Bulletin Archive 2024 – 2025

TODAY, parishes worldwide celebrate World Mission Sunday. By supporting Missio – the Pope’s charity for world mission – we stand united as God’s global family, in prayer, solidarity and action. We are called to be ‘Missionaries Of Hope Among All Peoples’ as everyone deserves to hear that God loves them and to be strengthened by God’s Spirit. Please pray for missionaries and give what you can to this vital collection, bringing God’s compassion, peace and justice to those in need. To donate, use the Missio envelope, call 020 7821 9755 (office hours) or visit www.missio.org.uk to give a gift, set up a Direct Debit and Gift Aid your donation if possible.

A POSTCARD FROM CHARLIE OUR SEMINARIAN: It’s been a month since our Parish Administrator Mandy dropped me off at the doors of Allen Hall – the diocesan seminary in Chelsea – filled with excitement and yes, a lot of trepidation about what this massive change in my life was about to bring. Community life is a challenge at any age but particularly so for someone who – as I now describe myself – is a “silver seminarian” used to life at his own pace. Combine that with a busy schedule of philosophy lectures which make my head spin daily; and it’s certainly been a rollercoaster over the past 4 weeks. And that’s before I even get onto conjugating my Greek verbs… Yet in the midst of all the studies of Plato, Boethius and Descartes, there are – as you would hope to hear! – wonderful moments of grace and spiritual consolation. I doubt I will ever be a morning person who welcomes the 6am starts but ironically my favourite time of the day is the half hour of meditation at 7am before Morning Prayer and Mass. When everything is still and the trials of the day are not yet realised. It’s just each man sitting in silence before Our Lord. It’s at that time that you are all most in my prayers, when I bring to mind so many of you in the parish who have been such great sources of support and help to me. I thank you again for that and for all that you have done. Rest assured, each day you will continue to be very much in those – early! – morning prayers.

FIRE EVACUATION NOTIFICATION: Next weekend there will be a brief instruction regarding the Fire Evacuation Plan after all Masses. Please speak to Stephen Ogilby for further information or to volunteer.

NOVEMBER DEAD LIST: Envelopes are available at the back of the church for the Month of Holy Souls. Please hand in to the sacristy or with the collection at Mass. Thank you.

CHURCH CLEANING & VOLUNTEERING: We still need volunteers! For the children’s choir, altar serving, cleaning & the Repository. Please see Stephen after mass or let the Parish Office know.

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION INSTRUCTION: If you wish your child to be prepared for First Holy Communion, you will need to collect a form from Mgr. John after any Mass. You need to hand in the form and a copy of your child’s Baptismal Certificate by Sunday 9^th Nov. Any issues please contactlincolnsinnfields@rcdow.org.uk<

MORE INFORMATION ON WHEN THE FIRST HOLY COMMUNION PREPARATION BEGINS WILL FOLLOW. The preparation consists of 2 parts: 1.  10am Mass 2.  11-11:30am Instruction

FIRST THURSDAYS ORGAN RECITAL SERIES: The next recital will take place here on Thurs 6^th November at 1:10pm to be given by Anthony Davie.

BOOKLETS AVAILABLE TO BUY: from either the Repository or the Sacristy. Magnificat Oct & Nov 2025 (only £6.50, with a price increase in Nov £6.75).

ST MICHAEL’S CATHOLIC GRAMMAR SCHOOL, NORTH FINCHLEY: ‘Into the Sixth’ Open Evening – Thurs 6 Nov 6-8pm. The Sixth Form at St Michael’s is a place where the pursuit of academic excellence & academic curiosity are at the heart of all we do.  The school was recently named the second-best state school in the country, and the best in London, in the 2025 Daily Telegraph Best Schools Guide. More info visit: https://stmichaels.applicaa.com/events/

ARCHITECTS MASS: Friday 7th November at 6.30pm at the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street, London W1B 5LZ, followed by a light reception. Nearest tube is Piccadilly Circus. You are warmly invited to the Mass and reception afterwards. Catholics and anyone interested in experiencing a Mass for architects are very welcome to attend. _______________________

SUNDAY 12^th OCTOBER 2025  28^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

HOLY WATER: Holy water is a sacramental ‘which are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them people are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy’ Catechism 1667.

We most frequently use Holy Water when entering a church, the use of Holy Water derives from the Jewish practice of purifying oneself before entering the Temple (Leviticus 12-15) and our use is meant to remind us that we were purified in baptism and to seek forgiveness of our post-baptismal sins.

It is also used for our spiritual protection, to bless ourselves, our families, and our home. It serves as a reminder of our baptism and the Church encourages it use as a way to integrate faith into our daily life and seek divine protection.

It can be used at home at the start of the day with the making of the Sign of Cross as an intention to sanctify the day ahead and all aspects of your life, glorifying God through the actions of your daily life.

It can be used in a similar way to bless your children before bed or when they are sick, or your spouse, again with the Sign of the Cross.

The efficacy of Holy Water comes from it being blessed and our faith and the intent to honour God. If you wish to keep Holy Water at home it is freely available at weekends from the Holy Water dispenser on St Anthony’s altar or from the sacristy on weekdays.  Mgr. John Conneely, Parish Priest

BLESSING OF PETS: The blessing of pets went very well last week, & we had a wonderful assortment of furry friends, (no feathered or scaly ones) cats, dogs and guinea pigs & all behaved impeccably. It was such a joyous occasion we will repeat it next year.  I would like to thank all those involved with the ceremony & preparation. If you wish to relive the occasion, it was recorded & is on our online streaming site. Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds.” And so it happened: God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle, and all kinds of creeping things of the earth. And God saw it was good.

OCTOBER: Month of the HOLY ROSARY: I am asking all of you to renew and deepen your love of the ROSARY this October. When we pray the Rosary we are pondering and walking through the wonderful things that God has done for us, together with Mary our Mother. Do please always have a Rosary with you, in your pocket. At different times of the day hold it with faith and love, so uniting ourselves to Jesus and Mary. These quotes from recent Popes will encourage us: “The Rosary is a prayer that always accompanies me; it is also the prayer of the ordinary people and the saints… it is a prayer from my heart.” Pope Francis “The Rosary is the most beautiful and the most rich in graces of all prayers; it is the prayer that touches most the Heart of the Mother of God…and if you wish peace to reign in your homes, recite the family Rosary.” Pope Saint Pius X “How beautiful is the family that recites the Rosary every evening!” St. John Paul II “The Rosary is a prayer both so humble and simple and a theologically rich in Biblical content. I beg you to pray it.” St. John Paul II “The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life. It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of praying.” Pope Leo XIII Mary, Queen of the most holy Rosary, Pray for us.

CAFOD FAMILY FAST DAY APPEAL: Our parish raised a fantastic £ 280.78 for CAFOD’s appeal. Thank you for your generosity.

FIRST THURSDAYS ORGAN RECITAL SERIES: The next recital will take place here on Thurs 6^th November at 1:10pm to be given by Anthony Davie.

NEXT SUNDAY IS WORLD MISSION SUNDAY: The Holy Father invites all Catholics to support Missio – his charity for world mission – through a special collection. This day of prayer, solidarity & giving unites Catholics worldwide to share the Good News of God’s love which has the power to transform lives and heal our world. To donate, use the Missio envelopes, call 020 7821 9755 (office hours) or visit missio.org.uk to give a gift, set up a Direct Debit & Gift Aid your donation if possible. There will be a retiring collection after every Mass.

CATHOLIC HISTORY WALKS: TUESDAY Oct 14^th, meet 2pm Church of St Anselm and St Cecilia, Kingsway, London WC2A 3JA. Come and join us! Friday Oct 17^th:

A TRIP TO ARUNDEL!! Meet on the 10.35am train from London Victoria. More info:https://www.catholichistorywalks.com/

WESTMINSTER DIOCESE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT: entering the second year of its 3-year Catholic Leadership Programme. Aimed at increasing the number of Catholic teachers & future leaders in our schools. A key part of this initiative is promoting teaching as a vocation among young Catholics. Offering paid internships for Catholic university students to spend three weeks working in one of our schools, gaining first-hand experience of life as a teacher. There is a particular focus on Religious Education, but also welcomes students interested in other secondary subjects & the Primary sector. They offer bursaries to support those who choose to pursue QTS in RE. Applications close on 30^th Nov 2025. More info visit: https://education.rcdow.org.uk/working-in-catholic-education/leadership/

SUNDAY 5^th OCTOBER 2025 27^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  

OCTOBER: Month of the HOLY ROSARY

THIS OCTOBER I am asking all of you to renew and deepen your love of the ROSARY this October. When we pray the Rosary we are pondering and walking through the wonderful things that God has done for us, together with Mary our Mother. Do please always have a Rosary with you, in your pocket. At different times of the day hold it with faith and love, so uniting ourselves to Jesus and Mary. These quotes from recent Popes will encourage us:

“The Rosary is a prayer that always accompanies me; it is also the prayer of the ordinary people and the saints… it is a prayer from my heart.” Pope Francis

“The Rosary is the most beautiful and the most rich in graces of all prayers; it is the prayer that touches most the Heart of the Mother of God…and if you wish peace to reign in your homes, recite the family Rosary.” Pope Saint Pius X

“How beautiful is the family that recites the Rosary every evening!” St. John Paul II

“The Rosary is a prayer both so humble and simple and a theologically rich in Biblical content. I beg you to pray it.” St. John Paul II

“The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life. It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of praying.” Pope Leo XIII

Mary, Queen of the most holy Rosary, Pray for us.   

BLESSING OF PETS: A righteous person has regard for the life of his animal, Proverbs 12:10. TODAY Sunday October 5^th at 11:30am. All creation is a gift from God, but animals are a special gift to us and to many people their pet is more than that, but a companion. That we should care for them is seen in the quote from the Book of Proverbs above and it is good to recall the Ten Commandments contain legislation for the care of animals. To recognise this special role animals, have, and also a place in our hearts you are invited to bring your animal friend to church to be Blessed. As you can appreciate all animals would need be kept under control at all times and should on a lead or in a pet carrier.

CAFOD FAMILY FAST DAY APPEAL – HARVEST COLLECTION, TODAY: There will be a retiring collecting for CAFOD Family Fast day AFTER EVERY MASS. Please donate to our Family Fast Day parish collection to share God’s abundant gifts with our global neighbours as they find lasting solutions to poverty and climate challenges. Your generosity offers “signs of hope” in this Jubilee Year, helping build more water tanks in communities like Waré’s in Ethiopia where women have to walk for hours to get water. Use the CAFOD envelope in church, donate online at www.cafod.org.uk/envelope  or call 0303 303 3030. You can also text CAFOD to 70560 to donate £10.

ST. ANSELM AND ST. CAECILIA CHILDREN’S CHOIR NEEDS YOUR VOICE!!: Do you love singing? Do you love music, and would you like to be an even better singer? The Schola Caeciliana, the youth Choir of St. Anselm and St. Caecilia is always looking for new members of age 7 upwards to sing at 10am Mass on Sundays. Choir practice takes place in the Parish Room at the church after 10am Mass. All are welcome and it’s not necessary to be able to read music. Free one-to-one singing lessons are provided. Your parents can sign you up by emailing the Parish Office at lincolnsinnfields@rcdow.org.uk

CATHOLIC HISTORY WALKS: TUESDAY October 14th, meet 2pm Church of St Anselm and St Cecilia, Kingsway, London WC2A  3JA. We will discover the story of the heroic Lincolns Inn Fields martyrs, plus the saintly Bishop Richard Challoner, a pub where Catholics met secretly in penal times – and the childhood home of St John Henry Newman. Come and join us!

Friday October 17th: A TRIP TO ARUNDEL!! Meet on the 10.35am train from London VICTORIA. Buy your ticket(s) beforehand. We suggest a cheap day return ticket – which you can buy in advance at v. modest price  –  coming home on the 17.14. Bring sandwiches and/or we will make a visit to a pub. We will visit Arundel Cathedral and learn the story of the  Fitzalan-Howard family – complete with the traditional involvement of the Duke of Norfolk in the Coronation. Optional visit to the Castle (cost approx £28.00p). Opportunity to explore this very delightful Sussex town and learn its history. Visit: https://www.catholichistorywalks.com/ for more information.

SUNDAY 28^th SEPTEMBER 2025  26^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME RESTORATION OF THE HIERARCHY OF BISHOPS IN ENGLAND AND WALES 1850, AND OUR PARISH

As you will hear from Cardinal Nichol’s pastoral letter Monday 29th September is 175^th anniversary of the founding of the diocese of Westminster with the restoration of the Catholic Hierarchy in England in September 1850. This news sadly was not received well by the general public, and there were to be many anti-Catholic riots throughout England as a result (the Storms mentioned in the letter below). Our church was no stranger to anti Catholic sentiment, and had been attacked and set on fire during the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots some years before. So, it is easy to imagine the anxiety and fear that our fellow parishioners must have felt at the time, and how simply going to church was fraught with dangers for them. Yet their faith and spirit was strong, and at that time in 1850 our parishioners wrote a letter of encouragement to our first Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Wiseman, (who for a while had lived in our presbytery) which reads as follows:

May it please Your Eminence, We the undersigned members of the congregation of the Catholic Church in Lincolns Inn Fields approach your Eminence with sentiments of profound respect and sincere attachment. Our warmest thanks are due, and are offered through Your Eminence to our Holy Father Pope Pius IX, for the restoration of our Hierarchy and for the selection of our Eminence to carry that great work into effect. And these feelings are enhanced by the elevation of our first Metropolitan to the dignity of a Cardinal of the Holy Church. Our deepest sympathies have been aroused by the hostility which this great measure has excited on the part of many of our countrymen, but our confidence in the result cannot be shaken, for we recognise the hand of the Most High, in raising up in our defence the powerful advocacy of Your Eminence. And sincerely do we hope and believe that these efforts under the guidance of the Holy Spirit will speedily lead our fellow countrymen to a due recognition of our rights, according to the principles of religious liberty, and an appreciation of the fiercely spiritual nature of our Hierarchy. The present labours of Your Eminence necessarily recall to the minds of many of us the time when your powerful voice was first heard in this country, in defence of the sacred truths of Religion during your temporary residence at Our Church. In those lectures which have laid the foundation of a reputation, co extensive with Christianity, and which infused our minds with the special sense of deep felt and lasting gratitude. Happy shall we be if this expression of our feelings, shall afford to Your Eminence some consolation and support during the raging of the Storm which we trust is rapidly passing away to be followed by a long and glorious calm.

If you would like to see the original letter, and the names and addresses of our parishioners who signed it back then, the letter is on display at the front of the sanctuary. Please feel free to take photos. Let us be inspired by the faith of the parishioners who preceded us as Cardinal Nichols says in his letter let us have ‘greater faithfulness and joy in the Lord’ and as they did 175 years ago pray and look forward to a ‘long and glorious calm’.

Westminster Diocese history by Fr Nicholas Scholfield, Diocesan Archivist

PROCESSION OF OUR LADY OF WALSINGHAM: A very big thank you to all helped and participated in the Procession. There was a wonderful witness by the presence of so many of you, and your responses to prayers and singing echoed across Lincolns Inn Fields. It was a wonderful tribute to Fr David who inaugurated the first procession.

CAFOD FAMILY FAST DAY APPEAL – HARVEST COLLECTION, NEXT WEEKEND: There will be a retiring collecting for CAFOD Family Fast day. Please donate to our Family Fast Day collection.

Envelopes will be in the church or give online at https://cafod.org.uk/give/appeals/family-fast-day-appeal

FIRST THURSDAYS ORGAN RECITAL SERIES: The next recital will take place here on Thursday 2^nd October at 1:10pm to be given by Anthony Davie.

BLESSING OF PETS: A righteous person has regard for the life of his animal, Proverbs 12:10. Sunday October 5^th at 11:30am. All creation is a gift from God, but animals are a special gift to us and to many people their pet is more than that, but a companion. That we should care for them is seen in the quote from the Book of Proverbs above and it is good to recall the Ten Commandments contain legislation for the care of animals. To recognise this special role animals, have, and also a place in our hearts you are invited to bring your animal friend to church to be Blessed. As you can appreciate all animals would need be kept under control at all times and should on a lead or in a pet carrier.

SAVE THE DATE: ALTAR SERVERS’ MASS: All Altar Servers & families are invited to the Diocesan Mass for Altar Servers at Westminster Cathedral, 2:30pm, Saturday 4th Oct, celebrated by Bishop James Curry. Servers to arrive by 1:45pm & vest in Cathedral Hall accessed via Ambrosden Ave.

SUNDAY 21^st SEPTEMBER 2025  EVANGELII GAUDIUM SUNDAY

25^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME This weekend is our THIRD PROCESSION of OUR LADY OF WALSINGHAM around Lincoln’s Inn Fields as inaugurated by Fr David Our Procession proclaims: 1. GOD was made flesh and dwelt among us: Jesus is both Son of God and Son of Mary, and He is “Emmanuel” (God with us).

Mary said “YES” (Fiat) to God’s invitation to be become the Mother of the Lord. God had faith in Her, honoured Her and trusted Her, and therefore so do we. 1. Mary believed that the promises made to Her by the Lord would be fulfilled. We ask for that same faith. 2. Mary was the first and greatest disciple of Jesus. We pray that we may imitate Her fidelity, and witness to Her as the greatest model of faithfulness. 3. On the Cross Our Lord Jesus gave Her to us as our Mother: in this Procession we proudly proclaim and honour Her as our Mother who teaches us to do whatever Our Lord Jesus tells us. 4. In the procession we should reflect, carefully, and prayerfully, on what we are doing. We should desist from personal conversations, and rather pray for those in the park and those who pass by.

The Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham, in North Norfolk, was established in 1061 when Richeldis de Faverches prayed that she might undertake some special work in honour of Our Lady. In answer to her prayer, the Virgin Mary led her in spirit to Nazareth, showed her the house where the Annunciation occurred, and asked her to build a replica in Walsingham to serve as a perpetual memorial of the Annunciation.

This Holy House was built and a religious community took charge of the foundation. Although we have very little historical material from this period, we know that with papal approval the Augustinian Canons built a Priory (c 1150). Walsingham became one of the greatest Shrines in Medieval Christendom.

