Good Shepherd Sunday: Called at Baptism…..Follow in Love
The first big moment of vocation is baptism. The anointing of chrism, the holy oil poured on our head at baptism might be called ‘the anointing for vocation’.
The baptismal vocation is for witness, love and service. This is expressed in ways in which people live out their baptism in married life, single life - and within the single life, maybe religious life, or priesthood.
Our active witness is to the life and the values of Jesus in our lives. Teaching is not itself a vocation, for example, but the way we teach is a way of living out our vocation. It is the same with many of the helping professions and employments. Being a good neighbour can be a living out of our vocation.
We witness to love in marriage, in family, extended family, and in friendship. Any love is a sharing in the love of God. In the moments of unselfish love in any relationship we are living out our vocation. When we love, we are doing God's will!
We witness to service in the wider world in our care for the poor and in welcoming the stranger.
Today, Bishop Philip has asked our single people in life to think especially of religious life and priesthood. There are needs for priests, and Religions (Sisters and Brothers) in most parts of the world. As a community in families and parishes, we thank those who have given their lives in these vocations and pray they may increase.
In a place of silence, let the words 'Come, follow me' echo in your mind and heart.
Lord, be with me as I offer myself in partnership with you to work in your world.
| First Reading | Acts 4:8-12 | By the power of the risen Jesus, we can be saved. | ||
| Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 118 | The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. | ||
| Second Reading | 1 John 3:1-2 | The love of the Father, lavished on all God’s children. | ||
| Gospel | Jn 10:11-18 | Christ is the true Shepherd; nobody can take away his sheep. |
| Saturday 20th April | 6:15pm | Mary Hamed | |||||
| Thursday 25th | 9:30am | Nuala Hirth | Birthday Remembrance |
| Saturday morning 27th April | For the late Mark Hemmings, RIP, husband of Tricia |
| Sunday 28th April | Darcy & Edie | Daughters of Ben & Cory |
|
HOUSE BLESSING: House blessings (also known as house healings, house clearings, house cleansings and space clearing) are rites intended to protect the inhabitants of a house or apartment. It is also there asking God’s protection and blessing upon each member of the family.
In Christianity, house blessing is an ancient tradition dating back to the early days, that is usually performed by a priest who sprinkles holy water and blessed salt as he walks through every room of the house, accompanied by the occupants of the house, whilst praying for the occupants.
Leader: “Peace be to this house and: to all who dwell here, in the name of the Lord.
All: Blessed be God forever.
If you would like your home/apartment/room blessed, then please contact one of the priests and a time and date can be arranged. The blessing ritual takes about 20 minutes, and it is lovely if all occupants of the home are present.
ARE YOU NEW TO OUR PARISH? Thank you for your interest in our parish. Whether you're just visiting us for a brief time, looking for a new parish home, returning to the practice of your Catholic faith or are interested in finding out more about the Catholic Church, we are happy to answer your questions, listen to your comments and help you in any way that we can. We are a parish of the Diocese of Portsmouth, and are a very vibrant community, made up of ‘old’ Maidenhead families and relative “newcomers” from all walks of life.
We hope that you find our Catholic parish a caring community that is loving, welcoming and supportive of all.
Our mission is to grow in the image of Christ through the Holy Spirit, to be formed by the Word and our prayer, to use our gifts to welcome those who are here and reach out to those who are not. We invite you to join us as partners in the mission. Together, let us get to know Christ better and to make Him better known.
May God Bless you wherever you are and thank you for exploring our website and newsletter.
Please stop by the parish office to introduce yourself! We would love to meet you.
FIRST FRIDAY: The First Friday of the month is traditionally a time when a priest visits a home to anoint anyone who is house bound, with holy oil, and to administer the sacrament of Holy Communion. The parish has several people on this list. If indeed, you or someone you know would like a visit from a priest, then please contact Fr. Liam, Fr. Ephraim Fr. Noah or Fr. Tom.
FIRST FRIDAY HEALING MASS These special Masses will take place on:
Friday 3rd May 10am at St. Joseph’s; 7pm at St. Edmund Campion Church; 10am St Thomas More, Twyford
Friday 7th June 10am at St. Joseph’s; 7pm at St. Edmund Campion Church; 10am St Thomas More, Twyford
WHAT IS A HEALING MASS?
