Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear friends in Christ
This weekend we come to the Sunday before the start of Lent—Quinquagesima Sunday as it was called—to denote fifty days before Easter.
Dear friends in Christ
This weekend we come to the Sunday before the start of Lent—Quinquagesima Sunday as it was called—to denote fifty days before Easter. It is the miracle of the healing of the Leper that we hear read at Mass this Sunday; an appropriate Gospel as we prepare to enter this season of interior purification which we call the Lenten Spring. The Fathers of the Church saw leprosy as a symbol of sin. All in all, sin is far uglier than any physical disease or bodily deformity, because of the consequences in this life and in the life to come. Our Lord has come to heal the sick. When He heals, when he cures us of leprosy, Our Lord performs great miracles. These miracles reveal God's power over the sicknesses of the soul—over sin. The same reflection is developed in today's Responsorial Psalm, which exactly describes and proclaims what joy there is at the forgiveness of sins: 'Happy the man whose offence is forgiven’ (Ps 31:1). Jesus cures the physical illness, and at the same time frees from sin. In this way He shows himself to be the Messiah whose coming had been foretold by the Prophets who 'has borne our infirmities' and taken our sins upon himself (cf Is 53:3-12) in order to set us free from all that subverts our spiritual and material health ... For this reason a central theme of today's liturgy is purification from sin, which is the leprosy of the soul. (Pope St John Paul II, 17.II.’85) Jesus tells us that this is why he has come—to forgive, to redeem, to set us free from sin, the leprosy of the soul.
As we approach these purifying days of Lent, we do so on Ash Wednesday with a sincere and profound act of sorrow-humility which will bring us with renewed spirits to the celebration of the Paschal feast of Easter!
God bless you!
Msgr Kevin Hale
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Liturgy:
Readings of Year B
The Nicene Creed
Preface Sunday 5
Saturday 10
5.30pm Vigil Mass Tony Trigg, RIP (Anniv) (AT)
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
Sunday 11 February
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
8am Mass Alice McCrory, RIP (MS)
9.30am Mass Bernard Ward, RIP (Anniv) (MW)
11.30am Mass The People of the Parish
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Monday 12
Feria
9am Mass Thomas Henry Gunn (FM)
Shrove Tuesday 13
Feria
9am Mass Jennifer Garrett, RIP (Anniv) (JH)
Wednesday 14
ASH WEDNESDAY—Day of Fasting & Abstinence
9.15am Mass Andreas Anastasiou, RIP (MS)—with OLOL school
12Noon Mass Violette Gray, RIP
7pm Mass Frank Maguire, RIP (MM)
Thursday 15
Thursday after Ash Wednesday
9am Mass Elaine McDonald, RIP (Anniv) (JH)
Friday 16
Friday after Ash Wednesday
12noon Mass Intentions of Michael & Kath O'Connor (MI)
7pm Way of the Cross and benediction
Saturday 17
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
10am Mass Alan Digweed, RIP (recently deceased) (E&BH)
10.30-11.30am: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
5.30pm Vigil Mass The People of the Parish
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
Sunday 18 February
First Sunday of Lent
8am Mass Robert Condon, RIP (Anniv) (JA)
9.30am Mass Intentions of the Craig & Poole Families (AC)
11.30am Mass Intentions of Neil O’Keefe (MT)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
We pray for our sick
We pray for the sick of our parish
“Father,
by the power of your Spirit
you have filled the hearts of your faithful people
with gifts of love for one another.
Hear the prayers we offer for our relatives and friends.
Give them health of mind and body
that they may do your will with perfect love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.”
We Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries
Fr Donald Mills, Fr John Garrett, Fr Charles Snell, Fr John Joyce, Mary Stevens, Catherine Shanahan, Gordon Watts, Jessie Hempstead, Annie Jackson, Monica Crighton, Cajetan Soares, Tony Trigg, Eric Wallen, Mary Mulhern, Mary Gleeson, Patrick O’Donnell, Martin Ryan, Daphne Rickard, Ivy Spratt, Christine Riddell, Jack Pearson, Roy Buick, Joan Stanley, Malcolm Atkinson, Patricia Garnett, Anthony Ashwell-Rivens, Elaine MacDonald, Mary Rigden, Amy Read, John Armstrong, Doreen O’Leary, Alice McGiff, Ernest Preston, Eleanor Walsh, Veronica Collins, Mark Braggard, Michael Fitzgerald, Maire Beckwith, & Douglas Ellegard.
Sanctuary Lamp
This week the Sanctuary Lamp burns for the deceased members of the Caunce & Harrison Families.
Please pray for the repose of the souls of
BERNADETTE LANE Her body will be received into the church on Tuesday, 20th February at 4.30pm and her Requiem Mass will take place on Wednesday, 21st February at 10am followed by committal at Basildon Crematorium.
BRIDGET WARD who died on Thursday, 11th January.
ISABEL COOMBS who died on Wednesday, 17th January.
Requiescant in pace
Music at 11.30am Mass
Prelude: Praeludium (Pastorale in F) - J S Bach (1685-1750)
Postlude: Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr - J P Sweelinck (1562-1621)
Dates for your Diary
Monday 12th February—Journey in Faith (RCIA) continues—8pm St Clement Room
Thursdays: February 15th, 22nd, 29th & March 7th, 14th & 21st—'The Chosen’ 7pm Parish Centre
Wednesdays: February 21st, 28th, & March 13th & 20th;
Lenten Evenings of Reflection—7-8.30pm
Saturdays 11th & 18th May—First Holy Communion Masses
Sunday 19th May—Sacrament of Confirmation
Saturday 6th July—Flower Festival
Monday 22nd—Friday 26th July 2024—Parish Pilgrimage to Lourdes
Parish Pilgrimage to Lourdes-Monday 22nd-Friday 26th July2024
The Parishes of Leigh-on-Sea, Southend & Prittlewell will travel together to Lourdes in July. The cost is approximately £760 per adult sharing, with an additional £180 for a single room. (Plus transfer to airport and Brentwood donation).
