Edmund of Canterbury & St. Thomas More
Luke’s retelling of the Passion and death of Jesus has several unique features. He shows Jesus speaking warmly to the disciples at the Last Supper: ‘You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom…’ He also speaks of Peter’s future role: ‘…when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers’. Furthermore, Luke has little interest in the disciples’ abandonment and states that, ‘…all his acquaintances…who had followed him from Galilee…’ witnessed Jesus’ death. During the journey to Calvary he records the women of Jerusalem weeping for him and Jesus’ prayer to the Father for those who will crucify him: ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing’.
As with the above examples, Jesus’ encounter with the good thief is only recorded in Luke’s Gospel. Genius storyteller that he was he’s always interested in showing how Jesus reaches out to the lost, especially sinners. Jesus’ promise to the good thief is something of a climax. It’s Jesus’ last act of kindness before he commends his spirit to the Father. ‘…today you will be with me in Paradise’. Through this, Jesus offers once more the ‘today’ of salvation.
We read this passage on the Solemnity of Christ the King because the kingship of Jesus is seen in his reaching out to the lost. Jesus’ kingdom, to quote the Gospel of John, is ‘not of this world’. Instead, it’s the kingdom of God where peace and mercy reign, not an earthly kingdom which can be fought over in war and violence. Jesus has come to ‘bring good news to the poor’, and to seek and…save the lost.’
St Cyril of Alexandria wrote: ‘How wise the reasoning and how excellent the thoughts of the penitent thief! He became the confessor of the Saviour’s glory and the accuser of the pride of those who crucified him. Let us look at his most beautiful confession of faith. He says: “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” You see him crucified and call him a king.
Dear Friends in Christ, CHRIST THE KING 33rd Sunday of the Year
CHRISTMAS EVENT FOR 2022: Event will be on Sunday 11th December after 11am Mass, with Cake Stall & Refreshments & Grand Christmas Draw.
This weekend we will distribute Grand Draw Tickets for the Annual Grand Draw and Hampers. We will distribute two books to each parishioner. Tickets are £2 each – £10 a book. Please ask your family to support our Grand Draw this year. I know these are difficult times for everyone, but please be as supportive as possible. 1st Prize Smart Colour TV; 2nd Prize £200; 3rd Prize £100 Various other Prizes – Restaurant Vouchers, London Hotel Afternoon Tea Vouchers, Six Bottles of Wine, & Various Hampers.
We would like to appeal to your incredible generosity once again for donations of indulgent foods and drinks to create a fabulous selection of luxury Christmas Hampers. Items for a Grand Christmas Draw would be a Flat Screen TV, Laptop, Other New Electrical Goods, Crate of Wine, Theatre Vouchers, Restaurant Vouchers, Hotel Vouchers, National Trust Annual Family Membership, Department Store Vouchers, Fitbits, Air Pods, Beats Headphones.
SUGGESTED HAMPER DONATIONS: Luxury Brand Christmas Cakes & Puddings, Bottles of Champagne, Spirits, Port & Wine. Tinned meats – Gammon Ham, Potted Duck, and Pates. Tinned Fish – Salmon, Dressed Crab & Lobster, Jars of Fruit in Syrup, Jars of Pickles, Chutneys & Olives. Festive Jams or Berry Preserves. Festive Marmalades, Jars of Honey, Tea & Coffee, Hot Chocolate. Dried Fruit & Nuts. Biscotti, Ginger Snaps & Shortbread, boxes of Chocolates & Truffles, Turkish Delight. Panettone, Mince Pies, Stollen. Biscuits and Crackers for Cheese. Bottles of Live Oil, Balsamic Vinegar & Marinades, Dried Stuffing Mixes. Boxes of Table Crackers. All Toiletries
If anyone wants to make a Cash Donation please mark it Christmas Fund, and please use your Gift Aid envelope so we can claim the Tax back on the Donation. Thank you! Box in Church Porch & Presbytery Porch for your gifts & offerings.
If any parishioners would be willing to donate suitable wicker hamper style baskets, these will help us present our Christmas Hampers in the traditional way. Thanking you all in anticipation of your generosity!
PLEASE SUPPPORT US AND BUY SOME DRAW TICKETS, THANK YOU!
May God Bless You All,
APPLICATIONS FOR RECEPTION PLACES AT ST JOHN FISHER CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL SEPTEMBER 2023: If there are any parents who wish to apply for a place for their child in Reception Class 2023, at St John Fisher Catholic Primary School, and need a Certificate of Catholic Practice signed, please see Fr John as soon as possible For some of you this will be the first time you have engaged in the admissions procedure. You have to complete the Essex County Form by the 15th January 2023. It’s so important that we support our local Catholic Primary School, which gives an excellent education to our children.
