Eighteenth Sunday of the Year
Dear friends in Christ
Life on earth is brief. We all experience joys and sorrows in the course of life. In the best of cases we might amass great material goods which we know will only be left behind for others. The Readings at Mass today remind us, in the words of the First Reading, that all is vanity. Nevertheless, the human heart has a great capacity to seek the things of this world without paying attention to the transient nature of life. The human heart tends to attachments which are passing. In the Gospel this Sunday, Jesus tells us to beware of this attitude. On a certain day the Lord will come to settle the accounts with us, to determine how well or how ill we have administered His gifts. These gifts include our intelligence, health, material goods, the capacity for friendship and love, the power to bring joy to those around us, and so on. Our life on earth is short and limited but meditating on our final end can motivate us to make our time and work holy. It can help us to take advantage of our situation in order to utilise well all that we have been given. We have only to hear the News these days to realise that thousands are dying each day in desperately tragic circumstances. These people were probably unaware that their time was up, that they would have no more time to improve. God has given us this awareness; let us be wise. Inasmuch as the good of this world are intended for the glory of God, we should use them with a sense of detachment; this means knowing how to be happy in times of prosperity as in times of adversity. Whether we are rich or poor, we use what we have with gratitude knowing that everything has been given to us to be used wisely. By reflecting on life, death, and the things of the earth in this way, we will make good use of our time here. This also gives better meaning to life here and now, which is the means whereby we prepare for Heaven. With every blessing!
Msgr Kevin Hale
Eighteenth Sunday of the Year
Dear friends in Christ
Life on earth is brief. We all experience joys and sorrows in the course of life. In the best of cases we might amass great material goods which we know will only be left behind for others. The Readings at Mass today remind us, in the words of the First Reading, that all is vanity. Nevertheless, the human heart has a great capacity to seek the things of this world without paying attention to the transient nature of life. The human heart tends to attachments which are passing. In the Gospel this Sunday, Jesus tells us to beware of this attitude. On a certain day the Lord will come to settle the accounts with us, to determine how well or how ill we have administered His gifts. These gifts include our intelligence, health, material goods, the capacity for friendship and love, the power to bring joy to those around us, and so on. Our life on earth is short and limited but meditating on our final end can motivate us to make our time and work holy. It can help us to take advantage of our situation in order to utilise well all that we have been given. We have only to hear the News these days to realise that thousands are dying each day in desperately tragic circumstances. These people were probably unaware that their time was up, that they would have no more time to improve. God has given us this awareness; let us be wise. Inasmuch as the good of this world are intended for the glory of God, we should use them with a sense of detachment; this means knowing how to be happy in times of prosperity as in times of adversity. Whether we are rich or poor, we use what we have with gratitude knowing that everything has been given to us to be used wisely. By reflecting on life, death, and the things of the earth in this way, we will make good use of our time here. This also gives better meaning to life here and now, which is the means whereby we prepare for Heaven. With every blessing!
Msgr Kevin Hale
Eighteenth Sunday of the Year
Saturday 30th Our Lady on Saturday
10.00am Mass John Sheehy, RIP (Anniv) (MM)
5.30pm Vigil Mass Vera de Souza, RIP (LD)
Sunday 31st - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
8am Mass Intentions of Benjo Balolong & Andreas Stavrinides (BB&AS)
9.30am Mass The People of the Parish
11.30am Mass Mary Byrne, RIP & Mary Merrick, RIP (AR)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Monday
1st August St Alphonsus Liguori, Bp D
9.00am Mass Kevin Power, RIP (Anniv) (MP
10.00am Requiem Mass: Patricia Armstrong, RIP
Tuesday 2nd St Eusebius of Vermicelli, Bp
9.00am Mass Clare Chadwick, RIP (Anniv) (MI)
Wednesday 3rd Feria
9.00am Mass Edward Hippard, RIP (SH)
Thursday 4th St John Vianney (Cure of Ars), Pr
9.00am Mass Maureen Mann, RIP (Anniv) (RM)
Friday 5th Dedication of the Basilica of St Mary Major
12Noon Mass CWL Intentions
12.30pm Exposition after Mass until
8.00pm Holy Hour & Benediction
Saturday 6th Transfiguration of the Lord
10.00am Mass Intentions of Kathleen Burke & Family (RO’C)
5.30pm Vigil Mass Diana Underwood, RIP (Anniv) (RB)
Sunday 7th - Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
8am Mass Jo Cox, RIP
9.30am Mass The People of the Parish
11.30am Mass Nicola Kelly Green, RIP (MW)
4.00pm Mass Private Intention - Extraordinary Form
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Counters & Folders
Counters: Jan Lewis, Sandie Hippard & Nina Bridgeman.
