Serving the Homeless
Our next event is Sunday lunch at the Park View Suite in Chalkwell Park on Sunday 26th January, 12.30 for 1.00pm. Tickets cost £20 and are available from any member of the Committee or please ring Linda on 01702 558217.
Invitation to an Open Meeting - Sancta Vita Secondary School
Are you concerned about Catholic Secondary Education? Come and be part of a vision for change. A new type of private Secondary School in London with a Catholic ethos and praxis realistically accessible to families from all income groups. Come and hear how this can be done. Have your Questions answered. For full details go to www.sanctavitaschool.org.uk
VENUE: Thursday 30th January 2020 7.30pm-9.30pm Challoner Hall, Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street, London, England. (nearest underground station Piccadilly Circus).
OLL Ladies Group
Our next meeting is on Thursday 23rd January in the Parish Centre from 10.30am. We welcome back Jo Ronan, who will present a fascinating talk ‘What it means to be British’ so we hope to have a full house and show our support. As ever, all women in the Parish are welcome. Subs only £1.00 plus a great Raffle.
Lift to Church
One of our Parishioners is now in a care home in Southend and would be very grateful for a lift to Mass on a Sunday. If you are able to help please ring his nephew, Doug Addecott, on 07900 681767. Thank you.
Journey of Faith (RCIA)
A series of informal talks, designed to give an insight into the teachings and traditions of the Catholic church, will continue on Monday 20th January at 8pm in the Parish Centre with Journey of Faith (Baptism & Confirmation). You are welcome to attend some or all of these talks; if you would like more information please speak to Fr Kevin.
Sacred Heart Night Shelter
We require mens belts (small/medium) and ladies new cotton long sleeved tops (small/medium). Please leave all donations in the sacristy. Thank you.
Sea of Voices Choir
Our community choir have returned after the Christmas break and we have welcomed some new members! It’s still a good time to join as we are learning new songs for a summer concert. We especially would like to welcome any singers who sing alto and bass. Gentlemen: we need your voices in particular! Contact Darrell 07825686249 or email seaofvoiceschoir@outlook.com for information or speak to a choir member.
Parish Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
Information leaflets and Booking Forms for our seven day pilgrimage, 18th to 25th November 2020 are now available from the Parish office. The tour will start in Galilee and end in Jerusalem, staying at 4-Star hotels in Jerusalem and Tiberias.
The cost will be £1580 per person, with a single room supplement of £550. The price includes half board, 23kg hold/10kg hand luggage, meals and beverages on flights, an air-conditioned bus in Israel/Palestine, entrance fees, English speaking guide, hotel porterage, gratuities for guide/hotel staff.
Please return your Booking Form as soon as possible, together with a non-refundable deposit of £300 per person.
Dates for your Diary
Saturdays 16th & 23rd May First Holy Communions - 10.30am
1st Thursday of every month Meeting of Parish Evangelisation Team 8pm
We Pray for our Sick
Peg Larman, Ian Irwin, Sylvia Clancy, Vita D’Souza, Patricia Vanner,
Amy Louise Fox, Sarah Savage, Bill O’Connell, Sheena Reeves, Janet Weale, Charlotte O’Neil, Ella Williams, David Kislingbury, Mark Shepherd, Eileen Bines, Frank Bramley, Mark Hartley, Austin Butler, John Lavery, Paul Keane,
Rosemary Bragard, Pat Lynch,Maureen Gooding, Dympna Addecott, Ben Wilson,
Christian Ryan, Mike Rubbert, Tina Doveaston, Addi Brady, Patricia Fleming, Nicky Wigmore, Rose Craft, Nan Carrit, Eileen Wilson, Patricia Spikin, Sandra Fagan, Edna Wallace, Beryl Dixon, Nick Evans, Vicky Jack, Mary Boyce, Kristin Hallenga, Anne O’Neill, Cheryl Shallis, Anthony McEvoy, Justin Stark, Sheila Netherton, David Blyth, Janet Woods, Lynne Hilkene, June Moncaster, Laura & Anne Breen, Breda Lynch, Maria Clark, Roy Widdecombe, Johanna Lynch, Anthony King, Chas Taylor, Norma McCleverty, Belinda Balazsi, Johnnie Pool, Edward Martin, Joanna Luciani, Pauline Wilsher, Simon Marshall, Kriston Barnes, Hugh Isaacs, Josephine Griggs, Colleen Worley, Dawn Deleigh, Lorraine Hart, Linda Dean, Wyn McCafferty, Georgina Cornwell, Antonella McConalogue, Eddie McConalogue, Sharon Levill, Annie Holland, Ivor & Joanne Knight, Brian Beresford, Rebecca Peake, Connor Bourke, Mattia Mollica, Bernadette Lane, Irena Solecki, Ianto Bellis, Doreen Troughton, Marguerite Harris, Andrew Exley, Richard Collins, Elizabeth McConalogue, Kean Smith, Keith Maliff & children Thomas Ball, Liam Davis, Connie Price, Albert Chambers, Fergus Grant, Mary Isherwood, Lucy Price & Frazer Gregory.
