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Showing posts from November, 2014

Sunday 30th November 2014

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1 st Sunday of Advent Ordinariate Mass at Hockley, 10.30 am. Celebrant & Preacher, Fr. Bob White A reflection for this Sunday by my friend, Dr.Scott Hahn:  http://www.salvationhistory.com Watch For Him Readings:   Isaiah 63:16-17 ,  19 Psalm 80:2-3 ,  15-16 ,  18-19 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:33-37 The new Church year begins with a plea for God’s visitation.  “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,”  the prophet Isaiah cries in today’s First Reading. In today’s Psalm, too, we hear the anguished voice of Israel, imploring God to look down from His heavenly throne - to save and shepherd His people. Today’s readings are relatively brief. Their language and “message” are deceptively simple. But we should take note of the serious mood and penitential aspect of the Liturgy today - as the people of Israel recognize their sinfulness, their failures to keep God’s covenant, their inability to save themselves. And in this Advent season, we

Sunday November 23 2014

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Christ the Universal King Solemn Mass 10.30 am.  St. Pius X, Hockley Celebrant and Preacher: Fr. Jeff Woolnough Today we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday of ordinary time.  The image of kingship and kingdom, like most of the images used to describe Christ, is rich and multifaceted.  All of today’s readings, however, either feature or allude to a certain dimension of Christ’s kingly power: his role as Judge.  Ezekiel, describing the Lord as a royal shepherd, reports that the Lord “will judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats” (Ez 34:17).  The Gospel of Matthew makes the link between King, Shepherd, and Judge even clearer when it describes the Son of Man seated “upon his royal throne” (25:31) and separating the nations “as a shepherd separates sheep from goats” (25:32).  In the reading from 1 Corinthians, Christ does not separate any sheep, but he does destroy every “sovereignty, authority, and power” (1Cor 15:25) hostile to him

Sunday 16th November 2014

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33 rd in Ordinary Time 10.30 am. Sung Mass at St. Pius X Hockley Celebrant & Preacher, Fr. Bob White Using our talents wisely… In Today’s Gospel reading  we listen to one of Jesus’ most significant parables regarding work , set in the context of investments (Matt. 25:14-30). A rich man delegates the management of his wealth to his servants, much as investors in today’s markets do. He gives five talents (one talent = £12,000) to the first servant, two talents to the second, and one talent to the third. Two of the servants earn 100 percent returns by trading with the funds, but the third servant hides the money in the ground and earns nothing. The rich man returns, rewards the two who made money, but severely punishes the servant who did nothing. The meaning of the parable extends far beyond financial investments. God has given each person a wide variety of gifts, and he expects us to employ those gifts in his service. It is not acceptable merely to put those g

Anglicanorum Cœtibus anniversary

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Anglicanorum Cœtibus anniversary 4 November was the fifth anniversary of the promulgation of the Apostolic Constitution,  Anglicanorum Cœtibus , which allowed for the setting up of the ordinariates.The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was established here in the UK in January 2011. This was followed by the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter in the US in January 2012 and the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross in June 2012. The anniversary was marked by several commentaries.  Mgr Andrew Burnham, former Anglican Bishop of Ebbsfleet and now Assistant to the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, wrote in  The National Catholic Register  in the US. To read the piece  click here The National Catholic Register  also published an overview of the ordinariates five years after Anglicanorum Cœtibus , by Charlotte Hayes. To read the piece  click here The Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chai

Sunday 9th November

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The Feast of Dedication on the Lateran Basilica (Remembrance Sunday) Solemn Requiem Mass for the War Dead at St Pius X 10.30am Celebrant & Preacher Fr. Jeff Woolnough Remembrance Sunday falls on the Sunday nearest Armistice Day, 11 November, which marks the end of the First World War. On this day we remember all those who gave their lives for their country, all who suffered and died through acts of war and those who were left behind to grieve and mourn. In England and Wales our Bishops conference has permitted that one Mass for the Dead may be celebrated on this Sunday. At St. Peter’s Eastwood, this celebration will take place at the 10am, the sung mass of the day and at Hockley 10:30am.  We will remember them. Let us pray For peace and reconciliation between nations; that enemies may put aside all differences. For all those who have died through war or acts of violence; may we never forget their sacrifice. Prayer O God, merciful and strong, who crush wars a