The big question is what it will all be like? Jesus gives no details. We live in hope and die in hope. We are to bealive forever in the love of God. God keeps love safe. When life ceases, love stays.
God is God of life, the Gospel says; To him all are alive / even the dead.
God breaks into life in a new way at our death. It happens in small ways every time we are transformed a bit - when we forgive, make peace, really help another, when we promise ourselves to someone or some cause, we are in resurrection-mode.
But the final one is a gift unlike any earthly gift.
We need to share this hope with each other. The peace you may have felt at the death of someone, the dream where the loved one was happy, the thanks you feel for another for ever - all brings hope even if their death is sudden or self-inflicted or at a young age. As we place our candle at the altar for our loved ones in November, we are letting them go off into what death really is - our finding our way to the arms of God.
Words of Pope Francis - "Hope is not looking at a half-full glass, which is simply optimism, which is a human attitude that depends on many things. Hope is a gift of Jesus, of His very self, His very name is hope. It is Christ in you, the hope for glory”.
This is the eternal hope, which is the root of our joy even in the losses of our lives.
Lord, give us this day a renewal of faith in eternal life.
READINGS
1st. 2 Mac 7:1-2,9-14. God Will Raise Us Up to Live Forever.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
2nd. 2 Thes 2:16-3:5. Hope in God’s Love Sustains Us.
Alleluia: Rv 1:5a, 6b
Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus Christ is the firstborn of the dead; to him be glory and power, forever and ever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Luke 20:27-38. Like the persevering widow calling for justice, we are never to grow discouraged.
MASS INTENTIONS
Sunday 6th November 11:15am Special Intention requested by Cora Brockwell.
Wednesday 9th 9:30 Dick Kilkelly SI Thanksgiving
Friday 11th 10am Nicholas Maraggun RIP AN
Saturday 12th 6:15pm Richard Graham RIP
Sunday 13th 11:15 Carrol Farrell RIP AN
SECOND COLLECTION Our Second Collection this Sunday is for our sister Diocese of Bamenda, Cameroon. Since 1974, the Diocese of Portsmouth has enjoyed a rich and close relationship with our partner Diocese of Bamenda, involving prayer for one another; practical and financial support for projects; the organisation of exchange visits; the promotion of the link in our schools and parishes, and the sharing of news and information.
The Portsmouth Bamenda Committee supports, directs and develops this relationship, raising more than £1,000,000 to date. If you would like to give a gift to this collection, you can donate here: https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/campaign/bamenda
As is our Catholic tradition, there is a prayerful Service held during the month of November, for the blessing of the graves of our loved ones in our local graveyards. This is a very special and poignant time to reflect and pray for the departed and to reflect on our own mortality.
The blessing of graves will take place on Remembrance Sunday, 13th November 2022.
The blessing of the graves at Oakley Court Cemetery will take place at 10am on Saturday 19th November.
May their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed to the mercy of God rest in peace.
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.
REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY PARADE 19th Maidenhead (St Joseph and St Edmund Campion) Scout Group are holding our Church Parade at 11a.m Mass at St Joseph’s on Remembrance Sunday (13th November)
After Mass there will be a cake sale in the Parish Centre – the group are supporting the Beaver Scouts (our youngest section) fundraising efforts for Thames Valley Air Ambulance.
ADVENT AND CHISTMAS TALKS AT ST EDMUND CAMPION How are we going to prepare for the 4 weeks of Advent and the Nativity? Come and listen to the following talks after the Monday morning Mass:
Both talks will last approximately an hour.
All welcome. Note the dates in your diary and gather together as we prepare to enter the new liturgical year in which the readings are taken from the Gospel of St. Matthew
TALK BY FR KEVIN Pope Francis wrote an apostolic Letter on Liturgical Formation entitled Desiderio Desideravi (“I have earnestly desired”) Kevin will give a presentation (which will last approximately an hour) on Monday 21st November after the 9:30 Mass.
RED MISSIO BOXES We will be emptying your red boxes this month. Please bring your box to the Church and leave them in the porch or the parish office. Alternatively you can give them either to Louise Jennings or Barbara McWalter at 11:15 Mass. Thank you in advance for your generosity.
