Saturday 15th April– Saturday 22nd April 2023
- jonathonrouth
- Apr 14, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 15, 2023
APRIL IS THE MONTH OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST.
The Second Week of Easter
Dear parishioners,
The Eucharist & The Resurrection.
‘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’ This prayer is taken from the intercessions of the funeral mass and we use it every week in the newsletter to pray for the recently departed listed below.
It follows well from last week’s Holy Week newsletter, which was about the Sacrifice of the Lord on the Cross and the Sacrifice of the Mass being one- and- the -same sacrifice.
This funeral prayer connects the Body of Christ given to us at the mass with the hope of our Resurrection given to us by the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Day.
Within that prayer is implicitly a condition for our resurrection from the dead. This is made explicit and categorically stated by the Lord in St John’s Gospel (6: 53,54) ‘In truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and blood is real drink’.
This life is but a very small journey to the next, and the Lord has promised us he will be with us through it and feed us with his very self. The Catechism tells us:
‘Jesus links faith in the Resurrection to his own person: ‘I am the Resurrection and life’. It is Jesus himself who on the last day will raise up those who have believed in him, who have eaten his body and drunk his blood’. (CCC 994)
If we go to Calvary with our Lord, by attending mass and receiving Holy Communion, He will be with us in life and through death to lead us to share in his Resurrection. With the help of God’s mercy given to us in the Sacrament of Penance, we can make it to Heaven because Jesus has given us himself as food for this journey.
Good Friday and Easter Sunday are celebrated once a year, but the Death and Resurrection of the Lord are lived and remembered in The Church every day in proclamation of the word, the sacraments and our good works. We ask God to give us our daily bread, the real food of the soul to feed us on this life’s journey to the next. This daily bread is Jesus, the Bread of Life received in the Eucharist and not the offerings of false religions, worldly morality and man-made ‘spirituality’ which seek to distract us away from our goal of Heaven. The gate to the way of the Lord and Heaven is a narrow one. It is only through Him, with Him and in Him. It is by denying the self not self-identifying that we may know spiritual freedom; it is by being last and serving others, not by self-assertiveness, that we go first to Heaven; it is by listening to the words of Jesus in the Gospels, not by absorbing ‘positive thinking’ from a Californian guru that we will find right direction in our lives. And it is by eating the Body of Christ in the Eucharist, not taking up the most on-trend- well-being diet, that we will draw true nourishment for the soul.
We can thank God for our full and even overflowing church this Holy Week and Easter and for the many parishioners that sought and found God’s mercy again through the Sacrament of Penance. Nevertheless, we also remember that Jesus is our daily bread, that we need to fulfil our obligation to God and come to mass every Sunday, kneel at the foot of the Cross and participate in the Sacrifice of the true Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, Jesus Christ Our Lord. At this sacrifice, he gives us himself, the Bread of Life, as real food for true life with him so that we will be ready to share in his Resurrection when our time comes.
See you at Mass, and if you need an hour of peace with the Eucharistic Heart of our Lord, we have Silent Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament this Sunday afternoon at 4 o’clock, concluding with Benediction.
God bless,
Fr Jonathon
UPCOMING EVENTS
PARISH PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES in October.
Please contact the parish office if you are interested in joining us.
SOUTHWARK DIOCESAN PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES 18th-25th August 2023
Message from Bishop Paul:
‘After the restrictions of the past few years, I’m delighted that we are now once more able to include support for pilgrims who need assistance for medical or mobility reasons. In Lourdes, those who are often marginalised are placed at the centre, and we who travel with them are blessed by their presence. I warmly invite you to join us’.
For details, please see
https://www.tangney-tours.com/pilgrimages/lourdes/southwark-ca
THURSDAY LUNCH CLUB
Following an Easter break, the next lunch club will be on Thursday 20th April.
PARISH NOTICES
GIFT AID
The new gift aid envelopes will be available after mass next weekend, apologies for the delay in getting these to you.
Please email the parish office for any questions, if you would like to join the scheme or if your details or circumstances have changed.
If you would prefer to donate via standing order, the bank details can be found on the donations section of the parish website but please inform the parish office so your details can be updated.
BAR STAFF NEEDED a few hours a month for the parish social club bar. Please contact Mr Tony Brook 07833 707016
FOOD BANK.
The Bexley Food Bank currently particularly requests:
CARRIER BAGS
TINNED TOMATOES / RICE / NOODLES / JAM / CUSTARD / TOOTPASTE / SHOWER GEl /DEODORANT / TOOTHPASTE/ SUGAR / WASHING PODS.
Please follow the link below to view the food donations page of the Bexley food bank website. https://bexley.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/
Teaching and Leading in Catholic Schools
Are you a Catholic and a teacher, middle or senior leader in a community school or academy and interested in taking up a role in Catholic education? If so, the Archdiocese of Southwark Education Commission would like to invite you to a twilight session: Teaching and Leading in Catholic Schools.
The session will include opportunities to meet current leaders and the education team, find out about Catholic schools and tips in relation to the application process. This event will be held on Thursday 27th April 2023 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at Amigo Hall, Lambeth Road SE1 6HR.
