Parish Priest – Father David B Barrett – email – olneyparishpriest@icloud.com
Parish Deacon – Rev Peter Griffin – Tel 07850499414 – email – pfgriffin@hotmail.co.uk
Parish Administrator – Denise Wallinger Tel 01234 711212
email: ourladysolney@btconnect.com
SVP Contact – Tel 07925 125206
Parish Website: www.ourladysolney.co.uk
16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
Saturday 18th July
6.30pm Vigil Mass For the people of the parish
Sunday 19th July
Sun 10.30am Mass Dániel Solymári Int.
Monday 20th July: St Apollinaris, Bishop & Martyr
10.00am Mass Dermott Hanrahan Int.
Tuesday21st July: St Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest & Doctor
10.00am Mass Patrick Reddin RIP
Wednesday 22nd July: ST MARY MAGDALENE
10.00am Mass Jean Griffin RIP
Thursday 23rd July: ST BRIDGET OF SWEDEN
10.00am Mass Pat Burke RIP
Friday 24th July: St Sharbel Makhluf, Priest
10.00am Mass Lillian Morris Int. (sick)
5.00pm Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Rosary & Benediction
Saturday 25th July: ST JAMES, APOSTLE
10.00am Mass Teresa Panchani Int.
Sat 6.30pm Mass For the people of the parish
Sunday 26th July: 17th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR (A)
Sun 10.30am Mass Sheila Lack RIP
To watch the parish Liturgy on the internet, either ask Denise to email you the daily link, or go to our parish website and press the link button that reads TAKE ME THERE. Live Masses have the word LIVE printed on the picture on the screen: you click on that and you should be there. Just make sure that it is the correct Mass.
EXPOSITION, ROSARY AND BENEDICTION – every Friday at 5.00pm. We will continue to pray the Rosary after Mass each weekday.
SACRAMENT OF CONFESSION – If anyone would like to go to Confession, please do contact me by email or call round to the presbytery. Confessions will not be held in the confessional but in a safe place and with appropriate distancing, in compliance with the guidelines.
PUBLIC MASSES AND LITURGIES – Our first public Mass in the parish will be on Monday 27th July. Mass will take place on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 10.00am. The Sunday Vigil Mass will be celebrated as normal at 6.30pm on Saturday. Sunday morning Mass will be at 10.30am.
The obligation to attend Mass on Sundays or any other day remains suspended. You do not have to attend Mass, therefore. We will continue to live-stream Mass each day, except probably on Wednesdays.
For the first couple of weeks we are setting up a booking-in system. This is to ensure that we maintain social distancing and also that we do not have to turn anyone away at the door of the church.
You will have been contacted by Denise to suggest a number 1 preference and a number 2 preference for the day you wish to attend Mass. Please reply to her as soon as possible. We will accommodate people’s preferences as far as we can. If there is anyone from the parish who has not received notification of this system, please ask them to contact Denise on 01234 711212 or by email on ourladysolney@btconnect.com
Deacon Peter has kindly been putting together Guidelines for when we come to Mass again: they are based on the Government’s regulations and the requirements of the Bishop. They are now available on the parish website. Please note them. We are adhering to the guidelines carefully.
Deacon Peter has also organised a rota for the stewards who will welcome and guide people to their places in the church. I am very grateful to the stewards for volunteering and so enabling us to open the church. We will be holding a meeting for stewards and other volunteers who may wish to help in this phase this Friday 24th July at 3.00pm.
A parishioner has kindly donated a fogging machine which will assist in ensuring that the church is disinfected. We will have a regime of cleaning after every Mass. A deep clean, organised by Denise, will take place regularly as well.
I am grateful to all those who have been helping to get things ready. In particular, Denise has done a huge amount of work in the background in securing cleaning supplies and gel for the church – and countless other things. Deacon Peter has been applying his organisational skills to preparing guidelines and in organising the stewards.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Denise or Deacon Peter or myself.
ANGELUS –Traditionally this prayer is said first thing in the morning, and then at midday and finally at 6.00pm. You will find the text of the Angelus on the parish website.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION – Even if you are not attending Mass, you can make a Spiritual Communion every day. It is an expressed heartfelt desire to receive Our Lord even when we are unable. In making the prayer, we receive the Lord spiritually. Here is one prayer to make a Spiritual Communion:
My Jesus, I believe that You are truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as being already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
St Alphonsus Liguori
CAFOD APPEAL – CAFOD has joined with the U.K. Disasters Emergency Committee to help millions of people whose lives are at risk as Coronavirus spreads across refugee camps and countries suffering conflict. You can donate at http://cafod.org.uk/coronavirus to help through our global Church.
