Sick & Retired Clergy Fund
On 22nd June there will be the annual collection for the Sick & Retired Clergy Fund of the Diocese.
Donations can be made in the Second Collection, online via the Diocesan website or using any available contactless devices, selecting the second collection option.
The fund helps Clergy who require assistance in their retirement after years of service, it also helps those who are in ill health at any age.
This is also an opportunity to thank Parishioners who have bequeathed legacies in their wills and we would welcome any who are about to make, or review existing arrangements, to consider this worthy cause.
The Administrators of the Fund would also like to express their gratitude to the families of deceased Parishioners who have gifted legacies in the past.
Day for Life
Every year, the Church in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, jointly marks the Day for Life, as a reminder of the need to respect and protect the inherent value and dignity of each life. This year, it will be celebrated on Trinity Sunday, the 15th of June. The faithful are invited to join in prayer and promotion of the Day. Useful resources, including a message from the three bishops, and prayers, can be found on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales’ website: https://www.cbcew.org.uk/day-for-life/.
Mass in Thanksgiving for Marriage & Family Life
Brentwood Cathedral: Saturday, 21st June, 3pm.
If anyone is celebrating a significant anniversary of Marriage this year, or would like to attend this Mass celebrated by the Bishop, please give your name to Fr Kevin.
Lourdes Ladies Group
Our next Meeting is on Thursday 19th June, as usual in the Parish Centre from 9.30am for a prompt start at 10am.
We are departing from our usual schedule of meetings and hope to enjoy a relaxed morning of not quite mid- summer madness (!) but come along and enjoy strawberries and cream with a glass of Prosecco or something non alcoholic. There will be plenty of time to chat with friends or enjoy pleasant background music. As usual we will have our £1 subs and a fun Raffle.
ADVANCE NOTICE: Please note that we will be having an ‘End of Term’ Buffet lunch party on Thursday 17th July and tickets will be on sale next Thursday for ladies who are at that Meeting. If you are not able to come next week, but would like to join us on 17th July, please give your name to Cynthia, Jan or Jo in order for us to check numbers.
Mini Vinnies
The next meeting for the Mini Vinnies will take place in the Parish Centre on Monday, 16th June from 5.15pm to 6.45pm. Mini Vinnie Committee.
Sea of Voices Summer Concert
Early notice that the Sea of Voices will be holding its Summer Concert in the Gilbert Room of the Parish Centre on Sunday 20th July at 3pm. Tickets at £5 will be made available in the next few weeks and proceeds will go to a Charity (to be advised). Offers of help and donations of raffle prizes please to Darrell Binding 07825686249. Thank you!
Quiz Night Saturday, 5th July in the Parish Centre
Hello everyone! If you are a fan of quiz nights, today is your lucky day! The young people from OLOL Parish going to Lourdes this year with BCYS (Brentwood Catholic Youth Service) are fundraising for their pilgrimage.
They go as volunteers to support the sick and elderly of the Parish/Diocese. They provide practical support pushing wheelchairs and spend time enjoying their company. The young people learn a great deal about serving others, as well as spending time deepening their own faith.
As the young people need to pay for their own transportation and accommodation, there will be a fundraising quiz on Saturday 5th July at our Lady of Lourdes Parish Centre, starting at 7.15pm. Tickets are £5 per person (bring your own drink and nibbles), with a maximum of 8 people per table. Tickets will be available at the back of church after all Masses and also from the Parish Office, Monday to Friday 9am—1pm.
Raffle donations will be gratefully accepted on the evening, or may be left at the back of church beforehand if you cannot attend.
Hope to see you there!
OLOL Brentwood Youth Team
Flower and Craft Festival 2025
This year’s festival will be on Saturday 5th July from 11.00am to 4.30pm.
It is less than 8 weeks now until our Flower & Craft Festival; thank you to everyone who has already committed to taking part. If you have not taken part before please consider doing so this year. It is part of our mission here in Leigh to give local people an opportunity to experience what our Church is all about, especially in this Jubilee Year of Hope.
We are asking you once again to get creative, in flowers, arts and crafts. None of us are professionals, we are not expecting perfection ! There will be plenty of people on hand to help you if you need it.
The theme this year is the hymn,
‘O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy Hand has made…….’
