St Mary Immaculate & The Holy Archangels

 Cogeshall , Kelvedon, Tiptree


 The Presbytery, Church Street, Kelvedon, CO5 9AH

kelvedon@brcdt.org


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St Mary Immaculate and The Holy Archangels
Kelvedon
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St John Houghton - Tiptree
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At the beginning of his public ministry Jesus outlines his Mission in the synagogue in Nazareth:

‘He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,

to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight,

to set the downtrodden free,

to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour’

His ministry was one of compassionate involvement, concern for the disadvantaged.

Aware of obstacles, including those of the Law, which limited joy and fulfilment Jesus acted.

He confronted, sometimes angrily, what undermined a person’s dignity.

Jesus’ sermon in the synagogue in Capernaum triggered a reaction from a member of the congregation.

‘What do you want with us?’

‘Have you come to destroy us?’

It is the Devil recognising the presence of the Holy One.

The duty of the Prophet in speaking God’s words and so bringing God’s light into lives and situations is to enlighten, to encourage, sometimes to warn.

What action is needed to ensure that we respond adequately to God’s challenge?

The plea of the psalmist today is‘ ...listen to his voice, harden not your hearts’.

Racial Justice Sunday is a time to absorb fully this scriptural challenge.

Listening to the voice of God and the voice of the Church we learn of equal love for all:

  • Voices that discriminate unjustly, attitudes that undermine on the grounds of race must be opposed.
  • Voices of those who feel rejected or perpetually in second place must be listened to.
  • The dignity of all must be respected and promoted.
  • In the Church we proclaim that everyone of whatever racial origin should, in the words of Pope Francis, be Welcomed, Protected, Promoted and Integrated.
  • We need to challenge ourselves to act now so that this may be achieved.

This Tuesday is Candlemas the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in Temple and the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

As usual candles will be blessed at the beginning of the 9.00 a.m. Mass.

The Blessing of St Blaise to seek protection from maladies of the throat will be given at the end of the 9.00 a.m.

Mass on Wednesday.

Please remember

  • Kay Brown
  • Phyllis Chine
  • Thomas Martin
  • Mary Borg
  • Laurence Kenney
  • Ellen Cooney
  • Elizabeth O’Brien
  • George Parkin
  • Terri Casey
  • Gillian O’Malley
  • James Madden
  • Richard Picton

whose anniversaries occur at this time.

This Saturday 12.15 p.m. As usual Exposition and Confessions will run from 10.30 a.m. till 12.00 noon.

Many thanks to those who have continued to support our link with Fr Zane in South Africa.

The winners of the lottery for this quarter are:

Terry Allwork - 1st prize £60

Cedric Thompson - 2nd prize £26

A total of £591, which includes lottery income and one off donations, will be sent to Fr Zane shortly.

Hopefully an update on the situation in South Africa, and how the money has been used, will be included in a future newsletter.

If anyone would like to join the lottery for the remaining 3 draws, please do contact Viv Talbot on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 07840492307

LORD of the Harvest,

BLESS young people with the gift of courage to respond to your call.

Open their hearts to great ideals to great things.

INSPIRE all of your disciples to mutual love and giving -for vocations to blossom in the good soil of faithful people.

INSTILL those in religious life, parish ministries and families With the confidence and grace to invite others to embrace the bold and noble path of life consecrated to you.

UNITE us to Jesus through prayer and sacrament, so that we may co-operate with you in building your reign of mercy and truth, of justice and peace.

Amen.

 

Adapted from Pope Francis’ Message

on the 51st World Day of Prayer for Vocations

 

 

Oh Sacrament most holy

Oh Sacrament divine

All praise and all thanksgiving

Be every moment thine

“The time has come” says Jesus.

He had already begun the groundwork – baptised by John and enabling him to recognise the arrival of the Lamb of God and also getting to know the core group of his disciples including Andrew and Simon Peter.

The arrest of John the Baptist marks a new phase.

The time has come to make know the coming of God’s Kingdom and our need to prepare for this by a change of heart and of our way of life.

We will only be motivated to change if we really believe that God is near and once we have begun to make that change our openness will make us more ready to recognise the Son of God for who he is.

The Church links this to the story of Jonah because Nineveh was the ancient foe of Israel and a symbol of evil.

If Nineveh could repent then no one is beyond God’s mercy or the touch of his grace.

Please remember

Charles Stanley

Winifred Lawes

Edward Piekielon

Winifred Winfield

and Tom Ennis whose anniversaries occur at this time.

