St. Edmund Campion Church

 

Readings

	First Reading		Acts 7:55-60		The stoning of Stephen.
	Responsorial Psalm		Psalm 96:1-9		The Lord is king, most high above all the earth.
	Second Reading		Apocalypse 22:12-20		Come Lord Jesus.
	Gospel		John 17:20-26		Father, may they be completely one.

 

Mass Intentions

	Sunday 1st June			9:30am		Noel & Shivanthi Fernando		RIP
	Sunday 1st			9:30am		Ray Dean		RIP AN
	Tuesday 3rd			9:30am		Billy & Peggie Holder		SI
	Tuesday 3rd			9:30am		Cornelius Hayes		RIP AN
	Sunday 8th			11:15am		Leon Zbikowski		RIP AN
	Saturday 14th			6:15pm		Fr Kevin Jones		RIP
	Sunday 15th			11:15am		Stanislaw Kurpiel		RIP
	Sunday 15th			11:15am		Wieslaw Bilinski		RIP

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. 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 or Fr. Tom.

FIRST FRIDAY HEALING MASS These special Masses will take place on:

• Friday 6^th June 10am at St. Joseph’s; 7pm at St. Edmund Campion Church; 10am St Thomas More, Twyford

• Friday 4^th July 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:

• Tuesday 3^rd June 2025
• Tuesday 1^st July 2025

DIOCESAN NEWSLETTER: The Diocesan Mailing is produced every week and contains news, training opportunities and events from around the diocese and wider Catholic Church. The weekly newsletter is designed to bring you the latest information and events, straight to your email inbox. We try to keep it short and sweet (though, occasionally we can't help but get carried away with a great story or a brilliant opportunity). Click or go to the following site to sign up: www.portsmouthdiocese.org.uk

House Masses/Blessings: Father Liam is more than happy to celebrate a House Mass or a House Blessing for any family or group of families who would like it. If you are interested, then please email Father Liam or telephone the Parish Office.

Contact: If you wish to speak to Father Liam in confidence on any matter, please contact him for an appointment. He is always happy to visit your home if so desired. Email: lcummins@portsmouthdiocese.org.uk Telephone: 07776580596

Hospital: If you are going into hospital or know or someone that is, please inform the hospital chaplain on arrival. Please also let Father Liam know so that arrangements can be made for a visit. Please note that under the Data Protection Act, hospital staff cannot disclose patient information. We rely on Parishioners to keep us in the loop.

Housebound: If you know of anyone who is sick and/or housebound please let Ruth (Parish Office) or Father Liam know so that a visit can be arranged.

NEW MASS TIME From 9^th March until Pentecost, there is a 5pm Sunday evening Mass in St Joseph’s

CHILDREN’S LITURGY CATECHISTS NEEDED: What is Children’s liturgy? It is the Liturgy of the Word suitably adapted to make it relevant to the lives and experiences of young children. It gives them the opportunity to understand the Gospel message and participate in the Sunday Mass (09.30) at their own level. We have a team of 16 catechists working in pairs, one month in four, with two age groups, 4-7 (infants) and 7 upwards (juniors). An average of between 20-30 children attend each group. All sessions contain a reading from scripture, normally the Gospel of the day. Catechists will then present the reading in other ways e.g. through drama, story, art work or discussion. Catechists often find the session personally valuable as they have to prepare the Sunday Gospel and really reflect on its message and meaning in their lives. If you would like to be involved please contact Tricia Opalko through the Parish office or email tricia.opalko@btinternet.com

ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE TO WALSINGHAM - On Saturday 14^th June, a coach trip filled with singing, joy, laughter and prayer, leading to the Midday Mass with the chief celebrant Bishop David is being organised by Our Lady of Peace Church and St. Ethelbert's. Please contact Annette on 07733 408567, or Edward on 07802 753575 or Natty on 07397 149269 for tickets @£35 per adult, £25 children under 14 . Please see posters on church doors for more information

Feast of Pentecost 8^th  June: 

Happy birthday to the Catholic Church! Happy birthday to you, who are the body of the Church! And happy Birthday to the new parish of Holy Family, Maidenhead & Twyford! We're all familiar with our own birthdays, and we celebrate them because they mark the day of the year in which we entered into this life. But did you know you have a second birthday? Because you are part of the body of the Church, Pentecost is the Church's birthday, and yours as well. And like any birthday, it's a cause for celebration. The word Pentecost is Greek and it means "50^th day." Fifty days after Easter Sunday, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and their followers, and the beginning of their Earthly ministry to make disciples of all nations. The symbols of Pentecost are the flame, wind, and the dove, which represents the Holy Spirit. The colour of Pentecost is red and the priest wears red vestments on this day. Parishioners are also invited to wear a dash of red on this day.  On Pentecost we put up all the national flags of the nations we represent in this community!  And we have a special Mass at 3pm at St. Joseph’s to inaugurate the beginning of our new Parish of Holy Family of Maidenhead & Twyford. We would like some volunteers to help put up the flags around St Edmund Campion Church on Friday morning after the 10am Mass. So come and celebrate in our Church on this day with family and friends.  Welcome and Happy Birthday!

