The Call to Joseph
In religious terms we would call Joseph a faithful type of guy, observant in religious thought and practice. The visit from the angel tests his faithfulness to God and to Mary. He doesn't let them down. He was called to be the carer of Jesus and Mary and to find a new openness to the mystery of God. A temptation of religion is to tie things down too much. The law in Joseph's time was strict - if a woman was pregnant the man would cancel the betrothal, and she might be stoned to death! Joseph went beyond law to love and the mystery of God's call. Good religion is open to the mystery of life, however life challenges us and calls us. Some of the most open-minded people I have met have been very religious, and some of the most narrow-minded people have also been religious! Like good and bad medicine, there is good and bad in religion. True religion is open to mystery. We need a church lit with the light of God, as Joseph was. His burden was lifted when he was open to God, to take Mary home as his wife, no matter what others might think. This is the annunciation to Joseph - the word of God from the angel to Joseph in a dream. It opened him to a huge new meaning in life. We accept this word as a central part of our lives, and the next time we meet the word, it will be made flesh. Picture your house, and all who live in it. Imagine the light of Christ in each room and on all.
Lord, you are the word of God, who is made flesh, have mercy on us.
| First Reading | Isaiah 7:10-14 | The prophecy about “Emmanuel — God with us” invites king Ahaz to trust. | |||
| Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 23: 1-6 | R./: Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory. | |||
| Second Reading | Romans 1:1-7 | This introduction to Paul’s major epistle gives the earliest Christian beliefs about Jesus. | |||
| Gospel | Matthew 1:18-24 | The virginal conception of Jesus is revealed to the just man, Joseph. |
| Saturday 20th December | 6:15pm | Margaret O'Donnell | ||||
| Sunday 21st | 9:30am | Elizabeth Madden | ||||
| Stanislawa Suwalala | ||||||
| Sunday 21st | 11:15am | Alina Zbikowski | ||||
| Monday 22nd | 9:30am | Ethan Cardozo | ||||
| Wednesday 24th | 9pm | Nick Lopez | ||||
| Thursday 25th | 9:30am | Rohan De Mel | ||||
| Friday 26th | 10am | Arnold Harmes |
| Monday 22nd December | 11:30am | Mary Beckinsale RIP | Funeral at St. Edmund Campion church. May her soul rest in peace. |
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 2nd January 10am at St. Joseph’s; 7pm at St. Edmund Campion Church; 10am St Thomas More, Twyford
Friday 6th February 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:
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.
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.
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS: from Friday evening December 19th to 5th January 2026 (Inset Day). Children return on Tuesday 6th January.
PARISH OFFICE will be closed from Friday 19th December to Tuesday 6th January. Please email if you have any requests or speak to Fr Liam.
NEWSLETTER This will be the last newsletter of the year. The newsletter will recommence weekend 10th/11th January
FR LIAM will be away Monday 29th December to Friday 9th January. Please contact Fr Vuni or Fr Elvis if you need to speak to a priest.
MESSAGE FROM THE CLERGY TEAM OF HOLY FAMILY:
Dear Parishioners,
The season of Advent is coming to an end, the preparations for the birth of our Saviour are almost complete. We continue to wait patiently for the coming of Emmanuel (God is with us). We are wrapping up presents, getting prepared for Christmas dinner. Looking forward to giving and receiving presents.
Indeed, what present could we give to the baby Jesus this Christmas?
What would Jesus want me to give to him?
We have to try our best to love, try our best to bring peace and joy, into our world. This isn't always easy, we know that Emmanuel will be walking with us to help us.
We wish you and yours all the true spiritual riches of the feast for which we are waiting, and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we prepare for Christ-mass, let us try again to honestly open ourselves, in simplicity and poverty, to the love he wants to give us. Thank you for all your support, kindness, prayers and friendship.
May God bless you all.
O come to us, abide with us: our Lord Emmanuel.
Christmas Masses and Services - The Holy Family Parish
St Edmund Campion:
St. Joseph’s:
St Thomas More:
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
CHRISTMAS COLLECTIONS As many of you know, the Christmas Collection is traditionally taken for our Priest and this, along with Easter, is the main part of their income. All collections taken at the Christmas Masses, including contactless donations, will be for Fr Liam and the clergy team. In addition to collections at Mass/contactless, an online giving page has been set up for the Parish. Please find below a link to the Christmas Collection fundraising page for St Edmund Campion Parish: https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/maidenhead-st-edmund-campion-church-christmas-collection-2025
CRIB COLLECTION Crib offerings will be for The Christian Families of Palestine
Confirmation & First Holy Communion Classes: As you may be aware, the Confirmation and 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 Confirmation and 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.