Please Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries
Mgr Canon David Donnelly, Bp Bernard Ward, Fr Christopher Quirke, Pope Benedict XV, Bp Arthur Doubleday, Fr John O’Sullivan, Fr John Hibbert, Fr John Meehan, Anne Ryan, Bernard Leonard, Gilbert Oldham, John Dillon, Ilene Axsom, Dora Arnott, Teresa Moule, Courtney Choat-Kelly, Kathleen Goddard, Hubert Connolly, Jimmy Baker, Catherine Morris, Frances Emmerson, John Mansfield, Isabel King, Conor Hartley-Anderson, Rose Nice, Mary Vermeulen, John Dillon, T. Fitzpatrick, Mary Clarke, Ellen Brooks, Sarah Mann, William Hands, Barbara Sheaf, Kathleen Cooke, Phylis Faulkner, Ida Wallace, Bridget McGrath, Huguette Farrelly & Floria Fletcher.
May their Souls & the Souls of all the Faithful Departed rest in peace
The Baptism of The Lord
Dear Friends in Christ
The three manifestations of Jesus as God are: Epiphany, Baptism in the Jordan and Wedding Feast at Cana. In each of these episodes we are given a glimpse of Jesus Christ, True God and True Man. Jesus has no need for Baptism, and indeed the Baptism that John offered was a Baptism to show repentance and change of life. By entering the waters of the River Jordan, Jesus indicates that He is making holy the water so that anyone who is Baptised in His name will receive the very life of the Blessed Trinity.
Dear Friends in Christ
The three manifestations of Jesus as God are: Epiphany, Baptism in the Jordan and Wedding Feast at Cana. In each of these episodes we are given a glimpse of Jesus Christ, True God and True Man. Jesus has no need for Baptism, and indeed the Baptism that John offered was a Baptism to show repentance and change of life. By entering the waters of the River Jordan, Jesus indicates that He is making holy the water so that anyone who is Baptised in His name will receive the very life of the Blessed Trinity. This is made clear at the moment of Jesus' own Baptism, when He emerges from the waters: the voice of God the Father is heard, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a Dove. All this is a picture of the life of Blessed Trinity that is poured into the souls of all those who receive Christian Baptism. As a consequence of our own Baptism, our natural life has been raised to a supernatural level; we are human but we have been made quasi-divine. This is expressed beautifully in a Homily for Christmas Day:
Christian, remember your dignity, and now that you share in God's own nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition. Bear in mind who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Do not forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of God's kingdom. Through the sacrament of baptism you have become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Do not drive away so great a guest by evil conduct and become again a slave to the devil, for your liberty was bought by the blood of Christ. (Pope St Leo the Great).