PARISH CONSULTATION on Draft-Ten Year Mission Plan for our Diocese. A second meeting is being held on Monday 7th November at 7pm in the Parish Centre. Thank you to the group who turned up for Session One. In all, there are three sessions. The final session will be Monday 5th December at 7pm.
ALTAR SERVER TRAINING We are in desperate need of new Altar Servers. Anyone in Year 3 or above can apply to be an Altar Server, and will be fully trained and supported in their role. They will need to attend one session either 4pm on Saturday 12th or 4pm on Saturday 19th November. Hosted by Ruth McCartney and training by Jack. Please come along and participate in the Ministry of Servers. We envisage that Altar Servers will begin their ministry on the First Sunday of Advent, 26th/27th November, which is the new Liturgical Year of the Church.
MUSIC GROUP CONCERT The concert by 9.30 music group and friends will be on 5th November, 7.30 pm in the school hall. Tickets £7.50 including bread and cheese supper. Please bring your own drinks. To reserve tickets, please speak to the music group or email Mary at mary@bluestring.co.uk.
CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME Pope Francis has outlined our responsibility to Care for God’s Creation as we Hear the Cry of the Earth and The Cry of The Poor. These are among the Principles of our Catholic Social Teaching and place a heavy responsibility upon us, as caring custodians of our Earth, to take positive action to protect the Environment and to care for the poor. During The Season of Creation, we joined with other Christians from our Maidenhead Community to protect God’s Creation and to help the poor and underprivileged around the world.
COP 27 starts on Sunday 6th November and runs until 18th November. This is an ideal opportunity for us to take positive action to show our commitment to care for God’s Creation. Please write to your MP and to the Secretary of State for the Environment to urge them to commit to a more challenging target to meet “Net Zero” and to restore our overseas aid budget.
On a personal basis, please make a Pledge to make a change in your lifestyle, that you will keep, in order to save our Environment. In due course, it is intended to place our Pledges on our “Burning Bush” as we form a group of committed Parishioners who will explore our relationship with Our Common Home through Catholic Social Teaching and Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si’. Thank you
RUBY JUBILEE CELEBRATION The new date for the celebration is 21st January 2023.
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: St. Edmund Campion Maidenhead
Sort code: 30-93-04
Account number: 00882551
SVP The next SVP meeting will be at St Joseph’s Parish Centre on 7th November at 7:30pm. All are welcome to attend.
SVP Maidenhead are launching a Christmas Tree appeal to try and give a christmas present to each of the 86 children seeking asylum in Maidenhead. We will be putting gift tags on the Christmas Tree in the parish centre which will be put up the next couple of weeks. The tags will have details representing each child. Please would you consider taking a tag and donating a gift/voucher for that child to the value of £15 - £25. If you would like to have a tag in advance of the Tree going up then please ring us on 07749 917134. Please bring any gifts back - unwrapped but with the tag attached - to the parish office as soon as you can. Thank you very much in advance for any donations you can make.
SQUIRRELS Our very active parish Scout Group is opening a new section, a Squirrels Drey, for 4 and 5 year olds, girls and boys, early next year. This will allow younger children to join in the adventure which is Scouting.
With this young age group we will, of course, be needing a number of new leaders and helpers, with the support of our current leaders.
If you enjoy working with this age group and would like to hear more about us or would like to add your child's name to our waiting list please contact Loz on lozzermarchant@yahoo.co.uk.
TODDLERS GROUP Every term-time Friday 8:45 - 10:45am in the Parish Centre.
YOGA CLASSES Every Tuesday at 11:45am. Classes are free but if possible, a donation for charity will be appreciated. Yoga mats, mat cleaning spray and wipes will be available. Contact Rachel at wellhappyyoga@gmail.com or the parish office.
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 or Fr Ephraim 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 Sarah (Parish Office), Fr Liam or Fr Ephraim know so that a visit can be arranged.
FOR PRACTICAL PURPOSES, FOR THE COMING MONTHS
Father Ephraim will be the ‘link person’ for pastoral matters concerning the parish of St. Joseph’s and St. Elizabeth’s. He will also be chaplain 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 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. As we enter a new liturgical year, the four or five weekends of a month will see the same priest celebrating Mass in that particular parish. So, for January, Fr. Liam will preside at weekend Masses at St Joseph’s & St. Elizabeth’s and Fr. Ephraim at St. Edmund Campion. The following month they will swap around.
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 & Shirley F. 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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