Parish Events

Please note in your diaries: Advent Service of ‘Light in Darkness’, followed by Tea in the Olde Forge Cafe: Sunday 14th December at 3.00pm. Advent Penance Service and Individual Reconciliation: Wednesday 17th December at 6.00PM Christmas holy Masses and Carols: Wednesday 24th December - Carols at 5.30pm, holy Mass at 6.00pm; Wednesday 24th December - Carols at 11.30pm and holy Mass at 12.00Midnight;  Thursday 25th December - Carols at 10.30am and holy Mass at 11.00am

I was asked if anyone who is already a Catholic could still come to our Rite of Christian Initiation meetings. The answer is, of course, yes, with great pleasure. Every meeting in our parish is open to everyone. Do come to these meetings and your own relationship with the Lord will grow stronger and deeper.

We began the month of November with the great Feast of All Saints, inviting everyone who is now with the Lord in Heaven, living in eternal joy, to pray for us. Tomorrow, the Feast of All Souls, we begin to think of those who have died and, while not yet in Heaven, are on their way home! We believe that the holy Mass and our prayers help these Holy Souls on that journey. Do come to holy Mass tomorrow, All Souls Day, and join me and through the holy Mass we can help our loved ones to speedily reach our homeland of Heaven.  If you would like me to offer holy Mass during the month of November, for specific members of your family or friends who have died, please fill in one of the Holy Mass envelopes which you will find in the church porch, enclose your stipend and please give it to me or pop it through the presbytery letterbox. In the holy Mass, we are connected to the Lord Jesus in his death and resurrection. The holy Mass is the most powerful means possible to allow the Lord to bring us and our loved ones safely home to Heaven.

Please add the names of any loved ones who have died in the last year, to our Book of Remembrance, on the page of the date they left our world. The Book of Remembrance will be placed on the altar during every holy Mass in this month of November and so we will remember to pray for them at each and every holy Mass.

We will soon begin again our meetings for adults who are thinking about becoming Catholics and/or who wish to receive the Sacraments of Baptism or Eucharist or Reconciliation or Confirmation. The next 2 meetings will be at 5.00pm on the 14th and 21st November. The meetings will take place in our Parish Room. We already have 2 adults who have signed up for these sessions. Please let me know if you have not yet been baptised or have not yet received the Sacraments mentioned above. You will be most welcome at these meetings which will be very informal and relaxed.

On Saturday 6th December , from 10.00am until 2.00pm, I’ll be delivering this course. The course will bring hope to anyone who is struggling in any way with the complexities and disappointments of life and deeper meaning to anyone who wishes to live and die with peace and joy. The Lord who loves us, is with us in everything. He can show us how to live and even how to die, in the ways that will bring peace and joy to our hearts and minds, whatever be our circumstances. Please book early for this course, on the London Jesuit Centre website, to avoid disappointment.

On the weekend of the 25th/26th October , I’m delighted to tell you that members of the Catholic Apostolate of the ‘Women of Christ’s Love’ will join us for holy Mass in our parish. They believe very strongly that “Christ’s love for humanity must be the focus of our worship.”

On Saturday 4th October , Archbishop John will lead a day of prayer and praise, from 10.15am to 5.00pm, which includes, holy Mass, Adoration, Reconciliation.

I’ll be leading this course, once again, at the London Jesuit Centre on five consecutive Saturday mornings, from 11.00 until 1.00pm, beginning on Saturday 18th October. Each time I offer this course, it is always different! It’s designed to help people to become more human, more alive, more their true selves, while discovering ever more deeply the true loving God at the heart of their lives. The course is now available to book, on the LJC website. I’m told that the number of participants, this time, will be strictly controlled to no more 18 people! Please book early to avoid disappointment.