In 1538, the Reformation caused the Priory property to be handed over to the King’s Commissioners and it is said the famous statue of Our Lady of Walsingham was taken to London and burnt. Nothing remains today of the original shrine, but its site is marked on the lawn in “The Abbey Grounds” in the village.

In 1896 Charlotte Pearson Boyd purchased the 14th century Slipper Chapel, the last, and restored it for Catholic use. In 1897 by rescript of Pope Leo XIII, the sanctuary of Our Lady of Walsingham was restored as the  Lady Chapel of the Catholic Church of the Annunciation, King’s Lynn. Visits to the Slipper Chapel became more frequent, and as the years passed devotion and the number of pilgrimages increased. On 21August 1934 Cardinal Bourne led a national pilgrimage of more than 10,000 people to the Shrine. At this pilgrimage, the Slipper Chapel was declared to be the National Shrine of Our Lady for Roman Catholics in England.

Our annual procession of the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham harks back to when England was a Catholic country and the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham was one of the great pilgrimage sites in Europe until it was destroyed at the time of the Reformation. Today our procession shows that the Catholic faith is alive and well and our devotion to Our Lady who points us towards her son and say ‘Do whatever he tells you.’  When we process around Lincoln’s Inn Fields we also recall St Robert Morton and St Hugh More who were put to death there for the Catholic Faith in 1588, and the procession is a fitting tribute to their faith. We also recall Fr David who instituted the procession and to whom it meant a great deal, and was always an important part of the year. As I look back at my diary for last year it was at around this time that Fr David was becoming aware of how ill he was, although the full extent of the seriousness of it was not yet known. Nonetheless he was determined to celebrate Mass and lead the procession, it would be almost his last public Mass as soon he did not have the strength to stand unaided at the altar. As we process around the Fields we not only profess our Faith but also pay tribute to the many years of service Fr David gave to the parish, and it is a way of saying thank you to him by as many of us as possible processing around the Fields following in the footsteps of Fr David and all those who have helped pave the way for us in this parish. Mgr. John Conneely. PP

EVANGELII GAUDIUM SUNDAY – (TODAY) calls us to be joyous in proclaiming our faith. ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ is Latin for “Joy of the Gospel”. It is a Sunday more commonly known as Home Mission Sunday, a day for us as the Catholic community in England and Wales to celebrate the beauty of our faith, and our shared commitment to witness to the fullness of life in Christ. Celebrating 1,700 years since the Council of Nicaea, the theme for this year is ‘I believe…’ as the heart of mission. More details about this can be found on the Bishops’ Conference website – https://www.cbcew.org.uk/evangelii-gaudium-sunday.

SECONDARY SCHOOL FORMS:(Certificate of Catholic Practice forms) to be signed please make an appointment to see Fr John. Email the Parish Office with dates and times you are available. lincolnsinnfields@rcdow.org.uk

BLESSING OF PETS: A righteous person has regard for the life of his animal, Proverbs 12:10. Sunday October 5^th at 11:30am. All creation is a gift from God, but animals are a special gift to us and to many people their pet is more than that, but a companion. That we should care for them is seen in the quote from the Book of Proverbs above and it is good to recall the Ten Commandments contain legislation for the care of animals. To recognise this special role animals, have, and also a place in our hearts you are invited to bring your animal friend to church to be Blessed. As you can appreciate all animals would need be kept under control at all times and should on a lead or in a pet carrier.

FIRST THURSDAYS ORGAN RECITAL SERIES: The next recital will take place here on Thursday 2^nd October at 1:10pm to be given by Anthony Davie.

FINCHLEY CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL: Tuesday 30^th Sept 2025, 5pm – 7.30pm Headteacher Talks: 5.15pm & 7pm. Attendance at the Headteacher’s talks will be ticketed & on a first-come, first-served basis.

ALL SAINTS CATHOLIC COLLEGE, OPEN EVENING: 75 St Charles Square, London, W10 6EL. Open Morning & Afternoon available. To book, visit: https://www.stcharles.ac.uk/90/open-events-1

SAVE THE DATE: ALTAR SERVERS’ MASS: All Altar Servers and families are invited to the Diocesan Mass for Altar Servers at Westminster Cathedral, 2:30 on Saturday 4th Oct, celebrated by Bishop James Curry. Servers to arrive by 1:45pm & vest in Cathedral Hall accessed via Ambrosden Avenue.

SUNDAY 14^th SEPTEMBER 2025  EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS. EDUCATION SUNDAY.

PROCESSION OF THE STATUE OF OUR LADY OF WALSINGHAM Next Sunday after 10 Mass we will have our annual procession of the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham. It harks back to when England was a Catholic country and the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham was one of the great pilgrimage sites in Europe until it was destroyed at the time of the Reformation. Today our procession shows that the Catholic faith is alive and well and our devotion to Our Lady who points us towards her son and say ‘Do whatever he tells you.’  When we process around Lincoln’s Inn Fields we also recall St Robert Morton and St Hugh More who were put to death there for the Catholic Faith in 1588, and the procession is a fitting tribute to their faith. We also recall Fr David who instituted the procession and to whom it meant a great deal, and was always an important part of the year. As I look back at my diary for last year it was at around this time that Fr David was becoming aware of how ill he was, although the full extent of the seriousness of it was not yet known. Nonetheless he was determined to celebrate mass and lead the procession, it would be almost his last public mass as soon he did not have the strength to stand unaided at the altar. As we process around the Fields we not only profess our Faith but also pay tribute to the many years of service Fr David gave to the parish, and it is a way of saying thank you to him by as many of us as possible processing around the Fields following in the footsteps of Fr David and all those who have helped pave the way for us in this parish. Mgr. John Conneely. PP

LITTLE SISTER’S OF THE POOR APPEAL: (TODAY) at all Masses, the Sister’s will be giving a short talk and there will be a retiring collection, please give generously.

MESSAGE TO CATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOR EDUCATION SUNDAY The Rt Rev Marcus Stock, Bishop of Leeds, Chairman of the Catholic Education Service, writes “The Holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is a symbol of hope for all, and His teaching in the Gospels a guiding light for lifelong learning and spiritual growth for those who work in Catholic education and formation. On Education Sunday, we give thanks to Almighty God for the vocation of all who work with the children and young people in the Catholic education sector: governors, school leaders, chaplains, teaching and support staff.  In the academic year ahead, let us endeavour to give witness to our Saviour’s message of hope in the Gospels, and to pray that our Catholic schools, colleges and universities will be beacons of hope in our local communities and in our two nations. “The son of man must be lifted up.” Is the theme for Education Sunday 2025 (today). Education Sunday falls on the second Sunday of September just as the new academic year starts and is one of the oldest Days of Special Prayer in England and Wales, established 175 years ago in 1848. It provides an opportunity to celebrate and give thanks to all involved in making Catholic schools places of enlightenment, as well as to look forward in anticipation of the year ahead. This year’s theme for Education Sunday is drawn from its Gospel reading of John 3:13-17: “The Son of Man must be lifted up”. It takes place this year on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Ten years ago, the then-Holy Father, Pope Francis, said during his Mass for this feast that a Christian ‘must lower himself, as Jesus lowered himself: this is the path of humility.’ Catholic education in Church schools and universities endeavours to acknowledge Jesus’ loving presence in the lives of young people as they work, learn, pray, grow in character and virtue, and discover their vocation. Education Sunday is the reminder to all members of our Catholic community of the importance of education to the Catholic mission.

THE NEXT PARISH ASSEMBLY: Tuesday 16th Sept at 6:45pm in the Parish Room All Welcome.

SECONDARY SCHOOL FORMS:(Certificate of Catholic Practice forms) to be signed please make an appointment to see Fr John. Email the Parish Office with dates and times you are available. lincolnsinnfields@rcdow.org.uk

FIRST THURSDAYS ORGAN RECITAL SERIES: The next recital will take place here on Thursday 2^nd October at 1:10pm to be given by Anthony Davie.

CARDINAL VAUGHAN YR7 OPEN EVENING: Wednesday 17 Sept, the Headmaster will address parents & pupils at 4.30pm & 6.00pm. The online application form for Year 7 www.cvms.co.uk/admissions

MARIA FIDELIS OPEN EVENING: Wednesday 24th Sept 2025 from 4-6pm.  The headmaster talk at 4pm & 5pm, the last tour will be at 5.45pm. No need to book www.mariafidelis.camden.sch.uk

FINCHLEY CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL: Tuesday 30th Sept 2025, 5pm – 7.30pm. Headteacher Talks: 5.15pm & 7pm. Attendance at the Headteacher’s talks will be ticketed & on a first-come, first-served basis.

ST CHARLES CATHOLIC COLLEGE, OPEN EVENING: 75 St Charles Square, London, W10 6EL. Open Morning and Afternoon dates & times available. To book, visit: https://www.stcharles.ac.uk/90/open-events-1

SAVE THE DATE: ALTAR SERVERS’ MASS: All Altar Servers and families are invited to the Diocesan Mass for Altar Servers at Westminster Cathedral, 2:30 on Saturday 4th Oct, celebrated by Bishop James Curry. Servers to arrive by 1:45pm & vest in Cathedral Hall accessed via Ambrosden Avenue.

SUNDAY 7^th SEPTEMBER 2025  23^rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

MESSAGE FROM CHARLIE BROWN – SEMINARIAN There’s the old Jewish saying that if you want to make God laugh, you should tell him your plans. Certainly, 18 months ago I felt sure I knew where my life was heading. To which – perhaps with a divine chuckle – God revealed that He had other ideas. And so, here I am about to head off to Allen Hall, the diocesan seminary in London, and begin training for the priesthood. I have no idea whether I have what it takes to be a good seminarian, never mind a good priest. But I do know very clearly what it takes to be a great parish. That is something you have taught me over the years and especially in recent times. I could not have reached this point without the blessing in my life that is this community. I think in particular of Elizabeth Scott of blessed memory to whom the thanks – and perhaps blame! – must go for that first characteristic shove from her that set me off on this unexpected journey.  And of course, I am deeply grateful for all the help from Fr John not to mention the ever-unflappable Mandy, both of whom have been a constant source of support. However, God’s plans may turn out for my life, I ask one thing now of you: that you keep me in your prayers. Rest assured, you will remain very much in mine throughout my time at seminary. God bless you all and thank you.

SEASON OF CREATION  1 SEPT– 4 OCT  2025. “SEEDS OF PEACE AND HOPE” Pope Leo writes ‘In proclaiming the Kingdom of God, Jesus often used the image of the seed. As the time of his Passion drew near, he applied that image to himself, comparing himself to the grain of wheat that must die in order to bear fruit (cf. Jn 12:24). Seeds are buried in the earth, and there, to our wonder, life springs up, even in the most unexpected places, pointing to the promise of new beginnings. We can think, for example, of flowers springing up on our roadsides from seeds that landed up there almost by chance. As those flowers grow, they brighten the grey tarmac and even manage to break through its hard surface. In Christ, we too are seeds, and indeed, “seeds of peace and hope.” The prophet Isaiah tells us that the Spirit of God can make an arid and parched desert into a garden, a place of rest and serenity. In his words, “a spirit from on high will be poured out on us, and the wilderness will become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. The work of righteousness will be peace, and the work of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places” (Is 32:15-18).’ Do read Pope Leo’s letter in full at  https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/messages/creation/documents/20250630-messaggio-giornata-curacreato.html

CHILDREN’S LITURGY & CHOIR PRACTICE: returns TODAY 7^th September at 10am Mass.  & CHOIR PRACTICE: returns after 10am mass.

CONGRATULATIONS: to Vienna & Sam Sowerby, who were married here yesterday Saturday, 6^th September. Please remember them in your prayers as they embark on a long and happy married life.

LITTLE SISTER’S OF THE POOR APPEAL: Next weekend at all Masses, the Sister’s will be giving a short talk and there will be a retiring collection, please give generously.

THE NEXT PARISH ASSEMBLY: is Tuesday 16th September at 6:45pm in the Parish Room All Welcome.

PROCESSION FOR THE FEAST OF OUR LADY OF WALSINGHAM: will be held here on Sunday 21^st September following the 10am Mass. All Welcome.

FELISA ESCOBIO SILCOX RIP: Please pray for the gentle repose of Felisa’s soul, please remember Felisa’s family in your prayers at this difficult time. Her Funeral Mass will be held Tuesday 9th September at 9:30am at Islington Crematorium, 278 High Rd, London N2 9AGMay she rest in peace. Amen.

SECONDARY SCHOOL FORMS: If you would like any secondary school forms (Certificate of Catholic Practice) signed please make an appointment to see Fr John. Please email the Parish Office with dates and times you are available. lincolnsinnfields@rcdow.org.uk

FIRST THURSDAYS ORGAN RECITAL SERIES: The next recital will take place here on Thursday 2^nd October at 1:10pm to be given by Anthony Davie.

CARDINAL VAUGHAN OPEN EVENING: Year 7 open evenings will be held on Thursday 11 Sept & Wednesday 17 Sept when the Headmaster will address parents & pupils at 4.30pm & again at 6.00pm.  Complete the online application form for Year 7 www.cvms.co.uk/admissions

MARIA FIDELIS OPEN EVENING: Wednesday 24th September 2025 from 4-6pm.  The headmaster will give a talk at 4pm and 5pm, and the last tour will be at 5.45pm.  No need to book for this event.  To find out more about the school visit our website: www.mariafidelis.camden.sch.uk

FINCHLEY CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL: Tuesday 30th September 2025, 5pm – 7.30pm Headteacher Talks: 5.15pm and 7pm Please note that attendance at the Headteacher’s talks will be ticketed and operate on a first-come, first-served basis.

SAVE THE DATE: ALTAR SERVERS’ MASS: All Altar Servers and their families are invited to the Diocesan Mass for Altar Servers at Westminster Cathedral, 2:30 on Saturday 4th October, celebrated by Bishop James Curry. Servers are to arrive by 1:45pm and vest in Cathedral Hall accessed via Ambrosden Avenue.

HOLIDAYS The end of the school term signals the summer holiday season ahead. Our English word comes from “holy days”, which makes clear the nature and purpose of a holiday – a re-orientation of our life to God and to growing in wholeness / holiness. This is the way to a happy and restorative holiday. Central to our holiday should be: ♦ Mass: make sure you find out the location of the nearest Catholic church. ♦ Daily prayer ♦ A good spiritual book ♦ A good self-examination and a good confession. If you are off on Holidays, please stay safe and well. We wish you all a good holiday and summer: remember to pray for each other, and especially our sick and housebound. 

CHILDREN’S LITURGY: will resume on Sunday 7th September.

FIRST THURSDAYS ORGAN RECITAL SERIES: The next recital will take place here on Thursday 7th August at 1:10pm to be given by Ian Coleman.

BOOKLETS AVAILABLE TO BUY: from either the Repository or the Sacristy. Magnificat August 2025 (only £6.50).

CONGRATULATIONS: to Brian & Hayley Swan, who were married here last Saturday, 12^th July. Please remember them in your prayers as they embark on a long and happily married life.

DONATING SCHOOL UNIFORM: Our charity shops need a constant flow of stock, and this is the best time of year to donate all that generic school uniform, shoes and football boots that will no longer fit in September. For uniform with logos the best way to recycle is to ask the school if they will take uniform back and pass it on. Schools are very conscious now of making uniform affordable, and most schools have a stock of second-hand uniform. There are plenty of families for whom the cost of blazers and sports kit is a genuine worry.

RED BOXES: Can all those supporters who have a MISSIO (Mill Hill Missionaries) Red Box at home please return them to the Sacristy for counting please. In 2024 £644 was sent to Missio from Red Box donations in the parish. Thank you to all who support MISSIO in this way. There are currently 150 young men studying to become Mill Hill Missionaries throughout the world. Mill Hill Missionaries continue to love and serve in the following areas: 26 parishes in Africa and 28 parishes in Asia. If you do not have a Red Box to take home and use for your donations (loose coins are ideal) but would like to support Missio’s APF and Mill Hill Missionaries this way please contact Stephen Osborne 020 7837 4114.

MARIA FIDELIS OPEN EVENING: will be on Wednesday 24th September 2025 from 4-6pm.  This is for parents and children interested in joining Maria Fidelis Catholic School or who want to find out more about the school.  The headmaster will give a talk at 4pm and 5pm, and the last tour will be at 5.45pm.  There is no need to book for this event.  To find out more about the school visit our website: www.mariafidelis.camden.sch.uk

THE 15^th ANNUAL GK CHESTERTON PILGRIMAGE: that will take place on Saturday 26th July 2025. As always there are several ways you can join in, either in prayer, or by joining us in walking a short section of the pilgrimage or even in walking the whole 27 miles! To be involved you can; Sponsor Nathanael as he raises funds for Good Counsel’s life-saving work; https://www.gofundme.com/f/helping-mothers-and-babies-with-the-gk-chesterton-pilgrimage Send prayer intentions for us to pray for along the way, we will not make the intentions public; catholicgkcsociety@yahoo.co.uk and find other details of the walk and the Mass here, https://www.facebook.com/events/1675870979701803

FATIMA SYMPOSIUM: The Day with Mary Apostolate (DWM) is organising an International Theological Symposium from Wednesday 6 to Friday 8 August 2025, in St Mary’s Catholic Church in Croydon https://saintmary.org.uk This Symposium will study the divine request made by Our Lady of Fatima in 1917. It is suitable for everybody. There will be speakers, daily Mass, Rosary, Benediction and breaks for refreshment. Full details are at https://symposium.adaywithmary.org/

SAVE THE DATE: ALTAR SERVERS’ MASS: All Altar Servers and their families are invited to the Diocesan Mass for Altar Servers at Westminster Cathedral, 2:30 on Saturday 4th October, celebrated by Bishop James Curry. Servers are to arrive by 1:45pm and vest in Cathedral Hall accessed via Ambrosden Avenue.

