It’ s interesting that it is hard to find a painting of their late-night meal of fish, that is described in the Gospel of today. Other paintings are crowded on Google images – such as ‘the garden scene’, the breakfast on the beach, the road to Emmaus – old and new pictures. Is the fish meal too ordinary for the resurrection? We can’t believe that the Lord of all creation who died for us will be recognised so simply or can we?
Jesus is in a bit of a fix. Faith is still weak in his followers – how can he get to them? Though the doors are closed/locked, he comes among them in their fear. He said ‘Peace be with you’ again. This doesn’t seem to get through. Finally, he tried a meal of ordinary fish with them. Somehow it is getting through. They have remembered other meals of fish and the way he ate it. Faith is growing in them in the simple act of sharing a meal together.
There is always another way for Jesus. We resist that he is so ordinary. The resurrection happens now and in the ordinary. How this week did I find the resurrection? Where did I leave the comfort-zone of myself in love, care, work for justice? In any way we raise each other up to a better human life and faith, then the resurrection is being shared.
The garden, the chat on the road, and now the ordinary meal. Imagine if we said he took fish, said the blessing…! All of life is sacred, and shot through with the love and grace of the risen Lord.
In your breathing in and out, echo the word ‘Peace’.
Lord, make me a means of your peace.
| First Reading | Acts 3:13-15 | Peter blames his Jewish listeners for the death of Jesus, then calls them to repentance. | ||
| Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 4 | R./: Lord, let your face shine on us. | ||
| Second Reading | 1 John 2:1-5 | Even Christians are prone to sin. But if we sin, forgiveness is available to us. | ||
| Gospel | Luke 24:35-48 | The risen Jesus appears to his apostles, for he is real and not a ghost. |
| Friday 12th April | 10am | Margaret O'Donnell | RIP AN | ||||
| Thursday 18th | 9:30am | Norman Williams | RIP AN | ||||
| Saturday 20th | 6:15pm | Mary Hamed |
‘We would like to take this opportunity to express our deepest appreciation and thanks for the kindness you have shown to us during this special time of Easter. Your cards, notes, letters and gifts have been so kind and generous, yet let us assure you that, your prayers are most highly valued and needed. You are a truly remarkable community. You have taught us so much about what it means to be a vibrant and generous church community.
It was wonderful to see our churches in the parishes filled with parishioners and visitors over the Easter Triduum and Easter Sunday morning. We pray and hope that this may be an indication for some to return to regular worship in the church over the weekends.
Congratulations to those who were baptised and received into the Church during the Easter Vigil.
We wish you plenty of Resurrection Greetings!
God bless you all,
Liam, Ephriam, Noah and Francis
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.
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.
MAIDENHEAD SVP BINGO NIGHT ON FRIDAY 19th APRIL 2024 Maidenhead SVP will be holding a Bingo Night at St Joseph's Parish Hall on Friday 19th April 2024 with doors opening at 7:30pm for a 8:00pm start until 10:00 pm. Tickets are £5 per person and payable in advance please. There will be a licensed bar plus a raffle. Please note this is a cash only event. All welcome. If you are interested, tickets will go on sale from Sunday 10th March 2024 after Masses at St Edmund Campion and from Sunday 17th March 2024 after the 11am Mass at St Joseph's church.Tickets are also available from Siobhan (St Joseph's) 07816445416 or Hilda (St Edmund Campion) 07749917134. Proceeds from the evening will go to Maidenhead SVP. Thank you for your support.
QUENCH BOOKSHOP 27th & 28th April Quench will have a bookstall after all Masses on Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th April.
THE LOSS AND BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT GROUP will be meeting on Sunday 14th April 2:30pm-5pm in the Parish Centre.
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
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.
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.
YOUTH CLUB LEADER Woodlands Park Youth Club is looking for a youth leader. Three hours per week on to include youth club session on Thursday evenings and prep beforehand. For details please contact Ros Webb on 07500766947.
MAIDENHEAD STREET ANGELS are looking for volunteers. Pleases contact stangelsm@hotmail.co.uk and visit www.facebook.org/maidenheadstreetangels
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 .
19th Maidenhead (St Joseph’s and St Edmund Campion) Scout Group has spaces for boys and girls in all sections especially our new squirrel section. Squirrels aged 4 - 6 (if your child is younger, they can go on the waiting list), Beavers aged 6 - 8, Cubs aged 8 - 10 ½, Scouts. 10 ½ - 14. If your child is interested in joining the great scouting adventure, please contact liz@19thmaidenheadscouts.org.uk and I will forward your email to the relevant section leader. Adult volunteers always welcome. Full training and uniform provided. Good fun guaranteed.
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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