FOODBANK – Many thanks to all of you who have been supporting the Food Bank. They are very grateful for the support of people from Olney – Catholics, Anglicans and others. The donation box remains outside the presbytery door every day and is checked often. The Food Bank needs donations of goods such as
- Long Life Juice
- Long Life Milk
- Tinned Rice Pudding / Custard
- Tinned Meat
- Tinned Vegetables
- Tinned Tomatoes
- Pasta Sauce
- Spreads
USEFUL YOUTUBE CHANNELS TO WATCH – Bishop Robert Barron is well-known speaker and teacher. His YouTube channel is worth watching. He also broadcasts podcasts at http://WordOnFire.org
Renewal Ministries is another Catholic channel on YouTube. It aims to foster renewal and evangelisation in the Church through helping people to gain a deeper personal love and relationship with Jesus. They also have a website at http://renewalministries.net
Another website designed to help us grown in our prayer life and our sense of personal dedication to Christ I have mentioned before – http://spiritualdirection.com They also have a channel on YouTube called SpiritualDirection.com.
ISSUES AROUND LIFE – Concerning the attempt on Monday 6th July to extend abortion even further in this country using two amendments to the Domestic Abuse Bill (the attempt failed), I received a reply from the MP for Milton Keynes North. He wrote: “Out of the amendments that you have mentioned, NC 29 was selected and I voted against it. While I am not against reforming abortion law, this needs to be done in a careful and considered way. I agree that abortion is an incredibly sensitive topic no matter where you stand on the debate, and changes to legislation should not be rushed through.”
PARISH SUPPORT – If you would like to contribute, you can either put the offering through the door of the Presbytery – if you didn’t collect your new envelopes, just put down your old envelope number on an envelope with your initials. If you would prefer to set up a standing order for donations to your parish using either your on-line bank account or in your branch, please contact Denise for the relevant details. Any cheques should be made payable to Our Lady Help of Christians.
MASS OFFERINGS (STIPENDS) – If you have any Mass intentions to be offered, please contact Fr David, Deacon Peter or Denise. Please do include the full name of the person for whom you want the Mass to be offered, whether they are alive or deceased.
REFLECTION FOR THE 15TH WEEK OF THE YEAR
Last week we celebrated the Memorial of Blessed Richard Langhorne, a married man and lawyer, martyred for the Faith in 1679 as a result of the fake Popish Plot devised by Titus Oates. I came across some of his meditations which he wrote while in prison awaiting execution. They are an indication of his deep faith and very intimate relationship with Our Lord Jesus Christ. I reproduce the first four mediations he wrote here, adapted slightly to the language of our times.
I
It is told me I must die
ignominiously,
by the hand of the executioner:
O happy news!
I see myself honoured with the livery of Jesus,
I receive the judgment of death
as an enemy to Caesar,
as designing the death of my King,
and the Depriving Him of
His Crown,
His Government.
whilst in the mean time
my Jesus knows,
my conscience rejoicing testifies,
that I never yet harboured
in my heart at any time,
so much as one disloyal thought
against my king and sovereign.
And the consciences
of my accusers must testify
at the last and dreadful Judgment,
to the glory of my God
and the justification of truth,
that I am perfectly innocent
of all and every the crimes
of which they swore me guilty.
II
It is told me I must die
a death of dishonour in the
vain opinion of the world,
O happy news!
My Jesus calls me by this sentence,
to bear His Cross, and follow Him.
The judge declares my death necessary
for the king, and for his people;
the people shout and cry out,
“Crucify, crucify.”
He who was perfect Innocence,
hath set before me His Example,
He opened not His mouth,
He justified not Himself,
He forgave, and prayed for His enemies.
O what happiness
to be dignified with so many circumstances
of the death of Jesus!
III
It is told me I must die,
O sweet and happy news!
Rejoice, O my soul,
for you have no cause for fear,
your Jesus has died for you;
He has paid a ransom for you;
He has bought you with His Life;
He has satisfied [= made satisfaction] for your sins;
He has purchased Paradise for you;
He has adopted you His brother;
He has adopted you the son of His Father;
He has cleansed you by His Blood;
He has given you His Body for your security;
upon His Cross He declared you son of His Mother;
and He now gives you His Cross to bear,
As an evidence that you are one of His.
IV
It is told me I must die,
O happy news!
Be glad, O my soul,
and rejoice in Jesus your Saviour.
If He intended your perdition,
would He have laid down His Life for you?
Would He have expected [= awaited or borne with] you with so much patience,
and given you so long a time for penance [= repentance]?
Would He have called you with so much Love,
and illuminated you with the Lights of His Spirit?
Would He have drawn you with so great force,
and favoured you with so many graces?
Would He have set the seal of the Predestinate upon you,
and dressed you in His own Livery?
Would He have given you His Cross,
and given you shoulders to bear it with patience?
Taken from Mr Langhorn’s Memories with Some Meditations and Devotions of His, During Imprisonment. 1679
May Our Lady, Help of Christians, St Joseph, St Lawrence, Blessed Richard Langhorne, and St Rita pray for us all.
With my love and prayers,
Fr David B Barrett
Parish Priest