An Invitation to join the Gift Aid Scheme
What is Gift Aid?
Gift Aid is one of the simplest and most effective ways of giving to charity. It does not cost the donor anything over and above the amount of their donation. It is a scheme introduced by HM Revenue which allows charities to reclaim the basic rate tax you pay as a UK taxpayer.
It means that for every £1 you donate the parish can claim an extra 25p of tax at no extra cost to you. Therefore if you donate £10 to the parish, you will actually be giving £12.50.
Do I qualify for Gift Aid?
To qualify for Gift Aid, you need to be a UK taxpayer and to have paid sufficient Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax to cover your donation. Gift Aid can apply to donations of any amount large or small - it all adds up!
How do I join the Gift Aid Scheme?
All that is required is to complete a Gift Aid declaration form filling in your full name, address and postcode and tick the box (indicating that you wish to join the scheme) confirming that you are a UK tax payer and we will do the rest.
Does joining the Gift Aid Scheme entail disclosure of ‘personal’ matters?
No-one is required to disclose their earnings, their employer, the amount of tax they pay or anything else that is personal to them or their family.
What if the donor already makes Gift Aid donations to another Charity?
A donor may complete Gift Aid Declarations to as many charities as they wish provided they pay sufficient Income Tax to at least equal the amount of their donations.
Must membership of the Gift Aid Scheme run for any particular term?
No. There is no term commitment whatsoever. The declaration has no expiry date, does not have to be renewed or superseded and can be cancelled at any time by the donor.
Donations can be made during the collection at weekend masses using the envelopes provided or by monthly standing order. Donations do not have to be the same each week.
For more information or to pick up a form please call 01702 478078.
Alternatively, please leave your details in the Parish office and we will contact you.
CAFOD Fast Day – Friday 10 March
This Friday is Lent Fast Day when we come together to make a small change to our day – such as eating only a simple lunch or supper – so that our poorest sisters and brothers can live lives free of poverty. Without your generosity and prayers, the work that CAFOD does to change the lives of thousands of people worldwide would not be possible. Please support CAFOD Fast Day this Friday 10th. Donation envelopes are available at the back of the church. Thank you.
St Patrick Day Celebrations - Friday 17th March
Live music by Merv and Maria. Jig, dance and sing along to Irish, country and sixties tunes. Bring your own drinks and nibbles. Raffle (donations most welcome). 7.30pm to 10.30pm. Tickets £8.50 each or family £25. All proceeds to our church. Tickets from Phyllis 07969465518, Darrell 07825686249 or Marian after Mass.
Serving the Homeless
The next event is a Meal at the East Restaurant in Alexandra Street, Southend on Wednesday 15th March at 7.30 pm. Tickets cost £15 each and are available from Jo 474062, Linda 558217 or Nina 472536.
Our Annual General Meeting will take place on Monday 3rd April at 7.30pm in St Margaret's Church Hall, Lime Avenue, Leigh on Sea. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Parish/Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes Monday 24th-Friday 28th July 2017
If you have put your name on the list wishing to go to Lourdes please collect a Booking Form from the Parish Office and return this, together with a non-refundable deposit of £150 per person, as soon as possible.
Sacrament of Confirmation
Confirmation preparation will be held in the Parish Centre from 6.30pm to 8pm starting on Sunday 12th March for those aged 14 years old by the end of August 2016 (Year 10).
Counters & Folders
Counters: Jan Lewis & Sandie Hippard
Newsletter Folders: Bobbie Newman & Emma Beardsell
Lenten Lunches
You are warmly invited to join in the Friday Lenten Lunches. Lunches will be on the Fridays of Lent from 12.30pm in the Parish Centre, the last lunch being 7th April. A contribution of £5 will include homemade soup, rolls, cheese, fruit, tea or coffee. This year all proceeds will be divided between Southend YMCA Children's Project and Southend Women's Refuge.
Baptism Preparation Evenings
The next Baptism Preparation Evenings will take place on Tuesday 7th March and Tuesday 14th March, 2017. Both sessions will begin at 8pm in the Parish Centre. If you wish to attend would you please give your name and telephone number to the Parish secretary.
ABC - About Being Catholic
The series of informal talks designed to give an insight into the teachings and traditions of the Catholic church continues every Monday, starting at 8pm in the Parish Centre. 6th March: The Moral Life - Virtues and Vices. You are welcome to attend some or all of these talks; if you would like more information please speak to Fr Kevin or telephone Pat O’Connell on 712123.
Reception into the Church
Reception into the Church
The Rite of Election will be held this Sunday, 5th March at St Antony of Padua Church, Forest Gate. Those wishing to be received into the church at Easter will be presented to the Bishop. Please remember them in your prayers.
Lenten Talks
The Lenten talks begin this coming Wednesday, 8th March at 7.30pm in Nazareth House. Fr Gerry Drummond will talk on the 100 years anniversary of the Fatima revelations in 1917. As Conversion and penance are a key element, the Sacrament of Confession will be available.
Dates for your Diary
Saturday 6th & 13th May First Holy Communion Masses- 10.30am
Sunday 4th June Confirmation Mass - 11.30am
Sunday 18th June Corpus Christi Procession - 4pm
Saturday 22nd July Walsingham Centenary Pilgrimage
Monday 24th/Friday 28th July Parish Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes
Parish Mission
Sanctuary Lamp
The lamp burns for the intentions of Alison and all those that we have loved that are no longer with us. May they rest in peace.
