Category: Latest News

Justice & Peace Webinar 2021

The number of people experiencing food insecurity has increased dramatically during the COVID-19 19 crisis, with families in our diocese under increasing pressure.  Join our free Justice & Peace Webinar to find out what parishes can do to help on Saturday 16th January 2021:  10 am to 12.30 pm.  To book you free place and receive the Zoom link, contact Rosie Read, Social Action Secretary, at [email protected]

Deacon John Writes

Last Tuesday was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and should have been a Holy Day of Obligation when all Catholics should attend Mass.  In the current situation this was impossible so I have included an attempt to lighten the situation which I found on the internet:

The Pharisees brought the woman, caught red-handed in adultery, before Jesus for judgment, and Jesus said, “Let the person who is without sin cast the first stone.” They fell silent, and then, all of a sudden, a stone came flying from the crowd. Jesus looked up, surprised and amused, and then said, “Hold it, mother? I was trying to make a point, here.

This Sunday is the third Sunday of Advent and is called “Gaudete Sunday” because the Mass for today (in its original Latin text), begins with: “Gaudete in Domino semper” – which translates as “Rejoice in the Lord always.” This is reminding us that we are getting ever nearer to the birth of Jesus which we celebrate at Christmas, so the rose candle in the Advent wreath is lit, and the priest and deacon may wear rose vestments. The common theme of the readings is one of joy and encouragement. They urge us to prepare ourselves in our hearts and lives as we await the rebirth of Jesus. Scripture reminds us that the coming of Jesus, past, present, and future, is the reason for our rejoicing. 

Malcolm Muggeridge wrote the following: Through her ministry in Jesus’ name, Mother Teresa brought untold blessings and joy to the poor who lay unattended and forgotten on our streets. When asked the source of her joy, Mother Teresa replied: “Joy is prayer — joy is strength — joy is love — joy is a net of love. . . A joyful heart is the normal result of a heart burning with love . . . loving as He loves, helping as He helps, giving as He gives, serving as He serves, rescuing as He rescues, being with Him twenty-four hours, touching Him in His distressing disguise.”

Justice & Peace Webinar 2021

Justice & Peace Webinar 2021:  How Should this Diocese Respond to the Food Poverty Crisis?

The number of people experiencing food insecurity has increased dramatically during the Covid 19 crisis, with families in our diocese under increasing pressure.  Join our free Justice & Peace Webinar to find out what parishes can do to help on Saturday 16th January 2021:  10 am to 12.30 pm.  To book your free place and receive the Zoom link, contact Rosie Read, Social Action Secretary, at [email protected]

Deacon John Writes

The second Sunday of Advent has readings based on the theme of “Homecoming”. They focus on how essential it is for us to prepare for Christ to come home into our hearts and lives through repentance, making good anything that has gone wrong in our lives, prayer and the determination and effort needed to renew our lives. God has a saving plan for every one of us through our attendance at Mass, through the Scriptures and through the community life of prayer and thanksgiving.

Isaiah tells us about the Babylonian exiles coming home to their native country, Judah, and their holy city, Jerusalem. He assures them that the Lord promises them that it will be a grand procession and he will take care of them as a shepherd cares for his sheep. This is then reflected in the Psalm with the promise of peace when the Lord comes.

The Gospel tells us that during our preparation for Christmas we need to allow Jesus to be reborn in our lives.  People around us should recognise this happening in our lives by the way we share our love around us, by unconditional forgiveness, with a compassionate and merciful heart and a spirit of humble and committed service. So let us all accept John’s challenge to turn this Advent season into a real spiritual “homecoming” by making the necessary preparations for the fresh arrival of Jesus into our hearts and lives at Christmas.

Love In A Box 2020

Thank you to all the members of both parishes who have been able to contribute to this year’s Love in a Box event.

