We Pray for the Repose of the Souls of
PETER QUINN, RIP who died on 2nd January. His body will be received into church on Thursday, 24th February at 5pm. His Requiem Mass will be on Friday, 25th February at 10.45am followed by committal at Southend Crematorium.
MARY TERESA RIGDEN, RIP who died on 15th February. Her Requiem Mass will be on Wednesday, 16th March at 10.30am followed by committal at Sutton Road Cemetery.
Requiescant in pace
Dates for your Diary
Sunday 27th February—The Campion School Schola Cantorum will sing at 11.30am Mass
Wednesdays March 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th—Marriage Preparation Evenings
Saturdays 14th & 21st May—First Holy Communion Masses
Wednesday 25th May—Visitation of the Bishop & Confirmation
Sunday 19th June—Corpus Christi Procession
Saturday 10th September—Flower Festival
Music at 11.30am Mass on Sunday
Prelude & Postlude: Pastorale, BWV 590 - J S Bach (1685-1750)
Diocesan Pilgrimage to Walsingham - 28th May 2022
Join Bishop Alan and other parishes around the Diocese of Brentwood in Walsingham as we celebrate the Year of the Family ‘Hearing and Doing the Word of God’.
We will celebrate Mass at the Basilica before walking the Holy Mile to the grounds of Walsingham Abbey to celebrate Vespers and Benediction on the site of the Holy House.
If you would like to come please contact the Parish office.
World Day of Prayer 2022 - Friday 4th March
“I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU”
2022 is a special year for Womens World Day of Prayer in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This year, we have prepared the World Day of Prayer service. Your local service takes place at 10.30 a.m. in St Mark's Church, Hamlet Road, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1HY and includes participation by the children of St Helen's Primary School (Year 6). It will be followed by tea and coffee refreshment and is open to anyone who would like to attend. Please join us in this special year to share in prayer and contemplation.
Baptism Preparation Sessions
The next Baptism Preparation Sessions will take place on
Tuesday 5th April, 2022
Tuesday 14th June, 2022
Tuesday 9th August 2022
Tuesday 4th October, 2022
They will take place the Parish Centre at 8pm. For further information, please contact Catherine or Andy Harris on 077333 27295.
Is God calling you to be a Priest?
The next “Enquirers’ Evening” for those considering or interested in a vocation to the priesthood is on Tuesday 1st March at St Edmund of Canterbury Church in Loughton. The speaker will be Fr Maurice Gordon.
For further information please contact Fr Mark Swires vocprom@dioceseofbrentwood.org
Mums, Dads and Toddlers Coffee Mornings
Mums, Dads and Carers with pre-school children are invited to get together for coffee and chat in the Parish Centre on Monday mornings from 9.30am until 11 am, during school term times, organised by the Lourdes Ladies group. Toys and books will be provided and we look forward to welcoming you.
Journey in Faith (RCIA)
The Journey in Faith sessions continue on Mondays. These evenings are for those wishing to discover more about the Catholic Faith with a view to Reception into the Church. If you know anyone who is interested in learning more about our Faith and wishing to become Catholic, please direct them to Fr Kevin or these evenings. They will be in the Parish Centre and begin at 8pm.
Sea of Voices Choir
Our choir has returned to singing every Thursday from 7.45pm at the Parish Centre. We will be working towards some form of summertime concert.
We are always looking for new members to join the choir, so if you fancy giving it a try or know someone who might, please come along on a Thursday evening or contact Darrell first on 07825686249. Thank you.
Recycling Sack for CAFOD
A pink sack can be found at the back of the church. Please donate your old mobile phones, jewellery, stamps (used or album collections) and other limited electronic gadgets. Details of accepted items are on the leaflets at the back of church. These will then be recycled and the money raised will go to CAFOD.
Many thanks. Live Simply Group.
Diocesan School Vacancies
Headteacher
St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Upminster
Required from 1st September 2022. Group 3: L18-24a (Outer London). NOR: 420 (2 form entry).
The governors of St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Upminster, are seeking to appoint an inspirational and dedicated Head Teacher due to the retirement of the current Head Teacher. St Joseph’s is a nurturing and welcoming community with Christ at the centre. Our new Head Teacher will work with supportive governors to shape the strategic direction of the school, and will be responsible for the day-to-day leadership and management of St Joseph’s.
Deadline for applications: 5:00 pm on Thursday 3rd March 2022. We warmly welcome and encourage applicants to visit our school. Please contact the school office on office@st-josephs.havering.sch.uk to arrange. Further information and an application pack are available from the school website: www.st-josephs-upminster.net
Headteacher
St Alban’s Catholic Primary School, Hornchurch
Required from 1st September 2022. Group 2: L11 – L17 (starting salary based on experience). NOR: 210 (1 form entry).
The Governors of St Alban’s Catholic Primary School are seeking to appoint an inspirational and dedicated Head Teacher from September 2022, due to our long standing Head Teacher retiring. St Alban’s is a caring, friendly school and community where our Catholic Ethos is central to all that we do. Our new Head Teacher will work with governors to shape the strategic direction of the school, and will be responsible for the day-to-day leadership and management of St Alban’s.
Deadline for applications: 12:00 noon on Friday 11th March 2022. For further information please contact School Business Manager Katrina Arrowsmith at contact@st-albans.havering.sch.uk, or call the office Tel: 01708 555644 for an application pack or to arrange a mutually agreed date and time to visit.