SUNDAY 13^th JULY 2025  15^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME SEA SUNDAY TODAY is SEA SUNDAY. Every year churches around the world celebrate Sea Sunday. It is a day for people to come together to pray for seafarers and fishers, and thank them for the vital role they play in all of our lives. Seafarers and fishers play a vital role in all of our lives, but they often work in difficult, hazardous conditions. In the last year, more crews have been abandoned by their employers than ever before. Many are still being denied the right to leave their ships for even a short break away from the relentless noise and pressure on-board. Many are reporting more stress and poorer mental health. You can donate in church, by visiting www.stellamaris.org.uk/donate, or by texting ‘sea’ to 70460 to donate £5. TODAY’S collection is vital to enable STELLA MARIS to continue its important work, so please give generously. There will be a collection after each Mass. Thank you for your generosity. To find out more, please visit: https://stellamaris.org.uk/seasunday/

JULY – MONTH OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD:

Devotion to the Precious Blood of Jesus is a powerful means to help us be devoted to the totally sacrificial love of Our Lord, as also loving Him totally present in the Blessed Sacrament. Our Cathedral here in Westminster is dedicated to the Most Precious Blood.

OUR PARISH: On 6th July 1909, Archbishop Bourne opened our present church, celebrating Mass at 11am. Do please pray that we take good care of our parish church, and pray that we can all proclaim the Kingdom of God

PRAYER FOR THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS Almighty, and everlasting God, who hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world, and hast been pleased to be reconciled unto us by His Blood, grant us, we beseech Thee, so to venerate with solemn worship the price of our salvation, that the power thereof may here on earth keep us from all things hurtful, and the fruit of the same may gladden us for ever hereafter in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. – Daily Roman Missal

STELLA MARIS – SEA SUNDAY 2025: Seafarers and fishers play a vital role in all of our lives, but they often work in difficult, hazardous conditions. In the last year, more crews have been abandoned by their employers than ever before. Many are still being denied the right to leave their ships for even a short break away from the relentless noise and pressure on-board. Many are reporting more stress and poorer mental health. SEA SUNDAY is SUNDAY 13^th JULY. It is when the church prays for all those who live and work at sea. Your support will make a big difference to seafarers and fishers in need. You can donate in church, by visiting www.stellamaris.org.uk/donate, or by texting ‘sea’ to 70460 to donate £5. This collection is vital to enable Stella Maris to continue its important work, so please give generously. There will be a collection after all masses next weekend. Thank you.

NO CHILDREN’S LITURGY TODAY: will resume on Sunday 7^th September.

PARISH VISIT TO THE VICTORIAN & ALBERT MUSEUM: Please meet outside the church at 8am Friday 11^th July to arrive at the museum at 9.00am. We will be given a private viewing of our Sliver wear on loan to the Museum and a small talk on the collection. Travel costs will be reimbursed, please contact the parish Office. lincolnsinnfields@rcdow.org.uk

PETER’S PENCE 2025: The collection for PETER’S PENCE received £251.27. Thank you for your wonderful generosity.

RED BOXES: Can all those supporters who have a MISSIO (Mill Hill Missionaries) Red Box at home please return them to the Sacristy for counting please. In 2024 £644 was sent to Missio from Red Box donations in the parish. Thank you to all who support MISSIO in this way. There are currently 150 young men studying to become Mill Hill Missionaries throughout the world. Mill Hill Missionaries continue to love and serve in the following areas: 26 parishes in Africa and 28 parishes in Asia. If you do not have a Red Box to take home and use for your donations (loose coins are ideal) but would like to support Missio’s APF and Mill Hill Missionaries this way please contact Stephen Osborne 020 7837 4114.

BOOKLETS AVAILABLE TO BUY: from either the Repository or the Sacristy. Magnificat July & August 2025 (only £6.50).

THE DIVINE MERCY APOSTOLATE, LONDON: is holding a Celebration of St Faustina Birthday at Aylesford Priory, Aylesford, Kent on Bank Holiday Monday 25 August 2025 from 10:30 am to 4pm. The reflection day will include teachings on the Message of Divine Mercy, Holy Mass, Hour of Mercy with Stations of the Cross, Adoration and Benediction and Veneration of the Image of Merciful Jesus. All welcome. Call Millie on 07957594646 for more information. Coaches from Ealing Broadway and Victoria.

LONDON CATHOLIC SOCIAL GROUP: have a number of upcoming events for Catholic adults over 30. Contact us on: WhatsApp Brendan 07425549408, Facebook – ‘London Catholic Social Group’ or londonswcatholicsocial@gmail.com Saturday July 12th, Monthly Social at the One Tun pub, Goodge Street. Sunday 20th July, from 12, Mass, Italian Street Fête and Procession of Our Lady of Saint Carmel in Clerkenwell. Saturday 26th July, day trip to Waddesdon Manor. Sunday 3rd August, picnic in Regent’s Park.

ST PETER’S ITALIAN CHURCH: Procession in Honour of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 136 Clerkenwell Road London EC1R 5DL, Sunday 20^th July 2025 at 3.30 pm (followed by The Sagra: an Italian Street Fête)

SUNDAY 29^th JUNE 2025 † SS PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES  TODAY is the Solemnity of SAINTS PETER AND PAUL. The Church founded by Christ has Ss Peter and Paul as its principle pillars. Peter was chosen by Christ to be His first Vicar on earth, endowed with powers of the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt 16:13-19) and charged with the role of Shepherd of Christ’s flock (Jn 21:15-17). In Peter and his successors, the visible sign of unity and communion in faith and charity has been given. Divine grace led Peter to profess Christ’s divinity. St Peter suffered martyrdom under Nero, in A.D. 66 or 67. He was buried at the hill of the Vatican, where recent excavations have revealed his tomb on the very site of the Basilica of St Peter’s. Paul was chosen to form part of the apostolic college by Christ himself on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-16). An instrument selected to bring Christ’s name to all peoples (Acts 9:15), he is the greatest missionary of all time, the advocate of pagans, the Apostle of the Gentiles. St Paul was beheaded in the Tre Fontane along the Via Ostiense and buried nearby, on the spot where the basilica bearing his name now stands. Daily Roman Missal- SCEPTER PRESS

PETER’S PENCE TODAY, SUNDAY, we have the annual collection for “Peter’s Pence”. This collection started here in England at the end of the 8th century, when the Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity. They wanted to help the Bishop of Rome, as successor of St Peter, in his universal ministry. The money collected is for the Pope to give to those suffering from natural disasters, such as famine or flooding, or those in great need, such as those suffering the consequences of war. The Pope gives money in the name of the whole Church. This annual collection expresses well our love for the Successor of Peter in his universal ministry. Please do give generously, and do pray for Pope Leo. May the love and prayers of Ss Peter and Paul sustain the Church, increase our love for the Church as the “Mystical Body of Christ” as also our love for the Pope, and our love for the mission of the Church. For more information visit: https://www.obolodisanpietro.va/en.html

CHILDREN’S LITURGY: TODAY is the last children liturgy of the school year and will resume on Sunday 7^th September.

SS ANSELM & CÆCILIAS MOVIE NIGHTS: 18.45pm in the Parish Room. Movie Night 3 – Wednesday 2^nd July: THE MISSION. Refreshments available Tea, Coffee, Coca Cola, Biscuits & Crisps. Please come a join us!

PARISH VISIT TO THE VICTORIAN & ALBERT MUSEUM: to view the items on display there, loaned by our parish. Friday 11^th July arrival at the museum at 9.00am. We will be given a private viewing of our Sliver wear on loan to the Museum and a small talk on the collection. Please let Stephen Ogilby or the Parish office know if you are interested in going along. Not to be missed!!!

RED BOXES: Can all those supporters who have a MISSIO (Mill Hill Missionaries) Red Box at home please return them to the Sacristy for counting please. In 2024 £644 was sent to Missio from Red Box donations in the parish. Thank you to all who support MISSIO in this way. There are currently 150 young men studying to become Mill Hill Missionaries throughout the world. Mill Hill Missionaries continue to love and serve in the following areas: 26 parishes in Africa and 28 parishes in Asia. If you do not have a Red Box to take home and use for your donations (loose coins are ideal) but would like to support Missio’s APF and Mill Hill Missionaries this way please contact Stephen Osborne 020 7837 4114.

FIRST THURSDAYS ORGAN RECITAL SERIES: The next recital will take place here on Thursday 3rd July at 1:10pm to be given by Ian Coleman.

BOOKLETS AVAILIBLE TO BUY: from either the Repository or the Sacristy. Magnificat July & August 2025 (only £6.50).

OUR NEXT “PARISH ASSEMBLY” is on Tuesday 1^st July at 6:45pm. This gathering enables us all to plan together how our parish grows and develops. Please bring your ideas and see how we can make things happen.

THE DIVINE MERCY APOSTOLATE, LONDON: is holding a Celebration of St Faustina Birthday at Aylesford Priory, Aylesford, Kent on Bank Holiday Monday 25 August 2025 from 10:30 am to 4pm. The reflection day will include teachings on the Message of Divine Mercy, Holy Mass, Hour of Mercy with Stations of the Cross, Adoration and Benediction and Veneration of the Image of Merciful Jesus. All welcome. Call Millie on 07957594646 for more information. Coaches from Ealing Broadway and Victoria.

ST PETER’S ITALIAN CHURCH: Procession in Honour of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 136 Clerkenwell Road London EC1R 5DL, Sunday 20^th July 2025 at 3.30 pm (followed by The Sagra: an Italian Street Fête).

22^nd JUNE 2025 CORPUS CHRISTI

TODAY we celebrate the wondrous love of Our Lord for us — how He gives Himself completely to us in Holy Communion, and how He is with us always in the Sacred Host in all the tabernacles throughout the world.

MASS is the means to bring us this presence. The priest takes bread and wine, and through the Holy Spirit our gifts are transformed to become really, truly and substantially the Body and Blood of Christ, so that Our Lord is present as perfect God and Perfect Man, body, soul and divinity. This transformation we call transubstantiation.

ADORATION is therefore the appropriate response to this gift, so on this weekend’s celebration we should resolve again to • Make a good preparation for receiving Holy Communion followed by thanksgiving. • Visit Our Lord regularly in the tabernacle (“making a visit” is an important part of Catholic spirituality, and builds up our bond with Our Lord). Show ever greater respect when we come into church, “the House of the Lord”, by genuflecting to the tabernacle and kneeling to adore and pray. Keeping silence in church is not only a way to respect Our Lord, but also one another.

TODAY is our ANNUAL CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION around Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Our procession is: 1. Professing our faith in Jesus Christ, and that we are his disciples: we have accepted his invitation – “Follow me”. 2. We profess our faith that Jesus Christ is fully present among us in the Blessed Sacrament. He is present as perfect God and perfect Man, body, soul and divinity. 3. We rejoice to proclaim Him everywhere and to everyone that He is truly God among us. 4. In the procession we should reflect, carefully, and prayerfully, on what we are doing. We should desist from personal conversations, and rather pray for those in the park and those who pass by. Remember Pope Francis told us to remember always that we are “missionary disciples”. So let us be joyful and prayerful throughout the procession.

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION MASS: Congratulations to all the Children who received their 1st Holy Communion TODAY, Daisy, Mila-Joy, and Emilie. Please pray for them, their families and Marthe & Antoine Danzin who instructed them.

SACRED HEART NOVENA: Here at St Anselm & St Cecilia will be praying the Novena after 6pm Mass until Friday 27^th June. Petitions may be placed in the box at the Sacred Heart statue and will be placed on the Altar on the Feast day, Friday 27^th June.

CHILDREN’S LITURGY: the last children liturgy of the school year will be on Sunday 29^th June and will resume on Sunday 7^th September.

WE ARE THRILLED TO WELCOME YOU TO THE LIGHT: Thursday evenings in the parish room after mass. Open to all, special encouragement to students, young adults (20-40s). Come along.

SS ANSELM & CÆCILIAS MOVIE NIGHTS: 18.45pm in the Parish Room. Movie Night 2 – Wednesday 25^th Jun: THE SCARLET AND THE BLACK and Movie Night 3 – Wednesday 2^nd July: THE MISSION. Refreshments available Tea, Coffee, Coca Cola, Biscuits & Crisps. Please come a join us!

PARISH VISIT TO THE VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM: to view the items on display there, loaned by our parish. Special viewing of the items and a small talk on the collection. Friday 11^th July arrival at the museum at 9.00am. Please let Stephen Ogilby or the Parish office know if you are interested in going along.

ST THOMAS MORE (1478-1535) & ST JOHN FISHER: (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) (Feast Saturday 22^nd June): John Fisher and Thomas More were the first canonised of the English martyrs who perished under King Henry VIII. A lawyer and devoted father, More quickly rose to the highest political post, Chancellor of England. Fisher was a preacher and scholar who, as bishop, gave himself unstintingly to his flock. Henry had both men publicly executed in the summer of 1535. Before the axe fell, Thomas More declared himself “the king’s hood servant, but God’s first”. In 2000, Pope John Paul II declared More the universal patron of statesmen and politicians, a witness to the truth that “man cannot be sundered from God, nor politics from morality”.

ST. JOHN SOUTHWORTH (Feast this Saturday 28^th Jun): St John Southworth’s significance for our diocese lies in the discovery of his body at Douai in 1927 and his subsequent translation to Westminster Cathedral in 1930. He acts as a representative figure for the many priests who courageously worked in London in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries at the risk of imprisonment and execution. Southworth was trained at Douai and worked in Lancashire and London. Together with the Jesuit St. Henry Morse (1595-1645), Southworth cared for the victims of the 1636 plague at great personal risk. Spending many years in prison he was finally hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 28th June 1654, together with two counterfeiters. The Diocese of Westminster has traditionally kept his feast on 27th June (the day of his martyrdom) because 28th June is already occupied by St Irenaeus and the vigil of Sts Peter and Paul.

4^th SUNDAY OF EASTER SUNDAY 11th MAY 2025

HOLY FATHER, POPE LEO XIV We welcome and rejoice at the election of our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. The death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo has certainly put the Catholic Church in the spot light, and placed her centre stage in the news, and it is not over yet as there is still to come Pope Leo’s installation. The rituals and ceremonies that people have seen on their screens have fascinated people, as they speak of the Church’s antiquity, its place in history and the faith of the Church; and in turn have prompted many questions with people wanting to know more. It is also constantly mentioned that Pope Leo is 267th Pope in a line of succession that can be traced back to St Peter, the first Vicar of Christ; which emphasises ours is a religion rooted in history. Although you may not always know the answers, try to use this time to engage with the questions your non-Catholic friends or family may have about the Catholic Church and our Faith, for who knows where it may lead. We will learn more about our new Pope with the passing of time, and who knows it might be time for another papal visit to this country, but for now I will leave you with the words he addressed to us all from the balcony of St Peter’s which is at the heart of our Faith. “God cares for us, God loves all of us, and evil will not prevail! We are all in God’s hands. Therefore, without fear, united hand in hand with God and among ourselves, let us move forward. We are disciples of Christ. Christ goes before us. The world needs His light. Humanity needs Him as the bridge to reach God and His love.”

A Compliment to you: A visitor to the church last week commented to me on how not only was our church a lovely building, but that they the felt a lovely, warm, prayerful atmosphere amongst its people.

PRIEST TRAINING FUND TODAY is Good Shepherd Sunday and our second collection will support the Priest Training Fund. This fund pays for the priestly formation of men for the Catholic priesthood. There are currently 50 men studying at Allen Hall seminary, 13 of whom are from our own Diocese. 2 of these are deacons for Westminster. We also have 2 seminarians at the Royal English College in Valladolid. Last year 3 deacons who studied at Allen Hall were ordained priests. The fund also supports the ongoing enrichment and formation of our ordained priests. Your gift ensures we can provide training for these men responding to Christ’s call to dedicate their lives to serve God’s people. Please be as generous as you can. Please also pray for vocations and for all our priests. If you do not have a donation envelope, plenty are still available at the back of the church. You can use the QR code to make your donation online or visit www.rcdow.org.uk/donations. Thank you for your generosity.

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION: Takes place here on SUNDAY 22^nd JUNE 2024 at 10:00am.

TODAY Sunday 11^th May straight after Mass (First Confession in the Church) Parents (ideally both) are warmly invited to attend and to participate. They are also very welcome to go to confession themselves.

MICHAEL O’CONNOR- RIP: Please pray for the gentle repose of Michael’s soul, please remember Michael’s family in your prayers at this difficult time. His Funeral Mass will be held here on Tuesday 20^th May at 11am. May he rest in peace. Amen

MARY’S MEALS: would like to invite you to collect all your foreign currency* no matter how old or obscure. In 2 weekend’s time there will be envelopes at the back of church for you to take home and put all your foreign coins and notes into.  Clear out your drawers and have a look under the sofa.  Currently the charity feeds over 2.4 million young children one good meal every day in their place of education – by giving Mary’s Meals your foreign coins and notes you can help feed the next hungry child. Mary’s Meals feeds in over 17 countries. Because of our low costs we can do this for as little as £19.15 per child per year!   *They will also take UK coins/notes that aren’t legal tender.

WE ARE THRILLED TO WELCOME YOU TO THE LIGHT: Thursday evenings in the parish room after Mass. We will follow the Lectio Divina to read, pray meditate & contemplate the Gospel of the Day. Open to all with special encouragement to students, young adults (20-40s). Just come along. For more info see the flyer at the back of the church.

