Baptism Preparation Dates

The next Baptism Preparation Evenings will take place on:

6th December, 2022

7th February, 2023

18th April, 2023

6th June, 2023

8th August, 2023

3rd October, 2023

Always on a Tuesday evening 8 pm - 9:30 pm

If you would like any further information, please contact either Andy or Catherine Harris on 07742433589 or 07733327295 respectively.

Journey in Faith-RCIA

The Monday evening sessions of our Journey in Faith—RCIA—resume this Monday, 19th September. Week-by-week we shall explore the Catholic Faith as set-out by the Catechism of the Catholic Church. These evenings are suitable especially for those thinking of becoming a Catholic or for anyone who wants to know more about their Catholic Faith. 8-9.15pm in the Newman Room of the Parish Centre (entrance beside the Memorial Garden).

Children's Liturgy

We are pleased to announce that Children's Liturgy will begin this Sunday 18th September for two groups. The first group will be for children attending Reception class and Infants. The second group will be designed for juniors.

We are still looking for volunteers to lighten everyone's load! if you are interested, why not come along to one of the sessions to see what happens? Sam Miller 07879676341

St Helen's Catholic Primary School

St. Helen’s Catholic Primary School is seeking to appoint a Class Teacher for maternity cover, with the possibility of future permanent opportunities from November 2022. 

Full details and forms are available on our website or contact Mrs Sears 01702 343823 to arrange a visit. Closing date for applications is Midday, 26th September 2022.

Bereavement Support Group

The Group re-starts on Tuesday 20th September in the Parish Centre (Bernadette room) at 2pm. The Group is open to people who have experienced loss and Bereavement and who feel they might find sharing their experience with others in a confidential and caring environment. We try to ensure that nobody is under any pressure to talk but participants are gently encouraged to express their feelings supported by other Group members and experienced Counsellors. If further information is required please contact the Parish Office or phone Cynthia on 01702 477384 with your name and contact number.

Silent Weekend Retreat 'My Lord and my God' Friday 4th-Sunday 6th November

Led by Fr Martin Boland, Dean of Brentwood Cathedral. Venue: Sion Community, Brentwood. Our theme focuses on how closeness to Christ enables us to develop a deeper level of intimacy with Him. It enables us to recognise Jesus more readily in our lives and acknowledge Him both in private and in public. This silent weekend retreat offers us the opportunity to spend time with the Lord in quiet prayer and reflection. 40-HOURS of CONTINUOUS Adoration, guidance & ministry included. For more information or to book, visithttps://sioncommunity.org.uk/adults/ or email allegra.mutanda@gmail.com

Pakistan - ACN to help flood victims

Aid to the Church in Need is to give emergency aid to victims of the floods that have devastated Pakistan. More than 33 million people are affected by the floods, which have left more than 1,300 dead – a third of them children – and ACN’s aid package is aimed at helping those most at risk.
Please click here to donate and read the full story.

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear friends in Christ

The month of September is dedicated to the Holy Cross—this Wednesday is the feast of the Triumph of The Cross. Each time we celebrate this feast, indeed every time we make the Sign of the Cross, we are reminded that an instrument of human cruelty and death has been transformed by Christ into a symbol of joy, life and salvation. Lord by your cross and resurrection, You have set us free. You are the Saviour of the world!

It is with profound sadness that we learned of the death of Her Majesty The Queen on Thursday evening. In Queen Elizabeth we were given a model of a Christian Sovereign who reigned with fidelity and integrity. We thank God for the example of her long and persevering service to our Nation and Commonwealth. May God reward her for her constancy in Faith and her example of virtue. Our prayers and sympathies go out to all of the members of The Royal Family. A Requiem Mass was offered on Friday evening in our church.

This Sunday marks and highlights Catholic Education. As our various centres of learning and formation resume a new academic year we are asked to celebrate what is good in Catholic Education. At the 9.30am Mass this Sunday, some of our Primary School children will be responsible for some of the elements of the Mass. Please pray for all those who work in the field of forming our young Catholics. Pray that they will be fervent in communicating Truth in all it’s beautiful facets. Pray that they will, above all, hand-on our glorious Catholic Faith with all integrity. We have been given a great trust: to enlighten and enliven the minds and hearts of our Youth with the truth of the Gospel and our Catholic Faith. Each of us: parents, teachers and priests have this sacred duty: to ensure that the person of Jesus Christ and His teaching is proclaimed with clarity.