So the focus is on creation, but this year we are also celebrating the opening of our beautiful church 100 years ago. We are also in a Jubilee Year, the focus of which is ‘Hope.’ We are to be pilgrims of hope in our very troubled and dangerous world. So there are many themes to choose from. Photographers, artists, needleworkers, carpenters and gardeners, we would like as many people as possible to be involved in creating a beautiful and powerful message for our local community of Leigh.
We are not asking for professionalism, although professionals are very welcome indeed ! Just your enthusiasm.
If you would like to be involved in creating something for 5th July please contact me at
mcronan@btinternet.com or speak to me after 9.30 mass on Sundays.
Jo Ronan
SVP Awareness Month
Following our May SVP awareness month, we are still looking for Parishioners to join our parish group.
Might you have a few hours to spare each week? Be available to attend a fortnightly evening meeting, and a weekly visit to assist those within our community who could benefit from our support.
If you would like to discuss, please call either Sallie Pollock on 07450277956 or Gina Marshall 01702 710836.
PA to the Dean-Brentwood Cathedral
A vacancy has arisen for a PA, to provide administrative support services to the Parish Priest and Parish Office by implementing and maintaining office systems, processes and procedures and delivering a welcoming, appropriate service to those attending the parish office. The successful applicant will need to have excellent communication and administration skills.
The post will be full-time working 35 hours per week- Monday to Friday
The salary is £14- £15 per hour depending on experience
The closing date for applications is 12pm on 18th June 2025 and we will then invite suitable applicants to interview.
If you have any queries or if you would like to apply, please send your CV by email to cathedral@brcdt.org
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School & Nursery
Our family friendly nursery welcomes children from 2-4 years old. Our experienced team provide opportunities for all children to learn through play, inside and outside the classroom. We are pleased to offer spaces from September. Please contact the school office on 01702 475689 to book your visit.
Summer Fete Helpers Wanted at OLOL School—Saturday 5th July, 12-3.30pm
We’re looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help make our summer fete a fantastic event! Whether you can lend a hand with setup, run a stall, or help throughout the day we’d love to have you on board.
We’re also welcoming outside stall holders who would like to join and have a stall.
If you’re interested in supporting or taking part, please get in touch—we’d love to hear from you! Please email pta@ourladyoflourdes.southend.sch.uk
Paul Bakers Charity Row
Parishioner Paul Baker is rowing from Grimsby to Ramsgate in July this year to raise money for Children in Need and the SVP Centre in Southend. If you would like to donate please go to the donation page:
https://givewheel.com/fundraising/7721/conquer-the-coast-f0r-children-in-need-row/
St Thomas More Open Evening
St. Thomas More High school - open evening, Thursday, 10th July 4.00p.m. to 7.00p.m. - for families who have a son due to transfer to secondary school in September 2025 - come and see the school, meet the staff and pupils.
The Headteachers talk will begin at 5.30pm.
Parents of boys who wish to apply to St. Thomas More School for a place in September 2026 should complete the local education authority single application form (saf) and fill in the supplementary information form (sif) that can be collected at the open evening.
If you are unable to come to the open evening, please contact the school in order to get the supplementary information form. The form can also be downloaded from the school web site:-
St Thomas More Alumni Memorial Mass—Thursday 19th June at 8pm
The annual Memorial Mass to remember and pray for all deceased pupils, staff and governors of St Thomas More High School will take place in the school at 8pm on Thursday 19th June.
This will be the 45th such celebration organised by the St Thomas More Alumni and it will also, sadly, be the last. All former pupils, staff and governors are warmly invited to attend with their partners and to also enjoy the drinks and buffet which will be served afterwards, providing a wonderful opportunity to catch-up with old friends.
The Mass will include the traditional roll-call of all known deceased former pupils, staff and governors; the reading of the Execution Account of St Thomas More; and the school's two favourite hymns.
St John Bosco Children’s Camp 2025
For children aged 9-12 years old (school years 5-7), a week of great fun, activities including climbing wall and zip wire, fishing, football, archery and much more, all in a beautiful setting. The Camp has a Catholic ethos, and exists to give children a magnificent holiday. 26th July – 2nd August. For more details, and application information: www.boscocamp.co.uk. The Camp is a special work of Caritas Diocese of Brentwood.
If you are supporting a family to apply from within your parish or school, please do apply very soon to be sure of a place. The direct link for a child’s application is:https://Johnbsoco.formstack.com/forms/bosco_child_application_form_2025
St Bernard's High School Open Evening for Year 5 Students
A Catholic Academy for Arts and Science (Starting Year 7 in September 2026)—Thursday 10 July 2025 5.30pm to 8.30pm
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 2026. We are also offering an opportunity for parents/carers to visit the school during a normal teaching day, between 9.30am and 11.00am on set days in October, dates will be published on our website. Appointments for these guided tours will be available in September.
