Rosary in the Month of May
Each evening throughout May — whilst lockdown continues — Father Kevin will pray the Holy Rosary in church at 6pm. Please join for this month of Mary, in praying for the health of our Parish and Nation at this time of affliction.
Please Pray for the Repose of the Souls of
Grahame Addecott RIP
who died on Friday 24th April
Mary McKeever RIP
who died on Wednesday, 8th April
We Pray for our Sick
Anne Owen, Adrian Barclay, Patricia Ann Darroch, Peg Larman, Sylvia Clancy, Patricia Vanner, Amy Louise Fox, Sarah Savage, Bill O’Connell, Janet Weale, Charlotte O’Neil, Ella Williams, David Kislingbury, Mark Shepherd, Eileen Bines, Breege McCaffrey, 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
Fr John Kennedy, Canon Thomas Norris, Fr Feargus Saurin, Fr Andrew Dorricott, Canon Patrick Palmer, Canon Basil Booker, Fr John O’Callaghan, Canon Brian Grady, Sarah Coyne, Ronald Turner, Wilhelmina Chalk, Leslie Porter, Anita Dawson, David McClusky, Sybil Figueredo, Elizabeth McCarthy, John Brown, Petronella Jennett, Mary Deyong, Arthur Leftley, Bertha Nesnas, Mary Hardie, Mabel Salter, Dorothy Hosmer, Denys Hale, Charles McLaughlin, Fred Parsons, Arthur Chadwick, Anthony Camelo, Patrick Seanahan, Peggy Choppin, Mary Donovan, Canon Brian Grady.
The Feast of Saint George
As we celebrate St George this year, we ask his particular intercession — together with St Michael — for our Country in this time of trial
As we celebrate St George this year, we ask his particular intercession — together with St Michael — for our Country in this time of trial
Audio version
The audio version is also available as a podcast in iTunes, Spotify and Stitcher
Octave Day of Easter
As we approach the Octave Day of Easter — in isolation with the Apostles — we prepare to celebrate the Divine Mercy of God
As we approach the Octave Day of Easter — in isolation with the Apostles — we prepare to celebrate the Divine Mercy of God
Audio version
This is also available as a podcast in iTunes, Spotify and Stitcher
Second Sunday of Easter — Divine Mercy Sunday
On this Octave Day of the Resurrection, I renew my Easter greetings to you all, wherever you are!
Dear friends in Christ
On this Octave Day of the Resurrection, I renew my Easter greetings to you all, wherever you are! Although I have not seen any of you for some weeks now, I know that you are seeing me through the live-streaming of the liturgies. Thank you for your perseverance and above all for the huge support of your prayers and affections during these weeks of suffering. I am most appreciative of your many Easter greetings that have come through emails, Facebook and offerings left on the door step! Many of you have continued to make your weekly offerings to the Parish by sending-in your envelopes, donating online and by the standing orders; this is especially thoughtful in these financially hard times. Normally there is a litany of thanks for all the assistance given throughout Holy Week; this year however, I wanted to thank two people who helped me in church: our Florist and the Organist who made the church and the liturgies more dignified and prayerful.
The Second Sunday of Easter celebrates the love of God as Divine Mercy. The Gospel tells of the Easter evening appearance of Jesus to the Apostles. After His death, they had locked themselves away in the upper room. As many of us find ourselves now, they were in isolation, fearful and not sure what the future held. It was precisely in this time that Jesus came amongst them and reassured them in their faith in Him and in the future.Last Sunday, before his blessing Urbi et Orbi, Pope Francis said:
This disease has not only deprived us of human closeness, but also of the possibility of receiving in person the consolation that flows from the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist and Reconciliation. In many countries, it has not been possible to approach them, but the Lord has not left us alone! United in our prayer, we are convinced that he has laid his hand upon us (cf. Ps 138:5), firmly reassuring us: Do not be afraid, “I have risen and I am with you still!” (cf. Roman Missal, Entrance Antiphon, Mass of Easter Sunday).
We are all in this crisis together, whether we be individuals alone at home, families struggling with children, or the sick and afflicted, and those who care for them. We must all be here for one another and the wonderful spirit of support and collaboration within the Parish Family continues to inspire me in my priestly work. This is not a time for being downcast or gloomy; the Resurrection of Jesus is THE Good News, it IS the Gospel. If any of you would like to speak with me, please feel free to email or ‘phone me, as like yourselves, I remain for the most-part available at home. May God bless you all and keep you safe and secure in his merciful embrace.