First Holy Communion Stage 2: Class one at St. Edmund Campion Church - 4.30pm Saturday January 10th followed by Mass and official enrolment for First Holy Communion. Class one at St. Joseph’s Church - 9.30am Sunday January 11th, followed by Mass and official enrolment for First Holy Communion.
Confirmation Programme: Candidates, eligible to start Stage Two of the Confirmation Programme will begin this stage Saturday 24th January 2026, at 4.30pm at St. Edmund Campion. You are requested to bring along your Mass attendance cards. A letter and an update of dates have been sent out to their families recently. Please note the requirements to enter Stage Two of the programme. We continue to pray for them.
OCIA: We are blessed with having eighteen candidates join the OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults). These are made up of people from Holy Family Parish, Maidenhead & Twyford. They are all involved with our church community. Some desire to be baptised, others to be received into the Catholic church from another church, and some are Catholics who desire to complete their Initiation process by the Sacrament of Confirmation. All we be fully initiated at the Easter Vigil, April 4th, 2026. Classes are beginning. We continue to pray for them.
MISSALS We have a small number of daily missals and weekday missals available. Daily missals - £70; Weekday - £55. Please contact the office if you would like to purchase one.
SVP are in need of donations of men’s clothes and old mobile phones - all data will be cleared before being allocated. Please leave donations outside the church office marked for the attention of SVP. Thank you.
CHRISTMAS STARS Once again we will be doing our Christmas Stars. Last year there were 76 stars which raised an amazing £1000 for SVP and decorated the altar walls beautifully! For those unfamiliar with the stars, the idea is that, instead of sending Christmas cards to all your friends in the parish, you just write a message on a star, (available in the porch from this weekend) decorate it if you wish, and put it on the wall around the altar. Hopefully we can have a wonderful display of bright stars again. Then, think of the money you have saved on cards and stamps, time and effort writing and delivering them, and give a donation to charity. There will be a box for your donation in the porch, you can give it to Barbara McWalter at 11.15am Mass or to Ruth in the office. The charity this year will be Number 22 Number22 | Free Counselling in Windsor, Slough and Maidenhead & The Samaritans Samaritans of Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead Thank you in advance for your usual generosity.
CHRISTMAS SINGERS Do you love to sing? Please join us to run through the Christmas carols that will be sung at the Christmas Eve carol service on Sunday 21st December at 2pm in the church. No experience necessary, just enthusiasm!
PARKING We are expecting large attendance at the Christmas Masses. If you are able to walk a little bit, please park on surrounding roads, but please be considerate of our neighbours. Thank you.
NOSTALGIA NIGHT - For one night only, Friday 30th January 2026, the West End is coming to St Edmund Campion The music of Cormac Diamond and three other professional singers will take us down memory lane and be sure to leave you with a smile on your face and a tune in your head as they sing everything from Cole Porter to Elton John, accompanied by piano and violin. Truly a night to remember. All proceeds will go to St Edmund Campion Church refurbishment. Tickets are £20 and will be available after most Masses from this weekend until they sell out. Tickets would make lovely Christmas presents so please bring family, friends and neighbours. Tickets are also available online using a QR code but this will attract a booking fee. There will also be a cash bar and raffle that evening.
SIF FORM FOR SCHOOL ADMISSIONS Fr Liam will be available to sign SIF forms on Monday 12th January 7am-12pm; 3pm-5pm
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.
About 60 people went to St Elizabeth's last Saturday evening for the organ recital. The locals were delighted to welcome visitors from all corners of our new parish with home-made Christmas foods, mulled wine, the romantic light of 700 candles, a spectacular organ recital of music for Advent and Christmas, and some rousing carols to end it. In summary, a great pre-Christmas celebration. Several people said "must do this again" so for those who missed out, watch this space! Thank you, St Elizabeth’s Vision Group, for organising!
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. Children’s liturgy will recommence on Sunday 11th January 2026.
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).
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/
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 Kevin or Fr Tom 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 Vuni & Fr Elvis 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. Liam, Fr Elvis & Fr Vuni 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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