Further details of these vacancies and other are available from the diocesan website https://www.dioceseofbrentwood.net/departments/education/vacancies/school-vacancies/
St Bernard's High School
St Bernard’s High School are looking for the following staff to join the school in September 2022:
RE Department
Second in Department (TLR 2B)
Teacher of RE or Teacher of RE with Chaplaincy (TLR 3)
Teacher of Mathematics
Teacher of Science
Please see our website – stbernardswestcliff.org.uk/statutory information/vacancies for further information and application form.
Deadline: Monday 28 February 2022’
Be part of the Walsingham House Team 2022/2023
If you are 18+ and looking for an exciting gap year opportunity, then a year on the Walsingham House Team could be for you. Spend a year as a volunteer in a thriving young Catholic Community, working with thousands of young people from Essex and East London. We are looking for inspiring individuals who want to share their faith with other young people and are also looking to learn new skills, grow deeper in their own faith and enjoy a challenge.
For more information please contact Joseph Beattie, manager of Walsingham House, by emailing josephbeattie@dioceseofbrentwood.org or calling 01277 373959. There is more information about our work on our website (www.bcys.net) and social media @Brentwoodcys
St Vincent's Southend Charity Dinner & Auction
Would anyone in the Parish be interested in gathering people from OLOL for our Black Tie event. We have tables available of 4 or 8. It is focused on bringing people together and businesses that may be like minded in what the SVP does.
Saturday 26th February at The Boatyard, 6.30 for 7pm with live band. Tickets for 3 course meal, plus welcome drink £80. Black Tie.
For tickets and more information please contact southendenquiry@svp.org.uk or ring 01702 592980.
St Thomas More High School Vacancies
We are seeking an experienced Estates Manager to work 21 hours per week managing all aspects of the MAT’s properties including upkeep, care, maintenance, security, Health & Safety and facilities management in line with statutory and regulatory requirements. Please see www.assisicatholictrust.com for full job details or telephone the school on 01702 344933.
Cleaners
We are looking for Cleaners to work Monday to Friday 3:45pm-6:45pm ideally or 6:00am-8:30am. If these hours would suit you and you would like to find out more, please see the school’s website for full details and an application form or telephone the school on 01702 344933 and ask for Mrs Newman, HR Co-ordinator.
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear friends in Christ
The Gospel of this Sixth Sunday of the Year comes from the teachings of Jesus that form the heart of our Christian ethics.
Dear friends in Christ
The Gospel of this Sixth Sunday of the Year comes from the teachings of Jesus that form the heart of our Christian ethics. However, Christianity is not simply a way of living well on earth; everything is directed to the higher goal of the supernatural life and our eternal destiny. Without this dimension Christianity would simply be a moral code—a high one indeed—but nothing more than a philosophy of life. To live the demands of what Jesus taught in His Sermon on the Mount—especially the Beatitudes—we need the assistance of grace.
St Augustine once remarked that: Love without knowledge goes astray; knowledge without love puffs up; knowledge with love builds up. We live in a world, we coexist with others, who have their own unique and individualistic codes for living. Most people who might describe themselves as spiritual rather than religious would say that they lived by the rule of: be a nice person and do good to others. That would be a very insipid version of Christianity. Jesus asks us to: be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect. There is all the difference in the world between those two approaches. If we live according to that former philosophy, then we will want to accept as valid any life-choice that others make. To live according to the latter—the way of the Gospel—we will only be content with what is authentic, and not with what the world tells us. Many today—also inside the Church—have so imbibed the prevailing trends of the world, especially secularism and relativism, that they are no longer able to easily distinguish truth from error, revelation from falsehood. We are all called to live the demands of charity. This does not mean we are being asked to tolerate and promote ways of living that are at variance with revelation, Catholic teaching or the natural divine law. In an attempt to be accepted and inclusive, we can see how those words of St Paul written to Timothy are just as true today: For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions (2:4:3) Have we perhaps, in an attempt to be charitable and tolerant, become reticent when it comes to calling-out these errors?
Indeed, the final words of Our Lord in the Gospel of this Sunday should ring in our ears as a potential reproach: Alas for you when the world speaks well of you! This was the way their ancestors treated the false prophets.
God bless you!
Msgr Kevin Hale
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
5.30pm Mass Bill Hoggett, RIP (JH)
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
8am Mass Kenneth Lynchehaun, RIP (MI)
9.30am Mass Maureen Bridge, RIP & Janice Bridge & all Holy Souls (EP)
11.30am Mass The People of the Parish
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Monday 14
SS Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bp
9am Mass For the repose of the soul of Aimée (HA)
Tuesday 15
Feria
9am Mass Elaine Macdonald, RIP (Anniv) (JH)
5pm Body in Church Charles Paterson, RIP
Wednesday 16
Feria
9am Mass Alan Bush, RIP (Anniv) (CB)
10.45am Requiem Mass Charles Paterson, RIP
Thursday 17
The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order
9am Mass Katie Hardwick, RIP (SH)
Friday 18
Feria
11am Requiem Mass Doreen Troughton, RIP
Saturday 19 February
Saturday Memorial of BVM
10am Mass Charles & Alice Whitefield, RIP
10.30-11.30am: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
Sunday 20 February
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
5.30pm Mass Henry de Souza, RIP (Anniv) (LdS)
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
8am Mass Patchai Family Thanksgiving (RP)
9.30am Mass Jim & Teena Rockell, RIP (Anniv) (L&KW)
11.30am Mass The People of the Parish
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction