Fifth Sunday of Lent (Readings from Year A) 17/18 March 2018
Fr Frank writes:
My dear Friends,
As we approach the most holy season of the Church Year I give below details of Holy Week and the Triduum.
Harwich & Dovercourt:
Palm Sunday, 25 March: Mass with blessing of Palms, 10.45am
Monday, 26 March: School Mass in church, 1.30pm
*Wednesday, 28 March: Chrism Mass at the Cathedral, 7.00pm
Thursday, 29 March: Funeral Mass (Tony Farry RIP), 11.45am
Holy Thursday, 29 March: Mass of the Lord’s Supper with Watch, 7.00pm
Good Friday, 30 March: Solemn Liturgy of Good Friday, 5.00pm
Holy Saturday, 31 March: Easter Vigil, 6.00pm
Frinton & Walton:
Vigil of Palm Sunday, 24 March: Mass with blessing of Palms, 6.00pm
Palm Sunday, 25 March: Mass with blessing of Palms, 8.30am
*Wednesday, 28 March: Chrism Mass at the Cathedral, 7.00pm
Holy Thursday, 29 March: Mass of the Lord’s Supper with Watch, 7.00pm
Good Friday, 30 March: Solemn Liturgy of Good Friday, 3.00pm
Holy Saturday, 31 March: Easter Vigil, 6.00pm
*look out for details of a possible coach from the two parishes.
Lent is also a time when adults are prepared for reception into the Church and to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. We are fortunate this year in having catechumens/candidates in both parishes. Please pray for our catechumens/candidates: Alex Baxter (to be received on Easter Day, Harwich and Dovercourt) and Paul Bray, Rachel Hunt, Edward Lewis, Carolyn Meikle, John Scott and Tracey Sibley (to be received on Holy Saturday, Frinton and Walton)
May our loving God bless and enrich the lives of each one of you.
Frank ofs
Sunday Smile: Husband to wife (overheard in New York subway): ‘Honey, if God had wanted us to have money, he would have made us TV Evangelists!’
Third and Fourth Sundays of Lent (Readings from Year A) 3/4 and 10/11 March 2018
Fr Frank writes:
My dear Friends,
Lent is above all a time associated with penitence, and I urge as many of you as possible to come along to our parish Reconciliation Services. These will take place as follows:
Frinton and Walton: Saturday March 10th beginning at 11.00am
Harwich and Dovercourt: Saturday March 17th beginning at 11.00am
If you wish to, there will be the opportunity to make individual confession at both these services. But whether you intend to make your confession or not, please come along.
Lent is also a time when adults are prepared for reception into the Church and to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. We are fortunate this year in having catechumens/candidates in both parishes. Please pray for our catechumens/candidates: Alex Baxter (Harwich and Dovercourt) and Paul Bray, Rachel Hunt, Edward Lewis, Carolyn Meikle, John Scott and Tracey Sibley (Frinton and Walton)
May our loving God bless each one of you.
Frank ofs
Sunday Smile: Maria went to the Post Office to buy stamps for her Christmas Cards: “What denomination?” asked the clerk. “Oh! Good heavens! Have we come to this?” said Maria. “OK, give me 45 Catholic, 10 Methodist and 30 Church of England please.”
Second Sunday of Lent (Year B) 24/25 February 2018
Fr Frank writes:
My dear Friends,
Jesus had an intense experience of the presence of God his Father and heard those affirming words, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved’. His Father was pleased with him and would provide all the strength he needed to face a dark and threatening future.
All of us need encouragement and affirmation. Affirmation comes through the words and actions of others. Occasionally though, there are moments when we experience the love and presence of God in a more striking way. They are our ‘transfiguration moments’ – moments which we remember and treasure.
Because both parishes are fortunate in having catechumens/candidates on the RCIA programme, please note that next weekend our readings will be from Year A – on the Third Sunday of Lent those to be Received and/or Confirmed come forward during the Creed as way of showing their commitment to the Faith. When this takes place, the readings from Year A are mandatory.
Please pray for our catechumens/candidates: Alex Baxter (Harwich and Dovercourt) and Paul Bray, Rachel Hunt, Edward Lewis, Carolyn Meikle, John Scott and Tracey Sibley (Frinton and Walton)
May our loving God bless each one of you.
Frank ofs
Sunday Smile:
Some of the best of Spike Milligan:
How long was I in the army? Five foot eleven.
All I ask is the chance to prove that money can’t make me happy.
The First Sunday in Lent (Year B) 17/18 February 2018
Fr Frank writes:
My dear Friends,
Today we celebrate the First Sunday of Lent. Lent is an important time in the Church Year: a time when we take the opportunity to make a serious review of our life prior to celebrating the greatest of all the Feasts – the Resurrection of the Lord on Easter Day (1st April). We need to be careful not to let Lent slip by. Set a special time aside each day for extra prayer time, and make the effort to come along to an additional Mass or to one of the Services of Holy Communion during the week.
