Twenty First Sunday (Year C) 25 August 2019
Fr Frank writes:
My dear friends,
Our Gospel reading today is about membership of the Kingdom of God. Note that there is no automatic membership, no guarantee of admittance.
Someone wants to know how many will be saved. Jesus tells him it is a waste of time to speculate. What we need to be doing is focussing our aim on the narrow door: we should be concerned about the quality of our own lives – our morality, how we live out the Faith. The door is narrow (Jesus tells us) and it’s not open indefinitely. We must be careful, and we mustn’t leave things too late.
There are many qualities that will lead us to the ‘narrow door’, but our second reading today gives us some useful pointers. We need to struggle and suffer for the cause of truth, justice and love. We will face trials, and to overcome these we need discipline. Discipline is conceded by some as a rather old fashioned virtue, and many may wrongly see it as something imposed from outside. True discipline is just as relevant today, and it comes from within.
If we have problems with “Discipline” then we have problems with “Disciple” because they are both from the same root. The one who is disciplined is the true disciple and it is this one who will find the narrow door.
May our good, generous and loving God bless you today and always.
Frank ofs
Sunday Smile:
A baptismal service was in progress in an Anglican church. During the course of his sermon the minister looked down at the water in the font and said, “There is nothing magical about this water, it is the same water that we shall use to make the coffee with later.”
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) 18 August 2019
Fr Frank writes:
My dear friends,
In today’s Gospel Jesus says, “I have come to bring fire on earth, and how I wish it were blazing already.” Further, he says, “Do you suppose I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, rather division.”
There is no neutral position when it comes to Jesus Christ, our Lord. You either love him or you hate him, accept him or reject him. There will always be a division when it comes to the issue of Jesus Christ and his teachings.
Today’s Gospel reading urges us not to be afraid by the division caused by the word of God, but rather to be firm in faith filled with all the confidence that God gives us.
On Thursday 22nd we celebrate the Feast of The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is an important Feast particularly in Harwich & Dovercourt parish where it is our church’s Feast of Title. If you are able to, please come along to Mass on Thursday to give thanks for our church and parish. Parishioners from Frinton & Walton are also warmly invited to come along to Mass on that day – it’s a lovely drive, and if you haven’t been to Our Lady Queen of Heaven for some time you will be pleasantly surprised and delighted by all the work that has been done to renovate, repair and redecorate in the past few years. It is a truly beautiful House of God.
May God richly bless you today and always.
Frank ofs
Sunday Smile:
Some years ago a bishop of St David’s on holiday in a Welsh village was asked to conduct the Sunday worship as the rector was ill. Commented the rector’s warden: “A worser preacher would have done, but we couldn’t find one.”
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) 11 August 2019
Fr Frank writes:
My dear friends,
Today’s Gospel comprises parables featuring servant and master. The servants in the parables spend their waiting time differently. Some use it wisely and are ready for the master’s return, others use it badly forgetting that they will be accountable to their master. We are the servants, Jesus is the master. Twice in these parables Jesus warns us that he “will come on a day….at an hour” we do not expect.
Now this coming of Jesus refers to two distinct ‘comings’. First of all, his coming at the end of time and, secondly, is coming when we die.
The timing of both of these comings is unknown to us. We do not know when the end of this world will be, nor do we know when we are to die.
The message is clear. We need to be ready now. Not next week, next month or at some unspecified time in the future. We need to live our lives now as if Jesus’s return is imminent. Only in this way can we be ready to greet him.
On 15th August we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady. This is an important day in the Church’s calendar, in fact it is designated a Holy Day of Obligation. As with any other Holy Day all Catholics are expected to be at Mass that day. If you are on holiday, please find out the times of Masses in a church local to you so that you can fulfil your obligation to be at Mass.
May our good and kindly God bless you now and always.
Frank ofs
Sunday Smile:
A girl arrives home from school clutching her new GCSE Grades.
Anxious parents: “How did you get on?”
Girl: “I got four happy face emojis and three sad face emojis.”
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) 4 August 2019
Fr Frank writes:
My dear friends,
One of the things we all value in this frenetic world is peace and quiet. One of the places where we can famously find this is in church. It is a delight to step inside one of these often cool buildings and, in the silence of a holy place, rediscover God. I find it hard to pass a church without entering and enjoying its sacred space.
It is also possible to enjoy relatively long periods of silence at weekday Mass. But, less so at our Sunday Masses. It is important that we greet one another at church – this builds up our sense of community and is particularly welcomed by those who are lonely. However, it is necessary to balance this with the need for prayer and silent preparation for the celebration of the Mass. For this reason we introduced the ‘five minute bell’ in both churches a short time ago. This bell is rung as a reminder to keep a few minutes silence before Mass begins. To do so is good for us, and for our neighbour who may wish to pray. Please use this brief spell of time well.