As usual when there are five Sundays in a month we supply the gap in the diocesan rota with an additional Mass according to the 1962 Missal at 3.00 p.m. next Sunday.

26th -28th February for women exploring the vocationto religious life.

There will be times of prayer, reflection, input and discussion as well as a Q&A session with FCJ Sisters (Faithful Companions of Jesus)

More information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or follow us on Facebook

The weeks after Epiphany and after Pentecost are styled ‘Ordinary Time’, characterised by the use of green vestments, and on Sundays take us through the public ministry of Our Lord covering each of the ‘Synoptic’ Gospels over three years.

Year 2 or B sets us before us St Mark’s Gospel, but because it is shorter than the others some weeks it is supplemented by readings from St John’s Gospel, e.g. the explanation of the feeding of the Five Thousand, and also today.

Why did Simon and Andrew, James and John respond so promptly (Matthew and Luke) when Jesus calls them from their fishing nets ?

St John tells us that that this was not their first encounter.

Andrew was already a follower of John the Baptist.

John’s comment about Jesus as the Lamb of God inspired him to find out more and as a result Andrew brought Simon to Jesus.

This story also shows us how important friendship and family relationships can be in sharing the Faith.

Some people discover the Christian Faith through reading and reflection, but for most there is a human trigger – a friend or relative who in some way inspires them, or perhaps invites them to Church as a new place of encounter with God.

To prepare for the second Sunday of the Word of God, which falls on January 24th 2021, the Catholic Biblical Federation has organised an online conference with participation from all over Europe.

The Conference will take place at 5 pm London time on Friday January 22nd and will end at 6.30 p.m.

Reflections will be shared on two of the readings of the Sunday: Jonah 3:1-5,10 and Mark 1:14-20.

Speakers will be from Croatia, Italy, Romania and Ireland.

Presentations will be in English, Italian and French. Introduction and conclusions will be from Ernesto Borghi (Switzerland) and Adrian Graffy (UK).

The Conference will take place online and can be followed via c-b-f.org/streaming or YouTube and Facebook at the Catholic Biblical Federation.

Fr Adrian Graffy, English representative at the Catholic Biblical Federation, explained: ‘In the rich but fragmented European continent we aim to come together around the Word of God.

In the post-pandemic world it will be important to derive from the Scriptures guidelines in our relationships with God, with brothers and sisters throughout the continent and beyond, and in our protection of the planet.

Pope Francis’ institution of the Sunday of the Word of God is welcome and timely, and this is an excellent way to prepare for the day.’

This runs 18th-25th January.

These dates were chosen because the former was formerly the Feast of the Chair of St Peter at Rome and the latter is still that of the Conversion of St Paul (when not displaced by the Sunday).

This year it is not possible to join together in public acts of common prayer but we can still pray for each other.

As Easter Sunday reminds us the Lord can easily come through closed doors and it is that shared presence of the one Lord that binds us together whatever areas of disagreement there may be.

You can download prayer resources from: https://ctbi.org.uk/week-of-prayer-for-christian-unity-2021/ The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2021 has been prepared by the Monastic Community of Grandchamp in Switzerland.

The theme that was chosen, “Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit”, is based on John 15:1-17 and expresses Grandchamp Community’s vocation to prayer, reconciliation and unity in the Church and the human family.

Today the community has fifty sisters, all women from different generations, Church traditions, countries and continents.

In their diversity the sisters are a living parable of communion.

They remain faithful to a life of prayer, life in community and the welcoming of guests.

The sisters share the grace of their monastic life with visitors and volunteers who go to Grandchamp for a time of retreat, silence, healing or in search of meaning.

For 2021, the sisters are inviting churches across the world to enter into their tradition of prayer and silence that is rooted in the ancient traditions of the Church catholic.

Provides a minimum of three days’ emergency food and support to local people experiencing crisis.

We are currently looking for the following volunteers who will help play a crucial role in the running of the foodbank, from collecting and sorting donations to processing vouchers and helping to create a welcom-ing space for people in crisis:

Warehouse Assistants – happy to lift heavy weights and have an eye for detail.

Drivers and Driver’s mates – clean licence required and ability to lift heavy weights.

Witham Foodbank Centre Helper – empathetic, team player and excellent communication skills.

No previous volunteering experience required.

We are also currently looking for a PR volunteer, who will help play a crucial role in raising the awareness of Foodbank through social media.

Do you have excellent computer skills across all media platforms?

Are you numerate and comfortable in interpreting statistical data?

Are you empathetic, a team player, with excellent communication skills and have the ability to write press releases?

To find out more about how you can join us and for fuller role profile please Phone: 01376 330694 or Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We endeavour to reply to all volunteering applications within 5 days.

