Magnificat
The Holy Week issue of Magnificat is now on sale for £2 at the back of church. This edition will be the last time you will be able to purchase the Magnificat from this church.
From the April issue, parishioners who wish to continue receiving Magnificat will need to subscribe annually either online at catholic-herald.myshopify.com or send a cheque for £47.00, made payable to Magnificat, Catholic Herald Ltd, 8A Lower Grosvenor Place, London SW1W 0EN.
Landings for Returning Catholics
If there is a member of your family, a neighbour or a friend who has been away from the church for a while please invite them to the next Landings program. We are running the program via Zoom, which will start on 8th April and run for eight weeks. They can contact the Landings Team on landings@lourdesleigh.org. A member of the team will contact them with further details.
St. Helen’s Catholic Primary School Vacancies
St. Helen’s Catholic Primary School, Westcliff have vacancies for a full time Teacher and a Midday Assistant. If you would like to join our friendly team please see the school website www.st-helens.southend.sch.uk for details and application forms or contact Mrs Sears on 01702 343823.
Missio Red Box Holders
I have received the Spring 2021 Missio Magazines. If you have not already received one from me personally, please take one from the back of Church. They are in the usual place on the ledge at the exit door. If anyone has a box ready to be emptied please give it to me personally or leave it with the office. I will leave all boxes that I empty in the same usual place at the back of the Church.
Thank you. Joan Caunce, Secretary - 01268 757505
Third Sunday of Lent
Dear friends in Christ
The Gospel of this Sunday is referred to as The Cleansing of the Temple.
Dear friends in Christ
The Gospel of this Sunday is referred to as The Cleansing of the Temple. We have become used to our churches being cleaned and sanitised after every liturgy, but this is something altogether different! Jesus has an aversion to anything that leads us away from God. So, finding the sacred Temple in Jerusalem so profaned by the merchants, He reacts with righteous anger. But there is a deeper meaning to this occasion: Jesus comes to cleanse the temple that is our body. When He comes to us, He often finds our hearts and souls so cluttered with the things of this world that there is no room for Him. He wants us to purge ourselves of anything that does not belong to God. The four classical temptations are: wealth, pleasure, honour and power. Lent is the favourable time for this purification: the emptying ourselves of those things that keep God out, those things that make our lives like a market place and which Jesus comes to cleanse.
We are over halfway towards the preparation for Consecration to St Joseph on 19th March. We have been reflecting each day at Mass on one of the invocations in the Litany of St Joseph. Some of you have told me that these virtues of St Joseph have not only been a revelation but also a challenge to us in the way we imitate him and live our Christian calling. There is still time to begin a Novena to St Joseph as we prepare to make a dedication to him, so that he may bring us closer to Him for whom he was privileged to be his Guardian on earth.
Congratulations and prayerful good wishes to Fr Basil Pearson who this Saturday—6th—celebrates his Golden Jubilee of Ordination! Fr Basil grew-up in Leigh and was ordained a priest in this Parish; he retired here and has continued to help-out here and in the neighbouring Parishes whenever he can. Fr Basil is a familiar figure to so many of us and his priestly ministry has included working in the Parishes of Wanstead, Romford, Canning Town & Silvertown, missionary work in Kenya, in our sister Diocese of Dundee, South Africa, and more recently as an Army Chaplain where he served at home and overseas including Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Germany, Kosovo Split, Bulford and Colchester. He was also Director of Pontifical Mission Societies and Chaplain to the Across Trust. Although officially retired he has remained very active, especially during my years as Parish priest here. We give thanks to Almighty God for his long, selfless and fruitful ministry. Ad multos annos!
God bless you!
Msgr Kevin Hale
Third Sunday of Lent
5.30pm Vigil Guy Bragard, RIP (Anniversary) (RB)
6.30pm Holy Hour: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Confessions in the Lady Chapel
Sunday 7 March
8am Mass Eileen McQuaid, RIP (RH)
9.30am Mass Fr Enda Keenan, RIP (PM)
11.30am Mass The People of the Parish
4pm Mass Intentions of Mr Francis - Ex Form
(No General Communion)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Monday 8
Feria
9am Mass Marian Payne, RIP (Anniversary) (CP)
8.30-10.30am Private Prayer
Tuesday 9
Feria
9am Mass Joyce Harforth, RIP (Anniversary) (JH)
8.30-10.30am Private Prayer
Wednesday 10
Feria
9am Mass Joe Swann, RIP (Anniversary)(MD)
8.30-10.30am Private Prayer
Thursday 11
Feria
9am Mass Intentions of Tom & Anne McCartan (SC)
8.30-10.30am Private Prayer
Friday 12
Feria
12Noon Mass Ida DeSouza, RIP (DS)
11.30-1pm Private Prayer
7pm Stations of the Cross & Benediction
Saturday 13
Feria
10am Mass Michael O’Sullivan, RIP (PO’S)
10.30-11.30am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Confessions in the Lady Chapel
Fourth Sunday of Lent - Lætare Sunday
5.30pm Vigil Mass The People of the Parish
6.30pm Holy Hour: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Confessions in the Lady Chapel
Sunday 14 March
8am Mass Ben & Edith Dawson, RIP (Anniversary) (AE)
9.30am Mass Sybil Swan, RIP (Anniversary) (MD)
11.30am Mass Mervyn Calton, RIP (Anniversary) (RC)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
We Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries
Canon Joseph Whitfield, Fr Thomas Lawton, Fr John Gordon, Fr Edmund Meyer, Fr Maurice Roche, Mgr Canon David Michael Corley, Fr William Luby, Granley Rumsey, John Stephen Burke, 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, Benjamin Dawson, Leo King, Edith Smith, Eileen Greaves, George Burnham, Lydia Upton, Maura Hanley, Eric Wilding, Stefan Zyms & Frank Keenan Snr.
