We Pray for the Repose of the Souls of
MALCOLM CHESHIRE, RIP who died on Monday, 7th March. His Requiem Mass will take place on Monday, 23rd May at 1.30pm followed by committal at Southend Crematorium.
CHRISTINE KEENAN, RIP who died on Friday, 22nd April. Her Requiem Mass will take place at 12Noon on Monday, 6th June.
VALERIE TISI, RIP who died on Friday, 29th April. Her body will be received into the Church on Thursday, 26th May at 5pm and her Requiem Mass will take place on Friday, 27th May at 10.30am, followed by committal at Southend Crematorium.
GERALD CLARKE, RIP who died recently. His Requiem Mass will take place on Monday, 13th June at 9.30am followed by committal at Westhall, Suffolk.
Requiescant in pace
Dates for your Diary
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: Improvisation on Haec Dies
Postlude: Fantasie in E-Flat - Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Sister Elizabeth Mary
Very many congratulations and prayers to Sister Elizabeth Mary (daughter of Frank Mann RIP) who was appointed Rev Mother General of the Bernadine Order on 18th May.
Flower Festival - 10th September 2022
It is time to be creative again! Thank you to all those who have already said that they want to take part.
The theme of the Flower and Arts & Crafts festival this year is Christian Feasts and Festivals. Like last year we would like people to create a flower arrangement, or tapestries, paintings, photographs (or any type of craft work) on the theme chosen.
The main topics will be: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Holy Family, Lent, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Christ the King, Pentecost, Ascension Day, Corpus Christi, All Saints & All Souls Day, St Peter & Paul.
There are of course other special feast days you can choose. In Anglican churches Harvest festivals are prominent whilst there are several special feast days for Our Lady in the Catholic church.
Many people who visit during the festival have no religious background and we want to present a powerful and prayerful message about Christianity.
Please let me know which theme or themes you will be doing and in what medium. (mcronan@btinternet.com)
Thanks, Jo Ronan
OLL Ladies Group
Our next Meeting is on Thursday 26 May at 10.15am in the Parish Centre and all women in the Parish are welcome to attend.
On this occasion we will be celebrating the Platinum Jubilee of her Majesty the Queen in our own inimitable way, so please do feel free to come dressed up or just poshed up!! Dust off the old tiara and enjoy a right Royal morning of music, a royal quiz, a super jubilee raffle and not forgetting a special toast to the Queen.
Members old and new welcome with subs just £1, plus Raffle.
Coach outing to Hyde Hall Gardens on Thursday 23rd June. Would ladies who wish to go on this trip please bring a £5 deposit next week to confirm your place.
Parish Fundraising
Thank you to everyone who supports the 200 Club. The results of the April draw are as follows:
1st prize £150 165 Mrs J Lewis
2nd Prise £100 25 Mr G Shepherd
3rd Prize £75 153 Mr A Barber
4th Prize £25 8 Mrs B Regan
We are still looking for new members. The subscription is £5 per month, either by cash, cheque or direct debit. If you would like to join, please fill in a form which can be found at the back of the church or ring Linda Wall on 01702 558217.
St Bernard's High School - Open Evening
Open Evening for Year 5 Students
(Prospective Year 7 in 2023)
Wednesday 6 July 2022
6.00pm to 9.00pm
We would be delighted to welcome Year 5 girls and their parents/carers to our Open Evening. This is an evening for girls wishing to join Year 7 in September 2023.
We are also offering an opportunity for parents/carers to visit the school during a normal teaching day, dates will be published on our website later this academic year.
St Bernard’s High School offers selective places based on success in the CSSE selective tests and non-selective places according to faith-based admissions criteria. (Please see school website for full details.)
‘The school is welcoming and inclusive. In 2015, many pupils made significantly better progress than other pupils nationally’ Ofsted 2016
'The gifted, able and talented programme provides challenging enrichment across all year groups and is acknowledged by the NACE Award' Ofsted 2016
‘St Bernard’s High School is an outstanding Catholic school… Attainment and progress of students is outstanding’ (Diocesan Inspection, 2017)
www.stbernardswestcliff.org.uk, Milton Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex SS0 7JS Tel: 01702 343583
Monthly Evenings for Vocation Enquirers
The next “Enquirers’ Evening” for those considering or interested in a vocation to the priesthood is on Tuesday 7th June at St Edmund of Canterbury Church in Loughton. The speaker will be Fr Gary Dench.