Please contact Father Gordon or (Pat Richardson This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) if you would like to add a name to the weekly prayer list.

Please also advise when circumstances change, so the list can be kept up to date.

CHURCHES TO REMAIN OPEN!

SUNDAY AND DAILY MASS SCHEDULE CONTINUES AS ADVERTISED IN THE NEWSLETTER.

Here is a summary provided by the Bishop of the discussions at national level between government officials and Church Leaders.

I would draw your attention in particular to No.3. THE SAFETY AND OPENING OF CHURCHES


1. Health professional research to date indicates that the new virus variant is as well controlled by social distancing and mitigations as the old. Further studies are taking place for a more concrete verification on this matter.

2. HM Government stressed that there would be no blanket closure of places of worship. They asked that each Place of Worship should re-evaluate their own local situation and examine all factors that could affect the good covid security demonstrated by places of worship so far. This is to include (but is not limited to):

  1. Sufficient stewarding and management of the venue
  2. Sufficient cleaning after acts of communal worship
  3. Maintaining good social distancing in the space available along with good ventilation
  4. Factors affecting travel to and from the place of worship, such as public transport
  5. The length of exposure time for an act of worship is critical and should be minimised – anything that is not necessary should be omitted.
  6. Those who have gathered for worship should not mingle before or after the service outside of the church. They should disperse immediately.
  7. All non-essential worship should be postponed or cancelled (see below)

3. The officials noted that keeping covid secure places of worship open for public worship adds no extra burden to the NHS and provides recognised benefits for the community.

4 .The task force expressed with great clarity that the role of the Local Authority is one of enforcement of closure in particular circumstances on the basis of evidence of lack of COVID security.

5. Public Health England will conduct an exercise in mapping exposure risks from different venues across the country for better data.

Each of the Evangelists in his own way attests to the importance of Jesus’ baptism.

It is the outward manifestation of his mission.

Jesus accepts this outward sign, although in no need of cleansing, so that the Father may send down the Holy Spirit to bear witness as to who he is.

“You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.” John the Baptist’s task is now complete.

In the second reading St John tells us that it is not only the Spirit who bears witness to the lord, but also the blood he will shed on the cross.

Jesus comes into the world not only to share our life but also to share our death so that we may enter with him into eternal life.

Although John used the waters of the River Jordan to baptise, special ritual baths were used within the Jewish community especially when female converts were received or men who had already been circumcised.

The early Christian community saw the font as symbolising death and rebirth –generally the candidate was plunged beneath the water and fonts were provided with steps down into them.

Often the shape of the font was also symbolic, especially in later times when they became smaller.

A circular font symbolised the womb, square or with four lobes the four Gospels, octagonal the eighth day –that of the resurrection and new creation.

In the Middle Ages octagonal fonts often also depicted the seven sacraments. Baptism marks the beginning of our life in Christ –the life of grace.

We can renounce Christ but he does not renounce us –the seal of baptism is indelible.

The font illustrated is in Kelibia in Tunisia and dates from the Sixth Century.

Communal worship and life events

- You can leave home to attend or visit a place of worship for communal worship, a funeral or event related to a death, a burial ground or a remembrance garden, or to attend a wedding ceremony.

You should follow the guidance on the safe use of places of worship and must not mingle with anyone outside of your household or support bubble when attending a place of worship.

Weddings, funerals and religious, belief-based or commemorative events linked to someone’s death are all subject to limits on the numbers that can attend, and weddings and civil ceremonies may only take place in exceptional circumstances.

This is normally taken at this time of year.

Since they do not provide special envelopes and we cannot easily take a separate collection.

I suggest that if you wish to support their work then you place an offering in a plain envelope and mark it SPUC.

There is no great hurry as currently the collections are counted several weeks at a time when there is an opportunity.

The Department of Health is holding a public consultation on whether to continue the practice of allowing abortion providers to send abortion pills to women so that they can perform their own abortion at home.

We need as many pro-life people as possible to complete the Department of Health’s questionnaire in order to help stop dangerous DIY abortions becoming permanent.

SPUC has prepared a briefing which gives a step by step guide to completing the consultation questionnaire.

Please go to www.spuc.org.uk/Get-Involved/Campaigns/England-DIY-Abortion-Consultation

The consultation ends on 26 February 2021.

On Saturday 30th January from 11.00 a.m. until 12.30 p.m. Dr Austen Ivereigh will speak about the book he recently co-authored with Pope Francis.

‘Let us Dream’ presents the Pope’s vision for the post-pandemic future.