This week Anne and I travel up to Coventry to meet up with the family and to inter her mother’s ashes in the memorial garden of St James’s Church, Styvechale. This means that I shall be away on Tuesday and Wednesday. My thanks to our Eucharistic Ministers in both parishes for providing the Liturgy of the Word and Holy Communion in my absence.
May the God who we restlessly seek bless you now and always.
Frank ofs
Sunday Smile:
A newly ordained priest was nervous about hearing confessions, so asked an older priest to sit close by and listen in on his ‘sessions’. After the young man had heard several confessions, the older priest asked him to step out of the confessional for a few pointers. The old priest suggested that he cross his arms over his chest and rub his chin thoughtfully with one hand. The new priest successfully tries out the gesture. The old priest then suggests, ‘Try saying things like, “I see, yes, go on,” and “I understand – how did you feel about that?”’ The new priest repeats what the older man has said and nods. The old priest goes on to say, ‘Now don’t you think that’s a little better than slapping your knee and saying, “No way! What happened next?”
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) 28 July 2019
Fr Frank writes:
September is a time when clergy move from parish to parish. Please pray for the following priests who find themselves moving away from familiar places and people, and pray too for those to whom they will be ministering.
Parish Priests:
Canon Peter Connor from Clacton to Danbury/South Woodham Ferrers
Fr John Corbyn from Wickford to Old Harlow (Fr Michael Butler is retiring)
Fr Patrick Daly from Brentwood (Assistant) to Clacton
Fr Mark Reilly from Maldon/Burnham to Wickford
Fr James Joseph SAC from Becontree to Maldon/Burnham
Assistant Priests:
Fr Nixon Gomes from Walthamstow St George to Colchester
Fr John Victor Drabeesan from Colchester to Walthamstow St George
Fr Gary Dench (newly Ordained) to Brentwood.
Permanent Deacon:
Rev Des Connors (newly Ordained) to Stanstead
We pray that God will continue to bless Bishop Alan, our Parishes and Diocese.
We pray at this time for all those on holiday – those parishioners who are away, including Fr Bill, and those who are on holiday here and come to join us at Mass.
May God keep us all in the palm of his hand.
Frank ofs
Sunday Smile:At the end of the rector’s pre-Lent sermon he suggested, as an example to the rest of the community that the congregation should worship in an unheated church for the whole of Lent. As they made their way out into the chill Sunday air the rector addressed one member of the congregation asking what she had decided to give up for Lent.
“Church” she replied firmly.
Quadruple Edition 30 June to 21 July 2019
QUADRUPLE EDITION
SS Peter and Paul 29/30 June 2019
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary time (Year C) 6/7 July 2019
Fifteen Sunday – Sea Sunday (Year C) 13/14 July 2019
Sixteenth Sunday (Year C) 20/21 July 2019
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Sunday Smile:
A priest was a Doctor of Divinity and his wife was a Doctor of Medicine. A man called at the Rectory and asked if he could see “the Doctor”. The housekeeper took one look at him and said, “Which one do you want…………………..the preaching one or the practising one?”
FOR BOTH PARISHES:
Saints and Feast Days
Sun 30 SS Peter and Paul
Mon 1 Anniversary of Bishop Alan’s Episcopal Ordination (2014)
Wed 3 St Thomas (Feast)
Sat 6 Our Lady on Saturday
Sun 7 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
Thurs 11 St Benedict: Patron of Europe (European Feast)
Sat 13 Our Lady on Saturday
Sun 14 Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C): Sea Sunday
Mon 15 St Bonaventure (Memorial)
Tue 16 Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Optional Memorial)
Sat 20 Our Lady on Saturday
Sun 21 Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
Mon 22 St Mary Magdelene (Feast)
Tue 23 St Bridget of Sweden: Patron of Europe (European Feast)
Thurs 25 St James (Feast)
Fri 26 Ss Joachim & Anne, Parents of the BVM (Memorial)
Sat 27 Our Lady on Saturday
Sun 28 Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
Altar Servers: if you would like to join the serving team at either church, please let me know. You must have made your first holy communion. Thank you, Fr Frank
Ministries in Church: Do you feel left out? Do you feel you have something to offer but have never been given the opportunity? If you feel called to be a Minister of the Eucharist, or Reader, or Welcomer, or Cantor, please let me know. Thank you, Fr Frank
Hospital Admissions: if you or one of your family is admitted to hospital, please remember to make it clear to the staff that you are Catholic and that you would like to see someone from the Chaplaincy. In the case of emergency (e.g. imminent death) please ring Fr Frank day or night.
Retiring Collections: 30th June – Institutes of Missionary Sisters (special preached appeal)
14th July – Apostleship of the Sea