We Pray for our Sick
Renata Butler, Norbert Widera, Margaret Bartle, Tony Downey, Kristy Monferrari, Fred Ring, Ian Irwin, Russell Short, Marie Karaf, Gilberte Cook, Garry Pearman, Anne Owen, Adrian Barclay, Patricia Ann Darroch, Peggy Larman, 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, 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, Dawn Deleigh, Lorraine Hart, Linda Dean, 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, Elizabeth McConalogue, Kean Smith, Keith Maliff, Bradley & children: Thomas Ball, Liam Davis, Connie Price, Albert Chambers, Fergus Grant, Mary Isherwood, Lucy Price & Frazer Gregory.
We Pray for the Repose of the Souls of
CLAUDIO CATINO, RIP who died on 28th January.
ANDREW SHANAHAN, RIP who died tragically in a car accident on 28th January.
DAVID JOHNSON, RIP who died on 20th February.
MARY BERNADETTE TYSON, RIP who died on 25th February.
Music at 11.30am Mass on Sunday
Chorale Prelude on Vor deinen Thron tret' ich BWV 668 - J S Bach (1685-1750)
Our Lady of Ransom School Rayleigh
The Governors are looking to appoint an enthusiastic and highly motivated full time class teacher to join our friendly and dedicated team from 1st September, 2021. Full details and an application form can be obtained from the school website www.olorcps.net/school-info/vacancies.
Closing date: Monday 15th March 2021 (4pm)
St. Helen’s Catholic Primary School Vacancies
St. Helen’s Catholic Primary School, Westcliff have vacancies for a full time Teacher and a Midday Assistant. If you would like to join our friendly team please see the school website www.st-helens.southend.sch.uk for details and application forms or contact Mrs Sears on 01702 343823.
St Thomas More High School
We are looking to recruit to our team of Learning Support Assistants to work alongside Teachers and specific students with particular needs. This is a one year contract. If this role might be of interest to you, please visit the school’s website st-thomasmore.southend.sch.uk for further details, or telephone the school on 01702 344933.
Landings for Returning Catholics
If there is a member of your family, a neighbour or a friend who has been away from the church for a while please invite them to the next Landings program. We are running the program via Zoom, which will start on 8th April and run for eight weeks. They can contact the Landings Team on landings@lourdesleigh.org. A member of the team will contact them with further details.
Vacancy at Sir William Petre Almshouses, Ingatestone
A vacancy has arisen at the Almshouses situated along the High Street in Ingatestone. The Almshouse is a one-bedroom property. Candidates must be over 50 years and in need. Preference may be given to Roman Catholics.
Applicants please contact Mike Falcone, Trustee, Ginge Petre Trust on tel 07935 959388
Companion needed for local lady with dementia
I am looking for a companion for around 3 hours a day for my mum who lives in Leigh and is suffering from dementia. Mum lives independently and the companion is for company , possibly a little gardening together or going for a walk .
Hours are flexible and ideally for the week and weekends. This is a paid position.
If you are interested please get in touch : clare@clarehickey.co.uk and 07813 814473
Vacancy at St Thomas More High School
St Thomas More High School, Westcliff are seeking a Cleaner to work between the hours of 3.30pm to 6.30pm Monday to Friday. If you are interested in this position, please visit the school’s website for further details or telephone the school on 01702 344933.
Second Sunday of Lent
Dear friends in Christ
Each year on this Second Sunday of Lent we hear the Gospel of the Transfiguration.
Dear friends in Christ
Each year on this Second Sunday of Lent we hear the Gospel of the Transfiguration. The reason for this Gospel during Lent is expressed in the words of the Preface for the Mass: For after he had told the disciples of his coming Death, on the holy mountain he manifested to them his glory, to show, even by the testimony of the law and the prophets, that the Passion leads to the glory of the Resurrection.
Pope St Leo the Great comments further on this mystery: The great reason for this transfiguration was to remove the scandal of the cross from the hearts of his disciples, and to prevent the humiliation of his voluntarily suffering from disturbing the faith of those who had witnessed the surpassing glory that lay concealed.
Jesus Christ came into the world to suffer and to die for us. The pilgrimage of Lent is a movement towards that saving event and a preparation for the Day of His Resurrection. During Lent we try to accompany Jesus as if we were with Him in the wilderness. I spoke last Sunday of how Jesus spent those forty days with the wild beasts while the angels looked after Him. This is an image of how we live life on earth: often between our basic human instincts and the desire to be spiritual, the tension between the bodily and the heavenly. Jesus was fighting off all those temptations spiritual and bodily, and He finds the balance which is proper to the human way of being. He doesn’t reject the body but He disciplines it properly. He doesn’t fight against the spirit, but grounds it.
As we are just one week into Lent here are some concrete suggestions I make to you for observing Lent as a time of interior renewal: Don’t give up or take on more than you can manage; pray the Rosary often; have a tender devotion to St Joseph in this his special Year; do some Lenten spiritual reading, especially the Gospels; spend less time on social media; pray for others as the ultimate act of charity; remember that fasting is about God and not about ourselves. Our goal is to arrive at Easter with the love of God and neighbour more vibrant in our hearts and actions.
God bless you!
Msgr Kevin Hale