How should we move forward from the multiple coronavirus crises?

To access this livestream event please go to www.ssppilford.org.uk and click on live stream remote services.

The event, which is sponsored by Gidea Park parish in conjunction with Brentwood Interfaith, will be available subsequently on www.whatgoodnews.org

Questions for Austen may be emailed beforehand to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

According to new guidelines (see paragraph below) communal worship is still allowed providing we follow the safety guidelines.

Importantly, WE CANNOT MINGLE OUTSIDE OUR SUPPORT GROUP OR HOUSEHOLD.

Mass schedules will therefore continue as advertised in the weekly newsletter.

Thank you for your support and understanding.


Communal worship and life events - You can leave home to attend or visit a place of worship for communal worship, a funeral or event related to a death, a burial ground or a remembrance garden, or to attend a wedding ceremony.

 You should follow the guidance on the safe use of places of worship and must not mingle with anyone outside of your household or support bubble when attending a place of worship.

 Weddings, funerals and religious, belief-based or commemorative events linked to someone’s death are all subject to limits on the numbers that can attend, and weddings and civil ceremonies may only take place in exceptional circumstances.


 

Extract from Pope Francis’ message at the Angelus

Pope Francis on Sunday invited the faithful to invite God into their homes, their families, to share with Him their frailties and fears in order to allow Him to change their lives.

The Pope noted that “Saint John calls Him the Logos, that is, the Word.”  And the word, he added, serves to communicate: “one does not speak alone, one speaks with someone.”

 The fact that Jesus was, from the very beginning, the Word, Pope Francis continued, “means that from the beginning God wants to communicate with us, He wants to talk to us.”

 From the moment the Lord took on flesh, Pope Francis explained, nothing of our life is extraneous to Him: “There is nothing that He scorns, we can share everything with Him.”

“Our hope is in God, not in the sense of a generic religiosity or a fatalism cloaked in faith.

We trust in God who revealed completely and definitively in Jesus Christ his desire to be with human beings, to share in our history, to guide us all to his Kingdom of love and life.

And this great hope enlivens and at times corrects our human hopes.

Three extraordinarily rich biblical readings speak to us today of this revelation: chapter 24 of the Book of Ecclesiasticus, the opening hymn of St Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians and the Prologue of John’s Gospel.

These texts affirm that God is not only the creator of the universe, an aspect common to other religions too, but that he is the Father who “chose us in him before the foundation of the world...He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ”, and that for this reason he even, inconceivably, went so far as to make himself man: “the Word became flesh and dwelled among us”.

(Pope Benedict XVI)

The twelve days of Christmas do not wind down but reach their climax with the Feast of the Epiphany.

It marks the revealing of God’s presence among us to the whole of humanity represented by the Wise Men.

This beginning will unfold, once the child Jesus has matured in his human nature, with his baptism at the hands of John and then his public ministry.

It might surprise you to know that before the reforms to the liturgical calendar in 1969 Epiphany had a higher ‘ranking’ than Christmas.

In Italy it is the day children traditionally receive their gifts.

The carol ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ also culminates on this day with an avalanche of presents!

Although because of the COVID-19 Pandemic the Bishops have suspended the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days Mass will be celebrated at the usual Holy Day times:

  • Kelvedon    10.00 a.m.
  • Coggeshall  6.00 p.m.
  • Tiptree         7.30 p.m.

St Thomas’s day fell on 29th December.
A friend drew my attention to a fascinating article on a Book of Psalms that may have belonged to St Thomas and throws interesting new light on his life.
You can see this for yourself through the following link:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-55370722.

On 23rd January from 11.00 a.m. until 12.30 p.m. Dom Henry Wansbrough will be presenting a live stream talk entitled ‘The Adventures of a Biblical Translator’.

Dom Henry is the editor of the New Jerusalem Bibleand the recently published Revised New Jerusalem Bible.

The event will be presented by Dr Sean Ryan, chair of the Catholic Biblical Association.

The event can be accessed live by going to www.ssppilford.org.uk and will be available to download subsequently on www.whatgoodnews.org

Questions for Fr Henry, and other queries, may be directed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Mass times & intentions
Friday 29 Mar 2024
03:00PM -
LITURGY OF THE PASSION
Kelvedon
Friday 29 Mar 2024
06:30PM -
Stations of the Cross
Coggeshall
Friday 29 Mar 2024
07:30PM -
Stations of the Cross
Tiptree
Saturday 30 Mar 2024
09:30AM - 10:00AM
Confessions
Kelvedon
Kelvedon

Tiptree

Coggeshall