NEWSLETTER

Church will be open for private prayer from 10.00am until 10.30am on Mondays and Fridays until further notice.

 
Please pray for the happy repose of the soul of Audrey Egleston who passed away on the 12th November, may she rest in peace.  Our prayers and thoughts go out to her and her family.

COVID-19

The Prime Minister has announced further widespread restrictions in England beginning on Thursday 5 November 2020. The Government has published its New National Restrictions Guidance on its website.

Whilst there was no formal announcement on Places of Worship by the Prime Minister, there is clear guidance on this website that places of worship will be required to end all acts of collective worship, except for funeral ceremonies.

You can read two statements, issued by the President and Vice-President of the Bishops’ Conference, in response to the lockdown.

The first statement was released immediately after the Prime Minister’s announcement, the second statement on the eve of the lockdown. https://www.cbcew.org.uk/

Under measures coming into effect on Thursday, acts of collective worship will be forbidden though individual private prayer is permitted. Funerals will still take place with a maximum of 30 attending, but weddings will only be permitted in exceptional circumstances. Religious leaders will also be able to broadcast acts of worship from their churches.

The Feast of Christ the King was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925. The General Roman Calendar of 1969 moved its observance to the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, the final Sunday of the liturgical year.

Readings for the Solemnity of Christ the King year A    Psalter week 2 

Ent antiphon     The Lamb who was slain is worthy to receive strength and divinity, wisdom and power and honour; to him be glory and power for ever.

1st reading        Ezekiel 34: 11-12, 15-17.

Response           The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.

2nd reading       1 Corinthians 15: 20-26, 28.

Acclamation     Alleluia, alleluia!  Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessings on the coming kingdom of our father David. Alleluia!

Gospel                  Matthew 25: 31-46.

Comm ant         The Lord will reign for ever and will give his people the gift of peace.

Gospel                 I was naked and you clothed me; sick, and you visited me

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate men one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left. ‘Then the King will say to those on his right hand, “Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” Then the virtuous will say to him in reply, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and make you welcome; naked and clothe you; sick or in prison and go to see you?” And the King will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”

Commentary    This is the last of Matthew’s great parables. The world is finally divided into ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies’.  Two striking points are stressed in the parable. Firstly, we will be judged uniquely on our treatment of those in any kind of need. Not on our prayer-life. Not on our asceticism or penances undertaken. Only on our respect for others, how far we look to see what they need and what we can give. Each of the ten commandments in the Old Testament, each of the eight beatitudes in the New can be resolved into this: telling the truth, financial honesty, honouring father and mother (or children), hunger for justice, peace-making. The second striking point is the reason for the first: that Christ is in each person. What we do to others, we do to Christ.                Henry Wansborough OSB

Tuesday, 24^th November

St. Andrew Dung-Lac & Companions

St. Andrew is one of many martyrs of Vietnam who gave witness to Christ by their lives between 1820 and 1862.  The persecution of the Church in Vietnam was outstanding for its ferocity and brutality.  The last martyrs were 17 lay people executed in 1862.