Newsletter 22nd November 2020

Mass Times * News * Fr Cyril Chiaha Writes

Church open for private prayer: Please note that the parish Church of St Richard of Chichester Buntingford will be opened at the following times giving an opportunity for private prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

Sunday: 9am to 11.30am 
Tuesday – Friday: 9.30 – 10.30am 

 

Weekly Mass: 22nd -29th November

Please note that Mass is celebrated in private, due to the lock-down

The obligation to attend Mass remains suspended. Please see the Coronavirus page for more details.

Sunday 22nd November: Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe 

Tuesday 24th November: St Andrew Dung-Lac, Priest and Companions, Martyrs

Wednesday 25th November: Feria

Thursday 26th November: Feria

Friday 27th November: Feria

Saturday 28th November: Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Sunday 29th November: 1st Sunday of Advent Year B

The readings for Mass can be found every day on the ‘Universalis’ website.

Some churches in our diocese stream Mass online, you may be able to watch one of these during this time.

Sacrament of Confession

  • In these exceptional times confession is by appointment and will be held at Buntingford.

Parish Office Hours

  • Please consider using the email or telephone for office matters. While we must all support each other in these times, we must also try and do our part in lessening the spread of the this disease.

 

NOVEMBER – Month of the Holy Soul: Throughout the month of November Holy Mass will be offered for the names on the lists of the dead available at the back of the church. If you wish to remember and pray for your family and friends that have died, please fill in that form, place it in the envelop provided and return the envelope to the presbytery through the letterbox. The names will be placed at the foot of the Altar throughout the month of November.

Aid to the Church in Need : ‘Red Wednesday’ on November 25th. This year Aid to the Church in Need asks us to join in ‘setting captives free’ by pressurising governments to condemn religious persecution of all kinds. We can mark Red Wednesday at home participating in the #RedWednesday Novena, for the persecuted Church and for religious freedom throughout the world. The #RedWednesday Novena begins on Tuesday 17th November and you can find it at https://acnuk.org/resource/ redwednesday-novena-for-parishes/ Also, one can decorate the house red in solidarity for our suffering brothers and sisters

 

Offertory Collection

  • Many Thanks to all those who have maintained regular parish offering through Standing Order, loose plate or cheque and to those who wrote a cheque covering the time we were in lockdown.
  • Setting Up A New Standing Order: If you are setting up a Standing Order or donating online for the first time, please note that a new Confirmation of Payee service has been rolled out for additional security reasons. 
  • Although no changes have been made to the name of our parish bank account, you would be required to use the full name of the parish account  set below when setting up a new payment instruction. In other words, the full meaning of the  abbreviation WRCDT has to be used.

 

Account name: Westminster Roman Catholic Diocese Trustee Old Hall Green and Puckeridge Parish

Account name: Westminster Roman Catholic Diocese Trustee Buntingford Parish

Account Number: 91270044

Account Number: 51308610

Sort Code 40-05-20 Sort Code 40-05-20

We are still living through the pandemic; so the obligation to attend Mass remains suspended.
Please do not consider coming to church if you are self-isolating or shielding or have any of the symptoms of the coronavirus

Fr Cyril Chiaha Writes:

As we commemorate the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe, today’s readings articulate for us the nature of our God. Both the first reading and the Gospel provide us with the understanding that God cares for His people like a shepherd, rewarding each according to his behaviour. In the Second Reading, St Paul reminds us that He is the One in whom we are made alive; the One who “must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet”, the last of which is death (1 Corinthians 15:25-26).

Unlike earthly rulers, God is in solidarity with us. The metaphors applied in today’s gospel (Matthew 25: 31-46) highlight this point, as they reveal that it is Christ that is being served when: the hungry are fed, the thirsty given a drink, the stranger offered hospitality, the naked clothed with dignity, the sick attended to, and the prisoner visited. “Whatever you do to any of these brethren you did it to me”. Whatever you do to any of those that are overwhelmed by life and underwhelmed by support, you did it to me.

Rather than thinking that life is all about determining an eternal location, assigning reward or punishment or keeping scores of how many of those one has helped or not, may those metaphors encourage us to thread on the path of Christ Our King. May they enable us to examine the choices we make in this life, in the understanding that any of the choices we make matter as well as play a role in the future that awaits us. May they reassure us that we have a Shepherd, who will never allow our efforts and sacrifices to go in vain.

As I wish you a blessed week, may the lyrics of Isaac Watts arranged by Mack Wilberg help us to articulate once more the goodness of God: