Mass Times * News * Fr Cyril Chiaha Writes
Weekly Mass: 19th – 27th June
Throughout the Pandemic all Masses will take place in the parish church of St Richard of Chichester, Buntingford.
The obligation to attend Mass remains suspended. Please see the Coronavirus page for more details.
Saturday 19th June: Vigil Mass of the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
- 6.00pm: Buntingford
Sunday 20th June: 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
- 9.15am: Buntingford
- 11.00am: Buntingford
Tuesday 22nd June: SS John Fisher, Bishop and Thomas Moore, Martyrs
- 9.30am: Buntingford
Thursday 24th June: The Nativity of St John the Baptist
- 9.30am: Buntingford
Friday 25th June: Feria
- 9.30am: Buntingford
- 10.00am: Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
Saturday 26th June: Vigil Mass of the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
- 6.00pm: Buntingford
Sunday 27th June: 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
- 9.15am: Buntingford
- 11.00am: Buntingford
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.
A warm Welcome to you if today is your first time to attend Mass since the easing of the lock-down. Our church is planned in a COVID-safe manner. Thank you in anticipation for adhering to the safe measures in place – maintaining safe distancing and hygiene.
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.
Attending Mass during the pandemic – while the church remains open for public Mass during this time, please keep in mind that anyone who have any symptoms of the coronavirus is expected to stay at home and follow the government guideline. Doing so is for the good of all and speedier resolution. Also those who attend has to remain in the seat until the end of Mass.
Newsletters are not re-usable. Once you use it, kindly ensure that you take it along with you as you leave the church.
Day for Life will be celebrated in England and Wales th isSunday, 20 June 2021. As we may know, the Church teaches that life is to be nurtured from conception to natural death. So, we will be having a second collection then to assist the work of Anscombe Bioethics Centre and other life-related activities supported by the Church in that regard.
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 |
Fr Cyril Chiaha Writes:
Today’s gospel reading recalls the experience of the disciples as they were crossing the Sea of Galilee on the boat with Jesus. Terrified by the strong wind and the waves, which were breaking into the boat, the disciples woke Jesus from His sleep, who was at peace and seems absent, expecting Him to do something about their situation – “Master, do you not care? We are going down!”
While we may not have crossed the Sea of Galilee in the same way the disciples did, it is possible that some of us might have experienced what they encountered in other ways, as their story help us to see a pattern that describes one’s journey or story, as he or she passes through the challenges or storms of life, as he or she seeks to find a remedy to salvage a changing condition.
Like the disciples, we often call on God to do something in moments of danger and difficulties, whether the danger is caused by loss and sorrow, suffering and pain, disappointment and regret, confusion and uncertainty.
However, by being at peace in the midst of the same boat and storm that the disciples were frightened of, Jesus reveals that the greater storm is not just the external waves around us but that within the human heart. By being still in the midst of the storm, He shows that His utter abandonment to the Father is pure and unshakable, that He is completely safe in God’s arms.
Each of us should keep an eye on the interior storms of life, as they are ones that beats against one’s faith and threatens to drown it. They are often invisible or concealed from sight and churns within the heart. They often appear in form of fear, vulnerability and powerlessness, leaving the individual with a sense of despondency, emptiness, anguish and abandonment.
Thus, Jesus speaks not just to the wind and the sea – the outside storm that the disciples were afraid of and were asking Him to remedy – but also addresses the storm within their hearts – “Why are you so frightened? He asked them. How is it that you have no faith?
Those who have faith are tranquil even in the midst of storm. It is faith that enables one to go through the storms of life, allowing him or her to see and know that God is there with us in the midst of joy and sorrow, to know that the human misery or predicaments of life is often met by divine company; to know that it is not evil and the irrational which have the last word on us. I hope that today’s gospel inspire in us a renewed faith in God, the Lord of the sea, whose love is for ever. Have a blessed week!