Healing Masses are opportunities to directly seek physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual healing. These Masses include a homily that is focused on healing, prayers of the faithful that are directly asking God to heal us, and prayers after communion that are prayed by the Priest to help facilitate greater healing in our lives.
The Mass is the most powerful way that we can seek healing as Christians. Jesus is present in the Mass through the Scriptures, through giving Himself to us in His Body and His Blood, and through our worship of Him. He is the one who heals us. The Mass helps to facilitate the healing that Jesus wants to give to all of us.
BAPTISMAL COURSE The Baptismal Course is available for all Parents whose child is being Baptised at either St Joseph’s, St Elizabeth’s or St Edmund Campion. The course is a 90 minute preparation and guidance. It is held at St Joseph’s the first Tuesday of the month at 7pm. The next meetings are:
CONFIRMATION PROGRAMME The next class for Confirmation is Saturday 27thApril at 4:00pm in St Edmund Campion School. This is for Sessions 7 & 8. Please be on time.
FIRST HOLY COMMUNION The next class for First Holy Communion is Saturday 20th April at 4:30pm in St Edmund Campion School.
ST GEORGE'S DAY: April 23rd is believed to be the day that George died. It was the year 303 and Christians were tortured and executed for their faith by the order of the Roman Emperor, Diocletian. George was a soldier who refused to worship the Roman gods. As a martyr for the faith, he is venerated in many places and is patron saint of soldiers and the patron of many nations, including Lebanon; England and Georgia. He is also the patron of Palestinian Christians and of Boy Scouts. In many pieces of art, Saint George is depicted wearing armour and holding a lance or fighting a dragon, which represents Christ's enemies. For all our parishioners who come from Palestine, Lebanon, England, and Georgia we wish you a very happy and blessed feast day.
Prayer for St. George
Heavenly Father, give us the bravery of St George to stand up for the truth and the glory of God
that we have seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
Give us the strength to overcome in our lives and in the world,
all that is contrary to your rule of justice and love.
Help us to be good news to the poor,
proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind;
let the oppressed go free, and proclaim the good news of God's favour and Jubilee.
Amen
PARISH COLLECTION Please continue to support your parish, its activities and outreach programmes by contributing to the weekly collection via the 'baskets' and/or Contactless. It is very positive that a lot of our parishioners, over the course of the pandemic, switched their contribution from cash to Bank Transfer.
NB: If you want to set up a direct debit or standing order (or even make a one-off donation) the account details are:
Account name: CDP MAIDENHEAD ST EDMUND CAMPION
Sort code: 30-93-04
Account number: 00882551
TALKIN’ TABLES If you would like to meet some new people, have a chat and make some new friends, then please consider attending “Talkin’ Tables”. It is free to join, you will need to purchase your own drinks and snacks.
Location: Rio Café, Maidenhead Library
When: Every Tuesday, 10:30am
YOGA CLASSES Tuesday 23rd April 2024, 11am – 11:45am. Everyone is welcome. No charge for the class, just a small donation to charity if able. For more information contact Rachel: wellhappyyoga@gmail.com or the parish office.
TODDLER GROUP Every Friday in termtime, 8:45am-10:45am in the Parish Centre.
QUENCH BOOKSHOP 27th & 28th April Quench will have a bookstall after all Masses on Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th April.
THURSDAY 2nd MAY The Parish Centre will be used as a polling station on this day and will be unavailable for use for any other groups.
FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING Thursday 25th April at 2:30pm in the Parish Centre
ST LUKE’S CHURCH CONCERT SATURDAY 27th APRIL 7:30pm St. Luke’s Church, Norfolk Road, Maidenhead, SL6 7AX Join Peter De Souza, Geneviève Usher, Chris Crocker & Andrew Smith for an accessible concert of classical, jazz and popular music in aid of Thames Hospice. To purchase tickets online, visit: https://ticketscandy.com/e/schubert-and-all-that-jazz-3390 Alternatively, contact St. Luke’s Church on 01628 622733.
