Dear friends in Christ
The Kingship of Christ is a strange kingship, by the values of this world.
Dear friends in Christ
The penultimate Sunday of the liturgical year presents us with a picture of the Second Coming of Christ and the Final Judgment.
Dear friends in Christ
The Readings of the Mass this weekend teach us an important lesson in charity, Christian almsgiving and generosity.
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.
Dear friends in Christ
In his Message for Lent 2024, Pope Francis writes:
It is time to act, and in Lent, to act also means to pause. To pause in prayer, in order to receive the word of God, to pause like the Samaritan in the presence of a wounded brother or sister. Love of God and love of neighbour are one love. Not to have other gods is to pause in the presence of God beside the flesh of our neighbour. For this reason, prayer, almsgiving and fasting are not three unrelated acts, but a single movement of openness and self-emptying, in which we cast out the idols that weigh us down, the attachments that imprison us. Then the atrophied and isolated heart will revive. Slow down, then, and pause! The contemplative dimension of life that Lent helps us to rediscover will release new energies. In the presence of God, we become brothers and sisters, more sensitive to one another: in place of threats and enemies, we discover companions and fellow travellers. This is God’s dream, the promised land to which we journey once we have left our slavery behind.
On this First Sunday of Lent all those across our Diocese who will be Received into the Church at Easter, attend the Rite of Election in Brentwood Cathedral. There are nine from our own Parish who will be there: please pray for them and their Sponsors, as well as those who have been responsible for their formation in the Faith over the past year.
I encourage you to support by your attendance and participation, those Lenten events that we have arranged this year: the Wednesday Evenings of Reflection; the episodes of The Chosen being shown each Thursday and the Stations and Benediction on Fridays, all beginning at 7pm.
God bless us in our Lenten journey towards Easter!
Msgr Kevin Hale
Liturgy:
Readings of Year B
The Apostles’ Creed
Preface of First Sunday of Lent
Saturday 17
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
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
Monday 19
Monday of the First Week of Lent
9am Mass Jacqueline Houlihan, RIP (SH)
Tuesday 20
Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
9am Mass Sr. Clare Champion, RIP (SM)
4.30pm Body in Church Bernadette Lane, RIP
Wednesday 21
Wednesday of the First Week of Lent
9am Mass Alan Digweed, RIP (E&BH)
10am Requiem Mass Bernadette Lane, RIP
7pm Lenten Evening of Reflection
Thursday 22
The Chair of St Peter the Apostle
9am Mass Caroline Graham-Males, RIP (Anniv) (SM)
Friday 23
Friday the First Week of Lent
12noon Mass Gregory Power, RIP (Anniv) (MP)
7pm Way of the Cross and Benediction
Saturday 24
Saturday of the First Week of Lent
10am Mass Edward & Esther Martin, RIP (AM)
10.30-11.30am: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
5.30pm Vigil Mass Violet Gray, RIP & Lucille Tarrabal, RIP
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
Sunday 25 February
Second Sunday of Lent
8am Mass The People of the Parish
9.30am Mass Jim & Teena Rockell, RIP (K&LW)
11.30am Mass Lucrecia & Jose Conlu, RIP
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Fr Thomas O’Connor, Fr Archibald O’Brien, Deacon Sidney lewis, Deacon Dwight Hayter, Canon Aloysius Roche, Fr Gerard Murphy, Ernest Bullock, Anthony Hillier, Peggy Stevenson, Branch Deyanovitch,Hugh McHattie, Leo Forge, Elizabeth Callow, Vera Thompson, Christopher Purcell, Neil O’Keefe, Martin Coveney, Robert Bautista, Constance Anne, Christopher Neville, Jeanie Reeves, Theresa Daniels, Maria Calame, Amy Cutforth, Eileen Dutton, Grace Angwin,Anthony Warwick, Pamina Edgeley, David Johnson, Mary Latham, Mary Asher, Anna McCall, Adolph Figueredo, Mary Keefe, Frank Blaker, Jim Kenny, Mary Wildman, Joseph Hills, Vincent Sullivan, Dominick Fanning, Maire Callanan, Lloyd Rodney, William Shanahan, Ernest Tobias, Olive Cale, Rose Cook, Amelia Mullins & Roger Billena.
“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.”
This week the Sanctuary Lamp burns for Dr Uzo and her family, her person and her intentions.
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
Please pray for those from our Parish Family who are presented in the Cathedral this Sunday, as Candidates for the Easter Sacraments: Tommy Brunning, Paul Cox, Diogo de Azevedo, Katelyn Gallacher, James Green, Joanne Green, Angela Lucianna, Azaria Nichols, Charlotte Walker.
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.
Monday 19th February—Journey in Faith (RCIA) continues—8pm St Clement Room
Thursdays: February , 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
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.
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.
The second episode of this Gospel depiction will be screened in the Parish Centre on Thursday, 22nd February, at 7pm; each episode lasts one hour.
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)
RCIA will meet on Monday, 19th 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.
We meet next week 22nd February at 10am in the Parish Centre, all Ladies are welcome to join us for a sub of £1 plus a Raffle.
Our guest speaker is one of our own Parishioners, Jackie Sullens, who will be talking about some aspects of her Career in the Civil Service. Please join us in giving Jackie a warm welcome whilst also enjoying refreshments and meeting up with friends.
Every year the Mill Missionaries prepare for the Feast of St. Joseph with a Special Novena of Masses and prayers to ask for God' blessing for the intentions of all those who support their work. Please see the poster at the back of Church with more information. Thank you. Joan Caunce (Secretary).
We are open after all Masses at weekends so please feel free to come and browse our new stock. We are pleased to say we now have a large collection of Rosaries to suit all tastes/ages, plus a selection of Statues and Candles.
Just arrived are new Cards for Mass intentions, Sympathy, Get Well, Birthday etc. For the early bird we have some Easter and Mother’s Day cards, plus gifts and cards for Baptism. If you do not find what you are looking for please ask one of the Volunteers.
We congratulate the parents of Harrison Gerard Van de Beek who was Baptised recently at Our Lady of Lourdes. May God bless him and his family as he grows in His knowledge and love.
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.
