Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear friends in Christ
The thread that runs through the Readings of the liturgy this Sunday is the desire for virtue; that is, the desire for the habits of a godly life.
Dear friends in Christ
The thread that runs through the Readings of the liturgy this Sunday is the desire for virtue; that is, the desire for the habits of a godly life. The Bible uses the word righteous to describe a person who is living a virtuous life. The liturgy applies this description to the person of Jesus Christ who, even though He was perfect God and perfect Man, lived, suffered and died rejected by the world. In the Gospel, Saint Mark relates the moment when Jesus teaches His disciples how they should live: He takes a child and places the child before them and tells them: Whoever welcomes a little child like this welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me but the One who sent me. In Jesus Christ we have the model of all the virtues, the model of THE righteous Man. But Jesus is more than just a virtuous person: He is the Son of God, Second Person of the Blessed Trinity and God incarnate. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and the unique Way to God the Father. Jesus is also the sole Saviour of mankind; no one can be saved except in and through Him. In these days of religious pluralism and confusion, we have the assurance given us by Jesus that through our incorporation into Him, we have the guarantee of salvation. It is this belief that has brought countless souls to Christ’s Church down the ages—and ourselves—so that we can experience life in all its fullness in Him, together with the graces we need to live righteous lives on earth, and so attain the life of Heaven.
This Monday we recommence The Journey of Faith—RCIA—which is primarily intended for those who are seeking to enter the life of the Church through the Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and The Blessed Eucharist. Do encourage anyone of your family or friends who might be a ‘Searcher’ to come along at 8pm to the Parish Centre. Above all, please keep in your prayers those who will be embarking on this Journey of Faith.
God bless you and keep you in the ways of holiness and salvation!
Msgr Kevin Hale
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Liturgy:
Readings of Year B
The Nicene Creed
Preface of Sunday 8
Saturday 21
ST MATTHEW, Ap, Ev
10am Mass Eleanor Tierney, RIP (MI)
10.30-11.30am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confession
5.30pm Vigil Ciaran Fitzgerald, RIP (TT)
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confession
Sunday 22 September
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
8am Mass Intentions of the Kilroy & Kidman Families (EK)
9.30am Mass Carmina Czogalik, RIP (KCL)
11.30am Mass The People of the Parish
5.30pm Vespers & Benedictionturday
Monday 23
St Pius of Pietrelcina, Pr
9am Mass Dec’d Members of the Young, Hall & Bush Families (LY)
Tuesday 24
Our Lady of Walsingham
9am Mass Valerie Griggs & Dec’d Members of the Moon Family (SM)
Wednesday 25
Feria
9am Mass Intentions of Margaret & Frank Butt (60th Wedding Anniv) (MB)
Thursday 26
Ss Cosmos and Damian, Mm
9am Mass Rebecca Clarke, RIP (Anniv) (IR)
Friday 27
10.30am Requiem Mass Joseph Sicheri
Saturday 28
St Laurence Ruiz and his Comps, Mm
10am Mass Chris Cannon, RIP (CS)
10.30-11.30am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confession
5.30pm Vigil Ciaran Fitzgerald, RIP (LB)
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confession
Sunday 29 September
Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
8am Mass James Overton Summers, RIP (SS)
9.30am Mass The People of the Parish
11.30am Mass Peter D’Silva, RIP (MF)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
We Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries
Fr Gordon Godfrey, Pope John Paul 1, Charles Osborne, Marie Hall, Mary Byrne, Jose Costan, Joyce Mary Wright, James Perry, Henry Bennett, Ethel Babel, Kathleen Young, Mary de Souza, Peter Wilkinson, Robert Swainson, Douglas Hair, Fred Cornwell, Catherine Major, Alfred Gardener, Jane Catherine Lacey, John Houlihan, Andres Louis Hinbest, Emily Bailey, Pat MacHaughtan, Moira Stuart, Violet Shrimpton, Stephen McGough, Doreen Reynolds, Eileen Scott, Christopher James, Bridget Clinton, Elizabeth Butler, Elizabeth Fresh, Patrick Quinlan, Rebecca Clarke, Marion McNamara, Pope JohnPaul 1 & Theresa O’Riordan.