Pentecost YouTube: 

The Holy Spirit Comes (Day of Pentecost) - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqG_lvZhU-A

Pentecost for Kids: The Holy Spirit Comes - Acts 2 Bible Story (Sharefaithkids.com) - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwJJJoSGw84

Day of Pentecost - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIJrk9-dtRE

You are welcome to wear red or national dress to any of the Pentecost Masses and also bring some simple dish/snacks/sweets/soft drinks from your home country/culture to  share at hospitality after the Masses.

SECOND COLLECTION 31^st MAY/1^st JUNE 2025 World Communications Day World Communications Day 2025 Second Collection | Give as you Live Donate

SACRISTANS: From all of us, members of the St. Edmund Campion community, we would like to acknowledge the dedication and service that our Sacristans offer our community, who daily, ensure that our Church is clean, and the sanctuary is prepared for each liturgical function. This team of dedicated sacristans has been involved in this very important ministry for many years. To all of you, we say a big Thank you! The Sacristans’ team is always open to welcome new volunteers who may be interested in helping in the logistical preparations for the various Services that go on in the Church. If you would like to know more, please contact a member of the team, or the office.

SAFEGUARDING TRAINING face-to-face Saturday 14^th June 10:30am-12:30pm St Edmund Campion Parish Centre. The training is open to all those in recruitment for, or currently working in roles with children and/or adults at risk. Safeguarding training must be completed every 2 years. To book your place on this course, please email: office@stedmundcampion.org.uk

ST EDMUND CAMPION SCHOOL are looking for applicants for staff at Breakfast Club and After School Club. All interest or enquiries to Sarah Hubbard on school@st-edmund.org.uk. Hours are 07.45-08.45 for Breakfast Club and 15.00-18.15 for After School Club.

ST MARY’S SCHOOL - VACANCY! Full time teacher position for September 2025 and EYFS (level 3) teaching assistant. For more information: Vacancies | St Mary's Catholic Primary School

ST JOSEPH’S NEED HELPERS! We need readers, singers, sacristans, offertory collectors for the Sunday 5pm Mass. Contact office@stjosephsparish.co.uk

MAIDENHEAD ROTARY CLUB OPEN GARDENS 2025 Saturday 7^th & Sunday 8^th June 2025, 11am-5pm Maidenhead Rotary Club is delighted to invite you to our community event on the 7^th & 8^th June in aid of Rotary local and national charities. Come and visit local gardens and enjoy a weekend of gardens, cakes, artwork and much more! Don’t forget to take an opportunity of our early bird ticket sales before 1^st June 2025. https://tinyurl.com/mv9kdza8

REPOSITORY Please see our repository for First Holy Communion and Confirmation cards and gifts. There are also Mass cards for different occasions. Cash payments in the box on the wall please or via Dona Contactless machine.

COX GREEN LUNCHEON CLUB urgently need a Cook/Chef one Tuesday a month to prepare the main course with other volunteers for approx. 50 members In the Cox Green Community Centre on Highfield Lane. POC: Pam Hitchcock on 01628 825157 or 07814 358 27

ALTAR SERVERS TRAINING Saturday 31^st May & Saturday 21^st June, 11:30-12:30. Training is for all current and new altar servers. Please attend one session. We are in need of more altar servers. If your child is in year 3 or above, and would like to join the rota, please complete an application form - available in the church porch or outside the parish office and return to the parish office.

MASS INTENTIONS: There is a long and venerable tradition in the Catholic Church that the faithful ask their priests to celebrate Holy Mass for particular, specified intentions. An individual may ask a priest to offer a Mass for several reasons: for example, in thanksgiving, for the intentions of another person (such as on a birthday, good health, peace in family life), or as is most common, for the repose of the soul of someone who has died or on their anniversary. This custom, which was well-understood in generations past, is increasingly being forgotten. Since the practice is of immense spiritual benefit to both the living and the dead, and because it also helps to support your clergy and parish, we would encourage you to request that Masses be offered for your intentions. Please contact Ruth in the Parish Office, if you wish to have a Mass celebrated for your intentions. Pope Paul VI said, “The Mass is the most perfect form of prayer!” It has immense power and countless miracles and conversions have occurred throughout the centuries by offering Masses for a specific intention or person. Mass intentions are a great treasure of the Church and have a spiritual weight that is incalculable.

