LENTEN EVENINGS OF REFLECTION
Wednesday, February 21st—Msgr Kevin Hale
Wednesday, February 28th—Fr Mark Reilly PP Hornchurch
Wednesday, March 13th—Fr Graham Smith PP Southend
Wednesday, March 20th—Fr Stephen Morrison OPræm PP Peckham
To include a preached meditation by a guest speaker, Eucharistic Adoration, Compline, Benediction and Confessions. These will be held in the church from 7–8pm followed by refreshments and a bookstall in the Parish Centre.
Parish Pilgrimage to Lourdes-Monday 22nd to Saturday 27th July
The parishes of Leigh-on-Sea, Southend & Prittlewell are considering a joint trip to participate in the Brentwood Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes. As in previous years, we will fly with British Airways from Heathrow to Toulouse.
We are currently gauging the interest within our parish community. The package price will be finalised and communicated before the end of January. Please be informed that single rooms will be limited this year.
Please register your interest before 25th January. Please register your details (name, number of seats required, a contact number & an email address) with the Parish Office. Online booking forms will be available from 1st February 2023. Limited places available!
Sacrament of Confirmation
This will take place on Pentecost Sunday, 19th May, 2024. Any adult or young adult (who must have reached the age of fourteen by 1st September 2023) may apply. Please send an email with your name and contact details to mrscatherineharris@gmail.com by Ash Wednesday, 14th February, 2024.
Parish Fundraising
Thank you to everyone who has supported the 200 Club this year. The results of the December draw are as follows:
1st Prize £150 140 Mrs D Watts
2nd Prize £100 44 Mr P Fisher
3rd Prize £75 62 Mrs A Sangster
4th Prize £25 83 Mr C Collis
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.
OLOL Ladies Group
All ladies in the Parish are welcome at our next Meeting in the Parish Centre on 25th January from 10am. We are pleased to welcome Andy Relf who will present a talk ‘A history of plastic surgery ‘ which should prove to be a fascinating presentation.
As usual, refreshments are available at no extra charge. Subs are just £1.00 plus a fun Raffle. New members are always welcome.
Journey of Faith—RCIA
RCIA will meet on Monday, 22nd January and is specifically for those who are not Catholics but who are enquiring with a view to finding out more about the Catholic Faith and Reception into the Church. These evenings begin at 8pm, are held in the St Clement Room of the Parish Centre (the door is beside the Memorial Garden) and usually last just over an hour. Names may be given in advance to Fr Kevin or the Parish Office.
World Day of Prayer
This year’s World Day of Prayer Service takes place on Friday 1st March at 10.30am. at Avenue Baptist church, Milton Road, Westcliff-On-Sea SS0 7JX followed by tea/coffee. Car parking is available at North Road and Cliffs Pavilion car parks.
This years’ service is prepared by the women of Palestine on the theme “I beg you, bear with one another in love”.. We are very fortunate to have the children from St Helen's primary school to take an active part in the service. We invite everyone to join us in praying for peace in the Holy Land.
Pilgrimage to Knock
Escorted Tour to Westport, Knock & Co Mayo, 7th April 2024. £899.00 pps. Price includes flight, 10kg hold luggage, 5 nights’ in 4* Castlecourt Hotel, Westport with Dinner, Bed & Breakfast. Lunch on three days. All entertainment, excursions and transport included. Visit Knock, Galway City, Kylemore Abbey, Croagh Patrick & Ashford Castle. Single supplement on Enquiry. Contact Patricia or Natali on 01268 762 278 or 07740 175557 or email knockpilgrimages@gmail.com.
BIN A TIN FOR VIN
The St Vincent Centre is doing wonderful work in Southend helping the poorest amongst us.
You can help the food bank there by bringing a tin of something with you when you come to mass and putting it in VINNIE'S BIN, which will be in the OLD BAPTISTERY.
This will be emptied twice weekly.