If you are interested in attending please register by clicking here or if you have any queries please contact Sharon Docherty, RE Team Leader and Professional Learning Manager sharondocherty@rcaos.org.uk
Notice from Marriage and Family Life South East
Planning a catholic marriage? Marriage preparation courses are available by emailing mflse@rcaos.org.uk.
PARISH YOUTH NOTICES
CHILDREN’S CHURCH
The ‘children’s liturgy’ will be taking an Easter Break for the next three Sundays.
FIRST HOLY COMMUNION 2023.
Next meeting: Saturday 22nd April.
CONFIRMATION 2023.
Next meeting: St George's Day Vespers at Westminster Cathedral. Meeting at Bexleyheath Station at 2.30 p.m. Sunday 23rd April.
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:
Thelma Ali, aged 84, who died on 22nd February and whose funeral was on Tuesday 7th March.
Derek Charles Robinson, whose burial funeral service is on Monday 17th April 2023.
Anne Gallogly, aged 75, dear wife of Sean who died on the 16th of March and whose Funeral Requiem is at 10.00 a.m. on Friday 21st April, St John Fisher Catholic Church, Thanet Road, Bexley followed by committal at Eltham Crematorium.
To facilitate those unable to attend the Requiem, especially her husband Sean and those unable to travel from Ireland the Requiem will be streamed live. Details to follow.
May the divine assistance remain with them always, and may their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
MASSES AND INTENTIONS FOR THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTER
Instaurare Omnia in Christo: "to restore all things in Christ."
Saturday 15th April Easter Saturday -Sabbato in Albis [TC]
9.00 a.m. Confessions
9.30 a.m. The Daily Rosary
+ 10.00 a.m. [Latin 1962] Adoracion Morcillo Sanchez R.I.P.
10.30 a.m. Confessions.
6.00 p.m. Confessions
+ 6.30 p.m. SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER (LOW SUNDAY) Paul & Val Yeates W.B.
Sunday 16thApril
8.30 a.m. The Daily Rosary
+9.00 a.m. [SUNG] Anselm Fernandes R.I.P.
+11.00 a.m. [SOLEMN. Latin with English. Missa de Angelis] Ann Gallogly R.I.P. (month’s mind).
4.00 p.m. An Hour of Peace with the Lord. Silent Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction.
Monday 17th April feria
8.30 a.m. The Daily Rosary
N.B. +9.00 a.m. Requiem. Derek Charles Robinson R.I.P.
11.00 a.m. Burial service of Derek Charles Robinson at Bexleyheath Cemetery.
Tuesday 18th April. feria
8.30 a.m. Daily Rosary
N.B. +9.00 a.m. The people of the parish (followed by deanery meeting in Blackfen)
Wednesday 19th April. St Alphege, bishop & martyr
The Daily Rosary at home.
NO PUBLIC MASS TODAY
Thursday 20th April feria.
The Daily Rosary at home.
NO PUBLIC MASS TODAY due to electrical works in church.
Friday 21st April feria.
9.30 a.m. The Daily Rosary.
+10.00 a.m. Michael Dunphy R.I.P.
6.00 p.m. Parish Choir Practice (new members welcome)
Saturday 22nd April SS Soter & Caius, popes & martyrs [TC]
9.00 a.m. Confessions
9.30 a.m. The Daily Rosary
+ 10.00 a.m. [Latin 1962] Tommy Coyle R.I.P.
10.30 a.m. Confessions.
6.00 p.m. Confessions
+ 6.30 p.m. THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER Vince D’Souza W.B.
APRIL PRAYER
A thanksgiving to the Lord after receiving Holy Communion.
I thank You, Divine Redeemer, for coming upon the earth for our sake, and for instituting this adorable Sacrament in order to remain with us until the end of the world. I thank you for hiding beneath bread and wine your infinite majesty and beauty, which your angels delight to behold, so that I might have courage to approach the throne of your mercy. I thank you, most loving Jesus, for having made yourself my food, and for resting upon this tongue, which has so often offended you, and for entering this body, which has so often deserved to be visited with your anger. I thank you for uniting me to yourself with so much love in this most wonderful Sacrament that I may live in you.
I thank you, my Jesus, for giving yourself to me in this Blessed Sacrament, and so enriching it with the treasures of your love that you have no greater gift to give me. I thank you not only for becoming my food, but also for offering yourself as a continual sacrifice to your Eternal Father for my salvation.
I thank you, divine Priest, for offering yourself as a Sacrifice daily upon our altars, in adoration and homage to the most Blessed Trinity, and for making amends for our poor and miserable adorations. I thank you for renewing in this daily Sacrifice the actual Sacrifice of the Cross offered on Calvary, in which you satisfy divine justice for us poor sinners.
I thank you, dear Jesus, for having become the priceless Victim to merit for me the fullness of heavenly favours. Awaken in me such confidence in you that their fullness may descend ever more fruitfully upon my soul. I thank you for offering yourself in thanksgiving to God for all his benefits, spiritual and temporal, which He has bestowed upon me. Through you, I hope to receive the grace of perseverance, a holy death, and a happy eternity. Amen.