We pray for our sick
The Sick List is available on the website main menu, under Worship.
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.”
Sanctuary Lamp
This week the Sanctuary Lamp burns for the Living & Deceased Relatives of the Dzwig Family.
Please pray for the repose of the souls of
AMY FOX, RIP who died on Tuesday, 3rd September. Funeral details to follow.
JOSEPH SICHERI, RIP who died on Wednesday, 28th August. His Requiem Mass will be on Friday, 27th September at 10.30am followed by committal at Southend Crematorium.
MICHAEL MAPSON, RIP who died on Tuesday, 10th September. Details of Memorial Mass to follow.
Requiescant in pace
Music at 11.30am Mass
Prelude—Andante—John James (c.1730)
Postlude: Fugue in F—Georg Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Responsorial Psalm
Dates for your Diary
Monday, 23rd September—Journey in Faith (RCIA) 8pm Parish Centre
Thursday 14th November—Annual Requiem Mass 7pm
Friday 22nd November—Sung Latin Requiem Mass 7pm
Thursday 28th-Saturday 30th November—Forty Hours’ Prayer
Friday 20th December—Sea of Voices Carol Service 7pm
Saturday 15th—Friday 21st March 2025—Parish Mission led by the Redemptorists
Sunday 1st June 2025—Visitation & Confirmation
Monday 21st—Friday 25th July—Lourdes Pilgrimage
Burials in the Memorial Garden
The Memorial Garden was created for the burial of the Ashes of Parishioners. This can be requested at any time and the burial done at a time convenient to families.
Each tile in the Garden is a plot. They are numbered for easy reference but not engraved with names. The names of those buried there are recorded in the Burial Register of the Parish and displayed in the Memorial Book which is in the wooden case near the door to the Sacristy.
We ask families not to put memorials in the Garden to prevent it from becoming cluttered but encourage flowers and plants to be placed there.
The cost of the work to prepare and secure each grave is one hundred and fifty pounds. We also ask that a donation to the Parish be made for the plot.
The Memorial Garden is situated close to the North side of the church so that our Faithful Departed may be close by where the Mass is daily celebrated, for the living and the dead, and so that they are close to us in their final resting place.
Over the Altar there is the statue of Christ The Good Shepherd based on an image found in the Roman Catacombs dating from the end of the third century. It was used by the early Church to symbolise the rest that the soul of the departed finds in eternal life.
The front of the Altar bears the Greek Cross and cipher in mosaic:
IC XC NI KA—Jesus Christ Conquers!
Fairtrade
The next Fairtrade sale will be on Sunday 6th October 8.30-11.30am.
We aim to support our brothers and sisters in developing countries giving them a fair price for the goods that they produce. Come and buy your tea, coffee, honey, chocolate and so much more. There are information cards with most of the products telling you how the product is produced. Thank you for the support you have given to date.
Live Simply Group
Upcoming Baby Loss Support Service - Essex
Saying Goodbye, (part of the Mariposa Trust) are coming to Chelmsford in October with a very special Baby loss remembrance and support service (part of a UK and Ireland chain of events). The Mariposa Trust’s core objective is to support people who have lost babies at any stage of pregnancy, at birth, or in infancy. It was founded in 2012, by Zoe and Andy Clark-Coates, who saw a critical lack of support for people like them, who had gone through baby loss. With over 258,000 babies being lost yearly in the UK alone, the charity needed to be able to offer not only a comprehensive package of befriending and support but also national baby loss remembrance services (called Saying Goodbye Services), for people to join together and remember the children they had lost. 12 years on, over 200 services have taken place at Cathedrals and Minsters across the UK, US, and France, and 2024 will see 25 services across England, Wales, Ireland, France and the US.
On the 13th October at 6pm, in Chelmsford Cathedral, we will be hosting one of our Saying Goodbye Services and as this is the most local service to you this year we wanted to share this information with you.
So who is the service for?
Anyone who has either personally lost a baby at any stage of pregnancy, at birth, or in early years, or who has been affected by family members' or friends' loss. Whether the loss was recent or 80 years ago, everyone is welcome to attend. We have also extended the services, and gladly welcome anyone who is grieving the fact that they haven't had children. This may be due to circumstance, infertility, or for other reasons - but all are welcome. Babies and children are also invited to come with their families, as the Saying Goodbye service is truly a family event for all.
