Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The wonderful thing about our God, revealed again and again in holy scripture, is his special care for those that are particularly vulnerable: the bewildered stranger, the lonely widow or orphan, the sick and the handicapped. Our Lord’s teaching to us is equally clear: treat others as we ourselves would wish to be treated. This is one of the central tenets of living our lives in loving response to Christ’s call to us.
How can we expect God to be merciful and compassionate to us if we do not show the same mercy and compassion to those around us?
THE GREAT FEAST OF ALL SAINTS will take place NEXT Sunday and will be celebrated over the course of the usual Sunday services.
On the following Monday - THE FEASTOF ALL SOULS - There will be a lunchtime Mass at 12.15pm and a Sung Mass in the evening at 7.00 pm at which we will remember our departed loved ones.
THERE WILL BE A LIST AT THE BACK OF CHURCH FOR THE NAMES OF THOSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE PRAYED FOR AT MASS ON THAT DAY.
AS NOTED LAST WEEKEND - THE SOLEMN PROFESSION OF FATHER VICTOR (known as Brother Cuthbert in Community) AS A MEMBER OF THE BENEDICTINE HOUSE OF INITIA NOVA will take place on the evening of November the 5th. Father Victor continues to ask for your prayers as he makes this lifelong commitment to seeking God within this Community.
AT THE BACK OF CHURCH THERE IS A DISPLAY INTRODUCING SAINT BENEDICT, HIS MONASTIC RULE AND THE HOUSE OF INITIA NOVA. Please do take a look.
Please also keep in your prayers Father Sam McNally-Cross, Father Philip Benson and Rose Ellis who begin their discernment process as Postulants within the community of Initia Nova.
OUR USUAL REMEMBRANCE DAY COMMEMORATION will take place as normal at the Parish Mass on Sunday 8th November. There will be a Requiem Mass offered for the repose of the souls of those who laid down their lives for their country at 10 am on that Sunday.
OUR SAINT MARTINS-TIDE CELEBRATION will be, of necessity, somewhat curtailed this year. Sadly there can be no firing of the Fenny Poppers this year and for the same reason the Brown Willis dinner cannot take place. We will do our best, however, as a Parish family to honour our Patron Saint Martin and plead his prayers for us by coming together on Wednesday the 11th November, for a Sung Mass at 7.00 pm. I pray that despite everything that is happening at this time in history we might make the effort to come together to witness to Christ as a Parish family as we honour Saint Martin.
SERVICES THIS SUNDAY
Low Mass at 8 am
Lauds (Morning Prayer) at 9.15 am
Parish Mass at 10 am
AND DURING THE WEEK AT THESE TIMES:
Tuesday at 7 pm
Wednesday at 12.15 pm
Thursday at 19 am
Friday at 10 am
Saturday at 10 am
Next Sunday (THE SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS) at 8 am and at 10am.
PLEASE NOTE: The Wednesday Mass will take place at 12.15 pm and will be broadcast.
AND IF WE HAVEN’T SEEN YOU IN A WHILE PLEASE DO JOIN US ONCE MORE FOR SUNDAY WORSHIP. Please take to heart that you really are safer attending Church than you are shopping at your local Supermarket.
PLEASE don’t forget to contact me if you have any prayer requests or Mass intentions you would like me to offer at Mass or if would like someone added to our parish prayer list of the Sick or Departed.
My contact details are as follows:
Telephone: 01908 372825
Email: victorbullock@talktalk.
I am also available in person during Surgery Hour on Saturday’s in Church between 10.30am - 12 noon. The Sacrament of Confession and Reconciliation is also available at this time.
Mass is still being broadcast on Sunday Morning and Wednesday Lunchtime via our Facebook page under the Group heading: “Saint Martin’s Parish Church, Fenny Stratford. “
From time to time Sunday Vespers and Benediction will also be broadcast. We will also continue to maintain a presence on the Saint Martin’s Parish Church Facebook Page and our Church What’s App group so that we can remain in touch with as many members of our Saint Martin’s parish family as we can.
Please continue to remember the following in your prayers:
Those who live in areas of our country under tiered quarantine measures at this time.
The people of the United States of America as they move to vote for their next President.
Those who are working on a Vaccine for Covid 19 and for the countless volunteers who are assisting them.
Those who have found themselves out of work, particularly those who have families or other dependents to support.
Those who are despairing at the future of their businesses and those that work for them.
Those who still live in fear of this global pandemic and those who live in fear and are living with anxiety and depression.
For those who have suffered due to racism or bigotry. For those who have suffered violence or torture at the hands of others.
For the Government in their seeking solutions for the common good at this time.
That at this continuing tightening of lockdown measures people may continue to act and behave sensibly.
For peace to reign within our homes and amongst one another.
For the elderly, housebound and those living in residential and nursing homes.
For our Ambulance Service and for our other Emergency Service Staff and for Milton Keynes Hospital and all who are continuing to work there and for those undergoing surgeries as the hospital seeks to catch up with other vital treatments.
For Bishop Jonathan and all our parish clergy as they seek to continue to make present in our midst the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass, the Sacraments of Christ and offer continuing Pastoral care.
For the Mother House of the Monastic Community of the House of Initia Nova of the Order of Saint Benedict. For it’s Abbot Michael-John, the community and for those exploring a vocation to vowed life within its family.
For the Sick:
For Jonathan Kemp, Mary Cowan, Peter White, Roger D’Elia, Shirley Milburn, Jean Holden, Paul Ward, Norman Kent, Peter Woodward, Gay Lavery, David Gregg, Eugenius Yung, Denis & Yvonne Simpson, Mary Collier, Benjamin Duarri, David Lingham, Sandra Walduck, Eugenius Yung & Doris Weatherley.
For the Departed:
For all who have died recently, among them Helen L’Estrange, Peter Salt, Robert Ziegenhals, George Tsimikalis and Margaret Catchpole.
For all those who have died of Covid 19.
We pray too for all whose years mind falls at this time, among them Ellen Parker, Father Archibald Moxon and Bertha Vigor. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let Light Perpetual shine upon them.
With best wishes and every blessing on you and your families,
Father Victor