PILGRIMAGE TO LISIEUX SUNDAY 8th JUNE TO SUNDAY 15th JUNE 2025 Holy Year 2025 – Centenary of the Canonization of St Thérèse Originally started by the late Canon Frank Hegarty, a former Parish Priest of St Anselm and St Cæcilia’s, this annual pilgrimage is now in its 37th year. Travelling by coach from St Anselm and St Cæcilia’s Church via Euro Tunnel to France and staying at the Hermitage in Lisieux. There will also be visits to Alençon (the birthplace of St Thérèse), Evreux, Bayeux, Arromanches and Honfleur. The cost is £710 per person for a twin/double room and £760 for a single room. Rooms are ensuite. For further information please contact Stephen or Claire Osborne: 07870 769631 or email sta.osborne@gmail.com

PRESENT

As important as the priesthood is we must also recall other the important vocations we are all called to, and how by virtue of our baptism we are called to be a prophetic people. One of the joys of becoming your parish priest has been encountering your love and enthusiasm for the parish and a willingness to answer a call for help or ministry when asked, and also offering your own exciting ideas. The faith is alive in the parish with many green shoots we can look forward to growing to fruition. PRIEST TRAINING FUND Next Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday, the day we pray for priests and for vocations to the priesthood. The annual collection for the Priest Training Fund will take place next weekend. This fund pays for the priestly formation of men for the Catholic priesthood. There are currently 50 men studying at Allen Hall seminary, 13 of whom are from our own Diocese. 2 of these are deacons for Westminster. We also have 2 seminarians at the Royal English College in Valladolid. Last year 3 deacons who studied at Allen Hall were ordained priests. This fund also supports the ongoing enrichment and formation of the our ordained priests. Your generous donation helps ensure we can support these men who are called to be like Christ the Good Shepherd. Donation envelopes are available in the back of the church. Please take one home, read the information, and bring it back next weekend with your donation. Please continue to pray for vocations and for our priests. You can use the QR code to make your donation online or visit www.rcdow.org.uk/donations. Thank you for your generosity. CONCLAVE: The Conclave to elect a new pope begins this Wednesday 7th May. Each one of us can participate by our prayer for the electors to be guided by the Holy Spirit in the choice. O God, eternal shepherd, who govern your flock with unfailing care, grant in your boundless fatherly love a pastor for your Church who will please you by his holiness and to us show watchful care. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Holy Week & Easter

Holy Week is the most important week in the Christian year. Pope Francis says “Holy Week” is a privileged time when we are called to draw near to Jesus: friendship with Him is shown in times of difficulty”. The best way to draw near to Our Lord is to participate as much as possible the liturgies of the Church.

PALM SUNDAY — the commemoration of Our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem when he was greeted with praise and thanksgiving, the waving and strewing of palms. We too carry palms, then take them home to put with our household crucifix.

HOLY THURSDAY —The MASS of THE LORD’S SUPPER at 6:00pm commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, the total gift of Himself to us as the Bread of Life. Afterwards, Jesus went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. After this mass the consecrated hosts are taken to the “altar of repose”. All are invited to spend some time with Him, learning to be with Him in His suffering. The church is stripped of its candles and linens, all holy water is removed and the sacraments are not celebrated until Easter. It is a time of mourning, but always lived in light of the Resurrection.

GOOD FRIDAY — A day of fasting and abstinence. Fasting applies to those 18-60: no meat (abstinence) and only one simple meal and two small ones, and no food in between. Do all you can to be at THE LITURGY OF THE LORD’S PASSION AND DEATH at 3:00pm, the hour at which Christ died on the Cross.

HOLY SATURDAY — the Church waits in the Lord’s tomb, reflecting on his Passion and Death, waiting with faith, prayer and fasting the glorious Resurrection. Mary is waiting with us. We gather at 8:00pm to celebrate the Vigil Mass of the Resurrection, to celebrate in readings and song how God prepared His People for the Resurrection and conclude with the First Mass of Easter

EASTER CARDS: Please do take an Easter card home with you as you leave today, all the Easter Liturgies are inside the card.

HOLY PLACES: There will be a collection after the Liturgy of The Lord’s Passion on Good Friday.

LARGE £5 CANDLES WILL NOT BE SOLD FROM NOW UNTIL HOLY SATURDAY, INSTEAD £2 CANDLES CAN BE PURCHASED FROM THE SACRISTY OR REPOSITORY _________________

FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT Sunday 6th April 2025  

INSTALLATION OF PARISH PRIEST TODAY at 10am Mass Bishop Nicholas Hudson, our area bishop, will formally induct Fr John as parish priest of St Anselm and St Cecilia’s. Fr John will be the 8^th parish priest of the new church, and 27^th in succession to Fr Patrick Bradley OP (1730-1753), Sardinian Chapel. Rite of Induction of Mgr John Conneely-pdf

All are welcome to the Mass and reception afterwards.

CARDINAL VINCENT NICHOLS: Pastoral Letter on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. 5/6 April 2025, Fifth Sunday of Lent. The Cardinal has written a letter for this weekend, there are copies available at the back of the church. You can also find a copy on our website. Pastoral letter – Assisted suicide

SR LUCINA: is currently in hospital undergoing tests, so please keep her in your prayers. The parish is always in her thoughts and prayers and she regularly watches weekday and Sunday masses and is pleased when she sees familiar faces. We are being kept up to date about her by her order and her sister. Sr Lucina is in good spirits and well looked after, as some of the nurses are her former pupils.

OUR PAST DECEASED PARISH PRIESTS: I hope by now you have had a chance to visit St Joseph’s Chapel and seen the memorial to our past deceased parish priests. I would like to thank very much Stephen Osborne for his design and making of it and Colm Harris for placing it in the Chapel. The names only go back to 1730, as unfortunately the records from 1687 when we were a Franciscan church and then the Portuguese Embassy chapel have been lost. The names of the priests also represent the people of this church throughout its long history, and of the keep burning alive the flame of faith through difficult time and good times. When you have time, you might wish to look up which of the priests has been declared Venerable, a step on the road to sainthood. Who was the priest in charge when the Church was attacked and set on fire during the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots? and church vestments and pews were stacked up and burnt in Lincolns Inn Fields, but the Blessed Sacrament was rescued and take to the Ship for safe keeping. Who was the lucky priest who had as the parish organist, Thomas Arne, who wrote ‘Rule Britannia’?  Who was parish priest when the church was bombed in the Second World War? Who was parish priest when church caught fire on Christmas Day? The last name is that of Fr David, and when you visit the chapel please light a candle and pray for the repose of his soul and the souls of all the priests listed as well as all past parishioners.

INSTALLATION OF PARISH PRIEST Bishop Nicholas Hudson, our area bishop, will preside at 10 Mass on Sunday 6 April, at which he will formally induct Fr John as parish priest of St Anselm and St Cecilia’s. Fr John will be the 8^th parish priest of the new church, and 27^th in succession to Fr Patrick Bradley OP (1730-1753), Sardinian Chapel. All are welcome to the Mass and reception afterwards.

“LAETARE” (“Rejoice”) SUNDAY TODAY we are invited to REJOICE, because the coming celebration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection (the Paschal Mystery) is fast approaching. May our rejoicing energise us to use this second half of Lent as well as we can to prepare for Easter.

MOTHER’S DAY. On this Mother’s Day we give thanks for the love of care we have received from our mothers, and recall the words of Pope St John Paull II: “A society without mothers would be a dehumanized society, for mothers are always, even in the worst moments, witnesses of tenderness, dedication, and moral strength. … Dearest mothers, thank you, thank you for what you are in your family and for what you give to the Church and the world.”

MOTHERING SUNDAY: today we pray for all mothers in their mothering. To be a mother is one of the greatest of lives – to conceive and bear a child, and mothering the child to maturity. What an awesome responsibility. Our Lady Mother of Jesus, is the model: Let us invoke her help for all mothers.

MOTHER’S DAY PRAYER We pray for all Mother-figures, those who have loved, surrounded and shaped us with motherly care and compassion. We especially pray for our own mothers who have nurtured and cared for us, Their sacrifices and care gave us a glimpse of the extent of your love for us. Thank you for them. Grant health, blessings, and well-being for those our mothers who are still alive. We also remember those mothers who are no longer with us. While they live forever in our hearts and memory grant them eternal rest and reward of their labours. Amen.

At first, today’s reading feels uncomfortable. The parable of the fig tree reads like a threat. The tree is not bearing any fruit and so the master commands that it should be axed. A compassionate gardener begs that the tree be given a second chance, and so the master grants another year. It feels like a threat… bear fruit or else! But Jesus knows that threats don’t bring out the best in us. Like the gardener who tends the tree and nurtures it, so Jesus is there for all who need a second chance. For those of us who make a commitment to live life in a better way, Jesus is there to support and guide us towards our goals. The parable has moved from something that sounds like a threat to something that sounds like a promise…. something inspirational!

Lent is a time to address some begging questions. How many years have we spent making the same old mistakes? What must we do to make life different? It sounds obvious, but to achieve different results, we must do something different. We are invited to ask God for help in setting new priorities, and we must achieve results that reflect God’s love for us, and our love for God.

FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION – 25^th March 2025

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in this time of trial we turn to you.  As our Mother, you love us and know us: no concern of our hearts is hidden from you.  Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care and your peaceful presence!  You never cease to guide us to Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Yet we have strayed from that path of peace.  We have forgotten the lesson learned from the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of the millions who fell in two world wars.  We have disregarded the commitments we made as a community of nations.  We have betrayed peoples’ dreams of peace and the hopes of the young.  We grew sick with greed, we thought only of our own nations and their interests, we grew indifferent and caught up in our selfish needs and concerns.  We chose to ignore God, to be satisfied with our illusions, to grow arrogant and aggressive, to suppress innocent lives and to stockpile weapons.  We stopped being our neighbour’s keepers and stewards of our common home.  We have ravaged the garden of the earth with war and by our sins we have broken the heart of our heavenly Father, who desires us to be brothers and sisters.  We grew indifferent to everyone and everything except ourselves.  Now with shame we cry out: Forgive us, Lord! Holy Mother, amid the misery of our sinfulness, amid our struggles and weaknesses, amid the mystery of iniquity that is evil and war, you remind us that God never abandons us, but continues to look upon us with love, ever ready to forgive us and raise us up to new life.  He has given you to us and made your Immaculate Heart a refuge for the Church and for all humanity.  By God’s gracious will, you are ever with us; even in the most troubled moments of our history, you are there to guide us with tender love. We now turn to you and knock at the door of your heart.  We are your beloved children.  In every age you make yourself known to us, calling us to conversion.  At this dark hour, help us and grant us your comfort.  Say to us once more: “Am I not here, I who am your Mother?”  You are able to untie the knots of our hearts and of our times.  In you we place our trust.  We are confident that, especially in moments of trial, you will not be deaf to our supplication and will come to our aid. That is what you did at Cana in Galilee, when you interceded with Jesus and he worked the first of his signs.  To preserve the joy of the wedding feast, you said to him: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). Now, O Mother, repeat those words and that prayer, for in our own day we have run out of the wine of hope, joy has fled, fraternity has faded.  We have forgotten our humanity and squandered the gift of peace.  We opened our hearts to violence and destructiveness.  How greatly we need your maternal help! Therefore, O Mother, hear our prayer.

Star of the Sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the tempest of war. Ark of the New Covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation. Queen of Heaven, restore God’s peace to the world. Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and teach us forgiveness. Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons. Queen of the Rosary, make us realize our need to pray and to love. Queen of the Human Family, show people the path of fraternity. Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our world.

O Mother, may your sorrowful plea stir our hardened hearts.  May the tears you shed for us make this valley parched by our hatred blossom anew.  Amid the thunder of weapons, may your prayer turn our thoughts to peace.  May your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs.  May your motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their native land.  May your Sorrowful Heart move us to compassion and inspire us to open our doors and to care for our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast aside. Holy Mother of God, as you stood beneath the cross, Jesus, seeing the disciple at your side, said: “Behold your son” (Jn 19:26).  In this way he entrusted each of us to you.  To the disciple, and to each of us, he said: “Behold, your Mother” (v. 27).  Mother Mary, we now desire to welcome you into our lives and our history.  At this hour, a weary and distraught humanity stands with you beneath the cross, needing to entrust itself to you and, through you, to consecrate itself to Christ. The people of Ukraine and Russia, who venerate you with great love, now turn to you, even as your heart beats with compassion for them and for all those peoples decimated by war, hunger, injustice and poverty. Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine.  Accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love.  Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world.  The “Fiat” that arose from your heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of Peace.  We trust that, through your heart, peace will dawn once more.  To you we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world. Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days.  Our Lady of the “Fiat”, on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God.  May you, our “living fountain of hope”, water the dryness of our hearts.  In your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion.  You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace.  Amen. Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione – Libreria Editrice Vaticana

FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT 9th March 2025

In these 40 days of Lent we seek to identify with Our Lord’s experience in the desert and so come to understand and love Him better.

It was the Holy Spirit who led Him into the desert, and we shall only keep a good Lent in so far as we keep asking the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. Our Lord was tempted by the Devil, and, if we are intent on following Our Lord, so shall we be tempted — to give up, to make the things of this world (food, drink, possessions, status and money) the treasures of our heart. This is why we must emphasise the disciplines of Lent:  PRAYER, FASTING and ALMSGIVING.

Practising these liberates us from our self-centredness and self-indulgence. We need always to ask the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the help of the angels, just as Our Lord experienced this in the desert.

God of goodness and mercy, Hear my prayer as I begin this Lenten journey with you. Let me be honest with myself as I look into my heart and soul, noticing the times I turn away from you. Guide me as I humbly seek to repent and return to your love.

CARDINAL’S LENTEN APPEAL 2025 NEXT WEEKEND, there will be a collection after each Mass for the Cardinal’s Appeal 2025. All funds raised go towards projects across our Diocese. Each year, the Diocese uses donations made to support the work of our services, such as Marriage & Family Life; Youth Ministry, and Education. Also to support the work of Caritas Westminster, who work for & with some of the most vulnerable people in our Diocese. Please take a donation envelope today. You can use the QR code to make your donation online. Thank you for your generosity. To donate online: https://rcdow.org.uk/donations/cardinals-appeal/

THE NATIONAL NOVENA TO ST JOSEPH: will take place from 10th – 18th March 2025 at St Joseph’s Church in Maidenhead. Every year, the Mill Hill Missionaries prepare for the Feast of St Joseph, their Society patron, with a special Novena of Masses and prayers to ask for God’s blessing on their Society’s missionary outreach, and for the intentions of all those who support their work. If you are able, and if it is possible to attend, Masses are at 10.00am every day of the Novena except Sunday when it is at 11.00am. These Masses will be available to follow on Zoom, via the Mill Hill website: www.millhillmissionaries.com/novena You are welcome to send in your petitions and/or to request a Novena prayer booklet. Please write to Novena Director at 6 Colby Gardens, Maidenhead, SL6 7GZ, or email novenamhm@gmail.com The Novena will be recited each evening after Mass here at St Anselm and St Cæcilia’s from 10th – 18th March 2025. Novena leaflets will be available each evening.

PRAY FOR THE RECOVERY OF POPE FRANCIS We are asked to pray for the recovery of Pope Francis. We ask God, “Have mercy on Pope Francis in his illness now, we pray, and guide the medical staff who are caring for him. Grant him peace and healing. Through Christ our Lord.”

CARDINAL’S LENTEN APPEAL 2025 All funds raised go towards projects across our Diocese. Each year, the Diocese uses donations made to support the work of our services, such as Marriage & Family Life; Youth Ministry, and Education. Also to support the work of Caritas Westminster, who work for & with some of the most vulnerable people in our Diocese. Please take a donation envelope today. You can use the QR code to make your donation online. Thank you for your generosity. To donate online: https://rcdow.org.uk/donations/cardinals-appeal/

6^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 16^th February 2025

RACIAL JUSTICE SUNDAY

The theme for Racial Justice Sunday is: “Pilgrims of Hope: Our Journey Together Towards Racial Justice”. The theme invites Catholics across England and Wales to reflect on the collective journey towards racial justice in our schools, parishes and wider society.. Bishop Paul McAleenan said: “2025 is a very special year. It marks both a Year of Jubilee and the 30th anniversary of Racial Justice Sunday.“

This year, we invite the Catholic community to reflect on the journey towards racial justice – past, present and future – by asking: ‘How far have we come, where we are now and what remains to be achieved?’“ Just as pilgrims must prepare for their journey and be properly equipped, we, too, need all that is necessary to propel us towards racial justice – the mind of Christ; examination of our progress and of the challenges that remain; a willingness to learn from one another together; and prayers for and on the journey. To read the message in full please visit: https://www.cbcew.org.uk/rjs25-bishop-mcaleenan/

POPE FRANCIS PRAYER FOR RACIAL JUSTICE SUNDAY Come, Holy Spirit, show us your beauty, reflected in all the peoples of the earth, So that we may discover anew that all are important and all are necessary, Different faces of the one humanity that God so loves. Amen

5^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 9th February 2025

CHILDREN’S LITURGY OUR CHILDREN are among our greatest treasures, and as a parish family we must therefore ask ourselves “How is this lived in our parish?” THE MASS is the heart of parish life: it is our means of union with God through communion with Christ. The Mass is God—with— us. That is why Mass, at least on Sundays, is such an essential. To rob ourselves or our children of Sunday Mass is to rob ourselves of our greatest good . THE CHILDREN’S LITURGY is a good way of making the Word of God more accessible to our children. We have an excellent history of Children’s Liturgy in this parish. This Sunday and every Sunday we shall have a Children’s Liturgy at the 10:00am Mass, led by Marthe and Antoine Danzin. WE ALL have a responsibility to treasure and support our children —first by our prayers, by supporting our altar servers and children’s choir, and the children’s day trips and theatre visits. I am especially grateful to our school, St Joseph’s Macklin Street, for all they do in forming our children in the Catholic Faith. Frequent prayers for our school too please.  Do please let us know of other ways we can develop our love and care of our children.

ST. ANSELM AND ST. CAECILIA CHILDREN’S CHOIR NEEDS YOUR VOICE!!: Do you love singing? Do you love music, and would you like to be an even better singer? The Schola Caeciliana, the youth Choir of St. Anselm and St. Caecilia is always looking for new members of age 7 upwards to sing at 10am Mass on Sundays. Choir practice takes place in the Parish Room at the church after 10am Mass. All are welcome and it’s not necessary to be able to read music. Free one-to-one singing lessons are provided. Your parents can sign you up by emailing the Parish Office at lincolnsinnfields@rcdow.org.uk

MGR JOHN CONNEELY – PARISH PRIEST I was very pleased to announce to you last week that that I had been appointed parish priest in succession to Fr David. (I was relieved that you seemed pleased as well) Although officially I had no role in the parish for the last near on 15 years. I have very much enjoyed being part of the parish community. It means as I take up being parish priest I am not coming into the parish cold, but share a common history with you already as we have already been together through happy times and some sad, and I already know you as both parishioners and friends.

