JULY IS THE MONTH OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time.
Dear parishioners,
THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
Even in death, Our Lord Jesus Christ continued to empty himself for us, proving his words, in St. John’s Gospel ‘that unless the grain of wheat dies, it will not bear abundant harvest’. This harvest was His Precious Blood that poured forth from him. He had said, Father forgive them, and as in his life when all his words were met with works, all his teaching demonstrated by deeds, so those last words were also proven by what happened on the cross after he died. For his precious blood that poured from him is the sign, that we sinful human beings may have killed him, but his heart is an infinite well of grace, it is Divine, from which has continued to pour grace through the sacraments our Lord has given us for our forgiveness and salvation. These sacraments are the abundant harvest, which have nourished the church for two millennia. In his life, the Lord gave us the visible sign of the sacraments but in death he filled them with the power of his total self -sacrifice. In our lives, this stream of grace is still poured out to us in those sacraments. The reverberations of that first sacrifice on Calvary still ripple through every celebration of Holy Mass, when once again we stand at the foot of the cross and the Great Sacrifice, the total emptying of God for love of unlovable humanity, is made present to us at the altar, in the body and blood of that same Lord.
This feast today is the culmination of the great feasts of the passion: Corpus Christi and the Sacred Heart, because it celebrates that even in death, the Lord still gave himself to us and that even though he has risen and ascended to Heaven, he is still giving himself to us today. He died that he could give himself to us forever more at the Sacrifice of the Mass, that his body is still given to us, his Most Precious Blood, still poured out for us. It is finished, he said on The Cross. But those words concluded his earthly mission among us. Through the outpouring of his Most Precious Blood after he had breathed his last, we see that His love is infinite, never ending, never finished, that death far from ending it, produced the most abundant harvest of grace still poured out for us at this Holy Sacrifice in this church today.
1. Solemnity of Corpus Christi. There will be a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament around the church grounds following 11 o’clock mass on Sunday 11th June concluding with Benediction.
2. Solemnity of the Sacred Heart. Mass at 10.00 a.m. on Friday 16th June and An Hour of Adoration to the Sacred Heart in song, the Litany, Act of Consecration and Benediction on Sunday 18th June at 4.00 p.m.
3. First Communion thanksgiving Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction. Sunday 25th June, 3.00 p.m.
4. High Mass for the Feast of the Most Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ at 11.00 a.m. on Saturday 1st July.
5. Devotions to the Most Precious Blood: with Sung Litany and Benediction, Sunday 30th July, 4.00 p.m.
God Bless
Fr. Jonathon
UPCOMING EVENTS
ST THOMAS MORE GOLF DAY to be held Thursday 21st September 2023 at Birchwood Park Golf course, Swanley. Anyone interested in taking part please contact Tony Brooke. 07833707016. There will be the usual charity raffle attached to the day in aid of taking sick / disabled to Lourdes. You will be offered a chance to be involved in the raffle in early September.
EXTRAORDINARY MINISTERS OF HOLY COMMUNION AND LECTORS - Formation Day 2023
Saturday 14th October 2023 10.00 a.m.-4.00 p.m.
For Parishes in the Deaneries of Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich
Venue: St Stephen’s Church, 26 Deepdene Road, Welling, Kent DA16 3QL
If you are a lector or extraordinary minister you are encouraged to put this in your diary and attend it. Please let me know if you are going so I can let them know numbers.
PASTORAL COUNCIL: Next meeting on Saturday 15th July at 12 noon.
PARISH PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES.
Monday 23rd October to Friday 27th October 2023.
Please contact the parish office if you are interested in joining us.
ENJOY AN EVENING OUT at St Thomas More Parish Club Presents a social evening for all the family Music by Annie G. Friday 7th July 2023 8.00pm to 11pm Admission - Adults £3 at the door. For more information call Jenny 07710 527692 or Mary 07369 252072, everybody welcome
PARISH NOTICES
PARISH YOUTH NOTICES
DEATHS
MASSES AND INTENTIONS FOR THE THIRTEENTH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME
JULY PRAYER
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