Catholic Community in Cheltenham Twenty Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Catholic Community in Cheltenham
.
Twenty Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Psalter Week 4
Page 140
12th October 2014
‗Invite everyone you can find to the wedding‘ (Matthew 22: 1-14)
“the only true riches are
those that make us rich
in virtue”
St Gregory the Great 10 St James Square, GL50 3PR 01242 523737
St Thomas More Princess Elizabeth Way, GL51 7RA 01242 573128
Parish Priest:
Canon Bosco MacDonald VF
Assistant Priest: Fr Frank Wainwright
Fr David McDonald
Deacon:
Rev. Robin Littlewood
Parish Websites:
www.stgregorys.org.uk, www.stthomasmorechurch.org.uk
Schools:
St Gregory‘s RC Primary School, St James Square GL50 3QG
St Thomas More RC Primary School, Lewis Road, Hesters Way GL51 OHZ
All Saints‘ Academy, Blaisdon Way, Cheltenham GL51 OWH
Sacred Hearts Moorend Road, Charlton Kings, GL53 9AU 01242 524932
Pope st Gregory the great
of Jesus and Mary
Parish Priest:
Fr Paul Brandon Parish Website:
Mass Times this Week
12th
13th
14th
15th
Sunday
5.00pm (Sat
5.30pm (Sat)
8.15am
9.30am
10.30am
11.15am
4.15pm
6.00pm
Monday
9.30am
Tuesday
10.00am
7.00pm
Wednesday
10.00am
12.30pm
16th
7.00pm
Thursday
17th
9.30am
7.00pm
Friday
18th
9.30am
7.00pm
Saturday
9.30am
10.30am
Twenty Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
St Thomas More People of the Parish
Sacred Hearts
Private Intention
Sacred Hearts
People of the Parish
St Gregory
Nellie & Pat Murphy RIP
Sacred Hearts
Thomaisin Mullins RIP
St Gregory
People of the Parish
Sacred Hearts
Mass in Polish
St Gregory
Private Intention
Weekday in Ordinary Time
St Gregory
Molly & Billy Evans RIP
Weekday in Ordinary Time
Sacred Hearts
Eileen O‘Kane RIP
St Gregory
Mary Hogan
Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, (Avila)
Virgin and Doctor of the Church
Sacred Hearts
Teresa McKenzie RIP
St Gregory
Requiem Mass for
John Feeley RIP
St Gregory
Confirmation Mass
Solemnity of The Anniversary of the
Dedication of Parish Churches
St Gregory
Margareth Magijme RIP
Sacred Hearts
Lucia Rodrigues RIP
Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch,
Bishop and Martyr
St Gregory
Private Intention
Sacred Hearts
Missio Mass
Feast of Saint Luke, Evangelist
St Gregory
Geraldine Thorley RIP
St Thomas More Jumbulance Bus Blessing
Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: Prayer before the
Blessed Sacrament at St Gregory‘s: Saturday 10.00am-11.00am;Thursday
10.00am-3.00pm ending with Benediction; Sacred Hearts:1st Friday of month,
9.15am-12.30pm. 1st Thursday at STM 5pm Confessions in Polish.
Sacrament of Reconciliation: St Gregory‘s Saturdays 10.00am; St Thomas
More 4.15-4.45pm. Sacred Hearts Thursdays 7.30pm and Saturdays
10.30am. Also by arrangement with the priests.
RCIA Journey in Faith: Will re-commence 16th October 2014.
Baptisms: By arrangement with the Parish Office.
Cheltenham Catholic Adults: 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month. Contact
Margaret 07515 805015 or Damian 07908 105787.
55 Club: After 9.30am Mass, in Old Priory (alternate Thursdays). Next
meeting: 23rd October: Talk by Mr George Francis: ‗The Story of the W.W.T.
at Slimbridge‘.
Choir Practice: In Church, Thursdays at 7.00pm. New members welcome.
Contact John on: 07769 675323.
www.sacredhearts.org.uk
WHAT'S ON THE
MENU?
One of the hardest
things to describe
is what it will be
like the other side
of
the
grave.
People
are
fascinated to know
how things are for
those who have
died. Unscrupulous
radio programmes
even have talkshow guests who make their phone-in listeners believe
that they can contact dead parents, husbands, family
and friends. Although Jesus tells us that no one has
ever seen or heard what has been prepared for us after
death, we can't help wondering. I suppose if you worked
120 hours a week, then your idea of heaven would be
one long holiday. If you like music, then it might be a
wonderful heavenly concert from the choirs of angels.