It was because I have enjoyed so much being here with you that I did not hesitate to accept being appointed your parish priest. I know you all have such generous hearts and that I will receive a positive response during the first 100 days as I mentioned.

As I said taking everything into account you will be the only parish I will be Parish Priest of, and therefore I intend to give you my all, and you will always have a special place in my heart that no other parish will have.

Fr David has be-quested us a beautiful church, but as he said in his article for the Camden New Journal it was the people of the parish that truly made if beautiful, as you are living stones of this parish.

I am very much looking forward to the years ahead as together we build on Fr David’s legacy, being a light to the people’s sharing with others the joy, hope promise we have found in Christ. Mgr. John Conneely, Parish Priest

PRESENTATION OF THE LORD TODAY is the FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION, often called CANDLEMAS, commemorates the purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the presentation of Christ in the Temple, which occurred 40 days after his birth as prescribed by the Jewish law. According to Mosaic Law, a mother who had given birth to a boy was considered virtually unclean for seven days like an un-purified ciborium or chalices. Also, she was to remain 33 days “in the blood of her purification. “Luke tells us, quoting (Exodus: 2, 12) that Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Jerusalem because every firstborn child was to be dedicated to the Lord. They also went to sacrifice a pair of doves or two young pigeons. This lowly offering showed that Mary and Joseph were most likely poor. Once in the Temple, Jesus was purified by the prayer of Simeon, in the presence of Anna the prophetess.  Simeon, upon seeing the Messiah, gave thanks to the Lord, singing a hymn now called the Nunc Dimittis:

“Lord, now you let your servant go in peace, your word has been fulfilled: My own eyes have seen the salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of every people: a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.”

Simeon told Mary, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against, (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.” Simeon thus foreshadowed the crucifixion and the sorrows of Mary at seeing the death of her Son. The name CANDLEMAS is derived from the activities associated with the Feast. It came to be known as “the Candle Mass”. In the Western Church, a procession with lighted candles is the distinctive rite. (By David Bennett: for more info: https://prayerist.com/candlemasprayers.html

3^rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 26th January 2025

SUNDAY OF THE WORD OF GOD

POPE FRANCIS has made this Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (today!) an opportunity to deepen our devotion to the celebration, study and spread of the Word of God. “Devoting a specific Sunday of the liturgical year to the Word of God can enable the Church to experience anew how the risen Lord opens up for us the treasury of his word and enables us to proclaim its unfathomable riches before the world.”  Pope Francis

THE SACRED SCRIPTURES (the Bible) are the inspired Word of God. God speaks to us in a particular way when we read them with faith and love. Like Our Lady we need to ponder them and treasure them in our heart. St Paul writes: “All Scripture is inspired by God and can profitably be used for: 1. Teaching 2. Refuting error 3. Guiding people’s lives 4. Teaching them to be holy This is how the person who is dedicated to God becomes fully equipped and ready for any good work” (2 Timothy 3:16, 17)

READ THE SCRIPTURES therefore every day, even if only a few verses. We should feast on them more than food and drink!

RESOLUTION: decide today to be committed to reading the Sacred Scriptures every day. 1. Give the Bible a special place of prominence in your house. Hold it with reverence. The priest kisses the Gospel after proclaiming it at Mass: we do well also to kiss the Bible as we use it. 2. If we are beginning again, why not start with St Mark’s Gospel, a clear and simple presentation of what Jesus said and did? Or, the First Letter of John, a beautiful presentation of how to come back to God with all our heart.

WHATEVER WE DECIDE, DO SOMETHING!

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FR DAVID BARNES – RIP

Fr David passed away peacefully in the early hours of Christmas Eve, at St John’s Hospice in St John’s Wood.

Eternal rest grant unto him Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him, and may he rest in peace. Amen.

2nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  Mass Sheet 19th January 2025

LIFE IS CHANGED NOT ENDED’

‘Life is changed not ended’ is how Fr David would often finish the conversations we had during his illness. This belief is central to our faith and it was this faith that sustained him as he faced death, and his example can be a comfort for us when our loved ones must face their death, and strengthen each one of us for when our time comes.

The love and affection that people had for Fr David was very evident before he died, and was on display again in the large numbers who attended the various stages of his funeral rite, reception, vigil, and funeral mass. In addition to those present the masses were watched by online streaming by over 400 people from nearly twenty countries. If you were not able to attended the masses they were recorded and can be viewed on https://www.churchservices.tv/lincolnsinnfields

The way the parish came together to ensure that Fr David had a fitting send-off was wonderful, and many of the priests who came for the mass said to me how impressed they were by what they saw. I know you all did what you did out of love for Fr David and did not need any prompting to come forward to help, nonetheless it made me very proud of you all, and I wish to thank you all from the bottom of heart for your all you did to make Fr David’s funeral a faith filled and joyous occasion.

I also know it meant a great deal to Fr David’s sister, Jennifer, his nieces, Angela and Joy, and all his family. Fr David’s memory will live with us, and in the church we will see much to remind us of him. We will pay him a fitting and lasting tribute if each of us in our own way help sustain and build up the parish that Fr David dedicated his life to, and loved and cared for so much. Thank you all once again, and God bless, Fr John

THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD  Sunday 12^th JAN 2025

FR DAVID’S FUNERAL DETAILS Reception into the Church at 4pm. Funeral Vigil Mass, Wednesday 15th January at 6:00pm Order of Service – Fr David Barnes Vigil Mass Funeral Mass Thursday 16th January at 11:00am  Fr David Barnes Funeral Mass booklet Both to be held here at St Anselm & St Cecilia’s. Followed by a private burial at Islington Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, Fr David wanted any donations to go to the following charities: St John’s Hospice, Mary’s Meals and Stella Maris.

You can do this using the following 4 options: 1. By using the contactless machines in the church on either of the 2 funeral masses. 2. By bank transfer to the Parish Account (Please add Fr David’s Funeral as the reference) HSBC, WRCDT Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Sort Code 40-05-20, Account Number: 41094742 3. via our parish donation page: https://parish.rcdow.org.uk/lincolnsinnfields/donate/ (Please add Fr David’s Funeral as a message) 4. In cash, when you attend the masses, please hand to a volunteer, Mandy (Parish Administrator) or Fr John. Should anyone wish to live stream the masses, please use the link below: https://www.churchservices.tv/lincolnsinnfields

THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD TODAY(Sunday) we celebrate Our Lord’s baptism by his cousin John the Baptist. Our Lord is revealed as divine, the Son of God. Our Lord commissions the apostles to go out into the whole world and baptise people everywhere in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. To be baptised means to be immersed into the life of the Blessed Trinity, so as to share God’s life. In baptism God places us in His Son and we become a son or daughter of God: when God looks on us He sees us as His son or daughter because we are in His Son. This is all pure gift, a grace of God. We could not do this ourselves: God does it for us. Baptism of infants began from the earliest times where the parents were Christians. Please remember – our new born should be baptised as soon as possible after birth, within the first weeks. This is the teaching of the Church, for it is vital that this new life should not be deprived of the gifts God wants to give. The baptism should never be delayed for social reasons (e.g. waiting months to coincide with a visit from relations abroad, needing time to save money for a big reception etc.) These are not good reasons for delaying baptism. The newborn should receive the gifts God wants to give as soon as possible. God wants to share His Life with us, and for us to share ours with Him. Baptism initiates this relationship. Today, thank God for the Sacrament of Baptism, and pray we shall all live our friendship with God more devotedly. Fr David Barnes, Rector

GRACIOUS THANKS: Fr John and the Parish office would like to thank everyone for their beautiful cards and gifts and messages of condolences over the Christmas period. We are completely overwhelmed with such generosity and love for Fr David and we ask you all to keep Fr David and his family in your prayers at this time.

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It is with sadness that we announce the death of our parish priest, Fr David Barnes. He died in the early hours of 24th December, a day after his 80th birthday and after nearly 20 years of devoted service to the people and parish of Saints Anselm and Caecilia. ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’ Matthew 25:23

Eternal rest grant unto him Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him, and may he rest in peace. Amen.

Fr David’s Funeral Details:

FUNERAL VIGIL MASS

Wednesday 15th January at 6:00pm

FUNERAL MASS

Thursday 16th January at 11:00am

Both to be held here at St Anselm & St Cecilia’s.

Followed by a private burial at Islington Cemetery.

Please bear with us on response times.

If anything is urgent please email the office. The Parish Office will be closed from Wednesday 25th Dec, reopening on Wednesday 8th Jan. Emails will be monitored during this time. Any updates regarding Fr David will be posted on our website.

Thank you Mandy & Mgr. John Conneely

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4th SUNDAY OF ADVENT  Mass Sheet Advent 4 22nd December 2024

CHRISTMAS is almost here………!

THIS FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENTis our final day of preparing the way for the Lord to celebrate the Nativity of Our Saviour. It is a time to renew our hope and expectation: God is always faithful to His promises. The fourth CANDLE on our Advent wreath is seen as the MARY candle because the Nativity is the consequence of Mary’s YES to God — her FIAT (let it be done……).

This week we should, together with Mary, ponder the wonderful thing God has done for us in the Incarnation.

How does it touch us, move us?

How do we want to respond to it?

How do I see my “YES”to God? Is it whole hearted? As we ponder this we shall be moved to confess our sins —- all of which express our NO to God: every sin is a “no-no” to God.

A good confession is the best way to find a truly Happy Christmas, when we prepare the way for Our Lord to be born again in our heart , where we can treasure Him, adore Him, and love Him, like the shepherds.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is the God-given means of making the way for Him to enter us—so do go to confession.

“Mary Immaculate, my Mother, keep me close to you, at one with you, so that I may imitate

your wholehearted Yes to God.”

Fr David Barnes, Rector

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Fr David was admitted on Monday to Ss John and Elizabeth hospice. Although he is feeling tired and lacking energy, he is in good spirits, cheerful and at peace. He sends his love and prayers to you all, as you are never from his thoughts and always wants know what is happening in the parish.It is Fr David’s 80^th birthday on Monday 23^rd December, please keep him in your prayers as you are always in his.

Mgr John Conneely

This will be the last bulletin of the year – MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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3^rd SUNDAY OF ADVENT 15^th December 2024

GAUDETE SUNDAY

“REJOICE” SUNDAY (from Latin “Gaudete”) is the name given to this Third Sunday of Advent. We rejoice because of the coming celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord, born in the manger in Bethlehem.

We rejoice not only because He is “Emmanuel” (God with us), but because His coming (or advent) is the proof of God’s love for us: he has come to share His life completely with us. This is re-confirmed every time we receive Holy Communion.

 Like Mary His Mother we have the privilege of holding Him and treasuring Him in our heart. Go to Mary, asking Her how we can hold and treasure Him better, more devotedly, more tenderly.

 Pope Francis teaches us that the Church should be a “House of Joy”. Our parish and families will be “a House of Joy” in so far as we recognise that the infant in the crib is truly God fully among us. To help us ponder this please ensure that the CRIB has a central place in your home. Let us gather around the crib to pray as a family.

Our joy is the fruit of our faith, God’s gift for our “Yes” to God. REJOICE!

Fr David Barnes, Rector

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CAROLS ON THE STEPS: We will be singing Carols on the steps of the Church on Wednesday 18^th December, following 6pm Mass, followed by refreshments in the Parish room. If you would like to join us please do. All proceeds to be given the Westminster Children’s Society. All welcome.

CHOIR CHILDREN, FOR CHRISTMAS EVE MASS: calling all children of the parish to come and sing with the choir during the Family Mass on Christmas Eve. There will be a rehearsal after 10am Mass on Sunday 22nd December. All Welcome!

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SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT 8th DECEMBER 2024

BIBLE SUNDAY 

THIS SUNDAY (ADVENT 2) is sometimes called BIBLE SUNDAY: We pray for a deeper love of the Sacred Scriptures.

St Jerome lived during the 4th century of the Church. A man of brilliant mind, he lived as a hermit for years, in order to deal with his many sins. However, God needed his intellect and gift of language; thus St. Jerome is credited with translating the Scriptures into Latin,  known as the Vulgate.

St. Jerome famously said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” That thought alone should send us all scurrying for our Bibles! So, why should Catholics make regular Scripture reading and study part of their daily lives?

1) It is the living Word of God. There are many ancient texts in the history of the world. Many of us, in high school and college, read The Iliad, I Ching, and the Tao de Ching. They are all worthy of study, but what sets the Bible apart? It is the living Word of God. It has no equal, and it is as relevant today as it was when Jerome labored over its translation. Further, the Word of God is Christ: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. (Jn. 1:1 ) Thus, every encounter with Scripture is an encounter with Christ.

2) Sunday isn’t enough. Indeed, the Mass is full of Scripture. We hear the Word proclaimed from the Old and New Testaments, the Psalms, and the Gospel. We hear the Word sung in our hymns. The prayers at Mass are full of Scriptural quotes and references. And yet … it’s not enough. It’s easy to miss parts of the Word as it’s proclaimed as Mass: we get distracted, the Word is not proclaimed well, we don’t quite hear it. In order to prepare well for Mass, we should “read ahead:” find the readings for Mass and read them prior to Mass. How are they connected? What is God’s message for His people today?

3) God’s Word keeps us grounded. It is very easy, in the midst of our sloppy, busy, stress-filled days, to lose touch with who we are: God’s children. Taking time to read Scripture every day keeps us grounded, reminds us of who we are. Reading Scripture helps us to recall, every day, that Christ is with us – even in the sloppiness, the busy-ness, the stress.

 4) Scripture reminds us of God’s covenant. God made a promise to our forefathers in faith, the Jews. He told them, “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” Even though the Jews (like us!) did many things that should have destroyed that covenant, God’s promise is eternal. A covenant is unbreakable, because it is God’s truth. Then, with the coming of Christ, we received a new covenant: “This is My Body and this is My Blood. Whoever eats and drinks of it shall have eternal life.” The Bible, from start to finish, is the story of God’s unbreakable promise to us. That’s pretty important.

 5) Reading Scripture helps us to pray better. Every one of us needs to pray better. Prayer is our lifeline to God. Scripture can help us to pray better. We see ourselves reflected in the sorrow, pain and faithfulness of Job. We understand Jonah’s reluctance to do the job God has set before him. We rejoice, laugh, cry and challenge God with the psalmist. We understand the shame of the woman about to be stoned. We tremble with fear, abandoning Christ, just as most of the Apostles did when He most needed them. To enter into God’s word helps us to see, hear, feel and understand basic human responses … and then do better. We rise above our fears, our sorrows, our shame, because we know God is with us. Always. He never abandons us. Scripture is the story of God’s eternal love and faithfulness.

 St. Jerome knew all this. He spent his life carefully and faithfully translating God’s word. He did it not because it was yet another text that smart people wanted to read in their own language. No, he understood that Scripture is the living word of God, as relevant to us as it was to the Jews in their many triumphs and struggles, as it was to the earliest Christians during St. Jerome’s life, and now, in a world where we have so much information at our fingertips it would make St. Jerome’s head spin. But there is no website, no book, no podcast, no Facebook post that equals God’s word. Do not be ignorant of this word, lest you be ignorant of Christ.

 THE ADVENT WREATH: The Advent wreath helps us reflect on how God has come to us. The circle of the wreath is a symbol of both the eternity of God and our being called to eternal life. The evergreen foliage symbolises on-going life, while the holly and the red berries symbolise that the child in the manger is also the one who will suffer and die for us on the Cross. The five candles too have meanings. The outer candles are purple and one pink – the four weeks of Advent: purple is a sign that Advent is “little Lent”, a time for prayer, fasting, repentance and conversion. The pink candle is for “Gaudete Sunday”, the third Sunday in Advent, reminding us to rejoice in the coming of the Saviour. The white candle symbolises Christ, the Light of the World. The coming of the Light (Christ) into the darkness of the world is a constant theme in Advent, and the gradual lighting of the Advent candles reminds us of this. Various meanings are given to each specific candle -here is one set of meaning:

1st CANDLE- (purple) THE PROPHECY CANDLE or CANDLE OF HOPE-We can have hope because God is faithful and will keep the promises made to us. Our hope comes from God. (Romans 15:12-13) 2nd CANDLE- (purple) THE BETHLEHEM CANDLE or THE CANDLE OF PREPARATION– God kept his promise of a Saviour who would be born in Bethlehem. Preparation means to “get ready”. Help us to be ready to welcome YOU, O GOD! (Luke 3:4-6) 3rd CANDLE- (pink) THE SHEPHERD CANDLE or THE CANDLE OF JOY – The angles sang a message of JOY! (Luke 2:7-15) 4th CANDLE- (purple) THE ANGEL CANDLE or THE CANDLE OF LOVE – The angels announced the good news of a Saviour. God sent his only Son to earth to save us, because he loves us! (John 3:16-17) 5th CANDLE- (white) “CHRIST CANDLE” -The white candle reminds us that Jesus is the spotless lamb of God, sent to wash away our sins! His birth was for his death, his death was for our birth! (John 1:29)

Fr David Barnes, Rector

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT 1st DECEMBER 2024

ADVENT 

TODAY, Sunday, the great season of Advent begins. The word comes from the Latin verb “advenire” meaning “to come to:” so Advent calls us to ponder Our Lord’s THREE “comings to us”.

• the Incarnation when “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” ie. Our Lord’s Nativity in Bethlehem.

• Our Lord’s daily coming to us in the Holy Mass.

• the Second Coming, when “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead”.

 ADVENT is sometimes called “Little Lent” because it is properly a time of prayer, fasting and good works, a time of repentance. This is why purple is the colour of Advent. Do your best to keep Advent in this way, even though secular society  is making merry around us, the celebration of Christmas begins with the Vigil of Christmas, and is celebrated for the 12 days that lead up to the Epiphany on 6th January.

THE ADVENT WREATH, with the build-up of lighting the candles, reminds us of the coming of Our Lord into this world in His Nativity– He is “the Light of the World” who dispels the darkness of the world.

ADVENT is a time of HOPE as we come understand better that God is always faithful to His promises.

OUR LADY “believed that the promises made her by the Lord would be fulfilled:” We pray that we may have faith like hers, and invoke her powerful intercession.     