FIRST HOLY COMMUNION CLASSES: Continue on Sunday 20th November at 10.00am in the Parish Retreat. It is imperative that all children attend each of the Communion Classes. The next Parents’ Meeting will take place on Wednesday 23rd November at 7.30pm in the Parish Hall. If you are unable to attend for some reason please contact Fr. John directly.
CAN YOU HELP? We are desperately in need of additional help for the Altar Society; over the past year or so, we’ve lost a number of our regular helpers who clean the church. If you are able to give half an hour or so every month to help keep our Church beautifully clean and tidy, this is all we ask. If you’re able to help please contact Sharon Fitzmaurice 07854919207 or shazzafitzm@aol.com or Fr John. 0208 508 3492 Next Big Clean on Thursday 17th November at 9.30am
CONTEMPORARY MUSIC GROUPWe will be singing and playing at the 11am Mass on Sunday, 4th December which is the second Sunday of Advent. Beforehand, we’ll be holding a brief practice on Thursday, 1st December from 7pm until 8pm. We hope that many of you can make the practice and that all of you will be at the Mass. Kindly arrive 20 minutes or so before Mass starts. Thank you. New singers and musicians who may like to join us will be made very welcome!
PARISH REPOSITORY: There is a lot of new stock in the repository. A variety of Candles – large and small. Greetings Cards for all occasions. Mass Cards for deceased. Children’s books. There are also a number of CTS little books in a special stand on all sorts of different issues, the saints etc. There are Statues, rosaries, medals, bracelets. Teresa Wallace is happy to order anything your request; it usually takes about a week to arrive.
DAILY MASS AT ST EDMUND’S: I would like to make this special appeal, especially to those who may be retired, to think seriously about attending one or more of our daily masses at 10.00am Monday – Saturday. Daily Mass is truly a wonderful gift that is offered in nearly every parish. I get saddened sometimes as to how few people attend our weekday masses. We teach that the Holy Mass is the ‘source & summit’ of our Catholic Lives of faith. There is no greater gift that Christ gave us before his Passion, Death & Resurrection. Please think seriously about attending an additional Mass during the week; the Lord will afford you many graces and blessings.
THE ADVENT LECTIONARY: A Journey towards Christmas with the Bible. The Advent lectionary is particularly rich, with readings from the prophets, gospels about John the Baptist, the ‘O’ antiphons, and the gospel accounts of events before Jesus’ birth. Fr Adrian Graffy, parish priest in East London, and a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, will give an introduction to the Scripture readings of Advent, and present ‘Scripture Readings: Advent’ on www.whatgoodnews.org The website pages will provide the text of the readings (Revised New Jerusalem Bible) for every day of Advent, with commentary on each, and suggestions for prayer and reflection. Wednesday 23rd November 2022 19.00 –20.00 GMT This free event is both in-person and live-stream. Good transport links on the Elizabeth Line. Easy access to the church and ample parking. For live stream simply go to http://www.whatgoodnews.orgon the day. No booking necessary. A recording of the talk will be made available after the event on the same website. Christ the Eternal High Priest Catholic Church, 410 Brentwood Road, Gidea Park, RM2 6DH
INAUGURATION OF ADVENT: Service with the lighting of the Advent Wreath, prayers, readings and music on Sunday 27th November at 4.00 p.m. in Brentwood Cathedral. The Service will be led by Bishop Alan Williams. Music from the Brentwood Cathedral choir. You can also watch the service on youtube: https://youtu.be/c2KQhRXzOFU
BAPTISMS: If there are parents wishing to have their children baptised at St Edmund’s could you kindly contact Fr John as soon as possible. For first time parents there is a Baptismal Programme. Mrs Sharon Chalk runs our Baptismal Programme. Baptisms takes place on either Saturday or Sunday at 12.30pm
DIARY NOVEMBER 2022
PLEASE PRAY FOR THOSE SICK IN OUR PARISH
Margaret Baldwin, Evelyn Bearne, Karl Britz, Carlos Camacho, Jane Downs, Steve Dalgliesh, Pat Fenn, Bernadette Hall, Ann Hawkes, Claire Howes, Jackie Ilines, Noel Johnson, Shaun Keel, Bridget Kinsella, Angela Long, Lilian Mothersole, John McKernan, Rosemary O’Rourke, Remy, Geraldine Taylor, Vera Taylor, Mary Witten, James Wright. And all our loved ones.