JOIN US ON BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY 6th MAY WHEN THE CIRCUS COMES TO ST EDMUND CAMPION PRIMARY SCHOOL Doors open at midday, showtime 2pm Food and drinks available and 2 hours of fun for all the family! https://www.pta-events.co.uk/stedmundcampionptfa/index.cfm?event=event&eventId=76407
INFORMATION ON LOURDES PILGRIMAGE WITH FR TOM Sunday 28th April after 11am Mass in the bar of St Joseph’s. Travel dates 23rd - 30th August
SECOND COLLECTION THIS WEEKEND FOR THE CLERGY TRAINING FUND: which supports our seminarians through their seven-year training for the priesthood, including the 12 men currently in training, for the duration of their six- or seven-year journey to ordination. Donations can be made using our Dona contactless machine, cash or by https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/clergy-training-fund-second-collection-2024
DONA CONTACTLESS PAYMENTS are now available in the church porch. You can Gift Aid your donation to the church and Second Collections. You only need to put your details in once and all future donations using the same card will be Gift Aided. Donations, Repository, Candles, Mass Intentions can all be paid for using the machine– just select the option on the screen.
WORK Ambulance Target - You have exceeded all expectation.
The final figure raised for the WORK ambulance is still being finalised but we have exceeded the £50,000 target and in record time. What a brilliant achievement by the Parish. Maryjane, head and founder of WORK, has sent this message to the Parish “Oh WOW.....fantastic.... wonderful! Really that is such excellent news. Gosh you are amazing..... what a wonderful Parish you have. Our HUGE thanks to everyone..... we are so much more than grateful.....All our blessings in abundance Maryjane”
REQUEST FOR OLD/UNWANTED PLANT POTS St Edmund Campion Primary School Eco Group are planning to brighten up areas of the school this term and are looking for donations of outside planters, ceramic pots etc.
ST EDMUND CAMPION NURSERY are looking for an enthusiastic, positive and flexible person to supervise children in our after-school club. The ages of the children attending currently range from 3-6 years old. Candidates must enjoy working with children and be able to build up positive relationships with them. 7.5 hours per week 15:30-17:00 (additional hours may be available) For more information, please email school@st-edmund.org.uk
ST EDMUND CAMPION PRIMARY SCHOOL are looking for a teacher. Please see Parish noticeboard for job advert or for more information, please email school@st-edmund.org.uk
WANTED - Youth Ministry Worker/Coordinator We are looking for an experienced Youth Ministry / Coordinator to join our team and help us achieve future growth in the parish in the spirit of ‘Let us Dream’. See stjosephsparish.co.uk/newsletter/ or noticeboard for more information
VISION GROUP we are continuing to collect any donations of bottles, chocolates for St Vincent de Paul, the Refugees and WORK, to be raffled off or auctioned. Please drop off in the large box outside the Parish office or the Church porch. This will be an ongoing collection.
SVP are still collecting donations for the asylum seekers locally. Please see the list outside the parish office and the church porch.
REPOSITORY Please see our repository for various Mass cards/birthday cards, First Holy Communion & Confirmation cards. Cash payments in the box on the wall please or via Dona Contactless machine.
JOB VACANCY St Mary's School have a vacancy for a School Business and Finance Officer. RBWM Management Grade: 8 - 7 actual between £35,838 - £44,232 pro rata, Hours per week 37, Term time only (Including staff training days) plus three weeks. For further information please visit the school website here .
EMERGE ADVOCACY is a Christian youthwork charity that gets alongside young people, aged 10-25 that are or have been in hospital because of self harm/suicidal thoughts or emotional crisis. We have had a project at Wexham Park Hospital for the last two years, and have supported many young people both in the hospital and in the community after discharge. In hospital we hang out with the young people chatting or playing games, and then offer 12 sessions of community follow up which is normally in a coffee shop or school. We are looking to recruit more volunteers for hospital and community work, and also backstop volunteers who support the youth worker remotely. This would give us more capacity to support even more young people in our communities that are at crisis point. For more information please email michelle@emergeadvocacy.com or call her on 07507602587.
MARRIAGE CARE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Marriage Care is a Catholic organisation specialising in relationship support. We are looking for Marriage Preparation Course Facilitators to prepare couples for the Sacrament of Marriage (full training is provided for this role), Qualified Relationship Counsellors to support couples in distress and Trustees to provide governance and strategic direction for the organisation. For more information please visit: www.marriagecare.org.uk or email: volunteer@marriagecare.org.uk
TRUSTEE VACANCY WITH MARRIAGE CARE Marriage Care is a Catholic organisation providing marriage preparation and relationship counselling services across England, Wales and Gibraltar. We are looking for Trustees to strengthen our board and to help us continue to provide vital relationship support services to the Catholic community and beyond. For more information please visit: www.marriagecare.org.uk or email: volunteer@marriagecare.org.uk
PARISH COMMUNICATION We are reducing our newsletter to one two-sided A4 sheet. In order to make sure you are receiving up to date communications, please consider signing up to receive information by email. Parishioner registration forms are available in the church porch and in the drawers outside the Parish Office – please complete one and return it to the Parish office.