Msgr Kevin Hale
Second Sunday of Easter — Divine Mercy Sunday
Saturday 18 April
5.30pm Vigil Mass The People of the Parish
Sunday 19 April
11.30am Mass Albert Thomas Cook, RIP (SD)
2.30pm Divine Mercy Devotions: Veneration of the Image, Blessing with the Relic of St Faustina & Benediction
Weekday of Easter
Monday 20 April
9am Mass Phillip & Susan Maxfield — 21st Wedding Anniversary (SM)
St Anselm of Canterbury, Bishop, Doctor of the Church
Tuesday 21 April
9am Mass Canon Francis Gilbert, RIP (SVP)
Weekday of Easter
Wednesday 22 April
9am Mass Michael Charles Moore, RIP (SVP)
St George, Martyr, Patron of England
Thursday 23 April
9am Mass Winifrede Marks, RIP (FM)
St Mellitus, Bishop
Friday 24 April
9am Elizabeth Bateson, RIP (FM)
St Mark, Evangelist
Saturday 25 April
10am Mass Deceased Family of Canon Gilbert (FM)
10.30-11.30 Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Third Sunday of Easter
5.30pm Vigil Mass The People of the Parish
6.30-7.30 Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Sunday 26 April
11.30am Mass Selwyn & Audrey Lewis, RIP (Anniv) (JL)
5.30pm Exposition & Benediction
Public worship is suspended
All services are live streamed
Mass Intentions
You may still continue to send-in Mass requests at this time: simply put the envelope through the letter box of The Presbytery with name or intention on the outside and any preferred date.
Serving the Homeless & Covid-19
Dear all,
Because of the ongoing Corona Virus pandemic the Serving the Homeless Committee have had to cancel all our planned events for this year. However, we would like you to know that we have been able to continue to give £250 per month to HARP out of our reserves, and our 200 Club funding. This is providing basic food supplies to their clients. HARP is housing nearly 200 people in its properties at the present time.
We have also been able to give £1000 to Westcliff SVP Society, who are organising meals and support facilities for the 100 rough sleepers who have been temporally housed by Southend Council for the duration of the pandemic. The council has taken over hotel accommodation to house them as it was no longer safe to keep the Night Shelters open and have people living on the streets. The risk of spreading infection was too great.
This is at least one positive that we can take from this terrible time; that the most vulnerable in our town have for a time, a place of quiet and safety each day and a bed every night. Perhaps for some this will be a chance to heal and rediscover a new meaning in life.
Stay safe, and God bless us all.
Jo Ronan
Please Pray for the Repose of the Souls of
Waltrand Anne Kirk, RIP who died on Tuesday, 24th March.
Allan Thompson, RIP who died on Wednesday, 25th March.
Mary McKeever, RIP who died on Wednesday, 8th April.
Jean Connolly, RIP who died on Sunday, 12th April.
Anne Jennette, RIP who died recently.
Please Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries
Fr Arthur Ryan, Fr Michael Enright, Canon Thomas Smith, Fr Simon Sullivan, Fr Myles O’Reilly, Fr Joseph McEntee, Mary Kyrke-Smith, Anna Coste, George Andrews, Millicent Howell, Albert Cook, Violet Dagnell, Louisa Hucks, Harold Horam, Elaline Stenfalt, Magdalena Schenbel, George Robertson, Capt France Lionnet, Peggy Ayres, Lucy Richardson (Anderson), Joan Fairchild, George Conridge, Albert Middleton, Clifford Mawer, Gladys Watts, Arnold Kyrke-Smith, Thelma Chambers, Michael Abbott, Dorothy (Dolly) Thorp, Mary Johnson, Mary Bartley, Tony Pycraft, Brigid Alexander, John Joseph Heaphy, Minnie Smith, Elizabeth White, Vincent Hurley, Audrey Lewis & Phyllis Eileen Tate.
We Pray for our Sick
Anne Owen, Adrian Barclay, Patricia Ann Darroch, Peg Larman, Sylvia Clancy, Patricia Vanner, Amy Louise Fox, Sarah Savage, Bill O’Connell, Janet Weale, Charlotte O’Neil, Ella Williams, David Kislingbury, Mark Shepherd, Eileen Bines, Breege McCaffrey, 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.
SPUC Pro-Life Prayer Chain
Every year on the Saturday nearest to the 27 April, SPUC holds a public act of witness to commemorate the unborn babies killed by abortion since the implementation of the Abortion Act on 27 April 1968.
Since 27 April 1968, 9 million unborn babies have lost their lives through abortion and untold women, men and families have been wounded.
In 2020 we cannot go out on the street to hold up our placards proclaiming our pro-life messages to passers-by. But we can pray in our homes on Monday 27 April 2020. This is what I invite you to do.
Stay at home to pray for an end to abortion
Instead of a Pro-life Chain outdoors at the roadside, please join a Pro-life Prayer Chain inside your own home.
All we are asking you to do is to commit to praying for an end to abortion on Monday 27 April 2020.
Please make this commitment to pray. Let us know you are doing so by going to our website and filling out the ‘Join the Pro-Life Prayer Chain’ form: spuc.org.uk/Get-Involved/Campaigns/Pro-Life-Prayer-Chain-2020.
We want to cover the country with prayer for unborn babies and their mothers. So let us know you are taking part. And please forward this email to others.
You can choose which prayer you say and you can pray for as long or as short a time as suits you. You will find some prayers here: spuc.org.uk/Get-Involved/Campaigns/Pro-Life-Prayer-Chain-2020.
Thank you for your support. Together we will end abortion.
Easter Greeting
I wish you all — whether you are a member of the Parish Family or further afield — a very Blessed Easter!