St. Vincent de Paul Society(SVP), Our Lady of Lourdes & St. Joseph
Deputy Head & Headteacher posts in Diocesan Primary schools
Deputy Headteacher – St Anne Line Catholic Infant School & Nursery, Basildon
Deadline for applications: 4:00 pm, Friday 26th January 2024
Headteacher – St Francis Primary School, Maldon
Deadline for applications: 4:00 pm, Friday 26th January 2024
Headteacher – St Helen’s Primary School, Westcliff-on-Sea
Deadline for applications: 9:00 am, Friday 2nd February 2024
Headteacher – St Joseph’s Primary School, Canvey Island
Deadline for applications: 12:00 pm, Wednesday 7th February 2024
Headteacher – St Patrick’s Primary School, Collier Row
Deadline for applications: 12:00 (noon), Monday 12th February 2024
St Joseph's, Canvey Island Headteacher vacancy
Headteacher vacancy at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Canvey Island, required for September 2024.
The Assisi Catholic Trust are looking to appoint an inspirational, ambitious and innovative Headteacher for this rewarding leadership role who will drive rapid school improvement and ensure a broad curriculum is provided that is rooted in Gospel values.
Further information and application documents can be found on the following websites – St Joseph's Catholic Primary School - A Good Catholic School - Vacancies (stjosephscanvey.net) and www.assisicatholictrust.com
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear friends in Christ
The liturgy of this Sunday in which we begin Ordinary Time, reminds us that our calling to the Christian life, is a call to follow Jesus unconditionally.
Dear friends in Christ
The liturgy of this Sunday in which we begin Ordinary Time, reminds us that our calling to the Christian life, is a call to follow Jesus unconditionally. That call is prefigured in the calling of the Prophet Samuel by the Priest Eli and it is echoed and made clear in the calling of the Apostles by Jesus. Like St John the Baptist, we are asked by God to point-out the Lamb of God, the One who is in our midst, who has come to redeem the world. As Saint John says: He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus has come to save us from our sins, to purify the world of evil and bring us into the Kingdom of Heaven. At every Mass we hear those same words of the Baptist when the Priest raises the Sacred Host as we prepare for Holy Communion. If we are to follow Christ with integrity of life, we need to cultivate both the human and supernatural virtues.
Perhaps the one most required for us to remain committed is the virtue of courage or fortitude. Today, anyone who lives and proclaims the faith of the Church is, on many points, out of step with the mindset of the world. Today’s prevalent agnosticism has its own dogmas and is extremely intolerant of anything that dares to challenge it. Courage is needed to contradict the prevailing mindset, and this courage is not about aggression or forcefulness, but rather in being clear and firm in the face of negativity. It is the courage demanded of those whom the Lord sends out like sheep among wolves. And the ultimate test is, to be like the Disciples who—in the Acts of the Apostles—after having been hauled in before the Sanhedrin, reprimanded and flogged for speaking about Jesus, left the Council, rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonour for the name of Christ. May our strength of faith following Our Lord, keep us always close to Him, whatever suffering we can encounter for His sake.
With evangelisation in mind, and thinking ahead: next year is both a Jubilee Year in the Church throughout the world (there is one every twenty-five years) and it will also be the Centenary of the opening of our Church here. The Pope has chosen the theme for the Holy Year: Pilgrims of Hope and it will be a year of grace for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of a pandemic and the ecological crisis we face. The Pope has asked that we use this year of preparation by looking again at the Constitutions of the Second Vatican Council for guidance and direction. It will also be a significant year here in our Parish as we celebrate the centenary of the Church building. These two milestones together remind us that as the living stones of the Church, we have to keep building-up the Kingdom of God on earth. To this end—and God willing—I am proposing a Parish Mission during Lent 2025. This will be an opportunity to both renew our Faith in Christ and His Church, and also a moment to reach-out to those who do not yet know Jesus well or His Church. As we progress through this year I will give more details of how the Mission might unfold and ask for your help as together we might prepare for this time of Mission.
God bless you!
