ST JOSEPH’S JOURNAL Volume 53 No: 29
CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION & SAINT JOSEPH
23 ST JOHN’S STREET, HERTFORD SG14 1RX
Email: hertford@rcdow.org.uk
Parish Priest: Canon Terence Phipps Tel: 01992 582109
DATE: 1 August 2021 EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
The page numbers for the prayers for this Sunday’s Mass are at the front of The Parish Mass Book. Please note that there is a Loop system in the Church.
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THE VIEW FROM THE PRESBYTERY
First of all, I want to thank you for your contributions to the collection for the work of the Apostleship of the Sea (Stella Maris) a couple of weeks ago. The total collected was £405.23 and we shall send this off as soon as we can. I am grateful for your generous response.
We have now entered the holiday period and a number of people will be away, even though foreign travel is more difficult than it normally is. I hope that the break will do us all good. As I have mentioned a couple of times, I shall be away from 16 August till 2 September and while I am away Fr Michael Doyle will be in residence in the presbytery. I am sure you will welcome him kindly, since it is not always easy to get priests to supply during the holiday period. We shall keep our current timetable until the first weekend in September and we shall also keep in place a number of the Covid precautions that we have been using for some months.
Please sanitise your hands at the door of the church and wear masks (unless exempt) while in the building. Please sign in the Track and Trace book at the door when you come for Mass. Holy Communion will remain under one kind and we shall keep the one way system for the time being. Receiving Holy Communion on the tongue is now permitted. Music and singing will resume gradually from September. For the time being, we shall avoid the handshake at the Sign of Peace, but we shall begin the Offertory collections with the red pouches. You will see that the Mass Books and cards have been put out on the benches, so we can now resume the Profession of Faith after the homily and people can join in the Gospel Acclamation. We shall not need to clean the church after every Mass, but it will be cleaned thoroughly once a week and people can always wipe any surfaces that need a clean.
The church and the hall will both be open during the day, generally from 8am until 6pm during the week, and from 8am until after the evening Mass at the weekends. Quite a number of people seem to have discovered our garden as a place to come and sit quietly and it is wonderful to see how many people are delighted by it and the church. A group of people from the Friends of Hertford Museum came to the church for a guided tour recently and they too were fascinated by the history of our parish and by the beauty and dignity of our church. We have a real jewel here and we must always be careful to keep it in good condition. It will be great to welcome people back to a more regular practice of the faith in this beautiful building.
On Friday of this coming week we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. We can pray for a true glimpse of glory in the life of the parish, and we also remember with sorrow the anniversary of the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima. A terrible moment.
As always: keep safe; keep smiling; keep going! Happy holidays!
God Bless – Fr Terry
POPE’S INTENTION AUGUST
The Church
Let us pray for the Church, that she may receive from the Holy Spirit the grace and strength to reform herself in the light of the Gospel.
IF YOU GO IN TO HOSPITAL: Catholics in hospital are unlikely to receive an automatic visit from the Catholic Chaplain. If someone is sick in hospital, please let us know here at the Presbytery, and/or ask the staff on the ward, so that your loved one can be visited whilst in hospital, and receive Holy Communion and any other Sacraments from the Chaplain.
ONLINE DONATIONS TO OUR CHURCH:
Westminster Roman Catholic Diocese Trustee Hertford as the account name.
Account number: 21263242
Sort code: 40-05-20
If you would like to use STANDING ORDER to donate your weekly/monthly offering, the forms are available on the website to download.
IF YOU WRITE A CHEQUE TO THE PARISH please can you make payable to WRCDT Hertford. Thank you.
BABY CLOTHES: We are in urgent need of baby clothes from birth to 3 years, boys and girls. Please bring them to Sue Walker at the church hall Monday – Friday 8am – 12 noon. Thank you.
YOUR CHURCH IS IN NEED OF MORE PEOPLE TO HELP KEEP IT CLEAN. If you are able to help, please contact Sheila Queally on 01992 586436
FOOD BANK
We are in desperate need of food for the foodbank. Items can be dropped off at the church hall with Mrs. Sue Walker any weekday morning.
RECENTLY BAPTISED: Theo Joseph Luck, Emilia Claudette Cascarino, Sienna Orla Vidler, Lola Maria Rose, Orla Amelia Clarke
MASS INTENTIONS
6.00pm: Thanksgiving for Favours Received
Sunday: EIGHTEETH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR
10.30am: Thanksgiving
6.00pm:
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
10.00am: Hilary Williams (RIP Anni)
Thursday:
CHURCH CLOSED
Friday:
10.00am: Ian Pearson (RIP)
Saturday:
10.00am: Win Parcell (RIP)
6.00pm: People of the Parish
RECENTLY DECEASED:
Norah Hilditch, Paul Rutland-Barsby