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.)
‘St Bernard’s High School is a welcoming, inclusive school’. Ofsted 2023
‘Leaders have high expectations of pupils in terms of learning and behaviour. Pupils live up to these expectations.’ Ofsted 2023
‘The behaviour of students is exemplary both in lessons and throughout the school as they strive to live out the mission statement, ‘Love one another as I have loved you’. (Diocesan Inspection, 2024)
‘Behaviour for learning is outstanding, fostered through extremely positive teacher-student relationships’. (Diocesan Inspection, 2024)
www.stbernardswestcliff.org.uk. Milton Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex SS0 7JS. Tel: 01702 343583
PENTECOST
Dear friends in Christ
Today, as members of the Church born on this day, we can indeed wish each other a happy birthday
Dear friends in Christ
Today, as members of the Church born on this day, we can indeed wish each other a happy Birthday!
Pentecost is the moment that changes everything. It was one of the great Jewish festivals, when many Israelites would go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem to adore God in His Temple. This was the fifty days after the Passover. The material harvest which the Jews celebrated with such joy, became a new celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit with all His gifts and fruits. It is with the appearance of fire that God manifests the outpouring of His life upon the first members of the Church gathered in that upper room. Fire both penetrates and purifies: both actions which the Holy Spirit brings about in our souls: Lord, with the fire of the Holy Spirit, purify our inmost being and heart.
Pentecost is not an isolated historical event. The Holy Spirit continues daily to sanctify the Church. As Saints Francis de Sales says: The Paraclete sanctifies every soul. This He does through the innumerable inspirations which are all the attractions, motions, rebukes and interior compunctions, lights and intuitions which God works in us. So He strengthens our hearts with his blessings, with His Fatherly love, so as to arouse us, move us, impel us and draw us to holy virtues, to heavenly love, to good resolutions: in short, to all that leads to our eternal life. (Introduction to the Devout Life, III,18.)
Thanks be to God for our belonging to that Body of Christ, instituted by Jesus Christ and vivified on this Day of Pentecost. All of us who are Baptised and Confirmed—especially those Confirmed by the Bishop here last Sunday—enjoy this life which, even here on earth is a foretaste of the life to come. We ask Mary, whose feast as Mother of the Church we celebrate on Monday, to protect us, and bring us to deeper friendship with God, the Holy Spirit!
Msgr Kevin Hale
PENTECOST
Liturgy:
Readings of Year C
Preface of Pentecost
The Apostles’ Creed
Saturday 7
Saturday after the Seventh Sunday of Easter
10am Mass John Pembroke, RIP (MW)
10.30—11.30am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confession
5.30pm Mass Intentions of Rory Neal-McKenzie (CJD)
6.30-7.30pm Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confession
PENTECOST
8th June
8am Mass Julie Emerson, RIP (Anniv) (GM)
9.30am Mass The People of the Parish
11.30am Mass Marjorie Jay, RIP (JS)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Monday 9
Mary, Mother of the Church
9am Mass Caroline Geoghegan, RIP (Anniv) (PG)
Tuesday 10
Feria
9am Mass Bernard Ward, RIP (MW)
Wednesday 11
St Barnabus, Ap
9am Mass Private Intention
Thursday 12
Our Lord, Jesus Christ, The Eternal High Priest
9am Mass Mrs Brown, RIP (JA)
Friday 13
St Anthony of Padua, Pr, D
12Noon Mass Ian Spacie, RIP (VS)
Saturday 14
Saturday Memorial of the BVM
10am Mass Angela Sangster, RIP (K&LW)
10.30—11.30am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confession
5.30pm Mass Arthur Mills, RIP (DL)
6.30-7.30pm Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confession
The Most Holy Trinity
15th June
8am Mass John Wood, RIP (AK)
9.30am Mass Jim & Teena Rockell, RIP (Anniv) (K&LW)
11.30am Mass The People of the Parish
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Music at 11.30am Mass
Prelude: Choral varié sur le thème du Veni Creato—Maururice Duruflé (1902-1986)
Postlude: Komm Gotta Schöpfer, heiliger Geist BWV 631—J S Bach (1685-1750)