Today, Jesus’ baptism by John, was a special moment – the real coming of God’s spirit upon him. It was the same Spirit who had come upon Mary at the moment of Jesus’ conception, and would come to Jesus at his last moment on the Cross.
The spirit brings him new energy. The feast marks that something new is happening, and that Jesus is the beloved and son; from eternity and into time.
The Spirit came upon him – but not just for himself.
He would send the Spirit later to us – of forgiveness and of perseverance in doing good.
Today is about energy. Jesus found a new spirit in himself after his prayer and he heard words he would never forget. Maybe you have heard words of love from someone you will never forget. They give energy to the heart and soul, making us people always on the go, ready for new life within us.
The Spirit pours the energy of God into bread and wine and they are changed forever.
He sends himself forever. It is sending the love and presence and energy of God.
We know that we can get stuck. We need new infusions of the Spirit to give new energy.
We are beloved sons and daughters of a God who loves us and cares for us.
Can we be the type of people who others think it’s good to meet and encounter?
Can we be open to the spirit of God, open to new life, new love, being really fully the person I can be?
May the waters of baptism, O Lord, bring us the new life of your love.
READINGS
1st. Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7. A courageous servant of God will help others to keep the Covenant.
Responsorial Psalm: from Psalm 28. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
2nd. Acts of the Apostles 10:34-38. After his baptism of Jesus went about doing good. Baptism sends us out to do good.
Gospel: Matthew 3:13-17. The Baptist points to Jesus the Saviour, whom God calls “my Son, the Beloved”.
THANK YOU
As we move into 2023, Frs, Ephraim, Noah and Liam want to thank you all for your kindness and care over the past year. We thank you for your support and encouragement. We belong to an amazing community and despite the previous almost three years of Covid and lockdowns, we continue to stand strong and proud as people of hope, love, joy and peace.
This Christmas just gone, we celebrated the Masses in our three churches of St. Joseph’s, St. Elizabeth’s and St. Edmund Campion. The liturgy was beautiful and so many of you got involved in setting the scene within and outside the church.
We must say, we are deeply touched by your abundant generosity of donations, well wishes and gifts over the Christmas period.
For your spirit of solidarity and being such fantastic witness of living a life of faith, we say thank you.
We pray this prayer for you:
NEW YEARS PRAYER
As the dawn breaks on a new year, let us give thanks for all we hold dear: our health, our family, our friends and our parish communities of Maidenhead.
Let us release our grudges, our anger and our pains, for these are nothing but binding chains.
Let us live each day in the most loving ways, the God-conscious way.
Let us serve all who are in need, regardless of race, colour or creed.
Let us keep God of our own understanding in our hearts and to chant God's name each day.
Let us lead the world from darkness to light, from falsehood to truth and from wrong to right.
Let us remember that we are all one, embracing all, discriminating against none.
May your year be filled with peace, prosperity and love.
May God's blessings shower upon you and bestow upon each of you a bright, healthy and peaceful new year.
God bless you all,
Liam, Ephraim & Noah.
Sunday 8th January Isabella
Sunday 8th January 09.30 Ann McGrath RIP
Saturday 14th January 18.15 Philip Lloyd RIP AN
Sunday 15th January 11.15 Nancy Watson RIP AN
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.
This week we welcome in our midst, Fr. Tom McGrath, a retired priest of the Diocese of Portsmouth. Tom was for many years, parish priest of the Catholic Community of Maidenhead, and has now returned to meet up once more with many friends and assist in the pastoral work of the parish. We wish him many happy and contented years ahead, here in Maidenhead.
WEEKDAY MASSES Due to an increase in heating costs etc, it has been decided that morning Mass will be celebrated in the Parish Centre, beginning Monday 5th December until Springtime at 9.30am. This will be Monday to Thursday.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Mass will be celebrated in the Church.
Funerals, Baptisms, and other special occasions and major Feast Days will also be celebrated in the Church.
Further, the livestreaming of Mass will move from Wednesday mornings to Friday, beginning 9th December.
The parish Centre is a warmer location and people are very welcome to stay on afterwards for a cuppa and chat.
WARM HUB We will be opening the Parish Centre as a Warm Hub on Mondays from the beginning of December. We really need a volunteer to take charge of a welcoming rota for each Monday, if we don’t have a volunteer it will not be possible to offer the initiative. The Hall will be heated and we’d like to offer refreshments. The volunteer would coordinate volunteers to be present and provide some hospitality to anyone who chooses to use the Hall in this time. Please contact Sarah in the Parish Office if this is something you would consider doing for our Parish. Thank you.
FIRST FRIDAY HEALING MASS Please note there is no Healing Mass on the 6th January as this is a day of Solemnity for the Epiphany of the Lord. Each First Friday will see a ‘Healing Mass’ being celebrated alternatively at St. Joseph’s Church and St. Edmund Campion Church for 2023. We bring together all our needs and especially asking God’s healing spirit upon people and situations in our parish. You are very welcome.
3rd February. 10am and 7pm Mass celebrated at St. Joseph’s
3rd March. 10am and 7pm Mass celebrated at St. Edmund Campion.