Fr David Barnes, Rector

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+OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE 24th NOVEMBER 2024

TODAY is the Grand Finale of the Church’s year. On this final Sunday, our celebration focuses on Our Lord through whom the Kingdom of God comes. Our Lord taught constantly about the Kingdom of God: the Kingdom comes through the Church, founded by Christ and with which He is totally identified in every way apart from our sin. The Church is the sign and seed of the Kingdom, and through the Church we are called to let Christ reign in every area of our life. The more we co-operate with Him, the more the Kingdom comes.

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33rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 17th NOVEMBER 2024

SICK & RETIRED PRIEST’S FUND Our retiring collection today will be in support of the SICK & RETIRED PRIESTS’ FUND.

Most priests offer their resignation as a parish priest at the age of 75, but many continue to serve their communities, working in our parishes, schools, hospitals and chaplaincies. We must ensure no priest is worried about meeting essential costs during their senior years and, as such, Cardinal Nichols and the Diocese of Westminster are committed to ensuring that no retired or sick priest is left without support. Last year, the Diocese provided care to 72 retired priests, at a cost of £976,000.

By giving a gift to the Sick & Retired Priests’ Fund today, you can help us to ensure all of our sick and retired priests are cared for at their time of need. The fund is used to meet essential costs, like making a flat accessible to a disabled priest, or that a priest has regular visits from a carer after undergoing surgery.

If you took a donation envelope last weekend, please place it in the collection bag today. If you do not have an envelope, there are some available at the back of the church. The envelopes and posters feature a ‘QR Code’ that you can scan with a phone camera to give online. If you are able, please consider filling out section 4 on the envelope form, meaning you become a Patron and make a regular gift to support our sick and retired priests. By becoming a Patron, and assuring income to the fund, the Diocese can plan its continued care for our retired and sick priests.

Thank you for your generosity and please remember to pray for our clergy, in active ministry, retired or ill.

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32nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME EMMAUS MASS SHEET 10th November 2024

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY marks Remembrance Sunday which marks the end of the First World War. On this day we remember all those who gave their lives for their country, all who suffered and died through acts of war and those who were left behind to grieve and mourn.

PRAYER OF REMEMBRANCE O God, merciful and strong, who crush wars and cast down the proud, be pleased to banish violence swiftly from our midst and to wipe away all tears, so that we may all truly deserve to be called your children. Amen

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31^st SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 3^rd November 2024

NOVEMBER — MONTH OF THE HOLY SOULS

Pope Francis on praying for the souls in purgatory: “Even now we experience a communion between the Church on earth and the Church in heaven through our union with those who have died. The souls in heaven assist us with their prayers, while we assist the souls in purgatory through our good works, prayer and participation in the Eucharist. As members of the Church then, the distinction is not between who has died and who is living, but rather who is in Christ and who is not …

There is a deep and indissoluble bond between those who are still pilgrims in this world — us — and those who have crossed the threshold of death and entered eternity. All baptized persons here on earth, the souls in Purgatory and all the blessed who are already in Paradise make one great Family. This communion between earth and heaven is realized especially in intercessory prayer”.

1.Pray the Novena to the Holy Souls by St. Alphonsus Liguori. 2.Offer up your Holy Communions for the souls in purgatory. 3.Have Masses said for your departed loved ones, especially on the anniversary of his or her death. 4.Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for the intention of the Holy Souls. 5.Eucharistic Adoration: visit the Blessed Sacrament to make acts of reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on behalf of those in purgatory. 6.Sacrifices: practice small acts of self-denial throughout your day & offer these penances up for the poor souls. 7.Give alms: The giving of material assistance to the poor has always been considered a penance that can be offered for the Holy Souls. “For almsgiving saves from death, and purges all sin” (Tobit 12:9). 8.Ask for the intercession of saints who were known to be great friends of the Holy Souls during their lifetime to join you in prayer for the faithful departed: St. Nicholas of Tolentino, St. Gertrude the Great, St. Catherine of Genoa, St. Padre Pio, St. Philip Neri, St. John Macías, St. Faustina Kowalska, St. Joseph, Our Lady, and others. 10.When passing by a cemetery: Pray the short Eternal Rest prayer: “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let the perpetual light shine upon them. And may the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.” 11.Pray to earn indulgences for the holy souls:  On all the days from November 1 to November 8, a plenary indulgence, applicable only to the Poor Souls, is granted to those who visit a cemetery and pray, even if only mentally, for the departed (standard requirements for indulgences apply*). Partial indulgences are granted to those who recite Lauds or Vespers of the Office of the Dead, and to those who recite the prayer, “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace”

ETERNAL REST Lord, this month we pray especially for the departed loved ones. We ask you to give them the gift of a dwelling place in your eternal home. We pray too for those who have no one to pray for them. Through your infinite mercy may they share in the company of the saints to offer you eternal praise and glory. Amen

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30^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 27th OCTOBER 2024

FROM THE PARISH PRIEST: My dear brothers and sisters, Our Lord came among us to bring us back to God, both by His teaching and through His Paschal Mystery. Then, St Paul teaches that our true homeland is in heaven – where we really belong is to be with God for all eternity. It is keeping this supernatural perspective in our life that should mark our interpretation of everything in this world. Recent events in my own life indicate that God is now calling me home, to be with Him – in the eyes of this world, death looks like a disaster, but through the eyes of faith it is the gateway to a much greater life – to be with God for all eternity. Thank you for your great outpouring of loving support and prayers: they strengthen me, are keeping me buoyant and full of hope. The palliative care team is now caring for me. I am greatly consoled by the presence of our dear Lord, of our Blessed Mother and of St Joseph: I know they are right with me all the way in this final part of my journey, and that they will lead me safely home. Meanwhile, let us continue to pray for one another. Every Blessing, Fr David

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29^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME   20th OCTOBER 2024

TODAY IS WORLD MISSION SUNDAY Today, parishes worldwide celebrate WORLD MISSION SUNDAY. By supporting Missio, the Pope’s charity for world mission, we stand united as God’s global family, in prayer, solidarity, and action. We are called to ‘go and invite everyone to the banquet’ for the joy of Christ’s Resurrection is a gift meant to be shared with the entire world. Please pray for missionaries and give what you can to this vital collection, bringing God’s compassion, peace, and justice to those in need. To donate, use the Missio envelope, call 020 7821 9755 (office hours) or visit www.missio.org.uk to give a gift, set up a Direct Debit, and Gift Aid your donation if possible.

MISSION PRAYER Loving God, inspire us to ‘go and invite Everyone to the banquet.’ Nourished from gathering around your table, May our communities reflect your unconditional love, So that all are welcomed with open arms, and the most vulnerable find Refuge, care, and compassion. May our prayers and generosity bring strength to missionaries, Enabling them to share the joy that faith brings, So that everyone, everywhere, may experience your hope and love, Renewing and healing our world. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

POPE FRANCIS PRAYER INTENTION – OCTOBER 2024: ‘For a shared mission’ ‘Sharing in mission brings clergy and laypersons closer together; it builds a unity of purpose, demonstrates the complementarity of the different charisms, and thus awakens in all the desire to move forward together.’ – Pope Francis https://missio.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/MESSAGE-OF-HIS-HOLINESS-POPE-FRANCIS-2024.pdf

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28th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME    13th OCTOBER 2024

FROM THE PARISH PRIEST: My dear brothers and sisters, For several months I have been feeling increasingly unwell – a sense of exhaustion, breathlessness, no appetite. UCH have now given me the reason. I have cancer of the oesophagus, which has spread into the stomach and liver. It is too far gone to operate. So it is not good news. At present (Friday afternoon – 11th) I am not sure of the next move but will keep you informed. Meantime, please pray for me, as I shall for you. Every Blessing, Fr David

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PASTORAL LETTER ON ASSISTED SUICIDE – 12/13 OCTOBER 2024 CARDINAL VINCENT NICHOLS writes: My brothers and sisters, This Wednesday, 16 October 2024, a bill will be introduced to Parliament proposing a change in the law to permit assisted suicide. The debate will continue for a number of months, in society and in Parliament, before a definitive vote is held there. This puts in the spotlight crucial questions about the dignity of human life and the care and protection afforded by our society to every human being. As this debate unfolds there are three points I would like to put before you. I hope that you will take part in the debate, whenever and wherever you can, and that you will write to your Member of Parliament. The first point is this: Be careful what you wish for. No doubt the bill put before Parliament will be carefully framed, providing clear and very limited circumstances in which it would become lawful to assist, directly and deliberately, in the ending of a person’s life. But please remember, the evidence from every single country in which such a law has been passed is clear: that the circumstances in which the taking of a life is permitted are widened and widened, making assisted suicide and medical killing, or euthanasia, more and more available and accepted. In this country, assurances will be given that the proposed safeguards are firm and reliable. Rarely has this been the case. This proposed change in the law may be a source of relief to some. But it will bring great fear and trepidation to many, especially those who have vulnerabilities and those living with disabilities. What is now proposed will not be the end of the story. It is a story better not begun. The second point is this: a right to die can become a duty to die. A law which prohibits an action is a clear deterrent. A law which permits an action changes attitudes: that which is permitted is often and easily encouraged. Once assisted suicide is approved by the law, a key protection of human life falls away. Pressure mounts on those who are nearing death, from others or even from themselves, to end their life in order to take away a perceived burden of care from their family, for the avoidance of pain, or for the sake of an inheritance. I know that, for many people, there is profound fear at the prospect of prolonged suffering and loss of dignity. Yet such suffering itself can be eased. Part of this debate, then, must be the need and duty to enhance palliative care and hospice provision, so that there can genuinely be, for all of us, the prospect of living our last days in the company of loved ones and caring medical professionals. This is truly dying with dignity. Indeed, the radical change in the law now being proposed risks bringing about for all medical professionals a slow change from a duty to care to a duty to kill. The third point is this: being forgetful of God belittles our humanity. The questions raised by this bill go to the very heart of how we understand ourselves, our lives, our humanity. For people of faith in God – the vast majority of the population of the world – the first truth is that life, ultimately, is a gift of the Creator. Our life flows from God and will find its fulfilment in We know, only too well, that suffering can bring people to a most dreadful state of mind, even driving them to take their own lives, in circumstances most often when they lack true freedom of mind and will, and so bear no culpability. But this proposed legislation is quite different. It seeks to give a person of sound will and mind the right to act in a way that is clearly contrary to a fundamental truth: our life is not our own possession, to dispose of as we feel fit. This is not a freedom of choice we can take for ourselves without undermining the foundations of trust and shared dignity on which a stable society rests. As this debate unfolds, then, I ask you to play your part in it. Write to your MP. Have discussions with family, friends and colleagues. And pray. Please remember: be careful what you wish for; the right to die can become a duty to die; being forgetful of God belittles our humanity. May God bless us all at this critical time.  Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster

27^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  6th October 2024

CAFOD – FAMILY FAST DAY

CAFOD FAMILY FAST DAY APPEAL – HARVEST COLLECTION TODAY after every Mass: There will be a retiring collecting for CAFOD Family Fast day. Daniel, a young man in Democratic Republic of the Congo, is carving a better future for his family with carpentry skills he learned in a CAFOD-funded training center. Give to CAFOD today and you’ll fund training, tools, equipment and safe spaces so more people like Daniel can learn new skills and fulfil their God-given potential. Use the envelope in church or give online at www.cafod.org.uk/envelope

HARVEST PRAYER Generous God, we thank you for the gifts you have given for all people to share. Sometimes things go wrong. Floods wash away homes and crops. Living God, move us to help one another in times of need, to care for the earth and love one another sharing your harvest with all.  Amen.

CARDINAL VINCENT NICHOLS – CALLS FOR URGENT PRAYERS

Following further deterioration in the situation in the Middle East last week, Cardinal Nichols has called for urgent prayers ‘to touch and change all hearts that are intent on warfare, and to strengthen those who work for ceasefires and the progress of peaceful cooperation.’ In a message to all priests and parishes in the diocese calling for prayers, the Cardinal wrote: ‘You do not need me to tell you of the seriousness of the present situation in the Middle East and, in particular, the violence presently taking place in Lebanon and Israel. We see clearly that the potential for an escalating conflict, and all that this implies, is now immediate. ‘I ask you to include in the intentions for prayer this weekend an urgent cry to our Heavenly Father to touch and change all hearts that are intent on warfare, and to strengthen those who work for ceasefires and the progress of peaceful cooperation. ‘As this conflict spreads, more division will appear. As well as the threats and dread that fill the hearts of Jewish people, this conflict will now touch more deeply all Islamic communities, especially the Shia community in Lebanon, as well as the Christian communities there. Please pray that relationships here between these three great faiths can endure, not only in the countless interfaith local projects in service of those in need, which are such a feature of our society today, but also in many personal friendships. This is the witness we must continue to give.’ Cardinal Vincent Nichols

26^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  29^th September 2024

WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES: The 110th World Day of Migrants and Refugees is TODAY Sunday 29th September. Pope Francis has chosen as this year’s theme, ‘God walks with his people’, and the full text of the Pope’s message and resources to support the day can be found at: https://www.humandevelopment.va/en/news/2024/giornata-mondiale-migrante-e-rifugiato-2024-tema-messaggio-papa.html

OCTOBER: Month of the HOLY ROSARY

 THIS OCTOBER I am asking all of you to renew and deepen your love of the ROSARY this October. When we pray the Rosary we are pondering and walking through the wonderful things that God has done for us, together with Mary our Mother. Do please always have a Rosary with you, in your pocket. At different times of the day hold it with faith and love, so uniting ourselves to Jesus and Mary. These quotes from recent Popes will encourage us: “The Rosary is a prayer that always accompanies me; it is also the prayer of the ordinary people and the saints… it is a prayer from my heart.” Pope Francis “The Rosary is the most beautiful and the most rich in graces of all prayers; it is the prayer that touches most the Heart of the Mother of God…and if you wish peace to reign in your homes, recite the family Rosary.” Pope Saint Pius X “How beautiful is the family that recites the Rosary every evening!” St. John Paul II “The Rosary is a prayer both so humble and simple and a theologically rich in Biblical content. I beg you to pray it.”St. John Paul II“The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life. It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of praying.” Pope Leo XIII Mary, Queen of the most holy Rosary, Pray for us. Fr David Barnes, Rector

25th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME   22nd September 2024

The Vatican has granted permission for Our Lady of Walsingham to be celebrated as a new Feast in the dioceses of England, starting this year on 24th September. You can follow Mass on the Feast Day live streamed from the Walsingham Shrine. Visit www.walsingham.org.uk/live-stream  and follow the link.

TODAY is also our SECOND PROCESSION of OUR LADY OF WALSINGHAM around Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Following 10am Mass. Our Procession proclaims:

1.  GOD was made flesh and dwelt among us: Jesus is both Son of God and Son of Mary, and He is “Emmanuel” (God with us).

Mary said “YES” (Fiat) to God’s invitation to be become the Mother of the Lord. God had faith in Her, honoured Her and trusted Her, and therefore so do we.

1.  Mary believed that the promises made to Her by the Lord would be fulfilled. We ask for that same faith.
2.  Mary was the first and greatest disciple of Jesus. We pray that we may imitate Her fidelity, and witness to Her as the greatest model of faithfulness.
3.  On the Cross Our Lord Jesus gave Her to us as our Mother: in this Procession we proudly proclaim and honour Her as our Mother who teaches us to do whatever Our Lord Jesus tells us.
4.  In the procession we should reflect, carefully, and prayerfully, on what we are doing. We should desist from personal conversations, and rather pray for those in the park and those who pass by.

Remember Pope Francis tells us to remember always that we are “missionary disciples”. So let us be joyful and prayerful throughout the procession. The Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham, in North Norfolk, was established in 1061 when, according to the text of the Pynson Ballad (c 1485), Richeldis de Faverches prayed that she might undertake some special work in honour of Our Lady. In answer to her prayer, the Virgin Mary led her in spirit to Nazareth, showed her the house where the Annunciation occurred, and asked her to build a replica in Walsingham to serve as a perpetual memorial of the Annunciation.

This Holy House was built and a religious community took charge of the foundation. Although we have very little historical material from this period, we know that with papal approval the Augustinian Canons built a Priory (c 1150). Walsingham became one of the greatest Shrines in Medieval Christendom.

In 1538, the Reformation caused the Priory property to be handed over to the King’s Commissioners and it is said the famous statue of Our Lady of Walsingham was taken to London and burnt. Nothing remains today of the original shrine, but its site is marked on the lawn in “The Abbey Grounds” in the village. After the destruction of the Shrine, Walsingham ceased to be a place of pilgrimage. Devotion was necessarily in secret until after Catholic Emancipation (1829) when public expressions of faith were allowed.

In 1896 Charlotte Pearson Boyd purchased the 14th century Slipper Chapel, the last of the wayside chapels en-route to Walsingham, and restored it for Catholic use. In 1897 by rescript of Pope Leo XIII, the sanctuary of Our Lady of Walsingham was restored with the building of a Holy House as the

Lady Chapel of the Catholic Church of the Annunciation, King’s Lynn. The Guild of Our Lady of Ransom brought the first public pilgrimage to Walsingham on 20th August 1897. Visits to the Slipper Chapel became more frequent, and as the years passed devotion and the number of pilgrimages increased.

SLIPPER CHAPEL: In the Middle Ages Walsingham was one of the four great shrines of Christendom with pilgrims coming from all parts of the known world. There were wayside chapels along the pilgrim route and the Slipper Chapel was the last and most important of these. Pilgrims stopped here to go to Mass and to confess their sins before walking the last mile to the Holy House in Walsingham. The name of the chapel may come from the fact that pilgrims removed their shoes to walk the last mile or it may come from the word “slype” meaning a way through or “something in between”, the slype or slip chapel standing as it did between the Holy land of Walsingham and the rest of England. In 1538 the Shrine and Priory were destroyed and the Slipper Chapel, although not damaged, passed into disuse. It was used successively as a poor house, a forge a barn and even a cow byre. Stories of older residents suggest that even during this time of neglect occasional pilgrims would still come and pray there. In 1896 it was brought by Charlotte Boyd and restoration started the following year. For thirty years the Slipper Chapel remained restored but little used, as devotion to Our Lady of Walsingham was centred on Kings Lynn. On August 19th 1934, Bishop Youens of Northampton celebrated the first public Mass in the Slipper Chapel for four hundred years, and two days later Cardinal Bourne led a national pilgrimage of more than 10,000 people to the Shrine. At this pilgrimage, the Slipper Chapel was declared to be the National Shrine of Our Lady for Roman Catholics in England.

