Mass Times * News * Fr Cyril Chiaha Writes
Weekly Mass: 10th – 18th April Easter Week
Throughout the Pandemic all Masses will take place in the parish church of St Richard of Chichester, Buntingford.
The obligation to attend Mass remains suspended. Please see the Coronavirus page for more details.
Saturday 10th April: Vigil of the Second Sunday of Easter
- 6.00pm: Buntingford
Sunday 11th April: Second Sunday of Easter
- 9.15am: Buntingford
- 11.00am: Buntingford
Tuesday 13th April: Easter Feria
- 9.30am: Buntingford
Thursday 15th April: Easter Feria
- 9.30am: Buntingford
Friday 16th April: Easter Feria
- 9.30am: Buntingford
- 10.00am: Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
Saturday 17th April: Vigil Mass of the 3rd Sunday of Easter
- 6.00pm: Buntingford
Sunday 18th April: 3rd Sunday of Easter
- 9.15am: Buntingford
- 11.00am: Buntingford
The readings for Mass can be found every day on the ‘Universalis’ website.
Some churches in our diocese stream Mass online, you may be able to watch one of these during this time.
A warm Welcome to you if today is your first time to attend Mass since the easing of the lock-down. Be assured that our church is planned in a COVID-safe manner. Thank you in anticipation for adhering to the safe measures in place – maintaining safe distancing and hygiene.
Appreciation – I would like to use this opportunity to thank you for your Easter cards and gifts. They are very much appreciated. God bless you!
Sacrament of Confession
- In these exceptional times confession is by appointment and will be held at Buntingford.
Parish Office Hours
- Please consider using the email or telephone for office matters. While we must all support each other in these times, we must also try and do our part in lessening the spread of the this disease.
Attending Mass during the pandemic – while the church remains open for public Mass during this time, please keep in mind that anyone who has any symptoms of the coronavirus is expected to stay at home and follow the government guideline. Doing so is for the good of all and speedier resolution. Also those who attend has to remain in the seat until the end of Mass.
Offertory Collection
- Many Thanks to all those who have maintained regular parish offering through Standing Order, loose plate or cheque and to those who wrote a cheque covering the time we were in lockdown.
- Setting Up A New Standing Order: If you are setting up a Standing Order or donating online for the first time, please note that a new Confirmation of Payee service has been rolled out for additional security reasons.
- Although no changes have been made to the name of our parish bank account, you would be required to use the full name of the parish account set below when setting up a new payment instruction. In other words, the full meaning of the abbreviation WRCDT has to be used.
| Account name: Westminster Roman Catholic Diocese Trustee Old Hall Green and Puckeridge Parish |
Account name: Westminster Roman Catholic Diocese Trustee Buntingford Parish |
|---|---|
| Account Number: 91270044 |
Account Number: 51308610 |
| Sort Code 40-05-20 | Sort Code 40-05-20 |
Fr Cyril Chiaha Writes:
On this second Sunday of Easter, which is also Divine Mercy Sunday, we are reminded of the God’s Mercy as we recall the devotion to Jesus as The Divine Mercy.
The mercy of God has always been at work right from creation. With the fall of Adam and Eve, the author of Genesis recalled how God responded with the fullness of mercy, by declaring to bring forth a woman whose offspring will bring redemption to humankind. As recorded in that account, the Lord God said to the serpent ‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel’ (Genesis 3:15).
This prophecy, which recalls God’s salvific intention, is mercy, and is fulfilled in the Incarnation, when God became human in order to save us. It is the same Mercy of God that unlocked the closed doors of the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, as evident in today’s gospel. Jesus shows up Himself to the disciples. The walls and closed doors of their house could not keep Him out.
Indeed, God’s Mercy has been immemorial. What we are recalling today with the feast of Divine Mercy is the reassurance of God’s Mercy in Christ through the devotion to Jesus as The Divine Mercy, a devotion, which emerged in literature, from the writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska, a 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.
In that diary, St Faustina narrates her experience of the reason behind this devotion and when it is to be celebrated: My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the Fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. … Let no soul fear to draw near to Me. … It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy. (Diary, no. 699).
The message of The Divine Mercy is simply that God loves us – all of us. The devotion fosters the virtue of trust in God’s Mercy that finds its fulfilment in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. While we will not be able to gather together at 3.00pm as we usually do, each of us can still pray the chaplet of Divine Mercy from the comforts of our homes, completely trusting in Jesus Christ. It is my hope that we remembers at all times that God is with us breathing peace, hope and life into us and ready to unlock any barriers that will keep Him from reaching us. Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!