SCHOOL PLAYGROUND The Reception area playground is not for use at the weekends. Please make sure that children are not entering this area before or after weekend Masses. The staff prepare the area on Friday afternoon so that it is ready for learning on Monday morning. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
CHILDREN’S SUNDAY LITURGY Children from the age of 4 can attend. Please put your child’s name on the register as you go into the church for Safeguarding purposes.
TODDLERS GROUP Every Friday in termtime, 8.45am-10.45am in the Parish Centre.
FOOD IN THE CHURCH The church is cleaned every Friday afternoon. Recently there appears to be a lot of food debris on the Church floor after weekend Masses. If you or your child needs to eat during Mass, can we request that you please use the Parish Centre. Thank you for your cooperation.
FOODSHARE Are you an NHS, Emergency services or a Blue Light worker. Foodshare is now operating a shop, so if you're struggling to make ends meet, for a cost of £10 per visit you can "buy" a trolley of food. Call 01628 262711 for fast and fuss free support.
VACANCIES - For job vacancies in the Diocese please see Diocese website https://www.portsmouthdiocese.org.uk/
We have activities planned for later this year and would be happy to hear from you if you would like to get involved or have an idea of your own. Please contact Sarah Bowden (bowden.sarah@googlemail.com).
LIBRARY We have a parish library located in the foyer of the Parish Centre. One bookcase is dedicated to Theology/Religious books, another bookcase to Fiction/Non-Fiction and a third smaller bookcase to children's Bibles/Bible stories etc. Please feel free to borrow/swap.
If you would like to donate, we can only accept books that are in excellent and clean condition. Thank you and enjoy.
FOODSHARE We are a collection point for Foodshare. Our collection area is just inside the porch doors, but if you leave food outside, out of hours (in a bag or other covering) the building is regularly checked. Foodshare are currently really in need of tinned vegetables and tinned meat, amongst all the regular donations.
APPOINTMENTS If you wish to speak to Fr Liam, Fr Ephraim, Fr Tom or Fr Noah in confidence on any matter, please contact either one for an appointment. They are happy to visit your home if so desired, adhering to social distancing guidelines.
HOUSEBOUND If you know of anyone who is sick and/or housebound, please let Ruth (Parish Office), Fr Liam or Fr Ephraim know so that a visit can be arranged.
FOR PRACTICAL PURPOSES, FOR THE COMING MONTHS
Father Ephraim and Fr Noah are the ‘link people’ for pastoral matters concerning the parish of St. Joseph’s and St. Elizabeth’s. They are also chaplains to St. Mary’s school.
Father Liam will be the ‘link person’ for the parish of St. Edmund Campion and will be chaplain to St. Edmund Campion school.
Fr. Ephraim, Fr. Noah and Fr. Liam are on call each day and will serve our community as best they can. You can call either of them on their mobile numbers, contact them via email or visit them at St. Joseph’s Presbytery.
THE WELCOMING MINISTRY (Mass Rep) is dedicated to helping all parishioners and visitors enhance their worship experience at Mass by making them feel welcome and included in our Eucharistic celebration, helping them connect with our parish, and participating in the numerous ministry opportunities offered at St. Edmund Campion. The Mass Rep is the ‘overseer’ in ensuring that the various ministries during Mass are fulfilled. Further, they are there to help you with any queries.
We thank our mass reps:
6:15pm Saturday: Reena K. 9:30am Sunday: Elvira E-M 11:15am Sunday: Julie C.
ADMISSION INTO ST EDMUND CAMPION SCHOOL AND NURSERY is based on Mass attendance for some categories. In our parish, we have an attendance card available from the table in the church lobby. Every time you come to Sunday Mass please get your card stamped. For information on the current Admissions Policy see the school's website, www.st-edmund.org.uk.
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