ST JOSEPH’S JOURNAL Volume 53 No: 33
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: 12 September 2021 TWENTY-FOURTH 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
I need to start this newsletter with an apology. I said last week that we had returned to our old timetable for weekday and weekend Masses and so indeed we have, but there are sometimes problems on Tuesdays and we have a problem for the next two weeks. On Tuesday of this coming week (14/9) we have a funeral at 11.30 and on the following week (21/9) there is a Deanery Meeting. Consequently the 12.15 Mass will have to be at 10.00am on those two days. I’m really sorry about this but I hope it won’t inconvenience too many people.
Let me repeat the details of our Mass timetable: there will be just one Mass on Saturdays at 6pm with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at 5pm and benediction at 5.45. For the moment we shall not use the confessional, but I will be in the church from 10-10.30 and from 5.00-5.40 and we can have confession in the sacristy. On Sundays, Masses will be at 8.30am, 10.30am and 6pm. Weekday Masses will be at 10am on Monday and Wednesday and 12.15 on Tuesday and Friday (with occasional exceptions). After much thought and prayer, I have decided to cancel the 7.30 Mass on Thursdays, unless it is a Holyday of Obligation. I hope that this will not inconvenience people too much, but it does help me to have a proper day off when I am able to get one. I hope that we can gradually restore Eucharistic Ministers, Altar Servers and Choir. We just have to be careful and not rush things too much. Please also look out for the red pouches for the collection. We need a number of people to volunteer to take the collection during the Offertory. And as more people return to Sunday practice I would hope to restore the Offertory Procession when the Gifts are brought to the altar for consecration.
Please sign up for the Lobster Pot Lunch on Friday 17 September. We need a minimum of 20 people to make this worthwhile for the caterers, so please sign the list in the cloister if you are interested in coming. The price is £15.00. Please leave a telephone number, so that we can contact you if there are not enough people to make the lunch viable.
We still need money counters to count the weekend collection and I would encourage people to think about whether they could be governors of St Joseph’s School. If you think you could manage either of these tasks, please give your name and contact details to me and I will try to sort things out. There are a number of things that need to be revived after lockdown, but inevitably it will take time to do them all. Most of all it is good to see people returning to Sunday Mass.
Remember to use masks in the church and sanitise your hands. And keep to the one-way system for communion.
As always: keep safe; keep smiling; keep going! It’s good to be back together again to celebrate the liturgy. Let us pray that our lives may return to a more normal pattern very soon.
God Bless – Fr Terry
POPE’S INTENTION SEPTEMBER
September An Environmentally Sustainable Lifestyle We pray that we all will make courageous choices for a simple and environmentally sustainable lifestyle, rejoicing in our young people who are resolutely committed to this.
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
FIRST COMMUNION 2021/22
If you would like your child/ren to prepare for First Communion, please write to Fr Terry or Mrs Walker stating their name, address, date of birth, place of baptism and the school they attend. All candidates must be in year 3 or
above. Classes will start on Tuesday 9th November from 4-5pm in the church hall.
THE LOBSTER POT LUNCH: Starting on Friday 17 Sept at 12.45pm in the church hall. Lunches cost £15 for a three course meal, glass of wine, coffee and chocolates. Menu in the cloister. If you would like to come along please sign the board on the table in the cloister
MOTHER & TODDLER GROUP will restart on Friday 17 September at 9.30-11.00am. All are welcome
ON SEPTEMBER 25 GERRY STEYAERT AND HIS YOUNGEST DAUGHTER AMY ARE TAKING PART IN THE THREE PEAKS CHALLENGE to raise funds for the mental Health charity Mind. The challenge is to attempt to climb the three highest mountains in Great Britain (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowden) in 24 hours. Mind was founded in 1946 and have done and continue to raise awareness and provide advice and support on mental health issues. Any sponsorship that you can provide for this very worthwhile cause will be greatly appreciated. Sponsorship can be sent to Mind through the following Virgin Money Giving pages:
https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/GerrySteyaert https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AmySteyaert
The funeral of Irene and Norah Hilditch will take place on Monday 13 September at 12 noon at Woollensbrook Crematorium. This will be preceded by Mass for the repose of their souls at 10am in the church. The crematorium ceremony will be live streamed;
Website https://www.obitus.com
Username: hilo3812
Password: 427662
ROSARY GROUP: Come and join us in the church garden on Tuesday evenings at 7pm for recital of the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
RECENTLY BAPTISED: Sebastian James HUNTER & Tilly Orlagh DOWD
MASS INTENTIONS
Saturday:
6.00pm: Tony Casey (RIP)
Sunday: 24th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR
8.30am: Michael Mackinnon (RIP)
10.30am: George Robert Emmett (RIP)
6.00pm: Fr Philip Miller (Ints)
Monday:
10.00am: Norah & Eileen Hilditch (RIP)
Tuesday:
10.00am: Private Intention
11.30am: Funeral Mass for Vincenzo Tuzzeo
Wednesday:
10.00am: Maura Dunford (RIP)
Friday:
12.15pm: Tony Flach (RIP Anni)
Saturday:
6.00pm: Laurie Carroll (RIP Anni)
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at 5pm and benediction at 5.45pm
RECENTLY DECEASED:
Vincenzo Tuzzeo, Irene Hilditch, Norah Hilditch,
Paul Rutland-Barsby, Jim Ferguson, Victoria Evans