Despite the difficulties and restrictions we have all faced this year, you have been able to contribute 17 boxes filled with gifts, 35 cosy blankets and over £80 towards transportation costs. It’s wonderful to know that the obstacles posed by COVID 19 have not stopped us from supporting this worthwhile cause.

Christmas Masses at St Wilfrid’s Church

Christmas Masses at St Wilfrid’s Church:  Christmas Eve – 4pm & 7pm

Please email [email protected] or Tel: 01323 841504 to put your name on the list, due to restrictions on numbers, a raffle will be drawn for you to be allocated a place and you will be duly notified if you have been allocated a seat.  The last date to book will be Wednesday 16th December.  Thank you.

Christmas Masses at St George’s Church

Christmas Masses at St. George’s Church:

Christmas Eve Morning – 10.00am   Christmas Day 9.30 a m

We have contacted as many parishioners as possible and these Masses are fully subscribed,  but the Christmas Day Mass will be live streamed offering a wonderful opportunity for us all to share in the celebration of the Birth of our Lord.  Due to Covid 19 restrictions, entrance to the church is by ticket only. Please do not come to the church unless you have the appropriate ticket. Stewards will also have a list of attendees for each day. I’m deeply sorry, but those who have not booked in will be turned away. This is to reduce the risk of spreading Covid 19 and is in line with government requirements regarding spacing.

Christmas Masses in other churches:

Our Lady of Ransom  Christmas Eve – 6.00pm, 9.00pm and Midnight Mass at 12.00.   Christmas Day –  9.15am, 11.30am

St Agnes     Christmas Eve – 6.00pm and 8.00pm.  Christmas Day – 8.00am (Mass in Latin) and 11.15am

St Gregory’s     Christmas Eve – 6.00pm.  Christmas Day – 9.30am and 11am

Booking is essential for all Masses

Deacon John Writes

The common theme of today’s readings is that vigilant service prepares us for the coming of Christ as our Saviour during Christmas and as our judge and Lord at the end of the world. Advent is the season of special preparation for and expectation of the coming of Christ. It encourages us to examine our lives, to reflect on our need for God to enter our lives, and to prepare earnestly for, and eagerly await the coming of Christ. Take heed!” (Be on your guard) and “Watch!” (Be alert, stay awake, and don’t grow careless) The new liturgical year begins by challenging us to pay attention to endings and new beginnings because the central human experience is one of transitions and progress, from past through the present to the future. Today’s liturgy reminds us of what God has done in the past to encourage us to hope and work in the present for the final coming of the Lord to finish what he has begun. Hence Advent is not simply a waiting for someone who has not yet come. Instead, it is a period for enjoyment of the gift of Jesus who has come to save us; and who will come again to reward us. We begin a new liturgical year (Year B) and, with it, we shift from the Gospel of Matthew to the Gospel of Mark, the shortest and the first written gospel.

Let us remember that Christmas is about gift giving so use the period of Advent to forget about the material gifts and remember the real gift given to us in the manger over 2000 years ago. This week spend time considering yourself as a gift to the people in your life. Do not worry about the past but think about the many people for whom you can become a gift from God. Write them a letter, make telephone calls, give everyone a smile, help someone in need, talk to people around you, show them that you care. Jesus trusts us to do this every day of our lives. Let us remember this Advent the saying of St. Thomas Aquinas: “Without God, I can’t.  Without me, He won’t.”

There is a story told by Mgr Arthur Tonne about a newly ordained priest who was to deliver his first sermon and nervously started with the text, “Behold I come!” Then his mind went blank. He repeated, “Behold I come!” Still his brain wouldn’t function, so he leaned over the pulpit and repeated, “Behold I come!” At that moment the pulpit collapsed. He fell over into the lap of a lady. He got up and, red-faced, stammered, “Oh, I’m so sorry! Please forgive me!” The lady was not upset in the least and replied, “That’s all right. I should have been expecting you. After all you warned me three times!”

Tell that story to as many people as you can and count how many do not laugh or smile at the final line – like I hope you did! I don’t think you will have many to count.