Recently we have had the church organ cleaned and restored.  Following professional advice the wooden panels hiding the pipes have been removed; this has resulted not only in a clearer acoustic but also now show the pipes of the instrument as a thing of beauty. A new frame now sets-off our instrument as something to be admired. We might recall the words of the Second Vatican Council on Sacred Music:  The pipe organ is to be held in high esteem in the Latin Church, since it is it's traditional instrument, the sound of which can add a wonderful splendour to the Church's ceremonies and powerfully lift up men's minds to God and higher things (Musicam Sacram 62).

Thanks to all those who contributed to the Flower Festival in our church this weekend. It was a celebration of the feasts and festivals of the Christian calendar and a reminder to us of the beauty of the mysteries of the life of Christ celebrated florally.

God bless bless you all!

Msgr Kevin Hale

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday 11th September
Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Liturgy:
Readings Year C
The Nicene Creed
Preface of Sunday 3

5.30pm Mass Tommy Wrighton, RIP (J&CO’B)
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions

8am Mass The People of the Parish
9.30am Mass Rob Butler, RIP & Intentions of Carolyn Butler (TW)
11.30am Mass Michael (Mick) Sheridan, RIP (II)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction

Monday 12
The Most Holy Name of Mary
9am Mass Mike Rubbert, RIP (JC)

Tuesday 13
St John Chrysostom, Bp, D
9am Mass Alan Bush, RIP (Anniv) (CB)

Wednesday 14
Exaltation (Triumph) of the Holy Cross
9am Mass Frank Maguire, RIP (Anniv) (MM)
10.15am Requiem Mass Valerie Huntley, RIP

Thursday 15
Our Lady of Sorrows
9am Mass Michael & Teresa O'Brien, RIP (MI)

Friday 16
Ss Cornelius, P, and Cyprian, Bp, Mm
12 Noon Mass Charles & Alice Whitefield, RIP

Saturday 17
St Robert Bellarmine, Bp, D
10am Mass Hilda Munoz, RIP
10.30-11.30am: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions

Sunday 18
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

5.30pm Mass Elizabeth Pallis, RIP (NL)
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions

8am Mass Samuel & Johanna Beech, RIP (JC)
9.30am Mass Intentions of Renata Butler (RO’C)
11.30am Mass The People of the Parish
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction

Pastoral Letter from the Bishop

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

Learning to rely on the mercy and love of God is vital for our journey in faith. We may feel rather lost amidst the challenges of the world – especially at the moment. Like those in the parables searching for the sheep and the coin, God searches for us.

The Prodigal Son may remind us of some people we know, young and old, running away from Jesus and the Church, and immersing themselves in all sorts of trouble. Today is Education Sunday, and the theme comes from St Paul: “May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our mind, so that we can see what hope his call holds for us” (Ephesians 1.17-18) . Our teachers and school support staff work with such immense dedication, and Jesus Christ is at the centre of our Catholic schools. Today I pray for everyone who works in our schools, and every family served by our schools, and I ask you to do the same. These are not easy times for young people and families, and our schools are very often a vital place of sanctuary and hope, as well as offering outstanding opportunities.

As we navigate challenges in family life, in our schools, and in the world, there is a very great deal which needs our prayer. In these weeks the relics of St Bernadette of Lourdes are visiting many places in England, Wales and Scotland, including coming to our Diocese – to Brentwood Cathedral and Wanstead – in October. The story of St Bernadette is another radical example of hope in troubled times; Our Lady appearing with grace, love and hope to a teenager who was ill, and living in poverty. This is our faith – a faith of great consolation in troubled times. Spend time with the relics if you can – to be close to St Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes is to be close to Saints who understand the deepest struggles and joys of our lives.