It's quite natural, then, for people who live and work in
the hot desert to think of heaven in terms of a refreshing
banquet. Rich food, juicy fruits and fine wines are
guaranteed to make the mouth water. Make the meal
into a wedding feast and you have all the ingredients for
real celebration: food and drink, music and dancing,
love, romance and a good time for all.
God would be foolish to create people and then
automatically exclude them from the heavenly banquet
simply on grounds of colour, race, nationality or religion.
All are invited to the wedding feast. Yes, everyone. It
may well be that some people will decide to refuse the
invitation or will deliberately exclude themselves. No
one can be forced into a relationship with God and we
can all find plenty of excuses for not coming to the
feast. At the same time there may be people at the
banquet who have a different colour admission ticket to
us. We might not expect to see them there, but they are
as welcomed by God as we are. For Christians the
starter-course of this banquet has already begun
because our Eucharistic meal is a foretaste of what is to
come. Each of us has received a ticket to which we had
no right. We may not know exactly what will be on the
menu. But if you even suspect that you are being
invited, then it's worth replying without delay.
Finance
Last week‘s offertory collection came to: £1,033.74 (STG);
£354.68 (STM) Bingo £174.00 (STM). Last week‘s collection
for CAFOD raised £1,223.72 (SG) and £133.46 (STM). Thank
you for your continued generosity.
World Mission Sunday (Missio)
The APF assists each and every one of the Catholic Church‘s
1,062 mission dioceses and territories to provide pastoral care
and preach the Gospel effectively. Funds for the Missions are
collected through the famous Red collection Boxes. These
can be found in 200,000 homes and they have helped raise
millions of pounds for the missions. The APF enables its
supporters to live out their own missionary vocation and to
take an active part in the universal mission of the Church.
www.missio.org.uk
Red Box Holders
Missio Mass next Friday, 17th October at 7pm at Sacred
Hearts in Charlton Kings, followed by a presentation and
refreshments. All welcome.
Baptisms
Congratulations and welcome to Maximus Cristiano and Laura
Wilczynska who were baptised last weekend. We welcome
these children into the family of the Church, and offer our love
and prayers to them and their families.
Confirmation Mass
Bishop Declan will be coming to St Gregory‘s this Wednesday,
15th October at 7.00pm to confer the Sacrament of
Confirmation with young people from St Gregory‘s and St
Thomas More‘s Parishes. The Candidates have progressed
through our preparation programme and we offer our prayers
and congratulations to all of them:- Obehi Abebe, Michael
Arkwright, Ifeyinwa Atuche, Declan Austin, Ian Bernales,
William Cooper, Edward Courtman, Sarah Cribben, Concetta
Di Pasqua, Riccardo Di Vita, Emilie Dore-Green, Alexander
Dynes Martinez, Caroline Fitzsimmons, Colette Gardner,
Abigail Goh Man Ru, Jacqueline Goh Man Zhen, Samantha
Gorman, Natalie Gruszkiewicz, Sophie Heppenstall, Simona
Hmilanska, Jacob Holbrook, Niamh Jenkins, Mary Johnston,
David Kolodziejczyk, Emma Lake, Melissa Licata, Elizabeth
Laurence, Christopher Luckyn Malone, Charlene Luke,
Jasmine Maddock-Lyon, Dominic McClaran, Dylan
McCormack, Patryk Miasek, Richard Morgan, Michal
Pochmara, Jaqueline Ransley, Lindsay Smarowsky, Natalie
Skowron, Charlotte Steed and Francesca Stevenson.
Egalite Absolue Mass of Dedication
There will be Mass at St Thomas More‘s next Saturday
morning, 18th October at 10.30am., at which we welcome
friends and members of Egalite Absolue. Following Mass,
there will be blessing of the new wheelchair accessible bus
which will be used to bring much needed travel experiences to
so many people. All are welcome to come and celebrate this
happy event with us.
Goods from Bethlehem
Various goods will be on sale after the morning Masses on
Sunday, 19th October. There will be some new items, and
prices are from £1 up to £100!! Shop early for Christmas. All
proceeds to the Bethlehem Children's fund..
