Kevin Hale
Christmas Message
Christmas Message
Kevin Hale
Fourth Sunday of Advent

Dear friends in Christ

Shortly after the Annunciation Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth.

Fourth Sunday of Advent
Kevin Hale
Third Sunday of Advent 'Gaudete'

Dear friends in Christ 

The title of this Third Sunday of Advent takes its name from the Entrance Antiphon—or Introit—of the Mass: Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete. Dominus enim prope est…Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice.

Third Sunday of Advent 'Gaudete'
Kevin Hale
Second Sunday of Advent

Dear friends in Christ

Throughout Advent the Church uses the voice of the Old Testament prophets to assist us in the task of preparing a way for the Messiah.

Second Sunday of Advent
Kevin Hale
First Sunday of Advent

Dear friends in Christ

I would like to begin Advent by sharing with you some helpful lines from a sermon on Advent by Monsignor Ronald Knox, preached in 1947:

Everybody knows, even those of us who have lived most unadventurously, what it is to plod on for miles, it seems, eagerly straining your eyes towards the lights that, somehow, mean home.

First Sunday of Advent

We Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries

Canon John Byrne, Fr Brian Reeves, HH Pope Benedict XVI, Canon Patrick McKenna, Fr Jim Wilkinson, Fr Denis Cantwell, Catherine Rankilor, Doreen Foley, Nora Phillips, Adrian Dann, Francis Cook, Peter Whale, Frederick Thomas Ross, Stephen McManus, Anna Siani, David Scott-Frame, Sylvia Sippitt, Louis Mooney, George Lane, Leslie Dawson, Mary Reilly, Michael McGaughey, Thomas Woolcott, Francis Hayes, John Sinclair, Joan Gubbins, Kate Lessons, Kathleen Lewin, Gregory Power, Maureen Guihen, Emily Swann, Mary O’Toole, Annie French, Jules Deuss, Ethel Milo, Simon Burgoyne, Violet Jackson, Millicent Ransom, Joseph Hazell, Eileen Murray, Maureen Regan, Helen Cotton, Peter Quinn, Charles D’Souza, Len Gardner, Hannah Flintoff, Eileen Bull, Frances Ryan, Brita Irons, Len Plummer, Anthony Ryan, Hilda Edwards, Walter Burden, Ricky (Lola) Clarke & Marie Fitzakerly.

We pray for our sick

The Sick List is available on the website main menu, under Worship.

We pray for the sick of our parish

“Father,
by the power of your Spirit
you have filled the hearts of your faithful people
with gifts of love for one another.
Hear the prayers we offer for our relatives and friends.
Give them health of mind and body
that they may do your will with perfect love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.”
— Roman Missal: For relatives and friends

Dates for your Diary

Saturday 15th—Friday 21st March 2025—Parish Mission led by the Redemptorists

Saturdays 10th & 17th May 10.30am—First Holy Communion Masses

Sunday 1st June 2025—Visitation & Confirmation

Sunday 22nd June—Corpus Christi Procession 4pm

Monday 21st—Friday 25th July—Lourdes Pilgrimage

Monday 8th September Centenary of the Opening of our Church

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Liturgy:
Readings of Year C
The Nicene Creed
Preface 2 of Advent

Saturday 21
Saturday of the Third Week of Advent
10am Mass Bernadette Perry, RIP (KH)
10.30-11.30am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confession

5.30pm Vigil The People of the Parish
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confession

Sunday 22 December
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Confessions after all Masses
8am Mass Michael Mapson, RIP (GM)
9.30am Mass Paul Watts, RIP (SVP)
11.30am Mass Paul Watts, RIP (LL)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction


Monday 23
Weekday of Advent
 9am Mass Ian Irwin, RIP (MI)
Confessions after Mass

Tuesday 24
Christmas Eve
9am Mass Roy & Marjorie Worsley, RIP (JC)
Confessions after Mass until 11am

5.30pm Vigil Mass Holy Souls (Night Mass Readings)
8.30pm Vigil of Readings & Carols
9pm Night Mass The People of the Parish

Wednesday 25
CHRISTMAS DAY
8am Mass Private Intention (Dawn Mass)
9.30am Mass Private Intention (Dawn Mass)
11.30am Mass Private Intention (Day Mass)

Thursday 26
St Stephen, the First Martyr
10am Mass Altar Servers and their Families

Friday 27
St John, Ap, Ev
12Noon Mass Roland & Madeleine Selvini RIP

Saturday 28
The Holy Innocents, Mm
10am Mass Alex McFarlane, RIP (Anniv) (MW)
10.30-11.30am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confession

5.30pm Vigil The People of the Parish
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confession

Sunday 29 December
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph
8am Mass Adrian Dann, RIP (Anniv) (SD)
9.30am Mass Paul Watts, RIP (GM)
11.30am Mass Intentions of Margaret Huish (MR)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction

We Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries

Fr William Arthur Cowd, Bp Brian Foley, Canon Wilfrid Thompson, Fr Francis Greenan, Fr Francis Wilson, Fr James Duffy, Robert Kirsch, Teresa Evans, Roland Glazebrook, David Middleton, Mario Piacentini, Anthony Sansom, Elsie Osborne, Mary Heather, Teresa Riley, Winifred McClafferty, Elizabeth Astall, Jessica Wilson, Basil DeNeuman, Mary Higgins, Anthony Nesnas, Bridget McDonald, Julie Upsher, Eddie Gillman, Clare Whomes, Douglas Hurley, Charles Stokes, Lynda Quinlivan, Guido Lauria, Janet Newby, Michael Manning, JohnFurley, Amelia Eaglesfield, Flor Perez de Pina, P.A. Holcombe, Mrs Beeching, James O’Donnell, Francis Gibson, Mary Fitzroy, Deirdre Gray, James Keefe, Doris Swinney, Joseph Dologhan, & Audrey O’Connell.

We pray for our sick

The Sick List is available on the website main menu, under Worship.

We pray for the sick of our parish

“Father,
by the power of your Spirit
you have filled the hearts of your faithful people
with gifts of love for one another.
Hear the prayers we offer for our relatives and friends.
Give them health of mind and body
that they may do your will with perfect love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.”
— Roman Missal: For relatives and friends

The Jubilee Year of Hope 2025

"Jubilee” is the name given to a particular year; the name comes from the instrument used to mark its launch. In this case, the instrument in question is the yobel, the ram's horn, used to proclaim the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This (Jewish) holiday occurs every year, but it takes on special significance when it marks the beginning of a Jubilee year. We can find an early indication of it in the Bible: a Jubilee year was to be marked every 50 years, since this would be an “extra” year, one which would happen every seven weeks of seven years, i.e., every 49 years (cf. Leviticus 25:8-13). Even though it wasn’t easy to organise, it was intended to be marked as a time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation, and involved the forgiveness of debts, the return of misappropriated land, and a fallow period for the fields.

Quoting the prophet Isaiah, the Gospel of Luke describes Jesus’ mission in this way: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord,” (Luke 4:18-19; cf. Isaiah 61:1-2). Jesus lives out these words in his daily life, in his encounters with others and in his relationships, all of which bring about liberation and conversion.

In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII called the first Jubilee, also known as a “Holy Year,” since it is a time in which God's holiness transforms us. The frequency of Holy Years has changed over time: at first, they were celebrated every 100 years; later, in 1343 Pope Clement VI reduced the gap between Jubilees to every 50 years, and in 1470 Pope Paul II made it every 25 years. There have also been “extraordinary” Holy Years: for example, in 1933 Pope Pius XI chose to commemorate the 1900th anniversary of the Redemption, and in 2015 Pope Francis proclaimed the Year of Mercy as an extraordinary jubilee. The way in which Jubilee Years are marked has also changed through the centuries: originally the Holy Year consisted of a pilgrimage to the Roman Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul, later other signs were added, such as the Holy Door. By participating in the Holy Year, one is granted a plenary indulgence. The characteristics of the Jubilee Year are: making a Pilgrimage, passing through one of the Holy Doors in the designated Churches, especially the Roman Basilicas; Reconciliation (Sacrament of Confession) and prayer. In the Diocese of Brentwood Holy Doors will be opened in—The Cathedral of St Mary & St Helen, Brentwood, The National Shrine of Our Lady of Light, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, Clacton, Saint Antony of Padua, Forest Gate. Within our own Diocese we can fulfil the indulgence by visiting one of these churches.

The particular theme and intention of this Jubilee Year is Hope.  Let us then, go forward in Hope in Christ as the sole Redeemer of mankind and live daily the promises  He gives us whilst making use of the divine treasury being opened-up for us by our Mother the Church.

Dates for your Diary

Saturday 15th—Friday 21st March 2025—Parish Mission led by the Redemptorists

Saturdays 10th & 17th May 10.30am—First Holy Communion Masses

Sunday 1st June 2025—Visitation & Confirmation

Sunday 22nd June—Corpus Christi Procession 4pm

Monday 21st—Friday 25th July—Lourdes Pilgrimage

Monday 8th September Centenary of the Opening of our Church

Parish Fundraising

Thank you to everyone who has supported the 200 Club this year. The results of the November draw are as follows:

1st Prize   £150   25     Mr G Shepherd

2nd Prize £100 139     Mr J Sinclair

3rd Prize   £75   34      Mrs J Allard

4th Prize   £25  184      Mrs A Peoples

There has been a significant drop in members over the past few months. Would you consider taking part in the 200 Club? The subscription is £5 per month, either by cash, cheque or direct debit. If you would like to join, please fill in a form which can be found at the back of the church or ring Linda Wall on 01702 558217.