For Catholics on the Tendring Peninsula….
SPECIAL NEWSLETTER XXXVIII – keeping in touch
SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B) 16/17 January 2021
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
Masses to be celebrated in our churches this week:
Monday (18th) (Dovercourt) 9.30am Mark Smith (Mary Power)
Wednesday (20th) (Frinton) 11.00am Rebecca Mohan
Thursday (21st) (Frinton) 11.00am Sr Teresa (Anne Jackson)
Friday (22nd) (Dovercourt) 9.30am Carers and volunteers
Saturday (23rd) (Frinton) 6.00pm Hugh and Cieron McElwaine
Sunday (24th) (Frinton) 8.30am Marie Taylor (Frances and David Plaskett)
(Dovercourt) 10.45am NHS Staff and all Keyworkers
In addition to these Masses, Fr Bill will continue to celebrate Mass in The Presbytery. His Mass intentions are:
Florence McCarthy RIP
Christian Unity
Fr Frank and Anne
The Unemployed
All Parishioners
Fr Frank writes:
We come to Mass for many and varied reasons – so many different motives bring us to Christ. Principally though we all attend for one thing – to meet Christ face-to-face (a good phrase borrowed from Holy Scripture where Moses is referred to as ‘the man who spoke to God face-to-face’. I find this phrase very moving and so use it a lot).
At Mass we hear the words: ‘this is my body which will be given up for you’, when we hear this our response should be, ‘this is my body which I give to you’. Like those disciples of St John the Baptist in today’s Gospel reading we should commit ourselves to following ‘The Lamb of God’.
An essential element in following Christ involves caring for others. During this current health crisis, we pledge our support for all those who cannot attend Mass owing to the current pandemic and commit ourselves to helping them as best we can – by ‘phone contact, for example, and, most certainly, by prayer.
Speaking of the joy of attending Mass, there have been some queries about the obligation to attend Mass. The Bishops’ Conference confirm that the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and other Holy Days remains suspended until further notice. In fact, the advice for anyone who is unwell, elderly and/or vulnerable is to stay away from church for the time being.
If anyone should get Coronavirus symptoms they should self-isolate and get a test. If the test is positive self-isolation should continue for a period of 10 days – but before returning to Mass, please get a further test and only return to church if this is negative.
May God, our loving Father, keep you well and safe in these difficult times.
Frank ofs
Sunday Mass attendance, January 2021: 2/3 January, Surnames A-D; 9/10 Jan, E-K; 16/17 Jan, L-R; 23/24 Jan S-Z; 30/31 Jan, A-D. Please note that there are no alphabetical restrictions applied to weekday Masses.
Sunday Smile: From the USA: The rector of a church in Washington DC had just made the happy announcement that a member of the congregation was with child. Then he reminisced a bit: “There were no pregnancies in this parish until I arrived,” he beamed.