I wish you all — whether you are a member of the Parish Family or further afield — a very Blessed Easter!
Audio version
This is also available as a podcast in iTunes, Spotify and Stitcher
Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ has risen from the grave — this is the Good News — and the only important news we need to hear in these days ahead.
Dear friends in Christ,
I wish you all a very blessed Easter in the name of the Risen Lord!
Jesus Christ has risen from the grave — this is the Good News — and the only important news we need to hear in these days ahead. In the midst of such a dark and difficult Lent, let us now forge forward in that hope which the Resurrection of Jesus gives us. All pain, suffering and sorrow only find their meaning in the life and Resurrection of The Lord. We have seen, and will continue to see in the days ahead, a great deal of sorrow. However, it is always the Faith of Christians that gives light to our world; let us not forget the impact we can make. On this most unusual celebration of Easter, we give thanks for all whose lives have helped us through the last weeks: all who have provided Health Care, the key workers in our community and all who continue to keep life on track for the majority of us.
Thank you for the tremendous support you have been giving me: the countless emails, texts and ’phone calls that have kept me in touch with the Parish Family. I have missed seeing you all, but I know you are there and still participating as best you can in the daily rhythm of prayer and worship that continues to go up from this place.
May the Risen Christ impart to you all His peace, joy and hope!
Msgr Kevin Hale
Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord
11 April Holy Saturday
8pm Easter Vigil and First Mass of Easter The People of the Parish
12 April Easter Sunday
11.30am Mass Private Intention
5.30pm Exposition & Benediction
13 April Monday within the Octave of Easter
10am Mass Kathleen Young, RIP (Anniversary) (LY)
14 April Tuesday within the Octave of Easter
9am Mass Intentions of Jim Harforth & Joyce Harforth , RIP (BT)
15 April Wednesday within the Octave of Easter
9am Mass Martin Payne, RIP (Anniversary) (VP)
16 April Thursday within the Octave of Easter
9am Mass Mary Lynch, RIP (SG)
17 April Friday within the Octave of Easter
9am Teresa Lafferty, RIP (AK)
18 April Saturday within the Octave of Easter
10am Mass Eileen Pearson, RIP (SP)
10.30 Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Second Sunday of Easter
Saturday Evening
5.30pm Vigil Mass The People of the Parish
6.30-7.30 Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
19 April Divine Mercy Sunday
11.30am Mass Albert Thomas Cook, RIP (SD)
2.30pm Divine Mercy Devotions: Veneration of the Image, Blessing with the Relic of St Faustina & Benediction
Public worship is suspended
All services are live streamed
Pastoral letter from our Bishop for Easter
The first Holy Week — almost two thousand years ago — saw world-changing events happen with bewildering speed.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The first Holy Week — almost two thousand years ago — saw world-changing events happen with bewildering speed. Jesus received a King’s welcome in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, by Friday he had been crucified to death but on Easter Sunday his disciples were proclaiming his Resurrection.
In any other year I would be encouraging you to take time out of your busy schedule and journey with Jesus in the Holy Week Liturgy and in personal prayer, but this year our churches are closed, many of us are confined to our homes and, as one NHS worker grimly remarked, many of us are now living a three day week — yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Yet our Catholic Christian Faith is very clear that whether in times of suffering or joy, light or darkness:
“Fix your thoughts on Jesus the Apostle and High Priest whom we confess... Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the Pioneer and Perfecter of our Faith”
In the annual rich liturgical and devotional life of the Church this is obvious and can become even routine, but now, in this time of the Covid19 virus, our churches are closed, people are suffering and dying and we are all living in a radically different world.
In that first Holy Week, the last week of our Lord’s life on this earth, the first Christians made little sense of what was happening. The apostles fled from Gethsemane, Peter denied Jesus three times and the Lord died almost alone with just his Mother, St John and one or two others.
Easter Sunday changed everything. Mary Magdalen, filled with love for her friend Jesus, went to the tomb to anoint a body; hope and love had triumphed over paralysis and despair. Mary was the first witness to the empty tomb; much more she was, in the words of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Apostle of the Apostles (Apostolorum Apostola) and she shared her excitement and joy with the apostles.
Every new generation of Christians discovers and proclaims the crucified and risen Lord:
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever”
In these dark and difficult days of the pandemic Mary Magdalen’s longing for life and healing, even when others were plunged into loss and despair, invites all of us to trust God in Christ absolutely.
At His Last Supper our Lord told His disciples:
“I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you... Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them”
In these challenging days we need to support each other and, especially, look after and pray for the vulnerable and elderly. Our priests are continuing to celebrate Mass for their parishioners and, whenever possible, the Sacraments and other pastoral support are being offered to the people of God. Each and every act of kindness, in imitation of our Lord, reminds us that we are truly blessed by God.
The Holy Father continues to be a source of strength and inspiration:
“In the midst of isolation when we are suffering from a lack of tenderness and chances to meet up, and we experience the loss of so many things, let us once again listen to the proclamation that saves us: He is risen and is living by our side”
I wish you many blessings this coming Easter and in the future,
Devotedly in Christ and Mary,
+Alan Williams, sm
Bishop of Brentwood