Newsletter Folders: Bobby Newman & Emma Beardsell.
Accommodation Required
A single lady from this parish is seeking to rent a one bedroomed flat/apartment. If anyone can help please contact the Parish Office. Thank you.
Accommodation Required
A single lady from this parish is seeking to rent a one bedroomed flat/apartment. If anyone can help please contact the Parish Office. Thank you.
Southend Talking newspaper
Southend Talking Newspaper is a free, weekly, audio record of local news for blind and partially sighted people who are unable to read a newspaper. Each week our volunteers read and record about an hour of local news. It is posted, ‘first class’, to our visually impaired listeners, keeping them up to date with local events and matters of interest. There is also a regular audio ‘magazine edition’ with local and more distant feature articles. We record on CD or special USB memory sticks and can provide a USB player at no cost to the listener, if necessary. Do you know someone who is unable to read the paper and who might welcome this free service? If so please contact Eric Quarmby on 554536 or Nigel Gayner on 305064.
Southend Talking newspaper
Southend Talking Newspaper is a free, weekly, audio record of local news for blind and partially sighted people who are unable to read a newspaper. Each week our volunteers read and record about an hour of local news. It is posted, ‘first class’, to our visually impaired listeners, keeping them up to date with local events and matters of interest. There is also a regular audio ‘magazine edition’ with local and more distant feature articles. We record on CD or special USB memory sticks and can provide a USB player at no cost to the listener, if necessary. Do you know someone who is unable to read the paper and who might welcome this free service? If so please contact Eric Quarmby on 554536 or Nigel Gayner on 305064.
CAFOD
Could you spare some time to volunteer with CAFOD and help children and young people learn about global poverty, and inspire them to take action?
We’re looking for volunteers who care about global poverty, can work with children and young people and are able to travel to schools in their local area to deliver a short presentation on an aspect of our work. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a global expert or a trained teacher! We offer all our volunteers a full training programme, ongoing support and a wide range of exciting materials and resources to get you up and running. For more information contact Chris Driscoll at the CAFOD Volunteer Centre on 01277 218730/07776 493162 or email brentwood@cafod.org.uk
CAFOD
Could you spare some time to volunteer with CAFOD and help children and young people learn about global poverty, and inspire them to take action?
We’re looking for volunteers who care about global poverty, can work with children and young people and are able to travel to schools in their local area to deliver a short presentation on an aspect of our work. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a global expert or a trained teacher! We offer all our volunteers a full training programme, ongoing support and a wide range of exciting materials and resources to get you up and running. For more information contact Chris Driscoll at the CAFOD Volunteer Centre on 01277 218730/07776 493162 or email brentwood@cafod.org.uk
KNIGHTS OF SAINT COLUMBA – PRAYER FOR PEACE
Deeply saddened by the atrocity in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvrary, France, on Tuesday last, not a day passes without an event occurring in the world revealing the devil’s work and reminding us of the need for constant prayer. At Fatima, Our Lady asked us to recite the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of war. Father Jacques Hamel’s (may he rest in peace) Archbishop Rt. Rev. Father Dominique Lebrun said, “I cry out to God with all men of goodwill. The Catholic Church cannot take up weapons other than those of prayer and brotherhood among men.” Archbishop Dominique has called us to arms, let us heed his words and use the most powerful weapon known to man, prayer. Please join your local Knights of Saint Columba in reciting the Rosary for nine days from Saturday 6th August, whether that be individually, as family group, prayer group or as a parish. Be inclusive, include non-catholics, non-believers, include all. Thank you.