Package Inclusions: Return flights with British Airways from Heathrow including 23kg hold-luggage, 4 nights full-board in the 4* Grand Hotel Moderne (closest to the shrine), fully guided with walking tour & full religious itinerary.
Please register your details (name, number of seats requested, contact number & email address) with the Parish Office as soon as possible.
LENTEN EVENINGS OF REFLECTION
Wednesday, February 21st—Msgr Kevin Hale: Celebrating our Faith in the Sacred Liturgy
Wednesday, February 28th—Fr Mark Reilly PP Hornchurch: Towards the Holy Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope
Wednesday, March 13th—Fr Graham Smith PP Southend: How to be Holy
Wednesday, March 20th—Fr Stephen Morrison OPræm PP Peckham: The Kingship of Christ in the Passion
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.
THE CHOSEN—showing in the Parish during Lent
The Chosen is a groundbreaking historical drama based on the life of Jesus Christ, seen through the eyes of those who knew him. Set against the backdrop of Roman oppression in first-century Israel, the drama shares an authentic and intimate look at Jesus’ revolutionary life and teachings.
Six of the episodes of this Gospel depiction will be screened in the Parish Centre on the Thursdays of Lent, beginning on 15th February at 7pm; each episode lasts one hour.
CAFOD Lent Family Fast Day—Friday 23rd February
This Lent Fast Day, CAFOD highlights the work it does to support hardworking communities with resources, skills and training to earn a living and feed their families. It highlights its work in Liberia through which it is providing fishermen with compasses, lifejackets and GPS systems so they can find the fish successfully and return to their homes safely. Please keep CAFOD in your prayers and consider eating simply on 23rd February and donating what you can to help their work. Gift envelops are at the back of the church, or you can donate electronically, or donate online and learn more about CAFOD's current work (www.cafod.org.uk)
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.
Diocesan Pilgrimage to Walsingham - Saturday 25th May 2024
Join Bishop Alan and other parishes around the Diocese of Brentwood in Walsingham. 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 leave your name and contact details with the Parish office.
Organ Loft cleaner required
Would you be able to spare an hour a week between 10am and 1pm, to help clean our organ loft? Whichever day suits you, and it doesn’t have to be the same day every week!
If you can help, please contact the Parish office on 01702 478078 or email office@lourdesleigh.org.
Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School
Are you looking for a Nursery for your 2 to 4 year old?
Contact us to look around our learning environment!
office@ourladyoflourdes.southend.sch.uk 01702475689
Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School is located in Leigh's heart along Manchester Drive, a short walk from the London Road.
Our welcoming community school is perfect for children starting Nursery in 2024.
We're proud of our family feel, which spans generations, and our vast grounds for children to play.
Excelling in music, sport, science, and a balanced curriculum, we're the ideal place for your child to flourish.
Thinking about your child as they grow, our children transition easily and happily into our Reception classes. Our children achieve well in KS2, with many children moving on to the Catholic secondary schools.
National Marriage Week 7—14th February 2024
Below we share a reflection penned by a married couple of our Parish:
ROSES AND ASHES
Have you started thinking about Lent yet? This year St Valentine’s Day, falls on Ash Wednesday. So how to combine red roses with fasting and ashes?
When we marry we profess in our vows to follow our paths of life together, no matter what that may mean. We commit to being more than just alongside each other. We promise to love and to cherish one another: to do all that we can to enable our spouse to be happy in this world and in the next, and to grow to be all we can be ourselves. That is our calling.
What of our path through Lent? It’s similar as we look to understand ourselves and learn how we can realise the unending love of God inviting us to celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection at Easter. We seek change in ourselves in order to pay special attention to both God and our spouse. Our gift to our spouse is to help them become who God made them to be; who they have the capacity to be. The outcome of this depends on how we respond to the graces given to us. So, how can we grow to be the best help mate for our spouse, and to be more fully appreciative of them, and be closer to God?
We believe it’s about communication with our spouse and with God; how can we do that when we are so busy? There’s always the children, the parents, work and even our church commitments.
Perhaps we can agree some resolutions for Lent to help us?
• Pope Francis has simple guidance for couples. He says, each day include, “Thank you, Please, I’m sorry”. Or how about:
• leave the phones away from the dining table and from the bedroom.
• get a practice of saying a daily prayer together - the Lord’s Prayer, the Angelus, the Magnificat - are just a few options.
Each day take some time to check in with each other …. Maybe ask “Tell me something about your day today and how do you feel about that”.
This February is a LEAP YEAR, one more day in the month to love each other. We’re thinking of doing something DIFFERENT for the 29th to express our love. Would you like to give some thought to any of the above notions for your relationship?
Brian & Maureen Devine
Journey of Faith—RCIA
RCIA will meet on Monday, 12th February 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.
Repository
We have some new stock so please take a minute to visit us and have a browse, especially at our new selection of various sized Statues.
We also have new Mass cards and Sympathy cards plus a selection of Anniversary, Baptism cards etc. If you can’t find what you are looking for please ask one of the volunteers.
Please note the Repository is only open after Weekend Masses.