MARCH IS THE MONTH OF ST. JOSEPH
THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT
Dear parishioners,
Saturday is the Solemnity of St Joseph.
The Novena Director of the Mill Hill Missionaries writes:
‘The rather foreboding word ‘apocalyptic’ often conjures up images of some kind of a final reckoning – reward and punishment – in anticipation of the ‘end times’. However, it simply derives from the Greek word for ‘apocalypse’ which means ‘unveiling’. The Franciscan spiritual writer Fr Richard Rohr says that ‘‘when things are unveiled, we stop taking a whole lot of things for granted. Events such as the pandemic [and now the Russian invasion of Ukraine and talk of world war] force us to look at things in a new and radical way, offering us ‘an invitation to greater depth and breadth and compassion’’. We see how the pandemic has brought out the best in so many of us, with many examples of self –giving and self- sacrifice and even heroic endeavour. We are coming towards a new appreciation of who and what is important in our lives and where our true value systems really lie.
The pandemic [ and now the attack on Ukraine] has spelled the death of so much that is familiar in our lives. However, if we trust the Gospel message of resurrection, we also know that an ending is also the place for a new beginning. Death promises a new kind of life.
St. Joseph was no stranger to upheaval in his life. Long before his Happy Death in the presence of Our Lord and His Blessed Mother, Joseph died many, smaller deaths. There was the death of not knowing at first who was the true father of the child his fiancée Mary had conceived, and the possible stigma of being known as a cuckolded husband; the death of uprooting and going to Bethlehem for a census that ultimately would extract taxes for a foreign, oppressive regime; the death of being unable to provide a safe space and shelter for the birth of Jesus; the death of being uprooted again and fleeing as a refugee to Egypt; the death of not only losing Jesus in the Temple in Jerusalem, but also of being seemingly publicly repudiated by this precocious 12 year old who ‘must be about my Father’s business’ ( Luke 2: 50).
Each of these smaller deaths implied a letting go – letting go of whatever hopes and dreams he had for his own life and that of his family. Each letting go was in a way its own apocalypse. Each ‘death’ unveiled, enabled, and furthered God’s plan for His Son, Jesus; and each one showed how Joseph would play an active, willing role in that plan.’
I thank the Mill Hill St Joseph Novena Director for his deep and very fitting words for these times. They were written to publicise the Mill Hill Missionaries National Novena to St Joseph ( 10th – 18th March 2022) before the Russian attack on the Ukrainian people. We ask St Joseph for his prayers for these people who have experienced death of family members including children and the frail elderly, loss of home, loss of city, loss of friends, loss of work, loss of basic utilities and loss of their ordinary peaceful day- to- day existence all caused by the unwarranted Russian attack upon them. We ask God to be with the people of Ukraine and ask that as St Joseph protected his little family from the murderous hands of King Herod’s henchmen, so he will give courage to the Ukrainians who have fled or are defending their homeland. May St Joseph pray for them.
Mass will be said for St Joseph on Saturday morning. Often we would have a sung mass for St Joseph’s day, but because it falls on a Saturday morning this year, it will be said.
CAFOD APPEAL
CAFOD APPEAL.
This Family Fast Day, we remember that there are many people who need our love and support all around the world. Children experiencing malnutrition like Amie’s daughter Lombeh did in Sierra Leone or as we are seeing now in Ukraine, families affected by conflict. Your small act of love can make big things happen. Donations to CAFOD this Lent will reach families around the world, enabling local experts to provide support to families in times of need or conflict. CAFOD envelopes can be returned this Sunday or you can donate online at the CAFOD website: cafod.org.uk/lent
Saint Thomas More Weekly Lenten Reflection
There will be a Lenten reflection meeting after the 10.00 a.m. on Fridays in Lent in Lent.
Last week’s thought for reflection shared with you is:
STM Lent reflection group Thought for the week :
'All God's children have a place in the choir, some sing lower and some sing higher; some sing out loud and some are quiet; some just clap their hands'
THE UNION OF CATHOLIC MOTHERS:
The next meeting will be on Saturday 19th March at 5.00 p.m. in The House.
Please come along if you are interested in finding out more and would enjoy the friendship, companionship and support of other women in your parish in a long established and excellent Catholic society.
SUNDAY 20TH MARCH – KNIGHTS OF ST COLUMBA COFFEE MORNING & RECRUITMENT DRIVE
Message from Leo -Kennedy C. Azodoh, Grand Knight of Council 380:
The Order of the Knights of St Columba will be having a recruitment drive on the weekend of 19th/20th March 2022.
We are a Catholic fraternity, open to practicing Catholic men, aged 16 years and over. We exist to support the Parish Priest in the work of the parish.
Please consider joining us.
There will be a coffee morning after the 9.00am mass on Sunday 20th March, with proceeds going towards a new memorial plaque for the deceased brothers of the Order.
A selection of hot snacks and cakes will be available.
There will be a feature on the Knights of St Columba in next week’s newsletter.
A Day with Mary
Saturday 19th March 2022 at Our Lady and St. Peter, Victoria Drive, Wimbledon Common, London SW19
Saturday 2 April 2022 at Our Lady of the Annunciation, Addiscombe, Croydon from 9.30 a.m.
First Holy Communion 2022
Next class: SATURDAY 19th MARCH 2022, 10.30 A.M.
Please read the newsletter every week and listen out for notices at the end of Sunday mass. Don’t forget to bring your mass attendance cards to Sunday mass!
CONFIRMATION 2022
Next session on Friday 25th March, meeting at 4.30 p.m. at Bexleyheath Station for the 6.30 p.m. Mass at the London Oratory for the Solemnity of the Annunciation followed by Confirmation Dinner in town.
‘CHILDREN’S LITURGY’
This Sunday at 9.00 a.m.
Deaths
For all our brothers and sisters who ate the Body of Christ, the bread of Life, that they may be raised up on the Last Day. (Drawn from the intercession of the Funeral Mass)
Please pray for the soul of:
Mrs. Patricia Cassidy who died on Sunday 16th January. Her funeral was on Monday 7th January followed by committal at Hillview.
Paul Joseph Desmond McGilligan who died in Australia on 17th December 2021. There will be a Sung Requiem followed by the Burial of Ashes at Hillview on Monday 7th March at 10.00 a.m.
William Churchill, husband of Rita, who died on 24th February, aged 55. A Requiem will be said on Tuesday 15th March and his committal will be on 30th March.
Fr Jean Icher, died in France on Friday 4th Marcy aged 92. Fr Jean used to come to St Thomas More parish with French exchange students and said mass here. Mass will be offered for him on Friday.
May the divine assistance remain with her always, and may her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
MASSES AND INTENTIONS FOR THE COMING WEEK: THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT
Saturday 12th March SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT (C)
6.00 p.m. Confessions
+ 6.30 p.m. Joaquim & Helen D’Souza W.B.
Sunday 13th March
8.30 a.m. The Daily Rosary.
+ 9.00 a.m. SUNG with ‘CHILDREN’S LITURGY’ in church hall. Paul & Val’s grandchildren W.B.
+ 11.00 a.m. SOLEMN LATIN MASS (with English Readings/ missa XVII In Dominicis Adventus et Quadragesimae) The people of the parish
7.30 p.m. Parish Social Evening in Church Hall.
Monday 14th March Lenten feria.
The Daily Rosary at home.
NO PUBLIC MASS TODAY
Tuesday 15th March Lenten feria.
9.30 a.m. The Daily Rosary
+ 10.00 a.m. Requiem for William Churchill.
Wednesday 16th March Lenten feria with collect of S. Frances of Rome, religious.
The Daily Rosary at home.
NO PUBLIC MASS TODAY
Thursday 17th March St. Patrick, bishop, patron of Ireland, feast.
11.30 a.m. The Daily Rosary
+ 10.00 noon. Helen and John Sullivan T.G.
1.00 p.m. Thursday Lunch Club. Church Hall.
Friday 18th March Lenten feria with collect of St Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop and doctor of the church.
9.30 a.m. The Daily Rosary
+ 10.00 a.m. Fr Jean Icher R.I.P.
10.45 a.m. Lenten Reflection.in the House.
6.00 p.m. Choir practice. (new members always welcome)
7.30 P.M. St. Alphonus Ligouri’s traditional Stations of the Cross.
Saturday 19th March ST. JOSEPH, SPOUSE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, PATRON OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH, SOLEMNITY.
9.30 a.m. Confessions/ The Daily Rosary
+ 10.00 a.m.[Latin] Audrey Fernandes R.I.P. (5th anniversary)
10.30 a.m. First Holy Communion Class in Church Hall
12. 15 p.m. Pastoral Council in the House.
5.00 p.m. UCM in the House
[ + 6.30 p.m. THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT (C) Lloyd D’Souza T.G.)
MARCH PRAYER TO ST. JOSEPH
O chaste spouse of Mary,
great was the trouble and anguish of your heart
when you were considering quietly sending away your inviolate spouse;
yet your joy was unspeakable,
when the surpassing mystery of the Incarnation
was made known to you by the angel.
By this sorrow and this joy,
we beseech you to comfort our souls,
both now and in the sorrows of our final hour,
with the joy of a good life and a holy death
after the pattern of your own life and death
in the arms of Jesus and Mary. Amen.
Blessings and God’s peace to you all,
Fr Jonathon