ANNIVERSARIES: Dr Douglas St-John Murphy RIP, Eileen Hills RIP, & All our Holy Souls. Please pray for all whose anniversaries occur at this time and for all of our deceased loved ones, Requiescant in Pace.
WEEKLY OFFERTORY: My sincere thanks to those who are making their weekly contribution of Gift Aid envelopes and through the banking system that has been set up through the Diocese whereby your Offertory can be paid directly into the Parish Account, details below:
Or you can use Parish Bank Account: Using Online Banking
HSBC Sort Code 40-13-22 PLEASE BE GENEROUS IN YOUR
Account Number: 11019651 GIFT TO GOD & HIS CHURCH
SPECIAL APPEAL To all our parishioners who contribute to your parish weekly. Would you please consider to transferring your Weekly Offertory over to a Direct Debit. With the closing of the local HSBC Bank it has been quite difficult paying in the Offertory, and with many banks now only offering a machine deposit service. Please think about this request. Thank you!
PARISH FINANCES: As you can appreciate, during this pandemic the parish income took a severe hit, and we are still not back at the same levels as we were prior to 2020. My sincere and grateful thanks to those who have signed up for online giving and Gift Aid, this is helping. Many parishioners have not returned to the regular practice of faith, and many Gift Aid boxes were not collected this year. Please consider your weekly offertory to God.
EPPING FOREST FOODBANK DONATIONS: Thank you to all parishioners who continue to generously donate items for the Foodbank. They are truly grateful for the generosity our parish has shown and our donations are still needed desperately as more and more people in our community are finding it hard to make ends meet. The Foodbank have asked for support with the following items: pasta sauce, rice pudding, jam, tinned fruit, snack / breakfast bars, chocolate bars, shower gel, toilet roll and deodorant. URGENTLY NEEDED: Small jars of coffee, washing up liquid, sponge pudding desserts and instant mash. Thank you! You can also keep up to date with the Foodbank news via their facebook page: www.facebook.com/EppingForestFoodbank/
IRREGULAR MARRIAGES: An Irregualr Marriage is one that has taken place outside of the Catholic Church without dispensation. For example: Marriages in hotels, and secualr venues, on beaches or Las Vegas; marriage in a non-Catholic Church without dispensation from the Bishop. These marriages are not recognised by the Catholic Church, and therefore are non sacramental & irregular. But there is a facility in the Church to recetify these situations called a Convalidation (this is a strictly private facility that is offered by the church). As marriage and family life is what I specialised in while studying Canon Law, if anyone wishes to speak to me confidentially please don’t hesitate to contact me: Tel No: 0208 508 3492
CHILDREN’S SUNDAY LITURGY: Thank you for starting children’s Sunday Liturgy again. But we need more help. Parents, can you spare one Sunday every two months to help the children during the 11.00am Mass? We need more parents to join our lovely group. Please contact Mrs Elena Manara at e_vismara@yahoo.com Thank you and we hope to hear from you soon.
FROM OUR GIFT AID ORGANISER: Our Parish Gift Aid Organiser is Abbie Akinfenwa – abbie.akinfenwa@btinternet.com or text to 0775470934 with your name and gift aid number. I would encourage all parishioners to join the Parish Gift Aid Scheme. If you are a Tax Payer, it’s a really painless process, all we need is you name and address, there are Gift Aid Application Forms in the Porch of the Church, and Abbie can give you all the help you need re information. We are able to claim back 25 pence in every pound donated to the church, when you use you envelopes or pay by Standing Order. Please think about joining, and thanks to those who already belong!
ALTAR SERVERS: Recently we had over 30 children make their First Holy Communion. A couple of them have already started Altar Serving. I would like to make an appeal to the whole parish community for some more children to volunteer to become Altar Servers. It is a wonderful way of serving God and the community. Just speak to Fr John directly and he will arrange for training and for you to receive and Alb & Cincture.
If there are children who no longer serve at St Edmund’s, would you kindly return your Alb & Cincture as soon as possible please
REGISTERING AT THE PARISH: It’s always important to have details of all of our parishioners. There are Parish Registration Forms in the Porch of the Church. Please complete and return to the Presbytery.
PARISH UTILITIES: Thankfully, the weather has been pretty mild up to now. May I make an appeal to the whole parish community to kindly remember in your weekly offertory, and especially during this autumn and winter, the use of the utilities in our very big buildings. We are now all on the receiving end of larger Utility Bills. I’m sure we’re all being very careful with the usage of heating and lighting. I don’t think this is something that is going to go away!