For further information please contact Fr Mark Swires vocprom@dioceseofbrentwood.org
Serving the Homeless
A very sincere thank you and appreciation to Fr Kevin and all the parishioners for the generous cheque recently received as a result of collections and donations over the past few months. We are very grateful to everyone.
The Afternoon Tea was a great success and was hugely enjoyed by those who attended. £604 was raised, which will go towards our work with HARP and the YMCA. We were able to bid farewell to Jackie Bliss, CEO of HARP, who retires next month and were able to present her with a small gift.
Our next event is An Evening of Jazz and Fun with the Daisy Bowlers on Friday 10th June in the Parish Centre at 7 pm. Tickets cost £10 and are available from Nina 472536 or Linda on 558217. Please bring your own drinks and snacks.
Bereavement Support Group
The Bereavement Support Group meets every third Tuesday of each month. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, 21st June.
The Group is open to all men and women who have experienced loss and bereavement and are welcome to join us in a warm, friendly and confidential environment. We will meet in the Bernadette room, Parish Centre, and sessions begin promptly at 2pm. Refreshments are available.
If further information is required please contact: Cynthia on 01702 477384.
BCCS Relay100
Last year, volunteers took part in the Diocesan relay from parish to parish for Brentwood Catholic Children’s Society (BCCS) and we’re doing it again!
The Bishop launched the whole event on May 9th, and I have volunteered to do the Lady of Lourdes leg again to St.Helen’s Westcliff before the end of June (date to be confirmed). Our Lady of Lourdes parishioners raised over £100 last time for our leg last year but the most important thing is that BCCS covers all the parishes and shows the importance of the work they do for children.
If you would like to sponsor me you can by either using my sponsorship form - available at teas & coffees after 9.30am and 11.30am Sunday masses from 21st May or by going online to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/relay100 If appropriate, please use gift aid for your donation.Please mention my name and Relay 100 in the sponsorship note as a reference so that BCCS can trace your donation online.
You can also donate by BACS at Account: Brentwood Catholic Childrens Society; Account Number: 3109413; Sort Code: 40 13 22. Again please quote BCCS Relay100 and my name D Binding. Thank you so much for your support. Darrell Binding
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Throughout the Easter Season we hear a passage each Sunday from the Book of Revelation or Apocalypse. It is the last book of the Bible and therefore has to be read and understood as the finale of all that has gone before, beginning with Genesis, through the history of Israel, the prophets and the coming of the Messiah, right through to the Gospels and the work of our Redemption in Jesus Christ.
Dear friends in Christ
Throughout the Easter Season we hear a passage each Sunday from the Book of Revelation or Apocalypse. It is the last book of the Bible and therefore has to be read and understood as the finale of all that has gone before, beginning with Genesis, through the history of Israel, the prophets and the coming of the Messiah, right up to the Gospels and the work of our Redemption in Jesus Christ. God is showing St John in this Book, something of the life of Heaven and how that life is centred on the worship of the Lamb who is sacrificed, Jesus Himself. Although it is often mystifying what we read there, and perhaps difficult to interpret, the Church tells us it has much to do with the Mass. The Mass is the great work of worship and praise offered to God the Father. What John saw when he gazed into Heaven were the angels and saints gathered around the throne of God worshipping Him day and night. It would be helpful to keep this in mind at every Mass and how our voices are one with theirs in their triumphant hymn of praise as we sing Holy, holy, holy…This is how we prepare for eternity now, by learning how to adore God here on earth—in the Mass and Eucharistic adoration—and so be ready for the life of Heaven!
Please remember our young people who are preparing to receive the Sacraments of initiation during this month: our sixty First Communicants over this weekend and next and fifty Confirmandi on Wednesday, 25th May when the Bishop visits our Parish. May the grace given to them in these Sacraments sustain them for life.
Since the start of the pandemic, the Bishops of England and Wales suspended the obligation to attend Sunday Mass. Now that we have, please God, come through the other side, they have decided it is time to revoke this. At their meeting last week, our Bishops decreed that from Pentecost Sunday—5th June—the Sunday Obligation to attend Holy Mass is reinstated. You will find a link in this Newsletter to a very helpful letter which they have written on the subject.
In this month of Mary, we commend to her motherly love and protection, all of the Parish Family, especially those who are suffering bereavement after the loss of loved-ones and also our most vulnerable. We implore Mary, Queen of Peace, for an end to the useless bloodshed and horrors in Ukraine and that peace and harmony be restored to our continent and the men people of violence convert and repent before it is too late.
God bless you all!