Liam Rand, Grand Knight, Council 192. 07952 944833.
KNIGHTS OF SAINT COLUMBA – PRAYER FOR PEACE
Deeply saddened by the atrocity in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvrary, France, on Tuesday last, not a day passes without an event occurring in the world revealing the devil’s work and reminding us of the need for constant prayer. At Fatima, Our Lady asked us to recite the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of war. Father Jacques Hamel’s (may he rest in peace) Archbishop Rt. Rev. Father Dominique Lebrun said, “I cry out to God with all men of goodwill. The Catholic Church cannot take up weapons other than those of prayer and brotherhood among men.” Archbishop Dominique has called us to arms, let us heed his words and use the most powerful weapon known to man, prayer. Please join your local Knights of Saint Columba in reciting the Rosary for nine days from Saturday 6th August, whether that be individually, as family group, prayer group or as a parish. Be inclusive, include non-catholics, non-believers, include all. Thank you.
Liam Rand, Grand Knight, Council 192. 07952 944833.
Southend Quiz/Walk
Do you like walking? Do you like quizzes? Then the Southend Quiz/Walk is for you! Suitable for all the family you can do the walk at your leisure, with the chance to win a cash prize for the winning entries. Further information and copies of the Quiz/Walk, price £5, obtainable from Nina Bridgeman Tel: 01702 472536; Linda Wall Tel: 01702 558217; Jan Lewis Tel: 01702 478105. (All proceeds to Serving the Homeless).
Southend Quiz/Walk
Do you like walking? Do you like quizzes? Then the Southend Quiz/Walk is for you! Suitable for all the family you can do the walk at your leisure, with the chance to win a cash prize for the winning entries. Further information and copies of the Quiz/Walk, price £5, obtainable from Nina Bridgeman Tel: 01702 472536; Linda Wall Tel: 01702 558217; Jan Lewis Tel: 01702 478105. (All proceeds to Serving the Homeless).
Pray for the Dead
Please pray for our dead on their anniversaries:
Bl Pope Paul VI, Deacon Frederick Wall, Fr Michael O’Sullivan, Mary Ellen Fiddes, Eleanor Lawson, Sylvia Gosling, Ethel Warwick, Olive Scott-Hansen,
Winifred Bailey, Bernard Martin, Frances Murray, Teresa Fitzgerald, Max Button, Margaret Ring, Cecelia Newton, Phyllis Fairman, John Higgins, Maureen Mann, Walter Owen, Stella Blackburn, Sister Vincent, Catherine Hayes, Timothy O’Shea & Anthony Poulton.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Seventeenth Sunday of the Year
Dear friends in Christ
When the disciples of Our Lord asked Him to teach them how to pray He responded with the perfect prayer, the Our Father. He utters every word with care. He taught them how to put all their trust in prayer to their Father God. In this He solemnly promised to be attentive to our requests. In our prayer, the first things we should ask of God are spiritual goods - the grace to love Him more each day - to have a real desire for holiness. We should ask God for material goods insofar as they serve to bring us closer to Him. These can include good health, economic well-being, employment and so forth. St Augustine advises us: Pray for temporal goods in private, and rest in the knowledge that they come to us from Him who knows what is best for us. Did you ask and not get what you wanted? Trust in your Father. If it would have been good for you, you would have received it. Before God, you are as much as a little child is before you. All day long, the child cries out so that you will give him a knife to play with. You wisely refuse his plea and pay no attention to his wailing. When the child demands to ride your horse, you won’t let him. The child does not know how to ride, and may get injured or even killed as a result. You deny him in little things so as to preserve more important things. You want the child to grow up safely and possess all his own goods without danger (Sermon 80 2,7-8). This is how the Lord is with us. So many times we are like children who don’t realise what they are asking for; but God always knows what we need better than ourselves.