First Holy Communion 2015
Parents and Guardians of children who are interested in
joining the First Holy Communion programme are invited to an
introductory evening on Tuesday, 21st October, 6pm-7.00pm
in St Gregory's School Hall. The first session for children and
their parents/guardians will be on Saturday, 8th November.
The children will make their First Confession in March, and
First Holy Communion in June 2015. All children in school
year 3 or above, who have not made their First Holy
Communion are invited to join the programme. Further details
and application forms from the parish office,
(or from
jane@stcassians.co.uk)
Parish Pastoral Council Meeting
The next meeting of the PPC will be held this Tuesday,14th
October at 7.30pm in St Gregory's Presbytery. PPC members
will be available at the back of the Church at the end of this
weekend Masses.
Can you help us please?
St Gregory‘s is a busy Church with at least 9 Masses
celebrated here each week, as well as many other liturgies
that take place throughout the year. A small team of volunteer
parishioners ensure that there are clean and fresh altar linens
for every mass celebrated here. We need some more
generous parishioners to volunteer to help—the bigger the
team, the lighter the load. Please consider offering a couple
of hours every 5-6 weeks to take home, wash and iron the
small altar cloths. Do have a word with Fr Bosco if you can
help, or leave your name and contact details at the Parish
Office. Thank you in anticipation.
RCIA Journey in Faith 2014/15
The RCIA ―Journey in Faith‖ is the normal process by which
adults who are not Catholics are welcomed into the Christian
family in the Catholic Church. Becoming a Catholic is a
process of growth and conversion and can last months or
even years. Our Journey will begin next Thursday, 16th
October at 7.00pm in the Presbytery. Please complete a
registration form which may be obtained from the Parish
Office. Completed forms to be returned to Canon Bosco via
the Parish Office.
St Thomas More Christmas Fayre
Your Christmas Fayre will take place at St Thomas More on
Saturday 29th November between 11am and 1.00pm. We
need some good quality items for prizes and items to sell
(bottles, toys, chocolates, jewellery, bric a brac etc) and your
help to man a stall on the day – all ages welcome. items can
be left at St Gregory‘s and St Thomas More‘s Church and
Presbytery. To volunteer, contact Philippe Watine on 260966
or Marianna Thomas 528427. Help us to help our Church: all
together we are a community!
Fish and Chip Supper
Friday, 17th October at 7.30pm in St Thomas More Hall. A
Fish & Chip supper and small quiz for £7.50. Tickets on sale
after STM Mass or from Marianna on 528427.
Half Day Retreat
This is being planned by the Legion of Mary for Sunday, 19th
October, 2-5pm in the Old Priory. The subject is ―True
Devotion to Mary is About Loving Mary with our sleeves rolled
up‖, and will be led by Fr John Peyton. Exposition and
Benediction will follow in the Church before 6pm Mass.
Everybody welcome.
Caritas Submissions
Submissions are invited for the Advent edition. Articles about
parish activities, events or history, personal experiences,
pilgrimages, prayers, poems, short stories, reflections and
even art work are all welcome, so long as they are faith or
Church related in some way. Send submissions by 2nd
November to eventide_unicorn@yahoo.co.uk or to 'The
Editor', c/o Parish Office.
Our Prayers are asked for:
Sick: Liz Sawaf, Sue Ball, Claire Young, Sean Murphy, Helen
Stanbury, Virginia Hancliff, Grace Stevens, Olive Whelan,
Bruce Francis, Jenny Dabrowska, Teresa Patterson, Bernie
Warner, Deirdre Kelleher, Helen Dorothy Gorry, Denise Ellis,
Kevin Dunn, Peter Lucassi, Christopher & Clifford Brown,
Margaret Ellis, Julia & Danny Barr, Teresa & Paddy O‘Kelly,
Bridie & Terry Ruck, Angela Savidge, Pauline Crosbie, Emily
Cousins, June Edwards, Rey Lluisma, Lilian Martin, Bridget
Garvey, Geoffrey Garvey, Pat Donovan, Maddie Read, Dan
Perry, Pete Thacker, Mary Costello, Adrian Davis, Lisa
Partridge.
Deceased: Kathleen Trapp RIP.
Anniversaries: Elaine Slender, Peggy Gifkins, Mary Wilson,
Fr Placid Sinnott OSB, Stella McCluskey, Fr Tom Lane.