This Sunday each year, we invite those recently Baptised to come for a special blessing during the Evening Devotions. It is both a celebration of the new life given to us in Baptism and a reminder to all of us of our high and noble Christian vocation.
God bless you all this week!
Msgr Kevin Hale
Priest@LourdesLeigh.org ✚ 01702 478078
The Sunday Homily is available as a podcast at LourdesLeigh.org
The Baptism of The Lord
THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD Sunday 12th January
Saturday 5.30pm Vigil Sybil Swann, RIP (KE)
6.30pm–7.30pm Exposition & Confession
8.00am Mass Joe de Lobel, RIP (Anniv) (VC)
9.30am Mass The People of the Parish
11.30am Mass Patrick Flynn, RIP (MD)
5.30pm Blessing of Babies & Benediction
Monday 13 St Hilary, Bp, D
9.00am Mass Timothy McCarthy, RIP (Anniv) (SM)
Tuesday 14 Feria
9.00am Mass Eric Major, RIP (Anniv) (PM)
Wednesday 15 Feria
9.00am Mass Thomas Byrnes, RIP (Anniv) (SG)
2.30pm Requiem Mass William Anderson, RIP
Thursday 16 Feria
9.00am Mass Intentions of Peter Scott (MS)
Friday 17 St Anthony, Ab
12Noon Mass James Rourke, RIP (NB)
Saturday 18 Saturday Memorial of BVM
10.00am Mass Isobel Good, RIP (CH)
10.30am-11.30am Exposition & Confession
SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Sunday 19th January
Saturday 5.30pm Vigil Pauline Godfrey, RIP (CC)
6.30pm–7.30pm Exposition & Confession
8.00am Mass Frances Emmerson, RIP (Anniv) (AE)
9.30am Mass Pam & Frank Edgeley, RIP (Wedding Anniversary) (SN)
11.30am Mass The People of the Parish
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
The Sacrament of Penance is available on request
Services from the church are live streamed
Year of the God Who Speaks - The Gospel of Matthew
Fr Adrian Graffy will lead an exploration of the Gospel of Matthew, the lectionary gospel for Sundays in 2020, from 7 pm until 8.30 pm on Wednesday 15th (changed from 22nd) January, and Wednesday 29th January at the Catholic Church of Christ the Eternal High Priest, Gidea Park. Admission is free, but please book your place by email to GPstudydays@gmail.com Copies of the recently published ‘Revised New Jerusalem Bible’ will be on sale for £30 (reduced from the normal price of £39.99). Full details and video of earlier talks available on www.whatgoodnews.org
Bereavement Support Group
The Bereavement Support Group next meet on Wednesday 15th January at 2pm in the Parish Centre, Bernadette Room, and will be an opportunity to reflect on Christmas and the New Year in a quiet and confidential space. Open to all who have experienced loss and bereavement.
Enquiries to: cynthiabush11@googlemail.com or elizabeth.dex@btinternet.com
Health & Safety
Please park only in the designated spaces in the Courtyard outside the Parish Centre. Please do not double-park or block-in other cars. If there are no bays available this means the Courtyard is full!
When lighting votive candles, please use only the designated holding cups; NEVER place lit candles on any other surface, or under other candles. If there are no free spaces then leave the unlit candle to the side and it will be lit later. Thank you!
St Thomas More School
We would like to invite those from the local parishes to come and hear Brendan Thompson from Catholic Voices talk about Our Lady of Guadalupe on Thursday 13th February at 7pm, at St. Thomas More School. We hope that those in our local community will come and hear this inspiring and informative talk – it is open to all.
Please email Mr. Griffin - pgriffin@stthomasmore.southend.sch.uk if you would like to attend. There will also be opportunity for refreshments.
Annual Lourdes Mass
The Annual Lourdes Mass will be celebrated by Msgr Kevin Hale at Brentwood Cathedral on Sunday 16 February at 3pm. This is an opportunity to give thanks for graces received in Lourdes and to seek prayers for the sick. During the Mass, the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick will be celebrated.