Msgr Kevin Hale
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Sunday 15 May
Fifth Sunday of Easter
MONTH OF OUR BLESSED LADY
Liturgy:
Readings of Year C
The Apostles’ Creed
Preface of Easter 4
5.30pm Mass Toni Clary, RIP & Monica Turner, RIP (JR)
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
8am Mass Emily Elizabeth March, RIP (FM)
9.30am Mass Tom O'Callaghan, RIP (OLL)
11.30am Mass The People of the Parish
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Monday 16
Feria
9am Mass Lilian and Jim Fegan, RIP (JC)
Tuesday 17
Feria
9am Mass Charles & Alice Whitefield, RIP (FM)
Wednesday 18
St John I, P, M
9am Mass Intentions of Brett Mackay & Family (SD)
Thursday 19
St Dunstan, Bp
9am Mass Vivien Clancy, RIP (Anniv) (JL)
Friday 20
St Bernardine of Siena, Pr
12 noon Intentions of Rene Solecki (IS)
Saturday 21
St Christopher Magallanes, Pr, & Comps, Mm
10.30am First Holy Communion Mass
Sunday 22
Sixth Sunday of Easter
5.30pm Mass The People of the Parish
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
8am Mass Veronica Redhouse, RIP (Anniv) (MR)
9.30am Mass Intentions of Winifred Gover
11.30am Mass Christine Keenan, RIP (AK)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
We Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries
Fr James (Jim) McCormack, Fr John William Hayes, Fr Paul Dynan, Canon Thomas Clarke, Canon Michael Fitzpatrick, Fr Brendan Sheppard, Mgr Canon William O’Grady, Emma Jane Hobbs, Alfred Warner, Philip Everett, Amy Ehn, Bridget Hamblion, Pauline Cousins, Jacqueline Rogers, Florence West, Ellen O’Leary, Agnes Theresa Brady, Edward Petronis, Michael Jones, Charles Cutter, William Ross, Eric Jeffries, Lily Mead, Michael McNamara, John Kelly, Richard William Walker, Vivien Clancy, Dorothy Mansell, Anna Perkins, Robert Gammon, Zoe Conroy, Joseph Dray, Brian Webb, Gertrude Caden & Henry James Herbert.
We Pray for our Sick
David Lesley, Gerry Clarke, Tony Tisi, Ann Owen, Kenneth Biebuyck, Zach Stokes, Andrew Stokes, Noel Conroy, Marjorie Jay, Paul Sutton, John Murphy, Mary Monaghan, Jennifer Biebuyck, Moira Scott, Jill Yates, Leonora Maguire, Brian Mountier, Renata Butler, Margaret Bartle, Tony Downey, Kristy Monferrari, Fred Ring, Ian Irwin, Russell Short, Marie Karaf, Garry Pearman, Patricia Ann Darroch, 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, 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, Patricia Spikin, Sandra Fagan, Edna Wallace, Beryl Dixon, Nick Evans, Vicky Jack, Mary Boyce, Kristin Hallenga, Anne O’Neill, Cheryl Shallis, 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, 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, Sharon Levill, Annie Holland, Ivor & Joanne Knight, Brian Beresford, Rebecca Peake, Connor Bourke, Mattia Mollica, Bernadette Lane, Irena Solecki, Ianto Bellis, 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 & baby Forest Gallagher.
We Pray for the Repose of the Souls of
MALCOLM CHESHIRE, RIP who died on Monday, 7th March. His Requiem Mass will take place on Monday, 23rd May at 1.30pm followed by committal at Southend Crematorium.
CHRISTINE KEENAN, RIP who died on Friday, 22nd April.
VALERIE TISI, RIP who died on Friday, 29th April. Her body will be received into the Church on Thursday, 26th May at 5pm and her Requiem Mass will take place on Friday, 27th May at 10.30am, followed by committal at Southend Crematorium.
DOMINIC DeSOUZA RIP who died on 27th April
Requiescant in pace
Dates for your Diary
Saturday 21st May—First Holy Communion Mass
Wednesday 25th May—Visitation of the Bishop & Confirmation
Sunday 19th June—Corpus Christi Procession
Saturday 10th September—Flower Festival
Statements from Bishops' Conference
At their Plenary Assembly in Cardiff, the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have restored the Sunday Obligation to attend Mass, citing a significant lessening of the challenges of the pandemic. The Bishops’ Conference has therefore issued an invitation to all Catholics who have not yet done so to return to attending Mass in person.