SIGNIFICANT WEDDING ANNIVERSARY MASS Saturday 21^st June at 11am St Bede’s church in Basingstoke. Are you celebrating a 25^th, 30^th, 40^th, 50^th, 60^th or anniversary over 60 years? If so, Bishop Philip would like to invite you to a Mass of celebration. This will be followed by a buffet lunch. It is a wonderful occasion to celebrate and witness to Marriage. Please contact the parish office or send an email to anniversaries@portsmouthdiocese.org.uk to request a form for you to complete and return. To help celebrate the occasion please could you provide a COPY of your Wedding photograph, you can upload it when you return the form. Again, if you have no access to the internet you can post a COPY along with completed form by post to the following address: St Bede’s Parish Office, Popley Way, Basingstoke, RG24 9DX

BINGO NIGHT 14^th June 7pm St Joseph’s - Fundraiser for Stephanie’s mission year. Enjoy a fun evening and support Stephanie as a missionary with NET Ministries USA. Tickets are on sale at £5. BYO snacks and drinks. Tea, coffee and soft drinks will be available. There will be a Raffle during the evening. Please contact the office for ticket sales office@stedmundcampion.org.uk

 

MAIDENHEAD SVP 2025 SMARTIES APPEAL FOR SOUTH SUDAN Over the weekend of 7^th and 8^th June 2025, members of Maidenhead SVP will be handing out tubes of Smarties to parishioners at Masses to eat and then fill with notes or coins to aid the work of local SVP groups in South Sudan.   This includes running baby feeding centres which feed hundreds of children a week, providing free life-saving medical treatment at SVP medical centres, and offering vocational training for young people to help them learn a trade.  Your donation can help fund these critical SVP projects that bring hope and peace into lives torn apart by war. Please can Smarties tubes be returned to either St Joseph's or St Edmund Campion Church by Sunday 15^th June 2025 .  Thank you for your support

 

 

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:

YOGA CLASSES will be on a pop up basis until September. Please keep an eye out for posters on the noticeboard and the newsletter

ST EDMUND CAMPION PARISH & SCHOOL SUMMER FUN DAY Sunday 29^th June 12pm-3pm, beginning with Mass on the school field at 11am.

CAR BOOT SALE Saturday 7^th June 10am-12pm Car boot sale in St Joseph's carpark with refreshments in the hall. Free entry! Fancy selling? £10 a pitch payable to St Joseph’s office

LOSS AND BEREAVEMENT GROUP Sunday 8^th June 2:30pm-4:30pm in the parish centre.

TODDLER GROUP Every Friday in termtime, 8:45am-10:45am in the Parish Centre.

LEGION OF MARY GROUP Fridays 6pm in St Joseph's Church contact Fr Ephraim 07785 727951 or Thereza 07878117907

SCHOOL HALF TERM: From evening of 23^rd May to morning of June 4^th.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

GIFT AID: If you have a standing order or direct debit donation to the Parish and gift aid your donation, please complete a new Gift Aid form. These will need to be completed for all existing Gift Aid Declarations. New Direct Debit and Gift Aid forms are available in the church porch and in the drawers outside the Parish Office. Please return all completed forms to the Parish Office. Thank you to everyone who has completed a form over the last few months.

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.

WELCOME A very warm welcome to all parishioners and visitors who join us, whether in our Churches of St. Joseph’s, St. Elizabeth’s, St. Edmund Campion or via the live-stream. If you are new to the area, please register as a member of our Parishes. The parish offices are situated at St. Joseph’s Church, Cookham Road and St. Edmund Campion, Altwood Road. Carolyn or Ruth can send you a soft copy of the registration form if you so wish, or pick up a hard copy at the church. The parish office details are available on the website and in the church porch.

CHILDREN’S SUNDAY LITURGY - 9:30am Mass Children from the age of 4 can attend. Please put your child’s name on the register as you go into the church.

MISSALS Please email office if you want to pre-order the CTS Daily Missal available in May. £70 with Sunday, £55 weekday readings only

VOLUNTEERS: From Sunday 8^th December 2024, subscribers to the Update Service will be emailed 30 days before their renewal date to ask if they wish to stay subscribed. Renewal dates are based on original joining dates. DBS advises volunteers to check that the email address attached to their subscription is linked to the individual who is subscribed. The renewal email will ask volunteers to access their Update Service Account and confirm that they wish to continue with the service. For those who confirm, this request will be repeated annually. If no confirmation is made, their volunteer subscription will automatically be cancelled. Volunteers who do not renew their subscription will not be able to keep their DBS certificate(s) up to date and organisations will not be able to check them. They will need to reapply for a DBS if they need one in the future. If you are a volunteer that is subscribed to the update service, please check that the correct email address is linked to the subscription service.

REPOSITORY Please see our repository for cards & Mass cards for all occasions. Cash payments in the box on the wall or via the Dona contactless machine (minimum £1 payments).

RED BOXES It’s time to empty your red boxes. Please leave them in the Parish office or in the church porch.

Thank you so much to members of St Joseph's and St Edmund Campion parishes for attending and supporting the Maidenhead SVP Quiz on Friday 9^th May 2025. We raised £423 which will be used to support families and individuals in need in Maidenhead.

PARISH COMMUNICATION We have reduced 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.

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/

SUSTAINABILITY

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.

School News

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.