Category Archive

This Sunday is the annual Day for Life. In these challenging times please read the leaflet by clicking dayoflife

The Bishops of England and Wales have issued a letter “A People who hope in Christ” regarding the current Covid 19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions. Click here to download.

The following message is from Father Paul

Dear Friends and Parishioners,

You may find this link useful for next Sunday – Good Shepherd Sunday. If we want more priests in the future, we have to start by praying for them to be given to us by our Lord, the Good Shepherd. It is his flock and he will provide the shepherds and pastors, there is no doubt about that. But we have to play our part too with prayer. The Patroness of our Diocese is the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so the Rosary, especially in the Mary’s month – May, should be very efficacious.

Follow the link http://www.rcdhn.org.uk leading to the Diocese website with a download for Vocations Sunday

Dear Friends and Parishioners,

THURSDAY EVENING MASSES
The Bishops of England and Wales have agreed that every Thursday evening at 7 pm a bishop in turn, will celebrate a live streamed Mass in his Cathedral for all those frontline workers in the NHS and care homes, for the sick and their families and for the repose of the souls of the deceased.
This will begin next Thursday in Westminster Cathedral.

Our own bishop Robert Byrne, will be celebrating Mass in our Cathedral on 14th May.
The bishops has asked us priests to say Mass for this intention each Thursday, if that is possible.

EIGHT DAY RETREAT FROM WALSINGHAM
You may be interested to know that there is an online eight day retreat, given by Mgr John Armitage, the Rector of the Shrine of our Lady in Walsingham.
The retreat starts this evening and there are daily conferences at 10am and 4pm.
Just go the Walsingham Website: www.walsingham.org.uk

With best wishes and blessing,
Father Paul

For further details follow the links National Masses and Walsingham Retreat

Whilst we are unable to attend Mass during the Coronavirus we have been given access to the Focus on Sunday weekly leaflet.

The issue for Easter Sunday is on the Bulletin section of the website. Have a look.

Bishop Robert has sent us all a message for Holy Week. Click here to download.

Cardinal on ‘Easter Duties’ and the Forgiveness of Sins

At this time, we are coming nearer to Holy Week – to that most important week in our year. The week in which we celebrate with real solemnity, the final events of Our Lord’s life. His entry into Jerusalem, His last supper with His apostles, His death on the Cross on Calvary, His entombment; and, of course, the glorious Resurrection of our Saviour from the dead.

Now, this year, with great distress and sadness, we know we will not be able to come together to celebrate these great days and we will have to do the best we can by the means that are at our disposal.

Now, I want to talk about a very important aspect of this.

You will know that it is an obligation on all Catholics to fulfil what is known as their ‘Easter duties’. This is to receive Holy Communion at Easter time, or thereabouts, and it’s often coupled, with the desire or the need to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
I want to say with all clarity that this obligation is removed from us this year – in the same way as it is not an obligation on us to attend Mass on Sunday, because these circumstances make it impossible. So, too, the obligation to our Easter duties is removed.
I would not want anyone to be burdened by the thought they are failing to fulfil their Easter duties. You are not. Now, also at this moment, we can recover another part of our Catholic tradition, a bit like the act of spiritual communion, which comes to our aid in times of great distress and difficulty.
It is the teaching of the Church that the Lord, in His mercy, will forgive our sins, even our grievous sins if we cannot go to Confession – go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation – as long as we make what is termed a perfect Act of Contrition, and resolve to confess our serious sins when we next have the opportunity to do so.
As I say, this is part of a deep Catholic tradition. It’s not something new thought up for these very difficult circumstances.
So let me explain a little more.
What the Church teaches us, is that God in His mercy, forgives our sins when we are truly sorry for them. And when we turn to Him and express our sorrow in an Act of Contrition, it’s called an Act of Perfect Contrition when its focus is on the mercy and the love of God rather than on the burden of our guilt.
So to make an act of Perfect Contrition, we simply need to turn to God and be, as it were, overwhelmed by God’s mercy, and then express in our own words or in the words of the traditional Act of Contrition, the sorrow we feel for our offences against the goodness of God.
When we do that in all sincerity of heart, we may rest assured that God forgives our sins and that we come away from that Act of Perfect Contrition freed from those sins.
And, as I say, the only thing we have to remember is, when it is possible to make a Confession again, that we mention the grievous sins which were forgiven by this Perfect Act of Contrition.
You might say, well, why do we have to go to Confession and name our sins?