You will remember the Diocesan Vision process, and you will be aware of the International Synod – a journey for the whole Church, guided by Pope Francis, rooted in the way that we listen to each other, with hearts attentive to the Lord. Many parishes had conversations at the start of 2022, shaping our Diocesan reflection for the Synod. It contained such positive insights as this – a quote from a parishioner: ‘The Church offers the world a strong moral and ethical compass and is leading the messaging on climate change and support for refugees, the poor and marginalised’. There was great gratitude for our clergy and their efforts towards a welcoming and inclusive Church.

Along with the positives, there was also clear recognition that as a Diocese we face significant challenges. The synod conversations reflected ‘Overwhelming concern for the pressures placed upon clergy and their wellbeing’. We continue to recover from the pandemic, and in some parishes as many as a third of the congregation has dropped away. How do we bring people home? As you look around, today, in your parish, do you notice a particular person who is missing? Could you be the one to invite them home, to invite them back to the welcoming arms of a loving God?

Within the Synod and Diocesan Vision I have a particular responsibility. The guiding document for the Synod says, “In every diocesan synodal process the Bishop is charged with discerning, with a shepherd’s heart, the next steps on the pathway of communion, participation and mission”. Today, at the start of a new academic year, we move towards the next steps, even as we tread carefully knowing how fragile things are for so many people.

In the weeks and months ahead you will hear more about how the Diocesan Vision is taking shape, as Priests and Stewards of the Gospel meet together again and renew the conversations and decisions about Parish Partnerships.

Those conversations and decisions will be taking place in the midst of challenging times, for the country and for the world. It is worth remembering that previous generations of Catholics in Essex and East London also faced very great challenges; communities around the London docks were bombed in the Second World War; new town communities in Essex have often faced struggles with the cost of living, and rebuilding family life after being moved miles from where they grew up.

Nonetheless, those who have gone before us gifted us parishes and schools; in our turn, we are called to continue to develop and strengthen our Diocese, to be a beacon of hope as we spread the Good News of Jesus Christ in Essex and East London. Please keep the Diocesan Vision process, and the Synod, very firmly in prayer.

Through it all, lean on today’s readings and Gospel; remember and be consoled by the deep truth that God never fails us even in the most difficult of times – and that he will search for us, wherever we find ourselves. In the powerful words of St Paul: ‘May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our mind, so that we can see what hope his call holds for us’.

With all good wishes and prayers,

In Christ and Mary,

+Alan Williams, sm

Bishop of Brentwood

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II RIP

The Parish Family joins the nation in mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II and praying for her eternal repose. We also pray for the Royal Family at this time.

From the days of her Accession and Coronation, Queen Elizabeth had an acute awareness that, according to the Scriptures, a Monarch is chosen, consecrated and anointed by God for service of His people.

On 21 April 1947, on her twenty-first birthday, Princess Elizabeth said: I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service.

Now, seventy-five years later, we are heartbroken in our loss at her death, and so full of admiration for the unfailing way in which she fulfilled that declaration.

Even in sorrow, shared with so many around the world, we are filled with an immense sense of gratitude for the gift to the world that has been the life of Queen Elizabeth II.

At this time, we pray for the repose of the soul of Her Majesty. We do so with confidence, because the Christian faith marked every day of her life and activity.

In her Millennium Christmas message, she said, To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example.

This faith, so often and so eloquently proclaimed in her public messages, has been an inspiration to us, and to so many. The wisdom, stability and service which she consistently embodied, often in circumstances of extreme difficulty, are a shining legacy and testament to her faith.

Our prayer is that she is now received into the merciful presence of God, there to be reunited with her beloved Prince Philip. This is the promise of our faith, and our deep consolation.

Queen Elizabeth II will remain, always, a shining light in our history.

The Queen died on the feast of the Birthday of Our Blessed Lady; we ask that the Queen of Heaven may receive our Queen into the heavenly court.

We pray for His Majesty the King, and all the members of the Royal Family and even as they mourn say: God save the King!

We pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries

Fr Charles Johnson, Fr Conrad Smith, Fr Theophilus Borer, Abp George Andrew Beck, Canon James Hemming, Deacon Arthur Woods, Fr Louis Heston, Fr John Bergin, Fr Anthony Mayston, Joseph Canton, William Allen, Jim Hayes, Peter Green, Joseph Thurlow, Elsie Ivett, Anne Brooks, Mary Manton, William Wheaton, Kathleen Matthews, Eliza Moore, Mary Wright, Wilfred Sawyer, Kathleen McGowan, Anne McCarthy, Veronica Maguire, Joyce Wager, Alan Bush, Patricia Lawrence, Kathleen Horning, Bill Jarrett, Ann Dodd, Marie Norah Browne, Jack Abbott, Dario Peretti, Philomena Conley, Frank Maguire, Bernard Wiltshire, Eileen McCarthy, Percival De’Ath, Bridget Finnegan, Sylvia Mary Jones, Dot Tooley, Anne Kathleen Gibson, Frances Spriggs, Joseph Hayes, Queenie Kay, Christopher Hickey, Stella Smith, Bernard Ratcliff and Hing San Lan.

We Pray for our Sick

David Lesley, 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, 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, Johnny 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, German Morfin, 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

VALERIE MARGARET HUNTLEY, RIP who died on Friday, 19th August. Her Requiem Mass will take place on Wednesday, 14th September at 10.15am followed by committal at Southend Crematorium.

MARJORIE HOOK, RIP who died on Thursday, 18th August. Her Requiem Mass will take place on Wednesday, 21st September at 1.30pm followed by committal at Southend Crematorium.

Requiescant in pace

Music at 11.30am Mass on Sunday

Prelude: Improvisation on the Introit—Da pacem Domine

Postlude: Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr— Georg Böhm (1661-1733)

Response to Psalm

Dates for your Diary

Monday 19th September—Journey in Faith-RCIA commences.

Thursday 24th—Saturday 26th November
Annual Solemn Days of Eucharistic Exposition

Relics of St Bernadette

The relics of St Bernadette will come to our diocese in October. This is a wonderful opportunity to pray with the woman to whom Our Lady chose to appear in Lourdes. Here are the details:

BRENTWOOD CATHEDRAL
Sunday 16 October
11 am: Relics of St Bernadette arrive.
11.30 am: Holy Mass, celebrated by Bp Alan.
6.30 pm: Holy Mass, led by the Youth Service.
9 pm: Cathedral closes.
Monday 17 October
6 am: Cathedral opens.
9.15 am: Holy Mass
12 noon: Relics of St Bernadette leave.

OUR LADY OF LOURDES, WANSTEAD
Tuesday 18 October
10 am: Relics of St Bernadette arrive.
11 am - 3 pm: Time reserved for pre-booked school groups.
7.30 pm: Holy Mass, celebrated by Bishop Alan
12 midnight: Church closes.
Wednesday 19 October
6 am: Church opens.
9 am: Relics of St Bernadette depart.

You are welcome to come to pray before the relics outside reserved times for schools. If possible, book your visit through the national website: stbernadette.org.uk Whether you book or not, you may have to queue

Certificate of Catholic Practice for Schools

If you are applying for a place in a Catholic School for your child you may wish to include a Certificate of Catholic Practice. As our local Schools are currently undersubscribed with Catholics, the need for this Certificate is not as pressing as it has been previously. However, if you wish your application to be endorsed then these Certificates may be obtained from the Parish Office either on a Thursday or Friday morning between 10am—1pm.

Journey in Faith-RCIA

The Monday evening sessions of our Journey in Faith—RCIA—resume next Monday, 19th September. Week-by-week we shall explore the Catholic Faith as set-out by the Catechism of the Catholic Church. These evenings are suitable especially for those thinking of becoming a Catholic or for anyone who wants to know more about their Catholic Faith. 8-9.15pm in the Newman Room of the Parish Centre (entrance beside the Memorial Garden).

Silent Weekend Retreat 'My Lord and my God' Friday 4th-Sunday 6th November

Led by Fr Martin Boland, Dean of Brentwood Cathedral. Venue: Sion Community, Brentwood. Our theme focuses on how closeness to Christ enables us to develop a deeper level of intimacy with Him. It enables us to recognise Jesus more readily in our lives and acknowledge Him both in private and in public. This silent weekend retreat offers us the opportunity to spend time with the Lord in quiet prayer and reflection. 40-HOURS of CONTINUOUS Adoration, guidance & ministry included. For more information or to book, visithttps://sioncommunity.org.uk/adults/ or email allegra.mutanda@gmail.com