15th SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (A)
12th July 2020
Dear Parishioner,
Today's readings are about the transforming power of the word of God when read, preached, and lived. They also warn
us not to be disappointed at the absence of immediate results. We must take a positive and optimistic view of our
missionary efforts, as we keep on bearing witness to Christ's Gospel.
The parable of the sower in today's Gospel challenges us to listen intently to God's Word, to be open to it, and
to allow our lives to be shaped by its power. The parable reminds us that man's reception of God's Word is
determined by the condition of his heart. (You may add an anecdote).
In the first reading, Isaiah consoles the Jewish slaves in Babylon, assuring them that, like rain and snow which water
the earth so that seeds may sprout and grow, God's word will accomplish its purpose, in this case by returning the
exiles to their homes in peace as God promised.
In the second reading, St. Paul reminds us that just as seeds must fall into the earth and die to produce abundant crop,
the pain and sufferings God permits in our lives help our redemption. Paul wants us to wait for our eternal reward while we
continue sowing the word of God diligently and suffering for the Lord, as he did.
Today's Gospel teaches us that the word of the Lord is the seed, and our hearts and minds are the soil. The
seed's good spiritual yield in one's life depends on how fully one willingly accepts and responds to the word of
the Lord. The yield arising from the positive response will be abundant beyond all imagining. The parable tells us to
do our part by preparing fertile soil in our hearts in which the word of God can germinate, grow, and yield 30-, 60-, or
100-fold.
So let us assess our use of the word of God and keep our spiritual soil fertile and prepared for the word of God: We
need to keep our hearts open to the word of God. May god bless us all.
Wishing you all a peaceful and serene time. Stay safe and healthy.
SEND O LORD, HOLY APOSTLES INTO YOUR CHURCH.
Fr. Sabu Pariyadan RCJ
Notices:
- Fr Sabu: Hi every one. It is now one week since we restarted our public worship. It has been a
challenging week. But with the help of generous hearts we managed to have a very good system of "new normal"
inside our church. It has been a promising week. We managed to have around 60 persons on the first Sunday mass and
everything had been a huge success. Weekday masses were also fairly attended. We now have a regular mass schedule. So I
hope this will build up confidence among many people. However those who do not still wish to attend church or can't
attend please stay connected with our updates until we all can come together and worship.
-
Reservation for mass attendance: For a convenient lay out and to gain the maximum benefit out of our
flexible seating at church we are introducing a reservation system for mass attendance. Please
click here to Email or call Judith Wiseman on 07950 924349 (If the call is diverted to the voicemail make sure you
leave a message) with your NAME, CONTACT DETAILS, NUMBER OF SEATS and WHAT DAY/S you wish to attend
mass.
If you just turn up without a reservation and if our capacity has been reached, unfortunately, you may
be turned away for safety concerns and to abide with the guidelines.
Please try to be at least 15 minutes early to allow stewards enough time to get you seated to start the mass
promptly.
- Mass Timetable
- Weekdays : 10:30am (until our situations change further).
- Sundays : 9:00am
If you are shielding or still not sure about going to mass, our bishop reminds us that the Sunday
obligation is still not mandatory. You can still do a virtual mass online or a weekday mass attendance in place.
- Mass intentions: as we restart our public celebration of mass, if you have any particular intentions
for mass, please collect a brown envelope from church or write clearly your intentions on an envelope at home and drop it
at the church or at the presbytery.
- Thank you: a very big thank you to all those people who helped to arrange our church for re-opening,
all those brilliant people who managed our parish-wide communication and spiritual enrichment and to all the stewards who
undertook the challenging job to keep our church open for private prayer and for mass in these coming days, and to
Michael Barwick for all his support to the parish. Fr. Sabu
-
Catholic youth ministry: Over the next few months CYMFed is hosting monthly online talks for the youth
ministry community. The first talk is live next Wednesday, 15th July, 11am, and will be given by
Fr Michel Remery, the author of "Tweeting with God". This amazing project has now been
translated into dozens of languages, and Fr Michel has met with Pope Francis to talk about his work. The talk can be
accessed directly from CYMFed's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/cymfed. Like each of the talks, this can be viewed live - but realising that the
streaming times will not suit everyone, the talks will all be recorded, and can therefore be viewed at any time after
the date they are given.
- Youth member to PPC: We have recently held a Pastoral Parish Council meeting to review our parish
situation, as we usually do every quarter or thereabouts. We are still looking for a member under the age of 30 yrs. IS
THIS YOU? Please, if you think you might like to be involved, let Fr Sabu know.
- Keeping In Touch: As a parish, we have our website, Facebook and the email chain to keep us in
touch. The SVP have been phoning some of those among us who do not have internet access. Please, if you know someone who
would like to see our news, and if you cannot print off from the webpage for them, do let Father Sabu know, so that we
can produce hard copy and arrange to deliver it.
- Green fingers needed: the side garden near our chapel has grown wild. If you have some interest and
knowledge in gardening, your help will be very much appreciated in times of your convenience as we cannot yet hold a work
day now.
-
Caritas Diocese of Brentwood - Development Officer. If you are passionate about supporting local
volunteers, and have strong experience in training and networking in the charitable sector, this could be your perfect
job! Please visit https://www.caritasbrentwood.org/news/developmentofficer/ for the Job Description and full details of this
significant new role, which will help enhance our Gospel mandate to serve and recognise Christ in the poor, and in
those on the edges. The deadline to apply is October 2nd 2020 and the start date is January 2021.
-
"Lourdes in your Living Room": Join Bishop Alan and hundreds of pilgrims from across the
Diocese in a full week of pilgrimage including daily Mass, Rosary, Angelus, Morning and Night Prayer, daily Reflections
… and a Talent Show! For the virtual Marian (Torchlight) procession we welcome photos of you, family members and
friends, alone or together, holding a lighted candle. Please click here to email these by next Sunday, 12th July. If you are a
singer, dancer, joke-teller or entertainer, click here to
email and we will help you submit your act for the talent show. For those age 15-23 there is an additional social
programme, and full details of the whole pilgrimage can be found at www.bcys.net, with links to YouTube.
Please remember to pray for:
Daily for the sick clergy of our Diocese
The sick and housebound
Those who have recently died