We know that as 1 in 4 women suffer miscarriage and baby loss, you will have contact with a significant number of people who have either personally suffered baby loss, or who have a partner or family member that has, so we wanted to ask if you would help us in promoting the service.
To read more on the charity, please see the Saying Goodbye website, which you can find at: www.sayinggoodbye.org
Certificates of Catholic Practice
These Certificates can be collected from the Parish Office 09.00-13.00 each Thursday and Friday over the coming weeks.
OLL Ladies Group
Our next Meeting is on Thursday 26 September from 10am in the Parish Centre. All ladies in the Parish are welcome to join us with admission just £1.00 including refreshments. Next week we plan to have a relaxing time sharing our favourite poetry and books. No problem if you feel you have nothing to share just come along and enjoy the company. In the coming months we have an interesting programme of guest speakers and some “in house entertainment “ plus our usual fun Raffles.
Accommodation Needed
A young family in the parish are in urgent need of accommodation in the Leigh, Westcliff, Southend, Rochford area. Ideally three bedrooms with bathroom and kitchen facilities. If you know of anything or can possibly help in this regard, please contact Francis O'Brien on 07845874331.
Accommodation (2 bedroom) also needed for widower and his teenage son. If you can help please ring 07947 241974.
St Bernard's High School
ST BERNARD’S HIGH SCHOOL YEAR 6 OPEN MORNINGS
Monday 30th September to Thursday 3rd October 2024 from 9.30am to 10.30am
Invitation by appointments only, please contact the school reception to book Office@stbernards.southend.sch.uk
Tel: 01702 343583 www.stbernardswestcliff.org.uk
Help with Gardening
Can You Help?
Are you able to help for a couple of hours per week to help keep the gardens and grounds around the church tidy and weeded?
You do not need to be a wonderful gardener, most of the work is dead heading, and removing dead plants and weeds, especially the bindweed which gets everywhere!
If you can give even an hour a week it would help.
Please contact Clare or Steve Fleming, or give your details to the office and we will contact you. Alternatively you can find us in the church gardens on a Friday morning.
Thanks very much,
Jo Ronan
First Holy Communion 2025
Please note that the Parents’ Meeting for all those who have submitted forms for their children to make their First Holy Communion is being held on Thursday 26th September at 8pm in the Parish Centre.
The children's sessions will be held on a Saturday every month - the first session is on Saturday 28th September, 4-5pm, in the Parish Centre.
Mission Appeal 28th/29th September
The Daughters of Divine Love is an International Congregation founded in Nigeria in 1969 and a member of the Missionary Sisters of England and Wales. They educate, care for, and add value to the lives of the less privileged in society. Their charity home in Nigeria and school for indigent children in Kenya provide care and education for orphans, motherless, abandoned children, street children/teenagers, and children with special needs/HIV. Their aim is always to serve the less privileged and the marginalized in society. In everything that they do, the love of Christ impels them to respond to the cry of the poor and the vulnerable with concrete actions".
Following the guidelines of the Bishops of England and Wales, the appeal includes a short reflection on the liturgy of the day. This is followed by a reference to the work of the Missionary Sisters and also to the vocation of being a missionary that belongs to us all by virtue of our Baptism and the implications of that.
JOURNEY OF FAITH—RCIA
This begins on Monday, 23rd September 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 Newman 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.
Sea of Voices Summer Concert Tickets
Our Autumn concert is being held at the Parish Centre on Sunday 29th September from 3pm. Tickets £5 will be available from the parish office or direct from Darrell on 07825686249 email seaofvoiceschoir@outlook.com.
Refreshments will include servings of home baked cake; cake donations from home bakers are very welcome, delivered at the Centre at teas and coffees after all Sunday masses, along with any raffle donations please. Thank you!
All funds raised are going to @peterbatesjourney, a fundraiser for brain tumour treatment for one of our choir member’s nephew. Peter’s current treatment cannot be funded further by the NHS, hence the need to fundraise for private medical treatment. Details of Peter’s journey can be read on Gofund.me/24a35357