Msgr Kevin Hale
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Liturgy:
Readings of Year B
The Nicene Creed
Preface Sunday 1
Saturday 13
St Hilary, Bp, D
5.30pm Vigil Mass Tim McCarthy, RIP (SMcC)
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
Sunday 14 January
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
8am Mass Essie Glauda, RIP (Anniv) (KC)
9.30am Mass Eric Major, RIP (Anniv) (PM)
11.30am Mass The People of the Parish
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Monday 15
Feria
9am Mass Phillip Burke, RIP (RO’C)
Tuesday 16
Feria
9am Mass Yvonne Ashwell-Rivens, RIP (CO’B)
Wednesday 17
St Antony, Ab
9am Mass Nicholas Vincent Flach, RIP (MF)
Thursday 18
Feria
9am Mass Pauline Martin, RIP (AM)
Friday 19
St Wulstan, Bp
12Noon Mass Tom O'Callaghan, RIP (RO’C)
Saturday 20
St Fabian, P, M
10am Mass John & Pat Moon, RIP (SM)
10.30-11.30am: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
5.30pm Vigil Mass Fr James Anthony Boyle, MHM, RIP (AT)
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
Sunday 21 January
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
8am Mass Frances Emmerson, RIP (Anniv) (AE)
9.30am Mass The People of the Parish
11.30am Mass Ernie Cotgrove, RIP (AMcC)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
We Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries
Fr John King, Fr Gilbert Basil Pearson, Fr Neville Banks, Fr Kenneth Green, Canon Charles Kuypers, Mgr Canon David Donnelly, Fr John Meehan, Rev John Joyce, Rev Thomas O’Connor, Rev Archibald O’Brien, Joan Stanley, Malcolm Atkinson, Patricia Garnett, Anthony Ashwell-Rivens, Elaine Macdonald, Mary Rigden, Amy Read, John Armstrong, Doreen O’Leary, Alice McGiff, John McCarthy, Ernest Treston, Eleanor Walsh, Veronica Collins, Mark Braggard, Michael Fitzgerald, Maire Beckwith, Douglas Ellegard, Ernest Bullock, Anthony Hillier, Peggy Stevenson, Branko Deyanovitch, Hugh McHattie, Leo Forge, Elizabeth Callow, Vera Thompson, Christopher Purcell, Neil O’Keefe, Martin Coveney, Robert Bautista, Constance Anne, Christopher Keville, Jeanie Reeves, Theresa Daniels, Maria Calame, Amy Cutforth, Eileen Dutton, Grace Angwin, Anthony Warwick, Pamina Edgeley & David Johnson.
We Pray for our Sick
Valerie Quinn, Tony Bullock, Michael Doherty, Carol Emerson, Kitty Lydon, Isabel Coombs, Lucy Moreno, Jose Luis Lira, Richard Poole, Pamela Uglietti, Michael Mapson, Deana Ince, Susan Griffin, Gy Rampersaud, Mary O’Sullivan, Ian Spacie, Bobby Newman, Paul Watts, Christine Reid, Rose D’Souza, Jimmy & Pauline Martin, James Fegan, David Lesley, Zach Stokes, Andrew Stokes, Noel Conroy, Marjorie Jay, Paul Sutton, John Murphy, Jennifer Biebuyck, Moira Scott, Jill Yates, Leonora Maguire, Brian Mountier, Renata Butler, Margaret Bartle, Tony Downey, Kristy Monferrari, Fred Ring, Russell Short, Marie Kharas, Garry Pearman, Patricia Ann Darroch, Patricia Vanner, Amy Louise Fox, Sarah Savage, Bill O’Connell, Charlotte O’Neil, Ella Williams, David Kislingbury, Mark Shepherd, Breege McCaffrey, Mark Hartley, John Lavery, Paul Keane, Rosemary Bragard, Pat Lynch, 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 Poole, Edward Martin, Joanna Luciani, Pauline Wilsher, Simon Marshall, Kriston Barnes, Hugh Isaacs, 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, Florence Hownam & children: Thomas Ball, Liam Davis, Connie Price, Albert Chambers, Fergus Grant, Mary Isherwood, Lucy Price, Frazer Gregory & baby Forest Gallagher.
Sanctuary Lamp
This week the Sanctuary Lamp burns for all the deceased relatives and friends of Norman & Sue.
Please pray for the repose of the souls of
ANTHONY SANSOM who died peacefully at home on Friday, 22nd December. His body will be received into the church on Tuesday, 6th February at 4.30pm and his Requiem Mass will take place on Wednesday, 7th February at 10.30am followed by committal at Southend Crematorium.
BRIDGET WARD who died on Thursday, 11th January.
Requiescant in pace
Responsorial Psalm at 11.30am Mass
Incoming: Pastorale—Domenico Zipoli (Jesuit 1688-1726)
Outgoing: Largo—Peter Prelleur (1705-1741)
LENTEN EVENINGS OF REFLECTION
Wednesday: February 21st, 28th, & March 13th & 20th; 7-8.30pm
To include a preached meditation by a guest speaker, Eucharistic Adoration, Compline, Benediction and Confessions.