Part of the reason is often we don’t really own them until we name them. And in the act of naming our serious sin, then we take hold of them and hand them over to Jesus on the Cross, because he takes on the burden of our sin.
And we, for our part, when we have that opportunity, name it to the priest who is there representing the person of Jesus and his mercy.
So we can approach Easter with a clear conscience.
And we can make use, under these extreme circumstances, of this great tradition of the Church. Through it, the Lord forgives our sins that we may enter fully into the joy of the Resurrection.

Let us just pray for a moment.
Lord,
I am sorry for the times I have sinned against you.
I am sorry because I’ve offended your infinite goodness
because I’ve turned my back on you.
I ask your forgiveness now.
Embrace me in your mercy.
Out of your love that I may pick up again in full joy,
the call of discipleship to follow your son, Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns forever and ever.
Amen.

Dear Parishioners,

I hope you and your family are staying safe and well.

We will not be able to gather to celebrate the Holy Week ceremonies, but each parish priest in his church will be doing so across the UK, in order to ensure that nothing is omitted from the worship of Almighty God and the carrying out of the special rituals of the Sacred Triduum (Mass of the Lord’s Supper on holy Thursday evening; the Celebration of the Passion of our Lord on Good Friday afternoon at 3.00 pm; the Easter Vigil & the first Mass of Easter on Saturday evening; Easter Sunday morning Mass).

So whilst you may be participating in liturgies on the Internet, please remember to be spiritually close to your own church and priest on these sacred days for our Faith.

You will not be able to receive Holy Communion or go to Confession as part of your Easter duty this year. But please be reassured by both statements from Bishop Robert and Cardinal Nichols. We can still deepen our faith and have spiritual communion with our Lord during the Easter season.

Please remember to keep Good Friday as a Day of Fasting and Abstinence from meat (or some other act of abstaining/self-denial) and so associate ourselves more closely with the suffering and self-sacrifice of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who willing endured the Passion to redeem us from our sins and to open the gates to eternal salvation for us all.

Sunday this weekend is, of course, Palm Sunday, and I will be blessing some palms. A few will be available for collection from the yellow bin to the side of the Presbytery door at St Augustine’s. Also copies of this newsletter with the bishop’s pastoral letter will also be there for collection for anyone not able to receive my emails.

I am sure that we will keep the doctors and nurses in our prayers especially during this Holy Week, as they battle with this pandemic across our country, and we will especially pray for all those who are suffering from the disease.
Let us also remember to commend to Almighty God’s mercy all those who have lost their lives because of this terrible infection.

I hope you will have a prayerful and very spiritual Holy Week.
Lett us keep each other in our prayers at this very difficult time.

Christ has died.
Christ is Risen.
Christ will come again!!

God bless you all,

Father Paul Zielinski

Due to the Coronavirus Restrictions the weekly 100 Club draw has been suspended. Members who have paid in advance will have their payments carried forward to the re-start date.

Many thanks again to everyone who supports the Parish by taking a number in the weekly draw. Last year we raised £3400 for the parish through this draw.

However due to reduced number allocated (we currently have 140 numbers allocated) we have continued to have one weekly draw of £50 BUT have only an extra £50 draw on the first Sunday EVERY OTHER month i.e. January, March, May etc.

But Congratulations to our winners this year.

January 5th – No 4 Kath Tate ( David Tate) & No 39 Jan Hymus

January 12th – No 130 Leon Consterdine

January 19th – No 56 Pat Wood (S McQ)

January 26th – No 141 Derek Brodie

February 2nd – No 53 Roger Eley (Amelia Shield)

February 9th – No 25 Winnie Hodgkinson

February 16th – No 107 Kath Hagan

February 23rd – No 154 Mary Stacey

March 1st – No 88 George Elliott & No 135 Mary Cooper

March 8th – No 8 Sandi Pringle

March 15th – No 148 John Consterdine

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic all Church Services are now cancelled until further notice.

See the two attachments for further details

Firstly a public letter from The Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales. Click here

and also Liturgical Advice to be in place from 18th March until further notice. Click here