This weekend six of our young adults are travelling to World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, to be with millions of other Catholic youth from around the world together with Our Holy Father, Pope Francis. We sent them forth last Sunday from Mass accompanied with the prayers of the Parish Family as they go to meet Peter and have their Faith confirmed. May they and all of us enjoy a fruitful and holy Summer vacation! God bless you.
Msgr Kevin Hale
Seventeenth Sunday of the Year
Dear friends in Christ
When the disciples of Our Lord asked Him to teach them how to pray He responded with the perfect prayer, the Our Father. He utters every word with care. He taught them how to put all their trust in prayer to their Father God. In this He solemnly promised to be attentive to our requests. In our prayer, the first things we should ask of God are spiritual goods - the grace to love Him more each day - to have a real desire for holiness. We should ask God for material goods insofar as they serve to bring us closer to Him. These can include good health, economic well-being, employment and so forth. St Augustine advises us: Pray for temporal goods in private, and rest in the knowledge that they come to us from Him who knows what is best for us. Did you ask and not get what you wanted? Trust in your Father. If it would have been good for you, you would have received it. Before God, you are as much as a little child is before you. All day long, the child cries out so that you will give him a knife to play with. You wisely refuse his plea and pay no attention to his wailing. When the child demands to ride your horse, you won’t let him. The child does not know how to ride, and may get injured or even killed as a result. You deny him in little things so as to preserve more important things. You want the child to grow up safely and possess all his own goods without danger (Sermon 80 2,7-8). This is how the Lord is with us. So many times we are like children who don’t realise what they are asking for; but God always knows what we need better than ourselves.
This weekend six of our young adults are travelling to World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, to be with millions of other Catholic youth from around the world together with Our Holy Father, Pope Francis. We sent them forth last Sunday from Mass accompanied with the prayers of the Parish Family as they go to meet Peter and have their Faith confirmed. May they and all of us enjoy a fruitful and holy Summer vacation! God bless you.
Msgr Kevin Hale
Seventeenth Sunday of the Year
Saturday 23rd St Bridget of Sweden, Rel
10.00am Mass Special Intention (MS)
5.30pm Vigil Mass Sally Ann Power, RIP (GP)
Sunday 24th - Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
8am Mass Geraldine Hayter, RIP (Anniv) (GVH)
9.30am Mass The People of the Parish
11.30am Mass James McCourt, RIP (AMc)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Monday 25th St James, Ap
9.00am Mass Eileen Hood, RIP (A&CB)
10.15am Requiem Mass: Jutta Salter, RIP
Tuesday 26th Ss Joachim and Anne, Parents of the BVM
9.00am Mass Daniel & Maryanne McConville, RIP (MD)
Wednesday 27th Feria
9.00am Mass Winnie & Michael McHale, RIP (MK)
Thursday 28th Feria
9.00am Mass Canon Francis Gilbert, RIP
Friday 29th St Martha
12Noon Mass Elpedio Bonggot (ER)
Saturday 30th Our Lady on Saturday
10.00am Mass John Sheehy, RIP (Anniv) (MM)
5.30pm Vigil Mass Vera de Souza, RIP (LD)
Sunday 31st - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
8am Mass Intentions of Benjo Balolong & Andreas Stavrinides (BB&AS)
9.30am Mass The People of the Parish
11.30am Mass Mary Byrne, RIP & Mary Merrick, RIP (AR)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
School Admission Forms
Parents wishing to apply to Catholic Schools - primary or secondary - for next academic year are required to obtain a Letter of Catholic Practise from their Parish Priest. These will be issued on the last weekend in September, the times which will be given at the end of the Summer holidays. These are issued only to practising Catholics (i.e. those who attend weekly Mass). Furthermore, this practise of the Faith will be viewed over a period of time and not just the weeks prior to an application. Parish Priests may also look at the date of Baptism in the case of Primary School applications, noting those children who have been Baptised soon after birth as compared to those Baptised with proximity to school age. This is a matter of justice to all involved in applying for places in our Schools. Our schools are often oversubscribed and in order to be fair, preference will justly be given to those who live and practise the Faith as well as who contribute to the life of the Church through the various ways in which that support is given.