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN A VOCATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD? At present we only have five seminarians training for the Priesthood in the Diocese of Brentwood. The period of formation for each is several years. If you know of anyone who may be interested in learning more about the priesthood, or who feels they may have a vocation to the Priesthood please contact Fr Mark Swires vocprom@dioceseofbrentwood.org
WORLD YOUTH SUNDAY: 20th November 2022. Is a unique opportunity to celebrate the role and significance of young people in the Catholic Church in England and Wales, along with the global Church. A representative of the Brentwood Catholic Youth Service will be speaking about their work, and holding a retiring collection (you can also donate online www.bcys.net/donate ) Anything you can give is so greatly appreciated, as any money raised will go towards supporting those in need of financial support to go on pilgrimages and to events, as well as allowing us to continue running our events. Providing support and training to those working with young people and so much more. And of course, please do pray for all young people in your parish, in our Diocese and around the world.
MASS INTENTIONS – NOVEMBER 2022
| Sat 19th | 10.00am | Fr Kieran Dodd RIP (Frank Westcott)Holy Souls |
| Confessions 11am – 12Noon or on demandVigil Mass for Sunday. Confessions at 5.30pm | ||
| Sat 19th | 6.00pm | Stephen Griffiths RIP (Mylinah) Holy Souls |
| Sun 20th | 9.00am | Martin Boyle RIP (Paul Boyle) Holy Souls |
| Sun 20th | 11:00am | Margaret Mary & Karl Joseph Britz RIP(Karl Britz) Holy Souls |
| Mon 21st | 10.00am | Communion Service Holy Souls |
| Tues 22nd | 10.00am | Communion Service Holy Souls |
| Wed 23rd | 10.00am | Communion Service Holy Souls |
| Thur 24th | 10.00am | Communion Service Holy Souls |
| Fri 25th | 10.00am | Communion Service Holy Souls |
| Sat 26th | 10.00am | Margaret & Pat Int’s (Frank Westcott) Holy Souls |
| Confessions 11am – 12Noon or on demandVigil Mass for Sunday. Confessions at 5.30pm | ||
| Sat 26th | 6.00pm | Lucy McLay RIP (Gormley Family) |
| Sun 27th | 9.00am | Carmen Antaki RIP (Pat Hodgeson) Holy Souls |
| Sun 27th | 11:00am | Lynette MacDonald Int’s for successful cancer treatment. Holy Souls |
Please kindly put your Mass requests in early for anniversaries etc., this is to avoid any disappointment if a particular date has already been booked,
Parish Phone No: 0208 508 3492 Email: loughton@dioceseofbrentwood.org
The Brentwood Diocesan Trust Registered Charity No. 234092
Christ the King – Solemnity
First Reading : 2 Samuel 5:1-3
All the tribes of Israel then came to David at Hebron. ‘Look’ they said ‘we are your own flesh and blood. In days past when Saul was our king, it was you who led Israel in all their exploits; and the Lord said to you, “You are the man who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you shall be the leader of Israel.”’ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a pact with them at Hebron in the presence of the Lord, and they anointed David king of Israel.
Responsive Psalm : Psalm 121(122):1-5
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
I rejoiced when I heard them say:
‘Let us go to God’s house.’
And now our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
Jerusalem is built as a city
strongly compact.
It is there that the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord.
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
For Israel’s law it is,
there to praise the Lord’s name.
There were set the thrones of judgement
of the house of David.
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
Second Reading : Colossians 1:12-20
We give thanks to the Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit the light.
Because that is what he has done: he has taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.
He is the image of the unseen God
and the first-born of all creation,
for in him were created
all things in heaven and on earth:
everything visible and everything invisible,
Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers –
all things were created through him and for him.
Before anything was created, he existed,
and he holds all things in unity.
Now the Church is his body,
he is its head.
As he is the Beginning,
he was first to be born from the dead,
so that he should be first in every way;
because God wanted all perfection
to be found in him
and all things to be reconciled through him and for him,
everything in heaven and everything on earth,
when he made peace
by his death on the cross.
Gospel : Luke 23:35-43
The people stayed there before the cross watching Jesus. As for the leaders, they jeered at him. ‘He saved others,’ they said ‘let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.’ The soldiers mocked him too, and when they approached to offer vinegar they said, ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.’ Above him there was an inscription: ‘This is the King of the Jews.’
One of the criminals hanging there abused him. ‘Are you not the Christ?’ he said. ‘Save yourself and us as well.’ But the other spoke up and rebuked him. ‘Have you no fear of God at all?’ he said. ‘You got the same sentence as he did, but in our case we deserved it: we are paying for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus,’ he said ‘remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ ‘Indeed, I promise you,’ he replied ‘today you will be with me in paradise.’
St Edmund of Canterbury 