You will note in the schedule of Masses/Services for this week that there is an opportunity to Walk the Stations of the Cross and celebrate a Mass of Healing in both parishes. Please come along to these if you can. In addition to walking the Stations of the Cross collectively, we can do this individually or as a small group (see the notice on the back page of this Newsletter). We can also mark out this special season by making use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation – celebrated in the two parishes on alternate Saturdays.
To make the Sacrament of Reconciliation more widely available we will be holding Lenten Services of Reconciliation in both parishes – this gives us an opportunity to reflect and, if we feel the need to do so, to approach one of the priests present and make an individual confession. Whether or not you wish to make an individual confession I urge you to come along on 10th March at Frinton or on the 17th March at Dovercourt/Harwich. The service begins at 11.00am on both occasions.
May our good and gracious God bless you now and always.
Frank ofs
Sunday Smile:
More daft notes left for the milkman:
My daughter says she wants a milkshake. Do you do it before you deliver or do I have to shake the bottle?
My back door is open. Please put milk in fridge, get money out of cup in drawer and leave change on kitchen table in pence, because we want to play bingo tonight.
Please leave no milk today. When I say today, I mean tomorrow, for I wrote this note yesterday.
When you leave the milk please put the coal on the boiler, let dog out and put newspaper inside the screen door. PS Don’t leave any milk.
The Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) 10/11 February 2018
Fr Frank writes:
My dear Friends,
Many of us have recently succumbed to a cold or, if we are unfortunate, a bout of the nasty flu that’s been doing the rounds. In addition to our physical aches and pains we experience something that often comes with illness – the loneliness and isolation of being sick – being cut off from friends and church life.
That would certainly be true of the leper in today’s Gospel reading. Not only had he a painful illness, but he also suffered from loneliness and isolation. As a leper he would have been forced to live in the open country, cut off from family, community and collective religious practice. Into that sad situation steps Jesus. He does the unthinkable. He touches the leper. No action could be simpler and yet that simplest of actions transforms the leper’s life.
Very often it is the simplest of gestures that can mean so much. Let’s all reach out to a lonely person this week, perhaps someone we know who is housebound.
Lent begins on Wednesday. There will be Mass with the imposition of Ashes in both parishes.
My apologies, once again, to long-suffering Frinton parishioners, but owing to a last-minute appointment at Basildon Hospital I have had to cancel the Mass planned for Thursday. There will be a service of the Word and Holy Communion instead. My thanks, as always, to our wonderful Eucharistic Ministers.
May the God of compassion reach out to you in your hour of need.
Frank ofs
Sunday Smile:
What does my friend call his secret life as a priest? His altar ego.
More silly notes left for the milkman:
Sorry not to have paid your bill before, but my wife had a baby and I’ve been carrying it around in my pocket for weeks.
Milk is needed for the baby. Father unable to provide it.
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) 3/4 February 2018
Fr Frank writes
My dear Friends,
The words of Job in our first reading could well have been taken up by many of the sick and distressed Mark describes in our Gospel reading. Days and nights must have passed very slowly for them as they wondered whether their eyes would ever see joy again. It is not surprising, then, that they need and seek Jesus. His reputation as a healer is already well established; when they meet him, he does not let them down. He cures many ‘suffering from diseases of one kind or another’. All of us live through times when life becomes a burden and we have to approach Jesus for support and healing. That comfort and healing, I pray, will come to us through those around us, those with whom we share our lives. Sometimes it is for us to bring Jesus’ care and compassion. All of us are called to be channels of God’s healing.
My apologies to Frinton parishioners, but there will be no Mass on Wednesday morning as I shall be celebrating Mass at St Benedict’s College, Colchester, nor on Thursday when I shall be celebrating at St Joseph’s School in Dovercourt. My thanks to our Eucharistic Ministers who will be providing a service of readings and Holy Communion on these two mornings in addition to that on Tuesday (my day off). By way of compensation, I have put down a Mass on Friday morning. My thanks to Fr Bill who will celebrate at Dovercourt on Friday as well as on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. School Masses can have a disruptive effect on the weekly parish Mass schedule, but I feel the benefits far and away outweigh the inconvenience. Please pray for our schools, for all pupils/students, the teaching staff and support staff.
May the God of compassion reach out to you in your hour of need,
Frank ofs
Sunday Smile:
Notes left for the milkman:
Dear Milkman, please leave an extra pint of paralysed milk.
Cancel one pint after the day after today.
Please don’t leave any more milk. All they do is drink it.