24^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  15^th September 2024

EVANGELII GAUDIUM SUNDAY (HOME MISSION SUNDAY)

TODAY is Evangelii Gaudium Sunday  and calls us to be joyous in proclaiming our faith. “Evangelii Gaudium” is Latin for “Joy of the Gospel”. The day supports the work carried out by the Mission Directorate on behalf of the Bishops’ Conference.

A key focus of work for the next few years is responding to Pope Francis’ calling of a Jubilee Year in 2025 with the theme Pilgrims of Hope. The Holy Father has invited the whole Church to prepare for the Jubilee in the two years prior through:

• • Reflecting on the four Constitutions of the Second Vatican Council in 2023.
• • Deepening our prayer life, with a special focus on the Lord’s Prayer, in 2024.

To support the Church in England and Wales in this important initiative the Mission Directorate has produced a series of videos on the four Constitutions which reflect on the Liturgy, the Word of God, the Church and on its role in the modern world.

Watch the videos here: https://www.cbcew.org.uk/evangelii-gaudium-sunday

Please support the Mission Directorate through prayer and giving to the retiring collection TODAY. However much you give, big or small, it will go directly to support this important work to bring the joy of the Gospel to all. Thank you.

SEASON OF CREATION 2024 – 1^st September – 4^th October

POPE FRANCIS. Begins the season with a message on September 1st, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.

Dear Brothers and Sisters! “Hope and Act with Creation” is the theme of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, to be held on 1 September 2024. The theme is drawn from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans (8:19-25), where the Apostle explains what it means for us to live according to the Spirit and focuses on the sure hope of salvation that is born of faith, namely, newness of life in Christ.

Do read the letter in full, please visit: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/cura-creato/documents/20240627-messaggio-giornata-curacreato.html

23^rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 8^th September 2024

TODAY we bless the Memorials to the Lincoln’s Fields Martyrs, Blessed Robert Morton and Blessed Hugh Moor.

THE MARTYRS OF LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS Blessed Robert Morton (c.1548-1588) Originally from Yorkshire, his uncle, Dr Nicholas Morton, was a prominent Catholic exile in Rome who had been involved in the Northern Rising (1569) and the excommunication of Elizabeth I (1570). Robert was educated at Rome and Rheims, and ordained priest on 14 June 1587. Returning to England, he was quickly captured and hanged, drawn and quartered at Lincoln’s Inn Fields on 28 August 1588, shortly after the Spanish Armada. His crime was simply being a Catholic priest.

Blessed Hugh Moor or More (c.1563-1588) Born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, he was the son of a wealthy landowner and MP. He studied at Oxford and Gray’s Inn and, after being reconciled to the Catholic Church, went to the English College at Rheims. On returning to England he was apprehended. Refusing to go the established Church, he was sentenced to being hanged, drawn and quartered at Lincoln’s Inn Fields on 28 August 1588. Both men were refused permission to speak and ‘suffered with admirable constancy and patience.’ They were beatified by Pope Pius XI on 15 December 1929.

Let us always invoke their prayers for prayers for our Parish. Fr David Barnes, Rector

EDUCATION SUNDAY: TODAY, marks the 176^th celebration of Education Sunday for the Church in England and Wales. The theme for 2024 is “He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak” taken from St Mark’s Gospel (7:31-37). As we commence the beginning of a new academic year, let us entrust to Almighty God all who are involved in the provision of Catholic education in our schools, colleges and universities. We pray that Christ the Teacher will strengthen their faith and fill their hearts with courage and hope. Please remember all those involved in Education and remember them in your prayers, especially as they embark on a new school year.

SEASON OF CREATION 2024: POPE FRANCIS. Begins the season with a message on September 1st, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Dear Brothers and Sisters! “Hope and Act with Creation” is the theme of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, to be held on 1 September 2024. The theme is drawn from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans (8:19-25), where the Apostle explains what it means for us to live according to the Spirit and focuses on the sure hope of salvation that is born of faith, namely, newness of life in Christ. Do read the letter in full, please visit: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/cura-creato/documents/20240627-messaggio-giornata-curacreato.html

15^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Sunday 14^th July 2024

STELLA MARIS – SEA SUNDAY 2024

TODAY is SEA SUNDAY. There will be a talk and retiring collection after each Mass so please give generously. Thank you. 

Seafarers and fishers play a vital role in all of our lives, but they often work in difficult, hazardous conditions. In the last year, more crews have been abandoned by their employers than ever before. Many are still being denied the right to leave their ships for even a short break away from the relentless noise and pressure on-board. Many are reporting more stress and poorer mental health. It is when the church prays for all those who live and work at sea. Your support will make a big difference to seafarers and fishers in need. You can donate in church, by visiting www.stellamaris.org.uk/donate  , or by texting ‘sea’ to 70460 to donate £5. This collection is vital to enable Stella Maris to continue its important work.

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14^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  Sunday 7^th July 2024

JULY – MONTH OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD: Devotion to the Precious Blood of Jesus is a powerful means to help us be devoted to the totally sacrificial love of Our Lord, as also loving Him totally present in the Blessed Sacrament. Our Cathedral here in Westminster is dedicated to the Most Precious Blood.

OUR PARISH: On 6th July 1909, Archbishop Bourne opened our present church, celebrating Mass at 11am. Do please pray that we take good care of our parish church, and pray that we can all proclaim the Kingdom of God

PRAYER FOR THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS Almighty, and everlasting God, who hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world, and hast been pleased to be reconciled unto us by His Blood, grant us, we beseech Thee, so to venerate with solemn worship the price of our salvation, that the power thereof may here on earth keep us from all things hurtful, and the fruit of the same may gladden us for ever hereafter in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. Daily Roman Missal

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+SS PETER AND PAUL Sunday 30^th June 2024

SS PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES

TODAY is the Solemnity of SAINTS PETER AND PAUL. The Church founded by Christ has Ss Peter and Paul as its principle pillars. Peter was chosen by Christ to be His first Vicar on earth, endowed with powers of the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt 16:13-19) and charged with the role of Shepherd of Christ’s flock (Jn 21:15-17). In Peter and his successors, the visible sign of unity and communion in faith and charity has been given. Divine grace led Peter to profess Christ’s divinity. St Peter suffered martyrdom under Nero, in A.D. 66 or 67. He was buried at the hill of the Vatican, where recent excavations have revealed his tomb on the very site of the Basilica of St Peter’s. Paul was chosen to form part of the apostolic college by Christ himself on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-16). An instrument selected to bring Christ’s name to all peoples (Acts 9:15), he is the greatest missionary of all time, the advocate of pagans, the Apostle of the Gentiles. St Paul was beheaded in the Tre Fontane along the Via Ostiense and buried nearby, on the spot where the basilica bearing his name now stands. Daily Roman Missal- SCEPTER PRESS

PETER’S PENCE TODAY, SUNDAY, we have the annual collection for “Peter’s Pence”. This collection started here in England at the end of the 8th century, when the Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity. They wanted to help the Bishop of Rome, as successor of St Peter, in his universal ministry. The money collected is for the Pope to give to those suffering from natural disasters, such as famine or flooding, or those in great need, such as those suffering the consequences of war. The Pope gives money in the name of the whole Church. This annual collection expresses well our love for the Successor of Peter in his universal ministry. Please do give generously, and do pray for Pope Francis. May the love and prayers of Ss Peter and Paul sustain the Church, increase our love for the Church as the “Mystical Body of Christ” as also our love for the Pope, and our love for the mission of the Church. For more information visit: https://www.obolodisanpietro.va/en.html POPE FRANCIS SAYS: “We cannot proclaim good things but without service it is not proclamation. It may seem to be, but it is not, because the Spirit not only carries you forward to proclaim the truths of the Lord and the life of the Lord, but He also brings you to the service of the brothers and sisters, even in small things”. “All of us have been saved gratuitously by Jesus Christ. Therefore, we must give gratuitously. Those who carry out the pastoral work of evangelization must learn this. Their life must be gratuitous, given in service, proclamation, borne by the Spirit. Their personal poverty forces them to open themselves up to the Spirit”.

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12^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME             Sunday 23^rd June 2024

THE GENERAL ELECTION – Thursday 4^th July 2024

CARDINAL VINCENT NICHOLS writes:

As we know the Prime Minister has called a general election for Thursday 4 July and I am keen that we encourage voters to be active rather than passive and to engage with politicians to ascertain their views on the key issues. Every Catholic, particularly young adults, should be willing to get involved and vote. New voters must be registered by next Tuesday, 18 June. The opportunity to vote in a general election is a privilege. You should want to know what your candidate will think and say on your behalf when that candidate gets into Parliament. But I would like to put forward a theme for us all to think about. How do we seek to construct a society in which families can flourish? That’s the bedrock – many positive things flow from that.

There are many good resources that offer guidance on seven key topics of interest to Catholics. The information and guidance can be found on the Bishop’s Conference website at

www.cbcew.org.uk/election24/  covering the following areas:

Criminal Justice Domestic poverty, family life and taxation Education Environment International relations, human rights and peacebuilding Life Issues Migration

Please look at these resources, explore them and become a bit more familiar with them so that when it comes the election you’ve got in your mind what you want to see the next government strive to achieve. My view is that our next government should strive to create the circumstances in which families can flourish.

So please get ready to vote on 4 July. ✠ Cardinal Vincent Nichols

CHILDREN’S LITURGY: children’s Liturgy is back today, during 10am Mass as usual.

ST THOMAS MORE (1478-1535) & ST JOHN FISHER: (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535)

(Feast Saturday 22^nd June): John Fisher and Thomas More were the first canonised of the English martyrs who perished under King Henry VIII. A lawyer and devoted father, More quickly rose to the highest political post, Chancellor of England. Fisher was a preacher and scholar who, as bishop, gave himself unstintingly to his flock. Henry had both men publicly executed in the summer of 1535. Before the axe fell, Thomas More declared himself “the king’s hood servant, but God’s first”. In 2000, Pope John Paul II declared More the universal patron of statesmen and politicians, a witness to the truth that “man cannot be sundered from God, nor politics from morality”.

ST. JOHN SOUTHWORTH (Feast this Thursday 27^th Jun): St John Southworth’s significance for our diocese lies in the discovery of his body at Douai in 1927 and his subsequent translation to Westminster Cathedral in 1930. He acts as a representative figure for the many priests who courageously worked in London in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries at the risk of imprisonment and execution. Southworth was trained at Douai and worked in Lancashire and London. Together with the Jesuit St. Henry Morse (1595-1645), Southworth cared for the victims of the 1636 plague at great personal risk. Spending many years in prison he was finally hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 28th June 1654, together with two counterfeiters

The Diocese of Westminster has traditionally kept his feast on 27th June (the day of his martyrdom) because 28th June is already occupied by St Irenaeus and the vigil of Sts Peter and Paul.

The Ascension of the Lord – THURSDAY 9^TH May “…HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN…” (Creed)

THURSDAY’s celebration of Our Lord’s Ascension gives us much to ponder and treasure in our heart. Our Lord has completed everything the Father had given Him to do, crowned by the Paschal Mystery, and now He is returning to the Father. His joy is complete, and He invites us to share His joy. Our true joy is to share His joy!

He goes to prepare a place for us. Heaven is where we truly belong, to be with God for all eternity. Our Lord has prepared a place for us. He is calling us “so that where I am, you may be too”. Do I live with heaven as my goal and true homeland?

We are never alone: in his Ascension He promises that He will be with us always, “Yes, to the end of time”. He is always present to us: are we always wanting to make ourselves present to Him?

My Mission and purpose in this world is to share in the Mission Jesus gave the infant Church at His Ascension: “Go out into the whole world and proclaim the Good News…” Our Lord shares His life fully with us through the Church: do we seek to bring others to share His life through the Church?

“Gladden us with holy joys, Almighty God, and make us rejoice with devout thanksgiving, for the Ascension of Christ your Son in our exaltation, and where the Head has gone before in glory, the Body is called to follow in hope”. (Thursday’s Collect)

+ 5th SUNDAY OF EASTER 28th April 2024

MARY’S MONTH OF MAY

MAY starts this coming week and is dedicated to Our Lady. It is a time to get to know and love Our Lady more. At the 10am Mass Sunday 5^th May we have the Crowning of Our Lady as Queen of the May. This helps us express and understand how the reign of Mary is the reign of “YES- TO-GOD” in our daily life. May we let the spirit of Mary, the spirit of “YES-TO-GOD”,flourish in our day-to-day living.

Our Marian devotions should not be limited to church. Please ensure you honour Our Lady in your home. Do crown a statue or picture of Our Lady at home. Gather around the statue or picture of Our Lady: recite the Rosary and the Angelus. Let us teach our children (and remind ourselves!) that the reign of Mary, the reign of “YES -TO-GOD”, is the best way to true self-fulfilment and happiness.

+ 4th SUNDAY OF EASTER 21st April 2024

GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY

PRIEST TRAINING FUND

TODAY is GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY and our second collection will support the Priest Training Fund. This fund pays for the priestly formation of men for the Catholic priesthood. There are currently 49 men studying at Allen Hall seminary, 13 of whom are from our own Diocese. We also have one seminarian in Valladolid and one at the Beda, presently on pastoral placement in Ruislip. There are also two on a propaedeutic year at Redemptoris Mater. Last year 3 deacons were ordained for Westminster Diocese. The Priest Training Fund also supports the ongoing enrichment and formation of our ordained priests. Your gift ensures we can provide training for these men responding to Christ’s call to dedicate their lives to serve God’s people. Please be as generous as you can. Please also pray for vocations and for all our priests. If you do not have a donation envelope, plenty are still available at the back of the church. You can use the QR code to make your donation online or visit www.rcdow.org.uk/donations . Thank you for your generosity.

PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS Lord Jesus Christ, Guide and Shepherd of your people, touch the hearts of our young people, that they may, for the love of you give their lives in the service of the Church. Renew the hearts of priests, that they may model their lives on the mystery of the Cross and imitate the Sacred Mysteries they celebrate at the altar. Strengthen our families, that they may generously support those of their sons whom you call to serve you as priests. Amen

PRIEST TRAINING FUND

Next weekend is Good Shepherd Sunday, the day we pray for priests and for vocations to the priesthood. The motto of Allen Hall, where the men training for the ordained priesthood live and study, is Vivamus in spe – May we live in hope.

Now, more than ever, as the nation faces an unprecedented challenge and there are so many people in desperate situations across our Diocese, that hope is needed. Our seminarians work in parishes, schools, hospitals and hospices, as well as prisons, with refugees, and anywhere where a Catholic presence can make a contribution.

In all they do, they strive to be formed in the image of Him who came not to be served, but to serve. They come from a wide range of backgrounds, countries, and religious congregations. However, despite their differences, their desire to be formed in the image of Christ unites them, and creates an even stronger bond to their faith.

This year, we have 49 men studying at Allen Hall, of whom 13 are from our own Diocese. We also have one seminarian in Valladolid and one at the Beda, presently on pastoral placement in Ruislip. There are also two on a propaedeutic year at Redemptoris Mater. Last year, 3 Deacons were ordained for Westminster Diocese. The Priest Training Fund also supports the ongoing enrichment and formation of our ordained priests. Your generous donation helps ensure we can support these men who are called to be like Christ the Good Shepherd.

Donation envelopes are available in the back of the church. Please take one home, read the information, and bring it back next weekend with your donation. Please continue to pray for vocations and for our priests. You can use the QR code to make your donation online or visit www.rcdow.org.uk/donations Thank you for your generosity.

The Divine Mercy Devotion

From the diary of a young Polish nun, a special devotion began spreading throughout the world in the 1930s. The message is nothing new, but is a reminder of what the Church has always taught through scripture and tradition: that God is merciful and forgiving and that we, too, must show mercy and forgiveness. But in the Divine Mercy devotion, the message takes on a powerful new focus, calling people to a deeper understanding that God’s love is unlimited and available to everyone — especially the greatest sinners.

The message and devotion to Jesus as The Divine Mercy is based on the writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska, an uneducated Polish nun who, in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary of about 600 pages recording the revelations she received about God’s mercy. Even before her death in 1938, the devotion to The Divine Mercy had begun to spread.

The message of mercy is that God loves us — all of us — no matter how great our sins. He wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy. It is a message we can call to mind simply by remembering ABC.

A — Ask for His Mercy. God wants us to approach Him in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins and asking Him to pour His mercy out upon us and upon the whole world.

B — Be merciful. God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as He does to us.

C — Completely trust in Jesus. God wants us to know that the graces of His mercy are dependent upon our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will receive.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS DURING LENT: WEDNESDAY 6:30pm and FRIDAY 6:30pm

Holy Week & Easter

Holy Week is the most important week in the Christian year. Pope Francis says “Holy Week” is a privileged time when we are called to draw near to Jesus: friendship with Him is shown in times of difficulty”. The best way to draw near to Our Lord is to participate as much as possible the liturgies of the Church.

PALM SUNDAY — the commemoration of Our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem when he was greeted with praise and thanksgiving, the waving and strewing of palms. We too carry palms, then take them home to put with our household crucifix.

THE SACRED TRIDUUM —the 3 Holy Days of the Paschal Mystery

HOLY THURSDAY —The MASS of THE LORD’S SUPPER at 6:00pm commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, the total gift of Himself to us as the Bread of Life. Afterwards, Jesus went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. After this mass the consecrated hosts are taken to the “altar of repose”. All are invited to spend some time with Him, learning to be with Him in His suffering. The church is stripped of its candles and linens, all holy water is removed and the sacraments are not celebrated until Easter. It is a time of mourning, but always lived in light of the Resurrection.

GOOD FRIDAY — A day of fasting and abstinence. Fasting applies to those 18-60: no meat (abstinence) and only one simple meal and two small ones, and no food in between. Do all you can to be at THE LITURGY OF THE LORD’S PASSION AND DEATH at 3:00pm, the hour at which Christ died on the Cross.

