For Catholics on the Tendring Peninsula….
SPECIAL NEWSLETTER XXVII – keeping in touch.
TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A) 10/11 October 2020
Prisoners & Dependents Sunday
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 during the week:
Monday (12th): (Dovercourt) 9.30am Students & Staff of St Joseph’s
Wednesday (14th): (Frinton) 11.00am Brian Thurgood RIP (Lee Thurgood)
Thursday (15th): (Frinton) 11.00am Deacon Kevin Lyons (Anne Jackson)
Friday (16th): (Dovercourt) 9.30am Students & Staff of St Benedicts
Saturday (17th): (Frinton) 6.00pm Denise Butt (Anne Jackson)
Sunday (18th): (Frinton) 8.30am Sisters Jude & Rosario
(Dovercourt) 10.45am The Homeless
In addition to these Masses, Fr Bill will continue to celebrate Mass in The Presbytery. His Mass intentions are:
Students and Staff of St Philomena’s
Prisoners & their families
Justice and Peace in the World
Fr Frank & Anne
All Parishioners
My dear friends,
Our first reading this week is from the prophesy of Isaiah. It gives us a wonderful vision of heaven – a hillside picnic of rich food and fine wines. We are not to take it too literally, but it points to heaven as something wonderful.
The Gospel reading too is about heaven. In it, Jesus effectively employs his often used and powerful teaching method; the parable (an earthly story with a heavenly meaning). The wedding feast is, of course, the heavenly banquet and the king, our heavenly Father. Many are called, but not all respond. But those who do attend are richly rewarded. I used to worry about the man with no wedding garment – the judgement seems so harsh (perhaps, I thought, he was too poor to afford the ‘right’ clothes). I was taking it too literally. The man without the wedding garment is an interloper – one who is ill prepared to share in the feast. This is a message for us all: Respond to God’s call, and make sure you are prepared.
May our loving Father bless you now and always.
Fr Frank
A hymn for Sunday:
The Lord’s my shepherd, I’ll not want, Goodness and mercy all my life
he makes me down to lie shall surely follow me.
in pastures green. He leadeth me And in God’s house for evermore
the quiet waters by. my dwelling place shall be.
Our psalm this week is very familiar and has been set to music many times. This version, tune ‘Crimond’, is probably the most well-known. There is also the Christopher Walker setting ‘Because the Lord is my shepherd’ in which the words just seem to sing themselves. Another is ‘Brother James’s Air’ which has a song-like quality. But my particular favourite is the setting by Joseph Gelineau SJ. Take your pick!
This week’s reflection is the response to the psalm: ‘In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever and ever.’ (AJ)
Sunday Mass Attendance (both parishes): 10/11 October surnames L-R; 17/18 October S-Z; 24/25 October A-D. (Please remember there are no ‘alphabetical restrictions’ applied to weekday Masses.)
CAFOD is making a special appeal in view of the Covid-19 Virus which is seriously impacting on the poorer parts of the world. If you would like to contribute, please put your offering in an envelope clearly marked ‘CAFOD’ and drop it in the Offertory bucket/basket when you attend Mass.
Sunday Smile: Genuine (we are told!) notices taken from church bulletins. Don’t let worry kill you off – let the Church help.