing Date: Monday 29 September 2014, 9.00am
St Francis Catholic Primary School, Maldon
Learning Support Assistant required as soon as possible. Band 2 Points 11 - 14 (£14,880 - 15,882 pro rata) 22 hours per week term time only. Actual hours will be 5 mornings + Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons. We are looking to appoint an experienced, dedicated and caring Learning Support Assistant to support speech and language development with a pupil. Candidates will need a good standard of English and mathematics together with experience of working with children with speech and language difficulties.
Further details and an application form, together with job description and person specification are available online at: www.essexschoolsjobs.co.uk.
Closing date: 26th September 2014 - midday.
Talk on the Faith For non-Catholics by Father Kevin Hale:
Monday, 22nd Sept: Why do Catholics pray to Mary and the Saints?
Our third Introductory Talk for non-Catholic parents and anyone wanting to know more about what the Catholic Church teaches on basic subjects. It begins at 8.00pm in the Parish Centre.
Talk on the Faith For non-Catholics by Father Kevin Hale:
Monday, 22nd Sept: Why do Catholics pray to Mary and the Saints?
Our third Introductory Talk for non-Catholic parents and anyone wanting to know more about what the Catholic Church teaches on basic subjects. It begins at 8.00pm in the Parish Centre.
Pilgrimage to Rome & Assisi - 25th to 30th April 2015
If you are interested in joining this Pilgrimage, 3 nights in Rome, 2 nights in Assisi, Saturday to Thursday – Half Board, £705, return flight from Gatwick direct to Rome, please sign your name on the list in the Parish Office. Thank you.
We pray for the departed on their anniversaries
Fr John Ryan, Fr Gordon Godfrey, Pope John Paul I, Helen Bainbridge, James Fogarty, Charles Osborne, Marie Hall, Mary Byrne, Jose Costan, Joyce Mary Wright, James Perry, Henry Bennett, Ethel Bubel, Kathleen Young, Mary de Souza, Robert Swainson, Douglas Hair, Fred Cornwell, Catherine Major, Alfred Gardner, Jane Lacey, John Houlihan, Emily Bailey, Pat MacHaughton, Moira Stuart, Violet Shrimpton, Stephen McGough, Doren Reynolds, Eileen Scott, Elizabeth Butler, Elizabeth Fresh, Patrick Quinlan, Rebecca Clarke, Marion McNamara & Theresa O'Riordan.
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Second Reading Philippians 1: 20-24, 27
Gospel Matthew 20: 1-16
Preface of Sunday 2
Eucharistic Prayer 3
5.30pm Mass Betty Gray, RIP
Sunday 21st September
8.00am Mass The People of the Parish
9.30am Mass Intentions of Fr Patrick Daly
11.30am Mass Gabriel & Lillian Craven, RIP
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Year 2, Psalter Week 4
9.15am Mass: Intentions of Mary O'Keefe
Tuesday 16th Ss Cornelius, P, and Cyprian, Bp, Mm
9.15am Mass: Daniel McConville & Maryann McConville, RIP
Wednesday 17th St Robert Bellarmine, Bp, D
9.15am Mass: Mrs Ginny Clifford, RIP
Thursday 18th Feria
9.15am Mass: Mrs Breda Clifford, RIP
Friday 19th St Januarius, Bp, M
12 Noon Mass: Sarah Louise Clarke, RIP
Saturday 20th Ss Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Pr, & Paul Chong Ha-sag & Comps, Mm
10.00am Mass Intentions of Corrigan Family
Confession – the Sacrament of Penance – is also available on request
Holy Rosary is said after morning Mass during the week
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Dear friends in Christ
This Sunday the Church celebrates the Triumph of the Cross of Christ. We do this today in a way that would be inappropriate on Good Friday, in the same manner that it would be inappropriate to celebrate Corpus Christi on Maundy Thursday. The origin of this feast goes back to the earliest centuries of Christianity and commemorates the finding of the True Cross by the Empress St Helena, in the fourth century. The tree of shame has become the Tree of Life because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Probably the first sign that was placed upon us soon after birth was the Sign of the Cross. By the grace of God the final symbol placed upon us before we leave this world will again be the Cross. Each time we pray, each time we celebrate the liturgy or a Sacrament, we begin and end with the Sign of the Cross. We are thus deeply implicated in this mystery of the Cross which is the mark of our salvation. But it is not simply an external sign; the cross is also and especially present in our lives in different ways. It may be manifest through sickness, poverty, pain, tiredness, loneliness or scorn. Today we could examine the way that we face-up to the Cross: is it a source of purification that brings life and joy? Do I want to live my life immersed in the saving Cross of Our Lord? Do I try to live every facet of my existence embracing the failures, sufferings and difficulties of life by which brings about my holiness? And do I live this joyfully?!
It was encouraging to have such a large group at the first of our Talks on the Faith for non-Catholics last Monday. This Monday evening I will be speaking about the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; so do encourage anyone to come along who may wish to know more about what Catholics believe and how we worship God in the Mystery of the Eucharist. Above all, please pray for those who may be discerning a vocation to join the Catholic Faith. God bless you all!
Fr Kevin Hale
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Dear friends in Christ
This Sunday the Church celebrates the Triumph of the Cross of Christ. We do this today in a way that would be inappropriate on Good Friday, in the same manner that it would be inappropriate to celebrate Corpus Christi on Maundy Thursday. The origin of this feast goes back to the earliest centuries of Christianity and commemorates the finding of the True Cross by the Empress St Helena, in the fourth century. The tree of shame has become the Tree of Life because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Probably the first sign that was placed upon us soon after birth was the Sign of the Cross. By the grace of God the final symbol placed upon us before we leave this world will again be the Cross. Each time we pray, each time we celebrate the liturgy or a Sacrament, we begin and end with the Sign of the Cross. We are thus deeply implicated in this mystery of the Cross which is the mark of our salvation. But it is not simply an external sign; the cross is also and especially present in our lives in different ways. It may be manifest through sickness, poverty, pain, tiredness, loneliness or scorn. Today we could examine the way that we face-up to the Cross: is it a source of purification that brings life and joy? Do I want to live my life immersed in the saving Cross of Our Lord? Do I try to live every facet of my existence embracing the failures, sufferings and difficulties of life by which brings about my holiness? And do I live this joyfully?!
It was encouraging to have such a large group at the first of our Talks on the Faith for non-Catholics last Monday. This Monday evening I will be speaking about the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; so do encourage anyone to come along who may wish to know more about what Catholics believe and how we worship God in the Mystery of the Eucharist. Above all, please pray for those who may be discerning a vocation to join the Catholic Faith. God bless you all!
Fr Kevin Hale
Thank you
We would like to thank Anne Craig for all her faithful service in cleaning the Sacristy over the years. This now leaves a vacancy for someone who would be able to take on this fortnightly task. If you are able to help, please give your name and telephone number to the Parish office.
Day of Recollection - Saturday 27th September
The local community of Lay Carmelites invite you to join them on a journey of exploration, reflection and prayer at Our Lady & St Joseph Catholic Parish, Leigh Rad, Leigh on Sea SS9 1NG for a Day of Recollection. We will gather for Tea/Coffee in the Parish Centre at 10.15 am. Our guest will be speaker Fr Michael Cox, O.Carm. For a full programme please see the poster on the Church Notice Board.