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Feast Day of Padre Pio on Saturday
Twenty Fourth Sunday Year A. 10th September
The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows
15th September
Twenty Third Sunday Year A. 10th September
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St Cuthbert's Feast Day is on Monday.
Some of his deathbed words, as recorded by the Venerable Bede in Chapter 30 of the Life of St Cuthbert.
Have peace, and Divine charity ever amongst you: and when you are called upon to deliberate on your condition, see that you be unanimous in council. Let concord be mutual between you and other servants of Christ; and do not despise others who belong to the faith and come to you for hospitality, but admit them familiarly and kindly; and when you have entertained them, speed them on their journey: by no means esteeming yourselves better than the rest of those who partake of the same faith and mode of life. But have no communion with those who err from the unity of the Catholic faith.
Twenty Second Sunday Year A. 3rd September
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Twenty First Sunday Year A. 27th August
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Transfiguration of the Lord Year A.
Saturday
SUMMER FETE
STARTING AT 1pm
Our Summer Fete takes place this Saturday 8th July starting at 1pm. All the usual fun: Tombolas, Beer Tent, Coconut Shy & Children's Games plus live entertainment. Bring all the family and come and support your local parish.
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The Feast of St Thomas the Apostle is on Monday.
He eventually recognized the Presence of the Risen Christ.
How long will it take for us all to do the same?
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St Alban. First Martyr in England.
Feast on Tuesday.
Although himself a pagan, he hid a Christian priest in his home during a time of persecution, and was so impressed with the priest's behaviour that he became a Christian. When the authorities discovered where the priest was hiding and came to seize him, Alban put on the priest's cloak and presented himself to the soldiers in his stead. When the magistrate found that he had swapped places with the priest, he ordered Alban to sacrifice to the pagan gods. Alban refused, declaring: "I worship and adore the true and living God who created all things." The magistrate had Alban tortured and when he remained steadfast had him put to death.
Even in these early days of the Church, it seems the role of priest was already so revered that St Alban was willing to give his life for one. The Gospel this Sunday recounts Our Lord's call for us to pray for labourers for the harvest - the harvest of souls for Heaven. In the debating of synodality and the planning of diocese, the drive for Vocations often seems to be left out. The focus being put on the vocation of the laity. This is surely a sad mistake. Vocations to the Priesthood needs to be a central focus, otherwise this phenomenon becomes yet another sign that we have "given up" and no longer value the Priesthood.
Perhaps this prayer by Lacordaire might be an inspiration:
“You are a Priest Forever”
To live in the midst of the world without wishing its pleasures; to be a member of each family, yet belonging to none; to share all sufferings; to penetrate all secrets; to heal all wounds; to go from the People of God to God and to offer God their prayers; to return from God to the People of God to bring pardon and hope; to have a heart on fire for charity and a heart of bronze for chastity; to teach and to pardon, console, and bless always – what a glorious life! And it is yours, O priest of Jesus Christ.
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Together with children from our school and this year's recent First Communicants we will honour Our Blessed Lady this Sunday at 10am.
The Christian people have always attested to Mary's exalted glory as a sharer in Christ's royalty. Like him, it is hers by birth (as Mother of the King) and by right of conquest (as his faithful co-worker in the Redemption). Our Lord has placed in her hands the superabundant merits He gained by his death on the Cross, so that she might distribute them according to God's Will.
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ASCENSION THURSDAY: HOLYDAY OF OBLIGATION. Holy days of obligation are feast days on which we are required to attend Mass and to avoid (to the extent that they are able) servile work. The observance of Holy Days of Obligation is part of the Sunday Duty, the first of the Precepts of the Church, and are listed in Canon 1246 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. Holy Days of Obligation are days other than Sundays on which we are required to participate in the Mass, the primary form of worship. Any feast celebrated on a Sunday, such as Easter, falls under normal Sunday Duty and thus isn't included in a list of Holy Days of Obligation.
What Is an Obligation? A lot of people misunderstand what it means to say that Catholics are obligated to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. This isn't an arbitrary rule, but part of general moral life—the need to do good and avoid evil. That is why the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Para. 2041) describes the obligations listed in the Precepts of the Church as "the very necessary minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of God and neighbor." These are things that, as Christians, Catholics should want to do anyway; the Church uses the Precepts of the Church (of which the listing of Holy Days of Obligation is one) simply as a way to remind adherents of the need to grow in holiness.
The first Coronation in Westminster Abbey.
Harold Godwinson is crowned King by Stigand,
Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1066.
He was not a terribly virtuous churchman!
VOCATIONS SUNDAY
'The worthy priest is an angel of purity in mind and body, a cherub of light and knowledge, a seraph of love and Charity, an apostle of zeal in work and sanctity, a little god on earth in power and authority, in patience and benignity. He is the living image of Christ in this world, of Christ watching, praying, preaching, catechizing, working, weeping, going from town to town, from village to village, suffering, agonizing, sacrificing Himself and dying for the souls created to His image and likeness. . . He is the light of those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He is the destroyer of error, schisms and heresies, the converter of sinners, the sanctifier of the just, the strength of the weak, the consolation of the afflicted, the treasure of the poor. He is the confusion of hell, the glory of heaven, the terror of demons, the joy of angels, the ruin of Satan's kingdom, the establishment of Christ's empire, the ornament of the Church.'