Please Pray for the Dead on their anniversaries
Fr Malachy Kelly, Canon Joseph Whitfield, Fr Thomas Lawton, Fr John Gordon, Fr Edmund Meyer, Fr Maurice Roche, Bernard McCarthy, Ena Bartley, Mary Smith, Doris Conner, Danielle Sutherland, Sandra McGran, Philip Thomas, John Burke,Anthony Conlon, Hannah Harris, Stanley Ramsey, Miss Sydney Compton, Edward Baigent, Elsie Killman, Janet Harris, Teresa Rumsey, Henry Delaney, John Button, Constance Ryan, Joyce Quinn, Pamela Jones, Peggy Choppin, Vincent Ingham, Christopher Tyler, Joe Swann, Theresa Ketterer, Joseph Collins, Lionel Clarke, Richard Young & Margaret Houston.
May their Souls & the Souls of all the Faithful Departed rest in peace
Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Friends in Christ
This is the final Sunday - in the old calendar it is known as Quinquagesima Sunday - before the start of Lent. From today, fifty days separate us from the celebration of Easter and now is the time when we can begin to reflect on how we shall live our Lent. In the Gospel of this Sunday Jesus says that we cannot be the slave of two masters. Lent allows us the opportunity, if we but take it, to examine our lives to see whether we are God’s servants or if we are slaves to the world. Sometimes we might think there is a fine line: we want to love and serve God but we also have to live in the world and all it has to offer. The two are not incompatible but we have to be continually aware that what God offers is infinitely better and richer. Pope Francis reminds us in his Lenten Message to the Church:
Dear Friends in Christ
This is the final Sunday - in the old calendar it is known as Quinquagesima Sunday - before the start of Lent. From today, fifty days separate us from the celebration of Easter and now is the time when we can begin to reflect on how we shall live our Lent. In the Gospel of this Sunday Jesus says that we cannot be the slave of two masters. Lent allows us the opportunity, if we but take it, to examine our lives to see whether we are God’s servants or if we are slaves to the world. Sometimes we might think there is a fine line: we want to love and serve God but we also have to live in the world and all it has to offer. The two are not incompatible but we have to be continually aware that what God offers is infinitely better and richer. Pope Francis reminds us in his Lenten Message to the Church:
Lent is the favourable season for renewing our encounter with Christ, living in his word, in the sacraments and in our neighbour. The Lord, who overcame the deceptions of the Tempter during the forty days in the desert, shows us the path we must take. May the Holy Spirit lead us on a true journey of conversion, so that we can rediscover the gift of God’s word, be purified of the sin that blinds us, and serve Christ present in our brothers and sisters in need.
I would like the start of Lent to be for us also the initiation of our spiritual preparation for the Parish Mission which will take place from 7th - 15th October. There will be Mission Prayer Cards available from next weekend and I ask you all to say the prayer daily for the spiritual fruits of the Mission, in this our Diocesan Centenary Year. As a Parish Family my hope is that we can all live this Lent with a renewed purpose and each draw closer to Christ in prayer and self-sacrificing love.
God bless you all!
Msgr Kevin Hale
Priest@LourdesLeigh.org ✚ 01702 478078
Homily available at LourdesLeigh.org
Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday 26th February - Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Saturday 5.30pm Vigil Kevin Martin, RIP (SW)
6.30pm–7.30pm Exposition & Confession
8.00am Mass John Bernard Holland, RIP, (Anniv)(MH)
9.30am Mass Michael Irons, RIP (JV)
11.30am Mass The People of the Parish
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Monday 27 Feria
9.00am Mass Ruby Fegan, RIP (Anniv) (JC)
Tuesday 28 Feria
9.00am Mass Intentions of Maureen Ward (RO’C)
Wednesday 1 March ASH WEDNESDAY Day of Fasting & Abstinence
9.00am Mass Bill Hoggett, RIP (Anniv)(JH)
12Noon Mass Holy Souls
8.00pm Mass Intentions of O’Sullivan Family - 1st Anniversary of Aoife O’Sullivan, RIP (MO’S)
Thursday 2 Feria
9.00am Mass Peppi Major, RIP (Anniv) (PM)
Friday 3 Feria
6.30am Mass Agnes & Steve McManus, RIP (SW)
12Noon Mass CWL Intentions
8.00pm Holy Hour & Benediction
Saturday 4 Feria
10am Mass Joan Hogan, RIP (Anniv) (JK)
10.30am-11.30am Exposition & Confession
The Holy Rosary is prayed after morning Mass during the week
Sunday 5th March - First Sunday of Lent
Saturday 5.30pm Vigil The People of the Parish
6.30pm–7.30pm Exposition & Confession
8.00am Mass Albert Cook, RIP (SD)
9.30am Mass Maureen Regan, RIP (CR)
11.30am Mass Bill Pearson, RIP (Anniv) (SP)
4.00pm Mass Johanna & Samuel Beech, RIP (JC)- Extraordinary Form
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
The Sacrament of Penance is available on request
Scripture Group
Fr Con Joyce’s Scripture Group will next meet in the Parish Centre 8pm-9pm on Thursday, 2nd March. Fr. Con will be talking about the prophets. All welcome.