HOLY SATURDAY — the Church waits in the Lord’s tomb, reflecting on his Passion and Death, waiting with faith, prayer and fasting the glorious Resurrection. Mary is waiting with us. We gather at 8:00pm to celebrate the Vigil Mass of the Resurrection, to celebrate in readings and song how God prepared His People for the Resurrection and conclude with the First Mass of Easter

EASTER CARDS: Please do take an Easter card home with you as you leave today, all the Easter Liturgies are inside the card. Fr David Barnes, Rector

HOLY PLACES: There will be a collection after the Liturgy of The Lord’s Passion on Good Friday. Please continue to pray for the suffering Church in the Middle East. Thank you.

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+FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT  Sunday 17^th MARCH 2024

CARDINAL’S LENTEN APPEAL 2024 There will be a retiring collection TODAY after all masses. If you can, please show your support for the Cardinal’s Lenten Appeal. All funds raised go towards projects across our Diocese. Each year, the Diocese uses donations made to support the work of our services, such as Marriage & Family Life; Youth Ministry, and Education. Funds are also used to support the work of Caritas Westminster, which works for and with some of the most vulnerable people in our Diocese. Cardinal Nichols, has expressed his gratitude to everyone who supports the Appeal, with whatever they can afford. So, please take a donation envelope today, for more information. You can use the QR code to make your donation online. Thank you for your generosity.

THE NATIONAL NOVENA TO ST JOSEPH: will take place from 10th – 18th March 2024 at St Joseph’s Church in Maidenhead. Details at: www.millhillmissionaries.com/novena. You are welcome to send in your petitions and/or to request a Novena prayer booklet. Email novenamhm@gmail.com THE NOVENA WILL BE RECITED AFTER MASS IN OUR PARISH FROM 10^th – 18^th MARCH. NOVENA LEAFLETS ARE AVAILABLE.

“LAETARE” (“Rejoice”) SUNDAY

TODAY we are invited to REJOICE, because the coming celebration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection (the Paschal Mystery) is fast approaching. May our rejoicing energise us to use this second half of Lent as well as we can to prepare for Easter.

MOTHERING SUNDAY: today we pray for all mothers in their mothering. To be a mother is one of the greatest of lives – to conceive and bear a child, and mothering the child to maturity. What an awesome responsibility. Our Lady Mother of Jesus, is the model: Let us invoke her help for all mothers.

THE NATIONAL NOVENA TO ST JOSEPH: will take place from 10th – 18th March 2024 at St Joseph’s Church in Maidenhead. Details at: www.millhillmissionaries.com/novena. You are welcome to send in your petitions and/or to request a Novena prayer booklet. Email novenamhm@gmail.com

THE NOVENA WILL BE RECITED AFTER MASS IN OUR PARISH FROM 10^th – 18^th MARCH.  NOVENA LEAFLETS WILL BE AVAILABLE.

THE FEAST OF JOSEPH: Monday 19^th March

SAINTS & MARTYRS: A series of DVD presentations Monday evenings at 6.45pm, in the Parish Room. This Monday 11^th March, we explore the life of St Thomas More.

THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE

TODAY’S GOSPEL tells of Our Lord driving out the money changers and those who sold birds and animals for sacrifice. We are to learn that: • the Temple sacrifices have come to an end because Jesus Himself is now God fully present among us, and His one perfect sacrifice on Calvary effects our reconciliation with God and one another • after the Resurrection the Church is His Mystical Body on earth —  belonging to Jesus and His Church are two sides of the same coin. • our churches are to be places of prayer. Authentic worship and prayer are means to let God transform us and enable us live better each day. • Jesus wants to cleanse us of our sin but this cannot happen until we enthrone Him, so that He reigns fully in our life. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is our most powerful weapon to effect this. • The Ten Commandments teach us ten ways of loving, so they are an excellent way to help us examine our life and prepare for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We should know the Ten Commandments by heart! Do we?

+ SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT Sunday 25th February 2024

Inspirational Quotes for The Lenten Season

1. “Lent comes providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy.” — Pope Francis

2. “Are you capable of risking your life for someone? Do it for Christ.” — Pope St John Paul II

3. “As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus’ thirst…’Repent and believe’ Jesus tells us. What are we to repent? Our indifference, our hardness of heart. What are we to believe? Jesus thirsts even now, in your heart and in the poor — He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you.” — St Teresa of Calcutta

4.  “Prayer is where the action is.” — John Wesley

5. “The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.” — Pope St. Gregory the Great

6. “Lent stimulates us to let the Word of God penetrate our life and in this way to know the fundamental truth: who we are, where we come from, where we must go, what path we must take in life…” – Pope Benedict XVI

7. “Renounce yourself in order to follow Christ; discipline your body; do not pamper yourself, but love fasting.” — Saint Benedict

8. “Lent is like a long ‘retreat’ during which we can turn back into ourselves and listen to the voice of God, in order to defeat the temptations of the Evil One. It is a period of spiritual ‘combat’ which we must experience alongside Jesus, not with pride and presumption, but using the arms of faith: prayer, listening to the word of God and penance. In this way we will be able to celebrate Easter in truth, ready to renew the promises of our Baptism.” — Pope Benedict XVI

THE SECOND SYNOD on SYNODALITY: towards October 2024. Our Archbishop, Cardinal Vincent Nichols is inviting us to assemble as a parish to consider the following four questions. Q.1: How do we witness as a Parish and proclaim our faith to: ▷those who have never heard of Christ; ▷those who have ceased walking with Christ; ▷those with whom we worship Christ (those who go to church)? Q.2: How should we organise ourselves as a Parish to do this more effectively? Q.3: What concrete steps/formation opportunities would help us begin to witness and proclaim our faith more effectively? Q.4: What structures may need to change? How might we need to develop the way we are organised currently?

We shall do this on Monday evening at 6.45pm, as part of our Lenten celebration of Saints. If you cannot be present, do please let me know your views or email your responses to the Parish office. Fr David Barnes, Rector

CAFOD FAMILY FAST DAY APPEAL TODAY: This Lent, your donations to CAFOD’s Family Fast Day appeal will help hardworking people like James the fisherman in Liberia with resources, tools and training to feed their families. Give today using the envelope or online at www.cafod.org.uk To watch James’ inspiring story please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFWxJpczass

SAINTS & MARTYRS: A series of DVD presentations Monday evenings at 6.45pm, in the Parish Room. • 26^th February St John Henry Newman • 4^th March St Ann Line and the Martyrs of Lincoln’s Inn Fields • 11^th March St Thomas More

+ FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT Sunday 18th February 2024 In these 40 days of Lent we seek to identify with Our Lord’s experience in the desert and so come to understand and love Him better. It was the Holy Spirit who led Him into the desert, and we shall only keep a good Lent in so far as we keep asking the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. Our Lord was tempted by the Devil, and, if we are intent on following Our Lord, so shall we be tempted — to give up, to make the things of this world (food, drink, possessions, status and money) the treasures of our heart. This is why we must emphasise the disciplines of Lent:  PRAYER, FASTING and ALMSGIVING. Practising these liberates us from our self-centredness and self-indulgence. We need always to ask the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the help of the angels, just as Our Lord experienced this in the desert. There is the wonderful prayer to St Michael the Archangel to keep us from the influence of the Devil and bad spirits.

THE SECOND SYNOD on SYNODALITY: towards October 2024. Our Archbishop, Cardinal Vincent Nichols is inviting us to assemble as a parish to consider the following four questions. Q.1: How do we witness as a Parish and proclaim our faith to: ▷those who have never heard of Christ; ▷those who have ceased walking with Christ; ▷those with whom we worship Christ (those who go to church)? Q.2: How should we organise ourselves as a Parish to do this more effectively? Q.3: What concrete steps/formation opportunities would help us begin to witness and proclaim our faith more effectively? Q.4: What structures may need to change? How might we need to develop the way we are organised currently?

We shall do this over the next two Monday evenings at 6.45pm, as part of our Lenten celebration of Saints. If you cannot be present, do please let me know your views or (best!) email your responses to the Parish office. Fr David Barnes, Rector

POPE FRANCIS MESSAGE for XXXII WORLD DAY OF THE SICK

“It is not good that man should be alone”.

Healing the Sick by Healing Relationships.

TODAY is the 32^nd WORLD DAY OF THE SICK. Pope Francis writes: Brothers and sisters, the first form of care needed in any illness is compassionate and loving closeness. To care for the sick thus means above all to care for their relationships, all of them: with God, with others – family members, friends, healthcare workers – , with creation and with themselves. Can this be done? Yes, it can be done and all of us are called to ensure that it happens. Let us look to the icon of the Good Samaritan (cf. Lk 10:25-37), to his ability to slow down and draw near to another person, to the tender love with which he cares for the wounds of a suffering brother. Let us remember this central truth in life: we came into the world because someone welcomed us; we were made for love; and we are called to communion and fraternity. This aspect of our lives is what sustains us, above all at times of illness and vulnerability. It is also the first therapy that we must all adopt in order to heal the diseases of the society in which we live. To those of you who experience illness, whether temporary or chronic, I would say this: Do not be ashamed of your longing for closeness and tenderness! Do not conceal it, and never think that you are a burden on others. The condition of the sick urges all of us to step back from the hectic pace of our lives in order to rediscover ourselves. The sick, the vulnerable and the poor are at the heart of the Church; they must also be at the heart of our human concern and pastoral attention. May we never forget this! And let us commend ourselves to Mary Most Holy, Health of the Sick, that she may intercede for us and help us to be artisans of closeness and fraternal relationships.

Rome, Saint John Lateran, 10 January 2024 FRANCIS

To read the full message please visit: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/sick/documents/20240110-giornata-malato.html

CHILDREN’S LITURGY

OUR CHILDREN are among our greatest treasures, and as a parish family we must therefore ask ourselves “How is this lived in our parish?”

THE MASS is the heart of parish life: it is our means of union with God through communion with Christ. The Mass is God—with— us. That is why Mass, at least on Sundays, is such an essential. To rob ourselves or our children of Sunday Mass is to rob ourselves of our greatest good .

THE CHILDREN’S LITURGY is a good way of making the Word of God more accessible to our children. We have an excellent history of Children’s Liturgy in this parish. This Sunday and every Sunday we shall have a Children’s Liturgy at the 10:00am Mass, led by Marthe and Antoine Danzin.

WE ALL have a responsibility to treasure and support our children —first by our prayers, by supporting our altar servers and children’s choir, and the children’s day trips and theatre visits. I am especially grateful to our school, St Joseph’s Macklin Street, for all they do in forming our children in the Catholic Faith. Frequent prayers for our school too please. My sincere thanks also to Mr Brian Stalker who is preparing our children for First Holy Communion.  

Do please let me know of other ways we can develop our love and care of our children.

Fr David Barnes, Rector

TODAY is RACIAL JUSTICE SUNDAY.

Bishop Paul McAleenan, Lead Bishop for Racial Justice, message for Racial Justice Sunday:

Hello. My name is Bishop Paul McAleenan. The theme of Racial Justice Sunday in England and Wales in 2024 is ‘Seeing one another in the life of the Church’. There are different ways that the theme could be approached. I would like to suggest one particular way.

In the history of the Church, there have been those who looked at the society in which they lived, and responded to what they saw. They looked, made a decision based on what they saw, and acted. Alert and sensitive as they were to the commandments of Christ, when they saw justice being denied to someone because of their racial origin or colour, they were prompted to act. Their actions of opposing racism, promoting equality and justice, became their life’s work. Following this path, sometimes they encountered hostility, rejection, and attempts to overturn what they were doing.

However, they persevered and became instruments of change, agents of progress, and some are acknowledged as saints of the Church. There are many, many saints in the Church. Each is different. Each chose to follow a particular aspect of the person of Jesus.

Some saw Jesus as a teacher and devoted their lives to teaching. Some followed Jesus as one who loved the sick, and opened hospices and hospitals. Others saw Jesus as the friend of the poor and gave witness to that. Among the saints are those who remembered the words of Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for what is right. They shall be satisfied.” And then they spent their lives working that everyone would be treated justly, with fairness and without discrimination.

For Racial Justice Sunday this year, can I suggest that you explore the lives of those great men and women – those who devoted their lives to the pursuit of racial justice, those who emulated God’s passion for justice, which we read about in the scriptures.

They will inspire us, teach us, and make us sensitive to the importance of racial justice and why we work for it. May we too, like them, see one another in the life of the Church.         Bishop Paul McAleenan

A PRAYER FOR RACIAL JUSTICE SUNDAY Come, Holy Spirit, show us your beauty, reflected in all the peoples of the earth, so that we may discover anew that all are important and all are necessary, different faces of the one humanity that God so loves. Amen.

3^rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Sunday 21^st January 2024

SUNDAY OF THE WORD OF GOD

POPE FRANCIS has made this Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (today!) an opportunity to deepen our devotion to the celebration, study and spread of the Word of God.

“Devoting a specific Sunday of the liturgical year to the Word of God can enable the Church to experience anew how the risen Lord opens up for us the treasury of his word and enables us to proclaim its unfathomable riches before the world.” Pope Francis

THE SACRED SCRIPTURES (the Bible) are the inspired Word of God. God speaks to us in a particular way when we read them with faith and love. Like Our Lady we need to ponder them and treasure them in our heart.

St Paul writes: “All Scripture is inspired by God and can profitably be used for: 1. Teaching 2. Refuting error 3. Guiding people’s lives 4. Teaching them to be holy

This is how the person who is dedicated to God becomes fully equipped and ready for any good work” (2 Timothy 3:16,17)

READ THE SCRIPTURES therefore every day, even if only a few verses. We should feast on them more than food and drink!

RESOLUTION: decide today to be committed to reading the Sacred Scriptures every day. 1. Give the Bible a special place of prominence in your house. Hold it with reverence. The priest kisses the Gospel after proclaiming it at Mass: we do well also to kiss the Bible as we use it. 2. If we are beginning again, why not start with St Mark’s Gospel, a clear and simple presentation of what Jesus said and did?

Or, the First Letter of John, a beautiful presentation of how to come back to God with all our heart.

WHATEVER WE DECIDE, DO SOMETHING! Every Blessing, Fr David Barnes, Rector

2^nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Sunday 14^th January 2024

POPE FRANCIS’s – MESSAGE ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND PEACE. There are the fundamental concerns that Pope Francis raised when he announced his theme for the World Day of Peace: the need to be vigilant that a “logic of violence and discrimination” doesn’t take root in the development of AI at the expense of the most fragile and excluded; that the advancement of AI does not fuel injustice and inequality and therefore conflict, and, of course, that AI is developed so that it serves humanity and the protection of our common home. It is a theme we will need to keep returning to. To read the message in full, visit: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/20231208-messaggio-57giornatamondiale-pace2024.html

PRAYER FOR PEACE God our creator and sustainer, We thank you for the gifts of creativity you have given us, for the ability to explore science and understand your creation. We ask your forgiveness for the times we have used science for evil and not for good, for war and not for peace. Make us vigilant as we develop technology, that violence and discrimination may not take root, that injustice and inequality will not be fuelled, that the poor and vulnerable will not pay the cost. May all that we create contribute to peace and justice. Amen

PAX CHRISTI (PEACE SUNDAY): TODAY 14^th Jan 2024. “The work of Pax Christi is based on the Gospel & inspired by faith. Their vision is of a world where people can live in peace, without fear of violence in all its forms. Please use the following link: https://paxchristi.org.uk/about-us/support-us/donation/

WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY 18^th – 25^th January. We pray each day for the reunion of all Christians.  The theme this year is “You shall love the Lord your God… and your neighbour as yourself” (Lk 10:27).

PRAYER Lord, give us the grace to know you deeply, in order to love you entirely. May the gift of your Holy Spirit enable our eyes, ears and minds to receive the unconditional love with which you love us. Purify our hearts that we may always be ready to love our neighbour, however different, as ourselves. Through the self-giving life of Christ our Lord. Amen.

QUESTIONS Personal: How do you see yourself? How do you think God sees you? Local: Does God’s view of you change your view of those around you? Global: How does God’s view of you change how you respond to the news?

THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD Sunday 7th January 2024

THE EPIPHANY 

TODAY we celebrate the Epiphany. In the coming of the Kings/the Magi, we see that all real power and wisdom are found in the person of Jesus —  He is the Power and the Wisdom of God personified. The Kings/Magi fall on their knees and worship Him: we too must imitate them, falling on our knees and worshipping Him — only then are we better disposed to recognse who He really is. The Feast of the Epiphany was the day I was ordained priest — now 48 years ago! On my ordination prayer card I put a prayer written by a saint who has influenced me greatly throughout my adult life: St Ignatius Loyola (1491— 1556) I put the prayer here again, and encourage you to say it regularly. Pray for me too, please, as I do for you.

Dearest Jesus, teach me to be generous; teach me to serve You as You deserve; to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labour and not to ask for any reward save that of knowing I am doing Your Will.

TOMORROW (Monday) we celebrate Our Lord’s baptism by his cousin John the Baptist….

Our Lord is revealed as divine, the Son of God. Our Lord commissions the apostles to go out into the whole world and baptise people everywhere in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

To be baptised means we are immersed into the life of the Blessed Trinity, so we can share God’s life. In baptism God places us in His Son and we become a son or daughter of God: when God looks on us He sees us as a son or daughter because we are in God’s Son. This is all pure gift, a grace of God. We could not do this ourselves: God does it for us.

God wants to share His Life with us, and for us to share our life with Him. Baptism initiates this relationship. Today, thank God for the Sacrament of Baptism, and pray we shall all live our friendship with God more devotedly. 

POPE FRANCIS ONCE ASKED: “If I were to ask you today, “which of you knows the exact date of your baptism?” I do not think there would be too many hands raised…. Yet, it is the day on which we were saved, it is the day on which we became children of God. Now, those who do not know it should ask their godparents, their dad, their mom, an uncle, an aunt: “When was I baptised”? And that day should be remembered each year: it is the day on which we became children of God”. Fr David Barnes, Parish Priest