For Catholics on the Tendring Peninsula….
SPECIAL NEWSLETTER VII – keeping in touch.
FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (A) 9/10 May 2020
Catholic Parishes of:
Our Lady Queen of Heaven, Dovercourt: 01255 503383
email Harwich@dioceseofbrentwood.org
website www.harwichcatholics.org.uk
Sacred Heart and St Francis of Assisi, Frinton-on-Sea: 01255 674475
email Frinton@dioceseofbrentwood.org
website: www.frintoncatholicchurch.wordpress.com
‘Private’ Masses to be celebrated in our churches this week:
Monday (11th): (Frinton) 9.00am James and Joyce McLarney RIP
Wednesday (13th): (Frinton) 11.00am David Richards RIP
Thursday (14th): (Frinton) 11.00am Cheralyn Denise Clulow
Friday (15th): (Frinton) 9.00am Fr Jim RIP (Nancy and Geoff)
Saturday (16th): (Frinton) 6.00pm Sisters Teresa and Bernadette (Sr Agatha)
Sunday (17th) (Dovercourt) 10.45am Sheila Wright RIP
(I have changed this pattern to comply as best I can with Government restrictions on travelling)
In addition to these Masses, Fr Bill will continue to celebrate Mass in The Presbytery. His intentions this week are:
Fr Niall Harrington
Fr Arthur Barrow
Fr Michael Stokes
NHS Staff, Carers, Key Workers and Volunteers
All Parishioners
My dear friends,
As I write this, we are still waiting to hear to what extent the current restrictions can be relaxed, and when any changes may be introduced. We hear little of how the ‘Lockdown’ impacts the Church, but we know that it costs us dear. Each day I celebrate Mass remembering you all, people from both parishes. If you do not do so already, I urge you to make a spiritual communion at the time Mass is celebrated. In this way we can be more fully united. I pray that this absence will deepen our appreciation of the Mass and bring about a deepening of our Faith. If it does this, it will not have been in vain.
Anne writes about the Gospel in connection with the Easter Hymn ‘Jesus you are Lord’ (see below). The is a well-known Gospel reading (often used at Funerals) and points to the essential nature of our Faith. That is, that it is about a relationship – our relationship with Jesus. Jesus says, ‘No one can come to the Father except through me’. If we have a prayerful relationship with Jesus it is He who presents us to the Father.
We remember in our prayers: all NHS and Care Staff, Key Workers and Volunteers; Teachers and Pupils; those finding life difficult, the lonely, families in crowded accommodation and all victims of abuse, both children and adults.
May our Risen and glorified Lord bless you all your days.
Fr Frank
A hymn for Easter:
Jesus, you are Lord. I am the Way.
You are risen from the dead No one knows the Father but it be through me.
And you are Lord. I am in my Father, and my Father is in me,
Every knee shall bow, and we come in love to live within your hearts.
And every tongue confess
That Jeusu, you are Lord.
You are the Way.
In this Sunday’s Gospel Thomas is longing for understanding. The response from Jesus is unequivocal – ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. (AJ)
CAFOD launched its coronavirus emergency appeal on 30 April. The effects on developing countries are likely to be devastating. Prayers and gifts are needed. We can donate at: www.cafod.org.uk/coronavirusappeal
Offertory: A simple way of continuing to donate to church funds is to click on the appropriate link below and follow the very simple instructions. Good luck!
For Harwich & Dovercourt parishioners: https://www.dioceseofbrentwood.net/donations?parish=harwich-and-dovercourt
for Frinton & Walton parishioners: https://www.dioceseofbrentwood.net/donations?parish=frinton-on-sea
Sunday Smile: At the end of the Mass the parish priest announced, “After the blessing the bishop will leave and we shall sing ‘Now thank we all our God’.”