5th May. 10am and 7pm Mass celebrated at St. Joseph’s.
2nd June. 10am and 7pm Mass celebrated at St. Edmund Campion.
FLAME 2023 Join us on Saturday 4 March 2023 at OVO Arena, Wembley for the largest Catholic gathering of young people in England and Wales, Flame Congress. This is an amazing opportunity for youth in our pastoral area to attend, what has proven over the years to be an awesome and inspiring experience. If you or someone you know is in Year 9 or above, at College, or University , or a young adult in our Diocese, and you think they would really benefit from this great event, then why not tell them? Tickets to attend Flame 23 are now on sale at the early bird price of £24 and should be purchased through the Diocese either through your parish or by contacting youth@portsmouthdiocese.org.uk without delay as it is expected the tickets will be snapped up very quickly. For further information, look up the following website: FLAME – CYMFed
MARRIAGE CARE Volunteers needed! Marriage Care is looking to recruit volunteers to help present their Marriage Preparation courses in the local area ( a couple of Saturdays in the year). Full training and support are given. To find out more visit our website www.marriagecare.org.uk
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
FIRST HOLY COMMUNION CLASSES As you are aware, the First Holy Communion journey is in three stages. Stage One, was simply coming to Mass for the last number of months and participating in the prayers and singing, and being comfortable with the journey of liturgy. At the end of each Mass, the candidate for First Holy Communion received a stamp to show their attendance. This will continue. However, the family/child will need to show their attendance by showing the priest or catechist their Mass Attendance Card. If there is consistency, then the child will be invited into Stage Two of the programme, which are the classes. If not, and there seems no interest in Mass attendance, then the child and family will be asked to postpone the reception of the Sacrament for another year.
STAGE 2 Children eligible to start Stage Two of the First Holy Communion Programme begin on Saturday 7th January, at 4:45pm at St. Edmund Campion School. We continue to pray for them.
HOME LEAVE Fr. Ephraim is taking time to see his family. He will be away from the parish from Monday 5th December to Thursday 12th January 2023. We wish him a good rest. Please contact Fr. Noah or Fr. Liam for any pastoral reasons that you may have. Their email addresses and phone numbers are found on page 4 of this bulletin.
RUBY JUBILEE The original tickets purchased can be used for entry on the night. If you need additional tickets there are some available. If you have a ticket but are not able to join us on 21st then please contact us for a refund on office@stedmundcampion.org.uk. Refunds can be processed from 28th November. If you have mislaid your tickets please contact us as soon as possible on norisdukes@googlemail.com. If anyone has photos of any church events from 1980-1990 please may we borrow them to copy to make a slide show. Please contact Reena on stecmassrep@gmail.com to make this arrangement. The event is smart casual, food and a disco will be provided. Please bring your own drinks.
CAKES Weekend of 22nd January: all cakes would be appreciated for this weekend’s Masses to celebrate the Jubilee. Free to drop at the office beforehand or at hospitality at the weekend. Please could they be nut free, and if Gluten free please could they be labelled as such.
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.
YOGA CLASSES take place Tuesdays at 11:45am in the parish centre. Everyone is welcome, new to yoga or with some experience. Whoever you are, you are welcome. The start of the year may be a good opportunity to try something new! Mats, props and cleaning wipes available. Classes are free but, if possible, a donation for charity will be appreciated.
Contact Rachel at wellhappyyoga@gmail.com or the parish office.
SVP Thank you to everyone who has helped with the needs of the Asylum Seekers in Maidenhead so far and thank you for helping with the Christmas tree project. There is still a big demand at the hotel for certain things so the SVP would like to ask if anyone has any old children's bikes or any old phones or laptops (with their chargers) could they please consider donating it via the parish office to the SVP. We can clear all personal data from the phones and laptops before passing on. There is also a big demand especially in newly opened hotels in Oxford for men's warm clothing, coats and trainers.
TODDLERS GROUP every termtime Friday 8:45-10:45 in the Parish Centre.
KNOCK SHRINE PILGRIMAGE Escorted Pilgrimage to Knock Shrine, Ireland, 15th March 2023.£699 per person sharing. Price includes flight, all transfers, 4 nights’ in Knock House Hotel with full board. All entertainment and excursions included. Day trips to Westport, Ballintubber Abbey, Croagh Patrick, Fr. Peyton Centre & National Museum. Special St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations. Single supplement £150. Contact Patricia on 01268 762 278 or 07740 175557 or email knockpilgrimages@gmail.com.
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. .
CLIMATE CHANGE The problems that we face in the world can at times seem insurmountable; droughts, floods, food shortages and the energy crisis dominate the news each day. But we hope you will agree with Pope Francis when he says “Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home. … Truly, much can be done!” If there is enough interest registered, Eric Brutnall will facilitate group discussion sessions that will equip you with greater awareness of the climate impacts of everyday activities, and the ability and motivation to reduce emissions on an individual and community basis. Each week will cover a different topic and you will be able to attend as many sessions as you want. If you attend all seven sessions then you will be eligible to apply for Carbon Literacy Accreditation (https://carbonliteracy.com/). To find out more and register your interest please contact Eric on eric.brutnall@st-edmund.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 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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